Sunday, January 30, 2011

This could be good - in a Repo Man kinda way


The amazing poster caught my eye - type, colors, layout are all right on the money - graphically speaking: right up my alley.

The movie is French, say what you will about the folks in France, they know how to make a good movie, so we'll see.

Friday, January 28, 2011

This pretty much sums it up

Pipemasters? no
Giant Wiamea? nope
Mavericks earlier this week? Nut-uh, -- so you ask: Johnny vibe, whats the hoopla about this time?

Just some nicely done footage of the multi-talented Cyrus Sutton. This pretty much sums up why I love the old skool logs. Now if I could only ride a tenth as well as Mr. Sutton...

Cy's Midday Slides from www.KORDUROY.tv on Vimeo.

They’re doing it right.

This is what is meant:

Crossfit Cape Ann:
Not just another gym – no way. Adding value through better fitness and health for the area citizens. You may ask: John, what’s crossfit? Well just follow the links and see what it has to offer.

crossfit.com
crossfitcapeann.com

Like the song goes: “not everybody does it, but everybody should” I do it and feel better. Bravo CFCA, getting an kick ass workout has never been so enjoyable.


Cape Ann Brewing Company:
The hardest working brewers in the world. Finally, we have a bar in Gloucester (outside of my beloved Rhumb Line) which isn’t either ratty or spring-break crowded. The food is outstanding, the ambiance is very cool, but not pretentious, and the staff is one of a kind, they rock. I love these guys -- and girls - you will too:

capeannbrewing.com


So there you have it: Two big steps in the right direction for dear Gloucester. There are others, but in the meantime: more please!

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

¡Basta Ya!

Art Haven's biggest fund-razor of the year

This Friday, January 28th from 6:00-9:00:
Art Haven's biggest fundraiser of the year - See the beautiful artwork created by Art Haven's students from 2010 and take home your favorite buoy from the 2010 lobster trap tree! Silent auction starts at 6:00, live auction at 7:30.

Last year's event was a lot of fun.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Musclecar Monday '65 Ford Falcon Sprint

If there were ever an American people’s car, it would be a 3 way tie between the Chevy Nova, the Dodge Dart and the Ford falcon. It’s tough for a Ford fan like me to say this, but I always thought falcons were kinda crap cans, ‘till I saw this.

Ford had a project to produce a compact sedan, which later became Falcon, the idea was to create what by American standards of the time a small car, but elsewhere in the world would be considered a mid-size car. With room for six passengers in reasonable comfort, to keep the price down, engineers designed a unibody, keeping suspension standard and sourced from Ford's existing parts bin. This allowed both an improvement in build quality, yet the reliable Ford Falcon was an affordable car for its time.

The Falcon’s Sprint Package added the amazing 260 V8, a stiffer suspension, and a louder exhaust. Also, the Sprint model was built for use in Ford's racing program. The Falcon Sprint was a nice alternative to the new Mustang because it was something you could order and get right away. Ford dealers had plenty of them on the lot. But because the Mustang had the same options that the Sprint had for only a small amount more the Sprint never caught on. Even with the addition of the 289 V8 in late 64 the Sprint was overshadowed by the Mustang, and was discontinued after 1965. The Mustang dealt Falcon sales in North America a blow from which they would never recover. But 45 years later, the Falcon Sprint remains a nice alternative to the Mustang.

They were a part of Ford's racing program as well.
Thanks big brother Mike for the picture!

Sunday, January 23, 2011

new diggs

DSC00487
Here's where we'll be hangin our hats going forward - this is a huge change for the better.
DSC00479
Another cup of coffee, I must be dreaming!

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Musclecar Monday is neither!

Well, it's Wedesday for one, and this ain't a musclecar, but it's cool and cool's good enough.

Well, friends, it was a toss up today between the Porsche 904 and the 550 Spyder. But since this is supposed to be musclecar, and Porsches, while muscular, aren’t musclecars per se.
From Wikipedia:
Inspired by the Porsche 356 which was created by Ferry Porsche, and some spyder prototypes built and raced by Walter Glöckler starting in 1951, the factory decided to build a car designed for use in auto racing. The model Porsche 550 Spyder was introduced at the 1953 Paris Auto Show. The 550 was very low to the ground, in order to be efficient for racing. In fact, former German Formula One racer Hans Herrmann drove it under closed railroad crossing gates during the 1954 Mille Miglia.

The 550 / 1500RS or Spyder became known as the "Giant Killer", and gave Porsche its first overall win in a major sports car racing event, the 1956 Targa Florio.

The man, the myth, the legend:
Dean was driving west on U.S. Route 466 near Cholame, California, when a 1950 Ford Custom Tudor coupe, driven from the opposite direction by 23-year-old Cal Poly student Donald Turnupseed, moved to take the fork onto State Route 41 and crossed into Dean's lane. The two cars hit almost head-on. Dean was taken to Paso Robles War Memorial Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 5:59 p.m. by the attending emergency room physician.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Surf Mats - If George Greenough likes them that's reason enough to try one out


These look fun as hell, and I wonder why we don't see more of these in the northeast. We all know some spots that would be perfect.

When George Greenough says these are the fasted surf craft in the water, you best believe him.

So new years resolution amendment #1: Try one of these.

The man himself explains why these are important

Friday, January 14, 2011

Surfer's Ear Surgery

Hey surfers - if you have this all I can say is get it fixed, it makes you a new person!! Do it if you can!

Surfer's ear
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Surfer's ear is the common name for an exostosis or abnormal bone growth within the ear canal. Surfer's ear is not the same as swimmer's ear, although infection can result as a side effect.
Irritation from cold wind and water exposure causes the bone surrounding the ear canal to develop lumps of new bony growth which constrict the ear canal. The condition is so named due to its prevalence among cold water surfers. Cold water surfers experience surfer's ear at about six times the rate of warm water surfers.
The condition is not limited to surfing and can occur in any activity with cold, wet, windy conditions such as kayaking, sailing, jet skiing, and diving. Most avid surfers have at least some mild bone growths (exostoses), causing little to no problems. The condition is progressive, making it important to take preventative measures early, preferably whenever surfing.

Etiology
The majority of patients present in their mid 30s to late 40s. This is likely due to a combination of the slow growth of the bone and the decreased participation in activities associated with surfer's ear past the 30's. However surfer's ear is possible at any age and is directly proportional to the amount of time spent in cold, wet, windy weather without adequate protection.
The normal ear canal is 7-12mm in diameter (about the width of a pencil). As the condition progresses the diameter narrows and can even close completely if untreated, although sufferers generally seek help once the passage has constricted to 0.5-2mm due to the noticeable hearing impairment. While not necessarily harmful in and of itself, constriction of the ear canal from these growths can trap debris, leading to painful and difficult to treat infections. See images below.

Symptoms
In general one ear will be much worse than the other due to the prevailing wind direction of the area surfed or the side that most often strikes the wave first.
• Decreased hearing or hearing loss, temporary or ongoing
• Increased prevalence of ear infections, causing ear pain
• Difficulty evacuating debris or water from the ear causing a plugging sensation

Treatment
Surgeries to remove the obstructing ear canal bone are usually performed under general anesthesia in an operating room and aided by the use of a binocular microscope. Most ear surgeons use a drill to remove the bone and may approach the area directly via the ear canal or by making an incision behind the ear and dissecting the ear forward. In using a drilling technique it is important to keep the thin inner ear canal skin away from the drill to preserve the skin and allow optimal skin coverage at the conclusion of the surgery.
Some doctors now prefer to use 1 millimeter chisels to remove the obstructing bone and enter directly through the ear canal. This technique enhances skin preservation. This technique also allows for surgeries to be conducted under sedation with local anesthesia.
During recuperation from surgery it is extremely important not to expose the ear canal to water to minimize the chance of infection or complications.
Depending on the condition of the ear canal and the surgical technique used, the ear canal may require several weeks to several months to heal.
Unprotected exposure of ear canals to cold water and wind after treatment can lead to regrowth of bone and the need for repeated operations on the same ear.

Prevention
The widespread use of wetsuits has allowed people to surf in much colder waters, which has increased the incidence and severity of surfer's ear for those that don't properly protect their ears.[2]
• Avoid activity during extremely cold or windy conditions.
• Keep the ear canal as warm and dry as possible.
• Ear plugs
• Neoprene hood
• swim cap

Monday, January 10, 2011

Musclecar Monday - 64 Buick Riviera - a fist in a velvet glove


One big car - how big? 2 (two) tons, and every luxury you could ever desire.

The Buick Riviera was not a muscle car, per se, but it had a tremendous impact on the American automotive scene. The Riviera represented one of the most sucessful American attempts at capturing European styling and performance in a large automobile. Positioned at the top of Buick's coupe line up, the Riviera always represented GM's cutting edge styling, and sometimes performance.

In it's first year the 'Riv was a huge sucess, selling 40,000 copies. It sported a dramatic design that broke away from the Detroit mold and into a new era of styling. The front fenders had leading edges that were actually vertical grilles, the rear contours angled to razor edges, and the doors featured frameless windows, a new concept. The standard engine was a 401 cid V8 with 325bhp. For just $50 more, the buyer got a 425 cid V8 with 340bhp. Positioned as a luxury coupe, the Riviera came with every conceivable luxury option and would soon become the flagship of the Buick line.

Leonard Nimoy dug his.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

Tyler & Mike Siordia at El Porto

Mike he was one of those kids who was friendly to me in a brand new lineup in a brand new town when I fist moved to LA; surprising because he ripped and had nothing to gain by reaching out & being nice. Tyler's one of the most righteous dudes you'll meet anywhere. Here they both are on one little snippet from Kiyo:

Carl Ekström and the Asymmetrical Surfboard


I was always confused by these until I tool to time and read up about them. I know the Surfer''s Journal did a big pice on him recently - and he has an interesting background.

Carl Ekström is a San Diego shaper who patented the asymmetrical surfboard in 1967. His motivation for creating the design was his desire to surf his home break of Windansea equally well going both right and left. He found a good board for his backhand surfing and he found a good board for his forehand surfing, but he struggled to find one to fit both styles of riding. He found a solution when he combined the designs of each surfboard.

I'll quote the man: “You can go to an Al Merrick catalog and pick out what you think would be good backside board. And then you might find a fish that could be a good front side board and combine the two. It’s as simple as that.”

Need aboard which suits your style for both frontside and backside surfing? Maybe an asymmetrically railed surfboard is for you. For me I'm equally lame both front and back sided, but the concept makes sense and they sure are wild lookin'.

He also made some gorgeous knifey railed traditional boards too.

The umlaut - maybe he's intö metal, but that's höw he spells it, and I just found the keyboard shörtcut - whöö höö!

Cool Swedish name and a kool logo too!:

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Goals for 2011

Summary:
After reading so many good ones here goes – the overall themes are:
break the routine, streamline my life, open up, lighten up, & loosen up - let people, ideas, food, places flow over me lest I get stale. Lastly, focus on what matters and screw the rest. Here's the breakdown:
• Cross step & nose ride better – breathe and hang loose – it works
• Hike Mount Lafayette in NH – I’m actually really stoked on this – can someone join me – it will be a no-surf weekend – those do happen.
Sunrise, Franconia Ridge
• Finally get to Nova Scotia, AND have a written-in-stone plan for a trip abroad in 2012 – we’re talking tickets, reservations, the whole nine. I dunno – UK, (London/North Devon, Cornwall) or Cote Basque/Paris - or Germany/Austria - A surf trip that remembers there’s a world outside of surfing.
• Be timely. Timeliness, the 1st rule in show biz
• Explore and ride the local off-shore breaks – ain’t nothing to it but to do it.
Twin lights
• Finish the stack of books next to my bed
• Less beer (less, not no)– more wine
• Expand my professional skill set
• Trail running – it’s fun, so do more
• See more art
• Be under 200lbs – almost there– commit to crossfit
• Listen to people, they’ve heard me, shut it and hear folks, it adds value to my life, they appreciate it.
• Find new subjects for photography, especially people & faces.
• Do more cycling – much more – and do it in Vermont, it’s been 20 years since I’ve been there.
• No more piddling around until 2am – turn the light out & put the coffee on in the morning and get a move on. Hours are like diamonds.
• Behaviours, thinking, and habits that no longer serve me can pass
• Pack my lunch, shoot for 3x/week – we know how that can save
• Not feeling sorry for oneself, it’s unattractive.
• And big up myself, I’m not bad

And big up yo’ selfs in 2011 - I know that for all of you, dear readers, there will always be a bright dawn ahead.
polaroid-27.jpg

Monday, January 3, 2011

Musclecar Monday By Request - 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona


By request - maybe the most outrageous, over the top examples of the American muscle car. The high water mark.

The 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona was a high performance, limited edition version of the Dodge Charger produced in the summer of 1969 for the sole purpose of winning NASCAR races. And win it did: it won its first race out, the inaugural Talladega 500 with thegreat Bobby Isaac at the wheel. Buddy Baker in a Dodge Charger Daytona was the first driver in NASCAR history to break the 200 mph mark on March 24. 1970 at Talladega.
1969 Dodge Charger Daytona


One of the famous aero-cars, its special body modifications included a 23 in tall stabilizer wing on the rear deck, a special sheetmetal "nose cone" that replaced the traditional upright front grille (both designed specially for Chrysler by NASA), a flush rear backlight (rear window area), a 'window cap' to cover the original Charger's recessed rear window, specific front fenders and hood that were modeled after the upcoming 1970 Charger, stainless steel A-pillar covers and fender mounted tire clearance/brake cooling scoops. The Daytona was built on the 1969 Charger's 500 trim specifications, meaning that it carried a heavy-duty suspension and brake setup and was equipped with a 440 CID Magnum engine as standard. Of special note to collectors is the optional 426 CID Hemi V8 engine, which only 70 of the 503 Daytonas carried. It had a corporate cousin in the "one year only" 1970 Plymouth Superbird.
1969 Dodge Daytona Charger
aren't the colors amazing?
1969 Dodge Daytona Charger *
Both are now rare and valuable collectibles, with 440-powered Daytonas reaching into six-figure territory and 426-engined cars passing the $300,000 mark.

Bobby Isaac also ran one of these beasts at the Bonneville Salt Flats - they were 19' long.

Dodge wasn't the only one, Chrysler cousin Plymouth had the Superbird, and NASCAR Rival Ford fielded the Torino Talladega and the extremely groovy Mercury Cyclone Spoiler (See the Nov. 16 2009 entry)
Keep the requests coming!