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.