Thursday night, I went to New Jersey. That isn’t really a big deal, in itself, since I go to NJ about 4 times per week on average. This time, though, it wasn’t just a run across the George Washington to Fort Lee. I actually took NJ Transit (above), and went to a little town near Newark. Deep Jersey. Snooki/Jerseylicious Jersey. Hahahah. I was there to shoot an interview with the famed tattoo artist Jun Cha, who I errantly reported earlier this week operates out of NJ. He is really a dude born and bred in So. Cal. trained by the likes of Mr. Cartoon. Anyway, here are a few of the shots from the interview:

The dude does traditional So Cal black and grey, in photo-realistic style. If I were ever to get a tattoo (which I never would), this is probably the dude that I would hit up.

Back to the matter at hand.. We are supposed to be blasted by Hurricane Earl on Friday. Hurricane season is the time of year that I suffer the pangs of being a poseur, past-prime surfer. Last time I checked the surf report it was like, double overhead at Coney Island. CONEY ISLAND! DOUBLE OVERHEAD! Can you imagine getting a barrel at Coney? This is the one time of  year where you are more likely to die at Coney by being swallowed by the ocean, than by getting stabbed while waiting in line at the Wonder Wheel. We aren’t even talking the point at Montauk. There is going to be some serious Mark Foo stuff going on out at that end of the island, this weekend. Last time I surfed double overhead, I was a 19 year old resident of the aloha state. These days I am a landlubbing surfboardless Manhattanite. So depressing.

On a less depressing hurricane season note, I watched my University of Utah football team eek out a nail biting season opener against Pitt, on Thursday night. How awesome is college football? I seriously love it.

Just when I could really really use a three day weekend, Labor Day comes along. We have a banger lined up, too. Some items on the agenda include: Party for TH opening a new store in SoHo; Multiple PJ visits; hanging out in the country (Rural CT); a long training run with tight amigos (also in the country); watching the GP race at Misano; a dip in the pool; a fun editorial shoot;  and, some barbecue. Have a fantastic weekend, peeps. And if you end up surfing Montauk this weekend, don’t tell me about it. Because I may accidentally punch you, out of pathetic jealousy.

I recently was lucky enough to be he recipient of a cool little waterproof camera, just in time to take it on vacation with us. I also just recently upgraded my Vimeo account to be able to embed HD. So, to kick things off right, I though that I would post a quick video of me surfing in SC. It was shot by our friend Jon, whose board I am also riding. Thx, Jon. Here is the vid:

Tomorrow… sailing.

During my copious hours of down time, last week, I watched an inordinate amount of FuelTV. I really enjoyed all of the Skateboard and Snowboard segments. I changed the channel for the bmx segments. But for some reason, the surfing segments are so infectious to me. I especially love surf films. I capped the weekend off watching a film called Sprout. Jack Johnson co-produced it, to give you an idea of the flavor. Like most surf films, it didn’t really have a coherent story line, some parts were super corny, and the footage is mindblowing. After watching so much surfing, I have a strong urge to just quit my job and move my family to HI. Sounds like de ja vu from a former life, hahahaha. The first time I really felt like this was after watching Endless Summer II. After which I did quit my job and move to Hawaii.

Since quitting everything and moving to the other side of the planet isn’t exactly feasible, I don’t know how I’m going to kill this fever. I really do want to try to get back into surfing this summer, though. I’m not exactly sure how, or when I will fit it in. But I really want to. Is that so wrong?

I got out and skated last night for the first time since June. It was the type of weather that was custom built for skating. The temperature was less than 80, but more than 70, with a very mild breeze. Another thing that was cool about last night, is that instead of freestyle skating, we were just bombing hills on the longboard. I can’t even remember the last time that I rolled out the longboard. I had forgotten how fun it is. Part of the problem is that there is a severe shortage of smooth pavement and of hills in NYC. Even though longboarding is a relatively simplistic counterpart to normal freestyle skating, I think that the simplistic aspect is what makes it so appealing. My friend Col and I were discussing it a bit last night during our session. There is something very liberating about making huge esses down a long hill. It is super smooth and has such good asthetic.

I’m so glad that longboarding has come back with such force. For a while it seemed like longboarding disappeared. The skating, of course all keyed from what was going on with surfing. All of the really old guys, like Duke Kahanamoku rode longboards. But they were also made of redwood, so they probably had to be huge, just for the buoyancy factor. Then it seemed like the 80′s were all about getting as technical as possible on shortboards, even if your style was weak. PS, remember T&C shirts? I had like 10 of them. Hahahaha. The only people who rode longboards, it seemed were the traditionalists and beginners, who needed the extra stability. Thankfully, in the early 90′s guys like Wingnut, started to showcase how cool longboarding really was. Then guys like Joel Tudor and Bonga Perkins (my personal favorite longboarders), who really brought the sport back to the competitive level.

Joel Tudor, rocking the I heart NY garb.

My first Longboard. A Hawaiian built Keoki, 11′ 6″.

Anyway, we owe the old guys, big time. Our session last night reminded me just how much.