The Coldest Winter I Spent Was a Spring WSA Contest in Huntington Beach

We spent Sunday at a cold and windy Huntington Beach. The water was 57 and the wind was constant at 20 knots. I don't know what knots means or how to spell it but it was windy and cold.

Lucas made it through three rounds into to the Reprocharge Final and came in 4th. He missed the final by .8%. But it was a great time we spent the night and went to a fancy dinner on Saturday night. Of course he wanted one of those shiny trophy's but the kids who surf at these contests are budding pro surfers.

Anyway the 'Coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco' is not a Mark Twain quote.

Not me dude

It sounds like him and everything but his closest line was about New England "If you don't like the weather wait a few minutes"

Psychiatric Help

I came across this article by Dr Michelle Tempest. Dr. Michelle is from London and is some super woman who is a Psychiatrist, Professor at Cambridge and is a Lawyer (she has her LMM Degree which according to my JD spouse is some sort of Draconian tax law degree) . She allegedly did all this and is only 33.

Anyway eventhough she is freakishly perfect she was nice enough to tell us that us surfers have the key to decision making under stress.

Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Psychiatry and Surfing at the Beach

Next time you are at the beach, spare some time to observe the waves. Many will have heard life advice ‘go with the flow’, but is this really the answer? If you take the journey of life to be analogous to surfing the sea waves then there are several things to consider.

Just as in life, ground work must be undertaken. The way the sea, wind, shore, tides, and moon interact must be learnt about. Knowledge must be attained about the equipment, boards and the safety procedures. Dangers and consequences must be considered with reference to respecting what's around you and the environment's possible limitations. Inevitably there will be obstacles along the way and some waves will throw the surfer off the wave resulting in the full weight of the water above, crashing down upon them. Each situation has to be dealt with individually; but the important thing is never to loose the love for trying, otherwise that would be paramount to lacking the zest for life. Instead the surfer must get straight back on the surf board and rise up to the next challenge. Surfers can expect to get thrown off some waves, but rather than seeing these ‘wipe outs’ as failures and giving up, surfers seize them as learning opportunities. Mistakes and ‘wipe outs’ are experiences to learn from and it’s never too late to learn from failures and share knowledge with others. Buckminster Fuller once wrote “Whatever humans have learned had to be learned as a consequence of trial and error experience. Humans have learned through mistakes.”

Surfers need to carefully consider which wave to catch and which direction they must point their board in order to gain the most awesome ride. Surfers quickly learn to consider their direction of travel, as not only do they have to be able to avoid dangerous sea bed rocks but also their wave position makes the difference between riding a wave and falling off it. This is analogous to planning life’s journey, as forgetting to consider the direction of travel would be like trying to fit together a jigsaw puzzle without having seen the bigger picture. Life does not and can not stand still, deciding upon the wave to follow, prevents just ‘going with the flow’ of water and being washed up somewhere you had not anticipated to be. Instead, surfers learn to steer their own course and ultimately their own destiny.

Oh right like I need a new surfboard......

But wait

If I only had this board I would rip!

Grandview Surf Cam Dilemma

Grandview North San Diego Surf Spots


We've just added a new camera in North County at Grandview. Check it out here.

Dilemma

noun

1. a situation requiring a choice between equally undesirable alternatives.
2. any difficult or perplexing situation or problem.
3. Logic. a form of syllogism in which the major premise is formed of two or more hypothetical propositions and the minor premise is a disjunctive proposition, as “If A, then B; if C then D. Either A or C. Therefore, either B or D.”

Our spot has grown up
I am trying to boycott it but have already looked at it three times this morning. Like our spot is some secret mysto spot. Still the overexposure can not be good.
We used to have just the weather radio with reports on the buoys that I actually could make sense of. Now, like everyone I try not to look at the wavewatch, wetsand, surfshot or surfline but I do.

When can we wear our springsuits?

Average Ocean Water Temperatures in San Diego
January: 57
February: 57
March: 58
April 1-15: 59
April 16-30: 60
May 1-15: 61
May 16-31: 62
June 1-15: 63
June 16-30: 65
July 1-15: 66
July 16-31: 67
August 1-15: 69
August 16-31: 69
September 1-15: 67
September 16-30: 66
October 1-15: 65
October 16-31: 63
November: 61
December: 59

This is from noaa's data. Spring might be a misnomer, our water sometimes does not warm up until well into June then we are wearing trunks in October. However I remember several April's where it was time to lose the 4-3 and go to a spring suit.

Meet George Jetson

What is a perfect day?

Erik Baldwin gave me a flash drive with some photos he took last week. He showed up to check on his star surf student and took some insane pictures.

We pulled up to Beacons and I told Lucas that this will be one of the best days we will surf together.

Can I still surf better than my kids? The window is closing fast.

I can still come off the bottom.

Nice dolphin noseride...

Nice Surfer's Journal Cover

Kassia Meador is the coolest surfer girl in the universe.

I see her out at Cardiff occasionally, and always with a giant smile. Here she is styling in the fifties retro gear with perfect style. She is one of the pro surfers that is always stoked to talk with my kids.

Check out her Firsthand on HULU here

Here she is is on the new Surfer's Journal Cover.

9'1" McTavish

Is there anything better than waxing a new surfboard?

Life is good

Time for a clean up set

Is Tim Geithner becoming the biggest Kook in this economic mess or am I piling on.

Timmy, don't give me the deer in the headlights look. You have some power now. Your hurting my guy Obama. Don't tell us your outraged about AIG after the fact. It's time to start talking. You put Lawernce Summers on as the face of this mess. This could be a mistake.He is more of a 'I have face for radio guy' And, 'I might look like Kermit the Frog after a meal of Miss Piggy'.

But really, I know this guy is real smart and all, I just don't understand one thing he is trying to say. When he talks my eyes glaze over and I want a to take a nap for bordem and valuim for panic. It is fun punching AIG, but rome seems to be burning. It is time to communicate we are not going to continue to throw good money after bad. We are funding the institutions that will be solvent and move forward on our need to get credit moving now.


A clean up set to clean up the clean up set is needed

Thoughts on St. Patrick's Day

Here is a little Ireland surf vid to celebrate


When I worked at Guinness for the first years we would get a limo and tour the Irish Pubs. It was fun for the first few bars. Then you would realize that after about bar stop number 8 it was no fun. You were stuck for the duration with people who were not pleasant after beer 11.


So one year I just blew the whole thing off. I realized that no one was going to call me that day. I started to tell the bar owners that I saw them on St. Paddy's day and all. No one missed me. Most places were crowded and you knew that you could say I was at Molly Malone's when they were at CB Hannigans....

I was at Four Mile all day. The weather was always nice on St. Patricks day and the waves seemed to cooperate. The next day when my colleagues were in hangover pain I would just smile and say 'ya that was a late one last night'.

This is a good shot of Four Mile north of Santa Cruz

Today I surfed this evening it was fun. There was a trace of warmer water with southerly swells and sun out. I was reminded of those long days up North on the most busy day of the year for Guinness it was really the eye of the storm. There was nothing to do except go to the bars. I chose the road less traveled and did not regret it once.

One year I won a sales contest and went to Ireland for the big day. We thought Ireland St. Pats! Wow it will be like New Orleans during Mardi Gras. We learned quickly that it was actually a somber religious holiday and most of the pubs were closed. It was til recently that we brought over our tradition of drunken revelry when they changed to more of a party.

Oh, what a bitter thing it is to look into happiness through another man's eyes................ W. Shakespeare

So Chris went to Fiji and filed a quick report:
From: Aaron Foster <8@yahoo.com>
Subject: Your immediate response is needed
To: "miller chris" <9@yahoo.com>
Date: Sunday, March 15, 2009, 7:41 PM

1) Was it the best trip of your life? in top 3
2) Did you surf better than you thought? yes
3) Were the Austraila guys as funny as you thought? yes - and cool
4) What spots did you surf? Kava Bowls, Natadola, Sigatoka, SonaSalis, Wilkes and Namotu lefts
5) Girls? did you meet an Indian Fijian beauty that will be coming to live with you ? No Indo/Fijians but there were 85 travel agents from Queensland next door!!! do the math ;)
6) Are you buying a fish or short board now? My 7'-8" hybrid is working killer down there!

Please respond asap - more to come........



Here I am looking at happiness through Chris Miller's eyes. I had my best trip ever when I went and scored incredible waves. It looks like Chris did himself good.



He is on his way back tonight. Evidently his friend is a pilot and he has found slow economy pricing ($0) So have fun Chris.

Surfline just in 'top ten surfing colleges'

Surfline just ranked the top ten surf colleges: Link to the whole story is here

1. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT SAN DIEGO


Photo: Jeremiah Klein

PROXIMITY AND ACCESS TO SURF: As long as you can handle a hike and don't have an incurable pointbreak fetish, you can ditch your car for a bike as long as you live on campus. UCSD is set back a few hundred yards from the cliffs overlooking Blacks Beach, widely regarded as one of the best sand-bottom A-frames in California.

SURF CLASS(ES): Mission Bay Aquatic Center (858-488-1000), a UCSD affiliate, will get you on board.

SURF TEAM: Coached by FCS Marketing head Tyler Callaway. Check this link: http://recadmin.ucsd.edu/sports/teams/surfing/.

SURFING PROFESSORS: Who says surfers are a bunch of dummies? UCSD has enough surfing MENSA candidates to clog up the lineup at Windansea, including: Ed Hutchins, Beacons local, Professor of Cognitive Science, MacArthur Fellowship recipient and president of the UCSD Surf Club in 1968; Jim Hollan, Professor of Cognitive Science; the late Paul Saltman, former Professor of Biology and college provost; David Sandwell, Professor of Geophysics; Greg Mitchel, Associate Research Biologist; Ralph Keeling, Associate Professor of Geochemistry; Sam Iacobellis, Assistant Research Meteorologist.

SURFING ALUMNI: There's at least one in every yearbook, but here's a short list: Ricky Grigg, big-wave pioneer and Professor of Oceanography at the University of Hawaii; Rusty Preisendorfer, founder of Rusty Surfboards and Clothing; Tom O'Keefe, founder of Red X Fin Systems; Isabelle Tihanyi, founder of Surf Divas surf school; Mark Massara, Sierra Club figurehead; Bolton Colburn, current chief curator of the Laguna Art Museum; the late Chris Bystrom, surf filmmaker; Rob Gilley and John Bilderback, premier surf photographers; Benicio Del Toro (OK, he doesn't surf, but the dude won an Oscar, for Pete's sake); Geoff Rashe, shaper of M-10 surfboards in Santa Cruz; Charles Golden, PhD graduate in Marine Geophysics and current golf club designer at Taylormade/Adidas; Scott Bass, online editor at Surfermag.com; Allen Johnson; Garth Engelhorn; Holly Beck (former NSSA national champ); Loryn Wilson; Zach Plopper; Edward Graham.

CURRENT RIPPERS: Marty Wienstien, Lauren Sweeney.

HOW HARD TO GET IN: Comparable to a 6-foot triple-up behind the boil at Big Rock: good luck. Average high school GPA: 3.98; Average SAT: 1256.

KNOWN CURRICULUM: Everything that is right-brained. Biochemistry, Biology, pre-med... if you're an aspiring numbers person, you'll fit into the equation.

ANIMAL HOUSE/PARTY FACTOR: Compared to its crazy sister, San Diego State, UCSD is all highwaters, pocket protectors and Coke-bottle glasses.

MALE/FEMALE RATIO: 49/51

COST (in-state/out-of-state): $8,062/$20,600.

EXTRA CREDIT: "It's kind of weird," says Allen Johnson, who transferred from Florida Institute of Technology and graduated from UCSD in 1990. "But the fact that Blacks is right there almost improves your work ethic. If you miss a good swell because of your studies, you always know that a good day of surf is right around the corner."

DEMERITS: Due to the workload, missing that "good day of surf" easily can turn into weeks, months... even semesters. Remember: when in doubt, paddle out. There's always summer school.

ADDRESS/CONTACT: 9500 Gilman Drive 0021, La Jolla, CA 92093-0021; Phone: 858-534-4831; www.ucsd.edu or e-mail at admissionsinfo@ucsd.edu

Other top surfing colleges in the San Diego area include Point Loma Nazarene University, San Diego State, Mira Costa College, and Cal State San Marcos.

So the gaunlet is out there for my surf kids. Might as well go for the best. There will be as close to a pro surf career as they will get.

College is fun....you can surf, have fun and all while being able to show up at family functions with your status-'going to a top school'.

Of course when I went to SDSU it was rated number 3 by a national magazine (Playboy's top party schools). Now SDSU is a bit different. My friends son tried to get in and here are the stats; 58,000 applicants for 6800 slots. Average GPA 3.81. When I got in to SDSU I was down in San Diego for the late part of summer and did not want to go home. Wandered into the admissions office and there I was a student. Everyone else in my family went to UCLA. Me not a chance. The average GPA for UCLA is over a 4.1.

But I agree with Surfline UC San Diego is a good goal which will be carot/stick/threats/etc for my kids.

My computer got smashed so I am using my company computer

Here is what happened when I went to watch the latest Southpark

You have tried to access a web page which is in violation of your internet usage policy.

URL: www.southparkstudios.com
Category: Tasteless

Rule # 11 Work hard when the waves are bad / Note to Secretery Giethner

Rule #11 work hard when the waves are bad.

When I moved to Encinitas I was told you don't want to be Sick, Sued, Arrested or Audited when the waves are good. Your Doctor, Lawyer, cop friend and Accountant are out surfing. OK fair enough, but you know when the waves are crap these guys are the best. We know this and the system works well.

Now my note to Secretary Geithner:

The waves have not been good. Overall the winter swell session has been no excuse to blow off work. You need to step it up a bit. We have a nice big South Swell on the way but most of us are up on our work. Making the calls communicating with our customers. (We might as well overachieve now and be able to surf when the waves come).

Tim you are a surfer and should know the rules. which brings us to-

Rule#11-You have to work when the waves a bad. Not just work but work spectacularly well enough to be able to surf when the waves are good and your customers/bosses/minions will think you are on some big project. (Read your boss Obama is up and working, he will be able to rule Sandy Beach on his next vacation)


My guy Robert Reich is turning on you. He wants you to take action, let AIG start imploding ,take over the insolvent banks and spend your time protecting our assets and policies. Un and underemployment is on the rise, China is nervous, Mars needs women, pay your taxes. All this going on and we have a South Swell ready to hit any moment. Get your house in order or no one will give you a wave the next time you go to Martha's Vineyard with your board. Remember in surfing we run the ultimate democracy. A kook is still a kook whether you are the highest powered financial guy in the world or your my 11 year old son Logan. You get respect if you give it.
So Tim it's time to work spectacularly. We are pretty cool here about our shapers and glassers a bit late when the surf comes up, but we know that they will take care of business and get us our boards when the waves are flat. Talk with a clear voice on what is going on. Be calm, your smarter than us and we need you right now.
Do something....You have put Jon Stewart in charge of fiscal regulation...funny and uncomfortable but we need you.

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Jim Cramer Unedited Interview Pt. 2

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things w/ Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Jim Cramer

No waves for you until you get on the program.

The Drinking Will Continue Until the Economy Improves

With St. Patrick's day approaching I had some drinking thoughts.

First check out the award winning Guinness Ad


Kinda cool in an anglo saxon gladiator way.....

So my best College drinking buddy Todd just friended me with the Facebook thing. That is cool and makes me want to go to an 80's happy hour with my power suit and expense report (sans hang over)

Right after college I was the Guinness Rep and most popular college friend in the universe. Todd and I would live for Friday night happy hours throughout those days. See my college jobs post for the very important drinking information.

One summer day while going to SDSU with my minor in Pub Consumption, I got invited to a surf contest at Stone Steps. This was not your polictially correct contest.

It was packed with people hammered. The deal was you had to drink a quarter 'bucket of beer' before each heat and as you progressed the quarter seemed to get bigger. I think I made it through 5 heats. (I was preparing for a professional career).


This was my first foray to Leucadia before moving here in 1993 and my last until then. It was fun and funny. I want to say it was 81 when I was invited. And found myself a very poor quality surfer after some beers.

I found some pictures on line.

Cramer v. Stewart

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

Basic Cable Personality Clash Skirmish '09

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Economic Crisis

This has been funny. The experts have lost their Mojo!

How to survive the economic crisis

Surf More

Skateboard more even if you have to climb a fence.



Buy lots of surf/skate stuff to help your local surf economy
If your food budget is strained, make sure you Eat Republicans they are big, fat and taste like Oxycontin

We hold these truths to be self evident

Jefferson in his original draft said:
We hold these truths to be sacred and undeniable.
I think he was working on the Church/State separation thing. Either way my point today is to surf anyway. You never regret it.


When I pulled up it was small and uninviting. the kids sprinted for the lineup. I stayed on the stairs for a bit.

Then this guy who was changing out of his wetsuit next to me came over.

Guy...(in heavy French accent) 'I might be out of place but you should go out. Be with your kids. You will feel better after you surf'

Me...'OK!' In any other place or situation he would be out of place. But as soon as he said so, I was on. I knew he was right.

So I went out. Erik Baldwin pulled up to start his coaching session with Lucas. Lucas was stoked and surfing well. Ed came down and it was fun. I came out of the water a completely different person then when I entered.



It was fun. I ran into Paul and Mary Fleener and Paul gave me my coveted ASL(Avocado Street Local) hat!


"I only regret not doing the things I would have done with gusto and passion" Chaucer

No it was Captain America

Roger Ramjet

Rule #34 Shark Week and other Forbiden Media

Being a surfer and meeting several people as sales rep, there are a few conversations that generally will come up.

Non Surfing Customer....'Do you wear a wetsuit, is it cold?'

Me....'Yes we wear wetsuits almost year round.' (I don't tell them that I am obsessed with wetsuits and spent several hours, days and weeks thinking, buying and blogging about them.)

Non Surfing Customer....'Do you see any sharks?'

Me.....'No I don't'

Here is where it is tricky. Most people are obsessed with sharks and shark week, jaws, etc. I have seen sharks, twice. I don't admit it often or even to myself because of the paranoia involved.

The first time I saw a shark I was in Mexico in the late 70's at a beach break with a friend out. and there it was. We were the only guys out and we sprinted to shore. I saw the fin and spent years trying to convince myself it was a dolphin.

The second time I had an encounter was at Scott's Creek up north of Santa Cruz. Scott's Creek was the big wave spot before Mavericks was known to anyone but Jeff Clark. I was surfing a head high day and a great white probably about 10 foot came through the line up. It was crowded and the guys started yelling "Shark!, Shark!" I sprinted in. Again I saw the fin and tried to convince myself it was a dolphin but it was a shark and a great white at that.

When Jaws came out everyone of my friends went to see it. However, I didn't.

This is all I am committed to see on Jaws. After the movie several of my Friends did not surf for a few weeks. They were so freaked out. I being paranoid about most things knew this going in and was happy to stay at home watching TV that night and surf for the next several weeks.

So yesterday I am in Long Beach talking to a chemist who is completely nuts about sharks. He was telling me how they are going further into to the science of their killing instincts.

Me, I propose the rule....Stay away from Shark Week you will thank me when you are surfing alone some day and you are not focused anything but the waves.

The It

I saw my Friend Jason last weekend , who I haven't seen since I was in El Salvador a few years ago. It was one of those surf trip moments we all have when you are in the middle of nowhere surfing some secret spot and there is someone from your lineup at home just sitting there like we are going to go to Roberto's at session end.

Anyway he was riding this wild board and absolutely killing it! They call it the 'It'. So as I was coming home from Los Angeles early this morning I snuck into Jack's in Huntington and saw an 8'6" model.

Now with no knowledge of how boards work or what the hell I should ride I want one!

Most of the time I get a custom surfboard the shaper takes one look at me and shapes me a 3.5 inch thick tank even if I bring in a 9' high performance longboard it comes out as a 9'6" monster tanker. "This is the board that will work for you!" they tell me....

My new Hero Katrina Vanden Heuvel

Katrina Vanden Heuvel is my new hero. Watch her take Karl Rove for a beating worse than a bad day at Tehupoo.
My favorite part is how she addresses him calmly as "Mr. Rove" Unlike the usual theatre of shouting crazy stuff at eachother for ratings, he had to talk with an intellegent strong woman who made him wish he was just taking this beating below at chopes' not getting undressed on national television.



Dark Lord of the Sith Karl thought he must have been on 'Fox and Freinds' or Hannity's show this morning until he came face to face with Katrina.

The take down was so awsome I fell in love with her on the spot. I had to tell my wife that Katrina has edged out Halle Berry making it to the it to the top of my star crush list.

(Sorry Halle we will always have 'Die another Day')




Even better, she is the publisher of The Nation check out the article of Surfers vs. the Superferry
Surfers vs. the Superferry By Jerry Mander & Koohan Paik