Shaping the Northwest 2015

The third annual Shaping the Northwest will take place at EVO Portland on Friday, April 10th. The event will feature locally shaped surfboards from the northwest’s finest shapers, music, a silent auction and raffle, food cart, and plenty of beer. You'll also be able to learn more about Warm Current and WAVES for Development, two Oregon based surf-related nonprofits. $10 donations will be collected at the door, however tickets can be purchased in advance HERE, as they expect to sell out.

Base Camp Brewing's S'more Stout

Since that first foamy sip accosted my upper lip and left me with a stout 'stache, I've been hooked. In one way or another. My veracity for this malty, dark drink grew with age. The lust becoming far more diverse. And yet in all this time, I hadn't actually found a favorite. Porters for a lighter, effervescent, yet firm punch to the mouth. Stouts to quench my thirst for adult-grade chocolate milkshakes and affogatos. To say I've had them all isn't a huge overstatement. I've sampled many. But, sadly, remembered few.

This was my conundrum for many arduous, beer-tasting years - cue 'eye roll.' Then enters Base Camp Brewing. Thanks Portland for taking yet another classic treat (from a campsite perhaps?) and adding alcohol. Like a good amount of it (7.7% ABV). The S'more Stout is a force to be reckoned with. Its noir-ish black chocolate taste and sweet notes float around the mouth like marshmallow angels. A thing of kings! I'm taken beachside as its aftertaste "burns" of campfire ash. And I mean this in the best of ways. No. Better than best.

Alex Knost | Duct Tape Invitational

Alex Knost took second place at the 2015 Duct Tape Invitational in Noosa. Here's highlights via RVCA.

Calypso

I don't know, I guess I just love the color grading in this short bit of film from Trey Edwards...

DORA LIVES: The Authorized Story of Miki Dora

While dog sitting for my friend Derek a few weeks ago, I spotted a copy of DORA LIVES: The Authorized Story of Miki Dora in the bathroom while I was, well, you know... Now I know my fair share about Miki Dora, a gentleman also known as "Da Cat," or the guy that made Malibu (in)famous. But this book shed a whole new light on one of the most iconic surfers... ever. "When he didn't like the commercial direction of the sport he helped define, he turned his back on the beach, wandered the world, served time in jail, and, finally in 2002, suffering from pancreatic cancer returned to his father's house in Montecito to die at age 67."

To define Dora is to define sand slipping through your fingers. Something that seemed so solid, so real, and yet can quickly escape to where it originated. With a healthy disdain for "modern" surf culture, Miki Dora was, in my opinion, one of the few that escaped The Great Sellout of the 1970's. This book, albeit read briefly while using Derek's well-equipped Water Closet, helped me better understand someone I've known only through images. "Transcribed interviews with Dora and texts by former Surfer magazine editor Drew Kampion... are combined with nearly 100 photos and stills from photographers, filmmakers, and Dora's personal albums." Does this book do Dora justice? No, I don't think anything could. But it certainly allows us to see another side, one that wasn't commercialized, cut, pasted and promoted.

Classic CJ Nelson

CJ Nelson surfing a ten-foot South Coast log dubbed the 'Classic,'which was shaped by Ian Chisholm.

Georgetown Art Attack

A selection of 35mm photographs from our month long motorcycle trip to Mexico will be on display in All City Coffee during next month's Georgetown Art Attack! So if you're in Seattle, stop by the coffee shop and say hello, check out a dozen of the images from our adventure, and then join us for a couple cold ones afterwards. The art walk runs from 6-9pm on Saturday, April 11th. More info is available HERE.

AlunaGeorge

What I've been listening to lately...

Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA

You'd like to think that all IPA's are sorta the same. An India Pale Ale, as described to me years ago, was developed as a means to preserve beer as it traveled aboard ships from England to India. The added hops allowed it to still be beer when they arrived. And so on. What one expects when pouring the contents of an IPA into their snout is a strong, sometimes bitter, beer that'll "make you chew your face," wondering why you hadn't purchased a Pilsner. And then, you want another... An addiction perhaps? The IPA, though, is not created equal. I've been on a mission these last few years to find one that is delicious, strong and can be consumed more than once, er, thrice. An example: Russian River's ever popular, almost infamous, 'Pliny the Elder.' This is a beer that registers on the schnocker'd scale at around 8%. It goes down all too easy, and after three or four, leaves you feeling like fuck. Another example: HUB's Abominable Winter Ale, which until recently was one of my favorite beers. It, however, tastes like shit as soon as it gets warm and, unless it's cold outside, seems like overkill. Enter Ballast Point's Sculpin IPA. At a hearty 7% ABV, Sculpin is nobody's bitch. But at the same time, she goes down smooth - almost easy - and can be consumed during all four of the seasons. I don't want to get into all the nuances. It's just beer after all. But I can say that of all the IPA's I've been drinking these last few years, it is by far my favorite.

Here For Now

Short bit of film shot by Dustin Miller for Jack Spade, featuring Mikey DeTemple and Kassia Meador.

Danner's 2015 Stumptown Collection

Our friends and Danner just unveiled their 2015 Stumptown Collection, an assortment of shoes and boots inspired by the Pacific Northwest and the companies roots in Portland, OR. Having worn a pair of Danner Lights during our latest motorcycle adventures in Mexico, I am more than convinced they make the best boots, period. Whether I was sliding - on my ass - across the highway two hours south of Ensenada, hiking over sand dunes near San Quintin, or descending into a dried up river bed to watch Trophy Trucks blast their way out down the Baja peninsula, my Danner Lights survived all the shit I threw at them, and then some. Their new collection includes some handsome looking moccasins, chukka boots and a lightweight iteration of their classic template, the Mountain Light. Oh, and our friends James and Jordan from West America are responsible for their latest lookbook!

Sea State

Jack Martin and Luke Allee surfing Newport and Huntington. Shot and edited by Thomas Green.