Messages

841

SUP General / Re: WTF?

« on: March 10, 2011, 02:56:16 PM »

Stoneaxe it wouldn't be much of a fight. I think the jolly green giant would just sit on me.

Anyway I think the best description of today's politics go as follows;

A corporation, a tea bagger and a union member sit at a table and a plate of 12 cookies are placed in front of them. The corporation takes 11 cookies and then turns to the tea party member and says "I think that other guys wants your cookie".

If anyone is criticizing Bill for his success it will never be me. At that's not even an issue.  What I will criticize is demonizing middle class teachers and other public sector workers. They did not cause the problem. They signed contracts in good faith.

 And yea there are extreme examples of excess but that's just a drop in the bucket when you consider $8 BILLION in cash on pallets sent to Iraq cannot be accounted for. It's a lot easier to go after the teachers union then the Pentagon's waste and folly.

 
Can anyone tell me how many bonus contracts on wall street were nullified after they tanked the economy but were saved by middle class tax payers? How many were jailed? Stiffing that 3rd grade teacher who happens to be in a union may make someone feel good but it's not going to fix what wall street F*** up. Face it we've all been screwed and now they have us turning on each other. What a country!

Dear Jesus please send a swell so we can all go paddle and not bitch at each other for shit we didn't do or can easily fix!

842

SUP General / Re: WTF?

« on: March 10, 2011, 10:25:21 AM »

Tim it's all pretty sad. I think it's the result of 1/2 or less of our freedom loving neighbors bothering to vote. When there is low voter turnout then money pretty much dictates elections and policy. If we had 100% voter turnout then the elected would actually have to do good work for the people. Money would have near zero impact in elections and we would get our democracy back.

What is really sad in California is the dismantling of our once world class UC and State college system.

Out

843

SUP General / Re: WTF?

« on: March 10, 2011, 08:31:31 AM »

Well Bill your employee's enjoy the following due to the efforts of unions:
5 day work week, 8 hour work day, overtime pay, no child labor, safety on the job. And the list goes on and on and on. It's so well accepted today that very few people understand how bad it once was

Sure bag on firemen and teachers because you have never walked in their shoes. But when things go wrong they are the first one who get blamed.

As far as political funding get your facts right because it's all changed thanks to our Supreme Court and Citizens United. Of the top ten groups who spent money in the past election 7 were corporate funded groups and 3 were unions.  Once the current batch of elected officials get done with the public sector unions then it will be 10 to 0. I'm not sure I have the same "free speech" in the form of $$$ as a billionaire does when it comes to financing elections. Seems like it's one of the great investments, donate $100 to a politician and receive $10,000 in benefits. If money is "free speech" in elections how does the individual teacher or fireman compete with the super rich without the collective voice that a union brings.

Read your history on the union movement in America and learn how workers were once treated. Then you might have a better perspective on why having a collective voice is not a bad thing. Union workers built the greatest economy in the world that is now being shipped off to the Chinese.

Oh and why was Wisconsin picked to start dismantling public sector unions?? Look up how many cities are named Union in that state. Look up the history of the labor movement in that state and then you will understand the symbolism of what is occurring.

Stick to what you do best which is writing about SUP and your other fun hobbies. That stuff I enjoy reading and you are very good at it.

 

844

SUP General / Re: WTF?

« on: March 08, 2011, 09:58:37 PM »

Blame Canada

845

SUP General / Re: WTF?

« on: March 08, 2011, 11:43:45 AM »

Hey Easy Rider my Butt F*** nowhere is my attempt to imagine what is going on in the brain of a customs guy. I would imagine they might think the same if a shipment of hockey pucks showed up at the dock in Oahu. Not sure what you could do with a container of 2 piece pucks once the boys in customs get done with them.
Of course they may have making sure Gretsky is not trying to sneak back into Canada.

846

SUP General / Re: WTF?

« on: March 08, 2011, 08:15:33 AM »

Wow,,let's get out the rope and hang someone right??
Geez the board is insured and our friend at Easy Rider will have a new one in short order.
But come on, not hard to see how some poor bastard working in customs would thing it strange "surfboards" are being to shipped to Edmonton in the middle of butt F*** nowhere. Not much "hang ten" going on when it's 20 below zero.
It's the price we pay to keep our neighbors in North safe from the kooks and criminals on our side of the border!!!

847

SUP General / Re: Maui warning

« on: March 05, 2011, 08:47:32 AM »

I suspect when they find this dude they will also find a large pile of his busy work. Easy to steal much harder to sell it off especially on a small island.

My son's roommates at our local University had their wetsuits ripped off over the summer. A couple of months later the campus police busted a kid with over a 100 wetsuits in his apartment.

 I suspect the stink of fermenting used wetsuits gave him away. Some neighbor must have thought he was cooking meth.

So take picture, right down serial numbers, have something to ID your stuff so that if its ever found you may get it back.

848

Gear Talk / Re: boards for larger people

« on: March 05, 2011, 08:25:31 AM »

I'm going to have to disagree with Bill and go with Wardoggy on this one. The bottom line for a beginner regardless of their ultimate goal is to have fun. You want to be able to paddle regardless of the conditions. Meaning you can pretty much paddle anything when it's flat but add a swell and wind chop from another direction you find out pretty quick what works and doesn't. So if the goal is fitness and weight loss up front then you need to be out their daily and getting that stroke down was well your sea legs. If you are doing the hula the whole time that stoke is more like a slap because you are just trying to stay dry for more then a minute at a time.

849

Random / Re: Nothing like great Ferrari

« on: February 25, 2011, 05:35:56 PM »

Yo, Bill I think you're gonna need a sex change and lots of plastic work before they let you have a rag top version. 

850

Gear Talk / Re: anyone here riding the Angulo 10-4 Surfa?

« on: February 24, 2011, 04:00:34 PM »

Linter,,it has plenty of rocker as far as I'm concerned. Mine is the 2011 model so not sure how it compares to past models in rocker profile. The current rocker profile would account for my stoke anytime I get to carve a nice bottom turn. But since I haven't had the fortune of being off work when there is a decent size swell this winter around here (which has not been very often this winter) I'm guessing my days have been not very different then what you see on average. So yea I would say you would have tons of fun on it. I certainly have and really was surprised how stable yet easy to turn with the slightest rail pressure. I didn't know how easy it could be to exit a wave and stay dry. I also find myself shifting to the forward half of the board in small stuff which I think is a product of the rocker line and nose profile.

851

Gear Talk / Re: anyone here riding the Angulo 10-4 Surfa?

« on: February 24, 2011, 12:45:38 PM »

I have had mine for about a month. Great board and I'm very happy with my choice. It helped being able to demo one while camping in San Clemente back in October for 3 days during a nice south swell with overhead sets.
My first use was with a 5.8 sail on a light wind (but too choppy for SUP) day with 1-3ft surf which is one of the reasons I wanted a board with a mast track. Tons for fun on a day I would not have bothered to SUP and not quite windy enough for even the kiters.
Since then it been about 20 hours in small surf, nothing bigger then chest high.
Couple of things I've noticed; The board at 31-1/2" wide is VERY stable which is nice for a 4+ hour session. I'm not worn out doing the hula in the chop. Plus I have found it to be more far stable in the white water then my 12' Laird ever was. It's easy to paddle and glides well which is nice as the breaks I like to frequent are a mile of more from where I park. Really easy to catch waves which was not something I expected. Turns like a dream, And lastly it really likes to be ridden forward of center on the small stuff meaning it's a great nose rider. I'm still playing around with my position on the board while on the wave and expect to discover a few other treats this  board has to offer.
I have a lot of respect for Ed Angulo's experience as a shaper and I think his SUP shapes have not been getting the exposure they deserve. He makes great boards and if your looking for a 10-4 the Surfa should get serious consideration.

852

Events / Re: Battle Of The Paddle - personal reports/highlights

« on: October 04, 2010, 04:59:32 PM »

Thanks for the GPS info mr Big Ed. Your time and avg speed are line in for your description of board and weight.

Slow is no excuse for sitting on the beach for next year. I was feeling pretty slow Saturday and fell to the sirens of titan in the form of the boat that was anchored off the outside mark on the west end. They were offering beer and I took them up on the offer. Enjoyed a cold one under the shadow of the sheriff boat and continued on my merry way with renewed vigor.

Never much of a decision when offered a cold beer when  getting your ass handed to you on the race course.

853

Events / Re: Battle Of The Paddle - personal reports/highlights

« on: October 04, 2010, 02:58:19 PM »

Hey Big Ed was "FYI open race was 4.83 on GPS" for 4 or 5 laps?

I was certain I had heard just prior to the start of the Open Race the laps changed to 5 from 4 correcting what was posted on the web.

I thought it was just my brain fart when I went 5 laps only to discover the majority of the field went 4.

Am I still screwed up on what was announced and the actual laps traveled by the winners?

854

Downwind and Racing / Re: Do We Need 12'6" in Racing

« on: September 21, 2010, 12:10:37 PM »

Well Lummy Hawaii is different than the other 49 states. You can pretty much go to any SUP race announcement and find the words "stock" and 12'6" for one of the divisions.
The Naish series, as mentioned by others, has a 12'6" "stock" class as the only division. Resulting in custom race sleds being defined as "stock".
Someone has to explain how that encourages involvment by someone with their 12' Naish surfboard.
Seems like everyother sport involving racing has a good understanding of what "stock" represents but not SUP.

855

Downwind and Racing / Re: Do We Need 12'6" in Racing

« on: September 20, 2010, 11:36:03 PM »

First things first. How about ending the practice of calling your pro race class "stock". This has to be the only sport that calls their high-end race hardware "stock".

Kind of hard to inspire greater participation in racing when a novice  shows up with their 12' board to race "stock". Then finds out they are in the same "stock" class as the guy with the bushed carbon, sunken deck, bullet nose, uber light water rocket.

Why is there a need to have a "stock" race board class. Why not call a race board a race board and go by size. Stock should be for a surfboard shape so anyone with a surfboard SUP can compete a feel it was a fair test.

Putting an artificial cap on the board size for Pro events is not good for a young sport. It limits competition, designs and interest. It needs to end.

Board size and classes will start to firm up once participation increases. Right now it's rare to have more then 1/2 dozen people in anyone one class at any event not offering a cash purse.

For the time being it makes a lot of sense to have 3 "race board" classes and a stock class to promote participation.

Fairness is a big componet in racing. Once that is felt missing the sport will go nowhere.