Your Ride to the Beach

Oh and this will be your ride to the beach. What more is there to ask? Riding in style 24/7.

An Image of Success

Here's an image of a recent surf lesson. This is Oli. He stood up on his first wave, but this is probably his 7th or 10th wave of the session. This is in New Jersey, where I don't normally teach because, as you can see here, the waves break really close to the shore. Oli managed to deal with the sand pretty well, running off when he reached the shore. A total success! In other surf lesson news, I've heard from a number of you inquiring about lessons. Just wanted to say that I'm still here whenever you're ready to go. You won't receive one on one surf lesson expertise of the sort I provide anywhere in the NY area, so I just want to remind you all that lessons are well worth the price and the time and the energy. You will get back ten fold and be progressing much faster than those who simply try their hands at surfing on their own or in group lessons where there is little to no attention to detail. Really, it's just like any other sport, if you are serious about getting good it pays to get an expert instructor or coach. This is especially true with surfing where the environment is much more dangerous and dynamic than in any other sport. Plus it's a lifestyle and you'll want all the tips about the risks and rewards of adding surfing into your life. Take the plunge!

Yours truly with my recognizable "surf goth" zinc and my Al Merrick fish. Photo: Anya Chibis at www.anyachibis.com

Summer Surfing!!!!!

Hello everyone!!! Here's a pic of the board storage situation at Saturdays. It's epic. The board I teach with has the yellow fin. The other big board is my friend, Charles'. I have used that once for a very successful double lesson, but plan to add another log to the quiver by summer's end. Sooo, hopefully a few of you will just be visiting this blog for the first time, as I went down to Saturdays yesterday to make sure they had the url, as the email address on my old cards is severely out of date. Due to client feedback, I have done a small shake up to the surf lesson package. This is what has changed: First lesson is $200 per person. If you commit to four lessons, each following lesson is $120. I want to stress that these are the highest quality surf lessons you can get on the east coast. I will not be sending you out into the chaos of the crowded summer surf in a blind fashion. You will learn all about how to avoid and maneuver around crowds using maximum board safety and control. This will be a key component in your development as a stylish, graceful, and stoked surfer. Email me at mattison.ds@gmail.com to schedule your lesson(s) today! I can also arrange pickup if you live in Brooklyn. No problem. -Di

This is a Blog about Surf Lessons

Hello to my two followers and to anyone who checks this site because you've picked up my card at either Mollusk Surfshop in Brooklyn or Saturdays Surf in Soho. This blog was about style, music, etc., but now I have a tumblr account: http://burningfromtheinside.tumblr.com for all that fun stuff. This blog is now solely about my surf lessons, which, yes, are still happening and are going to be more awesome than ever as the days roll forth. On April 1 I am moving from Brooklyn to the West Village. Thus I will be more centrally located in Manhattan, making meeting up pre-lesson a much easier affair. We will now meet at Saturdays Surf on Crosby and Grand, and head to the beach from there. Lessons are $200 a pop, which includes all equipment, ride to the beach and back into town. It's about a 3-5 hour affair, so you must definitely plan for that in your day. Weekends are definitely do-able, but you will find that if you can break away on a weekday morning you will be able to get the most out of the lesson, as there will be many less people to contend with in the surf. I will teach 2 people at a time maximum. I do not believe in group surfing lessons. It is too dangerous a sport for those kind of shenanigans. Remember that if you chose to take a cheap ($60) group lesson you will most likely not get any attention and the instructor is also likely to have minimal experience. I have over 20 years experience surfing and over 10 years teaching private lessons. Like a well fitting shirt, my lessons are tailored to each individual's level of comfort and experience, and you'll be able to take this experience to enhance all of your future surfing endeavors.

Post NY Surf Film Festival

Here's a shot of me hard at work judging for the 2010 NY Surf Film Festival. There were still waves from Hurricane Igor this day, but I had 30 films to get through, reading to complete, and a different blog to manage (for the course I TA at Parsons). The film I'm watching in this shot is called Stoked and Broke by Cyrus Sutton. It didn't win, but it is a damn fine surf film and I recommend it to anyone looking for great footage of shredders on alternative crafts (the kid Ryan Burch absolutely kills it) and which also has an entertaining and enlightening storyline. As you can see here, my wetties are drying on the fire escape. They got plenty of water time during Igor, which produced the shapliest surf I've gotten in quite some time. Managed to ride my fish, my shorty, and a borrowed 6'3" widow-maker (Grey Ghost Surfboards) in the space of four days. As for the surf film fest, it was a blast. I only went for Saturday's showing of the brilliant short titled Darkside of the Lens and the feature Fiberglass and Megapixels. Darkside of the Lens won top honors for best short. I'm calling it the Joy Division of surf films. Nuanced. Dark. Beautiful. Only slightly bothered that it was funded by an energy drink, but hey, if someone's gonna throw you cash to make a surf film, you better put that cash to good use. Fiberglass and Megapixels is a highly educational film about the pro photo scene on the North Shore. First "surf film" I've seen to ever turn the lens on the lens, which is highly refreshing. You get a fish eye view into the heavy photo crowding situations at Pipe and a pretty complex view on how surfing as an industry relies on the shots taken on the North Shore every winter. It's not my cup of tea, but it is very true to reality. And in case you are curious about the results of the NYSFF, well Dark Fall, a film about New Jersey surfers, took first place for best film and viewers choice. Not a big surprise there, being that it was the best East Coast surf film, and well the festival is on the East Coast. It was good, I'm not saying much else...... Patrick Trefz's Idiosyncracies won for Best Cinematography and Dane Reynold's epic, no-talking, weird shred show, Thrills Spills and Whatnot, won for best soundtrack. Best part of Dane's film? Drawing a heart around Kelly in the water and writing BFF. Oh and did I say there was no talking? So refreshing. Dane and I must share the opinion that listening to surfers talk (unless they're British or Irish) is a pain which must be registered on a certain level in Dante's Inferno. In the end I am stoked to have been a part of the NYSFF. Tyler Breuer and Mike Machemer really put on a great event. Open bar. What? And Mike was throwing down the best vinyl tracks I've heard outside of myself djing at random bars with no dance floors. I remember his set went Sweet Dreams (are made of this) --> Ceremony --> So In Love --> Love Will Tear Us Apart, etc. awesomeness. I wanted to start creepy dancing in the middle of the surf party, but no one else got it, so I just threw Mike a devil shaka. Last note of the post. See my loafers in the photo? My pal Asa turned me on to wearing loafers. They're Florsheims and they're soft as a baby's bottom. Best with slim pants, a button down shirt untucked, and a v-neck sweater. So Italian in all the right ways. TTFN.

Fall and all of its Glory

This might be the last photo for a while of me waiting for a train to take me back to Brooklyn. The car is fixed and in my possession. Perfect timing for hurricane season and you can bet that I'm psyched about the arrival this week of Hurricane Igor. It's looking like Igor will produce 3-4 days of swell to Earl's 1-2. Definitely a word of caution to all beginners. I have learned that when there are waves the East Coast is no joke. You can get hurt and tossed out here just as bad as anywhere. Well maybe not Teauhupoo or Hawaii....Also coming up is the NY Surf Film Festival, of which I am one of the judges. I hope those dvds arrive soon or I'll have nothing to judge! Not sure which films I'm aiming to check out in the theater, but I think I'll shoot for Saturday night's Dark Fall about New Jersey surfers and the season we are heading into right now. Regarding the hopes and desires listed in my last post I have decided to nix a return to pro surfing. Philosophy and especially aesthetics and an interest in fashion theory has just won me over for good it seems. Plus I am surfing enough and having a blast doing what I love. As for lessons, well, nobody seemed to bite this summer. Too expensive perhaps? Well folks a good teacher ain't cheap, so I'm sticking to my guns. I'll try to keep the car in action to the best of my ability because I understand that that really increases the value. I did have one pupil this summer, Rachel, and she was awesome. She went from barely being able to catch waves to making drops on her own. She also developed a nice slouchy style ala Thomas Campbell flicks, which is always nice to see. On the music front, another Rachel I know has invited me to dj 80's music with her at Iona's in Williamsburg every other Thursday. Last Thursday was a blast, with Killing Moon by Echo and the Bunnymen definitely taking the crowd's fancy. It always does. Kind of like Cuts You Up by Peter Murphy. Well that's a wrap for now. I'll try my darndest to update more often throughout the fall.