Blubaugh

My friend Todd Blubaugh makes motorcycles. And movies. That's how we met. He'd recently finished a short film, which highlighted a small motorcycle shop here in Seattle, and had traveled to Portland to screen it at The One Motorcycle Show. Honestly, I'm not sure how I heard about it - the movie he'd made. I mean, I've worked in the industry for awhile, so there's a good chance it was through the grapevine. Anyhow. That night, after consuming copious cans of Coors Light, I watched Todd's fifteen minute film, We R Winning. It was excellent. Portrayed the passion perfectly.

After eyeballing a few bikes, I wandered back into the screening room (a white wall in the back of a warehouse) and shot the shit with Todd till way too late. We exchanged emails and went our separate ways. Little did we know, however, that our offices were both in an industrial section of Seattle. And that we'd run into each other often; eating lunch at Lect's Soup Stop, or grabbing that three o'clock cup of coffee at All City. Friends we became.

Fast forward a few months, and Todd and I are sitting outside of the aforementioned coffee shop planning a classic surfboard and custom motorcycle show - what turned into Two Tribes. It was an excellent evening. Although it ended rather unfortunately, with Todd getting tagged by a big ass Benz just blocks from his house. The bike has been rebuilt, however. The soul resurfaced. And a short film featuring Blubaugh and his Harley, done by the dudes at Tellason Denim, has recently been released. It's inspiring, as I anticipated, and will probably make you wanna ride a motorcycle.

Duct Tape x Noosa Heads

Footage from Joel Tudor's 'Duct Tape Invitational' at Noosa Heads. Done by Deus Ex Machina.

Dogfish Head Theobroma

Our friend Joshua at the Longhouse talked us into buying a bottle of Theobroma. Brewed by the boys at Dogfish Head in Milton, Delaware, this "Ancient Ale" is based on the chemical analysis of pottery fragments found in Honduras. Brewed with cocoa powder and cocoa nibs, honey, chilies and annatto, Theobroma is a recreation of the earliest known alcoholic chocolate drink, used by the Aztecs to toast special occasions. It's light in color, malty and strong - in a weird way. I mean, with 9.0% ABV you'd expect it to be, but Theobroma has no bite. A lot like a bottle of barley wine, this beer'll grab you by the boo-boo about half an hour after you're done drinking it. I couldn't taste the cocoa, though. It was more like a not-so-light lager, with that "I've been drinking alcohol" aftertaste. It was good, but not something I'd buy again. Click here to learn more about the beer.

Sol

What I've been listening to lately...

Ain't We Got Fun

The dudes at Deus ex Machina recently released this short bit of film featuring Harrison Roach, Husni Ridhwan, Thomas Bexon and Deni Firdaus. This fifteen minute flick was written and directed by Dustin Humphrey and highlights the logging lifestyle in both Australia and Indonesia. A most excellent movie.

Northwest Axe Company

My good friend Andy Gregory recently opened the digital doors to the Northwest Axe Company, a project he's been working on for the last few years. Originally from Chicago, Andy grew up camping and scouting in the Midwest. His desire to be outdoors took him to Durango, Colorado, before making a home for himself here in the Pacific Northwest. In addition to his interest in axes, Andy is also an avid motorcyclist, climber of rocks and author of Man's Gotta Do - a blog about, well, things a man's gotta do. When not refurbishing wood splitting whatnotery, Andy works as a substitute teacher for the Seattle Public School District. His tools are not new, they're refurbished. Born again if you will. Found in the back of a barn, or in your great uncle's garage. But after collecting, cleaning and sharpening all sorts of items (hammers, axes and hatchets), Andy attaches a custom leather sheath and then sells them on his site. And while he plans to produce new tools in the very near future, take a look at what he has to offer at the moment. I'm sure you'll find something sharp.

Bella Vita

Jason Baffa, the man responsible for Singlefin: Yellow and One California Day, is getting ready to release his latest film, Bella Vita. The film focuses on surfer, artist and environmentalist, Chris Del Moro, and a recent trip he and a few friends took to Italy. Brought to you by Bing Surfboards.

Topsea

Surf shops are sort of a Southern California thing. A place to purchase. Boards and board shorts, t-shirts and all kinds of other shit. Our consumer culture at its finest - because I'll be goddamned if you don't dress the part. Elsewhere, though, a surf shop is a lot like an A.A. meeting. A place for someone with a serious case of the stoke to shoot the proverbial shit, seek help or speak with their sponsor. Here in the northwest, however, we've been without such a shop ever since Cheka-Looka shut its doors in December of 2009. Sure, there's other surf shops in Seattle, but not one you'd want to spend the better part of an afternoon in. No offense.

Overcast Time Travelling

Chris Del Moro, Dean Petty and Adam Cap surfing an assortment of shapes in Southern California.

Remember a Day

Chris Del Moro surfing somewhere in Central America. Brought to you by Taylor Bonin.

Tel Aviv: Take Three

There's all sorts of stuff I could say about Israel. Good stuff, I guess. I could talk about how wonderful the weather was, how the food was fantastic or how strange it was to see Muslims, Jews and Christians sharing the same space. But I'm not going to get into any of that. What I want to talk about is how much I enjoyed everything else. All of the things most people overlook in Israel - blinded by their religious requirements, their overzealous ideals. Because instead of gawking at God, we spent the better part of twelve days exploring the highly contested Holy Land. From Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, Caesarea to the Dead Sea.

We ate at some incredible restaurants, witnessed countless weddings, dodged scooters in the streets and got good and drunk and walked all the way home. More than once... I think. We also spent a lot of time learning. Sorting through the strata; everything ancient having been torn down and rebuilt, time after time. There were also a couple of cockroaches, an endless amount of street art, a bottle of pomegranate wine, the Carmel Market and buckets of black mud. And camels. I can't forget about the camels. It was an experience unlike any other. And although the surf sorta sucked, our time in Israel, albeit short, was extraordinary.

The Mick Model

Check out this fantastic bit of film featuring Mick Rodgers and his brand new Bing Surfboard.