Dazzling Blue #128: Brendon Babenzien and the Noah x Birdwell Collab
New Yorker Brendon Babenzien’s had an interesting ride. A lifelong surfer and skater, he starting working at the seminal Rick’s Surf Shop in his teens. That led him to a...
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Dazzling Blue #127: Shredding in Mid-Life and Beyond
On a recent day at Malibu, across a head-high right that was velvety smooth and machine-perfect, I watched Allen Sarlo fang off the bottom, bang off the top, fang off...
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In California 008: Breath Made Visible with Anna Halprin
“Dance is what you see, what you smell. It’s what you hear. It’s how you bring your consciousness and awareness to your experience. So if I...
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In California 007: Dreams of The Sea Ranch
Some years back, on a road trip up the Northern California coast, we passed a stretch of rolling hills. In the distance, hidden in the trees, were clusters of rustic,...
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Dazzling Blue #126: Mat Surfing with Paul Gross
A couple years ago I traveled to the Maldives with Aussie surfers Creed McTaggart, Ellis Ericson, Beau Foster, and Ari Browne. These guys are experimenters and innovators, and the quivers...
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In California #006: Oranges and the City of Los Angeles
In my youth there were many oranges. There was the Orange Julius on Ventura Boulevard. There was the book “Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch” on my dad’s...
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Dazzling Blue #125: Halcyon Days with Drew Kampion
I grew up on the stories of Drew Kampion, specifically his Don Redondo series in the mid-‘70s, which were psychedelic and shamanistic and super trippy. At age 24, holding a...
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Take 5 - Lounge Chairs
Quality is our gimmick. It’s also our ethos. We believe that the more you surround yourself with it, the more you will become it. In our new Take 5...
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Dazzling Blue #124: Inspired Days with Kona Johnson
Surfer and environmentalist Kona Johnson grew up on the North Shore alongside John, Nathan, and Ivan Florence. He comes from great stock—the Johnsons are some of the world’s finest watermen....
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In California #005: Where I Was From by Joan Didion
I first read Joan Didion’s “Where I Was From” about five years ago. My immediate reaction was: This should be mandatory reading in California high schools and colleges. Having grown...
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Dazzling Blue #123: Looking Sideways with Matt Barr
43 years old, hailing from Manchester, England, a surfer/skater/snowboarder, Matt Barr grew up under the influence of the side-stance—and, as he explains below, California. He started his podcast, Looking Sideways,...
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Dazzling Blue #122: The Quarantine Chronicles with Jeff Johnson
Climber, surfer, skateboarder, writer, photographer, and filmmaker—Jeff Johnson’s talents are many. In the film “180° South,” he traces a 1968 trip to Patagonia undertaken by his heroes, Yvon Chouinard and...
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In California #004: West Coast Jazz and the Lighthouse All-Stars
It’s a bright Sunday in 1949 and you’re on the beach at Hermosa. The sun is shining. The sea is sparkling. There are swim caps, and umbrellas, and far less...
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Dazzling Blue #121: Surfing in the Time of Coronavirus with Wingnut
Surreal times. We hope you’re doing okay out there. For this installment of Dazzling Blue I reached out to Wingnut. Wingnut has made several appearances on the Birdwell feed in...
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In California #003: Sailing with Christian Beamish
From 2002 to 2004, Christian Beamish worked as a handyman at the Pigeon Point Lighthouse, about thirty miles north of Santa Cruz. Built in 1871 to guide ships on the...
