Road Trip to Rhode Island :: Roadie to Rhodie

:: Narragansett, RI::

The smallest state in the US stold my heart back in the summer of 2004. Three years later I am sitting at my desk in NYC day dreaming about what the waves might be like. So I send Myles Point "the unofficial mayor of Narragansett" a text message asking what the waves looked like and about an hour later I get a text that reads "3ft overhead!" Three hours and 140 miles of Friday evening traffic later we were greated by a little fishing village full of good hearted, backwards Red Sox hat wearing, chowder eating Rhodie's.

:: Pilgrim Avenue ::

Saturday morning welcomed us with a mild hang over and waist to shoulder high wind slop. How does it go from 3 ft over head to waist high overnight with onshore winds? I think its a classic case of that 2lb fish your grandfather caught that turns into a 20 pounder over the years. We drove back to the house and grabbed some longboards and returned to surf Pilgram Ave, where we found waist to stomache high waves peeling into wind protected cove.

:: Crazy Burger ::

Back in 2004 I inquired where I could go to get some good vegetarian food in Narragansett. Everyone's response was Crazy Burger. To me that is like naming a steak house"Vegetable Paradise" But I went with it and was introduced to Narragansett's hot bed of vegetarian cuisine served by the cutest 20 something females in town. For breakfast I recommend the surfer style special: 3 eggs, 1 pancake, 1 breakfast veggie meat, homefries, toast, a small juice and coffee. While most of the staff is in their early to mid 20's make sure not to stare at the juice girl for too long because odds are it can get you thrown in jail, just ask Myles.

:: Last Fort Standing ::

The state of Rhode Island has a law that publicly skated ramps cannot exceed 4ft in height. This is a major difficulty when trying to build a skatepark that will nurish local talent. The only solution to this problem is to build you own private ramp, and that is how L.F.S. "Last Fort Standing" was born. A bit of D.I.Y. ethics, monthly rent, and a whole lot of elbow grease gives a select few in Rhode Island a place to skate come rain, sleet, or snow. Myles called up his buddy Jus and told him he had some friends in town from Brooklyn. After miles of winding farm roads we pulled up to a farmhouse surronded by a grave yard of cars and farm equipment. Here's a bit of footage that I shot and edited with Jake mixed to Ratatat .

Big thanks to Jus for letting us into the spot and the whole L.F.S. crew for keeping the doors open. Please come visit us in Brooklyn.

San Francisco :: High Waters

::San Francisco::

Where in the good old U.S. of A can you rely on public transportation and surf within city limits? Loaded question New York and San Francisco. The yin and yang. A little bit of work and a whole lot of Jeff Canham's opening at Mollusk surf shop is what brought me out to San Francisco. I got a call from Jeff back in July asking for directions to Natural Cafe in Santa Barbara. At the end of the conversation he threw in a "by the way I'm having a show at Mollusk in September you should come out." So do as I did and make sure you pack up your 4/3 full suit and patulli oil because this trolley's next stop is the city by the bay.

:: Jeff Canham ::

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of meeting Jeff Canham here is 2K by gingham's bio on Mr. Canham. "Jeff Canham was raised in Hawaii on a steady diet of Cheerios, Mad magazines and surfboards. At the age of 18 he left home to attend the University of Oregon and though he failed billiards, he did excel in the antiquated art of letterpress, learned to work a Macintosh and eventually earned a BFA degree in graphic design. With these skills under his belt Jeff moved to lovely Orange County, California where he art directed SURFER magazine for six years and honed his doodling skills during many a long meeting. He's had art shows in New York, Los Angeles, Yokohama and Burlington, Vermont. He currently lives in San Francisco where he does freelance design, works as a sign painter and volunteers at the San Francisco Center for the Book where he answers phones and wishes he was using the letterpress again."
Having know Jeff for a few years I'd say that is a pretty accurate description. What they left out is that his friends attribute him as being the nicest guy around and if you get his sense of humor he'll make you laugh your ass off when you least expect it.

::Mollusk Surf Shop::

Nine out of ten modern day soul daddies attribute Mollusk as being the best surf shop in the world. Remember when you were a kid and dreamed of what it would be like to have a shopping cart at Toy R Us with 5 minutes to fill it up. That is what Mollusk is to me. John McCambridge has really made something special out of this place. The shop is built out of selvedge wood and is littered with art work from the likes of Thomas Campbell, Alex Kopp's, Jeff Canham, Andy Davis, and Jay Nelson to name a few. The two tree house's by Jaybird are almost enough to distract you from the upstairs loft of fish shapes. Right next to the loft is the gallery space where all the for mentioned artists display their work from time to time. A couple of hang sessions a year at Mollusk are imperative to me. Anybody that out grew there welcome as an adolescent at their local surf shop and were put to work; knows exactly what I'm talking about. Kudos to you Mollusk; you heal my inner shop rat.

::High Waters::

High Waters was Jeff's first solo show. He kept down playing the magnitude of the show because he was friends with the shop owner. I appreciate Jeff's modesty but when you have the likes of Barry McGee hanging out, live tunes by Peggy Honeywell and Gojogo, there is no denying that you are doing something right.

::Pancho Villa::

It's no secret that I'm a burrito snob. So when I asked Jeff where I could get a good burrito he told me Pancho Villa, he also told me it wasn't like the place we would go to in Encinitas. If your in the Mission district go and hit up Pancho Villa. Great atmosphere and above average burritos. Jeff's recommendation is the Grilled Vegetarian Burrito. I'm strictly a beans, rice, cheese, guac, and papas kinda guy. There was an old caballero in the back entertaining us with his accordion. It was very ambient and if you weren't straight out of Brooklyn trying to savor every last bit of the taqueria experience you might have paid little attention. Rumor has it that Beck posted up in the back and played a set while very few even recognized him. So if you ever go there make sure to check out who is playing in the back.

::UP NEXT::
Road Trip to Rhode Island :: Roadie to Rhodie

Dieu Bénissent Montréal :: God Bless Montreal

MONTREAL

As a kid I envisioned Canada as a country full of pale and dorky people that loved beer and hockey. Then one day I started hearing about Montreal. An oasis of beautiful women, relaxed laws and an emerging music scene to be reckoned with. Much like its women Montreal is Canadian enough to be approachable and Euro enough to have sex appeal. "What brings you to Canada?" my response "Osheaga Music Festival" but the customs agent could read it all over my face. She knew I was there for the burritos, babes, and waves.

::The Big "O"::

American cohort Dustin and I headed to the north part of town in search of the Olympic Stadium "O" pipe. The full pipe / half pipe was built for the 1976 Olympics. After exiting the metro we skated around the enormous stadium wondering "where the hell is it?" We were kindly greeted by a few locals; a girl with knee pads, a guy with his hand in a cast, and another guy who was just leaving on a beer run. They gave us the low down on the spot. Thirty years after being built for the 1976 Olympics plans are being made to tear down the pipe to make room for a new soccer stadium. Skaters are up in arms trying to save this piece of skateboarding history. At the very best the pipe may be re-located. How, where, and if the pipe will survive the move is the unanswered question. After our history lesson we took our first runs. The two feet of vert on the four foot half proved it difficult to skate. Luckily a few random visiting pros "Willy Santos and Dane Brummel" made a guest appearance and showed the potential of the spot. About 20 minutes later this guy showed up slapping few high fives and spoke French with the locals. The knee pad girl told me with her very thick Quebecois accent that it was Marc Tison a legend at the "O". The way Tison owned this spot couldn't be achieved by skating there for a few years, but having skate it your whole life. After the pro's left and Tison took a break I took my last run. I had to squeeze in a final run just in case there wasn't a next time. Before the "O" gets moved or demolished I plan on getting in my truck or booking a ticket for one last go faster than you can say Poutine. My friend Jake helped me edit some footage I shot on my digi-cam adding some Arcade Fire "from MTL" for good measure. It is not the best of the best that went down, but it gives you an idea.



::POUTINE::

French fries and cheese curds topped with brown gravy. This cuisine was born and raised in Quebec. One can't help but wonder why we don't have this back in the States. I am told that it has something to do with the cheese curd not being pasteurized, which I guess doesn't really fly in the land of the free. So every trip to Montreal is a gut clogging Poutine fest. I have learned to judge the quality of Poutine by the crispiness of the fries and the audible squeak of the cheese. La Banquise on Rue Rachel takes the prize as the best Poutine in the Mont Royal Plateau. Even at 4 a.m. Montreal hipsters are lined up outside, a sure sign of a local favorite. Don't take my word for it go taste it yourself.

::OSHEAGA FESTIVAL::
2006 marked the first year of the Osheaga festival held at Parc Jean Drapeau. There were four different stages with bands ranging from Sonic Youth to obscure local talent.

::BEST PERFORMANCE - FLAMING LIPS::

Just as you are distracted with a stage full of fans dressed up as aliens and santa's front man Wayne Coyne is rolled out onto the crowd in a giant clear ball. After a minute he escapes his bubble only to repeatedly fire off confetti cannons into the crowd while blow up dolls and beach balls are passed around. If that isn't enough envision a jumbo tron and songs about Japanese girls named Yoshimi battling giant evil robots. Do you need much more convincing on why they put on the best show?

::BEST LOCAL BAND - WOLF PARADE::
Wolf Parade is one of my favorite bands at the moment. They are on Sub-Pop and are also Quebecois. They played a great set despite difficulties with sound. Their set was cut short because G-Love needed more time to get the sound right for his set. Singer and guitarist Dan Broeckner sought revenge by throwing cheese balls from the VIP area at G-Love while he performed. I don't know about you, but cheese balls equal style points in my book. Here is their video Shine A Light.


::BEST DISCOVERY - FINAL FANTASY::
Owen Pallet is the violinist from Arcade Fire. And Final Fantasy is his solo project. With a violin, keyboard and loop station he builds a song layer by layer creating a multi layered masterpiece by songs end. Check him out on myspace or I tunes. I'm not sure if it will have the same impact as it did live, but it is worth a listen.

::UP NEXT::
Jeff Canham's Gallery Opening :: San Francisco, California