Best Things I Did This Year

Got Married and pulled a surprise wedding
Had my boy Hayden Jackson Pangilinan
Surfed Rice Bowls with Gerry Lopez
Skated Cholo Bowl with Christian Hosoi and Ethan Lau...
Jay Adams shooting photos on the deck
Also there:
Luke, Sara, Jianca, APB Chad, Tim, Skillet, Troy
Kirk, Pat the Ripper, Billy the Kid and Nicky

Brought my favorite surfboard the Blaster back to life.

and painted my first Paid Mural on top of Surftech
Well it was a trade for a 500-700 dollar Mark Richards

Take advantage

of every moment.
you never know if it might be your last day with
that person you always wanted to say, Hey you wanna go for a cup of coffee...
or a cocktail.

If you feel something, react and express.

to breathe deep into
a big bowl of steaming hot noodles...

give homage to your elders and give support to the youth.

AAALLLOOOOOHHHHHAAAAA.
I wanna say more about my evening, but too tired...
gotta go suck up some noodles.

-Mandogian

Epic Wednesday

Woke at 5am.
out of house by 5:30
Pick up Aaron in Manoa 5:45
Drive to West Side.
Check out Tracks
Drive Further to MPoint
Rad 12-15 ft faces
In water by 7am
Stoked!
Only caught a few waves in two hours.
but some of the best in my life.
Aaron dialed in and caught a bunch
He couldn't count

Super long and flowee
glassy perfection
Luscious cutbacks
Fuck Yeah Kind
walling down the line into
short barrel section
out of the water by 9am

Drive back to town by 10 turtles
Aaron buys me an Acai Bowl
drop off Aaron and
borrow The Drifter the new Rob Machado vid
and into work by 12 noon
to work with the photo intern and take photos
of the Weekly's Green Market.
then Review with the Production Intern
Build 28 page issue and drop some editorial content
Talk with boss and out by 6 turty.

Call up Rob Duncan to watch "The Drifter"
Make it home to find 3 boxes filled with skateboards
They look good.

Go to Rob Duncan's to watch vid, drink a few beers and eat dinner.
He's bumbed cuz he pulled his elbow out of socket horse playin/wrestlin'
with a friend's Juditzoo roommate.. the ole arm bar did it.

Out of Duncan's at 10 pm and visit Ethan Lau.
Catch up with Brother.
talk about art, ceramics, skateboarding....
how they are the same
and about teaching and communication too.

11:30 pm Skated a few blocks to Safeway with Kenny and Ethan.
3 of us bombing a quick Manoa line.
straight into Safeway to the Icecream Section
for the mint choc ice cream sandwiches.
Back to house to burn some music.

home by 12:30 am, with 2 disc loads of music to
positively change my world.
shower and write these words.
sleep.
Bed by 2:15am
Epic

The Eddie Aikau 2009

Waited for the Eddy under shootin stars.
Waimea Bay Crashing four thirty AM in the dark
while spectators scramble slow-mo to find parking
and then a spot to perch off the cliff
to see the worlds best big wave riders
risk their lives to catch a thrill
and prove their skill.
Phenomenal moments and sight

Spray Painting Skateboards

Spray Painting skateboards in the rain is a lost cause.
Good for staying in and drawing.

OCEAN POEM. Long time no blog

Went to the sand bar today.
epic day.
adventured with the wife and babeh.
with good friends, coolers filled with beer, and sandwiches.

Here is a poem I found in the car that I forgot I wrote.
It is from the first day we dipped Hayden into the Ocean a few months ago.

POEM
Little Hayden in my arms
his cheeks, eyes, nose charms.
Today we dipped him in the ocean.
First touch, he expressed intense emotion.
But I had to introduce him to the part of nature
that I have much devotion.

-MPDADDY

D Patrol Momentary Escape

Da surfa said, "Where's my zone? Where's my zone?" as the waves began to appear.
And as the perfect mini inside section formed he proceeded,
"Now that's what I'm talkin' about! MY ZONE!
as he snagged a free ride, and zoomed on to smack into the white watah soup!
then to shore to make it back to the 9-5
which is really the 9-6 or 9-7 or 9-8 or 9-11
Da Grind. and I aint talkin' eats.
Gotta Focus on the Hocus Pokus
Aloha Nui Loa
-Mandog Bautista Panglione De Honolulu
P.S Mo bettah to talk like dis sometimes.
Shaka!

The Sunday Recap Rundown

Woke at 5 am
Made a cup of tea
stretched while water was heating
left with all things checked
Tea
two bananas
board shorts
surfboard

Pulled into the parking lot of surf spot
and arrived to a group still drinking and listening to
their friend play the ukulele and sing songs.
He was good.
It set the mood for my whole morning session,
wanted to give him my card
but I didn't want to lead him on like I was some recording guy
and fill his head with empty promises
so I just enjoyed the music and thought to myself...
I was that guy pulling all nighters twice a week just 4 years ago.

I felt good.
I don't think I could handle many more late night recoveries.
caught plenty of epic overhead waves.
super long rides and sometimes pulling into dry reef.

out of water by 9 30
quick stop to hardware store
home by 10:15
bowl of cereal
cut 4 skateboards
lunch
to Museum with Marisa and baby to meet some friends at 12:30
out by 2:30
Home for a nap til 4:30
Pack up dinner to meet friends for a Sunset at the Beach HIFF film by 5:30
back home by 9 ish
finish working on boards
in bed by 11:30

Saturday Surf

Surf picked up for the weekend.
Just in time for all the nine to fivers
The Aloha Perks
Surf all around the island.
Surfed Castles with my friend Jon this moring.
I thought it was rad and "All time" Castles.
Jon had fun and said it was alright.
Interesting... different perceptions of the same moment.
Despite that, he was stoked to surf together.
Its always good to have a homie to witness you surfing
Jon caught me doin a head dip.
I caught Jon racing down the line.

Castles rarely breaks. And there is usually hardly anyone on it.
For a moment it was just the two of us.
before that just three uncles, Jon and I.

Plenty of waves were had.
Sunday morning session to come.

Thursday Morning

Yesterday Morning I surfed...
It was the glassiest day I surfed ever.
The Pacific Ocean was a flat lake with occassional shoulder high waves.
On the way I stopped at a red light and noticed a huge banner with Carissa Moore slashing a wave.
and I thought thats rad. Then I pull up to the spot I'm gonna surf and there she is running across the street to surf before school.
Out in the water she drops into a wave and does a backside 360 turn then does two slashes and finishes with a frontside 360 then pops off the wave to chat with her little 12 year old sister about what they're gonna wear for halloween.

I said go right. I'll go left. We split a wave.
A perfect glassy day surfing with one of the best little girl surfers on the planet.

WAVE CONSTRUCTION

Flashback

Surf Wisdom : Look to the Horizon

When the waves are crankin', always keep your eye on the horizon out to sea.
Never turn your back to the ocean for too long.
You might miss out on a wave, or worse get pounded.

It's always good to see opportunities coming in advance
so you can position yourself in the right spot to take advantage of it.
The farther off you see it, the more time you have to prepare.
It will almost always take effort to catch.

Weekend Recap

Went to North Shore Saturday
Marisa bought a hat
Caught good waves
Aaron and wife Katy came to surf
SJ and Dan too.
Then we went to dinner
with Aaron and Katy at Cholos

Sunday was sleep with baby Hayden on my chest
Til 4:30pm
then wake to skate the skatepark
home
shower
Then to Anna Bananas for a couple of beers and a game of pool with Duncan
to grocery store by 8pm
for some bananas, tofu, carrots, broc, ice cream and
some flowers for Marisa.

Inspiration

Big ups to John Cardiel
One Gnarly Dude.
Who has made the hardest stunts with such beautiful gnar!
Holy fuck.
making everything else in life seem easy.
So Rad.
Thanks John!
you can watch the whole movie on Netflicks.

Killing time

Excersize

Secrets

Yesterday on Tantalus

Big leaves
E-dog behind the wheels

One Slide Wipe Out

Went down Tantalus Mountain on the fresh paved smooth buttery road.
The butter can bite and burn.

I looked behind me as i was sliding on my ass and saw my
pants turning into mini cotton balls flying in the wind.
All limbs in tact.
Mild burn on right cheek.
All G.
And didn't scathe my new favorite T-shirt.

Shut Skates Memory

another reminder of a story I want to tell...
-how Shut Skates would pull up to a Brooklyn Banks contest with hundreds of skaters on the banks getting ready with the heaviest snake sessions ever.

Shut would pull up in a van right in a the middle of it all.
Park.
Pull out a street ramp.
Force an isle way in the middle of it all somehow
and have their riders do a demo...
basically show off there stuff.
it was super ballzy but totally true.
they did have the best riders at the time.

A list of riders during this memory at the time. Most from Union City or Jersey area
-Felix Arguelles
-Mike Kemper
-Preston
-Coco Santiago
-Richie Garcia
-Sean Sheffey
-Jeremy Henderson
-Troy
and a couple of others I forget.

Led by Bruno and Rodney Smith who would soon end Shut and start Zoo York.

some of the tricks they were doing.
Ollie Japans.
Saran wraps
Possibly frontside 360 Japan's by Mike Kemper
Judos
Frigids
Just going so fast and pretty huge...
all of us skating on smooth almost perfectly laid red brick
which you didn't want to slam on.

It is one of my most bad ass memories I've ever witnessed.

Reminder

what I want to remember to write about.

1) the day I surfed Pipeline and watched Jamie O'brien drop in slow-mo and disappear only to re emerge cracking the lip.

2) the day I met Jeff Pang and the first day I slept over his house.

3) the day I surfed Rockaway with Colin after the windiest morning and catching the best session just the two of us
and catching waves all the way to the sand.

4)Surfing the Rockaway Box with Jimmy Gallagher. The day it was a shoulder high wave machine and us riding the conveyer belt all to ourselves for and hour and him yelling from the inside "that was probably the best wave of your life!"
5) the first time I surfed what I thought was the the Banzai Pipeline with Chris Cesca. It was only like Chris's third time surfing and he shouldn't have been out. He went over the falls on an overhead wave... into like knee high water and I thought he broke his neck like he almost did when he got pile driven by a kid named Jamie VanDunk in 6th grade. A few seconds later I found him emerging from under water with a smile on his face... He tried to drop in before me and this compelled me to drop into the steepest waves I dropped into yet. Everyone that surrounded us thought and knew he was stupid and risked his physical health...
but I got stoked off his big balls and I mean guts to you homo jokesters. That day I caught three rad waves back to back on my 8'0" which to me was my short board. I was trimming down from a 9'0".

6)Surfing bowls with Ben Aipa

7) figuring out that the nicest uncle to me at Ala Moana Bowls besides the twin Aunties is Uncle Clyde Aikau...
Eddie Aikau's younger brother.

8)watching a 40 plus year old crack the lip upside down past vertical and making it look like a kick turn past vert on a skateboard only much gnarlier... and later seeing him in a magazine named Mike Akima...

thats it for now...
these stories I want to embelish on at a later date.. when I have more time.

Dog eat Dog and Gerry Lopez

Damn.
I don't know if it's the weather, or what,
but I'm feeling the Dog eat Dog aspects of life.
Everyone out for self vibe... and I'm right there with'em no matter how much I may try to be a nice guy....
I'm just another guy catching waves... catching dolla bills.

But I won't go into what sucks in my life right now...

What was really rad for a moment was a few weeks ago (about 2)
the Friday before the Stand up Paddle Board race from Molokai to Oahu,
I surfed Rice Bowls with Gerry Lopez.

I didn't want to surf there at first.(I wanted to surf my new favorite spot)
but my friend Luke said our two friends Johnny and Joah were going to be surfing at Tongs,
which is right inside of Rice Bowls....
so I said ,.. I'll go session with some bros instead.

Rice Bowls is the high performance wave on the South Shore, second to Ala Moana Bowls.
The only difference is that Bowls catches almost every swell and breaks every day from knee high to double over head.
Rice Bowls only starts breaking at head high.

I never saw Johnny and Joah as I paddled past Tongs straight to Rice Bowls.
There to my surprise was, not the normal 5 extremely aggressive guys and the other 15,

but 4 other dudes and myself... and in a few minutes of catching waves....
Gerry Lopez paddles into the line up.

The next wave I caught, I rode all the way in. It walled up nice and I did a few cut backs stoked smackin' the soup,
and then racing down the line into a head dip...
When I popped off the backside of the wave... I see Gerry on the wave behind me flying down the line with his paddle dug into the face of the wave....
"I scream yeah Gerry!" stoked.

as we paddle back to the line up I said, "how was that wave?" and he said "ok. I saw you catch a good one earlier"
Soon another wave approached and I say "here comes your wave Gjer Gjer"
and I think to myself, I just called Gerry Lopez, "Gjer Gjer"
After some small talk, I find that he's in town to surf the Molokai channel race.

he then paddled off to the next break outside Tongs ( I believe the break is called Zeros)
and that's one of the last stoked days I had.
Besides last sunday. and my wedding on July 28th 2009.

-Mandog

Have the week off.
Honeymoon in Hawaii.
Got married on Saturday.
Today is Tuesday.
Skated around Diamond Head.
and surfed at bowls.

Some guy dropped in on Ethan pretty bad.
A rad perfect wave.
The guy who dropped in on him ripped the wave apart.
Ethan did the same. Only behind the guy.

His response to the bad move was.
"Hey. You got some sick lines brah."

And the guy made a sour face.

Later an Uncle recognized Ethan.
Ethan said yeah I'm gonna take the next one in.
Uncle says, "Why you just got out. You gotta be patient."
The drop in dude was sitting right next to Ethan."
And Ethan says, "No, I just caught a sick wave right behind this guy right here."
It made the guy look small and lame.

I liked this technique... Instead of calling him a kook, and starting a fight,
Ethan came at it positive and the guy didn't know what to do.

The skating earlier in the day was good times.
I put on an old set of unused soft 78a Kryptonic wheels.
They slid real good. and were such a cush ride.

Overall the day was rad.

Surf Wisdom: Crucial Seconds into a tangent mantra.

A second to early or a second too late is what your dealing with sometimes when catching waves.
Being at the right place and the right time. Some waves the margin of error is larger. Some waves there is no margin of error, where you must be spot on. Some boards will create that opportunity for error, however you might trade that for manueverablility. For instance a longer board will catch more waves, however you may not be able to turn it as radical.

However. with a shorter board that day and at that spot you may not catch any waves at all.
There is a right board for the right condition. And sometimes a condition that will allow for a variety of boards.

It works both waves. Ones choices are a dance or a gamble... or a recipe.

It's kind of like Mexian food sometimes. Your ingredients are beans, rice, tomato, onions, beef, or chicken and corn tortillas.
And you take these ingredients to take many differnet forms: Tacos, Burritos, Enchiladas, Chimichangas, Tostadas,

Some surfers think long boarding and short boarding and stand-up paddling boaring are separate, but they're not.d
They are all connected.
Take that a step further.
Surfing is no different than eating mexican food, Different choices, for a result of satisfying a hunger, a pleasure.

My ideas are scattered, but this is an attempt to attack the simplicity at hand.
Life is simple yet so hard to describe at times.
What angle to come at.
Well these writings are a literal practice like to be able to clearly define the secret to living life to your highest potential.

I want to surf.
I want a job.

I have to go where the waves are.
I go where the jobs are.

I like fast waves.
I like artistic jobs.

I surf where the fast waves form often.
I work where there are artistic jobs.

However the one thing that differs form life on land and surfing.
In surfing you have to wait for the waves to arise.

But on land, you can create the waves yourself with the help of others.
Waves of thought in the minds of others.

Sometimes perfect waves hit an area only once that year.
And sometimes they may not show up again for 2 more years or who knows when.

The more I surf the better I understand surfing waves and the ocean.
The more I write the better I understand how the waves of thought in the ocean in my mind.
The more I surf the better I can express myself on waves.
The more I write, the better I can express my thoughts.

The more I dance, the better I can move.
The more I surf, the better I surf.
The more I paint pictures, the better I can understand pictures.
The more I paint, the better I can understand color, shape, line, composition, narrating visually.

The more I surf, the better I understand surfing.

The more I work with people, the better I work with people.

The more I work, the better I work.

The more I love, the better I love.
The more I express my love, the better I express my love.

The more I spend time with friends, the better friends I have.

The more I breathe, the better I breathe.

The more I paint the better I paint.

The more time I spend with myself, the better I understand myself.

But watch out. there are exceptions. You will run into a time when this technique of thought will not work
in every situation. Just as one surfboard won't work for all waves.


(Woke up at 3+am coudn't sleep and had these ideas. So I jumped onto the computer to capture them.)\
Alot of words.But...

There is an ocean of thoughts with infinite waves.
The act of Surfing is an easy activity to peer into the truth of the universe because it is not processed in thought and decisions of others... and too many tools. It is one mind, one board, one wave, one moment. And the only moment you have to deal with is the moment at hand. There are very few variables to deal with. You, your board, and the wave.


Not a team of players, not a boss, a company, your office, computer, assistant, department., Just you a board and the wave.

This is why it is good to eat unprocessed food. Something closer to its original form.

If you can surf between all these... juggle all of your passions.
Balance them all... This is what you must keep in practice.

The more I balance, the better I can balance.
The more I juggle, the better I juggle.

But there comes a point where I can only juggle a certain number of elements my life.
One more too many and the whole juggle collapses. I drop all the balls.

I gotta watch closely how many things I try to juggle.
Myself. Wife. Kid. Surf, Skate, Create.Write. Speak. Business.

Its funny how peoples priorities differ.
What happens when I shift around my priorities.
Like put Business on top.

nahhh. that would be gross.
But hey how about different priority combination for different conditions.
Switch up the ingredients for different occassions.

We're not gonna eat tacos every night right.

hmmmm. To be continued.

Christian Hosoi

I don't know if I wrote about this already, but a couple of weeks ago I was skateboarding to Enterprise Rent a Car to pick up a vehicle as I do most Tuesday afternoons. Except this time I took an alternate route.

On the way I noticed in a courtyard between buildings, a big crowd and a mini-ramp with a bunch of kids skating.

Of course I'm thinking, "Mini-ramp. I wanna skate the min-ramp. At a closer glance I see Christian Hosoi at the base of the ramp narrating through a loudspeaker phone. He is the host of some kind of big event. It is then that I notice that the location is a church named "Word of Life"

Then one of the kids on the other side of the fence notices me and my board and says, "Hey man you can skate too. All you have to do is sign up."

To make a long story shorter, I get the car hustle back and Christian is saying can anyone out there do a layback?
First person to do the best layback gets these set of wheels"

Coincidentally the layback is one of my signature tricks because one of Christian's signature tricks is the layback.
You see like thousands of other skaters around the globe from 80's, Christian was my role model... Hero if you will.

So I say, "I can" and jump onto the ramp.

Christian says "Oh, here we go."

I drop in and Christian says to the crowd, "O.K. this guy's got style" and I'm thinking "Christian my teenage hero known as the "most stylish skater that ever lived" is saying that I have style.
I'm so stoked and I do a layback and the crowd cheers.

Then I notice the soft wheels I'm riding are too soft for the ramp. So I say" Christian. Can I use your board?" and he says, "Sure." and hands me his board and...

Actually this is one of the main reasons I'm writing this story.
His board was so elite.

His board was light in weight.
Trucks the perfect looseness. Not too tight, not too loose.

Perfect tail length.
Perfect pop.(the wood so fresh and hard) the sound of smacking the tail made the highest pitch "DAK!"
His wheels the perfect height...
actually very low to the ground.

The center of gravity of the board so low.

and the board the perfect length and with.

A big board yet so light.

It even had a thin set of rails on it.

and the board still weighed so little.

I rode this board and it was magic.

I rode it until he took it back.

We then got into a deep conversation about Jesus.
I told him that I was just randomly skateing by and i saw this ramp and wanted to skate.
Then I saw you inside hosting and was like, "No Way!"

He was stoked about the randomness of my experience and said, "How do you know that Jesus didn't put this ramp for you to skate and talk with me right now. Jesus has the power to do things for you individually and for others at the same time."

Then he said lets skate. And we run up the ramp and Christian drops in for a flawless epic run as usual. To see Christian bail is kind of rare. Long 5-0 grinds to fackie. Big backside disasters to smith. A frontside floating olllie. Long frontside 5-0 grinds. A hand plant, and of course a classic layback like no other. Then dismounts onto one the deck.

He climbs off the ramp into the crowd. And I take my run. A hard act to follow, but do anyway.
I then here my name from below.
Its Christian. He says, "Manny!" and gestures for me to come down. So I do.

Christian says, "Lets say a prayer. Repeat after me"
"Thank you lord for giving us this ramp to skate and have fun. If there is a god out there, give me a big sign that I will notice"... Amen.
.... It was something along this line.

He then said here take my number down. I had it previously from when I did an interview with him for the Honolulu Weekly a year ago but had lost it with a new phone.

He said, You're gonna call me when you get blown away at the power of Jesus. You are gonna be blown away."


We parted as he was scheduled to speak during the next part of the event...

I stuck around a little while and listened to him speak to the crowd of about 500 people or more. I was touched to hear him speak about our encounter... about how I randomly rolled through that street and found the ramp. And how Jesus possibly put that ramp out there for me. as well as he did it for all of us...


I was like wow. what a day.
Kind of surreal.
I feel blessed actually.

God has bestowed a wealth of good times and moments to me... and my surroundings.
I am blessed.
God is with me.

And that is what my hame "Emanuel" means actually.... God is with us.

Uncle Outside

I surfed "Lighthouse" yesterday morning. It's one of the high performance waves on the South Shore.
Every spot of course has it's regulars. At Lighthouse there's this one Uncle who sits the farthest outside waiting for only the big set waves. From further inside where most sit, Uncle sounds like he's speaking in tongues...mumbling.
He'll be like, "Ober der inside yeah!... oops maybe not. Hmmm. Maybe... mmmm..No. Sorry eh!" or" Der inside! Going brah!"

Then, Uh Oh! Here dey come (talking about approaching waves in the far distance.) "Here we go, ha ha ha grrrrrhhm. Yah!" as he paddles to into position. He'll be what looks like just a little too far inside where the wave is gonna crash on his back... And the wave does just that. He'll do the latest of late take-offs. The wave jacks up. the lip crashes on his back as he is saying, "Uh. Oh." under his breath and make the drop somehow. Any second later a total wipeout. then he'll go left sometimes instead of right (the way the wave is known for breaking).

Most people think longboarders are not welcome at lighthouse.
But the way Uncles rides, he is an obvious exception.

If you paddle next to him, you realize that it is not the sound of waves and distance that muffles his voice, but he actually speaks that way, in grunts... but I totally understand him... Probably because I speak like him as well at times like when I speak to my lady Marisa. She can't stand it. But somehow it makes sense to me.... or isn't worth articulating.

Unga bunga.
Aloha yeah?
-Manwell.

Michael Peterson

Reading a book right now titled "MP the life of Michael Peterson"

4th of July Ding Repair

I'm not bragging about this moment. I just found it funny and a little scary.
At the supermarket with my pregnant lady Marisa.

We're buying groceries of for a BBQ at our friend Rob Duncan.
Marisa is being good and buying veggies and fruit.

I'm almost totally broke and all I want and can afford is chicken and beer.

And all I want to do is do ding repair and sand my surfboards.
We get to the register and pay separate and the beer cost more than the chicken,
which she points out.

I almost feel guilty but not.

I can't focus my mind on anything else but sanding my boards. And its Marisa's only day off.

I felt so selfish.
So she says go sand. It's too late I had to leave.
I go to Rob's because he has a big backyard for me to make a mess.
For the next 2 hour I sand and drink a few beers while Marisa stayed home and cried.

I felt terrible, but there was nothing I can do.
I already dropped in.

When I finished, I hustled back home, got down on my knees and apologized for a while and finally got her to come with me back to the BBQ.
but first we drove up Tantalus Mountain and watched the fire works in the rain. We sat in the back of our station wagon hatchback until the fireworks started. Then I held two layers of straw matting over our heads for perfect romantic shelter.

Those fireworks saved my relationship.
If we would have missed them, I may have been a gonner.

The fireworks went off right on time at around 8:30pm.

Then we went back to the BBQ just as Rob started Q-ing it up.
We ate big.
then went home and crashed.

That was a close one.
I almost lost my lady to ding repair.
-Manny

Tokyo Flashback

Cruising through Tokyo Part 1 from unclefunkys on Vimeo.

Slide

More Style Sessions II from unclefunkys on Vimeo.

Fathers Day: Solitude in Ding Repair

sol·i·tude
1. The state or quality of being alone or remote from others.

During moments of solitude, I can relax my mind from my weekday routines. Weekday brain patterns.
I tend to pack in so much during the week. My mind on go twenty four-seven.

I've been known to be the guy to wax poetic or be a little too nostalgic, but I don't give a shit.
These are the moments when I kick back and appreciate life. When times get a little rough and I got 11 dollars in the bank,
I just kick back and dig into the archives of my memory and find one of the many fulfilling moments I've had.

A lot of the time we just eat up life and just keep on eating. Sometimes we gotta give thanks.
During moments of solitude I can find the time to do so.

Today I received my first Fathers Day card from my lady Marisa and my unborn baby yet with no name.
Any one out there have a good name, Please drop a comment.

At first I was thinking Ocean. I try to imagine being at a playground and yelling "Ocean! Time to go."
Wifey Marisa likes Nico. I'm also thinking Ethan.

Woke up with a pretty bad hang over.
Yesterday I kicked it with my bro Rob Duncan. We watched Roller Derby at 5pm and then went to the local bar Anna Bannanas
for the after party and ended up staying til 1am I think. then went back to Rob's and he fed me a salad and an enchilada until I fell asleep on his couch as he was telling me some deep shit. Felt bad about that, but heck, I don't drink as much these days
and we threw back about four pitchers worth of beers.

So I woke up pretty bent.
Met up with Marisa during her break to dip into the Ocean.
Then a visit to Uncle Ethan Valeting at Tokurrei Tei.
He hooked me up with 3 fat avocados.
Ethan is the fruit hook up master.

Thank God for Fathers Day and Marisa so extra sweet.
Like a get out of jail free card, she let me off the hook.
So its 8pm Marisa works til 10pm and I'm doing Ding repair and writing the blog.
Both activities of precious solitude.
Til next time.
Aloha.

Cruising in My Neighborhood

Rice Bowls

Some were saying 10ft. Hawaiian. I say something more like 4-6ft with an occasional 8ft set...
Sick waves heaving. Barreling....12-18ft faces.
Some waves I let go by... chickened out.
Today I surfed Rice Bowls for the first time.
One of the best high performance waves on the south shore.

It's a gorgeous wave with beautiful curves...
Steep and fast.
The kind of wave that works to hand your ass back to you on a plate...
wants to gobble you up.

But I caught some fun ones.
Some cutbacks
a layback...
a little shelter
a lip smack to the face but made it through.

I had a freak incident at one moment when I got stuck inside.
A wave took me out and my leash wrapped around both of my feet together.
I couldn't kick to the surface.
My board was getting dragged with great force strangling my feet by the ankles.

10 seconds later the wave let up and the leash relaxed enough to break free.
A little freaky for a moment.
Later in the evening no one in the line up was sharing waves.

like cutting the line.
and I got stuck pretty late out there in the dark.

Biggest and best South Shore waves I ever caught in yet.
If I can make it out early enough.
I'll paddle out with a bigger board.... 6'6"?
Good times,
Aloha.

Garage skate therapy

A little bit goes a long way.

Method Air

Hill Bomb Upstate New York on mini cruiser

Aloha Book Shelf in Progress

This one goes out to Eric Lindveit and Random Enterprises.
This is my Hawaiian Random Creation.
I found the frame of it on the street. I added the leaf cuts and shelves.
Eric Lindveit taught me how to use a tape measure to the 1/32 and to make precision cuts.
Thanks Eric.

I think It looks good natural, but I think I'm gonna paint it.

Finished Mural

One small step.
One free board.

Mural atop Surftech Hawaii

Gotta finish the rest next Saturday. Should take me about 2hrs.
but this is the gist of it.

What sucks is that I painted it on Saturday April 25th, my brother Bob's birthday.
I forgot to call him.
Sorry Bob. Hope you can forgive me.

Super Aloha Friday Off

Been workin' the 9-5 like most.
and gettin' back pains from sittin' at the computer too long
and not stretching enough.
Stretching is essential.

But my back still works and the Honolulu Weekly gave the company Friday off.
in replace of having to work on last week's Good Friday.

So there just happened to be a dying swell on the North Shore with 8-10 ft faces.
Thats 2-4 ft.Hawaiian. Perfect Rippable waves. Almost harmless.
And practically no wind all day. So I took my sweet time getting up to the NS arriving at 10 am
and getting out of the water at 2pm.

My face and back feel a little crispy.

At first it was crowded. I was on a wave and in one instant a long board from some lady comes over the falls,
and wacks me as I'm coming down the line which knocks me off my board into some older man on the inside.
His eyeballs were all big as I dove off my board controlling my wipeout as much as possible.

I heard boards collide and my knee hit something hard.

Our boards and leashes got intertwined.

My board was ok. without dings.
No one appeared to be hurt.

Old man paddles in.
I paddle back to lineup to find my knee slightly bleeding with a small gash.

Kept my eyes open for sharks.
The water was super clear today.
I didn't feel them around. and saw that my knee wasn't bleeding too hard.

That was about 10:30
I stuck it out and caught one of the best sessions all year yet.
Perfect waves pealing in the sun.

by 12 noon most everyone paddled in.
and I surfed with 2 others for two hours.
I'd catch a perfect wave all the way in and paddle back nearly exhausted and another wave would
be coming ready to be ridden.
I'd be like oh shit. Here we go again.
I repeated this over and over again until I couldn't handle it anymore and caught one more right to the shore.

Then back to town to meet up with John Esguerra at 5pm to talk art and business then pick up Marisa at work by 6pm.

John and I got stoked on a project.
Marisa and I watched the sunset over the ocean at Waikiki near her work...
The sky changed from yellow and blue and purple to orange and hot pink.
The best part of a sunset is after it sets. Thats when the sky's color go wild.

Then we watched the Waikiki Friday fireworks.
Grocery store, Dinner, and bed.
I feel good.
No beers today.
Aloha and good night.

From Brother Bob Poem

Your back is hurtin,
gettin stressed out,
flowers are bloomin,
it's better than gout.
Life's gettin complex,
lotso time tween sex,
babies got you on the move,
gotts to find the groove.
You're goin insane,
even lil waves are a pain,
it all sounds like a growin pain.

You're all good

Note to self

Back Problems

waitin' for lower back to recover.
can't wait to get back into the ocean.
gotta stretch and get connected. YOGA...
fallin' off physically...
possibly too much time behind a computer.

Maui

Cleared some of the sludge in my head, soul and full being
just sittin in Maui listening to the wind and trees.
re-evaluating dreams, goals
simplify, simplify, simplify.

This photo is of Aspen and I.
It was his birthday party...
him and his sister Lily's.
there birthdays are a day apart.
There parents are Jodi and Caleb.
We stayed at their home in the most remote zone.
Dey got plenty Aloha.
Thank you.

Brotha Bob and I

Bob testin' the North Shore Waters

Philosophic Contemplation

Life is a balance of living your desires and being happy where you're at.
The fruitful moment is where past present and future become one.
Eric Lindveit is Mr. Miagi Teachah Animal Undah Covah Romantic .


I'm going to Maui for the weekend and it could be good to not touch a computer for a day or two... or three.
Wow. Let's see if I can do that.
Hmmm.... Can I do without the cell phone too?
Can I get closer to caveman style to gain better perspective on my current status.

We shall see.


Oh. Forgot to mention that I hooked up a new skate setup yesterday morning and rode it to work.
My new skateboard is a Magic Carpet that eats curbs.
Rides as if there is nothing beneath me. Just floats down the street in search of curbs.
Curb Cobbler.


Ok.
Til next time.
Signing off.
-Manny Modigliani Del Mar

My Secret

The secret I always have to remind myself:
Its hard to have hard times in Paradise Hawaii, but it happens.

When money is tight I think to myself well it's warm enough here, I don't need much clothes.
I can breathe. I got arms and legs. I've lived a great life so far.
Shit. I am so thankful for everything I've done so far and have been given. Even without accomplishing my next dream.
When you get bummed or stumped Manny,
Just remember to be thankful and that will set you off with plenty of energy.

Shaka.

Day in the life

Saturday morning go to meet a midwife.
and hear my baby's heartbeat for the first time.
Its fast and I'm stoked its on.
Then its all you can eat Japanese food with Marisa by Aloha Tower.
Marisa goes to work
I stop at the skate shop to pick up some grip tape.
Waves on the North Shore were messy Saturday
Rainy and small on the South.
I go home and start getting creative
then get invited to the neighbors for a dinner party.
One neighbor brings a bag full of volcano smoke if you know what I mean.
One little puff and I'm feelin' the need to stretch and run in the rain.

After a few nibbles of dinner and a beer and talking with some interesting people,
I go for a run in the pouring rain around a few blocks
Brilliant for my lungs.
I go to bed and wake anxious to surf.
My car is dead so I call a few friends to see if they want to surf, but no one picks up.
But my first priority is to ride my girlfriends bike with the basket and my backpack
to the grocery store for some eggs, fruit, some veggies, creamer and bread.
Its a sunny day.
I come home and Woman is happy.
I tell her I need to get into the ocean. I'm fragile and need to get grounded.
Ready to ride my bike solo to Diamond head, I get a phone call from another friend who
I forgot to call earlier, Kekoa.
He says he'll pick me up in thirty minutes.
Marisa quickly cooks up a couple of pancakes with stawberries and an egg and some coffee.
We end up surfing North shore with 3 other friends.
We catch some fun ones. I feel connected to my board and slide around releasing some aggression
We feel great then go for Mexican at Cholos Restaurant in Haleiwa
Food and a couple of beers and back to the town to the south side.
30 minute nap and a wake up call from a guy running an art show in a few days.
I e-mail a few samples of my work,
then a bike ride to Waikiki for a closing art show where wifey Marisa works.
Have some wine and a great talk with the artist and back home inspired to do my own thing.
Eat some ice cream and write in blog.
then bed
-Manny Skate da Surfa Artist

Essentials

Sketchbook drawing

I was looking through my back pocket sketchbook and was surprised by this drawing. I didn't remember drawing or writing it.
And to those of you who don't know, I got a baby on the way.

Letter to my brother Bob

Aye Brudduh,
Great to see you today too. I want to tell you about my day and then I'm gonna post it on my blog, because it was pretty surreal and made me so appreciative of how precious every minute of life is.

This morning I went to the bank to open up a savings account then road a few more blocks to the beach to swim in the ocean and lay around in the shade of a palm tree with Marisa. Then I find out my friend Kekoa wants to drive to the North Shore to surf. He agrees to pick me up in 30 minutes.

So we start riding home and as we are riding out of the beach park we see this man on a single monkey/pull up bar doing the gymnast maneuver when you flip around the the bar head over heals.

He does it once and I think to myself, "damn I can hardly do that trick. I almost always wipe out when I try that"
He does it again, and again fast, then we watch him gain momentum to do it again even faster. Then he slips and falls head first and ends up on his back.

At first I'm like "Holy shit, that was funny" This all happened in less than 15 seconds so far.
And now were about 25 ft away from him. I notice that the man is over 60 years old. Then a couple of people rush to him.

A closer look at his shaved head and I notice a 4 inch cut on the side of his head.
Blood starts pumping out at the pace of his heart beat. Marisa takes the towel from around my waste and gives it to the citizen overseeing him.
Maybe 1 minute an 20 seconds have passed. Maybe less.
The man doesn't talk for at least a minute. Marisa calls 911.
I'm feeling nauseous. I wait a few minutes and Marisa tells me to leave because Kekoa will be picking me up soon and I still have a 15 minute bike ride home.
I'm about to go surf and this man might die from one slip.

I ride home pretty scared thinking how my life can end if I run through another red light on my bike..
and how I can hurt a pedestrian if I ride carelessly. I was like I gotta call up Bob and tell him that I love him.

So I love you dude.

So I end up going to North Shore and surf the cloudy late afternoon at the same spot I paddled out with you and Marisa at Haleiwa... The only thing that was different is that it wasn't 1ft, but 6 to 8ft Hawaiian.
I swear, some of faces were over 20ft. I dropped in on some 15ft+ faces.
The other set waves breaking farther outside were almost scaring me, and the dudes dropping in were fully handling with style hitting the lip 15ft up and then getting in the tube.
It was sick. I was happy to get a few bigger than medium sized waves in the rain all the way in to shore.

Then I came home and cooked dinner for Marisa by 8:30pm.

That was my day.
I love you bro.
Lets stay in touch.
I had a great time with you and Gretchin and LIna.
I want to make it a regular thing that we visit each other often... at least a couple of times a year,
I'm gonna work hard to make it happen.
Maybe we meet at other destinations in the world.
Talk soon.
-Manny

Some Essentials

Communications Station

Mission

Some days I miiss a blog. And I get detached from the world. This blog thing is actually a good tool for being connected to a global communinty. Blogs raise collective consciousness around the world.
In the days I get lost in the grind and making other people happy I hang on to my dreams by a thread. "What the hell are my dreams I ask myself" This blog is my reminder" like a sketchbook but better, because I can house it in a virtual world. I don't have to worry about losing my book. Because this blog is stored very securely by some Super Tech Dudes.

Ok so my mission:
To pass on the tradition of being stoked on life even through rough times.
To be a vehicle for genius ghosts.
To be an ambassador of the moment by creating art that mirrors the moment.
To do my part in the global community of passionate people.
To carry on and develop what it means to be enlightened and balanced.

To live life to the fullest and record those moments so the next generation can realize that life is radical and amazing... and at best constant magic.
My mission is to continue to create so I don't lose site of the light
that fuels me and all my favorite people.

Thats it for now.
Aloha.
-Manny

RKTR ZINE IS BORN

Underground Surf, Skate, Create Zine.
-Manny Aloha

See one spread per day at:
RKTR.blogspot.com

Sightings

http://friendswelove.wordpress.com/2009/02/19/zines-we-love-rktr-skate-surf-art/
http://uxatoday.blogspot.com/2009/02/manny-pangilinan.html

This weeks cover

RKTR- a peep at a Surf/Skate/Create zine I've been working on these past days.

What started as a quick and dirty zine, is turning out to grow into something more involved.

Surf Warrior rides Ballzout.
Shallow reef claims skin and fins
ready for blood at any opportunity.
Surf warrior gambles a free ride.

Nug Poem

Crystal clear waters...
the biggest bathtub in the world
Duck dive
exhale under water
yeah!
See the Nugget
Ride the Nugget.
Stupid Stoked
Delirous focus carving up and down
Slash!
Fuck yeah.
And back for more.
don't forget to share the Nugz.
Or else you'll stink up the joint
Breathe, kick back
wait your turn
Give one to Unk
Give one to sis
Give one to little man
Then Yup, here comes your Nug again
Love dem Nuggets
-Manny Aloha

K Point NS

This week's cover of Honolulu Weekly

Wednesday Dawn Patrol Report

Woke up at 5:15 am
Out the door 5:45
Arrive at North shore at 6:30
To meet up with John Esquerra.
Ehukai Beach Park was windy and kind of all over the place...
So we dedided to go west a little.

There was an East Swell with East winds
which made for side shore at NS.

We decided to surf Jockos.
There was a heavy rip current taking you out to sea.
If you floated around too long, you found the houses got smaller.
I was stoked to catch a couple of waves with my 6'2" 20 1/2"W and 2 5/8" twin fin with brand new fins.
The board floated alot better that my 6'5" Tokoro thruster.

My twin felt like surfing on oil it was so slippery.
My board felt like a slut...
all loose and easy.
It did whatever I wanted it too and enjoyed it.

Soon John paddled in sick of fighting the current.

I was getting sucked out trying to catch one in.

As I was paddling in, I here, "Hey Dude! Hey Dude!" this one guy says.
Its just him, some knee boarder, and me out there.

"Whats up" I said.

"How do you paddle in here?" he asked.

"Straight in. There's just a heavy rip right now so you gotta catch a wave in" I say.
"
"I'm having bad asthma right now."

"Ok" I said, "Just relax. Don't freak out."

"I'm freaking out" he said.
"Can you do me a favor and just sit here with me for a minute?"

"I say ok" knowing if we sit too long, we'll just have to paddle further in.

So I coach him to keep paddling, and then eventually a wave comes my way and I say go for this one
Go, Go!"

He makes it far enough in to make it out of the rip.
Of course I get stuck in it for a whille longer.
See the small far away guy on shore see me then walk off the beach to his car.

I think to myself, "Hey, thanks huh?"

I manage to paddle in about 20-25 minutes after John who's gotta go to work by 10am like me and its probably well pass 9 by now. He was almost pissed, until I told him that I had to coach in some dude.

He laughed and shared a big jug of warm water for a shower.

Caught some fun ones in the mess.

Lesson Learned: When there is an East swell with east winds, Stay home with your chick, work on some art, or go to Makaha on the West Side.

Das all.
-Manny Aloha

Dawn Patrol Wednesday

The great usual dawn patrol Wednesday routine.
Hope the waves are clean.
This week was tough.
Gonna be on the cover of Honolulu Weekly this week...
A little trippy.
I'll post the cover later today.
wrote two short pieces in it as well.
Til then
Manny

Cover Preview 1st Drafts

Super Bowl Sunday Self Portrait

Honestly, I didn't do shit today except eat and sleep and I tell myself...
"Shit! You got shit to do homeboy if you plan on being a full time successful artist. You can't be sittin' around watchin' tv all day. Oh well. Thats the way it goes sometimes... especially when you drink a little too much the previous night, which is what I did with Marisa. Gotta focus more.
Every time I have free time, I'm surfing. But it feels so good thats why. Saturday we BBQd on the North Shore at my favorite break with our friends Amy and Sam and their two kids Makai, and Kainoa. We arrived at noon and John Esguerra was there to meet me to surf. We surfed another break down the line all to ourselves. John used to work at the Diesel store on 14th Street, NYC and run the art shows... sometimes surf art shows. He remembered me when we met a couple of months ago checkin' out waves doin' dawn patrol.
Yeah so we caught some fun ones on Saturday, ate good food then came back to town for a show, Ozomotli at Aloha Tower...
Good times which caused me to spend almost all day in bed with Marisa. Just ate and slept and ate and then road bikes to a place down the street called Magic Island for the sunset.
A shower and here I am.
Great weekend but I want to spend more time creating art and skateboards.
Life management strategies go on in my head.
Theres my weekend blog.
-Manny Aloha