Posts filed under
it's your life too, I'm just taking credit for it.
posting is a frame of mind.
it comes in fits and spurts for me.
right now I'm in an expressive frame of mind waiting for reality to smack me in the face.
mail: gio at agnoli.com
December 23, 2008
fun with dave and adele
I arrived late to dave and adele's christmas gathering. life is good.
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December 15, 2008
vinyl lives
Get your record players out, that smooth sound of vinyl is back.
I'm convinced this is a short lived phenomenon that is more about reminiscing than functionality, but I'm all for active listening and the process of standing up every 20 minutes to flip the album. I predict that the duration of the fad will be closely tied to the lifespan of our existing needles.
More importantly I'll be listening to entire albums rather than selections ala itunes.
My favorite to date is the b-side of Talking Heads, Remain in Light. Specifically the haunting "Listening Wind". Cline played this for me the other day, I turned up the volume and reminisced my adolescence. It is still one of my favorites.
For those of you with a competitive spirit, feel free to tell us all about the buttery dynamic range of your reel to reel.
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December 07, 2008
sympathetic neck pains
Woke early to surf, but the surf wasn't cooperating. Everybody was angry or hurt or both, sometimes life sucks even when it doesn't. Can't we all just get along? Delayed surf and performed some routine maintenance to make everybody feel better. Avery hung his samples, and Cline cleaned his car while we waited for the surf to shape up. Lewis and Dave eventually arrived, Lewis shot some photos, and we finally paddled out around 10:30 with Blair and Spyder close behind. The waves were a wee bit bigger than earlier in the morning. I surfed my 7'8" gun for the first time in a year.
Took a while to get out, made it past the inner bar quickly, but ended up in the in-between soup duck diving whitewater and the occasional closeout for 20 exhausting minutes trying to find a channel while the current dragged me down the beach. When I eventually made it out the waves were large and glassy. Lots of waiting for the right one. Caught three nice ones, got blown apart or clipped each time. After the second big wave I was feeling really good, after the third was I was feeling really bad. Got stuck inside for ten minutes of thrashing in the soup, was about to give up when I looked over and saw Cline paddling next to me with the same look of exhaustion on his face. Misery loves company. He finally gave up and turned for the shore, I paddled for another 5 minutes before doing the same.
Went for lunch at Zazi, sat out back under the heat lamps and ate a wonderful un, duex, trois soaked in maple syrup and talked. Retired to Lewis and Ange's to sit by the fire and make sure Haley hadn't also been stricken with neck pains. Thankfully she was her usual bouyant self.
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December 06, 2008
City Dance with Dave and Adele
Modern gangsters and dolls, Hip hop rules the world. Or is it now called "locking". I'm so behind the times.
City Dance put on a great show for friends and family at Fort Mason' Cowell theatre. We went to see Adele perform, and enjoy the show. The production was professional with excellent lighting and a vibrant audience. Shout outs were de rigueur with the crowd overpowering the sound system on occasion.
The Hive performance on red background was awesome, more modern than hip hop.
Lots of asians, I was astounded by all the boys and their style. Next time I encounter a group of asians in a dark alley I'll think twice about throwing down my moves and starting a dance off.
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December 06, 2008
Not a drop of water out of place
Saturday started out good and got better. Met Cline and Avery before dawn to surf cold offshores. Lewis and Dave joined in along with a thousand of our friends. Absolutely freezing but nice. Retreated to Lewis and Ange's to hang out by the fire, trying desperately to raise my core temp above 52 degrees farenheit. Warm feet, warm heart.
Hurley sample sale went off without a hitch, and it was time to surf again.
Second session was even better, head high offshore peaks that broke in long reeling lines. Easy to slide into, and doubling up on the inside bar. Paddled into my best wave since Chile. A well overhead picture perfect left with not a drop of water out of place. Rode it to the inside with the lip feathering overhead. Perfection. Life should be so easy. Reminded me why I started surfing.
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December 01, 2008
Young Republicans?
Young republicans? At least that was the lead in to this event. Evidently GK met the host at a YRNF thing she went to a while back. That was enough for Cline and I, after all we are nothing if not open minded. Liberté, égalité, fraternité, and all that. More importantly I've been trying to win that degrees of separation game, and republicans are not currently part of any social circle I swim in. I think. Of course I'm not counting GK, she voted for Obama and all.
Started at A16 (I'm more of an A11 guy myself, florence, pisa and tuscany are more to my liking). Quite an eye opener.
Proceeded down the street to the wine party en masse. Talked and talked and talked about the old and the new. Hadn't connected with Kim since the days of old. Where are you Rex?
Nice, literate, crowd, made me feel young. Politics never came up in conversation, so I'm still in the dark about these closeted republicans. In search of?
Left GK lounging on the pile of jackets and Kim freshening her makeup. Dropped Cline and went home to bed. slept in. I needed it.
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November 30, 2008
No waves for you
I had family obligations, that's my alibi and I'm sticking to it. You others, you are just lazy. No waves for you.
Lewis was the only one of us who scored Saturday. you can tell by the smile on his face as he regales us with his war stories while we watch fort point do its east-wind-outgoing-tide-thing. Could have surfed any number of places if we had been on it. no, we are just lazy.
Eventually ate some Pho and saw the new bond flick. not half bad, it appealed to me in a lot of ways.
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November 26, 2008
failed dawn patrol - surfed all day
Woke up early in an attempt at a dawn patrol. All the elements were there, cold crisp air, offshores, swell, hang overs, old friends, everything except the surf.
Hung out with Avery, Marcelo, and Warsaw at Sloat for too long waiting for it to get better. Eventually made the call to move to VFs for the tide switch. Lewis showed up well rested and we fought the ever increasing crowd until I couldn't take it any more. Lots of great waves, just too many good surfers burning other good surfers. The whole attitude has changed in the last couple weeks. All of a sudden its ok to drop in? one step closer to socal. In the end its the burners (the good surfers) that will lose out, when the not so good decide that they have nothing to lose by dropping in. the beginning of the end?
Lunched with the usual suspects. I think I won the most calorific prize with my burger, fries, and root beer float. Full bellys didn't stop us from venturing back out in the middle for some mushy outer bar. the wind eventually turned north and I lost my ability to paddle against the current.
Retired to Avery's and then went by the pizza place for a bite.
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November 25, 2008
