I dragged my ass out of bed this morning on 4 hours sleep to dogs screaming for attention and pee and poo poo time and food. I took care of them, then screaming bloody murder put liquid bandaid (8% alcohol) on the big surf-related scabs on my knees and thighs from the last three days, donned tights and a rash guard to protect my wounds, threw on some board shorts and was out the door.

Lots of people out this morning. Really nice 3-4 foot faces, powerful, and glassy. I paddled out to the sandbar, walk out the rest of the way then swim outside to the lineup.

I am sitting on my board, legs dangling, catching my breath. There are some guys 200 meters north of me, but its very quiet. I relax and catch my breath. Looking down at my feet, I can just make them out in the murky water. I'm getting pretty used to it out there, and its really peaceful.

Right about the time I was going through my talking-to-myself, "I'm all alone and okay in the water" confidence routine, an inter-species communication problem occurred. The big grey finned creature that appeared a few feet away, surfacing as it swam in front of me was probably just saying, "Hello human, I am dolphin. You are in my waves, and I am curious about you. Long have we tried to befriend you by saving drowning swimmers and attacking sharks and being cute, and long have you repaid our kindness by catching us in fishing nets, capturing us for dumb circus shows and eating our dinners. But that is the past. Let this contact be the beginning of a new future. Let this morning mark the beginning of a great bond between our two peopl... hey, wtf where are you going?"

What I heard was, "I am the biggest fucking shark you've EVER seen."

Because what I saw was a big, veiny bastard of a body and a big haggard fin. If that thing was a dolphin, and I'm not sure it was, then it was to sea world dolphins what my Cairn Terrier is to a big bad ass mountain wolf. It was a steroid abusing, shark killing, fast swimming ass whooping ocean machine. I saw no blow hole, but I was looking at the fin. The fin did have a moon shape going, but it was not pronounced. And the top was rounded all shark-like and not dolphin-like. I only saw one fin, and it looked exactly like the one shown here:

I did not see the tail fin, but the angle it was at I'm not sure I would have. I'm not sure it wasn't there and I was too busy with my mental pan-and-zoom to notice.

I paused for a second, weighed my options and then screamed like a woman and paddled for shore, laughing at myself half the time because I was running from a dolphin but willing myself to keep going because that thing was a big god damned shark.

I'm still not sure what it was, but it wins. I'm out of the water. Its hard enough for us to communicate within one species, and I hope I didn't snub that dolphin. On the other hand, the shark can go fuck himself. Nany nany boo boo, I got away! Or rather, Mr. Sharkie, can't we all just get along?

An Interspecies Communication Problem OR Big Veiny Fin Chased Me Out the Water

According to the document, he told FBI agents, "League officials would tell referees they should withhold calling technical fouls on certain star players because doing so hurt ticket sales and television ratings."

Donaghy claims he was told two refs who were "company men" acting in the interest of the NBA conspired to extend a playoff series in 2002 to a seventh game.

NBA is WWE?

Ex-referee Tim Donaghy blows whistle on NBA dirty secrets

This is a post-fight ear picture, after Kimbo Slice punched in head-on and busted it wide open. Don’t forget to vote in our Poll (left column of the site) regarding your opinion on James “Colossus” Thompson’s ghastly ear!

This was the most disgusting thing I have seen. A bunch of us were watching the fight when Kimbo punched Thompson's ball-like ear, and it POPPED, and then what appeared to be a chunk of cartiledge fell out onto the mat. One girl ran out of the room puking. It was awesome.

Testicle Ear Pops Like Grape | James Thompson’s Cauliflower Ear (pic)

Some days are bad. Some are great. You can read about mine here. I've been surfing here in Northern (or "Central" for you absolutists) California for twelve years. I now live in Pacifica, just south of San Francisco. The site focus is San Franciso Bay Area but includes other areas as well. Check out my pictures, videos, and blog.

You will also find articles on gear and vacations with some of my recommendations. The fitness section has an exercise routine that helps me catch more waves. If you're really bored you can download some wallpaper and stare at it at work.

California Surfing - Report, Video Clips, Pics, and More

KERS is particularly exciting for us regular car drivers because the creators have claimed that it is twice as efficient as a standard hybrid system. If this system can be applied to production vehicles, it will be possible to realize huge improvements in fuel economy and pretty respectable reductions in GHG emissions.

Formula 1 Racing to Go Hybrid from 2009-2013

Dolphin chases man on wave.

Surf Reports, Surf Forecasts and Surfing Photos

This morning the waves here were pushing 10'. Nuts. This shot is from this afternoon, when they calmed a bit. Still nuts. One waits for waves and then they are too big. :(

bigwave2.jpg (JPEG Image, 1024x683 pixels)

Magic Seaweed has great surf reports.

Flagler Pier Surf Report, Surf Forecast and Surf Webcams

SURF- Paddling Out

Arms like noodles, lungs burning and a sneaker set coming right at you. If you can't paddle and duck dive you can't surf. This is how to separate yourself from the kooks floundering in the shorebreak.

The surf videos on this site are GREAT! Not that you'll be duck diving on the huge board you learn to surf on, but the content is just really good.

Surf Lesson Videos - The Extreme Sports Channel - extreme sports videos online February 2008

Where: Florianopolis is in the southern part of Brazil, nearly five hundred miles south of Rio de Janeiro. For the geographically challenged, Brazil is in the southern hemisphere, which means when you flush a toilet, the water flows down clockwise.

What: With the exception of Campeche, a rock-bottom pointbreak, most of the breaks are sand-bottom and forgiving. The beaches are long and wide, providing ample opportunity to find yourself a nice little peak with few other surfers around.

When: With south swells marching up from Antarctica, May and June offer your best chance for overhead surf in the region. The water temperature at this time of year averages 68 degrees. During the months of January and February, the waves are smaller, but the water hovers around a toasty 77 degrees. Generally speaking, the surf is best from April through October.

Destinations - Florianopolis, Brazil - SURF Magazine