Exotic travels!

For a few years my grandmother Caroline has been embarking on exotic 'holidays' with the company Earthwatch, call them holidays but most of your time there will NOT be spent relaxing in the tropical sun!

Earthwatch is an organisation, it supports research into understanding and conserving the environment. For a sum (thousands of quid) volunteers can travel to the far reaches of the world and work with scientists there to research the local animal species.

Expeditions are not limited to only animals however, there are ones to do with Archaeology and Anthropology aswell.

Caroline's last expedition was to the Amazon in December 2010. There she was worked with a small team to work out whether local animal populations numbers had increased since control had been handed to the indigenous people.

Piranhas, viscous and dangerous. They were measured and weighed, the larger ones were sent back to the kitchen. They taste good apparently, though they don't have much meat.

Local children, more girls are born than boys here, this could be due to the amount of oestrogen found in the palm nuts they eat.

The Peruvian expedition concluded that since control of the reserve had been handed over from the Government to the locals, animal populations had risen!

Costly though they may be, these expeditions look thoroughly enjoyable, and the research conducted is invaluable to further conservation of species.

Hopefully one day you'll send me on one ey grandma??

Skulls n shit

Everyone knows that wearing skulls on your clothing was only acceptable when you were a 13 year old skater punk.

Obviously the Japanese brands Comme de Garcons and Mastermind were not listening, here presented are a few of the clothing designs they have produced in the last few years, all with skull detailing.

There's always going to be mixed opinions on this idea, some think it quite tacky, yet the clothes themselves are very expensive. Personally I think with a certain sartorial 'swag' clothes with skulls on them can be a nice addition to a wardrobe.

Let's Juke Let's Juke Let's Juke

I've been listening to juke for a few months now, ever since my dad introduced me to it. 

The Chicago based ghetto house has slowly trickled into the UK from across the pond, and has been  widely incorporated into Britain's underground dance scene.

Here are a few of my favourite Juke inspired tracks.

Note the use of the 808 drum machine, seen in most if not all Juke tracks

Like I said, none of these tracks are 'pure' juke tracks straight out of Chicago, but they all have their own unique take to the genre. Machinedrum's 'Room (s)' Album is out now on Planet Mu, it's well worth picking up.

If you're looking for some original juke artists, look up Rashad, Spinn, DJ Nate, DJ Diamond and others..

A beginner's guide to waves

Now i'm not an oceanographer, but i'm a keen bodyboarder and I take pride in knowing what type of waves I might come across on my travels. I have a few proclaimed 'surfer' friends, yet I was surprised at how little they knew about the actual manifestations they would be attempting to ride!

So I thought i'd write a little entry detailing the different types of waves there are..

(a) Beach break - The most common break of all, if you're surfing in the UK or Europe then there's a good chance that you're surfing a beach break. These waves break over a sandy seabed, and often have a highly variable topography (underwater depth)

Examples, the rolling waves of my local break, Cayton bay, or the gaping barrels of the famous beach break, Hossegor in France.

Depending on the depth of the water, beach breaks may open up opportunities for a few good barrels, only if you've found a good surf spot though!















(b) Point breaks - Some of the most sought after breaks of all, good point breaks are few and far between, a single waves from a nice point break should keep a surfer hyped for weeks, as is the length of the rides.

Point breaks are created when swell comes into contact with a jutting rocky or sandy headland, wrapping around it to form long rippable walls.

Examples of famous point breaks are Chicama in northern Peru, said to be one of the longest waves on Earth, and Bells Beach in Australia

(c) Reef breaks are hailed as the holy grail waves of surfing, unlike beach breaks which are prone to change due to shifting sand banks, reef breaks never change and so offer a perfect, almost mechanical wave.

Reef breaks, as their name suggests, break over a reef. The reef could be made of anything, rock, coral, even manmade. Some of the best reefs while providing flawless barrels, can be very dangerous, some with only a few inches of water covering the reef its self.

Some of the heavier and shallower reef breaks have got the name 'slab' due to the thick, mutant nature of them. Slabs are prized by bodyboarders and daring surfers as some of the most exhilirating rides possible.

Locations of slabs and reef breaks are often kept a secret as to stop them becoming too busy, however slabs may be found all over the world in the most unexpected of places!

Photos, Ireland and Tasmania.

There are other types of waves, but i wanted to keep this reasonably brief, hope it was a worthwhile read!

Hi

This is my first post.


I'm Finley, i'm going to be posting mostly wave photos, music, and clothing that I like!


The name Grape Donut is a track by Distal by the way, here is his soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/distal