Inspiration for the day / year / life: Sofia Mulanovich

I've always been one of those girls who looks up to the boys; wants to do stuff because her guy friends are doing it. But then I was thinking the other day, as I was getting chapped that some skinny wimp was out-paddling me. Why am I looking up to guys like Dane Reynolds & Mick Fanning (yeah, I know - 'cause they're awesome) instead of the many many girls out there who rip harder than I ever will? So in the interests of fairness, I will now compare myself to said plethora of she-rippers. Here we go...

Comparison #1: Sofia Mulanovich

I do nasty cutbacks like this daily (yep, Pillow Point is good to me):

Every now and then I get barreled (see above parenthetical):

But I will never do this:

I'm peeing my pants (wetsuit) when it's 6' out there; dropping into something that size takes balls.

There's one last thing to compare: she's from Peru and the tiny piece of me that thinks I'm Bolivian is screaming "SOUTH AMERICAN PRIDE!" Of course, that part - roughly the size of my pinky toe at this point - is at odds with the Thai / Indo / Santa Cruz connection. Oh identity crisis, you sure make life interesting.

Al Merrick / Channel Islands Demo at El Porto

Today Channel Islands had their demo day at El Porto, so B & I sauntered down to check it out. One thing I love about living at El Porto: not having to plan a surf. As I was saying, we went down to check it out. Here is the CI van that they were working out of:

I tried the Biscuit, measurements: 5'4" x 19 7/8' x 2 3/4" (orange).

CI's description:

" A short and stubby try-fin: the biscuit design was developed with Rob Machado. Like Rob, the Biscuit rides free and easy in the smallest surf and catches waves like boards a foot longer... Everyone should ride this board at least twice."

B tried the Pod, measurements 5'10" x 20 1/4" x 2 1/2" (maroon).

" A requirement in Dane's and Kelly's board bags, the Pod is built to fly, it will position itself into the smallest ramp and allow for a technical launch. Deep concaves with a foiled nose and a swallow tail keep the Pod lively and maintains its high performance. The "snub" nose puts volume forward, allowing for maximum planing and wave catching."

Frankly, I was a way bigger fan of the Pod. It's not like I am doing any of the cool things CI suggests you do with the Pod, but a girl can dream, right? They were both fun boards, but the Biscuit is just so far off from what I normally ride that I'm not sure I can hang. And honestly, I had a really hard time throwing turns on it without losing all my momentum and sinking. The Pod is super fast and really easy to whip around all quickly. They weren't kidding when they said it would fly. If I were to get one (again, a girl can dream) I would go for something way smaller than a 5'10" but it was still really fun to ride.

Also on the plus side: it was a really nice day. Didn't even start out cloudy like it usually does. Look: the rando with the funboard can attest to that.

Ran into a homie from my Santa Cruz days in the lineup. He happens to live down the street.

Finally, I am shamelessly going to post one of my crappy surf pics. My subject will remain anonymous as they will be chapped if they find this. To his/her defense, it is really hard to motivate to take pictures at the beginning of a session. Everyone is too pumped to willingly give up waves and sit on the beach. And on Saturday in LA County, trying to take pics from the water is just ridiculous. Nevertheless, I present to you crappy surf photo # 2000.

Can't we all just get along?

According to this article in the LA Times, the crazy politicians are at it again... Republicans want to start offshore oil drilling in the Santa Barbara Channel (what's new?); Democrats want to tax oil drilled onshore. They're at an impasse (again, what's new?). Reps don't want tax; Dems don't want to fuck up what's left of California. What I want to know is this: Can't we be friends? This state needs some cash-o-la! As the author says:

" The $100-million oil deal might seem like chump change. But it could have saved the parks ($14 million), the program for abused and neglected children ($80 million) and community services for the elderly, including Alzheimer's patients ($4 million)."

Alternative scenarios:

1. Take a long look at what caused the financial mess; get citizens involved and invested in fixing the problems we have caused. Nah, that's too difficult, time consuming, and might cost some folks their jobs (yeah, I'm talking about YOU, Arnie).

2. Go for the easy out. Drill for oil in what remains of California's open space AND charge the fuck out of residents for the privilege. In fact, I am kind of liking the designs crude oil is putting on the deck of my board. It's starting to remind me of da islands, brah.

3. Better yet, let's all abandon our obsession 'modern life.' Let's all grow our own food, ride bikes, and write off communications with anyone further than 50 miles away. I'm sick of sitting in traffic anyways. Oh yeah, that cuts off these places to all but a few of us:

(That's Bells Beach, J Bay & Padang Padang, to be explicit) FAARK! Why is modern life so damn complicated?

WTF?

Let's all take a second to thank Matthew McConaughey for another 'this is really really not ok' moment. Not really sure where to start... Is it the SUPing or the stance? I heard somewhere that the origin of the word 'kook' comes from a Hawaiian word meaning 'to drop a deuce.' Well watch out, wave, or you're gonna get kooked on...

As one wise SC grom's tshirt said: friends don't let friends SUP. Please, celebrity worshipers, there is no need to copy this man. Ever, ever, ever.

Now this, I AM OK with:

If only I could get my own little fuzz into the water. Tossing him in a pool at 12 weeks old (then repeatedly every time the little guy steps onto the beach) probably isn't helping. I'll call it tough love.