Bruce on Bob

Better Get Hit In Your Soul

     Yesterday morning, I sat down at our little breakfast table to have some post-run coffee, and I started to read a book on Gardening I bought at the thrift store. So I'm reading it and at the bottom of page four I read the line pictured above: 'Turn the page for the truths that will make you free." Wow. After I read that I wasn't sure if I wanted, or was daring enough, to turn the page. That's what I get for most of my gardening books being from the early- to mid-70s.
     So I haven't posted in a little bit, but it's because I've been kind of busy moving and all that. We're living in the house, we have been for over a week, and it's really great. Been doing stuff to get the shed ready, started siding it yesterday, and I've been doing what little the inside needs as well. It's been a busy time, but that's OK, because there haven't been that many waves to distract me.

    As far as ride reports for SF 004, I did get to take it out twice so far. The first time the waves weren't that hot, but I did get to see that the board paddles and catches waves very nicely. I got an idea of what the board rode like, but since the waves were small and mushy and I was still finding the right foot positioning it was a little bit of a bust.The second time the waves were a little better, still small, but there were some nice lefts with a little line to them. The board is fun, fast, and loose. I'm just curious how it will handle on some bigger, cleaner stuff. I think it will work out pretty well. Hopefully I'll find out this Wednesday.

     "Better Get Hit In Your Soul," the first track off of Mingus Ah Um (1959), by Charles Mingus. I realize that jazz has been given the short end of the stick on this blog, and that has not been sitting well with me. I'm not one of the oh-so-and-so played-drums-on-this-record-and-it-was-recorded-on-such-and-such-a-date-with-whosit-on-sax-type of jazz fan, the kind that know every detail about all kinds of jazz records, but I do know when I'm in the right frame of mind, jazz can get me just as well as any other music. That being said, Charles Mingus is one of my favorite jazz artists, Mingus Ah Um one of my favorite albums of his, and "Better Get Hit In Your Soul" one of my favorite songs on the album. So yeah, dig it, man.

004 Completed!

     Well, I just finished SF 004 about 20 minutes ago. Actually, that's kind of false, I still have to grind little notches in the fins to serve as landings for the screws to push against, but 1 AM is kind of late for that kind of noise. Otherwise, it's done.

     It was nice not doing a gloss this time. It saved a lot of work, a lot of weight, and not to mention I think a shortboard sometimes just feels nicer with a sanded hotcoat finish instead of a gloss. I sanded it down to 320. I was going to go further, but then I didn't.

     I'm really excited to try this board out and see how it goes. I think it will catch waves really well and ride them even better. I'm really siked about that wide tail, and the adjustable fins.

      And speaking of the fins, here they are. I'm really pleased with how they came out, even if they did take forever. They could have been better, but of course the whole board could have been better, but I'm satisfied. Well, maybe I speak too soon, I haven't ridden it yet....
     Bu yeah, so it's late, and I'm off to bed. Hopefully we'll be getting some swell this weekend, it looks like Saturday might be good. Can't wait to try the board out. Next up on the build list is Mark's board, and fortunately I just got the five gallons of resin and 25 yards of cloth I ordered today, so the sky's the limit (acually, time is the limit). Alright, goodnight.

Soon No. 2

 

     So, it's been a while. The board is coming along. The fin boxes are in, the bottom is sanded, and the leash cup is in. I've been working on the fins, as seen above (also, see below).

     Here is one of them, foiled w/ the lam coat on them. I've since notched the base out for the screws, so all that they're waiting on is a touching up, then a hotcoat, then a final sanding, then a gloss/sealer (which I'll probably do with Krylon acrylic gloss spray paint, because A) it's easier and B) it still looks really good and C) did I mention it will be easier?). Making these fins has been really fun, but it has also been really, really time consuming. I think it's taken as much time to make these fins as it has taken me to do the whole board. Maybe. Part of it is my fault: when I milled the rough panels with the surface planer, I didn't make them thin enough to fin in the boxes when they had a few layers of glass on them (three layers on the inside, two on the outside), so I had to do extra work to get them down to the right thickness. Even so, it's a time consuming process. But it's way cheaper (the wood was free, the cloth is cutoffs, and there isn't that much resin to a fin) not too mention I learn more about fin design by doing it than by buying a set of $75.00 fins. Still, if I had bought fins I'd be surfing this board tomorrow.

     But I'm not, so oh well. It will without a doubt be ready by the supposed small swell forecast for this Saturday. Either way, I'll take it in the Ocean, waves or no waves.

      And for music today, a little bit of a downer, but a beautiful song nonetheless. "Please Stay," the ninth track from Warren Zevon's 2003 (and final) album, The Wind. The album was recorded as Zevon knew he was dying of throat cancer, which when kept in mind makes this song, and the entire album, all the more poignant. There are many softer songs in which the devastatingly heartbreaking reality of death rings through every word and wrenches at the listener: the oft-repeated phrase in the song "don't go, please stay" really tears at you when you consider that at that point in his life the going was forever, and the staying was impossible. This album is full of songs that make you confront death and the goodbyes that come with it. Zevon's version of "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" stands out among the countless artists who have previously covered this song, because he really was.
     But there are also some of the finest and rawest rock and roll songs of Zevon's career on this album, with which he achieves the perfect balance between the crushingly necessary contemplation on one's mortality and the viewpoint that yeah, we're going to die, but so what? Zevon always had a sardonic rebellious streak to his music, especially in his more rocking songs, and they are at their peak here.

     "Disorder in the House," a scathingly satirical stab at the government and all that comes with it. Bruce Springsteen does back-up vocals on this one, as well as a phenomenal lead guitar, and it sounds like they may have practiced it once before recording. The song comes off so raucously raw, with each banged and bent string sending the signal: "Yeah, maybe everything's gone to Hell, maybe everything's corrupt and falling apart, but who cares? As long as we've got tube amps and telecasters and rock and roll."
     So, yeah, I've got to wake up in less than five hours to surf (hopefully), so time for bed. But before I sign off I've got recommend one thing: Listen to Warren Zevon's The Wind, and listen to every track not only with the fact that he knew he was dying in mind, but the fact that you are dying too. The experience will be that much more enriching, and you'll be the better for it.

 

That's one upset little toad.