Wednesday, November 18, 2009

To Summer

To Summer by William Blake

O thou who passest thro' our valleys in
Thy strength, curb thy fierce steeds, allay the heat
That flames from their large nostrils! thou, O Summer,
Oft pitched'st here thy goldent tent, and oft
Beneath our oaks hast slept, while we beheld
With joy thy ruddy limbs and flourishing hair.

Beneath our thickest shades we oft have heard
Thy voice, when noon upon his fervid car
Rode o'er the deep of heaven; beside our springs
Sit down, and in our mossy valleys, on
Some bank beside a river clear, throw thy
Silk draperies off, and rush into the stream:
Our valleys love the Summer in his pride.

Our bards are fam'd who strike the silver wire:
Our youth are bolder than the southern swains:
Our maidens fairer in the sprightly dance:
We lack not songs, nor instruments of joy,
Nor echoes sweet, nor waters clear as heaven,
Nor laurel wreaths against the sultry heat.

Friday, November 13, 2009

Hugh McLeod"s art from Surfing World magazine









Art works from early 70's issues of the Australian surfing magazine Surfing World. All these works were created by Hugh McLeod who was the designer/photographer for the magazine from the early 1970's until 1997. There would often be one or two of Hugh's paintings in a single issue. While the print and paper quality back then wasn't up to the standard of the magazine today i feel the magazine in terms of its content and vibe was vastly superior to the current Surfing World magazine.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Tom's Tuna Boards

Tom Wegener's new tuna boards.

tuna fun, alaia fun, finless rocks!! from matt williams on Vimeo.



Great online surf magazine Drift (Europe) with frequent contributions from Tom W and also Drift (America) with slightly different content.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

TSJ Tyler Manson Short Film

TSJ | POV - "Dan Malloy & Dane Reynolds Board Swap" from The Surfer's Journal on Vimeo.



A nice wee film with Dan Malloy and Dane Reynolds showing off some of their collection of boards. Some very nice rides with a 6' 4" peanut alaia.

Monday, May 18, 2009

Chris Thompson and The Dirt Band



A new song/video from The Dirt Band featuring my friend Chris Thompson. They're based in Hamilton, New Zealand.

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Mali: Gift Economy

A video about gifting (dama) in Mali. A great system for building community!



I haven't posted much new and original content here for a long time - just been so busy since I quit working at paid employment. Been enjoying the last days of warm weather and not too cold surf. Lots and lots of walking too - several hours each day. Awesome waves yesterday with offshore wind - not really big but great shape. Woke up this morning to the sound of wind-driven rain lashing the window - it cleared later but was bitterly cold and the sight of fresh snow on the Alps in the distance.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

One Love



A beautiful version of Bob Marley's song 'One Love' from the "Playing For Change: Peace Through Music" project.
http://playingforchange.com

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Daryn McBride - "The Bar"

New Zealand surfer and artist Daryn McBride creating "The Bar"

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Alaia avec Fed Compagnon et Manu Porte

Petite session retour aux sources avec Fed Compagnon et Manu Portet.


Friday, February 13, 2009

NeverEndingSurfari - only a month away...

Friday, 13th March - one month today - i retire from full-time employment as a retail manager and begin my NeverEndingSurfari. Traveling, surfing, painting, photographing, board building and living life a free man. There are so many places and people i haven't seen for way too long a time. It'll be good to be on the road revisiting all the beautiful places of this land and celebrating it in paint and photo, sharing it with friends old and new.

First stop is I-Nation Festival at my friend's farm.

I'm presently searching for the ideal vehicle but it's not this one:

A cool surfin' safari machine at Mollusk @ Gallery Space. Photo from Squishy's blog.

Monday, February 9, 2009

Chris Thompson - Crossroad Blues

My old friend Chris Thompson playing Crossroad Blues at Flagstaff Hotel, Hamilton, New Zealand.
13th December 2008

Video filmed by Michael Jeans.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Arctic Monkeys @ Wellington

On Tuesday we flew up to Wellington for the Arctic Monkey's gig at the Wellington Town Hall. It was their first gig in about a year. I saw them at the St James in Auckland in 2006. It was another great high energy performance with 4 new songs debuted - 'Dangerous Animals', 'Pretty Visitors', 'Would You Like Me To Build You A Go-Kart?' and 'Crying Lightning'. The new songs were good. The sound mixing was a bit crap but the band was tight. They're not as fresh-faced and raw as the last time i saw them. They played a cover of Nick Cave's 'Red Right Hand'.
Before the gig we passed the band walking up Cuba Street as we were heading down for a kebab at Abracadabra.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

The Life and Films of Alby Falzon

One of the very best surf film makers ever and a man of great wisdom and enlightenment.
As a teenager Morning of the Earth and especially Crystal Voyager had a profound impact on my life. Tracks magazine started by Alby, David Elfick and John Witzig was also very influentual on me through its early tabloid era - it was very much of it's time.

There is a new DVD out celebrating his life and films. Available here.





Just grin and bear the hyped-up channel intro at the beginning of this next vid. The doco's worth it.



Alby's website
Alby's The Daily Lama website

Last Days of 2008


What a fantastic way to finish off 2008. Two days of 30 degrees air temp, no wind and warm water at the beach with good sized waves (although not a clean shape). While most people packed-up and headed off on busy roads to over-crowded holiday spots i stayed home and got the best weather in the country right here. High tide was about 8 am which is perfect - surfed until i was totally buggered (perfect!)
Been using the paulownia paipo and its good - fast once you're on the wave but a little hard to catch a wave - could probably be a bit longer for my size and weight. It is just such a beautiful board to have in the water with you - its light, it looks beautiful, no wax required. No bout a doubt it Paulownia is the perfect wood for a board.


The weekend was enjoyable too. Perfect weather. Went to the Arts Centre both mornings and also to the city art gallery on Sunday and museum on Sat. Been painting lots in the late afternoon and early evening.

New Year' Eve i walked over to the beach @ North Beach just on midnight. There were a few young lads there with fireworks and 3 bonfires. The tide was fully out so there was a wide expanse of hard sand to frolic about on. There was just a gentle warm breeze that felt great on the skin. Not having partaken of alcohol or drugs i had a clarity of mind that allowed me to commit to some exciting but realistic NY resolutions. To end both the evening and the year I stripped off and went for a skinnydip in the dark waves. It was perfect!

A fantastic ending to 2008.

It has been a good year.