Papersurfer - diary of a middle aged surfer

A tad brisk…

penfold — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 18:07:32 +0000

I once heard an estate agent* say to a client (in a bright yet, sincere manner) ‘…it never rains here you won’t need any’. He was of course answering a query as to the lack of guttering on most of the old houses in Central Portugal. He was obviously elsewhere several years ago when it rained [...]

I’d take the train…

penfold — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 10:58:30 +0000

As we all know commuting to work adds a certain drudgery to the day’s proceedings; the stuffy, crowded train carriage where you rattle to work with your head lodged into somebody’s armpit. Or the freeway that’s become a carpark in the mid-summer sun, roasting your mind into a gelatinous despair. My commute passes through the [...]

Kelly Slater wins World Championship Tour 2011

penfold — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 12:52:05 +0000

As Kelly Slater wins an unprecedented 11th world surfing title at the Rip Curl Search event in San Francisco, hope for all middle aged, balding men surely has to augment. This achievement is above and beyond any other athlete in modern sporting history – okay, he’s a freak of nature that’s been training his entire [...]

Day 35 of the mumps saga…

penfold — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 09:38:39 +0000

Last week I watched all of my surf videos. Even Blue Crush. It started as an attempt to lift my spirits – to whisk me away to foreign shores where perfect waves meet perfectly placed boards in an inspirational aqueous ballet. But the outcome was bereft of joy. It just left me feeling more battered [...]

Caught between a rock and a social networking stream

penfold — Sat, 27 Aug 2011 14:12:08 +0000

I have a blog. If you’re reading this and you weren’t aware of this fact then something is wrong… In fact I have three blogs. And a Twitter stream (again, in reality there are 3). I also have a plethera of facebook pages, mostly lying comatose in the dank and dusty corridors of a virtual [...]

Waiting for mumps…

penfold — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 10:00:50 +0000

Day 13: Quarantine is not so bad when you have the social life of Captain Virgil Hilts. Another few days and I’ll know whether my scotum will balloon to the size of a Spacehopper and I’ll lose the ability to eat anything but ice cream. At which point I shall telephone my throat-bloated offspring and [...]

Retro skate freak

penfold — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 09:13:12 +0000

Kilian Martin is an out and out freak of nature. I mean that in a good way of course. His mother must be very proud… His beautiful skills are finely displayed here by Brett Novak’s consumate film making abilities. A fine combination. Rather like a freshly seared steak of yellowfin tuna with a delicate spattering [...]

Size doesn’t matter…

penfold — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 16:58:51 +0000

‘Size doesn’t matter!’… a puzzling phrase that my father used to mutter to himself a lot whilst rummaging in his man-shed. Very true of course in many respects… But sometimes, it can be so tiny that only a fool would try and ride it, resulting in frustration and over exertion. There may be flailing and [...]

Sunburnt and surfed out

penfold — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 10:25:41 +0000

It could be said that ‘sunburnt and surfed out’ is the perfect state of being. In an ideal world that would mean you’ve spent half the day getting rockrush over a Bali reef, hooking into headhigh screamers and the only shade you could find is a coral blue crystal curtain feathering over your sunkissed brow… [...]

The Butterfly Effect…

penfold — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 11:17:45 +0000

Papersurfer junior, a few days before his eleventh birthday, was in a reflective mood. He asked myself and Tango (grrr) if we had any thoughts on what happens after death. ‘Did we believe in Heaven?’ or ‘reincarnation?’ or ‘are we just worm food?’ Not one to shy away from a theological discussion I answered him [...]