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Captain Zero updated: 30 August, 2004
Hi folks,
A lot of you have asked what surfy books I might
recommend. I've come
across two recently that bear mention.
Drew Kampion's latest effort is a collection of his best
surf stories
from over the years. Although you may have read some of
these gems in
Surfer, Surfing and The Surfer's Journal, having them
collected in one
beautifully designed and illustrated book is more than a
convenience;
it's a joy.
The Lost Coast is a must for the surf-afflicted.
Speaking of musts:
Along with Drew, Matt Warshaw is a surf historian
extraordinaire and
literary treasure of the water tribe. His mammoth
undertaking, The
Encyclopedia of Surfing, is now available; it's a must for
the serious
surfer. (I remember Matt calling me six years ago, looking
for
confirmation of some bit of East Coast lore. That's how
long he's been
working on this project.)
Although primarily a reference book, I found myself
reading it cover to
cover, as I would a narrative – which, in a sense, it is.
An
alphabetically arranged narrative/history of wave riding.
At about 10
pounds net weight, The Encyclopedia of Surfing covers
everything: the
legends, the surf spots, our lifestyle's arcane
nomenclature, you name
it. (I could quibble over, say, the fact that Kem Nunn and
Dan Duane –
fine surf and all-around writers! – have their own entries
and I do not,
but that might sound petty.)
Okay, wait. One more, speaking of Kem Nunn: although I've
recommended it
before, Lisa insists that I plug Kem's The Dogs of Winter,
which knocked
her out, as it did me. With Tapping the Source, Kem
invented the genre
of surf noire, and he outdoes himself with Dogs. If you
haven't done so
already, get it and read it. Wow.
On a notable non-surfy note: I was recently graced with a
copy of an
amazing book, sent to me by one of the authors, Marcus
Saunders.
Dante's Inferno by Sandow Birk and Marcus Sanders is
ambitious,
literate, funny, scary, sexy, disorienting, surprising and
spectacularly
illustrated by Sandow Birk. Whether or not you're familiar
with Dante's
Inferno, this interpretation (and it truly is that, not a
translation)
will keep you up late into the night (and maybe give you
nightmares!).
Marcus Sanders is a surf writer who paid Lisa and me a
visit here in
Pavones a while back. I remember him telling me of this
project and
thinking, Whaaa? Well. Whaaa? become Whoa!
As I told Marcus, Dante's Inferno is yet more proof that
Surfers (and Surf
Writers) Can Do Anything.
All the above are available wherever books are sold.
[Lisa here. Allan is resting, the San Jose hotel room's
velour blanket
draped over his long body, a cloth covering his eyes. A
sojourn between
the morning spent at the hardware store and an afternoon
that will be
spent with our lawyer. I know exactly what he sees when
his eyes are
closed and why he can't sleep. What he can't bring himself
to mention,
even here. The same images haunt me. Fang. Fang playing
with El
Tigre. Fang resting her muzzle on the bedside. Graceful,
playful,
loyal to a fault. The dog would take a bullet for us. A
beautiful
creature. Visitors would often remark something along the
lines of
"That is one helluva canine specimen." Then she'd lick
your toes clean
and it'd be all over. Fang's only problem was her blood,
stained by her
pit bull mother. An animal of extremes, she was either
loving, which
she was most of the time, or vicious, though never, ever
to us... Our
beloved compañera is now gone. Being where we are,
and being the kind
of man Allan is, he had to do it himself. We can hardly
talk about it,
even with each other. Allan cannot possibly write about
it. To lose
two dogs, Flaco and Fang, two friends and companions,
within a few
months is too much sadness.]
#
I just read what Lisa wrote while I was lying down... I
press on.
In the It's Finally Come to Pass category: Our Computers
For the
Schools project has finally come to partial fruition. We
delivered your
generous donations a few days ago; three laptops and a
printer to the
high school in Comte and one laptop, a printer and a
digital camera to
the elementary school in Cocal, which is just down the
dirt road from us
here in Pavones.
The teachers were floored. Sure, we told them we were
going to try to
round up some laptops, but when we actually showed up with
them, wow.
Lisa is working with the elementary school teacher,
Walter, once a week,
to help get things going. He has three teaching assistants
who are
pretty agile with computers. One is Zulay, she is cousin
to our
caretaker Roman. Zulay is eager to get the kids started.
Teaching is tough business here, and materials are
expensive. The Costa
Rican government just froze all hiring for schools for the
coming year
because of belt-tightening and interest rate hikes.
Workbooks are
continually reused. An Epson printer cartridge, which goes
for about
$37 down here, is prohibitively expensive. So every little
bit helps.
Bill Mross of San Diego showed up here at Pavones and
donated
language-learning software that he uses with his students
in the United
States. He's already a hero with Walter and Zulay. If you
are a
teacher, or know a teacher, that works with bilingual
children, maybe
you could put them in touch with us. The teachers are
starved for
software.
We gave one laptop directly to a deserving kid. Her name
is Noemi
Herrera. She's the daughter of the man who built my house.
I've
mentioned him before. Nano. Nano is a master carpenter.
Work is scarce,
though, and Nano can only afford so much in helping with
Noemi's
education; by the family's scrimping and saving, Noemi
will be going to
the University next year.
When I first met Noemi two years ago, she told me her
dream was to learn
about computers, maybe someday work as a designer or
architect. It was
just a dream, though, since a computer costs so much. As I
say, Nano can
barely afford to send her to the University.
Well, her dream has come true. We gave Noemi one of the
laptops you
donated.
I've had my web guru, John, lay out some photos of the
school kids with
their new equipment – and check out the smile on Noemi's
face. I believe
that your donations will change some lives. We'll see.
I'll keep you
informed.
Here's the link:
http://www.aweisbecker.com/contents/computers.shtml
I'll be in touch.
Pura vida, Allan
P.S. I'm on my way to the States on Cosmic Banditos
business. I'll be
sending the gifts I promised those of you who helped from
there.
Captain Zero Archives:
20 June,
2004 [click]
---------------------
My Website Links:
Member's Table of Contents:
http://www.aweisbecker.com/contents/members.shtml
Captain Zero: http://www.aweisbecker.com/zero/
Cosmic Banditos: http://www.aweisbecker.com/banditos/
