The Way Back Machine

Starting back on the 15th, got a fun evening surf at Tiburones. Kinda wind swell, bumpy, glassy, and doubled-up on the inside. The next couple days were stormy with windows of bumpy, wind-hacked surf - but I went out anyway. They were not memorable sessions. The swell picked up and cleaned up on Saturday, but the masses, boyz, would-be pros, and pros were all over it. I waited for the wind to hack it up a bit, and paddled out to Second Bowl. I was hoping the wind would chase some of the masses home, but no. Even though the surf was less than special, it was packed. Sharks was no better. The storm trend continued with lack-luster surf until Wednesday and Thursday. Then, the ocean cleaned up and a small but firm south showed. Surfed both days at Tiburones with just the boyz (and a couple of decoys). It was great fun, the bowl was working, it lined up into the cove, and the mantra of Chuck Norris was discussed between sets. The weekend passed with less than stellar surf, but again, I went out anyway. As I write, another storm is beating the coast. One of the bros suggested that either I didn't know how to count, or I was surfing some obscure spot right here on the Point. What is 49 Steps? He counted the number of steps at the Hook, and well, it didn't seem to add up. I noticed that given the level of sand at the base of the stairs, three or four steps could appear and then disappear. Also, I noticed that depending on my mood going up or down the stairs, the count would change. Sometimes I skipped steps or counted one step twice. Maybe it's the number of steps I count from the stairs to the boil at Terry's Bowl. I'm probably just full of shit. Anyway, 49 Steps sounds good. Some bad news - I heard Lance and Penguin are moving. Shared some great times with both - they will be missed. Once again, the ding magnet (azul fish) is in storage awaiting a fix job for some bad pressure dings that occurred Thursday. I was flying down the line at Mach 5, squared a turn, and slammed the lip. I was promptly launched, but unlike Mr. Air, I panicked, got parallel with my board, and landed hard. It's not as easy as the boyz make it look. Final call - There is much talk about illegals taking work, but not much mention of the corp"o"rats who are really undermining jobs. Here is an excerpt from a editorial that lays it out for SPB. "But for my friend "Mary," the whole issue looks different. She cleans houses and baby-sits for a living. Her son paints houses. In both cases, they are competing directly with a new flood of immigrants who don't mind living doubled or quadrupled up (changing the character of neighborhoods) and for whom $10 bucks an hour is a premium wage." I hear what is said, but lets take a look right here. My neighbor works at the cement plant. They got new corporate ownership and guess what. They got rid of the existing management and shipped in all new guys. When guys quit or retire, they bring in hourly contract workers: no union, no union wage, no union benefits, and no experience. Also, no day-shift foremen, don't need them. Safety? And the government changed the specification for making cement so that they can mix raw material with kiln material. My neighbor says they are selling it as fast as they are making it, but he wouldn't use it on his house. You need to be competitive in business, whether cleaning houses or making cement. But, is there a balance between profit and collateral damage in the community. In the case of the cement plant, we're not talking about immigrants, unless you believe that corporations based in Texas are foreigners. I do.

I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center. –Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., writer (1922- )  ¶ 11:36 PM 0 comments

 

Cold Rain and Snow

The windows of surf have been sprinkled in between what have become routine storms. I surfed Second Bowl on Wednesday and got some fun ones before daycare got out. Saturday began with off-shores and the best conditions seen in a while. The masses were on it, 49 Steps looked fun and the rippers were ripping. I decided to go out once the sideshore wind was on it. Better late than never. I actually got some fun low tide waves at Tiburones. Same for tonight. As one Steps lad put it, "it's better than cleaning the house again." The highlight of the week was surfing Saturday, the coldest day of the year. The night before raged - lightening, thunder, and up to marble-sized hail falling from the sky. The summit was closed due to snow. It looked like it had snowed on Saturday morning - the hail was piled up at least two inches thick in some places. The water was coold and the wind was cooooooolder, but there was surf. I hope the forces of nature remember that Spring starts Monday. Many infoitems caught my attention recently, here's a few. Under a deal between the White Wash and Repugnants on the Senate Intel committee, a new set of rules for domestic spying were developed - essentially, the rule of law which Repugnants and Dumbocrats cling too was side stepped by creating a new law and applying it retro. There would be no investigation and no consequences for breaking the 1978 law against domestic spying without a warrant. Yes, we are all held equally accountable to the rule of law. For me, this action proves the Exec broke the law and overstepped its Constitutional authority. Next up, further proof that when the spy idiots fuck up, you may be the one to pay. This ties right in with the "why should you mind if they spy on you, unless you are doing something wrong?" crowd. The FBI mistakenly nabbed an Oregon lawyer for being a terrorist. They linked him to the 2004 Madrid train bombing by erroneously matching his fingerprint to fingerprints found on a bag of detonators. How did they do it? First, the poor bastard's fingerprints were somehow in the FBI's super duper computer because he got caught stealing when he was a teenager. Gee, I thought those files were sealed away. Next, the super duper computer and some highly motivated FBI experts wrongly matched the prints. While the Feds stated the Oregonians religious preference had nothing to do with his being linked to the bombing, the FBI indicated that additional evidence included the lawyer's attendance at a local mosque, his advertising in a magazine published by a man suspected of having links to terrorism, and a telephone call made by his wife to a local Islamic charity with suspected terrorist ties. The FBI broke into his house without his knowledge (Patriot Act) and dug around. The family suspected foul play when they found the wrong door lock bolted and footprints on the carpet that didn't match those of the family. You trust these idiots? The FBI came back, rifled through the house, and took just about everything - including some "Spanish documents", apparently Spanish homework from one of the kids. The guy also spent two weeks in jail. Finally, it was realized a mistake was made - oh well, sorry. To close, an example that shows the mass media lets you hear only what the big wigs want you to hear. Did you know that the largest oil spill that ever occurred on Alaskan soil happened on Saturday? 267,000 gallons (so reported) from a corroded pipeline settled in on the tundra in the northern tip of Alaska by Prudhoe Bay - right around the corner from ANWR, where nothing will happen to the Caribou or other wildlife when we start drilling and producing there. The funny thing about this story was I couldn't find mention of it in any US mass media outlets on Saturday. Why was this information being kept from the masses? Would people believe that drilling in ANWR is a bad idea? SBP only knows what it sees on FOX, and they didn't see oil on tundra. Is there a connection between major oil and corporate mass media? Linked interests? Industrialmilitary complex? Huh, what connection? A word about the photo. Anyone who was checking the surf on Big Monday, Feb 2006, probably noticed a boat cursing out past the kelp beds - way out. The boat was easily about 100 feet long and the freeboard and tower height was 20 to 30 feet. We watched as the boat dipped in between swells and just about disappeared. The swell was showing size Hawaiian style. Matt caught a picture of said boat as it dipped.

Whoever imagines himself a favorite with God holds others in contempt. -Robert Green Ingersoll, lawyer and orator (1833-1899)  ¶ 10:04 PM 0 comments

 

Victory at Sea

The days have been filled with large doses of wind, rain, and victory at sea. Sparse windows of wind-torn surf open to keep us stoked until better days arrive. Surfed the Steps last week and on Saturday, and stood on the cliff thinking about it on the days in between. I guess I could stoke up a little more and get my fix, but it's been sooo cold. Pussy. Oh well - got the blue fish tuned up with a new fin set that Dennis and Bert are lit up about - works way good. Changing fin sets on the quad-fish really allows a single board to perform like many different boards. It's proving to be way fun just experimenting with different fin sets. A friend at work was finding the same is true by changing the fins he uses on his thruster. Aluminum-core for light weight and high-performance foils change the feel of his board for the better. The lesson - play with your fins. There is a never ending stream of beltway antics to talk about, but I have been focused on the recent interpretations of our Constitution. I respect the document for its simplicity and power. It has served us well. But, these days there seems to be a never ending parade of righteous, god-fearing folk that want to read the 'tution sideways, upside down, and in the dark. On one of my nightly jaunts through TV land, I caught a Repugnantican from North Carolina explaining that the preamble to the 'tution highlights the need for a common defense of the country. This elected official was part of the Repugnantican "truth squad". Gee, I've quoted the preamble here and it wasn't apparent to me that common defense was the primary reason for establishing the federal government. Lets take a look. The first reason given in the preamble is "to form a more perfect Union", second is to "establish Justice", third is to "insure domestic Tranquility", fourth is "common defense", then follows promotion of general welfare and securing the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity. There doesn't seem to be any weighting or ranking given to the reasons for a federal government. If you weight the reasons in order of appearance, then common defense ranks fourth. Otherwise, all reasons are equally important. But for the North Carolinian, "common defense" stood out. A couple of things come to mind. First, without the union, domestic tranquility, justice, and general welfare, there would be nothing to defend. Historically - the context of "common defense" had real meaning. The US was a new nation in a land of unending resources surrounded by the British, French, and Spanish empires. Land grab was all out. Today - the talk of "common defense" is hollow. The US is a Super Duper Power with enough Nucterence to destroy the globe several times over. Who's going to really dick with us. Instead, I see the Repugnantican view as a virtual land grab - where we defend our interests - usually on someone else's property - i.e. virtual land grab. We can't really take the land and its resources outright, but our corporations, military, and deal makers can own interest - virtual land grab for ourselves and our close friends (recently the British and Israelis). Enough. It's better to hang at the cliff and surf our minds when it's blown out.

Power always thinks it has a great soul and vast views beyond the comprehension of the weak; and that it is doing God's service when it is violating all his laws. -John Adams, 2nd US president (1735-1826)  ¶ 11:06 PM 0 comments