Life Across the Arno

Toasty Toes

O Holy Night

Pope Land

Life changing

Europa Point

1 View=

3 countries, 2 continents, 1 sea, and 1 ocean

I guess it's been a while

then(1991?)..

now(2010)..

Plaza Mayor

Sipping Jetstreams

Is one of my favorite surf films of all time.

This is a quote from the film and is one of the most spot-on things I've read in a long time.

Just reinforces what travel is really all about as far as I'm concerned and is why being stuck here in San Diego for extended periods of time is such a mental downfall.

"Travel keeps you young. It does this by simply putting you in situations that make you feel like a child again. Magically lost in a moment of discovery. Beautifully confused. It could be the first time you awaken to the 5:00 a.m. call to prayer from the local mosque on Morocco's far Atlantic shore, the first time you feel the weight of the Egyptian sun on your shoulders, the first time you paddle out over the shallow reefs of the Caribbean, or the first time you realize that people living in squalor can achieve happiness as easily as those living in mansions. These are life's opportunities to shed the hustle of modernity, to join the moment, and stop sprinting toward some prefabricated goal. Your heart races. Your metabolism shifts into a lower gear. Everything is new again.
You're Sipping Jetstreams."

Mittagessen

In Switzerland its all about the big lunch.

Atlantic Coast

Lyrics from the song "Drilling" by Minus The Bear:

on a western Atlantic coast:

With no place to be, just taking in the sea

Tonight with a constant buzz

Staring at the ocean crashing

On all the rocks below

In this foreign home

Marbella

A slice of heaven on the Mediterranean

Swiss Memories

Playing a game of memory with Lysander and Yorick

Atlético Madrid

Madrid's "other" football club

Strawberry Fields Forever

John Lennon

(9 October 1940- 9 December 1980)

30th Anniversary

R.I.P.

#2

Ok I'll admit my last post about Adrian Gonzalez was a little harsh.

But on Another more positive note...

The Captain is back(not that he ever went anywhere) in pinstripes.

Things turn Ugly..

"I had five incredible years in San Diego, where I grew up trying to play in the major leagues and be a Padre," Gonzalez said. "But my second dream was to be a Red Sox and so I'm very excited ... to start this new phase." Gonzalez, donning a Boston jersey without a number, said the Red Sox have always been his favorite American League team, in part because of Boston icon and Hall of Famer Ted Williams - like Gonzalez, Williams was a left-hander and San Diego native. "I look forward to a lot of world championships. I'm very excited to be in Boston and ready to beat the Yanks." -Adrian Gonzalez

This is such a bunch of horseshit. "My second dream was to be a red sox", Are you kidding me??! How are we supposed to believe this crap. Not only do you shove hometown pride aside and take the money elsewhere, but then you also have the nerve to then throw these lies right back in our faces in order to please the A-holes of Boston. Talk about throwing salt in the wound.

Have fun in Hell..err i mean your new home

....oh wait. Actually THIS will be your hell.

Especially since you won't be coming to visit us here in San Diego this year to receive your verbal lashings. I'm sure the fine folks in the Bronx will no doubt relay our hatred to you and make your life a living hell.

White Winter Hymnal

In honor of the 1st of December. It is unofficially the start of winter. Switzerland just had their 1st real snowstorm Monday thru today so..

Here's to winter

The Jersey Sound

I think the similarities between New Jersey and San Diego/Orange County in regards to music are quite striking. While located on different coastlines, both areas are burdened by the suburban sprawl. They are each close enough to see the musical and culutral happenings of their respective sister cities(nyc and la) yet far enough away not to be directly bothered or influenced by these scenes.

Don't get me wrong, New York City and Los Angeles are each hotbeds for culture and musical inspiration. The real talent, however, has always (with a few key exceptions) been created and molded just beyond "the bright city lights."

I guess it has been these underlying similarities which has always drawn me to musical artists from the Garden State. That or the simple fact that there are/have been so many damn good bands from NJ.

The Godfather, if you will, of NJ music is obviously Frank Sinatra. Born and raised in Hobokoen Sinatra was during his era, the epitomy of east coast cool. If Sinatra was the godfather, Bruce Springsteen was the king and the voice of the new generation. Bon Jovi,while not on the same level of musical genius(in my opinion), was always present and a stong enforcement behind Springsteen in the solidification of the jersey blue collar sound.

Growing up, these three artists where always on the radio and hanging around unconsciously in the background of my musical development.

For Example:

By the time I really started buying records and listening to music on my own, the early to mid 90's were in full force. The focus at the time was Seattle but I hated grunge and Nirvana with a passion. I was into the punk bands and therefore The new 3rd wave of punk infused ska had more interest for me. Our neighbor to the north, Orange County was the epicenter where most of those bands were born. One of these bands Less Than Jake, however, was from Florida. They would become the focal point and most of what I listened to during middle and high school. A few years on I came to learn that their drummer who didn't sing but wrote virtually all of the lyrics for the band, was born and raised in New Jersey.

Coincidental?Subliminal? Possibly

Except that around that same time my friends and I started listening to a lot of punk and later indie bands who just happened to be from Jersey. It wasn't something where we said "oh let's listen to punk bands from New Jersey." We listened to and keyed in on music that we liked. The Bouncing Souls were perhaps the first one of these bands. To my friends and I, it was like as if these bands were all lined up in a row and were awesome and they're all getting good, one as soon as the other has past its peak or interest. Bouncing Souls, then Saves The Day, then Thursday and The Early November and Armor For Sleep and so on and so on....And they all coincidently, subliminal, or not happened to be from New Jersey.

Lately it seems as if I'm being sucked back into the New Jersey sound. Ever since Chelsea has been living in New York I've been in and around the Garden State quite a bit. Not to say that I've really been anywhere besides around Newark and Hoboken, but you get the idea. Maybe its also just a result of being around a lot of people from Jersey and also knowing Lindsey and her Springsteen connection and stories. Whatever the case I have been gravitating back to the Jersey sound and have recently just discovered a new favorite band called The Gaslight Anthem.

Not sure where the rest of this train of thought is going but I just wanted to give some props to the Garden State and my 2cents on how their music scene is similar to ours...Oh and Garden State is one of my favorite movies.

Alps

I took this photo in May.

I miss my second home.

A LOT

Happy Thanksgiving

D Train

Some scary bronx characters

The Handplane Project

About 6yrs ago? My friend Ky snapped his longboard in half during a huge swell at Cardiff Reef.

Not too long ago my friend Lucas and I decided to make handplanes for bodysurfing. Lucas happened to have part of that longboard stored at his house.

We decided to strip the fiberglass off of it and use the leftover foam to make our handplanes.

A research and development bodysurf session near Hospitals reef in La Jolla.

Our different templates(shapes).

Last Sunday was another Research & Development session at windansea.

Here is my handplane..the shaping part is almost finished. Next we will start glassing them. Stay tuned..