blog by blake

2010-04-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

Gaza

2010-03-01T22:20:00.000-08:00

It's been three years since I've gotten a new board. This week, I got two.

Decadent? Maybe. At left a 5'4'' Terry Martin. At right a 5'10'' Aipa.

Will I live up to these two lovely new boards? Can I be with one without wronging the other? Will our Avatar dreadlocks bond or am I so out of practice that they'll drift leashless towards shore, only to be conquered by a more skilled suitor?

2009-11-05T15:08:00.000-08:00

HOBIE FISH SESSION April 2009 from SABATHIER Thibaud on Vimeo.

I am featured standing on the beach in my wetsuit.

2009-09-20T10:29:00.000-07:00

If anyone is in or around Santa Barbara, go see Gardens and Villa. They are seriously good at what they do. It's been nearly a month since I saw them play in Berkeley but I still have one of their songs stuck in my head and I can't/don't want to get it out.

Show dates and location and some songs on their myspace:

myspace.com/gardensandvilla

2009-09-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

Trakovskyfilm.com

2009-06-07T00:20:00.000-07:00

miniature La Bahia

miniature Ellen, Maureen, Rael, and Blake

miniature street in Gothenburg

2009-04-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

It's been like so long since I've been to a house party with normal and friendly people of my own age that this superhero-themed fiesta in Barcelona was the funnest thing I've done in like forever.

This dude was laying down some fat beats in spite of (or because of?) his Transformer costume.

Nature Boy and Nature Girl took the cake for cutest couple.

Everything was gravy until this dude showed up...

and I was forced to hit up the tourist hot-spots.

The view from not my window.

In general, I had a really shitty time.

2009-04-16T09:09:00.000-07:00

These sardines tasted what percent better because of the packaging?

Prehistoric art of Southwest France

2009-03-24T13:50:00.000-07:00

The famous Upper Paleolithic cave painting from Lascaux, France, dating back to 15,000 b.c.

A painting discovered in Toulouse, depicting what is speculated to be some sort of prehistoric mating ritual. Note the traditional head adornment.

hang time

2009-03-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

I usually try not to post too many pictures of myself but this one was just so ridiculous and exaggerated that I had to share it. Seriously, look at my pose! I don't even think the board is off the ground...but for the record, I stuck it.

2009-03-02T14:51:00.000-08:00

I know it's tired for an American to talk about the "culture shock" when returning to America from wherever. Still, when I arrived in Penn Station in New York at 5pm a week and a half ago, I most definitely had it.

Some immediate observations from an American on America and Americans:
-Americans are big. Not obese, not even necessarily fat, just tall, thick. Grande. Super-sized.
-Not only are people big, but so is everything: the streets, the stoplights, the taxis, the burritos.
-Americans are ugly. Really people, genes are better in Europe. I saw more blemishes on one subway ride than six months in France.
-The infrastructure (airports, trains, etc) is dated.

Nevertheless, it feels kind of real, in a way that the kiddie-pool of Western Europe does not.

2009-03-02T14:38:00.000-08:00

I shredded the Marseille skatepark...when I played Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2 in ninth grade.

In real-life, I just rolled around for about 4 minutes until some twelve-year old told me his brother was going to beat me up.

2009-02-13T06:42:00.000-08:00

There was this crazy snowstorm in England and my, uh, 'just for the weekend' Sweden trip turned into an exhausting week-long ordeal. On the plus side, I got to slip and slide around London for a day and take advantage of the favorable exchange rate.

Back to Sweden

Word

2009-02-07T05:29:00.000-08:00

Steve Jobs?

This pic should be fairly self-explanatory.

Not unlike Del Taco in Irvine, the 2:30am Burger King rager is really where it all goes down.

2009-01-26T02:56:00.000-08:00

If this makes sense to you, good. If not, don't worry about it.

2009-01-21T08:05:00.001-08:00

just a couple more...

2009-01-15T08:01:00.000-08:00

By night

2009-01-12T03:46:00.001-08:00

Marrakesh

2009-01-11T04:43:00.001-08:00

Got my hair did.

2009-01-10T10:28:00.001-08:00

The process...

The final product. It set me back a big 25 dirham (3 bucks).

2009-01-05T04:15:00.001-08:00

deux fois, paris

2008-12-17T06:59:00.000-08:00

Laura and I were in Paris up for the weekends of the 2nd and 12th doing some research. Here's what we came up with:

The Metro

If you're into the minimalist japanese aesthetic at all, welcome to Muji. I cannot stay away.

Yeah, it was as cold as it looks.

No matter where I am, my mind is usually elsewhere. Obviously someone had the right idea.

Marais

Marche Bastille.

The food at this place wasn't spectacular, but the ambiance was well worth the price of admission. We actually went twice.

Laura, salade. The yellowness of this place, inside and out, was a welcome contrast to the omnipresent gray.

When it's so cold, you inevitably end up doing a lot of this, which isn't so bad after all.

Ski Sunday @ Gourette

2008-12-17T06:53:00.000-08:00

Went skiing a few weekends ago.

With Paul and Lauren.

Me Not Being A Real Blogger Blogging

2008-11-26T13:43:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and lovers. You're right in thinking this doesn't sound like Blizz, because it's NOT! I received a request to update my blog, and as I don't have one, I decided to borrow. Trespass. Usurp.

Okay. This is my first time. Here we go. This weekend we went to Toulouse. That's the fourth largest city in France, but it is quite quaint as a matter of fact. I had a really lovely time and didn't even cry once! Here is some documentation.

This is me on the train. I am so excited! The French villages were so picturesque it was like someone built them 500 years ago just for me to marvel at from a train window. But then I fell asleep.

This is my first real French quiche, and NOT, as some of you might have thought, a regional skin condition.

These are two of Blake's colleagues, Ana from Germany and Crystal from Trinidad. We found them at the train station and then they left us in the rain.

Here are some bomb-ass chickens roasting away at the Sunday marche the next day. Here's what happened: we bought a whole one of those suckers, took him to the park, and ate him with our fingers!

One of these gargoyles is an impostor. Can you find it?

A bridge.

Blake trying to make a new friend.

Okay, looks like my time's up. Seems that I'll have to restrict my contributions to the sidelines from now on. It was fun while it lasted. Now comment so much so Blake will be jealous. A bientot.

life

2008-11-16T14:33:00.000-08:00

I bought a ticket to Barcelona and spent my five-day weekend reliving the past. It was a homecoming of sorts, but inevitably these sorts of things end up being a bit anticlimactic.

But nonetheless, it was great to be back.
And catching up with old friends is important. Mr. Be Brave Benjamin Palmer and his lovely girlfriend Judith.

View from the train, returning (sadly) back to Pau.

more turkey please...

This street seemed to be the center of the "western" culture in Istanbul.

Laura , coveting.

Vacay.

2008-11-12T13:19:00.000-08:00

Laura, turn around! It's right behind you!

Here's where you buy a fish sandwich.

Mini-airport. Miniaturk.

A terrorist pic-nic.

Black Sea.

Only legal in Amsterdam.

Mid-October

2008-10-20T00:28:00.000-07:00

There's something about these tiny little kitchens that just makes you want to eat breakfast.

My room. It's about 500 times messier now.

Went to the beach yet again this weekend. The swell had dropped and the conditions cleaned up, so it was fun, despite the crowds.

Meeting Andrei Tarkovsky

2008-10-13T13:35:00.000-07:00

Given the huge audience of "Blog by Blake," I'm under a constant barrage of requests to plug people's projects via the site. Usually I just respond to the emails with the standard, "While I do think your ________ is interesting, I don't think the content corresponds fully with the spirit of a Blog by Blake and thus....." or something like that. Until now.

Last year UC Santa Cruz alum Dmitry Trakovsky traveled to Sweden, Italy, and Russia in a search for the legacy of Russian film god Andrei Tarkovsky. His journey is documented in "Meeting Andrei Tarkovsky," a film that takes a penetrating look at the life, death, and what remains of the mythic Russian director.

Come meet Dmitry and watch his film, either at:

the Sao Paulo International Film Festival, from October 17-30th in Brazil.

or at the 22nd Leeds International Film Festival, from November 7-8th in the UK.

Finally got wet.

2008-10-13T13:09:00.000-07:00

I made it to the beach this weekend and got to christen my new board. It's too bad people were making fun of me for riding such a stupid looking thing.

There was some swell but the sandbars were far from perfect.

Umm this pic will give you some scale.

Finless in Chile

2008-10-04T14:23:00.000-07:00

The camera's a bit shaky but some good surfing nonetheless.

Umm Roe v. Wade and......

2008-09-30T08:28:00.000-07:00

From HuffingtonPost:

Today, the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz reported on potentially embarrassing clips of Sarah Palin being interviewed by Katie Couric that haven't yet been aired. The Politico has more information on one in particular:

Of concern to McCain's campaign, however, is a remaining and still-undisclosed clip from Palin's interview with Couric last week that has the political world buzzing. The Palin aide, after first noting how "infuriating" it was for CBS to purportedly leak word about the gaffe, revealed that it came in response to a question about Supreme Court decisions. After noting Roe vs. Wade, Palin was apparently unable to discuss any major court cases. There was no verbal fumbling with this particular question as there was with some others, the aide said, but rather silence.

Pau Ville

2008-09-27T10:33:00.000-07:00

The housing search was arduous but I think I've landed myself in a good situation.

My Parisian roommate Paul and his gf Lauren, enjoying a Pyrenean afternoon on the balcony.

Here's my bike: the Regina Sport.

It can be pretty here.

London Town

2008-09-22T14:30:00.001-07:00

I kept it real, only eating true English fare. Here's my lamb curry.

This is London in a rare natural light, called "sun".

But this is what it looked like most of the time.

Here i am, chillin' in London Town.

The Electoral Map

2008-08-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

Chuck Todd, an electoral analyst for MSNBC gives us a rundown on the electoral map for the coming election in this article: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/08/06/1249422.aspx

Despite nation-wide public opinion polls indicating Obama and McCain in a statistical tie, the electoral map is telling us something different: a solid lead for Obama.

Sad News for All

2008-06-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

from BBC News

Jazz champion Svensson dies at 44

Svennson's trio became renowned for bringing jazz to a younger audience
The Swedish jazz pianist and composer Esbjorn Svensson has died in a scuba diving accident near the Swedish capital Stockholm. He was 44.

His Esbjorn Svensson Trio, known as EST, became renowned for bringing jazz to a younger audience.

They gained international acclaim playing in rock venues, using light shows and fog machines at concerts.

The music of EST drew on disparate influences, ranging from classical music to funk.

Burkhard Hopper, EST's manager, told Reuters news agency that Svensson had died on Saturday in Sweden's Stockholm archipelago.

"Musically, he was the light that lit the world because in what he did he was pushing boundaries," Mr Hopper said.

"His music inspired people in all corners of the world."

Francis Fukuyama Endorses Obama. Booya.

2008-06-15T08:49:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, May 27, 2008 14:15 EDT

For a time, Francis Fukuyama was a major figure in neoconservatism. Now, in a twist of fate, he says his choice for president is Barack Obama, an advocate for U.S. withdrawal from the great neconservative adventure in Iraq.

In a previous life, Fukuyama was closely linked with the neoconservative movement. He was, for example, one of just 25 people who signed the Project for a New American Century's statement of principles in 1997; more recently he was even a member of the advisory board of the defense fund set up for Scooter Libby. But he began a public break with the ideology in 2004. In 2006, he published an essay in the New York Times Magazine titled "After Neoconservatism." In it, he wrote, "As we approach the third anniversary of the onset of the Iraq war, it seems very unlikely that history will judge either the intervention itself or the ideas animating it kindly."

In a recent interview, the World Today's Eleanor Hall asked Fukuyama about the upcoming presidential election. After Fukuyama outlined the change he thinks needs to happen in U.S. foreign policy, Hall asked him, "So which president do you think would be the best placed to handle these challenges? Would it be president McCain, president Obama or a president Clinton?"

Fukuyama responded:

Well, it is a little bit difficult. In my own thinking since I have to vote in this next election, I personally actually don't want to see a Republican re-elected because I have a general view of the way democratic processes should work and if your party is responsible for a big policy failure, you shouldn't be rewarded by being re-elected.

I think of all the Republicans, McCain in many ways is the most attractive but he is still is too, you know, he comes from the school that places too much reliance on hard military power as a means of spreading American influence.

I think in many ways, Hillary Clinton represents both the good and the bad things of the 1990s and there is something in the style of the Clintons that never really appealed to me and so I think of all the three, Obama probably has the greatest promise of delivering a different kind of politics.

― Alex Koppelman

Bill Moyers at NCMR 2008

2008-06-12T21:41:00.000-07:00

It's a bit long, but completely worth listening to.

80,000 Eastern Europeans, raving

2008-04-02T19:23:00.000-07:00

"kaZantip republic is the biggest, longest, craziest and most amazing techno, trance and house music event in the world. a republic dedicated to music, fun and happiness on the most beautiful sandy beach directly on the black sea."

KAZANTIP, UKRAINE

Lawyers don't surf

2008-04-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

I picked up my brother's new board yesterday.

It looks nice, minus the gloss finish (which I explicitly said he didn't want).

Open-Skies Initiative

2008-03-26T09:30:00.000-07:00

About a year ago, I sent a few of you a link to a BBC article about the "Open-Skies Initaive," and most of you wondered why it was of any import. Here's the follow-up.

Joshua Tree

2008-03-20T22:10:00.000-07:00

California

2008-03-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

I don't know about you, but I'm starting to doubt the Governor's green credentials. He was the first civilian to drive a Hummer, he flies between Santa Monica and Sacramento everyday, and now this.

Schwarzenegger replaces Eastwood, Shriver on parks commission
From the Associated Press
March 20, 2008

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has replaced his brother-in-law, Bobby Shriver, and actor Clint Eastwood on a state parks commission that voted to oppose a controversial toll road supported by the governor.

Shriver said the governor's decision was a surprise to both men. They had publicly disagreed with Schwarzenegger about the wisdom of building a toll road through a state park in Southern California.

They also supported a 2006 lawsuit to block the toll road by then-California Attorney General Bill Lockyer. Earlier this year, Eastwood and Shriver urged the California Coastal Commission to reject the project.

In a rebuke to the governor, the California Coastal Commission also agreed with the parks commission and rejected the toll road in February. That decision is being appealed by local transportation agencies.

Schwarzenegger, who has visited the area, said in a Jan. 15 letter to the coastal commission that the toll road was "essential to protect our environment" by helping to relieve freeway gridlock in Orange and San Diego counties.

Kareem and Akeem

2008-03-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

So I'm looking through my old room today, trying to find things to sell on Ebay and I find these. I don't know if they're worth anything, but I almost can't sell them.

Hitch

2008-03-18T19:57:00.000-07:00

He Knew He Was Right
A long-winded but great article about a very interesting person.

6'6'' x 119 and 1/4''

2008-03-17T17:52:00.000-07:00

Justin "De la Selva" Adams goes left. Sorry about the sound.

too close for comfort

2008-03-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

I know I'm not the first to discover this blog (LA Times reported on it a couple weeks ago) but it's really funny. It's called Stuff White People Like and I wish I would have thought of it first. Numbers 81, 72, 46, 26, and 19 are classic. Here's an excerpt:

Water Bottles

The leading edge of white people have started to use sturdier, refillable bottles. But do not assume this is from the tap. Most white people need to run their water through some sort of filter (Brita or PUR) before they put it into their bottle. This allows them to feel good about using a refillable bottle, but it also makes it more complicated, which they also like.

Previously, the gold standard was the Nalgene bottle, however recent studies have shown the plastic can leak toxins into the water. Currently, white people on the cutting edge are really into metal bottles of water with a twist cap. It is recommended that you buy one of these as soon as possible.

also funny

Being the only White person around

In most situations, white people are very comforted by seeing their own kind. However, when they are eating at a new ethnic restaurant or traveling to a foreign nation, nothing spoils their fun more than seeing another white person.

Fela Live

2008-03-07T21:53:00.000-08:00

Post-Texas and Ohio diatribe

2008-03-06T18:38:00.000-08:00

Sure, Hillary Clinton has every right to pursue the Democratic nomination, and she does have a legitimate argument for her nomination: she came out on top in all the big states and swing states necessary to win the general election. Even still, in terms of the delegate count, she'll have to win all of the remaining 12 primary contests by 20 point margins just to catch up to Obama in pledged delegates. There seems to be only two likely possibilities for her winning, either a) she gets the DNC to count or redo the Florida and Michigan primaries, or b) through some back-room deal with the superdelegates. Both scenarios would tear the Democratic Party apart. Unless she pulls off a giant win in Pennsylvania, there is absolutely no justification for her continued pursuit of the nomination and continued slander of the Democratic front runner, Barack Obama, unless of course, her goal is to hand the Republicans the election in November.

TSF Jazz

2008-03-06T18:09:00.001-08:00

Have a listen to tsfjazz.com, it has tout le jazz you could ever want.

The Conciliator

2008-03-04T14:49:00.000-08:00

In case you missed it, here's a good read about the man of the hour:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/05/07/070507fa_fact_macfarquhar

Consumismo

2008-03-03T21:57:00.000-08:00

Common Projects slip-ons- they'll cost you a pretty penny but the steez you'll have just might be worth it.

East Winds

2008-03-03T17:19:00.000-08:00

I caught a couple of fun waves today. Here's one.

an oldie but goodie

2008-03-03T17:07:00.000-08:00

New York
Queens: Passenger Sneaks Monkey Aboard Plane

By SEWELL CHAN
Published: August 8, 2007
A man and his small spider monkey were detained yesterday after a flight crew alerted airport officials that they had a monkey aboard their aircraft en route to La Guardia Airport. The man boarded a Spirit Airlines flight on Monday night from Lima, Peru, to New York by way of South Florida, but did not report that he had a monkey with him, an airline spokeswoman said. It was only on the second leg of the flight, from Fort Lauderdale, that other passengers noticed the monkey. “It was clinging to his ponytail underneath his hat,” said Alison Russell, the airline’s spokeswoman. When the plane landed at 3:01 p.m. yesterday, the monkey was turned over to New York City Animal Care and Control, and the man, who was not named by airport officials, was turned over to federal officers for questioning, said Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which runs La Guardia Airport. “How the passenger got through security, I can’t begin to say,” Ms. Russell said.

Post #1

2008-03-03T16:05:00.000-08:00

Hi, welcome to a Blog by Blake. Here I'll post periodic links and ramblings about politics, travel, surfing, fashion, or really anything else on the web that I find cool or interesting. Enjoy.