patrick.net

Frozen fucking water all around your house for what, 3-4 months? What exactly is the pay off for that? The fucking carpet baggers will go back or die off, and then HARM, yes we'll have our comeupance.

HARM,

Yes I sense your anger too. Truth is, Northern Cal could be incorporated into Oregon (or vice versa) and never miss a stride! There are now enough CA's here that they really no longer "stand out". Now if you're from Chicago.....? Chances are you'll wind up like me and from a business/social standpoint gravitate toward other mid-westerners.

Is that an outdoorsy term or something?

I don’t like being outdoors. I went camping once in my life having moved out here. It was very disturbing. I couldn’t wait to get back to concrete and steel.

Man, no wonder you pine for NYC! You do realize that by living here you're in part paying a premium for the "California Lifestyle" that you don't take advantage of, do you? It's like wanting to live in Cupertino without having any school-age children. Why the f%^k would anyone want to do that?

You see, when the animal skin clad jackasses crossed from Russia into Alaska all those years ago, the stupid ones turned left, while the smarter ones went south until the bear skins came off.

Never violate precept one.

"Don't live anywhere that if you spend the night outside, in the middle of winter, you'll die"

whoops forgot the salient point, "outside naked".

Yes, you'll be a shivering mass of unhappiness but you'll be alive, that is if you live in $anta Barbara.

DinOR,

Do as Sir-X says, give in to your anger and physical violence, liver damage and teeth be damned!

Ever gotten shacked on a 7ft WNW left hand point break in NY? London? Talk to me when the sun comes out. Ever punched trough a 8ft wave at Davenport and had sunlight filter through the most beautiful aqua water you’ve ever seen only to come up on the other side and see otters, dolphins and whales?

Surfing is something to kill time while I wait for the ski season. ;)

Surfer X,

That might well be true. I'm told that permanent settlement in the Willamette Valley didn't occur until white settlers reached the area. For many years native peoples only came here to hunt, trap and trade in the summer months and high tailed it out of here when the first frost came.

Man, no wonder you pine for NYC! You do realize that by living here you’re in part paying a premium for the “California Lifestyle” that you don’t take advantage of, do you? It’s like wanting to live in Cupertino without having any school-age children. Why the f%^k would anyone want to do that?

Well I guess if you worked at Apple and wanted to walk to work you might want to do that. Or if you like really really really really liked Fontana's - pretty good place.

Apple, I'm sorry, is that an actual company?

Sir-X,

Following that logic, the bums in Santa Monica are some of the smartest people alive.

Exactly, and they have their own look.

I recommend listening to Everclear, "Santa Monica".

Which would you rather do, listen to the Chili Peppers, surf, have a Pacifico a taco and wear shorts, or scrape ice from your windshield, eat butter and watch 120 channels with nothing on?

astrid,

I've seen the end of the line w/ESQ (Extra Smooth Quality) Rhum and it ain't pretty. Perhaps skibum could shed some physiological light on this but when it's 90+ degrees out beer does not settle well. The minute you leave an a/c bar you feel like you'll faint.

Rum seems to "travel" better in the heat and it's not long before you can drink it at ambient temp. = recipe for disaster.

Peter P. no offense on the butter comment.

"Apple, I’m sorry, is that an actual company?"

Beats me, my Chinese assembled (probably with Japanese or Taiwanese chips) iPod says "Designed by Apple in California"... I'm pretty sure I sold my soul to Uncle Jobs...or would have if my soul hadn't already been shorted

Surfer X,

So be honest, b/c of the fact that it's like a "salt water lake" there really is no decent surfing in the Sea of Cortez?

Randy H, SQT, LILL, Cote' etal, it seems that HARM has lost the faith, I believe we need to stage an intervention. Arm yourselves with quacamole, burritos and bikini girls, we have work to do.

DinOR, kindly point your browser to "shipwrecks" and "zippers".

Yes, there is good surf in the Sea of Cortez, aka the Gulf of California.

I listen to a lot of Norwegian pop music and I strongly dislike both Everclear and the Red Hot Chile Peppers (come to think of it, I like zero Southern California bands, which is an accomplishment since I went to school there for 4 years), so I'm just gonna have to polish up on my scraping skillz...

Well I guess if you worked at Apple and wanted to walk to work you might want to do that. Or if you like really really really really liked Fontana’s - pretty good place.

Yeah, that would be a sweet daily commute - a nice stroll down DeAnza Blvd, stopping at the Marina for some dried cuttlefish on your way to work. What was I thinking?

astrid, may the fleas of a 1000 camels infest your boom box ;)

Which would you rather do, listen to the Chili Peppers, surf, have a Pacifico a taco and wear shorts, or scrape ice from your windshield, eat butter and watch 120 channels with nothing on?

If you're talkin' apres ski vs. apres surf, I'd rather be sitting in a hot tub under the stars than fighting traffic back from Santa Cruz or HMB.

surfer-X, funny enough, my Honda locked me out of my car stereo for about a month after I got a new battery, I just got my stereo back this Wednesday.

skibum, do you mean dried cuttlefish the snack food or unprocessed dried cuttlefish?

astrid,

You got to go back to where it all started and then work your forward.

Dick Dale: King of the Surf Guitar!

It's like "flamenco guitar meets electricity". Powerful stuff. He's the guy that does the intro to Pulp Fiction.

Sorry, working my way through Eurotrash techno right now...

astrid,

Don't worry so much. I didn't really learn about Dick Dale until AFTER Pulp Fiction was released. So..... mid-90's? It really revived his career and he's been "on tour" all these years. That got me to discover the Surfari's, the Ventures and many others.

Little known fact. The Ventures are (and not the Beatles for crissakes) the ALL TIME leader in album sales due in large part to the God-like status in Japan. They still play to packed houses on both sides of the Pacific to this day. Can there be any doubt that there was something enduring about the SoCal "surf sound"? (The Ventures were actually from Seattle but...)

I'm listening to Pet Sounds right now, does that count as surf music for you guys?

Oh, btw the Ventures out sold the Beatles without uttering one single word (strictly instrumental band)

GC,

I'm an oddball, fame repels me while obscurity intrigues me. I don't understand the appeal of hair bands though...didn't they all sent up already by Spinal Tap?

Maybe I should listen to Panic next...

Actually, I think I'll listen to Boards of Canada's Trans Canadian Highway next, that's very fitting bed sit music while blogging about climate zones and weather.

astrid,

The judges say.........? Yes!

Dick Dale loves to tell the story about when they started in Balboa Park he used to flip them 50 bucks to warm up for him!

(I 'think' the BB out sold Dick Dale)

To me though it's hardly just about mainstream acceptance and commercial success, it's about leaving a lasting legacy.

The story of DD and Leo Fender (Fender Musical Instruments) is like debating the "chicken or the egg".

DinOR,

I'll keep that in mind when I'm in a warmer climate. Right now, it's Eurotrash techno (blah, IDM, if you will) with bits of postpunk mixed in.

darn,

It's almost nappy time, and I've only had one drink.

I was too old to go clubbing when I was 21...cigarette smoke makes me sick for a week afterwards.

astrid,

No worries. Contrary to it's "pop" image Surf Guitar finds it's roots in Flamenco and is actually quite dark, mystical and definitely ( I'm reluctant to even say) of paegan influences. The very word "staccato" wasn't fully defined until the introduction of surf guitar several centuries after it's introduction.

TN (from quite a ways back),

I wonder if the HB’s coordinate their buybacks.

If they do so explicitly, it would be collusion and expressly illegal.

However, if they all send their CFOs and financial management to the same East Coast B-Schools, where they all read the same Dixit textbook on game theory, then they all know how to behave when one starts buying back.

DinOR,

Intriguing. Maybe I should pick up a CD or two, at least on an obscure Flamenco band (still having trouble buying anything more popular than the Beatles...)

Randy,

Good point. I do wonder though, wouldn't the lack of diversity amongst the CFO population eventually lead to them committing the same mistake and going (metaphorically) extinct at the same time? Also, would two years of biz really be enough to permanently subsume human nature?

For as much as I used to bitch about the negatives (california) after a year and a hellish muggy summer down here I may return. One of things I did run into was a distrusting attitude from the locals here. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I still have my california plates on my vehicle. There is little to do culturally almost no amenities aside from Charleston. It is a tad too slow and behind the times for a metropolitan like myself. This is my second foray in twenty in the south it is not a right fit for me affordability withstanding.