Had a particularly emotional morning. Woke up to a comment submitted to this site, worst flaming I have ever gotten, turned everything I’ve been trying to do with site on its head. and made me seriously think about sticking to daily links and taking my personality completely out of the equation. Turns out I personally know the commenter. and s/he promptly apologized (don’t troll blogs while drinking, kids, it’s a no no). I’ve been sitting here staring at this monitor for far too long now. I grabbed the blue fish and headed up to Burros for some afternoon sliding. Another heavy truck had over-turned on the curve in La Cruz, up by Real del Mar. and so I had to turn around and come home, or take the long way around via Sayulita. I chose to schlump it home. And so here I sit in front of the glowing internet tubes. wishing today never happened.
I got one thing going for me today, though: chocolatefuckincake, you are all mine.
New Clips From Battlestar Season 4. Got me fiending for some BSG4, but don’t watch the clips if you don’t like spoilers. (spoilers? who wants to hear a spoiler? [we're not su..suppo..supposed to talk about sp..spoilers, here] Yeah? I’ve got a spoiler… You will all die alone!) - name that quote. [via PB]
I grabbed this video at Bucerias Days ‘08. A young girl doing a dance routine to the soundtrack of the tattooine cantina bar scene from Star Wars: A New Hope. total classic! When the music came on, it was a clash of cultures, very surreal.
I had a pretty nice session out at Burros, yesterday. Probably haven’t been surfing there in 3 months, easily. Waves were clocking in at chest high and it was great being back at home base. Business as usual though, totally overcrowded 30+ bras in the water. But Jorge, Pato and I did out best to enjoy the mellow, mushy burrito olas. The water was still freakin cold and the wind was on full blast, making the water super chop. On the positive side I’m finally getting used to the cold, on the negative side, I’ve got the worst case of pit rash I’ve ever had, probably due to my flight jacket being too loose. super ouch. Mos Bef came with us and dragged along the Canon G9 with the underwater housing. And these are some of the more artful of the shots that came out. I really like the perspectives. click through to the slideshow or photoset for more goodness.
if i wasn’t neck deep in about a thousand other things, right about now, I’d do a up a new redesign for this here site. I’ve already got it all planned out in me little noggin. oh where shall i find the time? and is 1100px width (non-collapsing) too wide? Doesn’t everyone have apple cinema displays by now?
James Danzinger (of the Danzinger Gallery in NYC) has a blog and it’s wickedly good: The Year in Pictures. In a recent post, Danzinger gives a run-down on some of Tom Adler’s surf-culture related work from books on surfing’s golden years by photographers Ron Church and Don James to Swell’s impressive branding and identity. If there were ever an art-director who I’d love to work under, it’d be Tom Adler. His work is inspirational. A friend of mine gifted me Adler’s Ron Church: Surf Contest book and it’s an absolutely amazing time capsule of surf-culture history.
On our way through Los Angeles, I had to sort out a storage locker full of crap from my pre-mexico life. Including but not limited to years of collecting graphic design books, magazines, art, interior decorations, my entire artistic career - every last thing I ever drew/painted/designed/photographed and last but not least 1500+ records. 10+ years of daily crate digging. Countless trips to the Pasadena City College swap meet and many long nights after work, digging through dusty crates in run down record stores across L.A. Every genre you could possibly think of, equal parts early-mid 90’s hip-hop, early reggae/ska/dub and funk/jazz/soul records.
My vinyl weighed a ton and after years of figuring out how to get the bulk of it to mexico, I came to the conclusion that this dream would never pass. So with weary eyes pointed to the ground, I trucked my 15 boxes of records down to Amoeba Records and said my goodbyes. Back whence they came, to light up other people’s faces. Better then a most certain death, south of the border, to heat, humidity and no second-hand market.
The upside? Ya see, the rub is this: I didn’t own the records, they owned me. I was their guardian and once I found them a new, good home. I was free. I did end up saving about 150 of them. The really good ones. The ones that will never make it to CD or even MP3, ever. Plus the ones that are really good on record. One Technique 1200, a Griffin iMic 2 and WireTap Studio Pro and I’m all set up to listen to my surviving collection directly from my computer. Ahh, techmology.
Flickr user Pantufla has sets of photos of just about anything you could think or ever needed to source. His goal seems to be to have a collection of everything. A great source of inspiration for designers, photogs and casual history buffs. Please file this one under: “how the hell does he have enough time in the day to do this shit”
Fecal Face always comes with the goods, I was rummaging around their website and ran into a studio visit with Lee, Barneclo, Plock, Tunstall. FF gets into the studios of these 4 artists and sees what they’re cooking up. Amazing shit! and really inspiring. Tons of good photos of upcoming work. I’m especially digging the playing card-inspired series from Plock and Tunstall, towards the bottom of the page, it’s up in the Upper Haight Stussy store in SF. Relatedly: Believe it or not, I am completely tattoo free, but I’d take one of these ‘King of Hearts’ on surfboard as a tattoo, any day of the week (or at least for a killer board graphic).
I’m really feeling the photography of Patrick Trefz. He’s the director of two recent surf culture related films:Thread and Bicycle Trip as well as photog for every surf mag you ever bought. His photos are gorgeous and if he had a “click to buy” button on his print page, I’d have clicked it already. [via The Ryde/blog]
Ok, so I haven’t updated in a while, I know you’re all asking yourselves what’s up with Ed, what happened in Bali, did he kook out* on the surf scene, where have I been and why aren’t I updating per usual. quick update:
Bali was incredible. I took about 3000 photos over the course of the trip and I’ve been slowly editing them down to a viewable mass. I’ll probably write more about the trip as the photos make their way on to Flickr. We fell in love with Ubud, Bali’s cultural center, all over again. We’re totally addicted to Legong dances now, going so far as to know the names of each different dance troupe and recognizing their main players. We literally ate our way through Ubud, I think I gained five pounds on this part of our trip. I’m gonna learn me a good Mie Goreng recipe.
Surfing was simultaneously wicked awesome and frustrating at the same time. I totally kooked out. The first four days we stayed at Nick’s Place in Bingin and the ladies there took very good care of us, I gained another five pounds eating their home cooked feasts. Nick’s is the perfect setup, right over the main break. First coupla days I borrowed the longboard for Bingin and caught a moto ride down to Uluwatu (with this bloke from Cornwall, England) to catch some three footers with my shortboard. Everyone talking about a six foot swell on its way. Met an aussie couple and we did a day trip over to Nusa Dua, a lagoon/reef break (half a mile out) you grab a boat to get to. Locals were calling it 2-3 feet, I called it 6-7 with outside sets of 8-9 feet. Totally hollow, fast, powerful and getting bigger. Nusa Dua kicked my ass, royally. My indo-reef-break cherry was popped in no uncertain terms. When I wasn’t fighting the current dragging me down the reef, I was fighting to avoid getting pummeled by the never-ending incoming crushers lined up 10-15 deep like corduroy, to whupp that ass. We stayed on at Nick’s for an extra day in hopes of catching the big swell and when it never came, we headed out to Candidasa on Bali’s eastern end, to enjoy some diving. Big mistake. The waves started to hit later that day and by nightfall I could tell the swell had begun. At this point we were two weeks into the trip and we both simultaneously came up with the idea to cut the trip short by a few days, for logistical reasons having to do with crap we had to get done in LA and just a general feeling that we were over the beach scene and needed some big city vibe. So we cut out of Candidasa the next day and spent our last two days in the Kuta/Legian area. The swell had definitely arrived and Kuta was playing host to 6 foot hollow shore dump. Heavy. We could see Kuta reef break, in the distance, easily overhead to double overhead and after my experience with Nusa Dua, I decided to stay on the beach. The following morning I followed an Adonis looking old guy with the big log, up the beach to Legian’s beach break. Easily overhead and heavy. Didn’t catch a single wave and spent an hour just trying to get back out of the water. Way past my experience level. In fact, that’s kinda what sums up my experience, when Indonesia is big, it’s way above my experience level. I had a ton of fun and surfed some great waves, but I was definitely humbled. IMHO, if you decide to go seeking waves in Indo, go with your surf homies. Be careful and be safe.
From Bali, we flew back to Los Angeles and spent a few cold, rain soaked days consolidating a storage space full of my old crap from my pre-mexico days. Regrettably, I sold my entire record collection, 1500+, it was a hard decision but ultimately the right one. We packed what was left and a whole bunch of IKEA crap into the truck and lead-footed it back down to Mexico in time for the holidays.
We’ve been back for just under a month now and I have admittedly, only been surfing twice. We’re experiencing a crazy cold winter, probably some records broken I’m sure. I pulled out the spring suit but I still froze my bells off. My New Year’s resolution was to kick the RSS habit and my copy of NetNewsWire has been lonely ever since. I’m still checking up on a handful of blogs, mostly mac/surf/photo related. but for the most part, I’ve been keeping my recreational computer time to a minimum.
A few days after New Years our dog, Lola, was hit by a car and died in our arms. we buried her in a mango grove on an old road behind Bucerias. Her unexpected passing left us shaken and our home with a slight case of empty-nest syndrome. We still miss her like crazy. A few days later I started to get some heavy sinus trouble from allergies which developed into a nasty sinus infection. A trip to the ear, nose, throat doctor in Guadalajara and I’ve got polyps in my nasal cavities. A full month of anti-histamine treatment later, and a radiological exam and we’ll see if the polyps have spread to my deep sinuses… To top it all off, I’ve been working on spec house project in Sayulita for over a year now and it looks like it’s not going to happen, big bummer. Time for Ed to get a real job! [Ed, you're starting to depress me.]
Back in Bucerias, a big swell came through town earlier this week and I was too busy to get in the water. I’ve been helping my sister more and more each day and fussing around with some other stuff. I have a bunch of daily links posts I’ve been putting off, so hopefully in the next day or so I’ll get those out for your reading pleasure.
After a killer, relaxing trip to Bali and some pretty good holidays, 2008 started out on a real downer and things are totally in transition right now. Fluctuations usually lead to interesting opportunities, but they always make my guts churn with nervous energy. Here’s to a new and different 2008, optimistically, it can only get better.
Well, the secret is out. Yes, I’m an expat blogger with a keanu-style surf lingo writing style. This pretty interesting article comes by way of one of Mexico’s english-based rags The Guadalajara Reporter*. I was wondering why my hits had gone up two-fold this past tuesday, thank you cutnpaste…
Forget Lonely Planet and Fodors. Because at this moment, hundreds of English-speaking expatriates are not only enjoying new lives south of the border, but recording their ups and downs, travels and home life, good eats and unusual finds through digital journaling and photography posted on web logs for the world to browse. After a bit of web sifting, I’ve caught on to a few that really shine: the chosen expatriate blogs are easy on the eye, informative, and fun to read.
www.qualitypeoples.com
Ed Fladung lives and breathes surfing in Bucerias (just North of Vallarta) where he’s been, as his web/photoblog’s heading announces, on a “perpetual Mexican surf sabbatical” for the last four years. Fladung is about as güero as they come, with a shoulder length head of sun-bleached hair and a healthy beach glow. He occasionally appears in the vibrant, Technicolored shots of candid small-town Mexican life he posts — a click on the photography link in the upper right hand corner will send you to an online Flickr gallery which is like peering into a candy shop, sun-saturated rainbow colored pictures you could sort through for hours.
The photography is bright and entries light; his Keanu Reeves-esque surf lingo is endearing and readable. “OK, I’m off to go pre-book our hotels,” he writes in preparation for a surf trip to Bali. “Bummer, I was hoping to just roll up …” And of a boat captain’s suspiciously high fees, “I told dude that’s the gringo rate, that I live in Bucerias and I’d be willing to pay 300 pesos total. Dude said no.” Recent entries include movie reviews of a dozen or so films that passed through his “two horse town,” as well as an anti-Adobe Acrobat rant and several single photograph posts. Check the March 26, 2007 entry to learn how Mr. Fladung ran into members of The Whitest Boy Alive and Broken Social Scene at a local restaurant and witnessed an impromptu acoustic concert (with Leslie Feist on spoons and glasses).
Apparently, the article will fall behind a pay wall, after the issue leaves news stands**, so here’s a link to the full article, posted by Jillian and Malcolm from Dropped In, two firebrand ex-new york hipsters in overly designed eyewear (like myself) who’ve set up shop in the Yucatan.
I gotta say and the author is dead-on about the interesting phenomenon of dialed-in expats dropping out of the american fast lane, especially the twenty and thirtysomethings. There are some really killer blogs I keep noticing, Jillian and Malcom’s being one of the hippest, if for nothing else for their liberal use of dirty words.
and you know i love dem dirty words.
Edit: It turns out Meredith Veto, the article author, is a young expat herself and she has a blog. Go check her out, she has the beginnings of very cool blog and obviously well written.
– * no links in the article text?! tsk tsk ** way to go for luddite business plans!
My soul brother Isaiah needed a slick little website that gets his beautiful handmade music videos across to potential clients in a lightning fast manner. I hooked him up. We decided on a one-pager that uses Lightwindow, so viewers don’t have to leave the page to view the videos. The result is sofreshnsoclean and easy to use. Past the website design, Isaiah’s videos are labors of love, all handmade and with feeling. Each is gorgeous in its own right. Isaiah is on a different level than most video directors I see. Take a peek, you won’t regret it.
We spent New Year’s Eve 07-08 hanging out with some friends in La Cruz (is it nye 07 or nye 08? i’m not quite sure). It was a mellow house party kinda thing with a bonfire on the beach that never could quite make it to actual bonfire status. The fire was a tad bit impotent and kept extinguishing itself.
After making it back down to Mexico in time for the holidays, we happened to arrive in the midst of what most people are saying is the coldest it’s been here in the last 10 years or so. A temperature check says that we endured lows in the low 50’s. To us, it was freezing. Obviously, not quite freezing, but temperature is a relative concept. It took us a few days to figure out that we should pull out that winter clothing (packed away for trips up north). Until we got into the “mexico is actually cold” vibe, we froze our tukusas off. Once acclimated, being able to bundle up in a light jacket or sweater, some jeans and shoes (with socks!), it was so wonderful, one night I was even able to see my breathe hanging in the air. It was like our version of being stuck in a three foot snow storm in Wisconsin. I’m surprised the kids didn’t get off from school. It’s still pretty cold and I feel for all the xmas gringos walking around in shortsnteeshirts, seeing pink gringos suntanning on the beach while I’m dipping my toes in the ocean with jeans, tee and long-sleeve button down shirt, it just ain’t right.
As for surfing, I haven’t been able to drag myself out into the freezing water just quite yet. It’s a huge temperature change from that of Bali, gonna be a shock for sure. I have a spring suit ready to go, but right about now I’m wishing I had bought a .5mm full suit (do they even make .5mm full suits? one can dream, can’t they?!) I have a few newtoys i’m dying to try out though, so I’ll have to bite the bullet sooner then later.
Happy New Years to you all. Marcia and I wish everyone a healthy, happy, spiritually wealthy ‘08 filled with tons of good waves. Feliz Año!
Hi, my name is Ed Fladung, I'm a recovering web-designer who moved to Mexico about 4 years ago. Learned to surf, got married and bought a nice camera. This is my weblog/photoblog. It covers broad subjects like becoming an ex-pat, surfing, photography, graphic design, music, art, architecture, living in mexico, all things Apple and WordPress related, etc... You can find more about me here. I hope you enjoy.
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