Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Further evidence...


... that Sayulita—despite being known as a mushy beginner's surf break—is home to some of the best damn surfers in all of Mexico. The September issue is on stands now, and sports homey Diego Cadena on the cover, getting SHACKED at a very sexy looking right hander. The bar at El Tigre is going off tonight.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Heaven and Hell



One of the reasons I bother to drive, semi regularly, all the way up to Lake Tahoe with the paddleboard is the promise of beautiful blue miles of sheet glass. Combined with a warm, sunny day, the often-perfect conditions make paddling on that lake a heavenly experience. But it's not a given.

On Sunday, the 2nd Annual 'Jam to the Dam' paddleboard race brought another opportunity to paddle in heaven, but Wind—the evil one—had other ideas. Thirty mph headwinds and whitecaps make paddling a sort of hell. It was worse on the SUPers, but overall, a lot of the racers struggled with the unruly conditions. And I'm not sure how to feel about this, but I think I found out that I do pretty well in Hell.

80 racers
66 finishers
30 mph headwinds
Multiple Coast guard rescues

I took 8th overall and 3rd in the men's unlimited division.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Gifts from strangers


Your mom told you not to accept them, and that advice is even more relevant today. But once you're an adult, anything goes, right? Well, maybe. 

I've been listening to Radio Paradise on iTunes Radio for a few years now and it's a really good, eclectic (hate that overused word) mix of fun stuff. I kept hearing a song by Seconds Flat called 'Dance On My Grave' and I liked it more and more each time. But it's not available anywhere; not on iTunes, not in music stores, and not even on unnamed p2p databases. I posted a comment on RP's website that I wanted to find it. 

Fast forward 6 months (and several emails) and here it is in my po box, a 9 song CD including 'Dance On My Grave'. Some random cool person in South Carolina—who knows some of the band members—tracked down a copy for me and just mailed it. For free. Thanks to Ed Price of Greenville, SC. Thanks to music lovers everywhere. Thanks Universe.