From Pacific Longboarder News:

Fiji Cyclone Death Toll Rises Wednesday, 30 January 2008Half of Fiji’s population is without power and water and tourists remain stranded after a category two cyclone hit the country, killing at least six people.About 450,000 people are without basic services after Cyclone Gene hit on Fiji’s second largest island Vanua Levu and the tourist hub of Nadi on the largest island Viti Levu on Monday, causing flooding.It struck the Mamanuca and Yasawa Island groups, popular with tourists, on Tuesday.

Pacific Longboarder News / Reviews / Events

Surfers everywhere should be aware of this example. Get together and try to stop the threats car driving economy makes for wave accesability, or the waves themselves. When fuel has run out (it will, Irak democratic or not, China alone will use up more oil than you can imagine soon), at least the surfbreaks should still be ridable. Trestles is one of the great classic surf spots in southern california.

Beach Blog » Blog Archive » Toll road meeting relocated due to expected high turnout – OCRegister.com

Spreeblick made me aware of this interesting YouTube video. You have a guitar on your iPhone to play chords, single notes and even vibrato the notes. Well the vibrato needs work. It’s apparently called PocketGuitar. It won’t hurt your fingers as much as real steel strings, you can do it anywhere, but it’s not quite as sexy as a Mosrite or a Jaguar.

Legendary Surfers: Duke Not The First in Oz: “Duke Kahanamoku, the ‘Father of Modern Surfing’ is generally considered to have been the first stand-up surfer in Australia. New research indicates Duke was probably NOT the first:

[ Excerpt from ‘The Duke dethroned as our surfing history is rewritten,’ Matthew Benns, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, December 30, 2007 ]

… Historian Mark Maddox argues Kahanamoku chose to give his famous 1914 surfing exhibition at Freshwater Beach because at nearby Manly too many surfers were dropping in on his waves.”

The first book I ever read featuring the topic of surfing is going to be available as a free audiobook at LibriVox. It’s The Cruise of The Snark by no other than the great Jack London. I am listening to the surfing chapter A Royal Sport right now.
I must say, since English is not my first language, while I can understand all the spoken words, it’s still hard to follow. He’s reading a little fast, and doesn’t get you  into the mood too much. I hope these free offers don’t discourage professional efforts. I would think surfing literature would make great audiobooks.

A Royal Sport audio (Jack London)

The Cruise of the Snark at Amazon

Fender Jaguar/Jazzmaster authority and accomplished surf guitarist Mel Waldorf writes at Surf Guitar 101 about an american tv-show (HGTV) they (himself and Jessica Lindsay) participated in and got their home office re-designed.

This is when the action takes place
Air times:
.January 26, 2008 5:30 PM ET/PT
from the HGTV website:

‘Tropical Tiki Office
As avid collectors, homeowners Mel Waldorf and Jessica Lindsey have a jackpot of fun finds to use, so creating a very personalized space is easy. While incorporating bright and fun elements, host Karen McAloon and the Design Remix team give the room purpose, clear up clutter and form functioning workspaces. The result is a home office that’s practical, yet playful and as tempting as a tropical tiki island.’

Disclaimer: The show’s director strongly encouraged us to behave like imbeciles… we were acting…really.

I really would love to see this.

Design Police | Bring bad design to justice.

My dayjob is freelance graphic-designer. I see a lot of really bad design – sometimes there doesn’t seem to be a designer involved, not even a bad one. Those folks who “design” without being designers won’t understand what these stickers are about, very unfortunately!
Found via Spreeblick

One of these days I have to learn them all, hopefully I already do some of them, without knowing their names. Exotic scales are what sets Surfmusic apart from earlier forms of instrumental rock’n’roll, and connects it with jazz (like early George Benson and Gabor Szabo) and Exotica.

From BBC News website article:

A little alcohol ‘can be healthy’
Beer
Experts warned that over-indulgence could pose severe health risks
A little alcohol combined with a healthy active lifestyle may be the best recipe for a longer life.

A European Heart Journal study suggests the combination can cut the risk of heart disease.

A Danish team found people who led an active lifestyle were less prone to heart disease – but the risk was cut still further if they drank moderately.

However, UK experts warned people should not be encouraged to drink, as too much alcohol can be very damaging.

Physical activity has shown greater benefits to heart health and overall health in previous research compared to drinking alcohol
Ellen Mason
British Heart Foundation

The researchers followed nearly 12,000 men and women for nearly 20 years, during which 1,242 died from ischaemic heart disease (IHD).

Link

Here‘s a great little regular music show you might find entertaining:
Jet Set Planet

A program of space age era instrumentals, TV Jazz, and other related music, featuring dismissed, forgotten, or otherwise marginalized vinyl LPs from the record bins of Thrift Store USA.

* Exotica
* Crime Jazz
* Lounge and Cocktail music
* Big Bands in the Stereo Age
* Ping-pong percussion
* Bongos. Bossa Nova, and Latin tunes
* European and American soundtracks
* Jazz for swingers and soft-core sensualists
* E-Z & Sleazy Listening
* Rock-Gone-Wrong
* Juvenile Delinquent music
* the Now Sound
* Songs of the Jet Set
* the Schreee of 10,000 strings
* and Spy jazz