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September
27th, 2009
31 out of 32 weeks of surfable waves.
This column is a complete rewrite. Because of what I saw yesterday
(Saturday 9-26-09 at the Wall). I had already written this
column on Friday (9-25-09), but I had to stop the presses
and rewrite this sucker. I owe it to you guys to keep this as
fresh as I can within that 7 day weekly window that I work out
of. So as of today...Sunday , September 27th this column
is new and it's because there was a swell this week. In other
words, there were waist high waves at the Wall at around
11:00AM on Saturday. And I had witnesses. Myself, Johnny
Reynolds, Erik Zak, Rick Evans, Chris Valhouli and Adam Coates.
All credible witnesses. There were waves. And I only shot one.
I was in between photo shoots and only had my 200mm lens
and shot one wave. Why only one? Well, we all thought the swell
was coming up. It did not. It had a very short window. So I fired
off a couple of throwaways.
I saw the waves. Those mentioned above saw the waves. But it was
short lived.
In fact, there were only a half a dozen people out in the water.
And four of them were surf lessons. This on a Saturday?
This was clearly, one of those short lived swells, where if you
lived here, you might have scored. But if you were travelling...well,
you did not miss anything special. It was not clean. And not very
punchy. Just a short, semi choppy, waist high swell.
Still, if you read the sub head above, you will clearly see, that
31 out of 32 weeks is pretty damn good. Come on...it's
better than pretty damn good. It's unbelievable.
I
have to say, it felt strange driving down the street, with my
camera and not shooting any surf action. I had two other photo
assignments this week. But none of it surf related. Actually that's
only partially true. One of my photo shoots had to do with Flatbread.
And all the folks I deal with at Flatbread, are surfers.
Jay Gould, Johnny Meehan, Patrick Meehan, Markey J, Bobby Morgan...all
surfers. In fact, if you take a look at the column of sponsored
ads in the right hand column, you will note, that all of them
are surfers. Every ad and business, in that right hand column,
has a solid surf connection. Every single one.
But, it was weird not shooting surf this week. I mean decent surf.
There's plenty of surf photos to look at this week. It's just
that only a few of them were shot this week. Last week yes. Last
month yes. But only a handful fresh this week. Too bad too, because
my imagination was running amuck. I was so stoked on getting a
new hollow swell, to try and get an inside the barrel shot, like
Nevins has been getting as of late. I have that new digi
water camera, and I so badly wanted a bigger, cleaner, and hollower
swell to try and put my ass in position, to snap one of those,
timeless, inside the barrel, shots. Nothing stokes the fires of
creativity like being inspired by one of our own. Nevins has
done that.
And not just with me. Just today, Ed O'Connell and I were
commenting on some of Brian's recent work. It's like surfing
with good surfers. You intend to push yourself a little harder.
It's the same with Surf Photography. Having one of the World's
best live and work in your town can't hurt.
Don't get me wrong. We have a bevy of talented photographers here
on the New England scene. Every photog with an ad in the
right hand column, is super talented. But Nevins gets his
work published in every single magazine that's worth reading.
From The Surfers Journal to SURFER, and to our own
ESM. Nevins gets his work out there. He puts in
the time and he has the eye. The creative eye. Plus, he knows
surfing. And if I said this once, I've said it a million times.
You have to "Know" surfing, to be a good surf photographer.
Period. And I'm not just talking surf action. I'm talking about
it all. The whole bar of wax. The wave texture. The wind. The
sun and light on the wave face. The out of the box, unique angles,
and poses. The unusual, but appealing, empty wave shots. All of
it. Because this is the difference between a good surf photographer,
and a great surf photographer. You have to know surfing.
As I promised last week. I'm posting yet another Kayakker vs Surfer
infraction. I know...Why do I have to be so hurtful to the Yakker?
I don't know. It just seems to come natural to me. You know,
I see wrong and try to right it. I probably should of gotten into
law enforcement. Although my kids claim I would of been a terrible
cop. "Dad you'd be tazing everyone for doing anything even
remotely wrong!" That's not true. Not entirely. I have to
admit, I might be a little liberal with the Tazer. And really
why the hell not? Some clown is acting up...I'd taze his ass.
You know, why do they issue you these weapons, if you can't use
em? Gee, maybe the kids are right. That does sound a little harsh.
But I bet the criminals would be on their best behavior around
me. I can just hear em.."Hey man be cool, here comes Crazy
Tazy".
I used to joke about waterproof tazers. But I'll bet anything,
that in the future. And I mean deep into the future. Say 20-30
years from now. I can see Lifeguards, or some other kind of
water patrol, carrying some sort of water proof, stun gun, or
tazer.I mean who can predict where we will be in 30 years? But
one thing's for sure, if the planet is still alive and well, I'll
bet anything, that surfing will explode to the point, where they
will need armed water patrol.
Think about it. 20 to 30 years from now. There's three times as
many surfers.
Oh the horror is almost to much to even joke about. But it could
happen. The only other alternative would be, that the Government
allows for offshore blasting of large boulders and reefs, so as
to create artificial reefs. Think that could happen? Which do
you see becoming more of a reality. The Tazer Water Cops, or the
Man Made Artificial Reefs?
My
money is on the Tazer toting lawmen. "Go on punk...make my
day."
So today we're adding another Surfer Related business to the column.
Simply Green is in the House!
Andrew Kellar is the man behind this Bio-Fuel Company called
Simply Green. It's all about
going GREEN. And as Surfers, we have to be aware of what's
good for our planet and what's not. Click on Andrew's
SIMPLY GREEN Ad and visit their site. It's all there
and ready to answer any questions you might have for Bio-fuel
oil and heating.
There's a few changing of the guard stories involving the only
magazine of it's kind. EASTERN SURF MAGAZINE now has a
new Top Chef. Matt Pruett has stepped back to the Outer
Banks and will continue to contribute, to both the mag, and
the website and also pursue other print and photo opportunities.
Meanwhile Nick McGregor has stepped up and will now call
the shots. Nick is a great guy and has the ENTIRE East
Coast all dialed in, and we're sure he's gonna take ESM
to the next level. They already have a great new website, and
if you have not seen it, you need to get on over there and check
it out. It's bad ass and state of the art. There's also a new
Photo Editor at ESM. Nate Adams who's coming in
on the heels of Ryan Gamma is stoked to be in the Photo
editor seat for the only East Coast Magazine that matters.
So we wish both Nick and Nate the best of luck and
know they will carry the torch that Mez and Dugan
started many many years ago. It's ALL East Coast All The Time!
That's what we're talking about!
Now
for some of my weekly Global observances:
Our
world is still not a very safe place. No matter who sits in our
White House. That has not been more evident than the news
this week about the Terrorist Plot that was uncovered in Denver
Colorado and New York. A US domestic Terrorist
named Najibullah Zazi was arrested and charged with plotting
to blow-up buildings in NYC. Zazi and a group of
other losers with ties to Al Qeada were plotting to blow
up buildings on September 11th, 2009 in NYC. Zazi
spent time in Pakistan and Afghanistan learning
the ropes from the Terror experts Al Qeada and the Taliban
of how to create mayhem here in the US. Think about that. Bombs
going off in NYC on 9-11-09? Not that we needed another wake
up call. But come on. The Global War On Terrorism is still
here kids. We're up to our eyeballs in Terrorists. Both here at
home and abroad. They're talking about adding 30-40,000
more US Troops in Afghanistan. Thank God we have the right
people paying attention in the intelligence world, monitoring
these assholes.
If
that wasn't enough of frightening news this week, how about finding
out on Friday about IRAN's newly discovered Nuclear
Facilities on Military bases in IRAN? The same week the world's
leaders gathered at the UN to basically waste everyone's
time with nonsense and babble. Did anyone watch Kadafy's 96
minute long rambling speech? Can't we just for once, take
him out? I thought we had heard the last of him once we bombed
his tent back in the 80's. That speech was borderline comical.
It was freaking bizarre. Then listening to Iran's president
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's condemning America and denying
that the Holocaust ever happened. Only to find out on Friday,
that IRAN has these secret nuclear enrichment facilities
is scary. This is serious stuff.
Obama stood his ground along with the president of France
and the Prime Minister of Great Britain and they have basically
drawn the line in the sand. They all agreed that come December,
that little Snyder look-alike from 3's company better
open ALL the Nuclear sites to inspections, turn over all notebooks,
and computers, and answer all detailed questions about it's suspected
efforts to build a nuclear weapon. And if they don't? Well I guess
that's the million dollar question. More than likely, more sanctions.
I'm sure they could care less. IRAN is a dangerous country.
If they were to get their hands on a Nuclear weapon...well?
Use
your imagination. But the bottom line is, this is still a very
dangerous world.
The Patriots lost to the JETS last week. And as
I write this, we are tied with the Falcons 10-10.
I hope they win, but I won't be surprised if they lose. After
last week's game? Please. This team is not our 2007 season
team. Hardly. Do I think we'll make the play-offs? Sure. How
far we get is anyone's guess. Losing to the rival JETS
hurt. And talk about double insult. The SOX lost to the
Yankees. Ouch. Lester got hurt and Daisuke
got beat.
Speaking of rivals. Local Surfers Jesse Gould and Max
Fatello played their rivals yesterday in a tough High School
football game. Winnacunnet lost 21-6 to Exeter.
The score is not important. What is, is the fact that the local
boys turned the ball over 4 times. Twice in the red zone. You
can't turn the ball over period. But certainly not in the red
zone. Watching these high school kids play, and the team spirit,
in the schools was refreshing. This is what sports used to be
like. No money. Just pride and bragging rights. High School sports
is fun.
*Note Pats Beat Falcons today 26-10...
Yom Kippur
Day is Monday September 28, 2009.
GOOD LUCK to NNE-ESA at the 2009 EASTERNS in Cape Hatteras!
PLEASE HELP THE NH SURFRIDER FOUNDATION.
Please
Support ALL The photographers who contribute to
Ralph's Pic Of The Week
every week for the last 6 years.
Remember
my friends...Surfing heals all wounds....
Pray for Surf. Pray for Peace. Surf For Fun.
Ralph
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(Above) The very first WALL Walk by little JC
Valhouli. OK so this is not a surf shot but it is in every
sense of the word. Alison and Christo out for the very
first stroll by the Wall with their brand new baby son. John
Christos. September 26th, 2009 Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) I only stopped by the Wall for a few
minutes, but in that time I saw a couple of waist high waves,
The Valhouli baby, and Erik Zak's new creation. He calls
this "Paddling Out". Click on the photo to see more.
September 26th, 2009 Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) High School sports. That's Mackey
V in the Red Shoes. To see more of Max and Jesse
Gould click on the photo. September 26th, 2009 Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) Margo Reola last night at the
Makaha Sons concert. Margo has the sweetest voice
on the entire Seacoast. September 26th, 2009 Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) Kealo Koko and Jerome Koko
from the Makaha Sons concert last night. This particular
song was for Lil Miss Molly. September 26th, 2009 Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
(Above) The amazing Makaha Sons at the
concert for Molly Rowlee and Joan Sice last night.
Thanks to the efforts of Rick Savastano,
Rick loves the Hawaiian culture and the music of the Islands. Last night was
a soothing experience, of beautiful harmonies, and incredible
musicianship. September 18th, 2009 Photo By Brian Nevins
Click on the photo above to see the whole Nevins gallery.
(Above) This is the Mobile Flatbread Launcher.
The virgin flight and bake-off. It was a huge success. September 25th, 2009 Photo By RALPH
Click on the photo above to see the whole gallery and more.
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