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I took a drive up Van Nuys yesterday to find some advice on my 1994 BMW and had a great time geeking out on all the great cars that were there. Here are some photos I shot with my Nikon Df and home made tilt/shift lens. Click any thumbnail to start a full size slide show. Enjoy!

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FULL DISCLOSURE: I was asked to build a website* for Horny Toads Surf Wax by my friends Shaun and Kasie. 

And the story goes like this...

One day Shaun saw me getting ready to paddle out and asked me if I wanted to try some new wax he was making at home in his kitchen.

"Sure thing."
"Let me know how it goes."
"Will do!"

After my session I saw Shaun and he asked me what I thought.

"Worst wax I have ever used. I rate it a 2 on a 1 to 10 scale."
"Thanks for your feedback."
"No problem!"

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I recently got a request to send out a W.A.V.E.set fin box adapter to the owner of a Wilken midlength board from the late '60s. More specifically, a 7'0" vee bottom with a WS box.

Excited to try out the adapter. I have a Wilken 7' vee that will benefit from some fin diversity. I love waveset, but they're not the most versatile!

So another one goes out the door and into the water, woohoo!

This got me thinking about boards I have owned and let go of. Yeah, another "one that got away story"... but it's a good one, I promise!

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A little while back I got a random but very welcome email from a young lady named Lainey who is the proud owner of a late 1960s or early '70s Hobie surfboard. She told me that she found Qustom via a web search for a WAVEset adapter for this very pristine midlength that bears no model name and just the way cool Hobie logo that you see in the photos below.

After exchanging a few messages we agreed that I would send her one of my test pieces, which she was stoked to try out.

Lainey's experience in her own words:

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Tourmaline Surfing Park on a Summer's Morning as Seen Through a Nikkor-Q Auto 1:3.5 f=13.5cm

Everything about this is little project has been a test of will. Nothing wanted to go right without a lot of coaxing. But what would you expect from ancient artifacts, anyhow...?

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1968 Surfboards Hawaii 8'0" Vee Bottom

It's going on five years since I bought this board at Bird's, and in that time I've heard all kinds of things said about it...

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OK, actually I've made the key...

If you have problems with your spare car key rusting like I do (you would think BMW would make their keys out of something more impervious to the elements...), why not just make a new one out of plastic?!?

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And so it begins... the planning for my first hand shaped surfing board:

Building things has always been a big interest of mine. When I was a kid, it was all about Tinker Toys, then model cars, then real cars, then racing Lambrettas, and so on...

Anyone who knows me well will agree that when it comes to short term memory, I can forget my own name at the drop of a hat, and I've also been known to forget how to properly strap a board down to my car now and then, or to grab my wetsuit off the fence at Tourmo before leaving...

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The fiasco that was the sale of LambrettaWorks forced me to sell many of the boards that I had collected over the years, some of which can be seen hanging from the ceiling in this photo from my last blog post.

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Here's a nice snapshot from the old West Coast Lambretta Works days...

Going through my old photo library I found this picture that really shows off the inside of the old shop, including a nice LD MkIII Lambretta and some of the old surfboards I used to have.

About the Blue and White Lambretta:

This thing is about 95% finished after a frame off restoration. It probably came to our shop as a rusty pile of junk! One of the telltale signs that it's not entirely done is that there is no rubber beading on the frame where the side panels go. The panels are probably waiting for the grilles from the chrome shop, or maybe brand new grilles are on their way from Italia...

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After weeks of spotty weather, San Diego finally came through with one of those amazing clear, sunny days that it's so famous for. The locals took quick advantage of the opportunity to grab their surfing boards and head down to their favorite hiding place, far away from the maddening crowds of tourists that flock to our fair city like so many ants to honey. 

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I just got an email from my good buddy and fellow Tourmo regular Chris Cantore letting me know that a handful of my photos are currently being featured on the new Cantore+Woods effort at Yewonline.com, and I am beyond stoked about it!

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Like many other San Diegans I spent a gorgeous Sunday morning yesterday at the beach: surfing, hanging with friends, and soaking up some sun. It was one of those classic days that everyone who lives here cherishes.

Before heading home, I did a quick check of InstaGram and in an instant had my world turned upside down. By now many of you reading this will already know of the unfortunate fate of our beloved Sofia Tiare Bartlow, whose body left this physical realm yesterday in an auto accident, though her unstoppable spirit will live on for eternity.

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Another blast from the past from back in the old West Coast Lambretta Works days

A few random thoughts on this photo...

Using the Gasca's (later Todd Delle's/Bob Brown's) Auto parking lot for Saturday morning test rides was common practice. Helmet laws were strictly unenforced.

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I am so stoked that I ran into one of my musical heroes in PB yesterday afternoon: Rick Miller of Southern Culture on the Skids. I was leaving the beach heading east on Loring Street when I noticed a really sweet D fin board on the roof of a car, and when I looked at the driver I thought "Holy crap that dude looked just like Rick from SCOTS!"

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Here's a nice smattering of Lambretta history for you, including a great shot of Matt Dawson's aluminum framed gas powered Lambretta vibrator, some snaps of Shawn Woolery and yours truly putting the WCLW sidecar through its paces during its first ever test run at Adams (with shopping cart level steering capabilites that we would later correct with some proper adjustments to front end steering geometry), and a lot of miscellaneous rallye snaps.

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I'm actually really stoked on how this site is coming along. I have a few issues with the pink login module and the blue More Articles module not loading correctly on some pages, but overall I'm really happy with how things are coming together.

In particular I have been working hard on the mobile versions of the site a lot lately. I sooo love all of the background images on the home page and how perfectly they convey where I've come from and what I'm doing with Qustom. And at 1920x1200 on my Mac, they look brilliant. I find these images to be so key to the site's overall look and feel that I'm working on different size background images for each common screen resolution out there. For now I hope everyone can get a chance to view the site on a large computer screen, or at least a high resolution tablet.

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Few things in this life are as exhilarating as flying through a turn at high speed on two wheels with your inside knee skimming across well groomed tarmac. The better racers use this third point of contact to provide extra stability through corners, to the point that their knee is actually supporting some of the weight of the rider/machine combo as both tires began to lose traction. By feathering throttle and/or front or rear brakes, a really hot racer can control the sliding, and distribute it as needed amongst these three points of contact to maximize cornering speed.

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Vesparados Endless Summer Rally Patch from 2002
Vesparados Endless Summer Rally Patch from 2002
(click for larger image)

I found this patch while digging through some old stuff looking for photos. By 2002 I was pretty much over putting patches on things, but I think this one is going on my PBSC jacket - when I get one that is...

I dig how the dude in the foreground is pumping his fist, while the dude in the background is balancing his scooter on his head... not sure what to make of the other figure though... haha!

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