I'm a grandfather again. Three times over. Three little girls. See? There is a God. Clearly God wants me to worry and suffer a bit more. Thank you Lord. All kidding aside, she's beautiful and the girls (Avery and Brylee) are going to be great Big Sisters! Avery especially if going to be a Big Help.



Mimi and Reighlyne. I'll tell you what's amazing. It's still hard to believe that Cory is a grandmother of three. I look like a grandfather. Hell, I feel like one. But Cory? Not even close. Her mother was the same. Or rather is the same. She never looked like a grandmother either.



Gabby and her three little girls. Suffice it to say, she's going to have her hands full.
But she's got a loving family to help her out. She's happy and that's all that really matters in life. Be happy and others will be happy because of you.

Back a few years ago I may have mentioned that my life is one concept after another. Wait, that doesn't sound quite right. I'm in the idea business. It's what I do. From music to design. To writing and film making. And my day to day life. As some of you remember I was the Commander of POST 35 here in Hampton for 13 years. From 2001 to 2014 I was the man in charge at the American Legion.

Sometime around 2005 JEEP came out with a new vehicle.

The JEEP Commander. My kids saw a TV commercial introducing it and came running out to tell me. "Dad there's a new vehicle called the COMMANDER! You have to get it!" Without seeing it I answered "I do have to get it!" But my wife who overheard me and the kids getting all excited about it stepped in and said. "You are NOT going to get a JEEP Commander because you are the Commander!" To which I answered. "I am ABSOLUTELY going to get a JEEP Commander because I'm the Commander!" Well as most of you who live here on the seacoast know, I drove that JEEP Commander for the last 13 years.

When I retired in 2014 and was no longer the Commander, I started to look for another vehicle that would "speak to me". You know, a concept if you will. I needed a vehicle that made sense to me. At first I thought, the Jeep PATRIOT. After all I am a Patriot, and I love the Patriots. But that vehicle was too tame. Too wimpy.

So I kept looking. Months went by and before I knew it I was Four years without a new vehicle. And then, last month, I found the right vehicle.



The JEEP RUBICON. This vehicle spoke to me. And here's why:

The RUBICON is named after the Rubicon River in Italy. The Latin word rubico comes from the adjective "rubeus", meaning "red". The river was so named because its waters are colored red by mud deposits. It was key to protecting Rome from civil war. The idiom "Crossing the Rubicon" means to pass a point of no return, and refers to Julius Caesar's army's crossing of the river in 49 BC began a civil war.



Finally a vehicle that has spoken to me. I am after all a descendant of the Romans. My heritage goes back to the time of the Roman Warriors. I am a warrior and I am Roman. (Are you getting this?) Therefore, the RUBICON was made for me.



My longtime friend and fellow surfer Geoff Haenn from Landsdale in PA has been my guy for all of my JEEPS. I think we've gotten 7 JEEPS from Geoff. He's a great guy and you can do no wrong by getting a vehicle from him and LANSDALE JEEP. See his ad in the sponsor column of the BLOG.

So if you see my Old Commander go by, it's not me driving it. It's my son Max.



There I go...and here I am. From the Commander to The "CON".

And speaking of Max. It was so good to see him in the water during the COSBY SWELL. He's been out of the water since the week before Christmas with a nasty ankle injury. That's an awful longtime for a 26 year old surfer to be missing waves. Especially the surf we got in March.

My heart was breaking for him, because it had to have been killing him. Watching all of his friends surf in big perfect waves. The good news is he got into shooting video and editing. That has been a big plus for his downtime. But I have missed seeing him surf. It's been rough on all of us.

But, he paddled out on his longboard to catch a few on Thursday the 26th.



And as you can see here, he hasn't skipped a beat. He was maneuvering the "GUAC" around and setting himself up for these perfect little barrels. It was great to see him back again. And my lens wasted no time in finding him out in the line up. My only regret is I didn't shoot video.

The swell wasn't that good in the morning, and I hadn't been checking it thinking it was going to stay small and weak. So when he told me he was heading out, I just grabbed the NIKON to shoot stills.



Of course once I saw the surf, I regretted not having my 4K SONY with me.

I did however shoot some really long sequences. I mean LONG sequences. As a result, I have hundreds of new pics in the gallery section waiting for you all to salivate over. I shot everyone and I think I ended up with some pretty good images. It was so good seeing him pick off the set waves outside of the pack and make these long drawn out turns on the GUAC .

Welcome back Mackey! We missed you.



GO BRUINS and CELTICS!!!!

" Surfing, Hockey, and Basketball, Heals All Wounds."

This spot is featured in my gallery this week. And Ed was a big fan of this particular break. Hell, we all are. But being a photographer Ed loved to set himself up on the rocks here and fire away. Some of my favorite ed pics are from here.
Photo by Ed O'Connell
*Click the photo above to see a larger version of Ed's Pic.


Now for Some Local, National and International News
I had the distinct pleasure of seeing The PORCH PARTY MAMAS on Friday night in Somerville MA. Six of us went in. The Grondins, The Berardinis, and the Fatellos. Jane Grondin is the sister in law to Kevin and Kim. She was married to the late Allen Grondin who passed away last August. At his service Jane played a beautiful song with the Porch Party Mamas. The title of that song is called "Allen's Pajamas".



They blew me away and I made a mental note to go see them the first chance I got. And I asked if I could use one of their songs in my GRANITE GIRLS movie to which they said yes. They have two CD's out. The new one is amazing. If you ever get a chance to see them, go for it. Trust me on this.

OK if this is for real ad these two countries are actually talking peace? Then, this is a reason to be hopeful. I mean they have been at war since 1950. The Korean war ended in 1953 but the two sides have been bitter enemies ever since. And of course you all know about Kim Jong Un and Trump exchanging barbs with each other the last year or so. And let's face it, it's been uneasy at best. The threat of a Nuclear war has never been closer. But...these two countries are appearing to take a new stand for peace. And that's a very good thing.



I don't believe that Trump was the sole reason why they got together, but it appears (on the surface) that he was a major motivator to bringing this to fruition. I mean, Trump scares me. North Korea has to be frightened by him. But I think it was the Olympics that changed Kim's mind. He saw firsthand what the rest of the world sees and I think it has awakened his soul and his heart. Look, he honestly has a chance to be a hero in his country by disarming those nuclear warheads and missiles.

He can feed his people and turn this whole negative image around. This could be "UUGE." Sorry, I couldn't help myself there.
Keep your fingers crossed. I know I am.

There is after all, GOOD Surf in North Korea!



This piece of human garbage was finally caught this week.

The infamous East Area Rapist/ Golden State Killer. He was responsible for over 50 rapes and 12 murders since the late 70's. He terrorized the Sacramento area for years. Joseph James DeAngelo was a NAVY veteran and a former Police officer.



It's over pal. The gig is up. It doesn't matter how old you are. You are going to do time before you go to hell. Justice and DNA helped bring you down. You piece of disgusting shit.

And speaking of disgusting pieces of shit...



The COS has been found GUILTY! HEY HEY HEY!

KSM Photoshop of the Week
There has to be a week when KSM doesn't find his way into one of this relevant stories. But as long as I'm writing this BLOG I wouldn't count on it. He sure is a handsome woman though.



So my friends, please take advantage of this weekly photo shop of the mastermind who planned 9-11 and resulted in the deaths
of 3,000 innocent civilians by KSM (Khalid Sheik Mohammed).

*Note to self -must pick up a case of "JELLO" at Home Depot this week.

GET WELL SOON Jon Gozzo!
GET WELL Cliff Pappas!
GET WELL JoEllen Bunton!
REST IN PEACE Charles Crawford
CONGRATS to Gabby Fatello on the birth of her
daughter Reighlyne Noelle!

FYI Lenny Nichols is looking for someone or someones to take over the ESA-NNE District. Please contact Lenny Nichols by calling his cell (603) 944-2418

THE NEW GRANITE GIRLS poster! Shooting for a May Day premiere and a Summer DVD release.



THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AT THE ASHWORTH. From 7PM to 9PM.




Please Support ALL The photographers who contribute to
Ralph's Pic Of The Week every week for the last 13 years.
** BUY a HIGH RES Photo from any of the weeks on RPOTW.

Remember my friends... Surfing Heals All Wounds.
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.

Ralph

*Click on the photo above to see a larger version

(Above) Nice deep carve by Jared Veltsos. Thursday April 26th, 2018.
Photo by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) One more time for Mr Veltsos. Thursday April 26th, 2018.
Photo by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery




(Above) Young 9yr old Derrick (hope I spelled your name right).
Thursday April 26th, 2018. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery


Today- The COSBY SWELL Thursday Morning
April 26th, 2018. Photos by RALPH



(Above) I don't know too much about the SUP so I wouldn't know what to do when faced with something like this. What do you guys do? It doesn't seem possible to be able to paddle through this. Thursday morning April 26th, 2018. Photo by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery





(Above) Nice little rebound. Thursday April 26th, 2018. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) The waves actually bumped up a bit as I was shooting. I mean it went from waist high to shoulder high in no time. Thursday April 26th, 2018.
Photo by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) And then I started to see rainbows in the spray.
Thursday April 26th, 2018. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) Rainbow waves. Thursday April 26th, 2018.
Photo by RALPH *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) The lone tree on Friday April 27th, 2018. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery



(Above) The texture and color of these glassy waves were so pretty.
Friday April 27th, 2018. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) I wondered if they knew just how lucky they were to be out in that sparkling sea. Friday April 27th, 2018. Photo by RALPH
*Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

(Above) I promise this is the LAST Snowy Owl pic until they return.
Photo courtesy of Erica Nardone *Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery

CLICK ON THE PLAY BUTTON on each clip to view videos