Sidetracked

After a long day of driving that took us through SLO County, Monterey County, Fresno County, Monterey County and back to SLO County, I was feeling a little dried out form all the inland warmth and sun. And when I returned to the coast, I managed to hook up with my friends Boss and Clam at the beach.

I hadn’t planned on surfing so I achieved what I like to call the Serendipitous Stoke — the stoke you get when you don’t expect to get a stoke. Which is really better than a regular stoke.

Also good was the fact that it was sunny and warm at Morro Bay.

Check out that sunset photo above. I’d been wanting to get some good sunset shots with my GoPro surf cam, and I finally got a good one.

If you haven’t noticed, it’s September already, so it’s getting darker sooner. And once that sun begins to set, you start thinking about ole Whitey since they always say that sharks come closer to shore as sunset nears. Last night, there were otters, sea lions, dolphins and bait fish out, which sort of gets you thinking about the chinless ones a little more.

Still, the water was glassy, and the shape was good so it was hard to leave. Here’s Clam catching a classic longboard wave. While Clam lives in SLO, he turns his rent check in at Morro Bay, which also gives him an excuse to surf there the first of the month.  

Clam teaches at Cal Poly, where from time to time he deals with cadavers. I’ll let him tell you about that.  But I think on this day he was pretty happy to pay the rent.

In this next shot, we have sort of a different view of a ride with Boss. I started shooting at the beginning of his ride and just followed through. Looks like the wave was about chest high on this one.

And finally here’s another shot of Clam. I keep telling Clam, who got started surfing in Florida, that summers here are normally calm and glassy. But the last two years — the two that he’s been here — that hasn’t really been the case, so he probalby thinks I’m full of it.

In the end, a good Stoke was had by all. And now we have a 3-day weekend to look forward to. Forecast calls for wind, so you’d better get out early.

Posted on September 2nd, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: Surf stuff, surf photos | No Comments »

Frankly, I would have never guessed that Billy Gibbons, the guitarist for ZZ Top, was a surfer. If you Google his name plus “surfing,” the only thing you see is that he once purchased an artsy-looking surf board.

But a question about the song “Tube Snake Boogie” Monday led to a fairly long discussion about The Stoke, which the singer/guitarist has been obtaining since he was 13.

If you don’t know already, Gibbons’ band is performing at Avila Beach Thursday in a show that will benefit Options, a nonprofit that helps people with disabilities. The band arrived in town a couple of days early, so they have time for sightseeing, which, of course, begs the question: Will Gibbons catch the Stoke in Pismo Beach?

We’re going to feature an interview with Gibbons in Thursday’s Ticket. But just to give you a head’s up, the three members of ZZ Top actually met backstage at a Doors concert. Formed in 1969, the 3-person lineup (Dusty Hill, the bass player and Frank Beard, the drummer) has remained constant through the years. Early hits included “La Grange” and “Tush.” But the band had its biggest success, thanks to MTV, in the mid-80s.  Memorable videos included “Legs,” “Sharp Dressed Man” and “Sleeping Bag” — all leaving us with those iconic images of ZZ Top with their lonog beards, shades, furry guitars and the Eliminator car.

When the Texas trio was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004, Rolling Stone gjuitarist Keith Richards introduced the band, which made sense since ZZ Top had opened for the Stones decades earlier.

During my interview with Gibbons, we talked about surfing, the bordello that inspired “La Grange” and, of course, those groovy beards. For more info on the concert, check out this site.

Posted on August 30th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: Music, Surf stuff | 4 Comments »

Okay, normally, I save this blog for fairly uncontroversial topics like music and surfing. But after watching news reports of this Glenn Beck rally, I have to get a little political. Because in all this talk, there’s something I’ve yet to hear a prominent Tea Party person say.

I want to hear them say that they’re glad big government stepped in to end slavery and segregation.

In all their talk about limiting the federal government and giving rights back to the states, I never once hear them mention anything good the federal government has done. And, let’s be honest here, two of the biggest things the national government has done put an end to very bad, embarassing things in our nation’s history, namely the subjugation of the African-American race, which led to discrimination, terror and death.

I said this was a political post. But, really, everyone — Republican and Democrat — should be in favor of ending slavery and segregation. Certainly Democrats in the South were a big part of the problem. And, yes, Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. But today the tea party crowd is overwhelmingly Republican. (I should add that many Republicans think the tea partiers don’t always represent their views.) And what’s disturbing is that a lot of tea partiers talk about big government as if everything big government has ever done is bad. And if that’s the case, well, you sort of have to lump abolition and desegregation into that argument, which makes a case for racism.

Think about it: Has Glenn Beck, who arranged the huge “Restoring Honor” speech this past weekend, ever said anything about how big government saved us from slavery and Jim Crow laws? Surely, he doesn’t think the individual states would have been quick to do it. Southern states fought it (literally, in the case of the Civil War) to the end. And this speech about “restoring honor” just happened to occur on the anniversary (at the same place) of Martin Luther King’s great “I Have a Dream” speech — a benchmark in the civil rights movement.

A cynic has to ask: Are we out to restore “honor” or white rights? This is the guy, after all, who accused our African-American president of being a racist.

Oh yeah, and it also just so happens that the tea partiers have been accused of racism, flaunting posters of President Obama with a bone through his nose. And, oh yeah, it was tea partier Rand Paul who suggested the Civil Rights Act was wrong to force private diners to serve black customers.

You can say that you don’t want big government butting into your life, and that’s fine. I don’t want the FBI building a file on me, either.  But if tea partiers insist that big government has always been wrong, then they’re saying ending slavery was wrong. And that’s just not right.

The tea party could gain some credibility by acknowledging that some times you just can’t trust states to do the right thing. Nor can we trust individuals to always do the right thing. If Beck is the historian he claims to be, then perhaps he should read Thomas Hobbes, the philosopher who argued that without government there is chaos.

Prior to the federal government stepping in, for many African-Americans in our nation there was indeed plenty of chaos.

Posted on August 30th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: The World According to Pat | 4 Comments »

While I’m not generally into pro surfing, I continue to be impressed by Bethany Hamilton. First of all, let me count the ways she is incredibly brave:

1.) After getting her arm ripped off by a 14-foot tiger shark, the 13-year-old was poised enough not to panic, preventing herself from going into shock. Despite losing 60 percent of her blood, she survived.

2.) Less than a month later, she resumed surfing. Not only would I be afraid of another shark encounter, but can you imagine trying to swim with an arm missing?

3.) Not content just to return to surfing, Hamilton has become a formidable big wave surfer, garnering headlines for her rides, not her injury.

Check out this amazing sequence from Surfline.  It’s appropriate that you can’t see her left side, which would reveal her missing arm. Because in this case, her injury doesn’t matter — it’s an amazing ride for anyone.

Photo: Noah Hamilton

Posted on August 26th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: Surf stuff | No Comments »

While I enjoyed reading Joetopia reminisce about his memories of fifth grade, I have to ask one question:

Marbles???

That’s right. Apparently, Joetopia was raised during the Depression. Because his memories of 5th grade — much like Spanky and Alfalfa from “The Little Rascals” — entail shooting marbles.

I’m assuming the soap box races came some time afterward.

Seriously, ‘Tope — did you ride to school in a school bus or a time machine?

Fact is, I know he wasn’t a child of the 1930s. Because, while you’d never know it from his basketball play, Joetopia is actually the same age as I am. Yet, I don’t remember shooting marbles in the 5th grade. Nor did I play Kick the Can. And, no, my parents didn’t give me an orange for Christmas because that was all they could afford. They gave me cool stuff, like Rock ‘em Sock ‘em Robots , Tyco race sets and Smash-up Derby.

Educational toys that entail smashing things.

I played Nerf football in the street outside my suburban house. I played with my friend’s Stretch Armstrong doll – then poked holes in it to see what it was made of.

What can I say — science intrigued me.

I played with Star Wars action figures, my favorites being, of course, R2-D2 and C-3P0.  Wiffle Ball games ruled even if we did fight over strike calls. And you know what also ruled? My Huffy bike – ”Thunder Road,” #6.

While Joetopia was listening to Bing Crosby and Carmen Miranda records, I was getting my first exposure to rock music via Fleetwood Mac (“Don’t Stop”), Steve Miller (“Jet Ariliner”) and Queen (“We Will Rock You/We Are the Champions”), and that ruled. 

Of course, a DC-10 crashed not far from our home that year –  that didn’t rule. Also, my teacher falsely accused me of stealing her grade book and ridiculed me in front of class for it. That didn’t rule, either. My best friends’ dads were all alcoholics, and I once had to call the cops on my own dad.

Again — rule.

Which is why I try not to get too caught up in nostalgia. Joetopia’s memories were sparked by his daughter’s classroom assignment, which asked students to get 5th grade memories from their parents. It’s really a fun idea, but there’s a lesson for the adults here as well.

Though it’s nice to think that childhood is as simple and innocent as shooting marbles — or sticking a pin into Stretch Armstrong’s thighs — it’s much more complicted. And when we think about the good ole days, it’s important to remember that they weren’t always good. Because we can learn from the bad memories just as much as we can the good.

On the other hand, there’s nothing wrong with a little innocence. Last night, for the first time, my daughter rode a bike without training wheels. And as I watched that smiling, giggling 6-year-old maintain her balance on our darkened driveway at 8:30, I thought to myself: She will remember this moment — right here, right now – the rest of her life.

Now that, my friends, rules.

Posted on August 24th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: The World According to Pat | 2 Comments »

    If you’re sitting at your desk thinking about a little after-work surf session, well . . . don’t get your hopes up.

Despite the high surf advisory we published in the Tribune, the surf isn’t so big. Mostly it’s just windy and lame. (In all fairness, the advisory says it will begin to build tonight. But other forecasts called for it to begin this morning.)

I figured you wouldn’t believe me if I just told you the waves were lousy — you know, thinking maybe I was trying to keep all those great high swell waves to myself. So I went out during lunch and took photos for you.

See?

The first couple are from Pismo, where it was warm but definitely a bit on the windy side. There were a few guys in the water, but mostly they were catching junk near the pier. You can definitely tell the summer tourist season is over. Because while it was a nice and warm (albeit windy) day, there weren’t that many people on the beach.

The next one is from Shell Beach. While it’s better protected form the wind — and while we expected a south swell might hit this spot today — it was small and shorebreakish. Again, there were some guys out, but it was nothing to inspire one to wrestle into a wetsuit. 

Conditions were much better over the weekend, where in Morro Bay we saw some head-high sets. Though sloppy at times, there was the occasional shapely wave.

I would have taken photos from the water, but the housing on my GoPro camera is busted. So once I replace that, I’ll resume with the water shots.

Until then, keep watching for that high surf.

Posted on August 23rd, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: Surf stuff, surf photos | 2 Comments »

Prior to seeing the Billy Idol concert last night, I was telling my friend Dan how crowds at the Chumash Casino always sit in their seats.

I’m pretty sure Dan thought this was lame, but I considered that a good thing. Because, 1.) I like to really pay attention to the performers, and 2.) I hate standing.

Seriously, why would I want to stand and do anything for an hour and a half? It’s just not comfortable.

Anyway, sure enough, for the first time since I started seeing shows at the Chumash, the crowd stood.

 The entire show.

Now, this is bad for my goal of maximum concert comfort. But it is a good sign for Idol, the accessible, spike-haired punker from the 80s.

Of course, while Idol’s name was on the tickets, it was a shared bill with Idol and guitarist Steve Stevens. Like Joe Perry to Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Stevens was a crucial part of this show, complete with flamenco-styled solos, Zeppelin riffs and a Pete Townshend windmill or two.  If you don’t remember Stevens from Idol’s heyday, you might remember him from Michael Jackson’s “Dirty Diana” video. You figure if Michael Jackson — the biggest star in the world at the time — chose Stevens to perform on the follow-up album to “Thriller,” he has to be pretty good. And he certainly was, cranking out solos in different styles that entailed classical fingering, intricate hammering and pounding power chords.

At the Chumash, there’s always that one defining moment of a show, marked by a stampede of people toward the front of the stage. Last night the rush happened during Idol’s cover of the Doors hit “L.A. Woman.” Playing to the crowd, Idol sang “Chumash Woman” on the chorus. (As a side note, I think it’s funny that performers there always shout out either “Chumash” or “Santa Ynzez” when really no one in the crowd lives there.)

Die-hard fans were treated with several songs by Generation X, Idol’s punk band before he became a star. In fact, the show began with “Ready Steady Go” from the band’s selt-titled debut album in 1978 and included a medley of “King Rocker” and “Running With the Boss Sound.” (The medley was preceded by a Stevens solo that included the intro to Zeppelin’s “Over the Hills and Far Away.”) He also performed “Dancing with Myself,” originally a Gen X song that became a solo hit in the 80s.

I thought Idol was a little off when he sang “Dancing with Myself” in a lower register, leading me to wonder if maybe he’d lost some of his vocals over the years. But the 54-year-old proved me wrong, naling “White Wedding” and “Rebel Yell” later in the set. It was during “Rebel Yell” — which included a long, crisp yell by Idol — that he finally took off his shirt, exposing a still-sleek frame.

While the few new songs he played didn’t have the same hooks as, say, “Eyes Without a Face” or the warm groove of “Sweet 16,” they weren’t bad as far as new material from old acts go. “Kings and Queens of the Underground” was a musical overview of Idol’s career with references to his hit songs and drug lifestyle. (He’s reportedly clean now.)

I’ve never been a big fan of the Tommy James & the Shondells tune “Mony Mony,” which Idol covered to much success in the 80s. But I’ll have to admit, heaering it live, I didn’t hate it. (Don’t expect me to start liking it, though.)

Always a more mainstream punker, Idol was friendly throughout, shaking hands with fans near the stage and handing out drum sticks to the crowd. And, of course, there was a fair amount of fist pumping. This is Billy Idol, after all. If you want to conjur a stereotype of the typical 80s British rocker, Idol should probably be one of the first to come to mind. And he seems to know this, saying things like, “We’re gonna rock tonight!” and introducing himself as “Billy F—ing Idol.”

There’s a little cheese there. But, hey — that’s what we liked about him in the 80s. And for those of us reluctant to accept the perils of aging, there’s comfort in knowing it wasn’t all a too-distant memory.

Posted on August 20th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: Music | 1 Comment »

See? The surf nooner is good for your mental health, which I will extrapolate is also good for your work habits.

According to a study presented at the Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association, surfing for as little as 30 minutes is associated with an increase in positive, upbeat feelings and a decrease in negative feelings and fatigue.

“If you ask any surfer, he or she guaranteed will tell you, ‘Oh man, I feel a lot better after I get out,’” study researcher Ryan Pittsinger told MSNBC.

Pittsinger is a surfer himself, which makes one wonder about his choice of schools – the University of Iowa — to pursue his doctorate. Some might also wonder if his sample size — 107 surfers on Manhatten Beach, CA — was big enough to draw reliable conclusions. But, hey, the dude is a surfer, remember? Interviewing more than 100 subjects seriously threatens to limit his own time in the water, which, according to his study of 107 surfers, would make him seriously bummed.

I should give credit where it’s due here. I read about this report on the O.C. Beach Blog. And it was Peter Townend who suggested surfers show the report to their bosses. And I fully agree with PT. In fact, I’ve previously given advice to local surfers who are interested in trying the surf nooner.

By the way, it looks like local conditions are going to get better for surfing. The swell is on the rise, starting today, and will continue to be pretty decent at least through early next week. So I say go out for a good weekend sesh and keep it going during your lunch breaks next week. Because 107 surfers can’t be wrong.

Posted on August 19th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: Surf stuff | 2 Comments »

So somehow I managed to not hear about the giant yacht that was anchored in Morro Bay yesterday. But as I drove past A-Beach, en route to the Cloisters park with my daughter last night, I looked toward Morro Rock and said, ”Wow — look at that big boat.”

While I was probably two or three miles away, I could easily see its massiveness. But in the haze, I couldn’t make out the details so I assumed it was either some sort of cruise liner or a military boat.

As it turns out, it looks like a combination.

First of all, kudos to Trib photographer Joe Johnston for getting shots of the billionaire owner, Andrey Melnichenko, and his supermodel wife, Aleksandra Melnichenko. And if you haven’t already seen Bill Morem’s story, check it out here.

Of course, this whole boat thing gives me mixed feelings. On the one hand, there’s a “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous” fascination with something so exorbitant and luxurious.  On the other hand, I have a hard time hearing someone is worth $4.4 billion when I work my butt off just to scrape by every month.  If I took my entire year’s salary, I might be able to buy a bath knob on this guy’s yacht.

No joke.

Curious to know more, I found this Wall Street Journal piece about it, which includes a slide show of the interior. Here are a few more facts from that Wall Street story:

* The bed in the master suite rotates on a platter in a room with a 60-inch plasma TV that drops from the ceiling.

* Some of the chairs on the yacht are made from alligator hides.

* There are 44 security cameras on the boat. Rumor has it there’s also a pod-like escape system.

* There are two 30-foot, $1 million yachts on the superyacht.

* The boat includes bomb-proof glass around the master suite.

Now, of course, some readers will complain that we’re writing about fluff and who cares about this when there’s real news and yadda, yadda. But there is an interesting economic issue presented by this boat, which is that is shows the gap is still growing — worldwide — between the super wealthy and the rest of us. According to the WSJ, sales of superyachts — more than 250 feet — were up more than 20 percent last year. Meanwhile, the not-as-rich were apparently more impacted by the tough economic times. Sales of so-called “middle class” yachts (a misnomer, I’d say) fell from 992 to 753.

While this Russian billionaire can can flaunt his boat all he wants, his yacht is soon to be a small fish in a big pond compared to fellow Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich, who plans to build a 540-footer. (That’s significantly bigger than the 394-footer in Morro Bay yesterday.)

Abramovich currently has five superyachts. He also owns a jet, three helicopters (because one helicopter doesn’t do the job) and two limos. 

Meanwhile . . . a bath knob, dude.  

Tribune photo: Joe Johnston

Posted on August 18th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: The World According to Pat | 6 Comments »

Going to Work    with the Kinks by the Riverside

When I was young, dumb and bored, my oddball friend Brad bet me that he could keep a complete stranger on the phone longer than I could. Being young, dumb and bored (see first line), I agreed to the bet.

I can’t remember what Brad’s tactic was, but most people hung up on him pretty quickly (can’t say I blame them). My tactic was a little more creative: I called a random number from the college and performed the Kinks song “You Really Got Me,” saying I was hoping to play it for my girlfriend and needed someone to tell me how it sounded.

Yeah, I know — a little weird. Probably creepy, too. But not only did I win the bet – by a long shot – but also? The girl who answered the phone said she was really impressed. Which, of course, suggested she was really bored, too. Still, it was an added victory since Brad was a way better musician than I.

So I owe that one to the Kinks. Yet, as influential as the English band was, I never really heard that much of their music, aside from the obvious hits.  (They only had five top ten hits in the U.S.) So recently I thought I would fix that by procuring their 1968 album “The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society.”

I remember “Picture Book” from those cool HP commercials. But, I have to admit, I hadn’t heard of any others on this album. A favorite quickly developed, though — a short song called “Sitting By The Riverside.”  Fitting of the album’s concept — lamenting the passing of old English lifetyles and traditions — this features an old timey sound with what sounds like a carousel backing track.

I’ve been listening to this one a lot during my trips to work (and even during today’s lunch stop to Taco Bell), and I just found the chords online. So should you get a weird call from someone playing ”Sitting By the Riverside” on the ukulele, don’t hang up. I might just be revisiting old times.

Posted on August 17th, 2010 by Pat
Filed under: Going to Work Music, Music | 2 Comments »