WHALE SURFACES NEXT TO KAYAKERS AT PORT SAN LUIS

By now you’ve probably seen the photo of the whale at Avila Beach, which appeared in the Tribune Tuesday. In fact, people across the world have seen that photo, taken by Bill Bouton, a retired teacher, which has appeared in newspapers across the country.

And now there’s video of the whales. The video above, taken by a kayaker, appeared on CBS News. But the screaming kayaker wasn’t the only one shooting video of the shallow whales. This guy took video on his iPhone — from the safe distance of the Port San Luis pier.

I’ll never forget seeing a pod of whales repeatedly breaching and crashing into the water in the distance at Cayucos Pier. Then, of course, many will remember the baby whale that hung out at the Morro Bay harbor for a few days.

Whales are generally friendly — as the kayakers in the above video learned — but they can be accidentally dangerous. In 2003, Jerry Tibbs of Bakersfield was killed when a whale breached on his fishing boat at the south end of Montana de Oro.

Nonetheless, seeing these breathtaking creatures is always a thrill.

But, of course, there are other fish in the sea, so to speak. Check out this video someone took of orcas at Avila.

In a really good concert, the crescendo leads to a musical climax that hopefully induces goosebumps, after which everything else is merely icing on the cake.

For Alejandro Escovedo, that moment occured during his cover of “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” a Stooges song, which he paired with his own solo hit “Chelsea Hotel ’78.” If “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” paved the way for punk in 1969, Escovedo and his band the Sensitive Boys showed how punk can be performed at its best, the energy of punk mixed the the musicianship of a great rock band.

These days, Escovedo largely gets labeled as an alt-country act. But his show at SLO Brew Friday channeled far more punk and rock than country. Largely playing tunes off of his three most recent solo albums — all co-written with Chuck Prophet — Escovedo powered through some of his more boisterous tunes, like “Man of the World,” from his current album “Big Station.” Other times, he and the band offered nice, warm grooves on tunes like “San Antonio Rain,” another new song.

Guitarist Billy White added sonorous — but not overdone — solos throughout, while bassist Bobby Daniels and drummer Chris Searles provided a remarkably tight — but also active — rhythm section. As for Escovedo, he might not have the greatest voice in the music business, but like Richard Thompson, he knows how to use it — whether it be on a rollicking number like “I Wanna Be Your Dog,” a catchy rock tune like “Anchor” or a soulful ballad like “Sabar A Mi,” sung in Spanish.

Having started out with the punk band The Nuns, Escovedo has come a long way — even though the lifestyle nearly killed him. Now in his 60s, he seemed to have hit a musical stride late in life, thanks to a writing partnership with Prophet which has been promoted by Jon Landau’s management.

Too bad there weren’t more people at the show. I was near the front of the stage — easy to do in this crowd — so I couldn’t get a great read on how many people were there. But I doubt the place was half full.

This from a guy who performed before 18,000 with buddy Bruce Springsteen and who has performed on several late night talk shows. And this for a guy who was one of the pioneers of punk on the West Coast.

The small crowd didn’t seem to impact Escovedo, who closed with two classic covers — “Beast of Burden” by the Stones and the Clash’s “Rock the Casbah” — performed with opening act Jesse Malin.

While his Stooges cover marked a musical climax, the icing on the cake was just as sweet.

Is it just me or have the candidates for the top two offices been dressing unusually casual?

Check out Paul Ryan and Mitt Romney in the photo to the right. They’re chumming around in honor of their newly announced union, but they look more like they could be posing for a “Men’s Health” spread.

Of course, this probably has nothing to do with recent criticism that Romney is a mega-millionaire whose budget plans entail tax breaks for millionaires like him and tax increases for middle-class people. If these guys look rich, you might actually resent them. So they ditch the ties — that’s for stuffy millionaires! — and they roll up their starched sleeves.

Heck, I’m surprised Ryan doesn’t go around with Milwaukee Bucks jersey and a backward Brewers hat.

Check out Romney at this campaign stop in front of a BBQ joint. With his sleeves all rolled up, the guy looks like he’s ready to do some grilling himself!

“Hey, Mitteroonie — could you put another rack of ribs on for me? Thanks, guy!”

If he were really savy, he would have donned an apron with the words “Grill Sergeant” on front. Not that’s a guy I can relate to!

Truth is, Romney and Ryan aren’t really aren’t like us. They’re wealthy dudes born to other wealthy dudes. They’ve never had to worry about paying for school, making the rent payment on time or saving money for retirement.

Romney’s got 100 million bucks in his 401(k)!

But they’re not alone in trying to court you with their unbuttoned shirts and jovial back slaps.

In his first campaign for president, Barack Obama practically made a uniform of those rolled-up sleeves and jacket-less outfits. They said, “I’m working class, like you. I don’t own a dozen houses like what’s-his-name with the ties.” This is the guy who, along with vice-president Joe Biden, actually had a beer summit, though for some reason they chose that occasion to actually wear ties.

Come on, guys. If ever there was an opportunity to wear cut-off camo shorts, that was it! Have you completely lost touch?

I blame Harvard Law School, of course, mostly because I didn’t go to Harvard Law School myself.

These candidates aren’t the first to get all casual on us. Remember Reagan and his cowboy hats? For good measure, he might actually get on a horse as well, which made us think, “Hey, he’s just a regular rich rancher, like me!”

I mean — wait. That he’s just another former actor, like me. I mean — shoot.

I guess what I’m saying is these folks aren’t really like us despite all their efforts to unbutton the tops of their expensive, tailored shirts. I mean, sure, at least Obama and Biden were like us, both coming from middle class backgrounds. But if you see them hanging out at the local fair, it ain’t because they want to catch a demolition derby. It’s because they want the camera to catch them being like you.

Photos: Associated Press

Every time I see a photo of Republican leadership — or a clip of them on “The Daily Show” — I see Rep. Kevin McCarthy in the background.

Sometimes you see his entire head, other times just a portion of his face. But he’s always there.

In this photo, he’s the guy on the left, as Speaker of the House John Boehner gives a statement. In the photo below, he’s on the right, behind majority leader Eric Cantor.

Of course, it shouldn’t be a surprise that he’s always around during these newsy moments. McCarthy, who represents large portions of San Luis Obispo County — including Paso Robles, Atascadero and portions of Arroyo Grande — is the majority whip in the House, a leadership position that makes him California’s most powerful national politician. He’s still a rising star of the party, though, so he’s invited to the stage but seldom gets heard on TV clips.

But McCarthy’s rise has been fast — and will continue to be if his buddy Paul Ryan becomes vice-president.

I met McCarthy when he was still a district director for then-Rep. Bill Thomas. McCarthy was very personable and easy-going. A likeable guy.

At the time, he was just getting ready to run for state assembly — his first run for elected office — and he seemed like a shoe-in. Once Thomas retired, McCarthy easily slipped in to fill his former boss’s shoes.

Thomas was, of course, chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which gave him a lot of clout. So with McCarthy now acting as majority whip, that means the county has had two influential representatives back-to-back. (Lois Capps, a Democrat, represents the rest of the county, along with large parts of Santa Barbara County.)

While McCarthy is not well-known enough to be heard on “The Daily Show,” he has aligned himself with the young GOP leaders Cantor and Ryan. He even works out with Ryan, doing the P90X workout that’s suddenly getting so much attention, thanks to Ryan’s selection as Mitt Romney’s running mate.

His P90X workouts probably have more to do with building political muscle than anything else, though. This is Washington, after all, a place where it pays to be in the right place, whether it be a power-broking bar like Bullfeathers or a gym where making contacts is more important than burning calories.

McCarthy has also written a book with both Cantor and Ryan, called “Young Guns,” about their vision for the country.

You can debate whether that vision is good for the country — and many will as they scrutinize Ryan’s recent budget proposals, which drastically cut social programs and offer large tax breaks to the wealthy. But one thing you can be sure of: Since his election in 2006, McCarthy’s political muscle has grown quickly. And it’s not unrealistic to think that he one day he might become Speaker of the House or a VP candidate himself, surpassing Thomas’s clout.

But until then, he’ll be the guy behind Boehner, silently waiting in the wings.

In the movie “Groundhog Day,” Bill Murray’s character says, “I’m reliving the same day, over and over.” And that’s pretty much how I feel about Mondays.

Not that I don’t appreciate things like, you know, having a job and being alive. But it seems like every time I turn around, it’s Monday again.

Because, really, I swear I was just sitting here, typing on this keyboard, and it was Friday! I even thought to myself: “This is Friday!”

But now, suddenly, I’m here and it’s Monday.

Can someone please explain how this happened?

I know there was a weekend in there, but it seems now like a blip in time. Things did happen during those two days — lots of things — but I swear things that happen on weekends happen faster than things during the week.

Seriously. I’m not crazy.

Anyway, check out this funny YouTube video about office workers with the proverbrial case of the Mondays. It’s a hoot. But I should add as a disclaimer that I do NOT endorse taking a sledge hammer to your office equipment, no matter how good that might make you feel at the time. Should such an urge occur, I recommend you view or re-view “Office Space.”

I know what you’re going to say.

You’ll probably roll your eyes when you say it. Or shake your head in that way.

“You sound like a geezer.”

Yeah, I know. I heard you say it before you even said it.

But, honestly, I can’t help it. After looking at this week’s Billboard Top Ten albums chart, my instant reaction was to shake my head — as a good geezer would — and think, “It’s not like it used to be.”

Here are the current top ten albums in America:

1.) “God Forgives, I Don’t,” Rick Ross
2.) “Uncaged,” Zac Brown Band
3.) “Believe,” Justin Bieber
4.) “Up All Night,” One Direction
5.) “Number Ones,” Bee Gees
6.) “Life is Good,” Nas
7.) “Kids Bop 22,” Kids Bop Kids
8.) “21,” Adele
9.) “Overexposed,” Maroon 5
10.) The Soul Sessions: Vol 2,” Joss Stone

I know. If you’re a music aficionado, you’re going to say, “You can’t look at the charts, man. Top 40 sucks. You gotta look beyond the charts.”

I hear you. But still. It’s just not right.

Sure, we all know the major record labels have been targeting young audiences for years. I mean, seriously — Kids Bop 22? You’ve got Bieber in there, plus One Direction, a new boy band. While people in their 30s grew up with hip-hop, I still consider it mostly a genre for junior high to college- aged listeners. And while Adele and Joss Stone provide nice nods to soul, they’re not as good as old soul. Amy Winehouse was the best one at channeling that genre, and now she’s gone.

But the biggest point of irritation for me is, when I look at this list, I know that none of these albums will have a long-term impact. Ten years from now, no one’s going to remember one thing about One Direction. They aren’t going to compare Bieber’s “Believe” album to the all-time greats. And the Zac Brown Band will be the next Kentucky Headhunters in country music.

“Ouch,” you say. “But I saw Zac Brown at the fair, and they were pretty good.”

That’s because you’ve lowered your expectations.

If you look at the top albums list from this time 30 years ago, you see records by Fleetwood Mac, Elvis Costello, Joan Jett, Joe Jackson, John Mellencamp, Crosby, Stills & Nash. Memorable hit singles included “Hurts So Good,” “Stepping Out,” “Southern Cross,” “I Love Rock n’ Roll,” “Spirits in the Material World” and “Jessie’s Girl.”

Go back 40 years, to 1972, and the top albums produced great tunes like “Let’s Stay Together” by Al Green, “Papa Was a Rolling Stone” by the Temptations,” and “Rocket Man” by Elton John.

Those songs were more than songs — they were milestones. “Papa Was a Rollling Stone” marked the emergence of psychedelic, paranoid soul. “Rocket Man” reflected mini genre of songs about space travel.

But, even better, these songs had melodies. You could sing along to them. They stuck with you. And you knew they were good the instant you began tapping your toes.

I can’t tap my toes to Nas.

“You sound so unhip,” you say.

But, man, decades later, we still remember these songs. Forty years from now, people won’t wax nostalgically over Bieber’s “Boyfriend.” Because Beiber fans will ditch Bieber once they grow up. People who liked Elton John as kids still like Elton John today.

Yeah — I heard you. “Don’t look at the charts,” you remind me, all smug. I got you. But you can be cool all you want. You can say it doesn’t matter what the charts say — listen to Arcade Fire, Vampire Weekend and Bon Iver. But it does matter, man. Because the songs that do well on the charts are gonna reflect what gets put out there in the future. And if Bieber sells a million albums, you can expect more Bieber, which is what One Direction is. And the Arcade Fires of the world will have to find some creative, back door way to get heard. And good bands that can’t think of gimmicks will have to have day jobs.

I blame the 90s, of course. That’s when it really started to go bad. While Nirvana, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and U2 had space on the charts in the summer of 1992, so too did Kris Kross, Billy Ray Cyrus and Michael Bolton.

When audiences embraced crap, they gave us more crap. And soon the charts had more crap than non-crap.

“You have strong opinions about this,” you say. “Maybe you need to take some sort of geezer medicine to calm yourself.”

Yes, probably. Or I’ll do what I always do: I’ll put my headphones on, queue up some Elton John and check out for a while.

All photos: Wikipedia

“You’re not going out there with that shark, are you?”

That was my mom talking, from Indiana. And my first thought was: How does my mom know about any shark?, thinking that maybe she was right when she said that moms just know stuff.

Then I remembered the little photo I had posted on Facebook. It was a warning that had been posted about a shark sighting in Pismo.

I gave my mom the standard response: “They’re always out there. They just happened to spot one.”

Of course, I could have told her the usual surfer line: “Ah, that’s just some guy saying he saw a shark to ward off the summer crowds.”

Or I could have told the more likely story: That nutrients tend to come to shore in the summer, which attracts marine wildlife, which then attracts Whitey.

No, I didn’t tell her that. Because that would prompt the usual response: “I don’t want you going surfing!”

Yeah, okay, mom. I’ll quit surfing.

But I can see why people think it’s a little odd to surf at a place where a shark has been sighted. (Oh, and did I mention this is Shark Week?) In the new book “Surviving the Shark” (Skyhorse Publishing, $24.95) by Jonathan Kathrein, the author notes that there was such a sign at Stinson Beach in San Francisco the day he was attacked by a great white. He, like several other surfers, ignored the sign and went out anyway.

Given the title of the book, you can pretty well guess what happens. And his story of how it all went down is pretty much every surfer’s nightmare: His friend went to shore first, leaving him alone. While paddling, his hand bumped into something hard and sandpapery. Knowing what it was, he paddled frantically, waiting for the shark to attack him.

The shark bit into him, shook him, dragged him under. Had he not grabbed the shark by the gills, it probably would have killed him. Had the shark bitten a centimeter further in another direction, he would have bled to death in the water.

As he was being whisked away in a helicopter, Kathrein, then 16, worried that his family’s insurance might not cover helicopter trips. Then he wondered if he’d be able to make it for the first day of school — the following day.

Luckily, he hadn’t looked at his leg.

But despite gruesome injuries, a team of surgeons spending eight hours in ER were able to save his leg. In the media frenzy (enter shark metaphors) that followed, Kathrein refused to portray the shark that attacked him as a vicious, evil predator.

“I wanted to portray the shark as a peaceful yet powerful animal doing what it was supposed to do,” he wrote.

A long recovery followed. And evntually he had to answer the inevitable question: Will you get back in the water?

“Overcoming the memories wasn’t easy but gradually I became more brave or perhaps more determined,” he wrote. “I might not fully overcome the fear, but I would not let it dominate my life. There are many dangers on land, too, but we don’t stay home because of them.”

So true. While I have to admit, I do get creeped out by the notion of giant predators in the water, there are many ways you can die unexpectedly. Like those poor people who just thought they were going to watch a Batman movie in Colorado. Or the Sikhs attending their temple in Wisconsin. Or the guy who’s driving down the road and has no idea the car in the other lane is about to drift over the center line.

Kathrein did return to the water a few years later. And with a new outlook on life, he realized he wanted to have an impact. So he helped found a non-profit, Future Leaders for Peace, which proposes to inspire young people to come up with positive ways to approach life’s challenges. Through that organization, he speaks to students across the world, sharing his story.

And he’s also become an advocate for sharks.

Kathrein isn’t a great writer. His recalled dialogue is pretty stiff, and he doesn’t have a writerly flow. But his retelling of the attack is one of the most riveting — and scary — shark attack stories I’ve read. And his ability to move on — to return to the water — makes it easier for me to go out, despite fliers that remind me of the predator that swims beneath us.

As he wrote in a Huffington Post piece: “Generally, except for a very small margin of error, the sharks will leave you alone.”

That from a guy who came out on the wrong side of the odds.

It wasn’t hard coming up with a nickname for my buddy, Brian. After taking a few photos of him surfing, his surf stance pretty much did all the work.

With his long arms dangling from the sides of his body, it recalled a familiar image from the tabloids:
The elusive North American sasquatch.

Or, as some know him, Big Foot.

Check out this famous photo of the sasquatch — which I reversed in order to give perspective — and compare to one on the right of Brian dropping in on a wave in Morro Bay.

Scary, right? Better check the foot prints on that guy’s board.

So you can see where the nickname Sasquatch would be appropriate.

That got me thinking, though, that one’s surf stance is sort of a unique thing. Sort of like a fingerprints but not really because, well, fingerprints are really not at all like surf stances. But still — you get the point.

Here’s my friend Dan’s stance, for example. If Brian’s stance looks like a sasquatch, I’d have to say this stance channels the sleestaks from the 70s show “Land of the Lost.”

Remember that show? Future NBA star Bill Laimbeer actually portrayed a sleestak — sort of a half dinosaur, half alien creature — when he was a teenager. Which was easy because pretty much all sleestaks did was walk around all stiff-like, with their arms out, as if they had a really bad sun burn. And their hands are usually splayed, as if wearing frozen mittens.

Dan’s brother, John, has an interesting stance. As he’s popping up, he’s almost in a sitting position. And at one point it almost looks like he’s imitating a bird crouch.

Then we have Joe, one of our photographers here at the Tribune. When Joe’s on a wave, he’s sort of hunched over and forward, with arms in front, like this:

Basically, it makes me think of the second guy in Darwin’s Theory of Evolution chart.

Of course, it might seem like I’m making fun of these stances. You know — comparing a guy to Big Foot or a sleestak. But really I’m just celebrating their uniqueness. Their individual style that makes them stand out from other surfers in the lineup.

Heck, I’d even show you a photo of my own stance, beside a photo of something funny. But, you know, this post is already pretty long. And I know you’re probably pretty busy. So maybe next time.

Meanwhile, I’m gonna work on my stance.

During the Commodores show at the Chumash Casino Thursday night, Walter “Clyde” Orange said he hoped that ex-band mate Lionel Richie would one day reunite with the band.

Too bad he couldn’t have joined them Thursday.

In fact, during the Commodores show, I actually felt a little sorry for those in the crowd who hadn’t seen Richie perform at the Chumash in 2006. Because Richie and his band were tight, honed and thoroughly entertaining. The Commodores were just . . . messy.

Richie left the Commodores, which formed while attending college in Alabama, during the 80s. While Richie’s solo career soared in its first decade, his old band had one big hit — “Nightshift” — in 1985, then it vanished from the charts. Still, it had an impressive song catalog that has allowed the band to do a Resting on Laurels Tour ever since.

Which is fine. I’m happy to hear older acts play great songs live. But usually guys that have been around a while — say, the Stones — have been playing together so long, they could perform in their sleep.

I knew the Commodores weren’t going to be this kind of act from the first song — when I noticed they were using pre-recorded vocal tracks to help them. The second glaring problem was that, well — Lionel Richie wasn’t there.

They did have Orange, who was sort of a co-lead singer until Richie came in to his own and became the star of the band. But Richie’s replacement in the 80s, J.D. Nicholas, is simply not Richie. He’s not as dynamic or as charismatic, and — to be blunt — he doesn’t sing nearly as well.

There’s a reason Lionel Richie became a superstar.

Beyond that, the band relied way too much on audience participation — a pet peeve of mine — and they talked too much about uninteresting things. At one point, Orange asked audience members to turn around and shake the hands of the people behind them.

That was always the worst part of going to church; I certainly didn’t want to have to do it at a concert.

And also? When I’m at a concert, I don’t like being told what to do. So when they told us to wave our hands in the air or to sing along, I felt defiant when I refused to go along.

I’ll react to the music on my own terms, thanks.

If the music is good.

I could go on, but the short version is that it was pretty disappointing. Because the band did play many of the great Commodores tunes — including “Easy,” “Brick House,” “Sail On,” “Still” and “Machine Gun” — and there were a few promising moments: Orange’s vocals on “Brick House” and William King’s trumpet on “Easy,” for example.

Usually, when shows don’t go well, it’s because the artists were uninspired. But the guys in the band seemed to enjoy themselves. Heck, even people in the packed crowd seemed to enjoy the show, which was a little baffling. But maybe I’m biased because I’d seen Richie perform. Or because I still listen to the recordings.

After watching the Commodores, I’m convinced that Richie never will reunite with his old band. Because while his solo career stalled in the 90s, the Commodores need him a lot more than he needs them.

In fact, since his latest album, “Tuskegee,” was a top ten record, I’d say he doesn’t need them at all.

It’s funny, but you know a guy is really into surfing if he uses a lot of surfing metaphors when talking about other stuff.

And that’s just what happened this week when I interviewed Alejandro Escovedo for a future Ticket story. He was describing getting on stage with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band — despite having had no time to rehearse.

“It was like dropping into a huge wave — you’re committed, and you just have to go for it,” he said.

I didn’t even know Escovedo surfed — until I did some research, reading past interviews. The former punk rocker, now critically acclaimed as an Americana rock guy, grew up in Orange County, so it makes sense.

“The ocean is so meditative and beautiful,” he told me when I asked if he gets song ideas while in the lineup. “Yeah, you can totally dream and dream and dream out there — until the next wave comes, and you’d better be aware and awake.”

While he went on a surf trip to Mexico before writing his current album, “Big Station,” surfing has been more limited since he moved back to San Antonio — where he lived until he was 8 years old.

“It’s hard to be away from the ocean,” he said.
‘
Escovedo is one of several surfing musicians I’ve interviewed. Others include G. Love, Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, Chris Isaak, Colbie Callait and the late Clarence Clemons, who surfed with Springsteen and the E Street Band in the early days.

Escovedo has surfed the Central Coast but mostly Rincon and around Vandenburg. When he comes to San Luis Obispo to perform at SLO Brew Aug. 17, he said he might rent a board.

“I haven’t surfed up there in a long time,” he said.

Interestingly, he has a Tribune connection. His bass player, Bobby Daniel, is the brother of Stacy Daniel, who recently worked for The Tribune as a reporter before moving to the Bay Area.