Monochrome Monday Monarch

Equatorial Reef Shack

Most nights we would anchor 

on the calm, western side of various atolls 

where expensive holiday accommodation abounded. 

But come morning, 

we would up anchor to spend a day 

in a reef pass with views like this 

from the porthole.

The afternoon ritual consisted of

lazing on the top deck at dusk 

sore and surfed out 

in a post-session daze 

waiting for the tropical light show. 

The shooting stars were a bonus.

Birthday Boy

Ceramic artworks by 

Australian - Thai artist

VIPOO SRIVILASA

exhibiting at 

edwina corlette gallery

17 Oct – 5 Nov 2011 

Life in the Jungle

"Somebody's got a knife
You better get yourself a gun
The junkie on the corner
He ain't havin' any fun
He just might decide to kill you
And you won't be the only one
That's life in the jungle" 

from Life in the Jungle by John Mayall

Art will set you free. So they say. In downtown Medelin, Columbia one woman is doing her bit to channel youthful energy away from guns, drugs and death. BIG shout out to Tatiana Gomez of the Bestia Extraña Gallery, book, music, apparel and Toy store for providing inspiration to emerging artists as well as community spirit and pride. 
If the GFC has left you in some resemblance of financial health, pump some money into the creative economy and the folks that sculpt clay, canvas, sound or foam.

deus ex board swap

The blurb from the Deus Ex Machina moto-surf crew reads:

"When: Saturday, October 29 · 10:00am - 5:00pmWhere: Deus Ex Machina Motorcycles, 98 - 104 Parramatta Rd, Camperdown, Sydney NSW 2050 Australia.

Marty Worthington has just been confirmed for live custom surfboard sprays, Teal Nippard will be wittling his famed wooden alaias, live airbrushing by Tony Airspeed, Andrew from Grown will be showing off his hand crafted timber surfboards and Graeme from Bing Surfboards will have all his latest foam mowers on show. Plus Jeff's collection of surf memorabilia and vintage bric-a-brac, Dan's retro surf wears, Mex's surf art, posters and groovy gear plus much, much more."

Some worthy Worthington art from the Hot Buttered days. 

Image from :Board Collector blog.

Monochrome Monday

Out of tune

Album of the week is The Beagle and the Dove by the John Steel Singers. I had a good listen to this CD last night on the big Denon and was magically transported away. It's one of those albums that you discover you like the more you play it. 

I would be playing it again on the commute today but I have lost my iPodsky and a good pair of noise cancelling headphones. So I am tuneless. Instead having to be content with the existential banter of my fellow wage slaves. 

If you would rather have your tunes live and free, then get to the Peregian Markets after show - all ages, dogs, smokers, locals, tourists kicking back on a Sunday arvo. You might see my mate H selling wooden barrels or even Coolum lad Luke MacDonald, guitarist from the John Steel Singers.

Boat x Boogie

What crowd?

Carefully crafted and edited surfing imagery sometimes belie the fact that just out of frame are four potential drop-ins and several boatloads of surfers all jockeying for the one prime take off spot. But once you get a wave to yourself like this, the stoke factor is ratcheted up several notches and makes the flights, the cost, the wobbly boat and suspect food all worthwhile.

Juxtaposition #9

Monochrome Monday

Anchor Anchor

Have a great weekend and may your anchors and fins bite, when required.

Green Flash

Most afternoons

we would anchor

somewhere safe

head up to the roof

have a drink

talk story

and wait 

for the sunset show.

We were

never disappointed.

Once I thought

I saw

a green flash

just as the sun 

wobbled beyond the horizon.

Dirty big shark

One morning we were anchored in the deep pass between Pasta Point (above) and Sultan's reefs. The surf guide had told us not to paddle our boards across the channel from our boat to the reef (200 - 300 yards) because it was at least 100 feet deep and there were tiger sharks and other critters down there. 

Well, we followed that instruction pretty closely - until this one day when a huge whale shark appeared out of the depths and in a lazy mood started doing a few laps under our boat. Almost everybody donned goggles and fins and joined the beautiful leviathan before it returned to the other sharks down in the inky blue black. Even the Maldivian crew. I don't recall the surf guide getting wet in the channel, though.

BIG shout out to our shipmate "Rimo" who shot the pic below.

Byron Bay Surf Festival

"The festival is non-competitive and 

will bring together people 

that want to celebrate surfing 

and the associated culture 

of art, music, film, literature, 

surfboard design and 

environmentally friendly and 

sustainable surf craft."

Byron Bay Surf Festival website

Mono Monday