Nice...

Day 28 - Session 33

Was pretty walled, but I hooked into some rifles. Race course turns, lots of speed, offshore winds so surfing under the lip.

Day 27 - Sessions 31 & 32

In the morning, it was big. I worked from home. I got out there and got some serious bombs - so fun. Some big turns, some closeouts - I love it.

Went to surf the Jetty in the afternoon with Ben. Holy shit, it was good. That wave is as good as any wave in SoCal when it is on, I mean ANY. Bomb outside barrel section, into open face that holds for 150 yards, what is better than that? Crazy, we timed it right and scored, then it got crowded around 3pm - I went back to work.

Day 26 - Session 30

Some small waves today, but I turned it on with the cutty. I got some mojo back - Pretty stoked on that.

No surf yesterday or today.

Traveling - San Fran today.

Swell on the way though, I'm looking forward to it.

The competition and the intel...

Watch this video. This is the guy who wins all the NSSA contests. He's going through his boards and telling us what he's riding and why.



And here is a similar segment that I did:

Day 23 - Session 29

Video taped in the afternoon with my brother and jason. Saw tim out in the water, but didn't talk to him. It was a really nice day, glassy and small. Fun though.

Day 22 - Session 27 & 28

Surfed really well in the morning on the mushy 45th street bar and then Jay and I video taped in the afternoon. It was really bad in the afternoon.

Day 21 - Session 26

Small wave friday the 13th! Surfed ok, it is just so small!

Day 20 - Sessions 24 & 25

Surfed 2x today. Surfed really well in the arvo. Saw Jensen out there (competition in our surf league). He's not that good, which gave me confidence.

Day 19 - Session 23 - Veterans Day!

Veterans Day!!! I'm thankful for the Vets.

I couldn't figure out why my break wasn't inundated with High Schoolers... Veterans Day. Surfed really well at the start and then it became really foggy and I could not figure out where to sit. I could not see the beach at all, so I could not see the wave and I could not get in the proper position. I was really happy to be surfing better though in the beginning. I ended up getting out of the water and I was about 400 yards down the beach!!! I guess, now that I think about it I was only catching rights and I would just paddle straight back out, but the walk home was pretty long.

My back is sore from really cranking some turns in the beginning.

Day 18 - Session 22

Waves weren't all that great and it was crowded. Probably because there had been waves and the stories had filtered out about the sessions that everyone had. To be honest, I struggled out there, not feeling that sharp - frustrated a bit.

Day 17 - Took the day off

Was tired and bummed about surfing poorly at HB. Needed a day. I have to ramp up my head for January! 5 contests! My goal is 5 finals in January. No time to think, I'll have to be sharp. It will be fun, I cannot wait.

Day 16 - Session 21 - Bummed

Surfed poorly in my heat in very good HB conditions. It was an NSSA - last second entry. I got equal 7th. Jay got 3rd, he won his 1st heat, he caught the right waves and surfed them well. In the final, nobody is a match for Taco in those waves. The guy dominates. We'll get there though. I think by the end of this hectic season in both the NSSA and the WSA, we'll be getting into the finals at every contest.

Day 15 - sessions 19 & 20

Busted my lip up. Big today.

Day 14 - sessions 17 & 18

Worked from home, surfed twice, the waves were on the rise. I saw a guy from one of those contests out there. I was on the burnout, I have not gotten used to it yet.

Day 12 - Session15

Got a few today. Was fun, surfing well.

Day 11 - Session 14

Had a good one in the fog. Had a wave that would have been an 8 for sure!!! That's what I need in the final to take down Yari! Ha Ha. I had two really solid snaps on my backhand where my tail got loose and then I finished it with a backside reverse. I've only done about 15 of those in my life, so it is pretty special. Would have scored high for sure. I need two of those in the final. Could be big this weekend in Pismo. I hope so! That is where I think I have an advantage. Big and gnarly is the edge for sure. I hope so. I need the points!

WSA/GATORADE CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR SERIES Masters 30 - 39* DIVISION
RATING NAME Total Points 08/08/09 San O 09/18/09 Ventura 10/24/09 Ponto 11/07/09 Pismo Pier 12/05/09 Oceanside 01/09/10 S.C. Pier 01/30/10 Southside Pier H. B. 03/06/10 Morro Bay 04/17/10 Salt Creek Dana Pt. 05/15/10 Church Total Points 1 Yari Vodraska 4290 1500 1500 1290 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4290 2 Trevor Mezak 3038 833 1290 915 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3038 3 Chris Munsterman 2975 1095 875 1005 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2975 4 Kris Wolfe 2595 915 1005 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2595 5 Philip Salick 2383 875 675 833 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2383 6 Rick Hahn 2375 1005 750 620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2375 7 Mark Wisdom 2240 833 732 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2240 8 Roy Sassa 2162 750 620 792 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2162 9 Erik Furuholmen 2120 713 675 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2120 9 Kevin Hamor 2120 0 620 1500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2120 11 Eric Rendon 1965 1290 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1965 12 Mike Olson 1708 0 833 875 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1708 13 G. Ivan Connelly 1647 0 915 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1647 14 Shige Takanashi 1482 0 732 750 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1482 15 Jason Penning 1370 750 620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1370 16 Mike Burau 1095 0 1095 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1095 16 Chris Giles 1095 0 0 1095 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1095 18 Tim Burrows 792 0 792 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 792 19 Kelly O'Connell 732 0 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 732 19 Tatsushi Wakabayashi 732 0 0 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 732 21 Chris ILtis 675 0 0 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 675

Day 10 - Double Sesh - 12 & 13

Session 13 was awful. Worked from home and went out at lunch. Waves were bad, but I feel like I'm getting close to ready for the contest this weekend at the Pismo Pier! Me and Jay are battling!

Day 9 - No Session - Still on 11

So small.

Day 8 - Session 11

Halloween! Got a surf in, which alleviated my hangover!!!!

Day 7 - Session 10

Got out there that is about it. Halloween party tonight.

Day 6 - Session 9

Got out there. It was cold! Gotta go now. Surfing much better, I'm looking forward to Pismo! I feel pretty good now. Hopefully that translates into a final!!! I'm hoping a number of surfers don't show, so that I can catch up since I missed the first contest.

Day 4 - Session 7

3 in the bank. It was fun this morning, but I cannot get my surfing back to where I want it for some reason. I'm analyzing everything and not just surfing, I guess. I'm really trying to change what I do to get better. Competition will do that to you. The problem is that I'm not surfing naturally because of it. It is like pulling teeth changing technique after 25 years. I'll do it though. I have another 10 days to get a consistent comfortable snap/floater/cutback combo down.

Day 3 - Session 6

My new streak is to have more than 365 sessions in 365 days. So I always have to have my sessions ahead of the days passed. I surfed 5 times on Saturday and I did not surf on Sunday. But I got out there this morning. So the total is 6 sessions on day 3 - I have 3 in the bank - a new challenge. Also, I'm committing to updating this blog every day, even if it is just to say Day X - Session X.

Surfed the contest this weekend. Got 7th again. So both my WSA finishes are 7th's. Oh well. I've gotten 4th in the Repercharge heat 2x now. Frustrating. The waves were bad, but I've been surfing poorly as well, so I'm actually surprised I made it through my first heat. I actually did so in both the open division and the masters division and got 4th in both heats following. I'm going to work hard to get ready for Pismo. My surfing has to get sharper. I want to consistently be in the final.

Power Rankings - Old Guy Surf Championship up for grabs!!!!

Power Rankings:

1) Jason Penning Boring but effective. Well at least that is the expectation. He has 2 1/2 moves and in theory they are functional. A Snap, a Floater and 1/2 of a cutback. His style differentiates him (he has a little) and expectations of consistent top 3 finishes has Yari and his smoking buddies talking. However, the biggest disappointment on tour so far this year invites more question than answers. Unless Mike can get on the podium, there'll be no challenge to that quarterfinal finish that he posted in the NSSA College Series back in '92. Yeah, he's faced the Doonan's in competition, but that was a different millennium and he gets little credit for those faded memories. He's still leading the power rankings, even if the judges fall to sleep before he finishes his ride, chances are that he'll finish it.

2) Mike Olson The anti-Jason. Consistency is his weakness, style his Achilles' heel. Yeah, he has added a weak open face frontside hack to his repertoire recently, but in clean rippable waves, he is yet to prove himself. Reports have him pulling off a big move or two during free surfs, but we are yet to see him link anything together on the contest circuit. When you see him drop into a long clean wall, do your best to not visibly wince as he dissects it with a machete. But, don't underestimate him, he may post a score or two if he manages to chew on a wallet long enough to ride one to the beach even if the epileptic seizure is most deserving of the credit.

3) Tom Lavia (No Photo Available at Time of Press) - the darkhorse, the wild card... This could all change with one heat. Tom's talent is known, but questions remain. Will his free surfing skill translate into success on the big stage? He likes to go for it, but pulling the big move and wrapping it with some functional surfing for solid points is unlikely according to "people in the know". Yeah, going into the ponto contest, he should have home court advantage, which argues for a higher ranking, but there is too much unknown. For instance, he lives 15 feet from the beach but all sightings have him hanging with the Jars of O-town. Why is this? Can he not generate speed on his own? Is the "3-to-the-beach" in is vocabulary? Can he stick the big move? More questions than answers at this point. His lame excuse for missing the deadline to sign up has him relegated to chancing a beach-entry. We'll wait to see if he shows before reassessing.


Recent News:
In a surprising move, Jason has opted to head to Mexico with his friends from his old work. He'll probably get waves, but at a high cost. This is how it breaks down... Mike Olson 833 vs. Jason Penning 1370 points. The minimum point total for showing up (assuming 18 surfers) is going to be 620. Jason's absence certainly heats up the two man race. 833 + 620 = 1453 after this event assuming Mike earns a last place finish. Reports lately are that Mike has been surfing shitty, so that might be a good assumption! This is setting up a for a classic showdown in Pismo 2 weeks from now as Mike goes head-to-head with his nemesis (they'll carpool but conversation will be kept at minimum). The wild card is Tom Lavia, who will likely make his first appearance on tour with home court advantage (ponto is his home break). He will not likely be a factor down the stretch but would certainly pounce at the opportunity to serve as a spoiler. Taking Mike or Jay out of a competition is certainly top of mind for him. At an infantile 34, he has the a lot of energy and staying fit by chasing around 2 kids all the time may prove to be a key to his prospects on tour this year even if he is unable to make all the events.

Made it to day 202!!!

Now taking some time off. Still have been getting the water though. The reality is that we have had some serious swell in the water, for a long time, so my small wave surfing is suffering!!!

Day 196 - It's on like Donkey Kong

Working on my contest form... Surfing NSSA this weekend, probably going to get destroyed. You see it turns out that I don't know how to surf contests. But, I'm going to figure it out. I want a lot of heat time. The real goal is the WSA though. Going toe-to-toe with Jay and Tom.

By-the-way, I haven't been surfing very sharp. I don't know why that is. I think because now I'm analyzing every turn, every cutback and thinking comp. It is funny. I think it'll make me better. The real reason to do it? None. Just cuz it is fun...

Jason normally surfs these things well, but he's struggling to get out of the gate this year. We are both motivated and we are going to do the whole WSA series. I'm also going to do some of the NSSA's for experience. I'm surfing in the Seniors and the Masters this weekend at Goldenwest. It should be fun! My goal is to make it through a heat. But, I'm looking to be in the top 5 in the WSA! Jay wants to be there too, so we are going to have to battle!

WSA/GATORADE CHAMPIONSHIP TOUR SERIES Masters 30 - 39* DIVISION
RATING NAME Total Points 08/08/09 San O 09/18/09 Ventura 10/24/09 Ponto 11/07/09 Pismo Pier 12/05/09 Oceanside 01/09/10 S.C. Pier 01/30/10 Southside Pier H. B. 03/06/10 Morro Bay 04/17/10 Salt Creek Dana Pt. 05/15/10 Church Total Points 1 Yari Vodraska 3000 1500 1500 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3000 2 Trevor Mezak 2123 833 1290 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2123 3 Chris Munsterman 1970 1095 875 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1970 4 Eric Rendon 1965 1290 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1965 5 Kris Wolfe 1920 915 1005 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1920 6 Rick Hahn 1755 1005 750 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1755 7 Mark Wisdom 1565 833 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1565 8 Philip Salick 1550 875 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1550 9 Erik Furuholmen 1388 713 675 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1388 10 Jason Penning 1370 750 620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1370 10 Roy Sassa 1370 750 620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1370 12 Mike Burau 1095 0 1095 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1095 13 G. Ivan Connelly 915 0 915 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 915 14 Mike Olson 833 0 833 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 833 15 Tim Burrows 792 0 792 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 792 16 Kelly O'Connell 732 0 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 732 16 Shige Takanashi 732 0 732 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 732 18 Kevin Hamor 620 0 620 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 620

Day 191 - Surfing is fun

Machado checking my style...

Day 182 - So good out there today...

It has been big and good. My broken body is slowly recovering. I need some Yoga in a bad way. I need to get some flexibility back. In need that spring in my muscles.

Today showed head-high peaks that reminded me of a crossed up day at Huntington. Wow! It was good. The water was warm and my forehand tail slide was working. I had a couple of big slides today. I'm pulling them off with ease now. I cannot explain why. I'm stoked again. My frontside cutback is suffering, I think because I'm so stiff... We'll see if we can change that.

Tonight I'll certainly go to Yoga. I think I'm going to surf in a little contest this weekend with Jason. More motivation.

Amazing that Today is 1/2 of a year surfing every day. How is that possible? How have I been able to dodge any and all commitments that would prohibit this? Particularly work ones? I don't know. 5 more days until day 187 which I think marks the end of summer. I'll probably keep it going until day 200 and take 201 off. Why? I don't know because 200 is an easy one to remember, an easy one to explain. I'll admit, this thing is silly, but it has been one of the best experiences of my life.

I think I'm already lining up my next challenge. Not sure what it will be, but I think it will be more sessions than days... This way I have incentives to get out there multiple times when it is good. So, Triple sessions will be at a premium on the weekends! Double sessions during the week will be pushed for. I'll have a "Bank" and the goal will be to not let the count drop below the number of days. Yeah! This sounds fun... I'll have an incentive to build the bank up as much as possible in case I have to burn a week or two due to weather or a vacation (that doesn't involve surf) or whatever.

I plan on starting this one the starting October 10th (I have to go to TN on the 7th and 8th). I've never gone a full year where I didn't have at least 1 super long break from surfing. I always get out of shape and I have to fight my way back into it. This is no longer for me. I'm going to stay in shape and stay in surf shape as well...

Day 173 - My body is breaking...

I have pain in 5 places: 1) upper back - massive spasm, 2) Lower back - general tightness a bit of a spasm, 3) Both hips are very tight, 4) My left knee has been bothering me (right one is the one that I had surgery on), 5) My ankle that I rolled a couple of weeks ago.

Something has to change. I have to fit some yoga/other fitness into my routine. I think the asymmetry of surfing, has me hurting. I have to align a little better. Yoga tommorow, not because I want to, because I have to. It'll take some time before it helps...

I caught 4 waves today after surfing my brains out for the last couple of weeks. I need a break and to recover a little bit. The waves were really good however.

Day 168 - the day that hasn't happened yet...

I was going to go surf, but I'll admit it, I'm very sore from getting in the water a lot over the last week or so. My legs are sore, my arms are sore, I'm generally in need of some yoga or something. Well, instead of going to surf this morning, I instead decided to call up Jay and I started screwing with iChat. If you want to see the result, check his blog here: Jay's Blog. iChat rules!!! Anyway I did not surf.

To finish my thoughts from my previous blog, when I was out in the water last night my neighbor Chris was out there and he made a comment about how clear the water is. This is when he said, "It's just like a giant Brita filter with all the ash raining down on the water from the fires." I guess he could be right, but I just think it is funny. So as the ash sinks, does it collect all the particulate? I don't know, I just like visual of a giant brita filter. I like brita filters...

I'll go surf as soon as I get home.

Day 167 - The Brita Effect...

Ash in the water... Ambi I'm out - have to continue tomorrow. I have been surfing my brains out as of late. Tightening up my small wave style.

Smoke

It has been fun lately, I'll have to get back to updating my blog!

New license pic

Old license pic

Day 163 - Boosting

Had so much fun out there this morning! Chest-high and fast. I actually don't know where the swell is coming from, but I know it was fun - seemed west. I felt really comfortable on my board out there and I even pulled an air! With speed to burn, I hit a little ramp andpopped an ollie about 1 1/2 feet out landing like you land a floater, right in the transition. So fun, so stoked. With my ankle feeling better, I figured out that I have been leaning too much on my bottom turn, causing me to lean too much on my top turn the opposite way, resulting in not being over my board for the top turn. Translation: I was pulling everything today, stayed right over my board the whole time.

Supposedly there is going to be some mid-period NW swell this weekend. I hope so! With the sand the way it is right now, the weather, the crossed up nature of the swells and the short periods it could be super fun this weekend. It could be... Probably not though, but at least it has a chance. Before the sand moves around (from bigger winter storms), when the right swell hits, it's a fricken barrel-fest. Lots of thumpage, but every now and then, yeah, a big fat pipe that you can get out of. I hope this happens. After the surf lately, which has been fast and critical, just not large like it has been down south, I'm about as quick out of the gates as I can be. This is critical for getting some time in the green room. Stay tuned. I'm stretching tonight. Nah, I'm stretching right now - In my office!

Day 157 - Jay's 60 Seconds

Some south in the water today. Got some good ones. Racing, chasing and bouncing off the bottom at low tide.

The real one...

http://www.surfline.com/surflinetv/sixty-seconds/brian-conleys-giant-mexican-shack_29324

Day 156 - My Hard Disk Drive Broke

...I almost have the answer after a long day in the office, I'm in the middle of a Google query that I had just punched into my iPhone, "why hard disk drives fail". I'm very interested in knowing the answer to this as I had two hard drives die in the last 3 days. As I'm clicking on the search result, which I hope will put my mind at ease, I step off of the curb onto an uneven spot in the pavement. Holy shit, I just rolled my ankle! I'm not sure if I went to the ground as my memory is a bit blurry in all the pain but I know that I staggered to the find support from the nearest skyscraper. You see, I was downtown, on my way to the bus right across from the library at 6th street, it is an area busy with people in the late afternoon, but I did not try to hide the pain, I could feel people looking at me, wondering what was wrong with me. Had I been shot? Was I wasted? Is it performance art? I stumbled over to one of the marble encrusted blocks that litter the courtyard and proceeded to lie on my back staring up at a patch of blue sky enshrouded by vertical glass on all sides. The only thing that I could think of is, "My streak is over, my streak is over." Are you serious? My streak is over at the hands of my inability to focus on walking? Laying on my back in my suit and tie, my mind is racing, thinking about the last incident like this, which was at USC when I was in grad school. I rolled the same ankle in a similar manner, just walking, and it broke a bone chip off, locking up the joint and requiring surgery. These thoughts were spinning through my head at light speed, reconciling the importance of my streak and then slowly fading into the realization that it is not important at all. I made it up, nobody's life depends on it, it is just something that I created out of thin air. So if the streak is over, then it is over and it is OK. Well, the good news is that I have rolled my ankle many times over the years playing basketball and I knew that often times it is not as serious as the initial immobility and pain tells you. I hadn't surfed yet last night after a long day at the office, but I did manage to get out there. I felt the pain and my ankle certainly did pop, probably tearing some scar tissue or a ligament, but it did not stop the streak. My ankle is a bit swollen, and this morning was no easy feat to get out in the water as the joint had plenty of time over night to stiffen up, but I made it and to my surprise the waves were a lot bigger than they have been. I rode the 10 footer and struggled to make a few of the drops with the increase in size. 1 month to go to cover 2 full seasons, I think the number I'm shooting for is 187, which will be the official end of summer. Wow. So much has happened over the last 5 months. I cannot wait to get to 6 months so that I can start on my next meaningless adventure.

Comparison Shopping:

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Day 152 - Just the motions...

So small, it is hard to motivate for sure. Every time I go, I have fun however. Today, I caught a few where I generated speed and forced a turn or two. These are the days that pay dividends when it picks up. You know how to get speed from all of the groveling, but with a much bigger canvas, filling in the blanks is so much easier.

Day 145 - Wave of the day

It was pretty walled out there today, but I managed to pick off the wave of the day... Boosted, probably about 2 feet out, landed on top of the lip, fell through and blew up. Very fast, very walled, very clean, this fits my style perfectly. If I get one pump, I can make sections, which results in super fun session like this morning.

Oh yeah, I erased about 36 hours of my life this weekend. Watched UFC - Anderson Silva, are you kidding me? I have never seen anything like this guy. If you don't know what I'm talking about, it is not important. This guy is the best fighter on the planet, he destroyed a former light heavy weight champion, who can take a punch - Forrest Griffin. Anyway, in all the excitement I decided to take some shots of tequila, effectively elimininating my Sunday. I still held my streak together, but just barely. I got up at 6:00 pm and got out in the water about 6:15 for a 45 minute session.

Watching you.

Happy birthday to me.

Day 139 - Fun peaks, really fun

Late session for me, surfed for about 45 minutes. It was really fun, my body is aching a little, but I still surfed OK. I went to the DMV today, it took about 2 hours... What a mess.

Brainstorming for DMV photo

D M V

Fun windswell this morning.

Day 138 - Quake Weather

There is something about the tropical flow that we have going on. I assume that is what is going on, it is just that the air seems warmer than normal, the sunset was out-of-control and the water feels like a bathtub. I got out after work for a few and a few is what I got. It was really good at the start, probably shoulder high +, but it seems that the tide swamped it and I sat out there by myself shooting my board in the air over and over because there were no waves into the close of the tropical day. I still caught about 5 or 6 to the beach from the outside before whistle blew, still super fun.

Earthquake in mex today, it was probably 350 miles away, but our building still shook enough to cause my co-worker Diana to run for the exit. Trust me, I wasn't far behind her. I'm not a tough guy when it comes to the 20th floor weeble wobbles.

Anyway, my other co-worker (Tanya) told me the other day that it is easy to loop stuff in Garage Band (Apple Software), so I looped some stuff together and put some video to it that my dad shot of Doheny on that big Saturday. Amazing, looping that stuff took about 30 minutes, front to back and I had never used the software before. Talk about democratization through technology. Mind you, I don't have a musical bone in my body.

You won't see Doheny like this very often, I never have. It is almost always tiny, with good shape. This was the right swell however.

Early Worm Gets the Bird

Haven't surfed yet. Have to go home and surf some slop now... Looking forward to it. It is weird when I do not get a surf in early, the day just isn't as enjoyable. This morning, the waves looked actually pretty solid and pretty decent on the shape-o-meter. Oh well, there's always tomorrow. Unless this guy is right...

Notice that this was July 3rd and not in response to today's earthquake. I like the mug shot.

Gulf of California Earthquake - Is the Big One Coming? Submitted Friday, July 03, 2009 Mark Parsec

The recent 6.0 earthquake in the Gulf of California (July 3, 2009) is a reminder of the complex fault structures that run up the western coast of the United States. Although the earthquake struck 42 miles southwest of Ahome, Mexico, in Sinaloa state, the fault structures involved are intricately connected with the faults in Southern California. USGS map of July 3, 2009, showing faults and recent earthquakes. Historically, when one of these faults in the Gulf of California slips it begins a chain reaction of fault movements up and down the coast. The fault that runs under the Gulf of California runs north into the Imperial Valley of California in the vicinity of the cities of Mexicali, El Centro and Palm Springs. Not far to the west and northwest, and connected to these fault systems, lay San Diego and the sprawling Los Angeles Basin, with its infamous San Andreas Fault. A BRIEF SUMMARY OF CALIFORNIA EARTHQUAKES Date Time Location Magnitude 1. 01.09.1857 8:24 am Fort Tejon 7.9 2. 2.24.1892 11:20 pm Laguna Salada 7.3 3. 12.25.1899 4:25 am San Jacinto/Hemet 6.7 4. 04.21.1918 2:31 pm San Jacinto 6.8 5. 06.29.1925 7:42 am Santa Barbara 6.8 6. 11.04.1927 5:51 pm Offshore Lompoc 7.1 7. 03.10.1933 5:54 pm Long Beach 6.4 8. 05.18.1940 8:37 pm Imperial Valley 6.9 9. 04.10.1947 7:58 am Manix 6.5 10. 07.21.1952 3:52 am Kern County 7.5 11. 04.09.1968 6:29 pm Borrego Mountain 6.6 12. 02.09.1971 6:01 am San Fernando 6.6 13. 10.15.1979 4:16 pm Imperial Valley 6.4 14. 07.08.1986 2:21 am North Palm Springs 5.7 15. 10.01.1987 7:42 am Whittier Narrows 5.9 16. 11.24.1987 5:15 am Superstition Hills 6.6 17. 06.28.1991 7:43 am Sierra Madre 5.8 18. 04.22.1992 9:50 pm Joshua Tree 6.1 19. 06.28.1992 4:57 am Landers 7.3 20. 06.28.1992 8:05 am Big Bear 6.3 21. 01.17.1994 4:30 am Northridge 6.7 22. 10.16.1999 2:46 am Hector Mine 7.1 23. 12.22.2003 11:15 am San Simeon 6.5 24. 07.29.2008 11:42 am Chino Hills 5.4 A word of caution should be conveyed to the residents of the southern California area whenever this type of fault activity commences so they may be better prepared for the BIG ONE. Keep your eyes on Southern California, I anticipate a major quake within 90 days. The Gulf of California (highlighted)

Day 134 - Ego/Insecurity

Theory:
Ego cannot exist without insecurity, but insecurity can exist without ego. I see it a lot. The biggest egos are always the most insecure people. By-the-way, I work in the finance industry. Talk about insecurity! Let's put a bunch of the "smartest" people together, give them a task that is graded on almost imperceptible differences in performance, which can be wiped out in a flash by unpredictable events. Oh yeah, and because they are "smart", let's pay them a lot of money to do it! Wait, bear with me here I'm figuring it all out, I have an ego that is fed by my insecurity, but I'm in an industry that by its nature creates insecurity because there is almost no difference in performance of what a "good" analyst and a "bad" one does? In other words, you don't have to "do" anything, but if you talk a big game from what I've seen, you are a "good" analyst! Um, teacher? Can I change my answer? I would like to be a Fireman now... What it's too late? Don't get me wrong, I love my job, but I certainly wouldn't if I took myself too seriously, if I didn't have fun with it all, trust me I know a lot of unhappy campers. Often times, it drives them to feed their insecurities by doing things better, they are constantly trying to be the best, to satisfy the insatiable, it is kind of like drinking water when you are hungry, it doesn't' work. Have you ever heard about the long hours on Wall Street? You can read these people like a book in my opinion, this is what they are doing but, then maybe that is my ego talking. Hmmm, I'm confusing myself. Ego, pride, arrogance, you know and I know that I'm better than you so... Ummm will you do me a favor? I don't know how to ask it, but, uh, can you, will you please tell me that its true? Because, honestly I'm not sure. Screw it, every time you tell me, I just increases my hunger for it, I guess I'll go put somebody down or attack somebody for no reason or at least fill my head full of useless facts and big words to tell them. By-the-way, I have always thought that you were stupid anyway. I thought this was a surf blog...

Whatever, take off your white wig... in the water, on land, puff that chest out you are insecure. Use big words when you don't need to, you are insecure. Don't let a guy get a wave that disrespected you, you are insecure. Do nothing, you are insecure. Don't fight back, you are insecure. Fight back like a rabid dog, you are insecure. So, if you have not figured it out yet, what I'm saying is that we are all insecure, it just manifests itself in different ways. However, there are different degrees of insecurity, and once again, that is not the point, the point is that ego is inversely correlated with insecurity. Being nice to people for no reason, treat them with respect for no reason, then you'll be turning insecurity on its head, you'll be breaking down the formula that drives you, you'll be breaking down primal human nature. Remember, if you have a reason for respecting someone, you are not being selfless. In other words, if you have something to gain, then it is about you, and that my friend is that little voice trying to shovel more ego into the insecurity furnace. But if you do it for no reason, then you are letting go of that insecurity, you are climbing down from the totem pole and trust me, it'll make you happier. It dawned on me out in the water today, I had a couple of good waves and I struck up a conversation with somebody who was just learning. The dude was just random, but he was so stoked to talk to me, he must have suddenly felt included out there. I definitely do not do this enough, but I bet that if I opened up these conversations a bit more, it would result in more respect and more waves, which is typically the goal of having stink-eye in the first place. The real upside is just to be human, since life exists in our interactions, a result of having respect is that both sides benefit from this general kindness, which is both selfish and selfless if you want to talk about paradoxes...

Waves were fun, I had a legit 3-turner. Trying to link turns, having fun doing that. I'm looking forward to tomorrow as the H1N1 seems to be subsiding slightly. I hope there will be waves. It was about chest high with some morning sickness, but pretty solid, not mushy at all. I like that, it fits my style.

Checking the box today.

Day 133 - Dog as a Sick

Some fun ones out there today. I was sick though so... Well, it probably didn't matter much anyway. I was surfing well, however. Whatever...

Things got me down lately. Just how life is I guess. Surfing frees me from that, you know, that whole life thing. I don't know why people don't treat people well. I don't know why people think they can "get away with one". I don't know why the inequality of luck exists... But, what I do know is when I get caught up in questions like that, I'm much less happy than go lucky.

I'm reading the book "Blink" right now by Malcolm Gladwell, it is good. I read "The Tipping Point" prior and that is an amazing one. He's a very good writer. Anyway, in Blink, he talks about how athletes don't even know what they do most of the time. It is split second, so they make assumptions about what they do, but it is not what they actually do. He gave the example of Vic Braden analyzing tennis players and how they say that they "roll" their wrists just as they hit the ball. This is not true, they roll there wrists after they hit the ball on the follow through. It is a good point, but what is funny is how tennis coaches teach (or at least used to), rolling the wrist as some sort of functional mechanism. Just think about it for a second. They could not roll their wrists or the ball would end up in the net! It would imply that you'd have to open your wrist first. It makes no sense, the racket has to be flat or you would have to play on a ladder...

Surfing is exactly the same way. One time Damo told Tom how to crank a turn. I might have this wrong, but I think he said something like, "Go faster". Yeah, no shit. The dude probably has no clue. I've figured out all of the mechanics to surfing. I've made strides because of it. But, I'm no pro. I would put money that I could talk circles around the top 44. But there is no "dream tour" for surf mechanics debates. Why do I say this? Because this book "Blink" introduces the term "Thin Slices", making decisions at an instant, reading the court in basket ball, reading a wave in surfing. There is nothing here, I just thought it was interesting. When it comes to thin slices, as a surfer, I'm deli meat. You see, it has to do with instantaneous judgements about people as well, more conventionally called prejudices, but they don't have to be conscious thoughts, we do most of it subconsciously. Try one out, you'll see... Harvard IAT Tests Oh, yeah and if you ever want to know how Slater does it... Well I can talk you through it, but walking you through it, well that's another story or three.

Oh yeah, Tom Servais called me today. He said that he might have a few pics of me at cloudbreak. He down played them as marginal, I cannot tell what that means, since he's a hall-of-fame surf photog... I'll be stoke to see them in any event.

Wrong side of the bed.

Day 132 - Shark/Whale Sightings in MB!!!

Just to be clear the two first are purported to be real... Mine is too, but my encounter was with a whale so... Just a little different - it is the last one. Shark Sighting Link

Manhattan Beach — On July 21, 2009 Asher Ehsani was surfing El Porto, Manhattan Beach. It was 4:30 PM and he had been on the water about one hour. Air and water temperatures were estimated in the mid-70s and 60s Fahrenheit, respectively. Water was about 9 feet deep with a sandy ocean bottom and a 3 – 4 foot swell. He was about 100 yards from shore when 2 Sea Lions swam past him at a distance of 5 feet. Ehsani reported; “I was surfing El Porto for about an hour when I noticed a few Sea Lions swimming by me. I didn't make anything of it. About 20 minutes later I noticed a HUGE shark, I am 100% confident it was NOT A DOLPHIN. I have been surfing for years, and encountered many dolphin. What I saw was a giant Dark Blue/Black Shark AT LEAST 12 feet in length it was probably about 50 feet away from me. Its dorsal fin was approximately 20 inches high and the tail was about 15 inches out of the water. I was waiting for the next set of waves with 15 other surfers. I immediately left the scene, reported it to the lifeguard. He kind of brushed it off seeming like he didn't want to scare anyone. In the last week I have encountered more sharks in SOCAL then I have in the last 10 years. It seems that sharks are feeding here a lot more than they were before.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee

Manhattan Beach — On July 12, 2009 Jamie Tyndall reported the following; “I saw my first shark today at Manhattan Beach, while surfing between 35th and 30th Streets. The dorsal fin popped up about 25 feet from the line up and coasted for about 30 feet heading South towards the Manhattan Beach Pier. The dorsal fin was about 2 feet high, dark blue-black in color, and had nicks (missing pieces) in the trailing edge of the fin. THIS WAS NOT FLIPPER. I have seen many Dolphins, even have had them tag me on my board and had the pleasure of them swimming around me blowing water out of their blow holes. This thing was big and it wasn't a Dolphin. It was a large shark and it was putting out a bit of a wake as well. It moved very straight and fast, 30 – 40 feet at the surface before diving. It was kind of funny that none of the surfers that saw it, including myself, left the water. We all just stared at each other in disbelief. I do have to say that I was in total awe.” Please report any shark sighting, encounter, or attack to the Shark Research Committee.

Manhattan Beach — On July 17, 2009 Mike Olson was surfing El Porto, Manhattan Beach. It was 7:30 AM and he had been in the water for about 90 minutes. Air and water temperatures were estimated in the mid-70s and 60s Fahrenheit, respectively. The water was about 12 feet deep with a sandy ocean bottom and a 4 – 5 foot swell (double to triple overhead). He was about 150 yards from shore when 2 Kooks swam past him at a distance of 1 foot. Olson reported; “I was paddling out just in front of the 34th life guard tower; there has been a pretty fun sand bar there over the last few weeks. The water was warm and the waves were really fun. I had just caught a pretty long left, that I did 3 turns and closed it out with a floater. As I was paddling back out, I saw what appeared to be a deep water boil about 50 yards in front of me, which was a bit confusing because I have lived in Manhattan beach for 9 years now and I was completely unaware of any large structures straight out from that lifeguard tower. I really thought nothing of it and preceded to back-paddle the other 5 surfers that were sitting on the peak. What happened next defies description. A set wave came and the other 5 surfers on the peak all dropped in on each other, so it was just me sitting out the back with another perfect wave coming! I started paddling for it, but all-of-the-sudden, a huge sperm whale ate me! So I was inside the whale with some sailors and other stuff that the whale had eaten, when I got the idea to light a match so that I could see in the dark. I saw his tonsils (all slimy and stuff) and I realized that I had some pepper handy so I flicked it into the air, making him (the whale) sneeze. He sneezed and blew me out into a perfect wave, I pulled right into a 12 second barrel and kicked out just before hitting the rocks at hammerland (about 950 yards). I have been surfing all my life, but that was the first time that I had to use the old pepper-to-make-a-whale-sneeze trick.” Please report any whale sighting, encounter, or attack to the Whale Research Committee.

By-the-way, the swell is gone but I had some fun wind swell waves this morning. I rode my small wave board. Back to no leash and mellow waves...