Way of the Bird

Way of the Bird
By Andrew Kidman & Andy Davis

In a world of mass produced similarity and disposable style the "different" can just be the new trend,
therefore ripe for the above treatment..Sometimes tho different can't be grasped by the marketing men
they just don't get it...
This book falls into this genre it is targeted for "surf children" ,yeah a bedtime book with a "Aloha" spirit,
board riding bent ? yeah the "duke's" great message of giving-receiving , loving and riding.
Damn it's got me thinking of the deprived childhood we had listening to the brothers grimm and treasure island. No really it's a great book,containing all the required ingredients ;short enough for a bedtime read and dream inducing pictures combining master photographer Andrew Kidmans photo's with Andy Davis's drawings
a partnership which works as good as fish & chips after a surf !
Now we come to the books downfall "the cloud in every silver lining" ,
Arguments i can see a few happening around this book, 'grommet' wants it in the bedroom and
you want it on the coffee table..
Mum's gonna have to put her 'foot down' so remember to act like an adult when the grommet gets their way.
Seriously a great book, at about $40 its not cheap and i don't think you'll ever find it in the bargain bin,
But it could be the best book you ever read to the kids.

Rating: 5/5

'Dora lives' Miki 'Da Cat' Dora

Dora lives the authorized story of Miki Dora
C. R. Stecyk III and Drew Kampion
Hardcover 135 pages
For me a great book transports the reader to another time/place, and portrays the feel and atmosphere of the place the author is writing from, Stecyk and Kampion, two great surf writers achieve this goal easily despite the complex subject which covers many facets of ‘Da Cat’s’ life/travels and apparent crimes from a first hand view point without letting the cult of legend distorting reality.
The great thing about Dora is his depth and paradox way he lived life. This book fed my interest but I’m left still wanting more information on the mystery that is Dora. What I really love is I know I’ll never figure the man out.
Few characters in the history of surfing could be harder to define than the enigmatic ‘Mikilos Caplin Dora’ a true innovator in style and the undisputed king of cool during the adolescence of the California surf scene as one of the crew at the undiscovered Malibu point.

He lived a simple life surfing with fellow legends ‘tubesteak’ and Kathy Kohner spending their days sliding and gliding in relative solitude living surfing and when the sun went down and the stars came out the freakishly stylish Miki would crash Hollywood parties, to all it seemed life was good… That was until Kathy’s dad penned the book Gidget and the whole world wanted to party and shoot the curl at the ‘Bu'.
Ironically and shockingly Dora featured in the film Gidget effectively sealing the loss of his utopia.
Dora suffered greatly from the ‘outing’ of his beach and reacted accordingly to the scores of surfers encroaching on his turf by flicking his board at surfers who dared share his waves and it was the most likely his actions that hastened the development of surf etiquette.
‘The angry young man of surfing’ left the ‘Bu for a life globe trotting the world including a stint at Mahia peninsular as a Mormon, and later in life he enjoyed Jeffrey’s bay where he lived with his best friend ‘scooter boy’ a cocker spaniel.
What really came to me from this book is Dora was always himself he never ever deviated from his path a true being he didn’t sell-out and he didn’t compromise. A true character in a lifestyle becoming increasingly P C and homogenized as its industries sell out by marketing to the masses rather than listening to its market. Dora is the surfers Che. VIVA Dora
Dora lives

Can't you get along with anyone? A writers memoir

Allan c.Weisbecker
531 pages

The perfect wave in an isolated paradise...
Every surfers dream ? hell yes !
So how did famous surfing author Allen Weisbecker end up arming himself with a gun to go for a surf in paradise?
In this the third book by the author of 'Cosmic bandito's' and 'In search of captain zero' we
are taken deep into the actual events and mind of allan as paradise gets messed up big time.

This book is a memoir and i find it impossible to belive anything has been left out ,
in fact i'd find it hard to belive there would not be a huge group of people lining up to sue
allan into next century.
And i must forewarn you this book is a trip into the dark side of an authors mind as,
what can go wrong does go wrong ... big time.
I found this book quite difficult to read due to the total exposure by the author
and while it may not be my favorite book by the author i also couldn't put it down
and there is enough action to make your head spin,
It's all explained ;
what hollywood star he physically treatened ,
why a Hit was put out on him,
why his agent and editor ditched him
and how paradise was lost forever...

so over all this book created the full raft of human emotions in me
it wasn't what i expected or sought but it sure left a mark on my mind
and that to me signals a great author.

Rating ; 4/5 i wanted 'cosmic bandito's 2'.. but got so much more

Cosmic Banditos

Allen.C. Weisbecker
192 pages

I first encountered Hunter. s .Thompson back in my teenage years ,
i was struggling through reading 'Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance'
and a friend gave me Hunter's 'Fear and loathing in las Vegas' to help lighten the mood of 'Zen'
I made a complete fool of myself for the next three days as i laughed my ass off in the smoko room.
but what a book (yeah the movies okay -- 1/10th of the book) what a one of a kind author.
Until Banditos arrived in the mail that is...

This is a Hilariously funny adventure story,
featuring Mr Quark a 'down and out' pot smuggler and his dog 'high pockets' and a snake called 'Legs'
just weeks before they were rolling in millions of dollars but now they're hunted terrorists...
Meanwhile jose a 'bandito beyond belief' mug's an American family ,
among the spoils are physics books ,which lead Mr quark and jose
into their own world of 'theories on relativity', the 'nature of the universe' and
The meaning of life??
all of this is mixed with bandito morals, tequila, explosives and drugs..
Rating ; 10 out of 5
In the authors own description of the book the best he can do description wise is ;
" i suspect this tale is simply another example of something"

In search of Captain zero

A surfer’s trip beyond the end of the road
Allan C. Weisbecker
Novel 328 pages

Good surf novels are far and few between as we surfers tend to be doers not describers so it is with eager anticipation I let you in on this book as I feel this is a truly worthy surf novel just how much is fiction I don’t know but how much is humorous and exciting and a little disturbing I do know and its most of it!
Allan manages to disturb the readers mind by subtly pointing to the lonely and self-centred existence of a exploring surfer seeking the holy grail of our culture; uncrowded waves of a perfection hidden away in some picture perfect paradise setting, fortunately Allan isn’t stereotypical in his descriptions or character creations as he slides you into his world and takes you for a ride.
This is not a dark noir style story as in Kem Nunn’s great surf novels, the atmosphere stays bright and swift moving like the Central American landscape it travels through.
I loved this book and am eager to get my hands on his out of print first book ‘Cosmic Banditos’ and I have gone as far as to pre-ordered his next book ‘ Can't You Get Along With Anyone? A Writer's Memoir’
Meanwhile I’m re reading this one.
Rating:4.5/5 .5 off for leaving me wanting more. ;)

The dogs of winter

The Dogs of Winter a novel
Kem Nunn
362 pages


I was put onto this book by a mate; Thanks Curly
Good surf writers are hard to come by.
Read Nat or MR’s books if you doubt me. “Yawn”.
Ken really is a great author building a balanced atmosphere and set of characters,
and maintaining them throughout the story.
He also weaves the language of the average man, surfer and lowlife beautifully!
I was also impressed at how wonderfully he built the character of the driven big wave explorer.
The plot of this story draws in surfers,
dead end photographers and native Americans,
and ominously ‘the man in the grey suit’
into a, sometimes, dark and violent tome that leaves one feeling there’s a bad storm approaching.
It really runs the whole gambit of emotions and I’m stoked to say Kem never sells out.
Over all a great read for the weekend or surf trip.
Rating 8/10