Friday, October 28, 2011

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. 

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Birthday Boy




Ceramic artworks by 
Australian - Thai artist
VIPOO SRIVILASA
exhibiting at 
17 Oct – 5 Nov 2011 

Wednesday, October 26, 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.

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

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. 

Friday, October 21, 2011

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.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

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.

Friday, October 14, 2011

Anchor Anchor


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

Thursday, October 13, 2011

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
just as the sun 
wobbled beyond the horizon.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

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.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

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."

Monday, October 10, 2011