'Nadine... Honey is That You?'

Hey can we all just give it up right here and now for Lil Miss Nadine? Are you kidding me? How many of you realized that Nadine was the reason we got surf on Sunday and Monday of last week? I didn't, until I saw the weather map.

That damn storm was stumbling around in the North Atlantic like a drunkard sailor for 17 days. When I saw it, I was clearly impressed. And so were the weather experts. Nadine was a mere few days from breaking the LONGEST TROPICAL STORM in weather history. In fact, I'm not sure where it's at today, but I wouldn't count her out.

Like Chuck Berry sang, "Nadine... honey is that you?"

I thought about how cool it is to have a storm do that. Just wander around in the ocean sending us waves. Day after day. And not just waves, but a decent ground swell complete with warm water. It was great. Thank you Nadine.

And I have to point out how cool it was on Sunday to look out in the lineup and see so many familiar faces taking advantage of the amazing swell we were getting. And if that wasn't cool enough, I looked over my shoulder at one point, and saw that I was joined by two of my favorite local photographers.

John Carden was standing to my right and Ed O'Connell was directly in front of me. As a result, the three of us got very similar shots at slightly different angles. That was pretty cool. Especially for me when I start the process of going through their galleries and realize that I had seen this shot before. Of course it finally dawns on me, yes dumb ass, you've seen this shot because you shot it!

Ed and I call them mirror shots. So many times we pull the trigger at the same moment. This was the case this last swell. Except now you can throw Carden into the mix. We all were focused on the action unfolding in front of us.

And make no mistake, there was plenty of action to shoot.

We may not have an abundance of surfers busting and landing airs on a regular basis, but we do have some solid rail to rail riders. And with all the recent emphasis on getting back to the basics in surfing, we are right on target with that theme.

There were however a disturbing amount of Go Pros out in the water this past swell. Raise your hand if you have a Go Pro? OK, everyone put your hand down. Let me tell you something. That angle from the nose of your board looking back at your goofy face? Yea, well that's as tired a look as there ever was one. That look has been done since the '60s.

It has been beaten to death. Look, I have a Go Pro. But I will not shoot this angle. I will, however, shoot the over the shoulder from inside the barrel look. Much like what Slater did in his last session with his Go Pro. Same with Connelly and Raven Lundy. 

That's the Go Pro angle that is still fresh and exciting to watch.

But this particular angle? Barf. Don't care about your tongue flapping, snot flying, squinted eyes look as we all get motion sickness following you in some robotic series of stiff maneuvers. God spare us the agony.

Get creative with that thing. Don't be like everyone else.

I know how happy I am with the REAL NFL referees back. I'm sure all you football fans feel the same. That was the worst three weeks of NFL that I ever care to remember. Just awful. Thank God the money machine came to their senses. Good Lord.

Now we can get on with the rest of our Fall.

Speaking of which, is there a better month out of the year than October? I mean seriously. Is this not the BEST month out of our entire calendar year? Not just for the surf, but everything. The electric colors. The coolness in the air. This is New England at it's absolute finest my friends.

To me, October will always be home 

Now for My Weekly Global Observances:

My friends, the day of reckoning is getting closer. Talking about November 6th. Please get out and register to vote and then cast your vote. I am not going to tell you who to vote for.

This is not the liberal biased media pushing and prodding you to the left, nor is it the biased Fox News pushing you to the right. This is just me and my simple and honest opinion. Are you, and more importantly is our country, better off today than what we were four years ago? BE HONEST with yourself. Then cast your vote.