The People's Choice

 

The Half Moon Bay Ritz Carleton hosts a gingerbread house contest and silent auction every year. The proceeds go to benefit the Coastside Children's Programs (CCP) in Half Moon Bay. CCP is the number one childcare agency on the coast and has been serving children and families from multicultural and diverse socio-economic backgrounds for over 30 years.

This year's 'People's Choice' Gingerbread House winner is one of our own! The multi talented Emily Phelps took time out of school, firefighting and charity responsibilities to create a winner. She is pictured here with with her prize winning house. Way to go Em! Baking and constructing a winning gingerbread house is tough enough, but Emily also had to somehow keep her entry out of LaVerne's mouth. Nice work Ms. Phelps.

December 4, 2007. Mavs Goes Off!

This past week in Northern CA, a tremendous swell came through. The big day was on Tuesday with a 27-30 foot swell on 20 second intervals. Huge. Unusually, Maverick's broke out on the 3rd reef, where the big dogs were towing in. This shot by Doug Acton,the best surf photographer ever of the action at Mavericks over the years, shows that wave faces were in the 60 foot plus range. This shot is of Kealii Mamela. Doug took time out from his Half Moon Bay Surf team coaching duties to document the action as he has for every swell for decades.

Star Turns!

John "Music Man" J. and Thomas "El Diablo" J. meet their panting public. I only wish we could hear the mellifluous vibrations that accompanied this scene, but the pictures and imagination will have to suffice (unless Aunt Sarah made a recording that we could post.)


Good going guys! We will expect a duet concert in St. Louis over Christmas

Secret SpotTrip Report

Well, the reports are in from the Intrepid Thanksgiving Secret Spot Hike-Surf Trippers:

Roark: Epic!
Bob: Great
Eric: Pretty Good
Tim: Never Again

I've never done the trip, but it involves a 7-8 mile hike,including a stretch that must be navigated at low tide. Tough going through loose sand etc. Tim reportedly had to be cajoled with unspecified threats and blandishments in order to induce him to stand again after a trail side collapse. (Hard to believe, but perhaps he IS the sane one!) They had rain, big, (too big) surf that kept them out of the water part of the time, but they were able to score when conditions permitted. Four nights camping on the beach. The packs must have been seriously heavy for enough beer to last that long!
Way to go boys!

Se Roark's Photo Album HERE

Radical Rodents

This one is for John & Thomas. Do you think it is hard to make itty bitty surf boards?

Light Parade

Paradew Photo ALbum Link

Bobbie Simmons Drving - Look out!

Oscar Gift Wrapped














The Half Moon Bay parade of lights took place this evening with the largest crowd in memory looking on. Kings Mountain was strongly represented with a Bronco towed Christmas tree lit with thousands of colored bulbs powered by a 5 KV generator accompanied by 2000 watts of mobile Christmas carol stereo power. Oscar (Phelps) had on his usual flannel lined Christmas package costume, while Bobbie Simmons was lead driver in the posse of Kings Mountain Christmas race cars that set the pace for the parade. Let the shopping begin!

Character Revealed or "Beverly Enjoys the Beach Her Own Way"

ALBUM LINK

Gee, Dan told me there are these things called 'Killer Logs.' Big heavy logs that look safe but get moved by the waves and crush people- or some such silly thing like that-hey! Is that one over there? Think I'll check it out. Hmmm.. easy to balance...let's see... never stand on beach logs, check....never turn your back on the ocean, check!......Whoaaa!!! Wheeee!! Awesome! Can I do it again? No?
OK then, I give killer logs a 'D' for DONE!

Kids: Be don't be Beverly- be safe! Here is the real scoop from the State of Oregon.

"They're called sneaker waves because they appear without warning, often surging high up on the beach with deadly force, and are impossible to predict.
How to play it safe: Never turn your back on the ocean.

Watch those logs The ocean is strong enough to pick up even the biggest log and plop it down on top of you. Some logs may look small, but even the tiny ones can be waterlogged and weigh tons.
How to play it safe: If you see a log in the surf or on wet sand, stay off it
.....Oregon Coastal Saftey excerpt.Read the whole site HERE

Punkin' Pickers

I know it is late for Halloween pictures, but here is a classic pose that deserves to be shared. John and Thomas, taking a break from heavy pumpkin picking duties on a beautiful fall day with a prize winning squash between them. What's with the bolt cutters, guys? Did you have to go through a fence to get into Farmer Jones' field? Where is your Dad?

Cougars Surf Team's First Meet!

The Cougars did very well in their first competetive outing at Santa Cruz on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Great write up in the the HMB Review

Way to go, Doug and Marty!

Practice Cowboy

Lots of cowpokes play the fiddle. Most people don't realize that it takes practice, practice,practice to be able to entertain the boys around the campfire.
And it always pays to wear your sidearm! A cowboy never knows when crooks or rattlesnakes might need shootin'. Here is Thomas, hog leg strapped on his hip, ready for anything. Shin'ichi Suzuki would be right proud of this boy!

Theory of Everything

It is about time. A surf bum has come up with a unified theory of everything, using the E8 as his inspiration.

The E8 root system consists of 240 vectors in an eight-dimensional space. Those vectors are the vertices (corners) of an eight-dimensional object called the Gosset polytope 421.In the 1960s, Peter McMullen drew (by hand) a 2-dimensional representation of the Gosset polytope 421. The image shown above was computer-generated by John Stembridge, based on McMullen's drawing.
Quote:
"Garrett Lisi, 39, has a doctorate but no university affiliation and spends most of the year surfing in Hawaii, where he has also been a hiking guide and bridge builder.

In winter, he heads to the mountains near Lake Tahoe, Nevada, where he snowboards. "Being poor sucks," Lisi says. "It's hard to figure out the secrets of the universe when you're trying to figure out where you and your girlfriend are going to sleep next month."

Despite this unusual career path, his proposal is remarkable because, by the arcane standards of particle physics, it does not require highly complex mathematics.

Even better, it does not require more than one dimension of time and three of space, when some rival theories need ten or even more spatial dimensions and other bizarre concepts. And it may even be possible to test his theory, which predicts a host of new particles, perhaps even using the new Large Hadron Collider atom smasher that will go into action near Geneva next year." Quoted from the Telegraph See full text here

Half Moon Bay High School Surf Club is Launched!

Freshmen Mike and Skyler charging hard at a practice for the Half Moon Bay High School Surf Club Saturday at Kelly Street. These photos were shot by the team's coach, pro surf photographer and waterman Doug Acton

The team was recently formed, sparked by Exec Director Marty and is now sanctioned by the league. About 25 kids have turned out with lots of talent and enthusiasm on the part of both parents and kids. With Doug as the coach they will go far!

Andrew Pays But Comes Up Smiling

 

Sometimes the ocean bites back. Andrew H.shown sporting a nice souvenir. Today's good times are tommorrow's good memories!

Surf Report: First Winter Swell

Sunday morning. Calm, clear and warm, the roar of the ocean rising up and falling through my bedroom window as it had all night. Jupiter high and bright in the eastern sky, I loaded up.(It was Jupiter, right Dan & Elizabeth?) Sun broke over the ridge line at almost the exact moment my boat slid off the beach. Gliding glassy harbor water, loosening stiff shoulders, pulling long to stretch, the roar beyond the break water grew louder as a lone surfer, his yellow 'gun' underarm, paralleled my track across the water, walking the path along the harbor edge to the Point where we would converge. His presence and few early bird spectators with binoculars on the cliff confirmed that Maverick's was breaking. I didn't look, but Ross's Cove was probably going off big time.

Beautiful session, jockeying to paddle into clean 10-12 foot wave faces with occasional triple overheads, the line-up about 50 yards beyond Mushroom Rock. There long, long rides with time for multiple cutbacks and then the wave would reform and offer a second drop and bottom turn. A few times the price was paid with a swim in the impact zone, but adrenaline overcame lack of fitness and practice. Outside clean-up sets loping through occasionally forced all out attempts to claw up the wave before it broke or a frenzied paddle to get out in front to try and hang on as the wall crashed behind me. Quite engaging.

There were 15-20 guys (yes all guys)out at the Mavericks line up, a few towing in, although it wasn't big enough to be necessary. One paddle surfer was catching clean shoulder rides and looked as though he could have been charging the bowl with no problem. Impressive!

I had the inner break all to myself until a crew of rodeo boats showed, but only one of them ventured Mushroom Rock. There would have been plenty of room for you!

Note: The first map shows undersea topography at Pillar Point with my crude attempt to indicate the location of Mushroom and Maverick's added, second and third charts show ocean wave conditions by color from this Sunday morning. Pretty aren't they?

Radical Reel

A few weekend ago, Beverly organized a great trip to UC Santa Cruz to view Radical Reels, a collection of short films on extreme sports from the Banff Mountain Film Festival. I thought you who couldn't come that night might enjoy the trailer which I've finally gotten around to posting!(SEE BELOW) My favorite was a spoof on "Touching The Void" called "Touching Myself." The agony of choice and a badly broken baguette high on the mountain.

The UC expedition included the Mohr family, Bryan, Beverley, Sarah, Joe F. and me. We survived a chaotic visit to Pleasure Pizza before the show. We will know to order by the slice next time!

See prior post...

Radical Reels Intro Video

Young Man with Large Hammer- Look Out!

 

















This unusual photograph captures a very serious side of croquet competition. Mr. Thomas J. comes to play for keeps and it shows. I wouldn't want to be on the other team when this young man wacks the ball toward the wicket.

Mountain Man Climbing High in Seattle

John showing how it is done - with fearless abandon!
Shortly after this photo was taken Sally, Betsy, John, Thomas, Khaki, Dan and I had a nice game of Frisbee throwing as a light rain began to fall. Hey - its Seattle!
For more Seattle trip photos go HERE

Terrapin Station

A seriously hungry guest for breakfast fed by Nana on the Deerfield patio.

Park Bench Batopilas, Mexico

Steve visits St. Louis

Steve came home to see his parents and they are very happy!

Megafauna Extinctions Debate

Picture: Carolinas Bays possible impact craters associated with ice age extinctions Event Summary

Reading "Bio Diversity" by E.O. Wilson around 15 years ago was my first exposure to the possibility - endorsed as highly likely by Wilson- that paleo indians had hunted many ice age megafauna species to extinction. The thesis shocked me. I had assumed human caused extinctions to be the exclusive province of post Enlightenment modernity, earlier ages presumably lacking the technical power and alienation from nature required for such overkill.

Paul Martin and Richard Firestone are eminent scientists currently working on the puzzle of the disappearance of large ice age mammals They have very divergent hypotheses about the causes. Martin lays out a compelling argument for megafauna extinctions that have coincided with human population movement. Firestone is presenting evidence for a combination supernova/impact event series as the extinction culprit. He made an attention getting presentation at the recent Mexico meeting of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) So, maybe humanity is off the hook on this one.

Here is the scoop on Firestone's ideas from Jon Hagstrum, who is personally involved in analyzing micro meteorites embedded in mammoth tusks and bison skulls. Super cool stuff!! Check the links.

Jon writes: "According to Rick (Firestone) the supernova's first radiation wave was around 40,000 yrs ago (ka), the shock wave at 34 ka, and the debris wave at 16 ka knocking loose comets etc. impacting at 13 ka. I've attached the summary of events from Rick's book. Also, I've attached the AGU abstract that he included me on (that's why I have it) that will be presented in December"

Thanks Jon! Stayed tuned for the December paper. Read the abstract. AMAZING!!

The Chinese Century

The Beijing Olympics is just around the corner. China is set to lead in every category! The next generation of super-watermen ( divers, swimmers & surfers) is now being trained in an undisclosed Chinese laboratory.

OK.... this has nothing to do with family and friends but it does qualify as foolishness. This photo is a repost from the Horse's Mouth , a blog brought to my attention by Bill. What the heck is happening with these babies? Did the spectators have to pay? Were the babies cloned here or are they only visiting?

Dan's Stand Up Move!

You've gotta love the 'Give Blood' tee shirt. Thats the spirit. On his recent visit to Half Moon Bay, Dan insisted upon a surf session. Here is a clip of Dan battling the waves and winning! His first stand up move- Africa Beach, August '07.
Way to go,dude! And I hope that rib heals up real soon, bro.
Come vist again before too long.

Tennis Anyone?

The The Half Moon Bay High School tennis team is gearing up! The season starts this week.This picture is from the Half Moon Bay Review sports section showing a team drill with Sarah waiting her turn on the back row left.
Read the news article about the team HERE

Kings Mountain Art Fair Weekend!

One of Sarah's favorite artists who shows at the fair is Jane Kiskaddon. Jane works in Marin CA. This is her painting "Living Room" More artists, art fair info Here

Paul MacCready

(Photos are of Blaine Rawdon working on MacCready projects)

I read today that Paul MacCready Jr., known as the "father of human-powered flight," for designing the first aircraft to make a sustained, controlled flight powered solely by a human, has died. He was 81. I had the opportunity to hear Paul at the San Mateo Unitarian Church several years ago, and after the service he demonstrated several very small airplanes, one of which was literally made of matchsticks and cellophane. It was powered by a rubber band and fluttered like a bat around the church auditorium. Everyone wondered why this marvelous machine wasn't available at the local hobby shop, but Paul said it was too delicate for production. As I recall his comments were inspirational from the standpoint of celebrating the power of human innovation, but paradoxically quite pessimistic about the outlook for mankind and our world. When I was looking for photos of the Gossamer Condor and the Gossamer Albatross, I came across these photos of Blaine Rawdon working on the Gossamer Penguin and the Solar Challenger, two of MacCready's projects. Both photos are from 1980. While in St. Louis this summer I heard from Dad that Blaine had undergone very painful surgery for cancer of the jaw. I hope he is doing well. More wonderful pictures of MacCready projects are Here. More on Blaine's Gossamer work Here

Back to School

Sarah and Mac contemplate the arrival of the first day of school. This year will be different. We will be organized and stress free!

Sarah's schedule includes;

AP English III, AP Art/Drawing, Chemistry, French II, World History, Algebra II and the tennis team is starting its season. (Tennis schedule Here . See HMB High Here)

Fun!

The Cougars are on the Prowl..

Abalone Rockefellar?

Click to enlarge this photo

Bounty of the sea! Sarah and I had the great good fortune to camp with friends at the mouth of the Albion river near Mendicino this past weekend. Much paddling, diving, fishing and eating.Here fresh caught abalone and sea urchin are viewed with interest & some skepticism as to edibility. All doubts were put to rest later that night at a great sea food feast.

View trip album HERE

Participants included:

Tony, Kay, Paul, Rob, Ralph, Debbie, Daphne, Rorke, Erin, Magnus, Piper, Kit, Marty, Cindy, Sarah P. Sarah K, Mike, Bob, Holly, Heather, Patrick, Adam and many others. What a crew!

Catch It if You Can

The study of high energy physics is a never

ending endeavour at our house.
Pictured here: a recent test of the falling-china-

gravitational-acceleration
one-handed-catch theory.

Blow Up Blow out

.........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................

Is this an example

of spooky pre-halloween

synchronistic connections?

Or just random coincidence

You decide.

In June I took photos of an open water swim session for people new to the experience. Some were anxious, needing encouragment by the coaches to enter the water. It was not until several days later that I examined the photos closely and noticed that one swimmer had been encouraged rather strongly by the application of a surf board to her bottom. Accident? I don't think so, but we will never know for sure. My discovery of the crime 'hidden' in the unmagnified photo made me think of the film 'Blow Up.' In it a photographer sees evidence of a murder in enlargements of photos he has taken. As in my photo only the crime is clearly seen, not the criminal's identity. ( Who was wielding the surfboard?) I saw the film at the Shady Oak Theatre, I think in 1966 or 67.. Black and white and strange! Not your average fare. It made an impression. A few days before the open water swim episode I had also seen "Blow Out' on cable- a take off on the 'Blow Up idea.' In it John Travolta's character discovers evidence of a murder in a sound recording he has made. The surf board crime caught on film set me to thinking of these earlier movies.

Now here is the spooky part. Ready?... OK. The very next day after noticing the photos and thinking back on the movies, who dies but Michaelangelo Antonioni director of 'Blow Up'. What do you think? Time to found a religion?

Afghan Fund Raiser

Another picture from the front from our boy Badass in Afghanistan

As we know, war funding is under more and more pressure in congress.

Twelve billion/month isn't quite cutting it. So our troops have been reduced to fundraising on their own. Ad revenue is certainly one option, and Bob's unit believes in advertising only products that they can personally endorse. Note the viking helmet and authentic Ibex horns. Goes well with the Gatling gun don't you think? What Exactly does PJCA on a Spade stand for? Devils Canyon is a Belmont CA based Brew created by local talent with Kings Mountain connections. Support Our Troops- drink one today! Check it out HERE

Word has it that shortly after this picture was taken, Badass led his unit on a secret training exercise designed to practice nighttime Humvee diesel repair while stuck in a riverbed. How did that go, Bob? Military secrecy prohibits me from further disclosing expedition details except to say that a few Devils Canyon brews would have been a big help had they been available (Which I'm sure they were not.)

What makes glow plugs glow?

See you soon, Bob.

Addendum: Thanks to GoBevGo for pointing out the crewman repairing the rear rotor on the helicopter in the the background. Click pic to enlarge and see.)

Locals Only!

A Classic Pose: Sarah and Mac with the Haumersen Surf Team. Long Beach Island, New Jersey at the foot of 34th St.
Check out the photo album HERE

Paddling out to the Line Up

SURF NEW JERSEY!!