2010

It's hard to measure the impact of King Ghidora on the Kaiju film continuum and on culture in general. A frequent victim of alien mind control, the "King of Terror" or "Monster Zero", as the press has dubbed him, may be Godzilla's favorite punching bag. When the citizens of Tokyo see Rodan overhead, they cry "Rodan is attacking the city. Lets run!" When it's King Ghidora overhead, they yell "Ha ha. Godzilla just bit off his middle head!" Or "Look at that belly!"

It's Olmec!

My one and only sitcom pitch, It's Olmec! Sinbad was to be his wacky neighbor. Sadly, like the protagonist, now long dead.

Mas del Ojo ...

Astronaut Surf Dance

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8'8" Mid-Simmons

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A mid-size Simmons, my best guess at the original template. It's 8'8" x 24" x 3". XPS core from recycled sources, 2x6oz s-glass on both sides, lam with C3D epoxy, hot and fill coats with Resin-X, finish with 1K poly spray (a strange mix of toxic and recycled sources). The keels are G&S glass-on, classic fish. Next time, I'm going make myself a pair of Simmons keels. It's a short Simmons, not like the Casper or mini-Simmons boards. The template comes from images in TSJ and the book of Greg Noll surfboards. How does it ride? Super-early takeoff, very fast down the line. Get the whole rail in the face right away and you have it all; needs clean waves of any size; competes with any log; can be ridden on the nose.

Knowing is half the battle ...

The Baroness, still looking good! Destro, so lucky.

Red Sled

It’s 6’2” x 23” x 3”. Stringer-less (recycled) EPS core. 2 x 6oz s-glass on both sides laminated with Resin Research epoxy. This is just before sanding & finish coat. It has a thick, crescent tail that I put there solely for visual reasons. The rails are 50/50 throughout. The bottom has belly throughout. The deck is flat. I kept it wide for earlier takeoff, an important asset around here. It’s only been in the water a few times. I just can’t get used to a board this short, despite the float and the weight. I’ve used it as a kneeboard. It worked well for stuffing the whole inside rail into some small faces, then pulling up on the outside rail. I’d like to get comfortable with this board and make more like it, probably thinner noses & tails, but keep the width

Good days of surf

Here is by brother-in-law on a great wave at M*****. It was an insanely good day and we each got just a few waves. Usually, I never bother driving down there when you have W********* and S****** right there in I********. He couldn't look more like Greg Noll if he had stripes tattooed on his a**. He was riding the same board (same a** too) during Hurricane Bill and looking just as good.

Here’s, one of me on a nice little wave in S*******. Some of you know it’s paradise for logging. I’m on my favorite board, an A*** K**** that’s *’*”, single f**. This was small day of the trip, though it never really got bigger than a consistent chest-high. A surfer from AL, staying on the beach for the winter, took the pictures then burned me a CD in his hut. We’re back there this winter.

One day late ...

Recently on my mind ...

“He has the physique of a great hero, or a mover of Pianos.”
- Michael Chabon, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, 2006

“My perfect day of surf is 3-5’ at Huntington Pier with 15 people watching.”
- Phil Edwards, 2009

“What the hell is an Aluminum Falcon?”
- Robot Chicken, 2006

Donas, Donuts, Surfing & Puerto Rico ...

If you're on a surf trip in I*****a, PR, get some donas from Mi Dushi after every session. If you're on a surf trip to Rincon, too bad. You went to the wrong spot anyway.

South End Open Studios this Sunday, 9/20, 11am to 6pm ...

If you're coming by South End Open Studios this Sunday, 9/20, please swing by and see my new work. I have six new sculpture, steel & wood.

Big, wide, surfboard ...

New for the well-groomed surfer ...

Shaving cream cans are environmentally unsound. If you surf, care about the environment and shave, this is for you. Oil based, in a tiny bottle that lasts six months. Reduce your footprint, increase your tip time

Mid-simmons at 8'10" ...

Not yet polished, but, I had to try it out last week. Glass on Hobie keels. Despite being 8'10", it paddles like a much longer boards. I had no trouble outpaddling the 9'4" popout/import crowd. It seems fast and it can be noseride. More as things evolve ...

2009 South End Open Studios, 9/20/2009 ...

Clay & mixed media-based installation

Studio 305, 551 Tremont Street, Boston

Sunday, 9/20

Glass from an old Weber ...

I've never owned more than 2/3 of a Weber surfboard. I'd like to have a Performer, one of the old ones at 23" to 24" wide, maybe 9' or 8'8"

The Interlift

Back in '79 (until maybe '83? and before the internet), NY and SF had these hydraulic Interlift access points around town. You'd go up there with a floppy, transfer your LMail, then go back to your Wang Office workstation or whatever you had at the office. I had a summer job checking the floppies before they were walked over to the Interlift ... making sure everything was properly formatted, etc ... The big thing was sending an LMail and having it show up on someone's Telex 45 minutes later. I saw this rusting hulk at a tech flea market last weekend.

Coming Soon: Mid-Simmons Board ...

Hot on the heels of my 11'6" wave eater, is this 8'10" mid-length Simmons longboard thing. A little more fussing, art, then glass (with glass-on keels). Like my last two boards, the lam will be epoxy (C3D), the hot & gloss will be Resin-X (also C3D). The foam is XPS, built from a recylced source (http://www.conigliaro.com/). The stringer is plywood, selected from a dumpster in Cambridge.

For those who haven't tried Resin-X (and that's almost all of you), it's worth experience. For the artist, garage or low volume builder, it is clean and easy to work with. Most of the learning curve is in deciding how much to thin out a particular layer.

For those who have been kind enough to ask, this one is also not for sale.