...this block of foam came straight from Brooklyn one morning. That's right. Last week the block of 2# EPS finally got delivered to the distribution center in Brooklyn, so I drove up and got it before work. Of course there ended up being waves that morning, but I had to do it, I had been waiting for almost a month for it.
There's the first blank cut from the block, with cedar stringer salvaged from some job. It was tricky cutting it the blank out; Jeannine had to take one side of the hotwiring device while I held the other, but it went relatively quickly with no set-backs to speak of. Gluing the stringer in also presented difficulties, but I've since devised a better way. I'm excited about shaping this board, as I've never shaped EPS, or worked with epoxy. The block of foam should yield a minimum of 10 - 12 blanks, if my figurin' is correct. Maybe more.
Part of the reason I haven't posted in a while is because I've been devoting a lot of time and energy to exterior pursuits. We built a vegetable garden the other weekend, and we've been doing lots of work around here trying to make what looks like the post-war rubble of Warsaw into something a little more pleasing to the eyes. Been planting lots of seeds (the spinach will be the first crop the garden will yield, as the spinaches have already sprouted!) and doing lots of reading on gardening and growing vegetables. So, often times, at night, when the options before bed are A)do a blog post or B)read about companion planting or composting, B) has been getting the priority lately.
Also, speaking of gardening, were you wondering how Henry has helped with it all?
That's how. Henry, who has always loved to dig and roll around in dirt (but somehow never gets dirty), suddenly has a large quantity of gloriously rich mushroom soil delivered right to his backyard. So he rests right in the ways, covered in dirt. It's a dog's life, I guess. Of course, getting him to keep out of the garden has been a trying task.
Recently found this album at a thrift store, and it's pretty good so far (actually listening while I write this post). Buck Owens, "Tall Dark Stranger," off the album of the same name, 1969.
Dumb heading, but true nonetheless. 008 is finished being shaped, minus a few final touches. This is the first board I've shaped that I have just gotten down to business without thinking too much while doing it. And it went pretty quickly. Started Wednesday, got a bunch done on Thursday, and did a few small things yesterday. It had been a while since I shaped a board, especially one from a real blank, and it felt good to do it again.
It's no secret that I love the first board I made, 001, the 5'5" Lis fish. I've surfed it in all kinds of waves and it has rarely (not never) let me down. But I've always felt it could be improved upon, so that's what I tried to do here. I basically used the template for that board and the one from 006 . I pulled the nose and tail in, and gave the tail those wings (which I love shaping, I love the feel of it) to pull it in that much more and give a water-release point. I put more rocker in the nose and tail, to add to maneuverability and help with steep wave entry, but not too much, because I didn't want to lose the speed or ability to just hop towards the nose and lock in to the wave and trim. I also gave this one a bit more foam, especially from the mid-point forward, for even better paddling and earlier entry on those steep days that present a challenge to my beloved fish. I'm sure the rails are different than my other one, but these feel good, and that's what I go by. Can't wait to get this one glassed and try it, but that probably won't happen super-soon because A) I still have to make fins for it and B) my block of EPS is supposedly coming this week. We'll see...
Tom Waits' "The Fawn," off of Alice. It came on shuffle yesterday while I was shaping, so here it is. Now it's time to go build some raised beds for my vegetables!
No news is good news. Well, not really, because I've had no news of the block of EPS foam I ordered and have to pick up in Brooklyn, and I've got the rocker template and stringer cut for my next personal board, and I don't want to wait anymore! I might shape a fish soon, just to get some practice in and maybe sell, maybe surf it, I don't know. In the meantime I've been getting some stuff done around here, like working on an old Zenith record player I picked up at the thrift store (had to send the idler wheel out to get replaced, there'll be pictures when I get it back together) and building new doors for the shop (ever since Henry chased a cat through the shop and burst through the bottom of the door, they just haven't been the same). Soon more boards will be built, I promise!
Versus!
First up, we have Screamin' Jay Hawkins' wonderful rendition of "I Put A Spell On You," released in 1956...
...and the same song, done by the inimitable Arthur Brown, on his 1968 album The Crazy World of Arthur Brown.
Ok, so this is kind of a tough call. Both artists seem to exist in their own crazy world, Arthur Brown explicitly and with Screamin' Jay the insanity is implied.Arthur Brown's version has the really sweet organ which was a key element to his signature sound, and his version is definitely heartfelt. But I'm going to have to say Screamin' Jay wins this bout. First, he wrote the song. Second, look at this video of him doing the song I just found after posting the one above:
This blog was started as a way to chronicle my adventures into surfboard shaping and just surfing in general. Since its inception, it has evolved into a log of whatever I feel like rambling about and sharing with the world, including, but not limited to: photographs, bicycles and bicycling, film, music, gardening, cute pictures of Henry, and more.
