Great Lake Surfers Unite - Beer Night Sucess

       

 A great night was had by all at the Steam Whistle Brewery last Thursday. Local surfers and friends hooked up to party, watch vids and not feel guilty for chatting exclusively about surfing and/or surf related issues. 

There were lots of good friends, familiar faces and new ones as well. VonZipper, Boardsports and Billabong hooked us up with some goods for silent auction and little sandwichs. James G. brought his custom built Five surfboards with him and showed off his newest long board creations, a raw carbon fiber deck and a deck with wood sandwiching a foam core, super fun light rides.

Everyone was very festive and many of us stayed until the staff were politely pushing us out the doors. 

Great success, can't wait for some surf to stir up and to see everyone in the water again. 

The room....

 slowly filling at Steam Whistle Brewery, surf movies rocking, food to the left and sweet auction deals to the right.

 

Five boards and their creator James....

high quality local Toronto boards. I've seen his boards make the transition from lake Ontario to Pacific ocean with out missing a beat. 

Robin  of the wahine crew....

representing the freshy girls.

The many faces of Marston Clarke.....

 who is a lovely guy for real.

Testing out the new Five carbonfiber longboard model....

way too much fun.

We love swag......

among many others I will not have to buy another bar of cold water wax for at least a few years/forever.

Team kills it....

spreading the love.

A brief flash of alumni nostelgia....

and the end of a great night.

sssssshhhhhh its a secret

Oh what a perfect day of tropical storms, shifting blankets of fog and surf. Biking around Toronto is magic for finding secret places. Rolling through sand, mud, pavement and puddles I had a feeling that I should have brought a surf board even though the forecast was practically yelling flat. 

The skies opened up. It took about ten minutes of wind, rain and rushing gutters before once dry feet were ankle deep in water.



The rain stopped as quickly as it started. We sat and watched micro waves crash perfectly into shore.



We ventured further to find out these micro waves had bigger rideable brothers crashing left and right around a small pier. I couldn't contain my joy at the sight. 

Before too long a lanky red haired man sauntered up to us to tell us his story. We learned of a party boat that had come and gone a few more kilometers past us. I couldn't help but assume that he was just as pumped on the surf and very excitedly pointed it out to him. He thanked us in between his constant and almost alarming fits of laughter. I worried our seclusion might fast become our enemy, but we soon parted ways and were left with the waves, the fog and a feeling of disbelief. 

OOO LA, summer concerts continue with THE KOOKS

I did (do?) love the backstreet boys, but it would be a horrible miscommunication to saddle the young 20 somethings from Brighton into this category. The boys have kept the vibe going from their first album Inside in/Inside out (Virgin 2006). Their new album Konks (Virgin 2008) keeps the honest ballads flowing with the bands sweet British rock pop voices. 

Much of the show was from Inside in/Inside Out which could be retitled happy (but kinda dark) sing along songs for the summer. Happy days for me having spent many a day and night on the seaside falling in love and listening to the Kooks amongst many other bands springing from the United Kingdom. These were the songs I knew and wanted to hear.

The crowd was a good mix of early to late 20 year olds. Referring back to my original BSB comment, it can be admitted that given the age of the band I was worried that I had somehow gotten into music geared toward a much younger demographic. To my relief, good tunes can be written at any age, based on my experiences on that crazy island I think its easy to grow up fast. Proof of this is lead singer Luke Pritchard who wrote the song "Naive" when he was 16 years old.

The sound was great, with every show the Kool Haus impresses me more and more, it definitely might have something to do with the new favorite viewing spot in front of the sound booth. The solo version of Seaside did it all for me. Video to come.

Summa Summa Summa Murda MIA @ SoundAcademy Toronto

MIA Sound Academy June 3 

Armed with multiple questionable wrist bands we rode our bikes to the docks. A coasting downhill ride along the lakeshore bike path, no waiting for buses or taxis, I highly recommend it.

We had been put on the guest list, yet another wrist band to add to the two old press passes we had taped to our wrist. The so called VIP area was pretty nice, no lineup at the bar, balcony over looking the lake and skyline, and birds eye view, but kinda boring compared to the swelling crowd below.

We headed downstairs to join the party. Grabbing a beer in the caged in area of the club the atmosphere of the audience was immediately evident. A group of girls danced around in circles telling friends they loved them, two other girls wearing mexican wrestling masks, a smattering of H and M and the obligatory wildly printed leggings a la MIA herself. In short, everyone was seriously ready for some silly dancing times. 

Deciding to make a move we marched toward the front, wrist bands out camera up, after all we were there to take footage of the show. We were feeling mighty bold and didn't stop once we reached the side stage, marching ourselves straight pass some very puzzled security guards. Due to the fact that MIA is a international artist and not an emerging local band, our multi-coloured wrist bands didn't quite cut it. We were quickly surrounded by guards and gracefully backed off. We were pretty happy just to be near the front.  However, it was quickly realized that the door located next to us led up to the DJ booth of the club. After missing our first chance fate blessed us with a second try, before I could even think about it I was inside the door and walking up the stairs. We were given what best compares to a frontrow opera house box seat view.

Cameras out we took photos with our feet up bopping around in place. Through the wild mixes, jamming crowd (on and off stage) and mad sparkles the music spoke for itself.

MIA finished the evening with the crowd favorite "Paper planes" leaving everyone buzzing and wanting more.