Babble 06/16/2008

Missing Malibu Surfer

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Music 06/14/2008

Toe Jam - The BPA (Brighton Port Authority)

The latest project from Norman Cook (aka fat boy slim) Brighton Port Authority sees the
UK musician working with a wealth of collaborators, and for this track, ‘toe jam’, he was joined by david byrne and dizzee rascal.

The song’s awesome video directed by Keith Schofield, who posted an uncensored version on his website if you’re a perv.

Music 06/12/2008

Bad Religion Live in Amsterdam

... Speaking of high potency marijuana, I’m in Amsterdam right now, and I was lucky enough to get to go see Bad Religion at the Melkweg the other night.

I’ve seen them probably 5 times over the last 20 years, and this show was every bit as good as all of the others I’ve seen, except that Greg and the boys are starting to look like old men now, which was really weird for me. I still remember what they looked like when I saw them at City Gardens in the 80’s.

Fortunately, the music hasn’t slowed down over the last 20 years (I’m talking to you Metallica…), and the show was great. They played a lot of the oldies but goodies, and a bit too many new songs, but with most of their songs having a run time of about 2 minutes, they played a lot of songs during the hour and a half show.

Overall, it was really good. I only caught the last 2 songs of the opening band Gob Squad but they sounded pretty good too. Check ‘em out.

Click-thru for a few more photos:

Read on…

Babble 06/11/2008

Study: Marijuana potency increases in 2007

WASHINGTON (AP) – Marijuana potency increased last year to the highest level in more than 30 years, posing greater health risks to people who may view the drug as harmless, according to a report released Thursday by the White House.

The latest analysis from the University of Mississippi’s Potency Monitoring Project tracked the average amount of THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, in samples seized by law enforcement agencies from 1975 through 2007. It found that the average amount of THC reached 9.6 percent in 2007, compared with 8.75 percent the previous year.

The 9.6 percent level represents more than a doubling of marijuana potency since 1983, when it averaged just under 4 percent.

Read on…

Music 06/05/2008

Van Halen - Zero

A friend just sent me a link to this gem hiding on the internets if you’re interested. Apparently, this is the 1976 Gene Simmons produced Van Halen demo that I never knew existed. You get to hear early versions of some hits like Runnin’ with the Devil, and _ On Fire_, but the cool thing for me is to hear the songs on there that I’ve never heard before. Check it out.

TRACK LISTING:
1) On Fire
2) Women in Love
3) House In Pain
4) Runnin’ with the Devil
5) She’s the Woman
6) Let’s Get Rockin’
7) Big Trouble
8) Somebody Get Me a Doctor
9) Babe, Don’t Leave Me Alone
10) Put Out the Lights

Environment 06/05/2008

Hey, Cool, Some More Shark News...

Decided to check out the Rincon Surf Blog, and was greeted with this nice image. What the hell is up with the sharks lately? Please go away.

With water temps as low as 50° in recent weeks, it should come as no surprise that we are now beginning to see signs of physical evidence corroborating reports of the presence of great white sharks in our local waters. For several months now, shark warning flyers have been posted up at The Ranch, and some surfers have claimed them being nothing more than ‘fear mongers’. The above photo of an adult sea lion estimated at 300 lbs. was taken yesterday at Sands. Judging by the diameter of the bite wound, there is only one animal that could be the culprit. Please exercise caution when venturing into the surf as apparently the so-called ‘Red Triangle’ has shifted South by a few hundred miles, a byproduct of the cold water anomoly…

[ via: Rincon Surf Blog ]

Environment 06/05/2008

Mexico To Tag Sharks After Deadly Attacks

Biologists in Mexico plan to tag hundreds of sharks off the Pacific Coast to help understand the cause of a rare spate of deadly attacks on humans, the local government said on Tuesday. Sharks near the south-western resort of Ixtapa-Zihuatanejo killed two surfers and maimed another in the past few weeks, the first fatal shark attacks along Mexico’s Pacific coast in 30 years, according to official records.

Biologists plan to tag sharks and ask fisherman to look out for them and report back on their movements. A smaller group of sharks will be tagged with electronic devices that would transmit data on their behaviour and locations to biologists via radio frequencies. The tagging is expected to begin in about two months and the study should last a year. We need to get to the ‘why’ these animals are coming so close to Guerrero’s shores.

Shark experts believe unusually cool sea-surface temperatures could be partly responsible for the attacks, but they also note that a dearth of data about sharks in the region makes it difficult to reach conclusions. The researchers plan to use a special baited fishing line to catch sharks in the area and then tag and release them. Fishermen who come across tagged sharks will be compensated for reporting their location. More expensive telemetric tags on a smaller number of sharks will emit radio frequencies that scientists can track.

Surfer Bruce Grimes from Texas recently became the third person to be bitten by a shark since late April. Grimes survived the attack but needed 100 stitches in his arm.

[ via: surfers village ]

Clothing 06/03/2008

Please Stop Forcing the 80's On Me!

I grew up in the 80’s. It was fun, I get it. I love the music, and the movies. It was awesome. But why is everyone trying to make me think fluorescent clothes are cool again?

I realize that every designer in the industry grew up in the 80’s, and it holds fond memories for us. So it’s fun for you to make all of this “retro” stuff, but come on already, have we had enough of the 80’s resurgence yet?

I’m kind of over it. There are a lot of talented people in this industry, and it would be great to see some forward thinking instead of blatant trend following. Most of us that fell into this lifestyle are pretty unique individuals, and a lot of us actually like to feel like we are going against the trends, so please stop trying to make us all think we should wear this 80’s fluoro crap. We’re not buying into it.

It would be cool to see what’s next, and this time it would be great if everybody’s products didn’t look exactly the same.