November 16th, 2008

I wanted to tell my next door neighbor, who was meticulously blowing the leaves out of his yard the other day, that he might be better off waiting another day or two. I knew the wind was going to blow hard in the opposite direction, and that his neighbor, on the other side of the street, was in no hurry to rake his leaves. But I didn't say a word. I waved and gave him a thumbs up for the perfect leaf removal job. I must say, it sure did look good. Not a single leaf in his yard. It was in a word... Perfect.

By the end of the next day, his yard looked like the rest of ours.

All you new homeowners out there, need to work out deals with your neighbors, prior to any extensive leaf removal projects and chores. Otherwise, you will only end up repeating the job, and perhaps, you could get into a little hassle with the neighbor who's leaves just filled in your pristine leaf clearing masterpiece.

This is another price we pay for living here in New England.

Those pretty leaves in the Fall foliage season, end up looking not so pretty when they turn brown and clutter your yard, or worse, your neighbor's yard. And I'm sure there's been some cases of Leaf Rage documented somewhere. It's the nature of the beast. I mean hell, there's Road Rage. There's Surf Rage. There's gotta be Leaf Rage. And before you know it...it'll be Snow Rage.

Oh yea. It's all coming. Tis The Season.

I'm sure there's been cases of neighbors plowing snow into other neighbors driveways. Yep. Snow Rage. You know, I hate to keep quoting this bonehead, but he said it, and believe it or not, it does sort of make sense. Talking about Rodney King's infamous line..."Can't we all get along...?"

No Rodney we can't. Well, we could, but it's in our nature to argue and fight one another. And honestly, there's nothing wrong with a heated discussion, every now and then. As long as it does not escalate. What's the hurt in it? Let it out. Speak your mind. Tell them Jones's next door, you don't appreciate the 10,000 new leaves in your yard. But be prepared for confrontation. In fact, you might want to have your Leaf Blower in hand when doing so.

Ahhh the falling leaves of New England. So peaceful.

There's surf out there today kids. Again. It's windy and downright balmy, but there's something to ride on, if you want it. Or if you need it. It looks to be about chest to head high. Maybe bigger. It's semi gray looking, with offshore bumps popping up and out on the outer sandbars for anyone who wants it.

I'm gonna pass again until the sun comes out and stays out. Sorry for being such a lightweight here...but honestly? I don't really think I need to prove myself to anyone, as far as my dedication and passion for this lifestyle. I've gotten my share of waves in my life. And I am pretty sure (with the Good Lord willing) that I will get many more. I just need certain extra bonus features to get me out there these days.

The shining sun is one.

No, that does not mean I won't ever surf in overcast conditions again. Hardly. If that were the case, my days in the water would be greatly reduced. No my friends, it simply means that Lil Ralphie will be more selective this year. Yes, I will surf right through the winter. And yes, there will be days that are not only overcast, but downright nasty. And I will be out there for any number of reasons. I mean what I say, when I wrote "Surfing heals all wounds". I practice what I preach. Or try to.

Lord knows, I could of used a cleansing from Mother Ocean after the last two weeks. That was pretty crazy. It was a dammed if I do and dammed if I didn't situation. Thankfully things have died down on both sides. So I am personally moving onward and upward. Might I suggest we all do the same.

Man it's foggy out there.(Saturday) I'm looking out my window and there's not the slightest indication of wind. And it's got to be close to 65 degrees out there. That's all gonna change in the next day or two. I even saw the first graphic of snow flurries.

Tuesday? Snow? I know you West Coast readers are cringing reading that. And you Hawaiian readers have NO idea what it's like. Unless you're a transplant. But if you're a local on the West Coast, Hawaiian, or even a Florida, hip hopping, Surf Monkey, you have no idea.

And it's probably better that you don't. We all don't have to suffer the cold and ice, for you to relate what I'm writing. Besides, we have something else to do round these parts when it gets real cold. It's called snowboarding. And quite frankly, that's as close to surfing as you can get in the winter, without actually getting
wet, and it's some kind of fun too!

I do hope, none of my friends in the Santa Barbara area, are in harms way with that latest brush fire that's burning out of control. We were all horrified to see that 100 homes had been lost since Thursday. That's terrible. And they looked to be such beautiful homes too. It's hard to bitch and complain about some trivial things and then see something like this.

It just puts everything into perspective.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say, I will pray for you and your loved ones, and hope that things finally die down and the fire is finally under control.

And, I will say say a special prayer for those brave firefighters who are out there,24-7, around the clock, battling that blaze. There's a special breed of American Volunteers.

Forest Fighters.

May the winds die down, and the embers fade away.

People have been asking..."Ralph when is your next movie coming out?" Well, I plan on having something in the shops by Thanksgiving week. I did not release one last year due to the passing of my mother and the timing of it all. But I have enough footage from 2007-2008 to release something by the holidays.

I was fooling around with names as well. I had originally planned on releasing the next SFOD movie and call it TEMPEST A Violent Wind. But that name never did grow on me very well over the last year. So we've been kicking around names and one of them that we seem to like and chuckle at is "WICKED AWESOME WAVES" .

We were trying to use another New England sounding name or feel. And Wicked Awesome is kind of New England sounding. We have a great cover idea as well. We loved the 2006 release name NORTH BY NORTHEAST. And I suppose we could do a follow up and call it NORTH BY NORTHEAST II. But I don't know if I like the sequel deal. Another name is LATITUDE 42.94N LONGITUDE 70.83W. And then this one...SURF "FREEZE" OR DIE. Then we thought, why not put these names out there, and let some of you weigh in on which name you like. Not so much a contest but, just involving you guys in the creative process.

So, if you want to cast a vote on which name we choose, here they are again. Keep in mind. 99% of the footage was shot in NH and Maine with some other "secret spots" thrown in....

1. WICKED AWESOME WAVES (WAW)
2. NORTH BY NORTHEAST II
3. LATITUDE 42.94N LONGITUDE 70.83W.
4. SURF "FREEZE" OR DIE.
5. YANKEE GO HOME!
6. CAINS & EASTERS (Hurricanes and Nor'easters) 07-08
7. NNE (Northern New England) 07-08
8. TEMPEST A Violent Wind

Next week's column will have the FINAL Title along with a clip from the new movie. So please weigh in and let us know what you're thinking.

There's also a short 15 minute release from SFOD that's due to be released before Christmas called "GROOVEMASTERS" and it's our first ever Longboard movie about Longboarding here in NH. It's featuring Mike Moran and a host of other local longboarders. It should be a fun time for us putting out two movies back to back.

There's still the other two SFOD projects that are in the making. 1. THE HISTORY OF SURFING IN NEW ENGLAND documentary 2. ONE One Day, One Swell, All Of New England. The History of Surfing in NE is just that. A documentary of the surfers and surfing in New England. The ONE project has been in the making since 2005. The reason why it has not been done yet, is because, we have NOT had that one day swell, where all of NE is breaking.

We need a Gabrielle type Hurri swell for that to happen. And I've made some pretty strict criteria as well. It has to be overhead. It has to be clean. And it has to be sunny. Boy, I guess that's not too hard to ask for.

But think of it. If it happens. It would be great. ONE SWELL. ONE DAY. ALL OF NEW ENGLAND.

I want to personally thank all of you who called, and sent emails to me on Veterans Day. There were so many that I lost count. 100's of you. Wow. I was really quite blown away by it. So thank you all again, I can't tell you how special that was. And again, a BIG thank you to all the other Vets out there too.

Between the last two columns, and the V-day activity something else had happened. What's that Ralph?

Well...I lost track of the Patriots during the last few weeks.

But I must say, that was quite an exciting game on Thursday against the JETS. Exciting? Hell it was great. And the night before...I just happened to catch the last few minutes of the Celtics vs Flames game. Wow. That was exciting too. Paul Pierce's last second shot? That's sports drama folks. New England Style Sports Drama. And then back to the next night with young Matt (Brady who?) Cassell throwing that last second TD pass to Randy Moss with Ty Law hanging all over him? My brothers and sisters that was unbelievable.

And honestly, for the first time since the Superbowl...I was really into the game. Don't get me wrong. I'm sorry they lost, but very happy to see them play the way they did. Granted, the defense needs to tighten up and play smarter. But overall? I was happy. I was happy to be a Pats Fan again.

We (Pats Fans) should all be.

No one says they are going to Superbowl. Hardly. And they more than likely will not get past the AFC conference with anything but a Wildcard berth. But it's fun to watch them again. And quite frankly, Cassell has earned himself, some much do respect. Including from me.

I was not a believer.

Especially in pre-season. If anything, I was horrified at how bad he was in pre-season. But, he's since proven himself an NFL worthy QB. And next season? Well when Tommy boy comes back...Matt might be wearing another uniform. And I'll say good for him.

Meanwhile, he's our QB and I support him (sound familiar?)

There's an ESA NNE Surf Contest scheduled for today at The Wall. Hope the surf holds out for Lenny and company.

Local Shop guy Phil Carey lost his Grandfather this week. And Doug Simmons lost his father a WWII Army-AirCorps Vet too. May they both Rest In Peace..

QWILL is available on myspace.com/qwillmusic

Remember my friends...Surfing heals all wounds....
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.

Ralph