Dispatches from the Farm

Indian Summer.....

2011-12-14T15:20:00.000-08:00

Indian summer is always such an important time to me. I cannot explain how or why, but just one day to myself along the coast during this time of year does so much for my mind and spirit. A total reboot, recharge, refresh of all my senses, desires, dreams, hopes, all of it. I never really plan this day each year either, it just sort of happens, as if i'm called out there by an unseen force each year. It may be all in my head, and probably is, being the superstitious surfer i am. Either way, i count on it each year, so i can move forward, and this year coming is going to be a good one if this day was any indication....here are some images of my Indian Summer on Pacific Coast Highway 1, California...enjoy.

dashed on the rocks...

2011-10-27T04:10:00.000-07:00

Not like Moses came, in a basket down a gentle stream...
Not for you my son, you were born into a maelstrom on a listing ship.
All the while He was there, do you see?
All the while I've clung to you, and you've clung to me.
Make no mistake my son, much like I, you've been dashed from the start...
you know not now, that a mark's on your heart.
Bottle up life not, pour it out to Him...
Keep it not inside, keep it not within.
Son, I know, for there i've already been.
All around you, men will crumble, down on the first blow...
but not you and i, oh no. Cracked from stone, on we will go.
Made for a season, through the fire our steel. He's pounded us flat,
made for the kill. Sharpened in hurt, bent for His will.
I know it seems heavy, this world evokes wrath....
but you will be strong, you must be, for this path.
Man up son, play the part. I am not worried, I know you've the heart.
The times lay ahead, when they'll need men like us...
men of nerve, men who've suffered, men with angst, when we've only sought love.
We'll get our chance, we'll have our day.
The Lord's had to harden us up, so we'd make it all the way.
For in this truth, be thankful, be glad....for one day you will be,
when the rest have been had.
Look them in the eye, and plant your feet....
knowing you can square off with anything life throws you, anyone you meet.
Fear is our enemy, in that lies defeat.
We have no cause to worry though, He has them already beat.
He goes on before us, just keep on your feet.
Keep your chin up, don't look left, don't look right.
Don't you dare stop, don't look down, and keep Him in sight.
Don't feel like you fail me, I know you'll do right.
I push you hard, I press you, I won't let up, and there's a good reason why.
I want to be sure Son, that you're stronger than I.

The Tourist

2011-10-21T16:03:00.000-07:00

Just passing through....
I'm packing light with a heavy heart.
They're waiting for me, and I'll someday be waiting for you.
Been given what i need, and not much else.
No lofty degree, no material wealth...
just my soul, my identity, and my bill of health.
I don't speak several languages, and i don't
tango dance.
I wear worn out levis, i don't starch my pants.
I don't belong here, I belong where i'm going...
just a tourist passing through, loving, admiring.
Sure, i have a job, but it's not what I'm for...
just a means to an end, till i'm called for much more.
Not the modern man, not like those in spades...
and i'd love you like they can't if given the chance.
just where i am, and that's where i'll be.
for some reason, in some ryhme....Lord knows I don't.
roads i would travel, but i can't and i won't.
If i stay on this road, and i follow his will,
my destination will be revealed. I know it will.
I travel alone, but I'd love you to come...
just pack light, for we surely will roam.
I can offer only this heart, for that's all i have to give..
but i promise you this, we will truly live.
On a leave of sorts, till the trumpets blow...
and it's in that hour, that you'll truly know...
why i cannot go where some men do, for the time is short,
and i've a job to do.

and nothing else matters....

2011-10-14T23:52:00.000-07:00

Letting my folks down
Letting myself down
Marching in the hot sun towards an unknown future
You weren't with us yet but you already made it all worthwile
1,700 miles from all i've known
sixteen lanes into four
I can't find a quiet place, and all night long the jets roar overhead
she screams at me, i know she wants to leave, but i don't know why
you're on your way, like a bomb dropped into a total war zone
i was blown away by you, and nothing else mattered...
my life changed forever, my life had a purpose forever
it all happened within the course of a year, and your waves will go on forever causing ripples in my pond till long after i'm gone
my parents had to shove me off the dock like a ship to sea
i fought like hell and helplessly watched you both being ripped from me
going through the motions because to keep going on is all i know,
i put one foot in front of the other
i know you didn't see, that to not see you, was killing me. I know you couldn't see, that to talk on the phone only made my heart bleed
it all fell apart again, my best laid plans....
making mockery of my wants and my will when it wasn't his...
i see now, what i didn't see then, and i praise him now for what he brought me through that i cursed him for allowing then
we three are survivors, more than that, victors....our hour is at hand, you and i
we will dream big dreams together, be free to be together, you and i...
i can walk through fire. i can take it all. I am not afraid, for i am in her good graces. She is beautiful, she is part of me, she loves me as i love her. i'll never be lonely if i have her in my life....
and nothing else matters

Artificial Intelligence?

2011-08-25T16:41:00.000-07:00

Came across this article online at PopSci.com....pretty interesting, take a look.....

NEW COMPUTER CHIP MODELED ON A LIVING BRAIN CAN LEARN AND REMEMBER
IBM, with help from DARPA, has built two working prototypes of a "neurosynaptic chip." Based on the neurons and synapses of the brain, these first-generation cognitive computing cores could represent a major leap in power, speed and efficiency
By Rebecca Boyle Posted 08.18.2011 at 10:30 am 23 Comments

IBM's "Neurosynaptic" chip prototype IBM Research Zurich
A pair of brain-inspired cognitive computer chips unveiled today could be a new leap forward — or at least a major fork in the road — in the world of computer architecture and artificial intelligence.
About a year ago, we told you about IBM’s project to map the neural circuitry of a macaque, the most complex brain networking project of its kind. Big Blue wasn’t doing it just for the sake of science — the goal was to reverse-engineer neural networks, helping pave the way to cognitive computer systems that can think as efficiently as the brain. Now they’ve made just such a system — two, actually — and they’re calling them neurosynaptic chips.
Built on 45 nanometer silicon/metal oxide semiconductor platform, both chips have 256 neurons. One chip has 262,144 programmable synapses and the other contains 65,536 learning synapses — which can remember and learn from their own actions. IBM researchers have used the compute cores for experiments in navigation, machine vision, pattern recognition, associative memory and classification, the company says. It’s a step toward redefining computers as adaptable, holistic learning systems, rather than yes-or-no calculators.
“This new architecture represents a critical shift away form today’s traditional von Neumann computers, to extremely power-efficient architecture,” Dharmendra Modha, project leader for IBM Research, said in an interview. “It integrates memory with processors, and it is fundamentally massively parallel and distributed as well as event-driven, so it begins to rival the brain’s function, power and space.”
You can read up on Von Neumann architecture over here, but essentially it is a system with two data portals, which are shared by the input instructions and output data. This creates a bottleneck that will fundamentally limit the speed of memory transfer. IBM’s system eliminates that bottleneck by putting the circuits for data computation and storage together, allowing the system to compute information from multiple sources at the same time with greater efficiency. Also like the brain, the chips have synaptic plasticity, meaning certain regions can be reconfigured to perform tasks to which they were not initially assigned.
IBM’s long-term goal is to build a chip system with 10 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses that consumes just one kilowatt-hour of electricity and fits inside a shoebox, Modha said.
The project is funded by DARPA’s SyNAPSE (Systems of Neuromorphic Adaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics) initiative, and IBM just completed phases 0 and 1. IBM’s project, which involves collaborators from Columbia University, Cornell University, the University of California-Merced and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, just received another $21 million in funding for phase 2, the company said.
Computer scientists have been working for some time on systems that can emulate the brain’s massively parallel, low-power computing prowess, and they’ve made several breakthroughs. Last year, computer engineer Steve Furber described a synaptic computer network that consists of tens of thousands of cellphone chips.
The most notable computer-brain achievements have been in the field of memristors. As their name implies, a memory resistor can “remember” the last resistance that it possessed when current was flowing through it — so after current is turned back on, the resistance of the circuit will be the same. We will not attempt to delve too deeply here, but this basically makes a system much more efficient.

A Map of the Mind: The highways and byways connecting the various regions of a Macaque monkey's brain. PNAS
Hewlett-Packard has been developing memristors since first describing them in 2008, and has also been part of the SyNAPSE project. Last spring, HP engineers described a titanium dioxide memristor that uses low power.
For a brain-based computer system, memristors can function as a computer analogue for a synapse, which also stores information about previous data transfer. IBM's chip doesn't use a memristor architecture, but it does integrate memory with computation power — and it uses computer neurons and axons to do it. The building blocks are simple, but the architecture is unique, said Rajit Manohar, associate dean for research and graduate studies in the engineering school at Cornell.
"When a neuron changes its state, the state it is modifying is its own state, not the state of something else. So you can physically co-locate the circuit to do the computation, and the circuit to store the state. They can be very close to each other, so that cooperation becomes very efficient," he said.
Modha said it is just a new way to store memory.
"A bit is a bit is a bit. You could store a bit in a memristor, or a phase-change memory, or a nano-electromechanical switch, or SRAM, or any form of memory that you please. But by itself, that does not a complete architecture make," Modha said. "It has no computational capability."
But this new chip does have that power, he said. It integrates memory with processor capability on a typical SOI-CMOS platform, using traditional transistors in a new design. Along with integrated memory to stand in for synapses, the neurosynaptic “core” uses typical transistors for input-output capability, i.e. neurons.

Chip Simulation: A simulation of the cognitive chip. IBM has fabricated two chips based on this design, which the company says recreate the phenomena between spiking neurons and synapses in biological systems. IBM Research
This new architecture will not replace traditional computers, however. “Both will be with us for a long time to come, and continue to serve humanity,” Modha predicted.
The idea is that future powerful chips based on this brain-network design will be able to ingest and compute information from multiple inputs and make sense of it all — just like the brain does.
A cognitive computer monitoring the oceans could record and compute variables like temperature, wave height and acoustics, and decide whether to issue tsunami or hurricane warnings. Or a grocer stocking shelves could use a special glove that monitors scent, texture and sight to flag contaminated produce, Modha said. Modern computers can’t handle that level of detail from so many inputs, he said. But our brains do it all the time — grab a rotting peach, and your senses of touch, smell and sight work in concert instantaneously to determine that the fruit is bad.
To do this, the brain uses electrical signals between some 150 trillion synapses, all while sipping energy — our brains need about 20 watts to function. Understanding how this works is key to building brain-based computers, which is why IBM has been working with neuroscientists to study monkey and cat brains. That research is progressing, Modha said.
But it will be quite some time before computer chips can truly match the ultra-efficient computational powerhouses that nature gave us.

Creeeeeeepy……..man is planting in God’s flower box…..better watch out, for what is going on behind closed doors is going on behind closed doors for a reason. What I’m curious about is who the funding is coming from for these projects, and if it’s government connected or not….anyhow, just something to keep on your radar…make more than a mental note of this.
Here are some comments which were posted in response to this article from PopSci.com:
“we are a stage in life where we will take evolution into our own hands. thanks to our intelligence. we no longer have to evolve to survive. technology helps us each day way more than basic evolution. im thinking that we will evolve into a cyborg species soon. Deus Ex: Human Revolution comes to mind.”

“My thoughts on the above is that if you want to view this scientific achievement in the light of evolution, we are evolving into a species that will replace itself with cyberbeings that can travel the universe and learn immense knowledge and possibly become eternal beings. I'm not sure how a soul would fit into the new cyberbeing unless we created in them a moral circuitry or "code" of ethics that would be in "our image"...so to speak. Putting a human image into a cyberbeing might be the greatest human accomplishment ever. I just hope that these new beings will be able to forgive our inhumanity (when the new beings reach conscience and realize that we as a human race have major defects throughout) to each other and not do the same or we may pay dearly for our "sins" as these new beings may become our overlords someday.”

I dunno...anyways, lets hope the powers that be have good intentions.

2011-07-23T16:58:00.000-07:00

.....i like to think so anyway.....

(below shot with my Yashica 635 on Kodak Ektar 100 spd. color film)

Merlin's Dust......

2011-07-01T10:29:00.000-07:00

I have a good friend up north in Washington taking hunks of steel, copper, brass, and aluminum, mixed in with some metal flake, and turning it all into the desires of a man's heart. I speak of two wheeled freedom. Freedom from the norm. Freedom from the stripped down sissified modern man mold that society has created. Freedom from whatever it is you need freed from.....women, jail, booze, past....put your knees in the breeze on one of these..... I present to you in it's early form.."Merlin's Dust"

dig it....
below are some footnotes on the build by the man himself....
"3 years in the making of the roller, 2 months for the whole rest of
it. handmade frame, handmade front end and trees, all mounts
,controls, tabs and bungs scratch built in house. trees,top and lower
motor mounts are made to mimic the shape of the triumph rocker boxes
.3 weeks ago i drove down to napa from tacoma to pick up paint from
brandon penserini, drove back,built it up in 3 days and drove back
down to orange county for born free 3."

go and let your eyes be opened....

www.heyitsnatescrap.blogspot.com

Coasting along.....

2011-06-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

in a strange place.
puzzled by my current state.
having to let go and move forward.
things left unsaid.
another time.
another life.
feet are asleep.
hunk of lead hanging in the lower part of my heart.
wind blowing through my hole like a hurricane.
i have much, but it doesn't matter sometimes.
time for a drive.
time to coast in that familiar place.
Coasting along in solitude....

Noble Red Man, Lakota speaks.....

2011-05-04T23:08:00.000-07:00

"You are going to learn the most important lesson- that God is the most powerful thing there is. We indians aren't afraid to die. We've got a place to go, a better place, so we don't care. We're ready. We just want you to know. Maybe you can change, maybe you can stop what's coming. There's not much time. It's going to happen. Take it from me. Tell them Noble Red Man said so!"

Bianchi Pista.....

2011-01-13T14:07:00.000-08:00

I present to you, my custom built up a Bianchi Pista.... reynolds chrome lugged fork, stripped the decals, frame 3/4 powder coated "creme", then added decals from 1950's Bianchi , campagnolo record headset, gipieme post, brooks saddle, which was custom trimmed along the lower edge to resemble a swallow saddle more, Nitto b123 drops, sr NJS stem, Truvativ bottom bracket / 165 cranks / and 48t track chainring, Campy crank bolts and chainring bolts, gold high strength track chain, gipieme seatpost binder, Christophe special chrome pedal cages w/leather straps, MKS silvan pedals, Sun M13II rim 32h front custom built with a vintage 1950's BH Racelite track hub, rear Sun M13II rim with Velosteel hub 36h, Continental gatorskins 700 x28c, and finished off with vintage Gem silver bar wrap tied off with fly fishing line at both ends then shellac'd, cork stoppers at the ends. I LOVE it. Rides like a champ...pretty much came out exactly how i wanted it to in my head....modern frame redone to look as vintage as possible, with a combination of old road and track.
note: the above image is pre-bar wrap, and below are pics of the finished build...

The Wolf approaches

2010-11-02T14:15:00.000-07:00

You've pursued me all along, you've thrown me off course, and dashed my faith with fear. I am only a man, but a man with a mark. Like a target sprayed with mist for a sniper to see, you have always known what is inside me. You attack like a wolf at night, waiting for me to linger. You sense fear and feed on it. You've stolen my sleep, and made me believe in the darkness. I had to believe in darkness to believe in the light. You made me believe in the light, I doubt you had that in mind when you shook my bed. I saw you once, and only knew you were there, but I had to see you to know someone else was standing sentry there. Your persistance has been like a goat's head stuck in my foot.....but that goat's head has been in my foot so long, it bothers me no more. In your effort to weaken my resolve, you've only had the same effect as a half-dose of antibiotics to an infection....you've only strengthened me and made me more resistant to you. Remember one thing, for i always will, you may lay me down, but the one inside me, you never will.

Luke 10:16-20

16 "He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me." 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, "Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name." 18 He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."

found this online also:

Away in the forest all darksome and deep,

The wolves went a-hunting when men were asleep;

And the cunning old wolves were so patient and wise,

As they taught the young cubs how to see with their eyes,

How to smell with their noses and hear with their ears,

And what a wolf hunts for and what a wolf fears.

-Nancy M. Hayes

insanity

2010-11-02T11:11:00.000-07:00

They teach us that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, with the expectation of a different result each time. We see that we were insane with this clear mind, assuming it has been cleared. We see the worlds insanity too, and rather than step into the stream of it as we did in the past we, step back and find another way around it. We see the insanity in those we love, and have to accept that we cannot change it. We have to again, step back, and find another way around it. The good word states that to argue the truth with a non-believer is a waste of time, for they can no more hear you than a deaf man hear the breaze blow around his own ears. I look at a trainwreck 36 years in the making. Never learning how to accept "no" from those blessed with the gift of that life to mold, thus they were never prepared for the world to tell them "no" either.
The financial institutions of the world are crucifying the very ones they gave money too for not upholding their end of the bargain, and up the arms go 'round the country. Wonder where the defaulting home owners learned their ways? You have to look no further than the banks that gave the money....the banks that loan out money....money that's only there to loan so long as you leave yours in their vault. Doesn't that mean it really never was there? Or is it loaning on a loan? Hmmmmm. I prefer an old cigar box, thank you. So i'm off the grid, so i don't exist. Not in your world anyway, perhaps, but i'm not laying so much stock in this world anyhow, and i'm not losing any sleep over it. It means i drive old cars, cars that others wouldn't. It means I ride a bike to work that i bought for $14 at a garage sale, and live in ways we used to as a nation. Paid in full. Up front. In cash. Somewhere "our word is our bond" was lost and became "our plastic is our bond", and the score reflects if we are to be trusted or not. Again...stepped back, and found another way around.
So be angry with me because i disagree with you, thats alright. I can't help what you think of me, but I'll never show my worth to someone on this earth by way of a monitary gesture. I don't show my worth with money. I don't show my love with money. You can give your worth....yourself, and you can give your love....your heart, and they will last forever. You can give someone an android phone and it will be outdated in 6 months. You can give someone a new car and it just depreciatied as you drove it off the lot. Think about it. Are you going to be thinking of those things when you die? Do you think those you love will be thinking of those things YOU gave them when they die?
So, go on and throw me under the bus for not participating in the insanity. Go on and judge me for my faults. I can't control that, and I accept that i'm not perfect. I realize that you don't see the world and what it all means the way I do. I don't gain my worth or approval from you, even though i love you. I forget sometimes, but I have to remember also that i'm not a player in the game of those around me, and so i cannot measure myself on their scale. Throw your gold upon the scale, i'm gonna throw up my heart on the other side and let God be the judge.

Trick or treat kids.....

2010-10-28T16:43:00.000-07:00

it's that time of year again.....time to bust out that costume and get some candy....and if you're too old to go get some, just steal it from your kid.

1984.....

2010-10-27T01:01:00.000-07:00

...a year that brought us the Van Halen 1984 album which would be the last of the David Lee Roth years, and change my life forever. The U.S. had Ronnie in the White House, The olympics were in full swing, and Michael Jackson was king. I have to add a couple more to the list from 1984, and I think you'll agrre that they are RAD....The Bianchi Pista and Bianchi Super Pista track bikes....MMMMMMMM...wish i could go back in time and bring a set of these back with me....

untitled

2010-09-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Time
Its moving fast now, fast as the grass.
Going to rain now, I smell it in the air.
Too late to cut the lawn, I put it off too long.
Let's sit on the porch swing, you and I.
Let's make up the time, let's try.
I make haste, but I am here.
I've always loved you so, my dear.
I've lived so long in yesteryear,
When you sported curls and you were near.
Leave me not behind, please take me along.
I am who I am, and I'm often wrong.
Peer inside, look deep, you'll see...
That I wish for you, to wish for me.
I'm wrapped around your finger, twisted like vine.
Precious to me, daughter of mine.
Let us walk out, let us undo what's been done.
Take off your shoes, and in the tall grass run,
Knowing that you're my number one.

would you?

2010-09-05T01:46:00.000-07:00

If I wasn't there, would you know that I'm not?.....
Had I been there a lot, because of late I have not.
Are you there just to chatter?
I was there for another matter.
No downing a few, or clink of the glass.
Nevertheless....
Its the same in here, so I think I'll pass.
Social hour and gossip is not why I'm here.
You go through the motions even without your beer.
Relying on the clique only gets you so far,
But you still feel alone once you get in your car.
I come here for life, not for the sober bar.
I hope that you find what you're not looking for...
I believe that you will, knock on god's door.
Like wheat from the chaff, the old and the new.
Some have to raise their hands, and some never do.
Take this to heart, for noone will for you...
Only then will you make it, when you see the scene won't do.
We are what we are, we all have one name....
But its the ones who stay on who don't stay the same.
Our enemy is common, and its plays for keeps....
Just remember that friend while you're texting your peeps.
Missing the point from beginning to end,
I might sound like I'm not, but I am your best friend.
I want you to make it, I sincerely do.
I can want all I want, but in the end do you?
So its been a while, but worry not my friend, I'm doing just fine.
Just incase you did wonder, though I'm not on your mind.
What ever will you do, when you don't have the crowd?
When those voices are all that you have, and they're ever so loud...
Telling you lies, instead of the truth.
Would you know, my friend, that he's right there with you?
I think of you often, and if you forgot me, I'll not.
See, I have his love, and the scene's all you've got.
I ask would you notice? Would I?
I do.

Canned Time

2010-08-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

My son got back from a summer spent with family in Kansas on Thursday the 19th of August. I'm glad he's home. He brought me something very, very important..... two jars i'd left behind in April of 2009 on my first trip back to Kansas after a 4+ year hiatus. I'd stayed away since my grandfather "Papa" passed away in 2005. The farm had gotten claimed by the state of Kansas for eminent domain so they could expand a highway prior to my grandfather being diagnosed with terminal cancer. It was hard for me to not hate the state of Kansas and want to storm Topeka with molotov coctails in hand. I'm just glad Papa got to spend his last days on that farm. Anyhow, back to the jars....I couldn't bring those jars with me when it was time to go home to California. My luggage was overweight as it was already, and so I left them in an upstairs room of my parents old house, tucked away in a drawer of an antique dresser. You may be wondering what is in these jars, well i'll tell you now. One jar is packed full of rich, dark, wet Kansas earth from the family farm...from "Goombie" and "Papa's" farm. (Goombie is my grandma, it's what we call her). In the other jar, there is a good amount of rocks and pebbles from the driveway that swooped out to rural route #1, highway 61 from the farmhouse. Rocks and pebbles i'd played in for years growing up. I made roads for my "Buddy L" trucks and "Matchbox" cars with a flat shovel, driving cars all day in the hot summer sun, taking frequent kool-aid breaks inside with Goombie. I played G.I. joes out there too....all day long. Rocks and Dirt, yup.
I opened up that jar of dirt today, and it was still wet, strong with the smells that i remember. Fragrant. Strong. Rich. Pure. I grew up in that dirt. I saw Papa work in it, farm wheat in it, grow an amazing garden in it, chase grandkids out of it, lay dogs to rest in it, and most of all grow a family out of it. I could smell the thunderstorm rain in that jar. I was overwhelmed and tears welled up in my eyes as soon as that sweet smell hit my lungs and filled the whole of me with it's magic contents.
I realized that as far as possessions are concerned, these two jars are the most valuable things I have to my name. I could lose all other earthly possessions, and wouldn't be nearly as upset as i'd be if I lost these jars.

They are my time capsules, my snow-globes. I took that dirt out and held it, and it was as if Papa was holding my hands. For a time, all of my family was mended as i squished it between my fingers. For a time, my family had no loss, no disease, no hurt, no death, no divorce, no distance. That dirt bore witness to better times, but maintained even in sad times, even today, on this good day. I thank God for these memories, and for my family, and for the chance that I was born into this farm experience. It has changed my life for the better. I'll chase fireflies outside at night on that farm again. I'll climb the front yard tree on that farm again. I'll turn on that hand well and cool myself down on that farm again. Someday.....

I present to you, Hunter S. Thompson....

2010-06-17T19:50:00.000-07:00

"castles in the sky" -taylor steele premier, san francisco, california

2010-05-28T01:03:00.001-07:00

may, 2010 in chinatown, a packed house full of fellow surfers....great film, good times, thanks Aqua surf shop dudes!

infinity surfboards' "treble (twin)"

2010-05-28T00:33:00.001-07:00

I want one these things!!!! a little simmons inspired slider.....looks fun as hell

infinity surfboards' "treble (twin)"

I want.

Lee Miller, US WW2 photographer and correspondent, images from the side that lost....

2010-05-25T20:42:00.000-07:00

1. Lee Millers Papers

2. SS Dachau guard, murdered. 1945, Germanydrifting...
3. Nazi woman suicide, 1945, Germany.

4. SS Dachau guard, beaten up. Found in civilian clothes and recognized by former prisoners, he was beaten up and brought back to the camp. 1945.

5. Clark Gable while serving in the US Army Air Corps, 1945, England air field.

eggs, hulls, fishes, logs, and C-dog....

2010-05-25T12:00:00.000-07:00

As seen through the lense of my Yashica 44, 127 film, medium format......

Our once great nation.....

2010-05-18T11:27:00.000-07:00

during the War in Europe and abroud, our once great nation ran strong at home under the steady hands of our American wives, daughters, sweethearts, and widows. We had a reason to be proud. Everyone, I urge you to take a good look. Look long enough and you'll see why we used to kick ass as a nation, and i'm not just talking about militarily. I'm refering to our values. I'm refering to our pride. I'm refering to our integrity. I'm refering to our ethics. I'm refering to our leadership. I'm refering to all that is lost today, and not completely, but our flag has faded. We'd all do well to take a look at these images and remember, lest we forget completely and lose our way for good.

(images courtesy of the Library of Congress archives- Flickr.com)

time to kill....

2010-03-31T22:41:00.001-07:00

too much time on my hands, a full roll of 2oo speed black 'n white, and a few hand rolled cigarettes and this is what happens....bathroom self portrait session

say hi to "Jill"

2010-03-26T22:58:00.000-07:00

The newest member of the family.... "Jill". She's a 5'6" Hobie Circa '71 model twin-keel fish. Jill is green resin tint with bamboo fins, and a nice heavy polish glass job. We met at Aqua surf shop on Sloat Ave, San Francisco. It was love at first sight. Jill loves clean glassy lefts, walks to the beach, and getting waxed up. I don't like to make predictions, but I think she's the one. It seems that I'm on cloud nine every time she's near. I love her.

METRIC in Oakland!!!

2010-03-25T01:05:00.000-07:00

just got back from the Metric concert at Oakland Fox Theatre.......Oh man, that was fuckin' awesome show! I highly recommend seeing them if you ever get the chance.

here's the lyrics to one of the song's she sang....one of my favorites titled "Front Row":

"I’m in the front row with a bottle
Don’t know what i can’t decide
I’m in the front row i’m a model
Don’t know what i can’t describe
Burned out stars they shine so bright All of us
Burned out stars they shine so bright
He’s not perfect he’s my hero
Smashing the piano
Spitting in the front row
Chronic confrontation
Psychic conversation
Radical compassion
Louder than the action
All of us Burned out stars they shine so bright
All of us Burned out stars they shine so bright
All the stars
I’m in the front row with a bottle
Don’t know what I can’t decide
I’m the front row i’m a model
Don’t know what I can’t describe
Burned out stars they shine so bright All of us
Burned out stars they shine so bright All of us
He’s not perfect he’s a victim
Of his occupation
Social insulation
Secret intervention
Charging with possession
I just wanna watch him Make or break and beat them
Burned out stars they shine so bright All of us
Burned out stars they shine so bright All the stars "

2010-03-20T00:06:00.000-07:00

Papa.....Oct.1932- Oct.2005

2010-03-18T21:52:00.000-07:00

None better

Leroy The Masochist

2010-03-13T07:50:00.001-08:00

Leroy, thank you for the inspiration for living in a world full of hodads.

Gone Fishin'......

2010-03-08T19:20:00.001-08:00

Swallow tail......works everytime. I'll be at the cove. See you later-

Captain's log, Stardate bla bla bla.......

2010-03-07T23:59:00.001-08:00

W.T.F.

Little Obie....

2010-03-07T23:43:00.001-08:00

Dig on the coupe, Dig on the tear-drop trailer, dig on the whole scene. Roots- Heritage-Culture. We as surfers have it in spades thanks to guys like you see here, laying the foundation for a new way to live. Probably up somewhere around Cojo Ranch or perhaps Mexico. Who knows, but wherever they were, it was the place to be.

knees in the breeze.....

2010-03-07T23:41:00.001-08:00

I had to let my '53 Triumph chopper project go on down the road to a new home a few months back to make some things happen- man do i wish i had just held onto it. I am feeling the need to get my knees in the breeze......

in the basement

2010-03-07T23:36:00.000-08:00

Not too long ago, my bro Kevin got me down in the basement studio of sorts for an impromtu little jam session with just the two of us. I never knew how much i missed sitting behind a drum kit. Maybe I never enjoyed it this much. Life is unfolding all sorts of new things, some rediscovered some completely new. If this is what it's gonna be like, sign me up for life.

Custer's demise

2010-03-07T20:51:00.000-08:00

I heard all this bravery crap in high school.....Sorry. I ain't buyin' it. I'm pretty sure Custer soiled his cavalry uniform when he saw this cat leading his war party up the hill. I would. here's the skinny on "Low Dog":
Low Dog, "Xunka Kuciyedan", Oglala Sioux Chief (b. 1846)This powerful and respected warrior became a war chief at age 14. In 1876 he joined Sitting Bull's hostiles on the Little Bighorn and led his band against Custer and the 7th Cavalry. Low Dog's account of the battle is one of history's best known.Photograph by D.F. Barry, 1881, Fort Buford, D.T.

Gordon Stewart Northcott, 1920's

2010-03-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

the troubled young man from Wineville, Ca. responsible for the Wineville Chicken Murders. No, he didn't murder chickens.......Google it and prepare to be creeped out.

Good Times

2010-03-07T20:33:00.001-08:00

saw this pasted up on 4Qconditioning blog..... SICKO. Guy's name is Wes Lang. Crazy and I love it. Nice touch to put this on Chateau Marmont stationary.... pretty much says it all.

Keys.....

2010-03-07T20:31:00.001-08:00

A piece i did in 2009 (dec. or Jan.) sharpie/acrylic paint on acrylic canvas. I seriously need to get going on a few more pieces and finish them already. This guy is getting lonely.

Rad

2010-03-07T20:28:00.001-08:00

I get around

2010-03-07T20:18:00.000-08:00

scratch built single speed. dumpster parts breakin' fixie hearts.

That's right.....

2010-03-07T20:13:00.000-08:00

John up front, Karen in back. Papa in the lawn. Uncle Kent the blonde. Dad wore skinny jeans. White ones. Mom too. Way before Urban Outfitters started hangin' Levi's "Skinny' 511's" on their racks. Love you guys.

Nonconformist

2010-03-07T19:01:00.001-08:00

Ed Roth. You Ruled. You still Rule.

Showing your colors

2010-03-07T00:09:00.000-08:00

two decades of unlearned lessons, it's no wonder. As if touching a hot lid, the hand pulls back from where it was once extended. It's their tribe- their signature. I'm not the only one who sees it. Friends and loved ones tossed by the wayside. Once it's no good for you, leave 'em hanging like a tether ball on the pole. Recess is over. Run along now just like you've probably always done. I'm done with my 6 dollar burger combo now, roll down your window so i can jettison my trash out the window of your speeding car. Someone'll clean it up, I just don't want the trash i've created near me. Let Caltrans or "someone" else deal with it. Predictable. But I know better and I still care. I will pick up that trash because it's just the right thing to do. That, and i can't stand a mess- be it literal or metaphorical. Even though i've done nothing wrong, i am made to feel like a kid sitting on a stool in the corner. Left alone, ignored, cut off. Poof! she's gone. "Billy" was right......the future does look bleak in some regards. The coming caretakers could care less. The Core of what this is all about falls by the wayside to Cosmic Bowling and social hour. Makes about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine. Or even better...."I'm a cocaine addict, so I think i'll room up with Manuel Noriega". Good luck with that. Your loss. -note: click on pic to enlarge.

5'3", 110lbs.

2010-03-05T21:17:00.000-08:00

Albert Reyes. this man knows ( note: click on pic to enlarge)

stranger on the road

2010-03-05T21:07:00.000-08:00

I was recently discussing some dreams/goals of mine, not out of reach, but they're up there- obtainable I think, with a little work. Anyway... after i shared with this fellow, probably in his 50's, he said this to me:

"As you think, so you are. As you dream, so you become. As you create your wishes, so they create you. "

I thought about it since yesterday and looked it up online and found the author to be Emily Garrett. I beleive it's no mistake I was given those words of encouragement, rather I believe that people are placed in our path for a reason. I can't recall the fellow's name, and may never see him again, but I'll not forget what he said.

I heard......

2010-03-05T20:54:00.000-08:00

..."If you want what we have, do as we do. If you want what you had, do as you please"

"I'm gonna drown, and all you're gonna find is a shitty old board..."

2010-03-05T19:41:00.001-08:00

"I don't wanna be a star. Have my picture in magazines, have a bunch of kids looking up to me. I'm a drunk, Bear, a screw up. I just surf cause its good to go out and ride with your friends. I don't even have that anymore."

other commitments...

2010-02-24T16:49:00.001-08:00

Albert Reyes. word. (note: clic on pic to enlarge)

Sometimes....

2010-02-24T16:43:00.000-08:00

....this is the only answer

Surf bros.......

2010-02-14T17:18:00.001-08:00

A good surf bro is priceless. You go into these relationships much the same as you would looking for a prospective wife....these are meant to last. You analyze important factors like "will this dude get his ass out of bed at 5am for a good swell or will he still be digging eye boogers and yawning when you show up at his house to roll?" or "will this potential surf bro push my surfing to be better, or does he lack the eye of the tiger in the water?"...This shit is serious. It's a place for me to decompress, in the water....but when it's ON...I'm not there to dick around. I want to rip that shit up, and i expect my bro to be as amped as I am that it's offshore, tide's right, and it's head high! And above all.....NEVER is it acceptable to flake out a good surf session for a woman. EVER. That will put you in lifetime Bro-bation with no chance of parole. I have to admit that i have been seriously bummed out in the past when a bro moves away, or gets married, leaving me "single" again. I fuckin' hate crowds in the lineup. I occasionally surf alone, and while its nice sometimes, it's not the same. At least your odds are better in the event that there's a hungry great white cruising around. So with the importance of the surf-bro summed up in my own way, let me now give a shout out of sorts to some of my surf bros over the last 15 years. All of them different in their own right, but when it comes to what matters- the surf session, these guys got it down. Hell, here's proof: when i got stung on back of the head by a jellyfish one session, Craig offered to pee on my head to nuetralize the sting! Now that's a surf bro!
here is a list of my surf bros worth honorable mention: Craig, Kevin, Don, Tyson, and good 'ol Pat. Pictured above is Craig (on the righ) and me on the left having a post-surf smoke.

Fences

2010-02-07T20:41:00.000-08:00

...boundaries.... we cross them, we set them, we test them. Do we not see them so much? or do we not care that they are there? Is it not our nature to expand, to grow, to search out? All throughout history this has been the case. Expanse, growth, development at the expense of others. Loved ones around us, friends, strangers...all smashing on us like waves on a stone cliff. Meant to keep us safe, they keep us hedged off. Cut off. A force field around a nerve that we dare not touch.
Are they not necessary though? I find them to be. Safety rules come about because someone got hurt. Easy enough. They protect us from ourselves. Is that what we're doing here? Protecting ourselves by placing lines around us that should not be crossed. "Don't go there.... i'd have to deal with something that's been left in the dark for a long time." "Uh, that hurts, can you stop it please?" Hey, check it out. When you get a reef cut, you have to scrub that shit out with pumice and lime to get the coral out, and kill the bacteria. Once that's done, it can heal. Left alone, it'll get infected. I'm seeing a connection there. Anyway, just an observation. As you were....

perspective

2010-02-07T20:27:00.000-08:00

What i once saw as a way down, i now see as a way out. I heard somewhere, perhaps in a film something to this effect: "What does one do when one has no way out? He digs himself further in." This does prove to be the case often times. Luck was on my side and i stopped digging. We all need to put the shovel down and look around to see how deep we are sometimes. Deep in a pit of our own making, walls grown up around us while we dig, eyes fixed downward, unaware. Someone threw me a rope. A cab driver from Manhattan. Who'd of thought? Giving back that precious gift that was so freely given to him. Now I have this rope i carry around with me....ready to throw it down should i find someone who wants out of their own rabbit hole. I'm alive.