Jan 27, 2011

From An Aging Pranaglider...


Hi Paul,

I must me getting old because the first thing I noticed about the attached shot was the mat!

Found it at an interesting site called "The Magic Bus"

Lots of great photos there.

I figured you would want this one for your collection.

I hope you are well,

Bruce

Jan 23, 2011

High Tide Fun!

Paul,

Finally got a ride on film. Short and high tide, but fun,

Jim.

From Capt. Tom ...



Hi Paul,

Went to a museum (the MoMa in NYC) the other day. While browsing on the fifth floor I stumbled upon this object. "Surf/fin/board shape!!" is what came into my mind immediatly.

Thought, you might enjoy it, too.

Have good day!

Tom


Some info:

"Fish"
Paris 1930
Constantin Brancusi (French, born Romania. 1876-1957)
Blue-gray marble 21 x 71 x 5 1/2", on three-part pedestal of one marble 5 1/8" high, and two limestone cylinders 13" high and 11" high x 32 1/8" diameter at widest point.
Less an image of a fish than an embodiment of the idea of one, Fish conjures the animal's liquid course by simplifying details like fin and scale, tail and head, into smooth streamline. ("Simplicity," Brancusi believed, "is not an end in art, but we usually arrive at simplicity as we approach the true sense of things.") The material too contributes: a blue-gray marble veined with flecks of flowing white, its surface intimates both movement through water and moving water itself.

Brancusi was fascinated by animals, and believed in the primacy of animal consciousness. In reducing animals to elemental shapes, he felt he was approaching the essence of nature. Also, like a number of European artists of his period, he was excited by art from outside the classical tradition so influential in Western aesthetics. The art of Africa, Native America, and the Pacific, and also the art of prehistory (including Cycladic sculpture, a particular influence on Brancusi), took imaginative liberties with human and animal bodies, alternately exaggerating, attenuating, and eliminating their features. These examples liberated Brancusi and others in their treatment of form.

By the time he made Fish, in fact, Brancusi seems almost to have left form behind altogether, for something more incorporeal: what he described as the fish's "speed, its floating, flashing body seen through the water . . . the flash of its spirit."

Acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. © 2010 Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris

Jan 21, 2011

I Have Way Too Much Time on My Hands

make avatar

I think it took me longer to figure out how to make this GIF animation thing than it did to get in this session on that mat!!

Jan 19, 2011

Matting Forward


Long time no post. Mat Max here chiming in from Gisborne, NZ. It's been a fairly poor spring and summer here so far. After twelve months of banishment (a clerical error) from New Zealand in Hawaii, surf depression has pretty much ruled for the past half-year. Oh well. Six months of no boarding and pure mat riding in New Zealand is not really all that bad. PG sent me a Tracker RT to supplement my Standard addiction. The Tracker makes things easier in small to middling surf with its longer chassis and mellow rear end. However I must confess that I'm a Standard man. Maybe this is because being average in height, weight and IQ, everything sized medium fits off the rack. The RT went like a rocket on my short stint at Superbank last spring, yet I still favor the original 4GF rectangle of yore. Could be nostalgia, since I just loved the Gen 1 Flyers of the late '80s, with the exact dimensions and almost the same rounded corners as the current Standard (minus the new concave I-beam specs). Or maybe it's just liking 90 degree angles for the sake of old school cool. Nonetheless I'm hooked on the Standard like a bass on a treble. My Gen 2 hybrid Standard rode both 10' walls in Hawaii and 1' slop over there too. And here in Aotearoa it is serving perfectly in all conditions. I'm up to 175 lbs from 150 on Molokai and the Standard still performs the same. Not to diminish the qualities of the RT, which I still use half of the time with equal or better results, but I personally reckon that mats are meant to be square. Maybe I'm the square, and to be fair, the Tracker actually gets the job done better in most cases. Oh well, each to their own, and three cheers to PG for creating this delicious dilemma!!!

Jan 13, 2011

The Sordid Details...


...of "Ratso" Rizzo's new gig, here!

Jan 12, 2011

From Justin...


Paul,

Just wanted to shoot you a quick thanks for The Fourth Gear Flyer surf mat you made.

The mat was a christmas gift for my girlfriend this year. We took it with us to Ecuador for two weeks and we just got back. My girlfriend said there was no reason to bring the mat, the handboards, or the fins as I we packed to go away. When we got there and the surf was weak and small, she was more than thrilled we had brought them along. We scored tons of time in the water and all in all we never saw a flat day.

I included a shot of her stoked on the mat. Also I got to thank Jeremy from eastendsurf.com for helping get me the mat to give to her.

Aloha,

Justin and Stephanie

Jan 11, 2011

Neat Stuff From Erik...

Hi Paul,

Florian passed on your email. Happy New Year to you.

I came across this pic of eden ahbez and his wife with a mat on the beach somewhere in 1948 or so. Could be Malibu as he hung out at the Lake Shrine. It came from here...


The second pic is from my trip to Baja with my brother Tim and the Kurth brothers from San Diego. Camped at this lonely point break about halfway down. Rode my Classic all week while the bros rode their Pneumatics. It was awesome.


The third pic was another peak inside called the Chili Bowl. Kinda mushy for boards but mat heaven. No pics but there's a video I'll send over later when I find it.


Best to you!

Erik

Jan 5, 2011

Actung Baby!


Hi Paul!

Got a few days off in Singapore and pressed right on to Berawa Beach SW coast of Bali.

Never been here, but now I know why most want to come back.

Blown out afternoon surf caught on my iPhone to make things worse. Glass in the morning and evening, though. Lots of practice and fun on the mats!

Cheers from The Waroeng,

Tom (from Germany)

Jan 3, 2011

Any Thoughts From The PNW Contingent?


Paul,

Thinking of hucking these falls on a 4GF. Which model would work best in these conditions?

Sincerely,

Tom S.

Jan 1, 2011

Snubbed Again!


For yet another year, 4GF fails to make the "10 Products To Avoid" list!