Johan is teaming up with the Surf MTL club to offer a surfboard building class. Johan really knows his stuff now and can offer some crazy insight. Plus you end up with a ready to ride board to bring down to the coast or the river.

“Make a surfboard with Surf Montreal?! Thats right, we are teaming up with Master Montreal Shaper Johan Elder to teach you how to shape, glass and sand a surfboard. Each student will Learn how to glass and sand a board from a pre-shaped blank (4 shapes to chose from) to a final product. We will also teach you the skills and knowledge to shape foam and make a board from scratch!

When? November 21st, 28th, Dec 5th (Dates are pending but will be confirmed shortly)

Where? Kanellos Studios, near Rosemont Metro.

How Much? $600.00 (introductory price) includes all materials, tools, and you leave with a finished board ready to surf!

Who? Chris from Surf Montreal and Master Montreal Shaper Johan Elder will be giving the course.

The minimum age to participate is 18 and you have to be willing to get a little dusty. Making a surfboard was featured on Discovery’s Dirty Jobs so leave the Armani suit at home!

This is the first class of it’s kind in Quebec and a great opportunity for anyone looking to learn how to shape a board to actually learn it with a professional shaper on hand to show you how it’s done, forget shaping video’s this is the real deal!

The class will be limited to 10 Students to ensure individualized attention and ensure everyone has amazing professional results so space is definitely limited.

Registration is open from now until Sunday October 15th or until the spaces fill up.

For additional information or the registration form send an e-mail chris@surfmtl.com”

Some stunning wallpaper. When I own a house I will seriously revisit this site. The one above is called “Flower Pedal”. Some of their florals are mind melting crazy.

http://www.flavorleague.com/wallpaper/new

Great update: Words from the man behind @BPGlobalPR himself — http://streetgiant.com/2010/06/02/leroy-stick-the-man-behind-bpglobalpr/

One of my favourite current pieces of satire/commentary is from @BPGlobalPR discussing the recent oil spill. It’s so good they now have almost 60,000 followers and BP is trying to have it shut down.

“After oil started spewing into the Gulf of Mexico following the BP oil rig explosion almost a month ago, a Twitter account launched purporting to be BP’s public relations group, @BPGlobalPR. The account, which offers dark, satirical commentary about the spill and cleanup efforts, is run by an anonymous person” — Mashable article

https://twitter.com/BPGlobalPR

Absolutely lovely movie by Branden Aroyan from Santa Barbara

“Here’s a little film for the Sacred Craft gathering in Ventura this year. It was an honor to be included. It is the first film I shot and edited to be publicly displayed on the web. It became one of the Audience 5 favorite original shorts. Thanks to Cyrus Sutton for instigating.”

Visit Branden’s site here

In celebration of making things by hand. The video is in French.

I think every skater who’s looked at sequences, cut and pasted stuff into books, DIY-ers, and artists will understand why I love this.

Skateboard shreds

“A ton of digital photos, a ton of real life magazines, an hour of recording music.”

Taking off from IAD on the way home for Austin, TX.

As Anile said…

“@stevey my ears were fighting the urge to pop just by watching!” — http://twitter.com/anile/status/10685809345

Leaving tomorrow AM for Austin/SXSWi 2010. This will be 3rd time attending and the excitement is still just the same. Looking forward to some inspiration, conversation, beer and great tex-mex food !!

Should be amazing — if you’re there find me via:

twitter/stevey | sitby.us/stevey | or leave me a msg here.

Amazing art for a great cause.

“Kind Lines is an art show and auction to benefit Surfaid International. The event, to take place in September of 2009 in NYC, was created by Rick Malwitz, of the Brooklyn-based Malwitz Custom Surfboards. Malwitz wanted to raise money for Surfaid in a creative, fun way that would celebrate surf culture and art. When he started asking artists within the surf community if they would be interested in donating a painting for the event, the response was overwhelming. In the end, 24 artists were selected to participate. Malwitz hand-shaped and bamboo glassed canvases, each resembling a cross-section of a surfboard, and distributed these to the participants. The rules were simple: any medium, any style, any surf-related theme. In September, these 24 original works of art will be featured at gallery in NYC, and an online auction will follow. The auction will be open to anyone, and is a great way to collect original art from some of the most brilliant surf artists. 100% of the proceeds go to Surfaid. Thanks to the sponsorship by Greenlight Surf Supply, Surf Source, and Swaylocks.”

Online Auction is between September 26 - October 4th , 2009

All the details/artwork here www.kindlines.com | Put together by Mr. Rick Malwitz

Pancakes using this recipe http://www.recipezaar.com/The-Simple-but-Perfect-Pancake-103599

and then topped with…

* Peaches cut into small chunks
* Brown sugar
* Butter
* Dark Rum

… all cooked in a pan until the “sauce” thickened and the peaches softened (about 10 minutes)

… add Quebec Maple Syrup and enjoy.

One of the best breakfasts we’ve ever had.

Korduroy/Patagonia Alaia Shaping Tutorial from Cyrus Sutton on Vimeo.

Fun stuff coming out of California as always — plus I’m really looking forward to what Korduroy.tv has to offer when it launches in the coming weeks.

The “Makers/DIY” culture has always drawn me in — I was fantasizing about our next house/apt having a dedicated “shop” area of some kind — a tinkering spot to break stuff and put it back together, etc.

“In a petroleum-addicted, pre-packaged culture a fire has been sparked that will transform surfing forever. From his Australian country shed, Tom Wegener has opened the door to surfing’s future by reintroducing the Alaia, an ancient wooden surf craft devoid of fins, foam or rocker. Welcome to a new age where a single surfer with simple tools and natural materials can push the limits of modern surfing.

Join Patagonia Cardiff, Korduroy.tv and Jon Wegener this Saturday, August 8th for an alaia shaping tutorial. Also check out Thalia St. Surf Shop Friday, August 14th for the Korduroy.tv website launch party. Both events are free and feature sneak screenings and limited, home-made dvd/books of “Tom’s Creation Plantation.”

korduroy.tv
wegenersurfboards.com
 patagonia.com

Many thanks @stephmouz

Just a reminder - The Duluth Farmers market is this Sunday. Pancake breakfast, tunes and yummy food to buy !! (Linda and I will be there for a bit)

Information
Location: 4265 ave Laval Montreal, QC, www.marcheduluth.com
Phone: (514) 225-5306
Sun: 10:00 am - 4:00 pm

http://marcheduluth.blogspot.com | Facebook page

Or follow the scarecrows !!

“Erik Natzke is an interactive designer who is constantly trying to blur the lines between design and technology.”

Way more here
 http://www.flickr.com/photos/natzke/sets/72157603454461983/

Or visit his site here: http://jot.eriknatzke.com/

(found by ncbeets)

My buddy Trevor Browne is racing the Tour Divide. What’s that you ask?

“Tour Divide is a solo, self-supported mountain bike race on all 2,745 miles (4,400 KM) of ACA’s epic Great Divide MTB Route. With an average time-to-completion of three weeks in the saddle, this grand tour is the longest, most challenging MTB race on the planet. It’s a contest for the ultra-fit but only if ultra-prepared for myriad contingencies of backcountry biking.”

That’s crazy.

4,400 KM in 3 weeks

He has provided instructions for how to REALLY follow along…
(they all carry real time GPS devices so you can see where they are)

“Everyone keeps asking how they can follow the race this year. Well its easy. By going to the following 2 sites you can literally follow my every move.

The sites are:
tourdivide.org
 MTBcast.com

If you go to the tourdivide.org website you can follow the race via the SPOT and google maps. Simply go to the menu on the right hand side of the page and click on the tab that says leaderboard. That will bring you to the SPOT leaderboard where all the racers will be seen as blue dots. Then just scroll over each dot to see who it is. You can also check out the blog portion of the site where you can read updates during the race.

The other way to follow the race is through the MTBcast.com website where you can actually here my voice as I call in at certain checkpoints along the way. On the right hand of the site you will see the 2009 Tour Divide Racer Audio list. From there scroll down the racer list until you see my name (at the bottom). Click on my name and it will bring you directly to my audio posts.

See you on the map!”

It starts Friday the 12th of June. Trevor’s a great guy (he helped find my new bike this past winter!!) and an amazing athlete. Cheer him on and send him your best wishes.

Trevor’s biking blog | tourdivide.org

Biking with 5D Mark II from Sam Javanrouh on Vimeo.

Nice test and footage.

Testing the Canon 5D Mark II with a super wide angle lens while biking on King street and Yonge street in Toronto. Unfortunately it started raining and a raindrop on my wide lens ruined the second half of the shot.

Biking with 5D Mark II

How big is a Blue Whale? Now you know. Great banner ad to draw attention to this animal’s plight.

http://www.wdcs.co.uk/media/flash/whalebanner/content_pub_en.html

Noticed last week when getting out of the water that one of the sewn seams on my Xcel infiniti hooded fullsuit has the thread stripped off about 2 inches on the forearm. The tape underneath had held and I hadn’t felt REALLY cold water hit my arm. The neoprene had spread apart just slightly.

I know you can send back suits to Xcel (they supposedly have a great warranty program) — but figured by the time I got it back the early season would be done and I’d be missing out not having it (the water is still hovering between 38 and 40°F).

What to do? Repair it myself. Figured I’d share with everyone how to do it. The trick is to repair it so it remains flexible and strong — and make TRIPLY sure it’s still water tight.

(this covers one specific type of re-stitch)

What you need:

* A clean suit (don’t sewn in some seaweed and later wonder what stinks !!)
* Some 100% Nylon thread (black or clear/invisible) — thinner the better
* Small sharp needle, scissors, and thread puller

(I’m using nylon clear thread as it has lots of “stretch” to it and is available in clear — I’m sure you could use a very thin test fishing line if you’re in a pinch)

Start off by trying off the ends of the thread well on each end of the split — so they don’t continue to spread.

Next thread your needle doubling up the nylon thread so that you have about at least a forearms length of thread trailing/available to stitch through.

Begin sewing at one end of the spilt. Make a good start knot and then work your way slowly back up the seam. Try and follow the previous holes if possible (the fewer holes in thew suit the better) where the old thread had been. Keep the thread tight throughout with a clean stitch each time — don’t leave loops, knots, mistakes hanging as these will get caught on stuff and rip your work out quickly.

Make sure you don’t go through the seam welding TAPE underneath. Keep your stitching close to the original spacing and depth. Repeat — don’t allow your needle to go through the tape.

Once you reach the end go past the old thread slightly then start to work your way back — trying to get any gaps or openings you might have missed.

Tie your nylon thread off well and close cut with scissors. Test it out by stretching it slightly and make sure it holds.

All done! (Photos here)

 — 

(this doesn’t cover what to do if your inner seam tape has also ripped right through — in that case I would send it back to Excel as that is a key component between a fun session and hypothermia)

Other options include buying seam welding “goo” for wetsuits — these work well if the cut/spilt is not on a seam but in the middle of a piece of neoprene. In my experience this stuff works but looks ugly though — like you have boogers on your suit.

Lots more info on more serious repairs can be found here - http://www.ehow.com/how_117816_repair-ripped-wetsuit.html. You can also search for someone in your area that does this as a service — Google lists many.

— Source unknown
See large version

www.nytimes.com/2009/03/25/dining/25mini.html?_r=1&re…

My interpretation of the “Party Animal”.

http://wonderfulbeyondbelief.com/#1

http://www.plankdesign.com/en/blog/posts/warren_night

(photo by NCBEETS)

I think I might have found the real reason I want to update my ipod (to a touch or an iphone). Genius playlists. I’m sold — Apple has done a very good job with this and it’s once again re-introducing my music to me on a daily basis.

If you haven’t turned on this feature or clicked the button — try it now. You won’t regret it.

Once the new car smell has worn off of the feature and you want it to be even better — review this…

“The Genius bar uses collaborative filtering and popularity data from the iTunes store. The Genius Playlist button uses local meta information associated with the files, like genre, rating, play count and other data stored in the ID3 tags.

Here are some tips for getting better Genius recommendations…”

— http://howto.wired.com/wiki/Get_Better_Genius_Recommendations_in_iTunes

Love this site of people adding designs and personalization to their OPUS RFID metro/bus cards. The design on them is ugly and this is such a great idea.

“Welcome to OpusLift.com

If, like me, you use the public transport network in Montreal, you probably already have the Opus card, the smart card that the STM (Société des transports de Montréal) unveiled this autumn.

Personally, I found it so ugly (forgive my honesty), so unrepresentative of Montreal and Montrealers that I decided to dressed up mine.”

One note: be very careful cutting holes in your card as shown above - this can easily cut the “wires” that run throughout the card, which are the antennae (the STM ones run in a crazy pattern throughout), and it will no longer work - read more here.

(Thanks NCBeets)

http://www.opuslift.com

This time lapse “play” is so well done — it’s shocking to think how long it took. The ride/out the window part is excellent.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_HXUhShhmY

Love this old video — but what makes it worth a second watch is checking out Spike Jonzes’ original notes/ideas he came up with that they used.

View them here…

Another one of those… ‘wish I’d thought of that’ ideas. |)|~@+$.

MPA Roses Student Awards 2006 submission in response to the simple brief, ‘promote swearing.’ Winner of its category and winner of the overall gold award.

Where’s the Mac font version though?

http://www.timfraserbrown.co.uk/Content%20Frames/colourful.html

Stunning pieces of art by my friend Judy and her boyfriend Mike (of furni fame). I mean really.. that’s some impressive work.

Here’s a direct link to buy the piece above — http://furni.myshopify.com/collections/miju/products/wimbledon | The whole collection