Shed

I don't have a shed, so this is my virtual shed. I work in digital media, I'm a goofy-footer and a Dad. Those three things pretty much define me. I live in Sydney, Australia but I'm English. Join me here for random musings on surfing, parenting, technology, culture, media and other stuff...

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Field trip to giant shed

I've posted before about custom surfboard shaping and the threats posed to shapers by mass-produced-Chinese-made cheap boards. 

Last night I visited Andrew Harris at his factory, which is located in the industrial area of Botany.

For those not familiar with Sydney, much of Botany is a super-sized industrial suburb flanking the shores of Botany Bay. At night the chemical plants and oil refineries light up, giving the whole place a Bladerunner vibe. 

Essentially, Andrew's factory is a giant shed. Full of finished and half finished custom boards and the birthplace of scores of adventures, surf trips and new surfing experiences. 

Andrew's shaping my next board. It's a 6'2' retro-inspired round-tail template called The Hornet. 

And it'll be ready in six weeks. Which right now feels like an eternity. 

But there's something exciting about knowing that my new ride is being created by skilled hands that will ensure it works in perfect harmony with its new owner. 

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Smokin'

I love this.

It's like the total meat smoking solution for people who live in apartments (as long as they have a balcony).

You too can now bring home your freshly bought (or killed) meat and/or fish and smoke it like you're Ted Nugent.

This will be the perfect addition to the Shed. I bet my neighbours can't wait. 

Best of all - it's only US$39! God bless you internet. And as for you grilltop smoker, consider yourself ordered.

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Friday vibes

It's a sunny Friday morning in Sydney Town. I can't think of a better soundtrack to go with it than this. A glorious mash-up of hip hop vocals from US rapper J-Live and descarga rhythms performed by local musicians in Colombia.

It's from Quantic Soul Orchestra's 2007 release 'Tropodelico', which is well worth a listen. It's never far from the top of my playlists. Click the image to play.

So sit back, listen and enjoy. If you've got a drink with an umbrella in hand, all the better. Even if it's gloomy where you are, the sun will shine on you when this is playing...

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Why Locals rule

Localism is a concept that’s not unique to surfing, but in the eyes of society the two are inextricably linked. Movies and the mainstream media teach us that beaches the world over are patrolled by angry locals, hell bent on taking on anyone foolhardy enough to set foot on their beach or even look at their favourite break.

Common punishments include anything from a beating to having your windscreen covered with surf wax.

Luckily it’s one surf-related myth that’s easy to call bullshit on. Sure there are arguments in the water, but these usually stem from blatant snaking, drop ins or other dangerous and idiotic acts.

I spent the last three days about 4 hours up the coast from Sydney in a tiny, sleepy beach town with at least two top-class breaks nearby (see pic as Pablo and I make our way to the break, the point is out of shot on the left). All three days we had perfect weather, warm water and clean, fun waves peeling off a rocky point. Nothing huge, but the kind of peeling 2-3 footers that remind you why surfing is so much fun.

And the locals were the friendliest, most-relaxed and welcoming bunch you could ever hope to meet. Paddling out on day one and there was friendly chat from the get go. No hustling for set waves with 20 other time-poor city boardriders. We were obviously from outta town (three city people, one Aussie, one Brazilian and me, a pom), but we were welcomed in the water like old friends to the point where we were being called into waves by locals who were inside us.

It renewed by my faith in the inherent friendliness of people, and Australian people in particular.  It also opened my eyes to the retro board revival, but that’s for another post.

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Mr Blue, Mr Grey, Mr Brown and Mr Green

How many movies can lay claim to being name-checked by the Beastie Boys, being ripped off by Tarantino and changing the way the New York City Transit system works?

I’m not sure, but I know one that can lay claim to all three.

The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3 is a 1974 movie I first watched with my sister as a 10 year old. We were supposed to be asleep but had sneaked up to catch the midnight movie.

I won’t ruin the story for you but...an armed gang, inexplicably disguised in tweed overcoats, bowties and hipster specs, hijack a NY subway train, pissing off an already pissed off Walter Matthau (who plays some kind of subway air traffic controller) and demanding the handsome sum of...1 MILLION DOLLARS, to release the hostages.

The gang go by the names of Mr Green, Mr Grey, Mr Brown and Mr Blue (no Mr Pink here) and have a jolly time as the train hurtles towards disaster.

I love it. The movie became a bit of NYC folklore – no train is now ever allowed to leave Pelham station at 1:23 and the Beastie Boys check the movie in Sure Shot. Check it out and please avoid the horrific post 9/11 remake.

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Winter Chill

It’s been a strange summer in Sydney. I’ve been here for nearly ten years and generally, summers are spectacularly easy to predict. Sunshine every day, barely a cloud in sight and the occasional tropical storm.

Beach weather every day, essentially.

This year has been grey, wet, and generally uninspiring with very few days of sun. I don’t really mind. I grew up in the UK where any day above 18 degrees represents an excuse to break out the shorts and have a BBQ.

So in honour of the poor weather, here’s a classic from South London hip hop genius Roots Manuva. If you don’t know him, check him out and discover more. It’s quirky hip hop with unusual production and insightful lyrics.

Enjoy and raise a glass to the sun. If you see it that is...

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Al Pacino gets legless on a Honda

This stopped me in my tracks when I saw it parked in my street a few weeks back.

It adorned an otherwise unremarkable Honda Integra, about 15 years old and otherwise unloved. Except for the giant picture of Al Pacino in Scarface mode on the bonnet.

Not just any picture of Al Pacino mind you. This one had been done by an artist who clearly got very excited by the initial idea, but, having completed the head and torso, rapidly went off the idea and just filled in the bottom half. 

The result, as you can see, has a quasi religious air to it. Scarface appears to have donned some kind of new-age ceremonial robe. He also has three sausage-like fingers.  

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Summer flavours

It's a classic summer Saturday morning in Sydney - cloudless sky, 27 degrees, clean 2ft swell. I'm hanging out with my daughter, cooking a ragu, then going surfing, so I need a soundtrack.

I'm going for this. It's from Gotan Project's second album, features Argentine hip hoppers Koxmoz and is a great example of Tango Nuevo, which you'll hear all over the place in Argentina. Enjoy and may your day be sunny!

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You know stencil graffiti has jumped the shark when...

You see this. I live in Rose Bay in Eastern Sydney. It's a wealthy area, with a few celebs, rich bankers, cosmetically altered lawyer's wives and people like me living in apartments. You get the idea. 

I love stencil graffiti. I saw a few Banksy works in situ when I lived in London in the early noughties and I loved checking out the street art cornucopia that is Buenos Aires.

But this has appeared in my neighbourhood. What I don't like is that it appears to be an anti carbon-tax thing in a suburb full of rich, conservative, liberal bankers. It’s like portly executives have kidnapped the subversive spirit of street art and brainwashed it.

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French style

I like french hip hop. There's something about the flowing style and the lilting nature of the language that's suited to the form. 

I got into MC Solaar after he appeared on Guru's first Jazzmatazz record which came out in 1993 and was a much-loved fixture in my late teens and early 20s.

There's heaps of interesting French hip hop to discover. DJ Cam is another one to check out for some more laid back tunes.

But Solaar is the king. Click the image above for MC Solaar's 'Nouveau Western', a fine tune. Play loud!

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ROBOTS OR DINOSAURS?

Robotic Dinosaurs! 

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When legends collide

I dare you not to play this loud. Method Man and Busta Rhymes join Jimi Hendrix and create an insanely good vibe. If you dig this check out Tom Caruana's Black Gold mixtape. You won't regret it.

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Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Cardin, 1965

Fat ties, velvet jackets and serious expressions.

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Because everything happens fast

Vanishing Point is a movie I stumbled across in the late night wilderness of British TV when I was 15. It’s a wilderness that would produce the odd gem – the Taking of Pelham 123 (the 1974 version, not the stinky remake) is another classic I encountered in this way.

Vanishing Point has many things I like in a film – the type of cars you never saw growing up in the UK in the 1980s, the screwed up ex racecar driver/cop/Vietnam vet who lost his only love in a surfing accident and now takes copious amounts of speed, a cracking soul soundtrack and that sepia-like hue that's intrinsic to road movies in the early 1970s.

Since then it’s become a fixture in my top 10 movies list and a film I go back to regularly (usually when Mrs Shed is having a night out). 

I won’t spoil the plot for you, but it involves a Dodge Challenger, lots of driving, Benzedrine, naked motorcyclists and many many fat cops. It’s pretty much a guy driving for the whole movie but it’s also pretty sharp commentary on the disaffected mood gripping the US in the early 1970s.

Check it out and then try and tell me you don’t want to find an early ‘70s Challenger to restore. Click the pic to check out the original trailer

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Nest

My very smart colleague and chair appreciator Simon Wright told me about this. Its a thermostat that learns all about you and then heats and cools your house based on what it has learned. If the weather changes or your habits change, it learns. 

You can email it from work and tell it to put the dinner on*. 

*this might not be true.

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Lost art?

I've been looking for a new surfboard recently and in researching the right board I've stumbled across the plight of the surfboard shapers. While to the non-surfing observer, a board might seem like a mass produced inanimate plank, they're actually hand crafted masterpieces, lovingly shaped by skilled artisans in dusty, spartan shaping bays with hand held tools.

At least that's how it used to be. Innovations in manufacturing (many boards are now machine shaped) have opened the door to the very mass produced inanimate planks I mentioned before. Costs have dropped and custom shaped boards are now an expensive luxury compared to the cheap imports from China and Thailand.

That means many shapers, who take years to learn their craft and work out of coastal shacks and mini-factories around the country, haven't been able to capitalise on the explosion in surfing popularity in the last 20 years.

Simon Anderson's invention of the thruster in 1981 (the first three finned surfboard) revolutionised surfing around the world. Anderson promptly thrashed the world's best surfers on his new invention and having created arguable the largest innovation his sport had seen, promptly decided not to patent the idea so others could create their own three-finned magic. 

Would that happen these days? I doubt it. 

As for me, I'm researching local shapers in Sydney to create my next ride. Its gonna be sweet.

Click the image for a clip looking at the Bells Beach classic in '81, which Anderson won. 

[roomthily]

Shape of the Music Industry