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Showing posts from September, 2009

Wide Screen Wednesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... O ur attached photo includes two of our favorite things to mix - electricity and water - NOT! T wenty miles visibility this morning under clear but questionable skies.  Winds are out of the NW by 7.8kts and the sea surface has a definite tack to it, bordering on choppy.  The air temperature is 63.9° and the water is 67.5°.  High tide is at 8:14am +4.7' and low tide will be at 1:53pm +1.8'.  Buoy #46221 is reading a 3.3' swell out of the west at 250°.  We surfed Hermosa this morning and we're calling it 3'.  Some pretty thick waves on the high tide shore break.  Too bad the wind kicked in so damn early... O ur photo was from the big fountain in the center of the Music Center complex.  We headed down to the Mark Taper last night to see the musical "Parade."  We have to warn you - we're not big musical fans, so you might take this review with a generous grain of salt.  First of all, the premise of this production is that a Jewish sw

Myopic Monday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... T oday's pic features mosaic artists extraordinairé Patti Linnet (L.) and Debbie Collette (R.)  They're shown at the base of their latest project.  It's the stairs that come down from the parking lot above the Redondo Pier and head down toward Quality Seafood.  It's a monumental work that has taken months from it's inception to the current installation.  The artists think that it will take another month before the installation is complete.  It's a multicolored work that features a beach theme and is bright and begs to be viewed.  We found out about the project at the Redondo Festival and have watched them begin the painstaking task of assembling the elements, attaching them to the screen substrate and now attaching the whole thing to the stairs.  It's easiest to find if you ride your bike through the pier and when you emerge at the north end and do the right left turn - it's immediately on your right.  We'll let you know when t

Furrowed Friday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... H ere's a rare shot of the Professor locked in the green room!  Yeah, we know it's a bit corny, but that's how it is on the farm.  Unfortunately this corn was for silage and grain and not for eating.  It had ears that were actually longer than the Coach's and the Professor's put together.  But both the Professor and Coach have longer ear hair than cornsilk. A beautiful Friday morning here in the Southland.  We have 15 miles visibility under a hazy sun.  Winds are calm and the sea surface is glassy.  The air temp is 64.2° and the water is a pleasant 69.6°.  There's essentially one tide today and it's a high at 2:23pm +4.6'.  The buoy is reading a 2.6' swell out of the SSW (205°).  We're calling it 1' to 2'. A good day for learning as Alec and Suzi tackled some of the glassy little peelers.  Alec is showing some potential as a surfer, although he got a nasty fin scrape on the top of his foot.  Beats the hell out of

Thermomagnetic Thursday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... H ow often do we look to the barnyard for fashion direction?  Well, to tell you the truth, not very often.  Actually, almost never.  But on this occasion we couldn't help but notice that it appears that leg warmers are coming back into vogue.  These were wool and a bit covered with sawdust, but we're quick to spot a trend when it presents itself.  You saw it here first... U nder cloudless skies we have 25 miles visibility and a slight haze out on the horizontal.  Winds are calm and the sea surface is glassy.  In the surfline visibility is running 15 to 20ft. and you can see all of those sting rays flying around the bottom.  The air temp was 65.8° and the water is 69.1°.  Low tide was at 6:03am +3.0' and high tide will follow at 1:06pm +5.0'.  The #46221 buoy is reading a SSW swell out of 193° at 3.0'.  The surf was in the 2' to 3' range.  It's getting a little better shape as the tide rises, but don't wait too long! T he Profes

Wetsuit Wednesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... Y es, it's exactly what you think it is.  It's a sheep in a wetsuit.  Obviously, it's a "Farmer John," but we don't know who made it because it's not covered with logos or cool graphics.  It looks like a 1mil job and appeared to be pretty flexible.  Considering it was about 90° in the shade we weren't quite sure why this sheep needed a wetsuit, but there must've been a damned good reason.  The only thing we could figure was that it had recently been shorn and was feeling just a bit of a chill.  We looked around for what it might have been riding, but we didn't see any surfboards around anywhere... M eanwhile, it was foggier than hell this morning (we base that observation on the fact that hell is so hot the fog burns right off.)  Visibility was about 100yds and the winds were calm.  The sea surface was obscured, but we imagined it was glassy, reflecting that cloying gray mist.  The air temperature was 62.4° and the water

Tulare Fair Tuesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... T oday we have a photo of Sully examining some of the winners in the "Preserves" section of the Tulare Fair.  Yes, we know, Sully looks pretty well preserved himself, but we digress.  We were astounded to discover how many different categories of items that could be judged.  So you could win a blue ribbon in Fig Jam, or Strawberry Jam or Quince Paste.  In all of the jam category there is a "Best of Show."  This ends up being the best of ALL the jams.  So you can win 3 blue ribbons with your blueberry, boysenberry and kiwi jams only to have Mary Fagundes of Elbow Creek get best of show with her Kumquat number.  Hey, it's a jungle out there... O vercast and hazy out there this morning with barely 2 miles visibility.  Winds kicked up out of the SW by 3.2kts pretty early and shut Hermosa down before Les Congiliere could get his first period surfers out of the water..  The air temperature was 62.2° and the water is still nice at 69.8°, althou

Whack A Mole Monday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... Y es, we're returned from the Tulare County Fair and we can tell you that it was quite the rural, agricultural, animal husband-like experience.  We toured with the Sullivan's (Margot (with a T) and Brian) and had several good times.  Among them was indulging on the pictured deep fried - powdered sugar morsel.  This happened to be an Oreo.  As you can see it it was dipped in batter (like the kind they use for funnel cakes) and then dropped into boiling oil.  A couple of minutes later it emerges from it's unctuous  bath, hotter than the hinges of hell.  Of course you have no way of knowing this, since the outer shell insulates it quite nicely.  You take a big bite and molten chocolate and creme filling solder your lips to the napkin.  You don't look odd though, because there are dozens of citizens stumbling around in the same condition.  The fresh squeezed lemonade concession was next door and doing a land-office business, thank you! L ight overcast

Fit To Be Tied Friday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... T his Is Nick Corsinita and his date at Christy Corsinita's wedding .  He is Christie's grandfather.  Nick is 100 years old.  His girlfriend might be forty.  His doctor told him to be careful - someone could have a heart attack.  Nick (who has had three wives and out-lived them all) said, "Hey doc, if she dies, she dies."  N ice day here in the southland this morning.  20 miles visibility under a hazy sun.  Wind is barely onshore by 1.7kts and the sea surface is smooth.  The air temp was 65.1° and the water is 69.6°.  High tide is at 9:33am +5.9' and low tide will follow at 3:38pm +0.2'.  The buoy is reading a 3.9' swell out of the west at 265°.  We're calling it 3' to 4'.  Not deluxe most spots, but we saw a few at Sapphire and Topaz.  Check it out. H ave a good weekend.  We're headed up to the Tulare County fair to get some shots of rural California.  Be prepared for some animal husbandry next week farmers! "W

Thermoduric Thursday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... D on't Bogart that Lane my friend...  Seems as though they were running out of names for streets in Idaho and they decided to use Lethal Keithal's moniker.  Fits nicely... A nother beautiful summer's day here in LaLa Land.  20 miles visibility under sunny skies with a light haze.  Winds kicked up onshore pretty early, but it's holding down to 1.9kts at the checkout time and the sea surface is lightly tacked.  The air temp is 66.0° and the water is hangin in there at 69.8°  High tide is at 9:03am +5.5' and low tide will follow at 2:53pm +0.7'.  The buoy is reading a swell out of the west at 263° at 3.6' and we're calling the waves 2' to 4' with some nice peaks..  A good day for some nice cruisin' waves. "When the surf breaks, we'll fix it..."  The Professor!!

Wry Smile Wednesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... O kay, it's a nice day here in the southland.  There's this Mexican fan palm right outside the parking spot at Miloe's..  We were just wondering who zipped it shut last night?  Let's check out the surf and see what's happening. U nder hazy skies we have 15 miles visibility.  Winds started early out of the  at 3.9kts and the sea surface had a quick tack to it.  The air temperature was 66.7° and the water is 69.8°.  High tide is at 8:34am +5.1' and low tide will be at 2:07pm +1.2'.  The swell is out of 211° at 3.6' and we're calling the surf 3' and fair to windy. "When the surf breaks, we'll fix it..."  The Professor!!

Back On Track Tuesday Surf and Culture Report

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Lost Boys and Co... O h yeah, the South Shore of Oahu has some pretty good waves.  This is from the southern tip of Diamond Head looking over toward Hawaii Kai.  At low tide there are some crazy mudflats there, but when the surf is good and the tide is right - there are some great waves.  It's also a standup/windsurfing/kite surfing destination because of the way the trades whip around the point. V ery nice today in the South Bay!  We have 20 miles visibility under partly (mostly sunny) skies.  Winds are offshore (the first day in quite a while) by 3.5kts and the sea surface is glassy to smooth.  The air temperature is 65.8° and the water is a pleasant 69.4°.  High tide was at 8:09am +4.6' and low tide will be at 1:18pm +1.9'.  The buoy is reading a swell out of the SW at 255° and 3.3'.  We're calling the waves 3' to 4' and pretty good shape.  Torrance, the Avenues, Knob, Topaz and Sapphire are all breaking and we heard that the Cove was going off as well. 

Mass Media Monday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... O kay, here's a way to take a long walk off a short path if you're so inclined.  Most of you will immediately recognize the gazebo at Rat Beach (or formally "Roessler Point.")  Since we couldn't stop there, our second photo is the view north toward the hook of Torrance and Redondo Beaches. N ot much happening this morning.  Visibility is 20 miles under partly cloudy skies.  Winds are onshore from the get-go at 5.6kts and the sea surface is tacky and moving toward chop.  The air temperature is 64.4° and the water is holding at 70.2°.  High tide is at 7:38am +4.1' and low tide will be at 12:21pm +2.6'.  The 46221 buoy is reading a WSW swell out of 255° at 3.3'.  It's not translating to the beach very well and we're calling it 1' to 3' with the wind blowing it down as fast as it comes up. E ditor Notes:   Regarding the Professor's new ink:     What is that icon? Looks like a bleeding heart! Is that significant?

Forget-Me-Not Friday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... O ur first shot is a that iconic spot on everyone's surf itinerary.  Yes, that's Waikiki and you're looking right out there at Queen's.  If you've got a good zoom you can see a huge canoe coming in a little to the right there at Canoe's.  How funny...  We surfed there and it ended up being fun and about half as crowded as we thought it would!  Like ten guys out instead of 20 or 30... S un's looking hazy this morning with some fog trying to creep around from the far side of PV.  15 miles visibility with our good eye.  Winds were calm at 6am and have been picking up all morning.  Sea surface smooth to tacky at 8:30am.  Blowing from the SW now.  The air temp was 66.7° and the water is a delightful 70.5°.  basically one tide today, high at 2:13pm +5.3'.  The next low is at 10:44pm +0.7', but we're not thinking you'll be out.  The buoy is reading a 3.0' swell out of 204° and we're calling it 1' to 2'.  We act

Thinking of You Thursday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... S o we were sightseeing in Ala Moana Shopping Center after putting a pretty serious dent in the food court.  Miloe went ahead and wandered down toward the stage they have set up in the middle of the mall for community activities.  We could hear some ukulele music coming from that general direction, but when we got in sight of Chris, he was jumping up and down and waving for us to come wiki-wiki.  Well, it turned out to be not just any ukulele player, but Jake Shimabukuro himself!  He was playing for a peace benefit sponsored by one of the local cafe's and appeared to be having a marvelous time.  We edged our way to the front of the stage at the end of the concert and when Jake was through saying "Hi" to one of his aunties we jumped in and shook his famous hand - not too hard mind you.  Miloe was a bit overcome, but managed to say hello.  We asked him if he was going to be in Paris in September with Jimmy Buffet and he said "absolutely!" 

Return to Sender Wednesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... A nd it's a good afternoon here in the sunny southland as we've returned from the land of pineapples, sugar cane and the Miloe Plantation.  Our excellent hosts, Chris and Barb Miloe showed us just about the best time you can have in the islands .  That is if you don't mind shallow, razor sharp reefs, multiple sets of tennis and too much good food.  Then again you get a guided tour of every inch of the island (Chris's knowledge of Oahu is absolutely encyclopedic and what he doesn't know Barbara does!), entree into places you didn't know existed and introductions to some of the nicest people you might meet anywhere!  Besides that Chris knows where every wave that's rideable is and when it's happening.   Our first shot today is right at the start of any surf trip going anywhere.  It's at the foot of the Duke!  We don't know how many have made the pilgrimage, but he's the one who started with the first step.  Aloha Duke! A

Technopop Tuesday Surf & Culture Report

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Lost Boys & Co... T his morning we took Lawrie the Eel Morey out for a surf lesson.  Despite some crashy shorebreak she acquitted herself quite well.  Our photo was from a shoot at Cal State Dominguez with a security mirror.  She was impersonating the descending surf goddess.  Pretty cool!! C loudy early turning warm later in the day.  Winds were calm and the sea surface is smooth.  The air temperature is 67.3° and the water is 66.9°.  High tide was at 9:04am +4.3' and low tide will be at 2:10pm +2.2'.  The buoy is reading a 2.6' swell out of 225°.  We're calling it 2' to 3' and some nice solid waves early in the day. O ur second photo is Mark Hall, Janice Hall and LoLa.  They're mugging for the camera under the Morrison bridge in Portland.  If you should find yourself in Portland ever, give Mark a call.  He was a gracious, generous host and really showed us a lot of Portland.  Some great food, clubs and an active street scene. S o this is our last reg