SUNDAY JOINT, 9-17-2017: SKIP FRYE, CHINA BEACH, ALLSTON JAMES
Hey All,
Usually the first thing I post each week on EOS is a History of Surfing section, which then sets the tone for the next few days. Last Monday's HOS section was “Tokyo to Tel Aviv,” about the surf boom going global, and the bit in there about how the US military did its part to export surfing around the world sent me into a three-day Vietnam immersion. First up, I scanned and posted Allston James’ 1972 short fiction piece “Waterbed,” along with the original artwork by Terry Lamb. Yesterday, on my FB, Terry wrote that to create the painting he “actually got in bed and shot a polaroid while my wife helped arrange the sheets to find some waves.” (Terry also noted that, a few years earlier, he and Art Brewer and another guy were roommates in Laguna. “75 bucks a month, split three ways!” One month’s rent in 1968 equals a mimosa breakfast for three in 2017. Time flies; inflation soars.)
I spent two days remixing footage from Scott Bass’ excellent surfers-in-Nam documentary Behind the Lines into a clip on China Beach. Here’s the post.
On Thursday, to lighten things up, I Instagram-posted a never-before-seen photo of the great Skip Frye, and my good deed was paid back ten-fold as photog Brad Barrett, on Friday, filled my Dropbox with an incredible batch of Frye photos, along with a sweet little Frye-focused essay . . . both which I mainlined straight onto EOS. Check the post out here, it is a joy. Thanks to Skip and Brad both for bringing the week to a graceful, gliding finish. Oh and here’s a Frye shot I didn’t upload, ’cause it was too much like one that I did use. Put this on your eyelids tonight as you drift off to sleep.
The next two or three weeks on EOS are going to be very Aussie. Which reminds me: Kev decides to go back home to Melbourne so he calls Qantas to book a flight. The agent asks, “How many people are flying with you?” Kevin replies, “Mate, how would I know? It's your plane.”
Matt
[Skip Frye pic by Brad Barrett]