Hot Summer Nights

I was sent an article today regarding the disappearing beaches on Hawaii:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33934617/ns/us_news-environment/

Geologists say more than 70 percent of Kauai’s beaches are eroding while Oahu has lost a quarter of its sandy shoreline. They warn the problem is only likely to get significantly worse in coming decades as global warming causes sea levels to rise more rapidly.

The thing that stuck out to me with this article is that it keeps throwing around the term “rising sea levels” like bad propaganda.  This article is just a fluff piece – the fact is that sea level rise is unproven.  You could probably find a dozen articles supporting sea level rise, but I tend to side with those that take a more balanced look.

I used to think that global warming was a huge problem, but after reading “State of Fear” by Michael Chrichton I have changed my views.  I have a lot more to learn and read on this topic, but it’s something I’m rather interested in.

Beach erosion is a big problem, and is something that I personally care about.  The beaches around my house in Southampton, NY have been getting very small, and with each new Nor’Easter storm that comes through it seems that they get even worse.

This issue was one of the reasons I joined up with Surfrider.  I’m coming to realize that the major problem causing beach erosion is not global warming and sea level rise, but rather the hardened manmade structures that we build along the coast.  It’s these structures that cramp the beach and don’t allow it to move naturally.  Jetties, seawalls, roads, houses, and other similar things don’t allow the beach to move back as storms push back the dunes.  They also starve beaches of natural redistribution of stand from along the shore.

Even if sea level rise was a real threat, I don’t think the miniscule rise would cause such dramatic erosion in certain areas.  Instead, the most dramatic erosion is caused by jetties and seawalls.

Anyway, it’s good that these articles are coming to light, but I’d rather that we focus on the REAL cause of coastal erosion.  If it were up to me I wish we could just remove all the coastal housing and structures.  But that’s nearly impossible right now.  I’m going to personally do more research on this and I’ll post what I find.

So this entire past WEEK I was sick with the flu.  I think it was the swine flu.  It started out last Friday – I felt fine that morning except for a bit of a scratchy throat when I woke up.  I got a call from my friend Val to go to the mall around lunchtime.  We went to lunch and after lunch I really started to feel bad.  I could tell I was getting sick but I didn’t realize it was going to be that serious!

By the time I got home 4 hours later I had a 102.3 fever!!  I could barely stand up.  I had no food in the house so I had to make a mad dash run to the supermarket.  I’m sure everyone in the store knew what was up with me – as if the 10 cans of chicken soup, 2 boxes of theraflu, box of asprin, gallon of orange juice, bananas, and loaf of bread didn’t give it away.  I bet the guy at the register washed his hands and got the flu shot directly after I came through the checkout line.

Well, it was horrible, and a week later I can say I finally got through the day feeling pretty good.  I still get bouts of dizziness/lightheadedness but I’m not nearly as worn out as I was all week.  Still got a cough, but that will probably go away soon I hope.

Last night I was feeling well enough to go check out the Raveonettes at the Belly Up.  Val did a promotion with them with her company, so she got us in for free.  Stoked!  Anyway, they put on an amazing show.  The only thing was it was so stinkin loud!  It was literally painful to stand near the stage, so I had to retreat to the back of the venue to watch the rest of the show.  That was unnecessary – I mean you can have it loud, but you don’t have to cause ear trauma.  I don’t know how other people were dealing with the volume level.  I know I have sensitive ears and I have to be careful, but still!  Anyway, the lighting effects were great and they had a ton of energy.  What a great show!

The Raveonettes

A few days ago was the first night I could go out of the apartment, although I was still not feeling myself.  I went to go see the Encinitas premiere of Modern Collective, another surf movie.  This was fun – lots of progressive surfing.

I had really wanted to go see a surf movie premiere at the La Paloma (almost every surf movie worth its salt comes to this theater) and hadn’t gone at all last year when I was in San Diego.  Now I’ve seen 2 within one week.  Weird how life works.

Last night I got to go to the La Paloma theater in Encinitas to attend a showing of Rob Machado’s new movie “The Drifter.”  This was a really, really fun thing for me to do.  Rob Machado is a world champion pro surfer, and probably my favorite pro surfer.  I just love his style and his understated manner.  I had no idea when I came out here, but Rob is from Cardiff, which is right down the road (Cardiff is part of Encinitas).

Anyway, The Drifter is less of a surf movie in the traditional sense and more of an introspective documentary / travelog about his wanderings in Indonesia trying to get away from society as we know it.

Before the screening Rob played with Jon Swift, a great singer/songwriter/guitarist.  This was an amazing treat, since I had been a fan of Jon Swift ever since I saw “Shelter.”

A little bit of background:  Shelter was the first surf movie I ever saw.  I bought it when I just started surfing, when the sport was still this entire unknown world that I was embarking on.  I used to be intimidated going into surf shops because it just seemed like this other culture that I was not a part of.  Shelter is still one of the best surf videos to date.  The music in the video is fantastic, and features Jon Swift playing some great music including “Run, Run River.”

Well, much to my absolute delight, after the screening of The Drifter, Rob and Jon played another acoustic set while they showed bonus surf footage from the movie.  Basically we were watching a surf movie with live music.  The vibe was absolutely amazing.  Well, the last song they played was “Run, Run River” and it just brought back all these cool nostalgic feelings that I still get when I watch Shelter.

Jon Swift, Rob Machado and Friends

I love surf movies, and after following Rob, Jon Swift, and Taylor Steele for years and years from our little outpost on Long Island I was so excited to see them all in person, meet them, and talk to them.

Taylor Steele is really cool.  He is the creative mind behind a lot of groundbreaking surf movies.  Rob is very quiet and shy, and Jon Swift was easy to talk to and very friendly.  I was thankful my friend Lori was there – she’s not shy at all it seems, and she was more than willing to chat everyone up.  I probably would not have even attempted to get an autograph.  Instead it turns out that Lori went to High School with one of the musicians in Jon Swift’s band.  (You can’t walk 2 feet in this area without bumping into someone who has a connection with Lori, haha.)

Taylor Steele and Rob Machado do a QandA Session After The Film

Anyway, it was a really great night.  I got my DVD copy of The Drifter signed by Taylor Steele and Rob Machado, and I’ll probably put it in a frame.   I also got a few Jon Swift CD’s and he signed them as well.  It’s crazy – just a few years ago I was searching all over for Jon Swift’s music and couldn’t find it.  Now I have his CD’s, met him, and got him to sign them.  It’s funny how life works.  If you had told me back then I’d be actually meeting these guys I’d have been utterly amazed.

Rob, Lori, and I

I guess it seems silly that I’m getting all amped up about meeting a few minor surf industry celebrities, but it’s just that when something becomes a big part of your life like surfing did, and you build up all these nostalgic memories, it’s kind of a big deal.  I think coming from New York it’s even moreso since you never see any pros or famous surf people, and California and Hawaii and all those other exotic and famous surf locales seem a world away.  As I travel around and meet more people through surfing it seems the world gets smaller by the day, but I hope it never loses its lustre for me.  I never want to lose that excited, daring feeling of breaking into a secret clubhouse that I had when I first started surfing.

Here’s video I took of the end of the song “Run Run River”:

I don’t know why it is, but when I sit down at coffee shops with my computer it’s like I put out a sign that reads “Please come over and talk to me.”  I always attract people who want to ask me to help them get on the internet, want help with their computer, want to know what I do for a living and then immediately want me to give them lessons on internet marketing, or anything else under the sun.

Today I got up early and went to Panera.  The earlier you go, the less likely it will be crowded.  So I got a good table and was really starting to get into a groove, when this lady ambles in.  She was kind of frumpy and had a cane, even though she only looked about in her 50′s.  Anyway, I don’t mind that, but she was one of those talkative people who walks around talking to nobody in particular.  She grabbed one of the Panera workers and asked where she could find any used newspapers that people had left behind, and then had to thoroughly explain the reason why she liked day-old pasteries because you could put them in the microwave.

Anyway, I just KNEW she was going to start talking to me even though I was clearly working on my computer.  Sure enough, she comes over and asks me if my computer keeps running even if it’s unplugged.  I explained that yes it does because it has a battery.  She then pulls out a multi-outlet power strip – you know, the kind you have in an office and can plug about 10 computers into – and asks if I would like to plug it into her power strip.  I think she was under the impression that the power strip would continue to power the computer if the power went out for some reason.  I declined her invitation and explained that I was already plugged into the wall outlet.  Anyway, she starts untangling all her power wires for her laptop and then asks me if I’m from the East Coast.  I was surprised and asked her how she knew, but the only reason she gave was that she would go to New York every year.  But the last time she was in New York was in 1993, visiting her crazy great Aunt.

She then proceeded to regale me with a story about an old college roommate who called her “crazy Anne” for six months, even though her name was something else.  And then, probably because I must have looked utterly entranced by her stories, she proceeded to rant about how nobody makes bagels or pizza like they do in New York, and how this place in Oceanside made this amazing crust to her specifications.

Later on when I was at Starbucks this hyper woman came over and asked me if I could Google a company called Paychex in Carlsbad so she could get the number.  I agreed and searched for the company listing.  She then proceeded to jump up and down as I tried to get the listing, pointing at the computer screen and yapping “no, thats not it – oh maybe this one – no wait this!”  She was so high strung and tense that it pretty much oozed off onto me and I could feel my blood pressure raise by the second.  Finally I sent her off with the regional office number and told her to call them.

I think I’m going to start wearing headphones so people don’t talk to me.

Anyhooooooooooo…………

For Halloween I was a 1920′s flapper.

We went to the Belly Up for a big Halloween party.  It was fun, everyone went all out with their costumes.

The surf was kind of funky today.  I had a tough time catching waves, so it was a little frustrating.  Then the fog rolled in again, making it really dreary after about 3:30pm.

Also, I wanted to share this picture I took at Mecox Beach, in Southampton NY: