Ben In LA
Latest Update: August 10, 2004

16:01 IDAHO TIME, AUGUST 10, 2004 A LUBE ‘N TUNE IN BOISE, IDAHO

Oh well, my trip is in the hands of fate. Or at least, in the hands of some semi-sketchy lube n tune mechanics, across from the Westside Bible Church, somewhere in Boise, Idaho.

I think I could see the “sucker” lightbulb go off over their heads as I pulled in. I was driving out toward the freeway on a Road With No Name when I saw the “Brakes” thing under the Lube n Tune, so I made a fateful turn.

Now I am in the air-conditioned lobby, sitting next to a woman reading a book to her two kids, watching E! or something on TV.

Possible N Sync breakup!!! I thought they had already broken up.

Oh well, how to kill time. It got $400 from that Bank of the West. The lady inside was very nice. We talked about the weather.

Now I’m hoping I can hang onto as much of that $400 as possible and not get fleeced by the Lube n’ Tune Goons.

I did buy two Idaho Powerball tickets, so maybe this will all work out.

I guess I should work on the surfing book, because that is due next.

I will outline in my head right now, to see what I have and what I need.

CHAPTER ONE
The Original Surfing Culture: B.C. to Captain Cook
This book is about surfing’s influence on pop culture and I am going to start it in Polynesia, pre-Cook, when surfing was as important to Hawaiian culture as baseball is to American culture. I am going to draw a parallel between the President of the United States walking out on a baseball field wearing a bulletproof vest to throw out the first pitch of baseball game, and the Kings and Queens of Hawaii surfing in front of the village to prove their royalty. I am pretty sure that was how it worked.

Sidebars: I can use that story I did about Greg Noll making recreations of ancient Hawaiian surfboards. That is a great little sidebar with lots of good photos from PatrickTrefz.

Also, songs, chants and legends about famous surfing events in ancient Hawaii.

Visuals: Those Petroglyphs from ancient Hawaii. That painting of the guy riding the tidal wave. Other stuff from the Bishop Museum. Patrick Trefz’ photos of Noll’s boards.

CHAPTER TWO
Cook’s Revenge: Captain Cook to 1900.
Captain Cook was the first European to see and describe surfing, but he didn’t live too much longer than that. Cook and his replacement, Lieutenant King, described surfing eloquently in 1780. Cook was killed by the Hawaiians in a case of mistaken identity and if his spirit wanted revenge, it got it.

The Hawaiian population was at 400,000 to 800,000 when Cook arrived, but in less than 100 years it had declined to 40,000. People blame the decline of surfing on the missionaries, but the truth it, surfing died out because the Hawaiians almost died out.

Sidebars: As a sidebar to this, maybe Cook’s descriptions of surfing from his logs, along with those etchings from the Bishop Museum.

Visuals:

CHAPTER THREE
New Sensation: 1900 to 1940
Surfing got new life at the turn of the 20th Century. It was the haole that almost killed off surfing and it was the haole who brought it back. Hawaii was still a long way off in 1900, but there were artists and others who took the long dangerous voyage to get a taste of another kind of life. Mark Twain and Jack London both made the trip to the Hawaiian Islands and they both tried surfing. It was the thing to do there in Waikiki, along with Outrigger Canoe rides, and the both tried it.

London and Twain both wrote glowing accounts of surfing, and that helped to popularize the sport along with the efforts Alexander Hume Ford, who fired up the Outrigger Canoe Club and reintroduced the Hawaiians to their birthright.

Surfing was mostly done at Waikiki and it was experienced by a slowly increasing flow of tourists as technology and ships made it easier to get to Hawaii.

I should do a little sidebar on what it took to get to Hawaii: What kind of ship, how long it took and what it cost.

Sidebars: Excerpts from the stories by London and Twain, for starters. Other stories about surfing in Hawaii up until 1940.

Visuals: Photos are no problem. I have that photo of the Outrigger Canoe Club from 1910 and lots of photos from the Bishop Museum of tourists and Beach Boys at Waikiki from 1900 to 1940.

There are also posters and other memorabilia, including brochures from the ocean liners and such.

Get a photo of one of Malcolm Wilson’s dioramas showing the progression of Hawaiian surfboards at Waikiki. I’m pretty sure he has it.

CHAPTER FOUR
Secrets of the Sea: 1940 to 1945
World War II changed everything. Where Hawaii had been a long, exclusive boatride away, now millions of Americans got a free ride into the South Pacific, courtesy of the Second World War.

Sidebar: Places where surfing is mentioned in World War II movies. There is a scene in From Here to Eternity where the girl Montgomery Clift is chasing is talking about surfing with a soldier. I wonder if there is mention of it in the book.

Maybe a sidebar on the surfboard mistake in Thin Red Line. Two soldiers are walking down a beach in the south Pacific and they pass a surfboard leaning against a tree. Unfortunately, it is a 70s-era surfboard, and not a World War II surfboard.

16:25: They just drove the van in and now my fingers are crossed. The people who put on my new tires in Butte didn’t say anything about a brake job, so hopefully it is something simple. I am looking at a diagram of a typical brake assembly on the wall, and there could be a lot that has gone wrong.

I don’t have a wireless signal, so I am lonely. At least I have E!

How does the outline sound so far?

I think I’ve got it.

14:33 Johnnie the brake guy just came in with some reasonably bad news. Back brakes are gone. Front brakes are so so. I told him I had about $200 to work with and he said he would see what he can do. Now I want to go to that $88.99 lifetime brakes thing. Shoot. I don’t even remember what company it was, but that sign was there, every day.

Crud. I got those brakes done last summer. Could they be gone that fast? I guess I do driver a lot.

When I was at Kinkos I should have looked up “Lifetime Brakes” to see if that thing is happening in Boise. Oh well. It will be nice to have brakes, and more money is coming soon, I think.

Carrying on.

CHAPTER FIVE
The Boom
1945 to 1950

This could start with the nuclear test on Bikini Atoll inspiring the bikini, and then all the ways in which World War II

16:47 Johnnie just came in with a figure of $205 for the rear brakes. Shit. Oh well. How was I to know they would go out now? That leaves me with $150 to make it to the next Bank of the West, wherever that is. Maybe Reno. I know there is one in Sacramento.

Oh I forgot to print out the W2 forms from SG so they can pay me. Maybe I will go back there before I go. Driving on sketchy brakes is worse than sketchy tires.

Where was I?

CHAPTER FIVE
The Boom
1945 to 1950

This could start with the nuclear test on Bikini Atoll inspiring the bikini, and then all the ways in which World War II shoved along the popularity of surfing: materials, exposure to the ocean, people seeing different ways of life and then coming back to live them.

Maybe use Walter Hoffman as a perfect example of this kind of World War II person.

Sidebars: The Bikini story. From Here to Eternity. South Pacific.

Visuals: Lots of surf photos from Doc Ball and others.

CHAPTER SIX
From Here to Gidget
1950 to 1959

Miki Dora called the 50s The Golden Years and he meant that in terms of being a surfer, living in Southern California, with relatively easy access to the Hawaiian Islands.

Sidebar: An excerpt from Gidget.

Visuals: Endless, from Doc Ball and Leroy Grannis and Bud Browne and Bruce Brown and many others.

16:54 Weird, just got a wireless signal from out of nowhere.

NETGEAR

It worked. Cool.

Oops, now it is not working. Got one email off to Jeff Galbraith and almost sent one to a guy in Canada who wants to work with Stacy Peralta and Paul Crowder. I sent him my interview with Stacy about Riding Giants and we have been communicating.

He said he got $350,000 for his last project and if he got that once, maybe he could get it again for Surf Music Again.

Maybe he got the money form the CBC. I could see them sponsoring something like this.

You never know. Even if it is Canadian dollars.

I wonder there those wireless signals come and go.

Now it’s back. Sort of. Now it’s gone.

Here is that email.

In a message dated 8/10/2004 3:50:28 PM Pacific Standard Time, XXXXXX@XXX.XXX writes:

Have you done any big-wave surfing yourself?

SORT OF. NOT MAVERICKS, BUT DECENT-SIZED WAVES WHEN I WAS YOUNGER.

I just watched Dogtown and Z-Boys again. I think what I like best about these documentaries is the editing. Paul Crowder did an awesome job.

PAUL CROWDER IS THE MAN. I HAVE A DOCUMENTARY ON SURF MUSIC I WOULD LIKE TO DO, AND I WOULD LIKE HIM TO EDIT IT.

SEE ATTACHED.

IF YOU CAN GET A BUDGET FOR THIS, WE COULD TEAM UP.

I ALREADY TALKED TO DICK DALE ABOUT IT AND HE SAID HENDRIX SAID "YOU'LL NEVER HEAR SURF MUSIC AGAIN" IN HIS HONOR.

I'm in the film business as well, here in Toronto, Canada. I just started up my own production company and got my first feature film gig. It's low-budget ($350,000), as most films here in Canada are, but high enough that I'll be paid well for the year.

THAT'S A FAIR BIT OF MONEY, EVEN IF IT IS CANADIAN DOLLARS.

HAHAHAHAHA

SORRY.

I'm interested in reading your period piece basketball script. Where have you been shopping it around?

IT'S BASEBALL.

I SENT IT TO TOM HANKS' COMPANY BUT NEVER HEARD ANYTHING.

I ALSO SENT IT TO TODD ZEILE, WHO PLAYS FOR THE METS AND IS STARTING A PRODUCTION COMPANY WHEN HE RETIRES.

HAVEN'T HEARD FROM HIM, EITHER.

IT IS SET IN MINNESOTA AND MICHIGAN BUT COULD BE SHOT IN CANADA.

THERE IS A SCENE THAT TAKES PLACE IN CANADA. ONE OF THE CHARACTERS CROSSES THE BORDER TO BUY MAPLE BASEBALL BATS AND PICKS UP A FEW CASES OF CANADIAN WHISKEY

I CAN SEND IT AS A PDF OR A FINAL DRAFT, IF YOU ARE INTERESTED.

I REALLY LIKE NINE SONS IN A ROW.

SATCH PAIGE IS ONE OF THE CHARACTERS AND THE OTHER DAY I SAW STARSKY AND HUTCH AND REALIZED WHO COULD PLAY SATCH PAIGE.

Also, I was wondering if you might be able to put me in touch (e-mail) with Stacey. If he is working on any other documentaries, I would love to be able to produce them (he would be paid well, unlike Dogtown, and maybe set up with the ownership he desires).

I WILL FORWARD THIS TO STACY AND PAUL.

NOT SURE WHAT THEY ARE DOING NEXT BUT THEY ARE BOTH BUSY.

STACY AND SAM GEORGE ARE WRITING A SCREENPLAY, I KNOW THAT.

THANKS

BEN

Anyway take care, Ben.

Cheers.

17:16 Back on again. Scott Be wants to play poker tomorrow night in Santa Cruz. I think I can make it. I will probably drive most of tonight and stop in Reno or something. Need to place that SF Giants bet.

I think $150 will get me there. I have a full tank of gas, anyway.

Shoot, I was looking for the next Bank of the West but the wireless connection went down.

There was video of a huge landslide in Japan just now. Gnarly!

Well $150 will get me to Sacramento, anyway. I know there is a Bank of the West there.

17:20 Where was I in the book outline?

CHAPTER SIX
From Here to Gidget
1950 to 1959

Miki Dora called the 50s The Golden Years and he meant that in terms of being a surfer, living in Southern California, with relatively easy access to the Hawaiian Islands. Southern California was one of the best places in the world to live in the world, during the 50s. It had all the advantages of climate and location it has now, but without the crowds and stress and problems. In the 50s you could buy a car for $100 and gasoline was 25 cents a gallon. It was during this time that the first surf stars began to emerge: Buzzy Trent, Walter and Flippy Hoffman, Dewey Weber, Greg Noll. These surfers were mostly from the Los Angeles area and had grown up surfing from Palos Verdes to Malibu. They started on boards they could barely lift, and as the decade progressed, they got bigger and stronger while surfboards got shorter and lighter.

It was wood and plastics technology that made surfboards better. Surfers wanted to paddle faster and turn better, and that brought about rapid advances in design through the 50s. Shapers like Bob Simmons, Matt Kivlin and Joe Quigg worked together and in competition to make surfboards shorter, lighter and better.

During the 50s, Malibu emerged as the summer place to be. Beach bums and movie stars mixed together easily, all of them brought together by the surf and the sun. During the 50s, surfers were in the same genre as bikers, beatniks and bohemians. They were men and women going against the grain of 50s America. They didn’t necessarily like Ike and they were more interested in freedom than productivity.

Surfers were considered little better than bums through the middle 50s. But surfers knew better, and they attracted a growing crowd.

In 1956, a young Valley girl named Katherine Kohner began hanging out with the surfers at Malibu. She told her stories to her father, a writer and he wrote a romance novel called Gidget-for Girl Midget.

Gidget was a charming novel that immortalized those Happy Few lucky enough to experience surfing during the Golden Years. Ironically, it was Gidget the novel turned into Gidget the movie starring Sandra Dee that also ended the Golden Years.

Gidget was the end of one era and the start of something else, and it came at the end of the decade, in 1959.

Sidebar:

An excerpt from the novel Gidget.

An interview with Kathy Kohner.

That interview I did with Tubesteak about Malibu in the 50s.

Interview with Bud Shank about his surf movie soundtracks.

Are there any magazine articles from this era? Newspaper stories? Other books?

Does Surf Music start in this period?

Excerpts from Riding Giants about that era?

Visuals: Endless, from Doc Ball and Leroy Grannis and Bud Browne and Bruce Brown and many others. Also movie clips from Gidget.

What about Hawaii?

Surf movie posters from the 50s.

John Severson’s art.

Malcolm Wilson’s surfboard diorama. Need to get that photo from the World Industries guy

17:47 Back on again. Scott Hulet thought I was too harsh with Alex Dick-Read.

Jeff Galbraith thinks I should go back and forth between Malibu and Sun Valley.

In a message dated 8/10/2004 4:52:15 PM Pacific Standard Time, jeff@frqncy.com writes:

Le Ben,

Boy, does Boise suck. I feel the suckiness from here, just reading about it.

I ACTUALLY LIKE THE DOWNTOWN PARK NEAR THE CAPITOL BUT THE REST OF IT IS JUST BEAVIS AND BUTTHELL.

You should totally split your time between Ketchum and Malibu.

MAYBE.

I COULD WASH DISHES AT THE PIONEER SALOON.

Livingston will put you pretty far out of the surf loop and I think it would be hard not to fall off the map if you don’t put in at least a few months in bro Cal a year, and Malibu seems the most tolerable.

VERY TOLERABLE.

JUST A LITTLE SWELL-CHALLENGED.

And hanging around Ketchum is like Santa Monica/Hollywood North; you’re probably as likely (or more) to sell a screenplay from Sun Valley, than down there.

POSSIBLY.

I WANT TO REWRITE MY FOOTBALL MOVIE AND SET IT IN MONTANA NOW.

IT WOULD WORK JUST AS WELL THERE AND MAYBE BETTER.

Plus the other thing I found about Sun Valley, is that the rest of the world knows where this is, or at least can project themselves (especially the rich, beautiful, and those who determine which screenplays to buy), and find this engaging.

I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT WHAT THE REST OF THE WORLD THINKS.

AT LEAST NOT ABOUT ME, BUT ABOUT THE WORK I DO.

When they ask where you’re from and you say Livingston, Mont., a lot of the publishing, and movie folk will just assume you’re another hillbilly living in dirtville.

HIPSTERS WILL GET IT.

Just a thought for a physical and career move.

YEP. I'M GOING BACK TO SO CAL TO DO A COUPLE OF THINGS AND THEN I MIGHT COME BACK HERE.

BOISE IS JUST HOTTER THAN SHEEIT.

Either place beats the hell out of just about everywhere.

SUN VALLEY IS REALLY REALLY NICE.

I LIKE THE NAT YOUNG THING, HAVING READ IT WHILE I WAS THERE. THAT MOUNTAIN IS A NICE MOUNTAIN. I SAW THE RUNS ON THE BACKSIDE THIS MORNING AND THEY LOOKED FUN.

Great reading you’re road trip.

JUST NOTES TO SELF, BUT OTHERS FIND THEM INTERESTING.

THE HUCKLEBERRY INTOLERANT THING WAS FUNNY.

You should just publish a collection of your best work and notes. People would buy it.

WHO?

BEN

Regards,

JG

17:14: I’m good to go, the mechanic just told me. I don’t know if I am on Mountain Time or Normal time. The clock outside says 4:15. Oh well.

Time to go. $200 poorer, but oh well. The wireless connection just pooped out again.

Bye bye.

12:42 NEVADA TIME, WEDNESDAY THE 11TH OF AUGUST, ALONG HIGHWAY 95

I am tired. It is after midnight and I am stopped by the side of the highway, listening to the Giants midnight rebroadcast and watching for meteors. The Pleiades shower is on right now. I think I saw one. I am about 31 miles from Winnemcua and about 200 miles from Reno.

I think I will sleep for awhile and then try for Winnemucca.

More later.

7:44 NEVADA TIME, WEDNESDAY THE 11TH OF AUGUST, 2004 THE RED LION IN WINNEMUCCA

Good morning, I think. I slept all through last night. I was pooped after a long day and fell asleep in the front seat. I think I woke up every time a Big Rig went past, and I was worried about road bandits trying to steal my 10’ 6”, so I slept fitfully.

Yesterday was a long day, but fear not, I took notes as I drove.

(I am trying to hook into a Wireless signal. I had the Holiday Motel going for a little while but AOL as dodgy. Now there are several available-flyingj, Winnemuca East, RawtmA-but none are working.)

After getting brakes fixed in Boise I drove and drove and drove. I took a weird road out of Boise that took me through some nice rural areas and then finally I found the highway. I had a vague idea in my head to take the 84 to 90-something, but it was vague.

I went through Nampa and Caldwell and almost made it to Ontario before I found the 95. Along the way the Doobie Brothers sang Old Black Water and so I stopped at a place called Sand Hollow to ask for directions.

They said keep going West and I did and finally got onto the 95. I started seeing signs for Winnemuca which was a long way off-about 255 miles. I couldn’t remember how far from Reno Winnemucca was, but I found out soon enough.

That first part of the drive was nice, through an irrigated part of Idaho that grew lots of wheat. I passed through a town called Parma, which was green and well-lighted. The town had a nice Drive Inn Theater which was playing I, Robot on Friday. Saturday and Sunday. I think every small town should have a Drive Inn Theater.

At one point I chased a “Sportman’s Access” sign pointing to a place called Dixie. I went on a wild goose chase down country roads, but it was too down in the swam y’all. There was a lot of old brown water flowing past and it was not for bathing.

I passed through a town called Wilder which grew a lot of wheat but also some plant that hung from tall trellises. I had no idea what they were so I stopped at a service station and found out they were hops. I was so pleased to be informed of this that I bought a twelver of Silver Bullets and downed them one after the other.

Not.

So I pushed on and drove and drove and drove. At one point I passed a drive inn theater that looked clean and well-lighted. They were showing I, Robot on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays and I wish I could have been around for that.

At 8:45 the DJ played Elton John’s “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me.” After all these years I still don’t know what he is saying in that first lyric: “I can’t line, no more Auggie Dogness?” Can’t be.

Well the sun was setting as that song was on, so that was nice.

I drove and drove and eventually that nice irrigated, lush land turned into desert as I went over a pass, and it stayed desert.

At some point I passed into Oregon-not that there’s anything wrong with that.

They played California Girls, which made me think of that Surf Music Again documentary. If that Canadian guy can get some funding, that could be a go. I could see the CBC getting behind something like that. It could be a prestige deal, and they do love their music up there.

At 9:43 I pulled into the town of Jordan Valley and the first thing I saw was a Basque pelota fronton. This was an L-shaped wall exactly like they have in Mundaka, overlooking the surf. Turns out Jordan Valley was pioneered by Basques from Vizcaya. The Basque Restaurant was closed and that was a shame. But they had a historic exhibit in the middle of town and I read every bit of it. They talked about the history of the Basques and the town.

I talked to a gas station guy and bought a Basque sticker for the computer case and pushed on.

What I don’t understand was this was all Owhyhee County. There is an Owyhee River and lots of Owyhee this and that, and the strange thing about that is Owyhee is what the original Hawaiians called Hawaii.

So, one of the historic panels explained that Sacajawea’s son-Jean Baptiste-was buried nearby. He drowned in the Owhyhee river at the age of 61, while trying to get into Montana.

(It is 8:09. They are playing a Muzak version of a Dave Mason song. I am having a yogurt parfait with toast and OJ and coffee. Someone just read my bumper-stickers, and he smiled quietly to himself. I still can’t get a Wireless signal to connect)

And then I drove and drove and drove some more. By now it was dark and I wondered what was out there. But whatever scenery I might have been missing was more than made up for by a desert night full of stars. I didn’t see any meteors but I did see the Milky Way and that was memorable.

I stopped a few times just to get out of the car and look at the stars and that was nice, although a little spooky. When I drove through Alaska I had a Walther PPK with me and while I not have been safer, I felt safer.

I drove and drove and drove and listened to the radio and tried to stay awake long enough to listen to the Giants Midnight Broadcast. At 11:36 I passed into Nevada and stopped at a casino. I won $5 at a poker machine and drove on.

The Giants finally came on so I stopped in a pullout on the side of the road. I just wanted to close my eyes and make it into Winnemucca but I was dog-tired and slept all night.

And now here I am in Winnemuca, and it is rocking. The Wi Fi signal doesn’t work but the breakfast was good, and now it is time to drive on to Reno, Sacramento and home.

I’m hoping to play poker tonight with the lads. In Santa Cruz I have to offload all the stuff from mom’s into my storage locker, then I have to go to Joanne’s and get all that stuff I’ve had at her house for a million years.

She has a desk I might give to a friend in Malibu. Or to Wink.

I will probably drive for Los Angeles tomorrow or Friday. I want to surf Malibu some more. I have to interview Dale Kobetich for The Surfer’s Journal. I have to get some dinero from Herbie and Longboard Magazine and Malibu Monthly and LA Weekly.

I have to finish Herbie’s proposal, but it won’t be difficult. I think there are some books waiting for me in Santa Cruz.

And I also have to write that damned book, but I am not too stressed.

Here are the rest of the chapters.

CHAPTER SEVEN
Gidget Goes Berserk
1960 to 1969

CHAPTER EIGHT
Surf Music Again
1970 to 1979

CHAPTER NINE
Awesome, Dude
1980 to 1989

CHAPTER TEN
Riding Giants
1990 to 1999

CHAPTER ELEVEN
Here and Now
2000 to 2004

What else? Gas is expensive in Nevada, almost as bad as California.

They are playing a Muzak version of West Side Story now.

I still say someone should remake that movie.

Here is the cast.

Riff = Mark Wahlberg
Anita = Jennifer Lopez
Maria = Nell Furtado???? Christina Aguilera.
Bernardo = Mark Antony
Tony = Ricky Martin
Chico = Freddie Prinze Jr.
Doc = Woody Allen
Officer Krupke = Rudy Giuliani

Keep the original score, update the singing and the dancing.

I’d buy that for a dollar.

Time to roll. Reno here I come. Hope they are ready.

8:53 Outside of the Flying J in Winnemucca. There is a signal from the Flying J and from the McDonalds but I am having trouble getting through to AOL.

Nope. Flying J and McDonalds both require dough. Flying J is only $4.95 a day. Might just do that.

Be right back.

Nope. The girls behind the counter couldn’t figure it out and some rude guy behind me almost got barked at.

Middle Americans kind of suck, you know?

I am at the Wal Mart seeing if they have a signal. They don’t.

9:07 Reno or Bust. Need some gas though.

13:16 NEVADA TIME, WEDNESDAY THE 11TH OF AUGUST, 2004 KINKOS IN RENO

Nevada sucks. If you want to understand why all those people in the Middle East seem so grumpy, imagine living in Nevada. In the middle of summer. I got cranky just driving my car with the window open and AC. Imagine living out in the middle of all that. It would make your cranky.

I made it to Reno and now I just want to get out. This place sucks. Nevada sucks. I wanted to take a bathe in one of the rivers I saw along the highway, but they all look polluted. This is not Montana.

Nothing much along the way. Listening to Rush Limbaugh didn’t make me any less cranky. Just drove and drove and bought the occasional drink.

Gambled here and there. Lost the $5 I won last night.

I am going to try to make it to Santa Cruz by 19:00 to play cards with the lovely lads.

Then down to business tomorrow.

Nevada sucks.

Yahoo says four hours and 28 minutes to Santa Cruz, from Reno. That will give me time to have a bathe in SC and play some cards.

Bye bye..