This was me on Tuesday September 23rd, 2020 shooting the first pulses of Hurricane TEDDY. (photo above is by Stu Horne) I burned two 32 gig cards shooting video and stills. I'm shooting 4 K these days so those clips eat up a lot of space, but two 32 gig cards? Man that's some serious shooting. But alas my dear friends, it wasn't all work and no play for little Ralphie. No sir, I did manage to sneak out and catch a few myself. I surfed 10th street and scored some sweet little tubes then moved down to 18th Street to escape the kelp beds and surfed another hour or so by myself.
Actually I was joined by two big Harp Seals.
One had a massive head and kept popping up right next to me. He was huge. The other one stayed further away but it was big too. I used to love to surf with seals and have done so many times over the years. But the whole shark thing has me second guessing myself when it comes to surfing with them these days. I ended up leaving after a while, I didn't want to press my luck. Even though I was chuckling to myself (and the Seal) when I thought about my speech I give every summer to the Wounded Warriors
during the HIT THE BEACH day. It is after all at this same beach.
My speech goes something like this (stop me if you've heard this before).
"If you're all wondering if there are sharks out in the water, here's what I want you to do. Walk down to the water's edge and stick your finger in it and taste it. If it's salty? There's your answer. However, should one of you actually be attacked by a shark and God forbid be killed by one? I promise you that come next year, there will be a Bronze plaque right here with your name on it."
I started laughing at the thought of a Bronze plaque with my name on it.
I'm sure the Seal thought I was loco. But it wasn't long after that thought when I left the water and headed home to start work on this massive Blog.
(photo below is by Becca Speak.)
Rather than have me blab you all to death about TEDDY I think I'll just let the photos and movie trailer do all the talking. What's the old saying? " A picture is worth a thousand words." Well that's certainly true this week with 13 solid galleries full of photos of HURRICANE TEDDY. Put it this way, the waves we got from TEDDY were some of the BEST in Years!
And all the photographers came out for TEDDY.
This is a pic of Kody Grondin taken by David Manzi on Tuesday
September 18th, 2020.
It's always cool to see something I've never seen before. This pic of me an my son Mackey checking the surf after he came in is pretty damn cool. This pic was taken by John Carden. John and I go way back to the early 90's when he used to run a recording studio. My band The NOR'EASTERS recorded many songs with John. Anyway, long story short, I turned him onto surfing and surf photography. So it was great seeing him back out there.
He shot this pic of Mackey after he got some insane barrels. Think he looks stoked here? Mackey told me after his last session on Wednesday that he thinks he got between 20- to 50 barrels during the whole swell. Damn.
Ed Moran shot this two pic sequence of Alex Orestis dropping in on the Mad Howler Dog himself Tyler Moore. If you've never been around Tyler when he's out surfing, you really haven't lived. He will typically yell and scream and hoot like a man possessed, and usually ends all his rides by flipping everyone off within his eyesight. Getting the bird from Tyler is an honor. Usually it's a double bird flip. Lord knows I've gotten my share.
He must have yelled so loud that the shock waves knocked Alex off his
board. God I love these guys.
My Southern fellow photog Dina Crawford was out shooting the action too.
rarely does she cross the bridge, but I always know that when the beachbreaks are firing she is all over it. It's a good feeling to know that she is covering all the sandbar action while I'm up north dealing with the rocky reefs and point breaks. This might be David Schultz (who by the way also sent me a cool gallery of TEDDY pics).
This is one of David Schultz's pics. This was the day the swell jumped up to a solid 8-10' and was firing on all cylinders. Everyone was out surfing and everyone was shooting the surf. It was everything we thought it would be.
Finally below is a pic from Mindy Bocko.
Mindy has a gallery of her work featured below with all the other photographers. This is Pev dressed more
like it's winter than late summer. Trust me it wasn't that cold. I personally surfed for almost 3 hours in just a 3/2 with no hood, no gloves, and no boots.
Most surfers dressed down.
In any event, be sure to check out all the galleries there's some really good photos of Hurricane Teddy. It's TEDDY HEAVY.
"HURRICANES and SURFING HEALS ALL WOUNDS!"
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This week's Ed's corner is Erik Cannon who has a few pics in the TEDDY Galleries and is also featured in the TEDDY video that's Premiering on Thursday October 1st, 2020 at 7:00PM right here on the Blog. Check out the Trailer down in the video section.
Photo by Ed O'Connell
*Click the photo above to see a larger version of Ed's Pic.
Now for Some Local and National News
Patriots almost beat the Seahawks in a GREAT Game last week. They had a chance to win the game in the final seconds. Final score was 35-30. I know I'm not alone when I say that, even though we lost the game, I walked away from that game feeling so much better about the team. I'm still liking Cam Newton. I think he fits right into the NEW Patriots. This week's game against the Las Vegas Raiders should be interesting to say the least.
GO PATRIOTS!!!
And speaking of Patriots...if you care about our country you had better well be Voting on November 3rd. Even though the Electoral College will ultimately choose our fate for us, you still should get out and vote. I no longer watch the news, but I will be watching the debates.
I like Biden's idea about have a bona fide Fact Checker LIVE on the debate. It would be great to catch these two red handed in telling lies. Cause you do know they both lie. They're politicians. All politicians lie. It's just a matter of who lies less.
That's who you're voting for. The guy who lies less.
My question is...how soon after the election will COVID no longer be a threat? A month? Two months? By the inauguration? It sure will be interesting though won't it. I don't get how the NFL coaches must wear masks on the sidelines, while the players do not. Can someone explain that science to me? Anyone?
I worked on this CD (designed the front and back cover), and I recorded one of Asa's songs. Click on this image (below) to read some of the reviews and find out how and where to buy one. There's some great recordings on this record by some of Boston's best musicians.
There will be a live performance of all the artists who played on this record at some point (once the Bloody Covid leaves), and it will be a worthwhile gathering of friends and artists of the super talented Asa Brebner. Stay tuned for more info.
This is the trailer to TEDDY. Or rather Hurricane TEDDY. We had four days of waves with two of them being significant. September 22nd and 23rd, 2020. Teddy was one of those Hurricanes that lived cup to the hype. It got big. It got hollow. And...it got crowded. Believe it or not, some surfers flew out from California to surf TEDDY. The Full feature Premiere showing will be shown on October 1st, 2020 at 7:00 PM. I'll be showing it on the Blog, the Vimeo page, and Facebook. That's 10-1-20 at 7:00PM. Music will be by NERVOUS EATERS, REDDY TEDDY, and The VINNY BAND. The song in the trailer is HOT STEEL and ACID by Nervous Eaters and can be purchased at aceofheartsrecords.com
ESM (Eastern Surf Magazine) using a READY MAG format did the Best of Ralph's Pic. And while they couldn't possibly use everything thing I've ever done, they did manage to put up some 50 pics of mine, plus two videos. And I was truly humbled by their intro. Mez said some nice things about me. CLICK ON THE IMAGE ABOVE TO SEE THE WHOLE Spread.
KSM Photoshop of the Week
They keep talking about mail fraud when it comes to voting. I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention until I saw this. Now I see why some folks would be a little suspicious if Khaliddy here was your mailman. How he got a job deilvering mail down in GITMO is a mystery to me. Whoever thought that The Sheik would make a good mailman must once again, be on crack. This man can't be trusted getting them votes in. I mean come on people! Wait, my bad, this is just another one of those photoshop jokes of mine. Nevermind.
And 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 Self adhesive envelopes
at Home Depot this week.
REST IN PEACE RBG 87 years old. September 18th, 2020.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY Victor Capozzi September 20th, 2020!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY John "Jacko" Keefe September 21st, 2020!
HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY Patch September 23rd, 2020!
HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY Avery September 25th, 2020!
She LOVES surfing on her Boogie board. By next summer I can easily see her on a soft top. We can't wait.
CONGRATS Pete and Noelle Rizzo on your spectacular wedding on September 12th, 2020! It was truly a memorable day. Family and close friends celebrating a wonderful day. Our families Just got bigger and better. Welcome back from your Honeymoon! Stoked that Pete got to surf down there too! Classic!
PLEASE Keep 97 yr old Frank Grondin in your thoughts and prayers, as well as Chuck (Kim's dad) and Mrs Berardini (Tony's 99 yr old mom) in your thoughts and prayers.
We'd all love to see her make it to her 100th Birthday in December. She's a fighter, but she could use some help. Your prayers can help. Thank you.
PLEASE Keep longtime NH Surfer Greg Smith in your Prayers.
Please
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Ralph's Pic Of The Week every week for the last 16 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
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