What a week! This past weekend, along with being Halloween, was the San Jose Convention of Tattoo Arts. That meant it was also the opening exhibition and book release of Bloodwork:Sleeves. (a little tattoo book I photographed). So, let’s rewind to last Monday. Nate Banuelos and I got on the road early. The plan was to drive up the coast looking for surf and get to San Jose Wednesday to help Adrian Lee hang the art show. We made it to Morro Bay by early afternoon. After a friendly reminder, in the parking lot, that this was the realm of the men in grey suits,

we caught a session at the aptly named Hazards. The next morning after a quick session at the Cayucos Pier we were on our way up the 1 towards Santa Cruz. A through check (Manresa to Waddell Creek) showed nothing worth suiting up for, so it was over the hill to San Jose.

Wednesday and early Thursday was spent hanging the show and getting A.D. Gallery all ready to go. Thursday night, it was on. The exhibition went great (with the small exception of the purse snatching knucklehead.) The turn-out was heavy. Minds were blown. Good Karma provided munchies. Analog also had their 2 year anniversary party immediately afterwards where Ugly Winner and Panthelion rocked the crowd.

The Convention was a great experience. I’ve been to quite a few tattoo conventions over the years but Taki and Roman really take it to the next level. Along with gathering together a collection of the worlds preeminent working tattoo artists, they had on hand masters from bygone generations like Thom Devita, Goodtime Charlie, and Shanghai Kate. These are some of the folks who made tattooing what it is today. It was fascinating to get to meet these icons in person and hear their perspectives on the state of the industry. Mike Giant was also on hand doing live painting. We got to talking and he mentioned that he thought Bloodwork was the best tattoo photography he had ever seen. Coming from an artist I have so much respect and admiration for, that one comment alone could have made the entire project worthwhile.

Monday morning, after a great dinner the previous evening with an amazing group of people, Nate and I headed back over the hill to Santa Cruz. This time the surf was on. We scored peaky head high waves at Waddell which made the following 8 hour drive much more bearable. All in all it was a great trip. I learned a lot, meet some great new people, saw old friends I hadn’t seen in some time, got good waves, and made cool photos. A big thank you to everyone involved. I can’t wait until next year.

Over the long weekend, a friend and I took a day trip south of the border looking for a surf. We were trying to escape the massive crowds that seem to accompany any swell of merit in Southern California these days. I’ve been a bit apprehensive about traveling in Baja lately, what with all the drug war related violence that’s been occurring in recent months. (there were over 5000 murders in Baja California in 2008) Tensions were definitely high in the border region. Armed federal troops and checkpoints have been ubiquitous in Baja for as long as I can remember. But, this was the first time I’ve seen them in kevlar helmets and body armor, totting heavy machine guns. Add to that the burned out, impoverished, desert landscape of Tijuana, and the whole scene was reminiscent of Iraq footage. We even passed a convoy of Humvees packed with masked soldiers and sporting 50 caliber, belt fed, automatic weapons.
As unnerving as all the militarism was, the ride down Mexico Hwy 1 was a quick reminder of how much I love Baja. Our neighbor to the south is indeed a land of extremes. The religious symbols were bigger,

sun felt hotter, the off shore winds blew harder, and the surf was way heavier.

After a bit of searching and checking spots, we ended up paddling out at K38’s. For one of Northern Baja’s best know surf spots, it was amazingly uncrowned. What little crowd there was in the line up seemed to be made up mostly of locals. A wave of this size and quality back home would easily have 80 to 100 guys on it, but at most, we shared the break with 20 other surfers.

After a morning of solid overhead surf, I was more then ready for a Tecate and some fish tacos. Beer battered, fried fish tacos are quite possibly Baja California’s greatest contribution to modern society. No matter what any San Diego taqueria might have to say about authenticity, there’s no substitute for the real thing; and the propane powered shack overlooking the surf, with it’s homemade tortillas and salsa, did not disappoint.

After lunch, it was back on the 1, headed north to Tijuana and the border. Homeland Security now requires passports to cross from Mexico, but the border wait, which can often top 3 hours on the weekend, was a breeze. 45 minutes after getting in line we were back in the good ole USA, cruzing up the 5 headed home.