SST

The awesome SST Records label.

There was quite a long period of my life when 99% of all the music I listened to was produced by just one Southern Californian record label - SST.

Along with Black Flag (SST founder Greg Ginn's band) they released albums by Minutemen, Hüsker Dü, Meat Puppets, Saccharine Trust, Sonic Youth, Bad Brains, Descendents, fIREHOSE and Dinosaur Jr among others.

There was no need to go elsewhere really...

FINTASTIC

It's a beautiful fin...

Following on from Wheardo's new fin post over at the Log Blog I thought I'd mention the new rudder I'm running in my 8'6" diamond tail.

When I got the board shaped, I'd always imagined that quite a thin, smoothly raked fin with a bit of flex would suit it, and recently got hold of a Fluid Foils 8" Soul Flex that I thought would fit the bill.

Wow, what a difference a fin makes! This new fin works with the board perfectly for the waves I've been riding lately. I can feel the drive from it so positively and it gives a nicely measured response out of the turns too. Very happy with the fin set up now.

Fins really do make a big difference to the way a board rides, and probably more noticeably so on longboards. Of course fins work in combination with a multitude of other factors such as rocker, rail, tail etc, etc. But you can totally tune up your ride by simply changing the fins on yer longboard.

LOCATION-LOCATION-LOCATION

It's all about location...

A smaller property with limited parking, but very good access to the beach.
From LIFE picture archive - late 50s to early 60s, somewhere in Kernow.

EARTH-HOUR

Turn off the lights for one hour on March 27th.

PINK WAVE

Detail of a painting by Pete Fowler.

This is a painting that Pete did for us a few years ago (it was a b-day prezzie for R). Pete's done album cover work for Super Furry Animals and Magic Numbers, as well as animation for Kia Motors he's also the creator of a whole series of designer toy characters and is involved in a myriad of other artistic endeavours. He just never stops producing good stuff... Check out Pete's blog here and his Monsterism site here.

DOH!

New board - first ding. That's life...

SLAINTE

Hope you have a Happy St Patrick's Day (and enjoy a pint of the good stuff too).

Framegrab from Guinness surfers advert 1999.

Painted on a beam at the Guinness Storehouse in Dublin.

PEACEOUT

Hope you have a colourful weekend.

Rollover image to turn the volume up!

VINCENT

A tortured soul, but he sure knew how to make his brush flow...

Starry night.

Vince G - self portrait (on his good side!)

KIDS EYES

I let the kids loose with the camera at the weekend - interesting to see the beach through their eyes.

Shadows.

By Tyde, aged 9

By Cealan, aged 9

By Tyde, aged 9

By Cealan, aged 9

SUPERCLEAN

... and super small unfortunately.

HAPPY ST PIRAN'S DAY

St Piran, patron saint of tin-miners, and also regarded as the patron saint of Cornwall.

Kernow pride in the Perranporth dunes.

STINKER MAGAZINE

Skaters like Chris Miller would never throw anything but tuck-knee, the only excuse for a skater doing a stinker is if they're learning. Photo by J Grant Brittain.Check the shadow for altitude.

There are two ways to do a frontside air - the right way...

... and the wrong way!

Unfortunately a lot of surfers seem only able to do 'em stinkbug - which no matter how impressive the manoeuvre may be, to my mind it's still stinky. April 2010 cover of Surfer.

USE BOTH SIDES

The best ideas are the simple ones.

Being a family of scribblers means we get through a fair bit of paper (and yes, we always recycle it), but we've also implemented the 'use both sides' policy. All we have to remember is that the other side of the paper we've just doodled/scribbled/messaged/listed on is still a blank piece of paper. Bingo! One more piece of paper to play with, one less in the recycling bin.
No pieces of paper were used or abused during the production of this message.

MEMO

*Note to self.

TRUE TWAIN

Mark Twain.

PHUUUK!

TC drawing his line.

If actions speak louder than words, then Curren always spoke louder than most.

WRENCH PILOT

Wrench Pilot number 16.

Wrench Pilot was drawn by Mel Bend (Andy Jenkins) and published in Transworld Skateboarding magazine between 1989 - 1991. 23 episodes of Wrench Pilot appeared before Bend stopped drawing it.

I had a subscription to the magazine back then and part of the thrill of getting my copy in the post was following the latest adventures of Lettus Bee. I loved everything about it - the contrasty black & white-ness, the graphic flow, the outsider concepts & storylines and of course the brilliant drawing...

THE GREATEST

"A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life."

Muhammad Ali; world champ, politically and socially outspoken, never lacking in self confidence and always dignified & stylish.

For a few more nuggets of wisdom etc, click here.

HELLO TOKYO

In Deep.

A big welcome to Club 51, all the way from Tokyo, Japan - another transplanted Celt enters the blogosphere...

Why Club 51? Because he dwelleth with the gods upon the 51st floor approx one thousand feet up in the air! That's why.

CORKAGE

Spent last weekend in Cork joining the celebrations for young Rua.

Shop full of religion.

Rory Gallagher Place, Cork.

Watched the mighty Munster do battle.

Nipped over to The Kingdom to check a couple of spots.

Flat this time, but always worth a look.

INTERVIEW - DAVE BARNWELL

db stylin' off the bottom on a nice right at G-Bay.

Anyone who has surfed in the south west of Cornwall in recent years will probably have come across Dave Barnwell's smiling face in the water, and clicked onto his popular SurfHog website. Always a positive presence and guaranteed to bring a good vibe to the line-up, I thought I'd try and get a bit of an insight into what keeps him stoked.

Dave, where are you from and when did you start surfing?

I was born in Bristol, but I've lived all over; the Midlands, the South East, and for a few years Arizona in the States. I started surfing in Brighton, in the late nineties, but didn't get hooked until I started coming down to Cornwall regularly to get in at more consistent breaks, well more consistent than Brighton has to offer anyway! I've spent a lot of my life on or around the water/ocean, thanks to my parents owning several small boats over the years.

Do you remember your first green wave?

My first green wave was at Godrevy in front of the lifeguard hut, I remember looking down and seeing a few sand eels accompanying me too, I don't think anyone forgets that moment. It's when the obsession truly starts.

What keeps you coming back for more?

Surfing for me is about relaxing, having fun, it's one of the few things I've found where you totally empty your mind of everything, it's not a conscious thing, it just seems there's no room for anything but the moment when riding a wave, that's pretty special; the rest of the time I'm just soaking up the scenery and the company of friends, or watching other folks grab a good wave.

Nice & clean and goin' for the nose.

You must be the smiliest person I've ever come across in the water - big grin, always happy to chat etc - what keeps you so stoked?

I always try to be positive, it's a conscious choice. If I chat to someone heading in for a session I always make a point of wishing them a good one. I'm a firm believer in a positive attitude rubbing off on folks around you. I did have a period of low times for a couple of years, and if anything getting through that taught me the value of embracing the good, and not beating yourself up about the bad times; surfing's one of those good things, to be embraced.

How do you cope with the inevitable crowds these days?

I hate crowds, I find it does take the edge off a surf, as you have to go into competition mode to ensure you get some good waves, rather than relax and go with the flow. In the summer the easiest way to avoid the crowds is simple, get up for the dawny or wait for the sunset session. I was getting in at 4.45am mid summer last year when the conditions were good. Plus just going to breaks that involve a bit of effort to get to cuts down the crowd rapidly.

HISTORY

Ma & Pa and Rex the first, Godrevy August 1970.

ATLANTIC

Biro lines.

CALENDAR

A bit late I know; here's a calendar I did for 2010 highlighting people with Kernow Konnections who made a mark in the world.

BLACK&WHITE WORLD

The zen of Calvin & Hobbes rules. Clicky piccy to go big.

SALTWATER CURES

Isak Dinesen quote (pseudonym of Karen Blixen - Danish writer of Out of Africa).

ALTOCUMULUS

Beautiful clouds on Saturday.

INTERVIEW - MARK 'TRAWLER' LAWER

Trawler lien-to-tail, Newquay.

For those with links to skateboarding in the UK Trawler will need no introduction. Based in Plymouth, but always liable to put in an appearance at a skatepark anywhere in Europe, if Trawler had a personalised number plate it would be SK8R4LIFE. Despite incurring injuries that would leave many on the couch permanently, he's still skating hard and along with running a business and raising a family, is now also pursuing his love of custom bikes.

Trawler running cones in 1977, Plymouth Hoe.

How long have you been rolling and what got you hooked in the first place?

I have been skateboarding for a total of 30+ years. Seeing Surfer magazines when I was a kid and surfing on TV, I think it was a programme called David Nivens Amazing World.
My grandparents lived in Newquay and I went there in the school holidays. Grandad found a rollerskate skateboard in the side alley public walkway. I picked it up and spent hours trying to master it. I was hooked just as the first craze wave came along.

Trawler, fully flared, Plymouth Hoe 1977. Nice jumper.

Skateboarding has seen many changes, is there any particular period you look back on as being poignant for you?

I liked skateboarding when it was pure and new and it was what we did growing up. Also I like it in later life, the last ten years has seen lots of new ramps and parks and I have enjoyed sampling all the new terrain and travelling over Europe and a few trips to the United States.

Olden days Trawler pushing past vertical in the Plymouth fullpipe.

Recent days Trawler upside down in Brixxleg.

Why do you still get your grind on?

It is part of who I am, I have to skate, I go nuts without skateboarding for long periods of time. It's like old longboarder surfers that you see at the beach, they have to do it.

THIS IS FLOW

Marvin Gaye - What's going on.

From the very first notes of the opening riff this is a work of art that defines flow.

I'm really not a fan of smooth vocalists, give me raw & gritty anytime, but I make an exception for Marvin Gaye's 'What's going on'. Bubbling basslines, funky riffs and pure flowing vocals combine to create a timeless suite that sounds as good today as it did almost 40 years ago when it was introduced in 1971. I particularly like that the title of the album is a statement more than a question.

Marvin Gaye talks about how he'd studied at the microphone for many years and finally felt that he learnt how to sing on this album - his secret; Relax and just let it flow...

GALLAGHER...

Rory Gallagher, 2 March 1948 - 14 June 1995 (aged 47).

My bro-in-law recently found a load of old negs that he thought he'd lost including this shot he took of Rory Gallagher at SFX (St Francis Xavier Hall) Dublin, Christmas 1983.
Blues is a musical genre created within the African-American communities in the Deep South of the United States at the end of the 19th century. And within the genre there are many great Blues musicians with deep ties directly linked to those roots.
Yet, in a different place and time, a white guy from a quiet corner of Ireland, can also 'get' the Blues and go on to be recognised amongst the top Blues guitarists on the planet. RIP Rory G.
Photo: Courtesy of Michael MacSweeney

BUSTIN STYLE

Mark Richards & Shaun Tomson doubled in the tube at Backdoor circa 1974. (Not a flat screen TV! - Old skool all the way)

I actually won a copy of Bustin Down the Door (first time I've ever won anything). Top film based loosely on Rabbit's book, crammed full of great footage from the sevs, with lots of interviews to back it up (I particularly like Michael Tomson's raggedy style).
Thanks to BeachBum for running the little comp over on his blog.