Bootleggers Reunion 1930's 1940's workwear specialists

The other day Papa was saying that the Military Flight jacket market was pretty much owned by a couple of companies in Japan, The Few, Toys McCoys, Real McCoys and Buzz Rickson. But in the arena of workwear the Bootleggers Reunion reign supreme. These guys are all ex- McCoys employees and have started their own brand. Their speciality is really in Vintage 1930's and 1940's workwear. The leather that they produce in the Papa's opinion is second to none. Check these styles out and take note of the insane Japanese approach to insisting on detail.


This is Papa's favourite, a Black leather version of the classic railman's coat, it is beautifully detailed and is lined in a combination of wool and cotton flannel.


The Collar Tab detail is magnificent, this allowed you to button the jacket at the throat when wearing several layers of garments underneath.


This Motorcycle jacket is typical of the 1930's, the shape is quite fitted assisted by a half belt in the back.


Note the gorgeous use of the two tone effect in the horsehide leather.


This Ranchers jacket has great pocket detailing and would last a life time of hard wearing.


Another beautiful leather motor sports style jacket. The colour is typical of the Bootleggers Reunion quest for authenticity, not every jacket was black or brown.


Unbelievable back detailing explains why these babies cost so much.


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'THE FEW' flight jackets for the elite.

( AAF A-2 WERBER HORSEHIDE FLIGHT JACKET)


(US AIR CORPS B-3 SHEEPSKIN JACKET)

During the 1990's The Real McCoys emerged in Japan to be the leaders of the replica flight jacket market. This was not like what the Americans had been doing previously which approximated selling Top Gun Jacket replicas to the mass market.
The Real McCoys were working on an elitist theory that you must deliver the best regardless of price. For almost a decade they were synonomous with the best. After a complicated falling out of partners, three seperate companies have emerged in the past few years, these are: Toys McCoys by Hiroshi Okamoto, The Bootleggers Reunion and the Few, led by Masa Ishizuka. The Few are based out of NZ so they have access to the amazing quality of Merino hides used in the production of their flight jackets. Below is just a sampling of the jackets they have available, each an exacting replica of the original wartime version.


(A-1 HORSEHIDE PRE WWII [1930'S] FLIGHT JACKET)


(AAF B-1 Switlik Parachutte and Equipment Company contracted SHEEPSKIN FLIGHT JACKET)


(US NAVY AN6552 GOATSKIN FLIGHT JACKET)

Papa's AWOL on an ATOLL beach style.

Papa Nui's beach style is unique. Its a satorial statement born of individuality, idealism and a sense of the wacky. What the hell says the Papa, the beach has always been a place for irreverent expression. 60 years ago surfers were cutting off the legs of sailors pants to go surfing in or wearing boxer shorts 5 sizes too big so they dragged down past your tan line when you stood up. In short surfers just did their own shit, created unique stuff and to hell with what anybody else thought, especially the establishment.
Wow how things have changed. Nowadays if the Surfing Kremlim says its cool and in fashion the hoards can't help but pad the wallet of some fat cat in Victoria who couldn't remember why he started in the surf industry in the first place.
Alas its the same the world over, so Im not telling anybody anything new. But the Papa, well, he reckons you just gotta do your own thing, forget surf companies, forget 40 year old's looking like grommets, the Papa says stuff 'em all.
Inspired by a chance viewing of South Pacific and later an in-depth reading of the James A.Michener novel, The Papa decided to build his style ideas based on AWOL on an Atoll. Here's just a few shots of the latest in Papa's surfside wardrobe.


Tired of the endless drudgery of commercial boardshorts the Papa now wears WWII Underwater Demolition Team shorts with Marine Amphibious patch sewn on the leg.
Olive t-shirt by Hanes USA, WWII American Optics aviator glasses, US Navy crewmans cap, olive herringbone twill with stencil tote bag by the PAPA. Leather thongs by Aqua Patagonia Brazil.


US NAVY UDT shorts from WWII still currently available and worn by the SEALS. Papa Nui insists they are the perfect, 'I don't give a shit about your crappy boardshort company', statement around.


At the beach casual wear. Original 1940's captains hat by the Beachcomber, White Hanes t-shirt, UDT Screw crown watch with webbed band by ZENO USA, Korean war surplus herringbone twill pants and opened face WWII belt, HBT and string tote bag by the PAPA, leather thongs as above.


An amazing custom pair of Birdwell Beach Britches from Santa Ana California in rare WWII USMC camoflauge. This camo pattern was worn through out the Pacific Campaign. It is know as the 'frog pattern' and was developed by the editor of American House and Garden magazine. Pearl Harbor Anniversary T-shirt, Handmade Palm frond hat completes the ensemble.


Day outfit for the tropics consists of, WWII US Marine Corp Tropical Helmet, olive singlet by american apparel, Original Red Cross possibles bag, Custom made Herringbone twill Sarong with attached Marines pocket by the PAPA, leather beach sandals

Miles Davis and the Ivy League

The Papa is not above plagiarising good stuff when he sees it but this time he was just plain sorry he could'nt haven't thought about writing this article himself. For lovers of Jazz and Fashion, its a beauty. It comes courtesy of Ralph Lauren Magazine and was written by Christian M. Chensvold.

Sometime around 1954, jazz great Miles Davis walked into the Andover Shop, a small haberdashery in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and single-handedly turned the world of style upside down. Just as his groundbreaking album Milestones (celebrating it’s 50th anniversary next year) changed music, that afternoon in Cambridge shifted men’s fashion.

Miles emerged from the store clad head to toe in traditional “Ivy League”–style clothing, and in so doing merged two separate worlds—those of the establishment and the black jazz artist—as if fusing two dissonant notes to create a bold new harmony. The result was a crashing chord of cool that obliterated the line between square and hip, sounding a fashion fortissimo that lasted several years before fading into the silence of pop-culture obscurity.

Miles stocked up on tweed and madras jackets with a natural shoulder and narrow lapel; chino and flannel trousers; button-down shirts; knit and regimental striped ties; and Bass Weejun penny loafers. “It was a look that redefined cool,” writes Miles biographer John Szwed, “and shook those who thought they were in the know.”

“It sounds corny now,” recalls 82-year-old Charlie Davidson, who still runs the Andover Shop, “but Miles liked the real Ivy League look, and it became the hip way of dressing.”

At the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival, Miles went onstage in a seersucker sack coat, rounded club-collar shirt, and bow tie. Candid photos from this period reveal his taste for tweed sport coats and oxford-cloth button-down shirts that were so white, recalls jazz writer Rob Mariani, they “made you think you’d never seen a really white shirt before.”

Swing bands had their matching tuxedos; and bebop’s poster boy was Dizzy Gillespie, in his double-breasted pinstripes, Technicolor tie, and hipster beret. But the new sounds of the ’50s—hard bop and cool jazz—required a new look. Ivy League style fit perfectly, and its clean-cut understatement seemed only to further highlight the adventurous music of these jazz pioneers. “The old clothes looked drab to them, just as swing and traditional jazz did,” says Davidson. “The stage was set for something new, and it turned out to be my kind of Eastern, university, WASPy, old-line clothing.”

Soon Davidson was dressing such jazz luminaries as Stan Getz, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond, J. J. Johnson, the Modern Jazz Quartet, and Chet Baker. “Musicians realized they looked better in that costume,” recalls jazz promoter Charles Bourgeois, who first took Miles to the Andover Shop. “It was a good look and still is. Next to a tuxedo or military uniform, there’s nothing that makes a guy look better than Ivy League.”

When Baker was booked at the Boston jazz club Storyville in 1954, says Bourgeois, “Chet arrived from California dressed like a ragamuffin with giant shoulder pads. I said, ‘You can’t be seen here like that.’” Just as he’d done with Miles, Bourgeois took Baker to the Andover Shop. And when the album Chet Baker in New York came out in 1958, it bore a cover photo showing the trumpet player looking the epitome of collegiate cool in a navy jacket, white button-down, and gold-and-navy rep tie, and with Brylcreemed hair.

A drummer for Charlie Parker and Sarah Vaughan, the legendary Roy Haynes—who’s still beating the skins today, at age 83—was another loyal Andover customer in the ’50s. He grew up in Boston, where, he says, he was surrounded by “natural shoulders, button-down shirts, rep ties—it was very popular at the time, and I was used to seeing guys from Harvard at jazz events.”

Decked out in their traditional-yet-hip Ivy gear, Haynes and Miles were named to best-dressed lists by GQ and Esquire, alongside elegant icons like Cary Grant and Fred Astaire, and blue bloods like A. J. Drexel Biddle Jr. and Dean Acheson.

The Ivy League look wasn’t only for those on the creative side of jazz. The cofounder of Atlantic Records, the perennially dapper Ahmet Ertegun—who helped shape the careers of John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, and Ornette Coleman—sought out suits at J. Press. And producer John Hammond, patron saint of jazz patrons, who was a Yalie and the grandson of Cornelius Vanderbilt, ambled around clubs dressed like a tweedy history professor while scouting cutting-edge talent.

As jazz evolved, embracing electric guitars and rock rhythms, the Eisenhower-Kennedy look gave way to tie-dye and denim. “Looking sharp was the standard until the late ’60s,” says Michael Cuscuna, who has produced reissues of Baker and Mulligan for his own Mosaic Records. “That’s when rock permeated into jazz and Art Blakey traded his silk suits for overalls.”

If the Ivy League style was cool in the ’50s, it only seems cooler in retrospect. Perhaps that’s because the look isn’t fleeting fashion but something timeless. The eight private colleges that are members of the Ivy League athletic conference may be for just a select few, but the clothes popularized on their campuses have been democratized into staples of classic American style. During the ’50s the unlikely pairing of African American artistry and WASP style not only created a new idiom of cool, but also helped set the stage for the civil rights marches and demands for equality that came a decade later.

Baker and Miles ultimately moved on to new sounds and new fashions, but Bourgeois has stuck to his sartorial roots. At 89 he continues to be director of public relations for the Festival Network, which operates the Newport Jazz Festival. “And I still wear the same clothes,” he says. “When you have something well made, it lasts a long time.

“Of course,” he adds with a raspy sigh, “the clothes are a little tight now.”

Papa's thought of the day.

'Punk is the domain of corporate shortboarding gimickery'.

Papa Nui commissions monster artist Ben Strawn.

The Papa loves monster art! So in researching the genre he discovered American artist, Ben Strawn. Ben and the Papa discussed a colloboration of ideas and ergo the Monster Papa was created.
You can view Ben's work at www.myspace.com/strawnillustrations and see the Papa's other good monster friends including Capt'n Kreep. Enjoy.

Papa Nui's ultimate surf truck.

If you've ever wondered what Papa Nui's surf vehical of choice would be this looks like its right up his alley!! Prepare for the invasion folks, the Papa is storming the beaches!!

Surfing, Hot Rods and the aesthetics of Foam and Glass

On the coasts of Southern California, surfing and cars has always been synonymous. In the earliest photographic history of the region there is always the inevitable image of the jalopy loaded with planks parked by the beach side.


During the late 50's early 1960's this was more prolific than ever. Hot rodding and surfing went hand in hand as can be referenced in the beautiful portfolio of photographer Leroy Grannis.( see Rodders Journal #9 )


Pioneer surfer and shaper, Dale Velzy was a classic example of the cross fertilisation of these two genres. Velzy up till the time of his recent death always pursued his interest in cars when the swell was flat. This fabulous legacy is continued today with the likes of logger and shaper Tyler Hatzikian. Tyler is an avid advocate of this tradition and many of the aesthetic elements of Hot rodding permeate his artistic approach to the finishing of his boards. His store at El Segundo California is a testament to this fact. His front window features the most decoratively beautiful sign writing. Here we see his name executed with flourish in what appears to be gold leaf outlines filled with the most gorgeously flamboyant psychedelic 60's paisley fill that pays direct homage to Hot rod decorating of the same period. Tyler is drawing direct parallels for us that are imbued with a legacy and soul that draws inspiration from our rich ocean side history.


As an entity who is also much inspired by all things visual, The Papa draws much pleasure from Tyler's unique take and outlook and encourages his readers to explore options off the beaten path from the generic single layered glass jobs and homogeneous surf craft.
Michelangelo was credited with saying, 'Where there is no hand, there is no heart", and applied to the craft of surfboard manufacturing this resonates louder than ever.


In the tradition carried on by these two influential and significant surfers we should try to approach our outlook with a renewed and rekindled interest in the art of design, shaping and glassing. By viewing our next purchase with a sense of history and appreciation we ensure that there will always be an avenue open for those unique artists who continue the evolution of our sport. Drawing parallels from the past to the present encourages us all to arrive at a place of deeper understanding, belonging and appreciation of where we are and how we got there.

C. R. Stecyk, Dogtown and a Rebels stance.

For any of you out there familiar with the birth of skateboarding in the mid 1970's, the name C.R Stecyk, would be significant.
Stecyk is the ultimate author and social/ pop culture commentator of the Southern California surf/skate/art scene. He is also internationally known as a respected collector of fine artist working in sculpture, painting, surfboards and hot-rod cars. He is one of the founders of Juxtapoz art magazine, and has contributed to many different books, including the authorised Miki Dora story and Don James' Surfing San Onofre to Point Dume.



His stories published in the original Skateboard Magazine are the stuff of legend. His involvement in the Zephyr skateboard team and the Dogtown street scene of Venice California was pivotal. His social commentary is beautifully articulated and precise. He is an individual with a deep sense of history and has the unique ability to link the past to the future.
His works of the mid to late 1970's are the most poignant. Collectively known as the 'Dogtown Chronicals', he introduced delinquent skateboarders like Jay Adams and Tony Alva to a generation of disaffected youth.



What the Papa enjoyed most about his work was the way in which he wove his stories into the fabric of Southern California culture. We get to see the emergence of skateboarding set against the gritty graffiti streets of Venice and Santa Monica. We glimpse a world of surfers sharing neighbourhoods with Latin Chicano street gangs, lowriders and hotrods and we see the amazing cross pollination of ideas and culture. We see skateboarders as dispossessed youth carving out a brave new world amongst the crumbling concrete of a former beachside paradise.
He captured this intense moment and revealed it all to a world of pre-punk teens around the globe.
To me as a 14 year old living in Sydney Australia it came as an incredible outlet for my teen angst and went on to play a major role in how I would forever view my world. There was finally a focal point for my idealism and creativity and skateboarding would provide me with a sense of belonging that set me apart from my peers in their safe ignorance of being Australian.



It has been a long time since someone like Stecyk has spoken to me in the same vibrant terms, in a way that could create such revered passion .
In today's world its a scary thing to view how accepting our children have become to all things pertaining to being teenagers. On a daily basis I see manipulation and the dumbing down of our young ones by corporate identities: The Surf Conglomerates, the Skateboard giants, the Clothing labels with public stock interests. I live however in hope and idealism when I see young individuals giving the 'Man' the finger and choosing alternative paths.



On the beaches where I live and up and down the coast, its refreshing to see young surfers adopting Fishes or Single fins as their equipment of choice or those individuals choosing to ride Longboards or Logs. To me this is ground roots defiance that gives the 'finger' to the Thruster mentality long shoved down our throats by the Corporate Surfing Kremlin. To all those who choose the rocky path of individualism, the Papa salutes you!

The Real Wild One and a lament of Biker Style

In my last post I revealed the essence of Hot Rodding style via the book, 'The Day The Hot Rods ran'. In this blog I wanted to give a summary on the Papa's thoughts about Biker style and the movie the 'Wild One'.
Chino is the Wild One!! No doubt, no argument!
Lee Marvin's portrayal of Chino smolders deeper than Brando's Johnny by a long shot. Chino is one dirty looking biker bum to Johnny's squeaky clean.
Based on the actual event in 1947 when Hollister California was taken over by roaming pre-Angles bikers, the Wild One stands as an incredible style beacon to anyone interested in iconic biker style.



If we accept the premise that the original outlaw biker outfits were returned serviceman too hooked on the Adrenalin of battle to ever conform back into the post war military efficiency of the new United States, then who ever ward robed the WILD ONE, got it right in spades. Forget Brando's Black Rebels for a moment and focus instead on Chino's Beatles, what we see is an incredibly accurate portrayal of true biker style. In the crowd/gang scenes of the movie, the Beatles are attired in an amazing array of ex-military surplus. True they are all wearing selvaged Levis, but from that point on individuality kicks in, there's engineers boots, loggers boots, Linesman's boots, sweatshirts, striped t-shirts, tasselled cowboy jackets, Navy deck jackets, every conceivable type of aviation and civilian leather jackets, flight deck caps, skunk skin hats, Woods mans' wool mackinaw coats, so in total the works, its all going on here. Every single biker has his own style!



From this visual fest, Papa poses the question, how did it all go wrong?
Fast forward 60 or so years. The other day I'm waiting in the traffic and lo and behold the familiar rumble of a Harley motor zooms up along side me to stop at the traffic lights. Sitting astride this beast is some over sized steroided buffoon, wearing a cutoff Gold's Gym sweat shirt with club colours on a vest over the top, he's wearing the cheapest nastiest pair of jeans Ive ever seen, probably purchased at k-mart and woe unto any reference of style , this geek is wearing hi-tech, Asics white sports shoes!! Lament, lament, I almost weeped beneath my snickering. What the hell happenned and where did it all go wrong?



I'm thinking to myself now that there's no essence of the biker-outlaw anymore, not in the true sense of the word or the original concept. Today's bikers appear to be just criminals on two wheels. Their focus based on thuggery, drug trafficking and the like, hence the need to be muscled and intimidating. Perhaps this is all the result of organising by gangs to control 'interests'. While not casting dispersions, I can't help but lament about a time when it was more about the freedom of the open road and a life apart from the conforms of normal society.
As a style reference however the Wild One still remains the defining movie, especially so if we look beyond the fore ground shots in the movie and focus instead on the crowd scenes. In there lies a wealth of reference essential to anyone who still yearns to wear a sneer on their lips and lean on a bar tapping out be-bop rhythms with their hands.

MUROC DRY LAKES 1938

Long before Muroc Army Airforce Base there was the dry lakes.
During the 1930's this perfect flat desert landscape was the testing ground for man and machine, a legacy that would continue for years afterwards when this arid geological oddity would become a United States Army Airforce Testing facility ( see the movie "The Right Stuff".



On the 15th May 1938, Life magazine sent its photographer, William Carroll, out to the dry lakes to capture the birth of the Hot Rod Phenomena. The photographs were never published.
On June the 20th 1938, during another impromptu rod meet, a military unit showed up claiming the Dry Lakes for the Army Airforce and evicting the Hot rodders.
Weeks later the Army Airforce painted the outlines of two battleships on Muroc's flat mud surface and then began bombing practice in pre-WWII aircraft.



The book "The Day the Hotrods Ran", was complied from the Life Magazine photos taken on that May day in 1938. This visual relic is one one the most defining examples of the moment when Hotrodding captured the imagination of so many. The book covers the entire day from pre-dawn preparations to the actual meet.



What drew me to this book was the fact that it shows a rare glimpse of the style of the era. Being a vintage clothing collector and an avid fan of period style, especially the 1930's and 1940's, I found this reference an amazing insight into the actuals of the day. In our age it is so easy to get caught up in the fashion dictates of the moment, especially when many profess to encompass themselves in identifying labels such as Rockabilly, Kustom Kulture and the like. These labels in truth are just an excuse to find exceptance with others of a similar ilk. The truth I believe is that its all just about fashion and adopting a style that, well is generic. Any Rod meet or Kustom Car show these days is awash with the obvious and the homogenised. Rarely do we see people who have a genuine depth of appreciation to explore the genre beyond what is commercial available.



There are truthfully some exceptions. What I find interesting is this, with so much original reference available, such as this magnificent book, how come individuals find it so difficult to get 'it' right?
The photos in this book are an incredible resource. The photos show every type of iconic vintage fashion idea around, we have a visual style world bedecked in coveralls, selvedged denim, engineers boots, loggers boots, club jackets, flight jackets, Naval deck jacket, Half belted cycle jackets, pilots caps, sailor caps, white t-shirts, pendleton, cayuse and trade blankets, aviation goggles, chinos, work pants and much much more. For someone with an eye for detail its a surplus world that would provide a lifetime of style reference. There's all this and we haven't even begun to talk about the Rods themselves and what reference that would provide for any motor enthusiast. With so much going on and what's more so accessible to people it never ceases to amaze me how you can get it all so wrong. This is the Papa's opinion of course, but I do know somethings for fact and that is the only ones that seem to be truely on the right track are the Japanese. They appear to be the ones who are able to pick and choose those points of reference that are on the money. Sure there's a hand full of us others, I know some of them amd Im sure there's plenty more out there but we are after all talking generalities here. So the message really is just about opening your eyes to the endless opportunity to explore really cool stuff, regardless of genre and the comfort of creating your own being without following the dictates of the moment.

Bill Bridgeman Surfer, Aviator, Test Pilot

Bill Bridgeman was a surfer. He was a part of a pioneering group of early Southern Californian surfers that included Don James, Frank Donahue, George 'peanuts', Larsen, Jack Quigg, Pete Petersen and others who called the breaks of San Onofre to Point Dume home.

William ' Bill' Bridgeman was one of the most famous test pilots during the late
1940's and early 1950's. His test flights for the Douglas Aircraft Company in California pushed the boundaries of known aeronautics and led him to become the fastest and highest man ever known in that era.
Like many other surfers from Southern California, Bridgeman left the beaches and began his wartime career in the military, serving as a US Navy pilot in the Pacific Campaign in early 1942.
He was part of the famous bomb squadron 109, "The Reluctant Raiders", which had a wartime record of 180,000 tons of enemy shipping sunk in the Pacific.
Assigned to fly PBY 'Catalinas', he served in Darwin Australia and then went on to the Pacific chains which include Apamama, Tarawa, Gilbert Islands, Kwajalien, Entiwetok, Carolinas and Truk Island.
Returning to the States late in the war, he served with the ferry squadron of the Naval Air Transport Service and then went on to be an instructor in PB-Y4's on the west coast at Santa Ana Air Corp Base.
When the war was over, Bridgeman was desperate for a change in career and was approached by the Douglas Aircraft company of Santa Monica to become a test pilot for several government projects the company was then working on out at the Muroc Dry Lakes in California.
His first project was to fly the Douglas Skyraider AD-1 and AD-2, which pushed the propeller driven engines into the sub-sonic zone.

At this time the government was obsessed with experiments in supersonic flight.They had contracted several companies to build aircraft that could fly at the speed of sound.
Bell Aircraft Corporation was the first to succeed with the X-l rocket plane, flown by Chuck Yeager. In 1947, Yeager flew the X-l at Mach 1 and smashed the invisible sound barrier, forever changing the concepts of aviation. After these speed tests the plane had been handed over to the NACA (National Advisory Committee of Aeronautics) the predecessor of NASA.

The goal of Mach 2 was the next big obstacle, and the Douglas company responded by developing the Sky Rocket D-558-2, a US Navy experimental plane designed for high speed flight through the sound barrier and beyond. The pilot chosen to fly the Sky Rocket was surfer, Bill Bridgeman.
Bridgeman tested the plane over several months working up to a run of Mach 2, finally they attached the Sky Rocket to the belly of a B-29 and performed an aerial drop. The Sky Rocket started its engines and then proceeded to break every previous record for speed and height. Bill Bridgeman become the fastest man on earth, flying at 1300 miles an hour or Mach 2 and also attained the altitude of 14.1 miles or 80,000 feet.
During these test flights they was always a chase plane. These were usually P-80's or F-86's and were flown by Muroc's flight community including Chuck Yeager himself.
Bill Bridgeman and Chuck Yeager toured the United States, where they were able to talk to the media. When Bridgeman was asked how he felt on being the highest and fastest pilot, he replied, " It was easy, I'd look for one of those holes That Chuck punched in the sky and then just fly right on through it".
In 1952, Bridgeman went on to test the new Douglas Stiletto X3, a fantastically designed aircraft using the latest in research technology. He flew 25 of 51 Test flights.
Ironically, Bridgman's' career came to an abrupt end in 1958. While travelling as a domestic passenger on a commercial flight from Long Beach to Santa Catalina Island, The Grumman Goose in which he flew crashed and all aboard were killed.
Papa Nui remembers Bill Bridgeman.

Bill Bridgeman can been seen in his glorious pre-wars days idling his time at the beach in Don James fabulous book, Surfing San Onofre to Point Dume. James was a pioneer surfer and photographer and captured these early years of surfing's exuberance on the Southern California coast from 1936 to 1942.

R.I.P Bill Bridgeman. Surfer, Warrior, Hero.

Saigon. Shit. I'm still only in Saigon.

Who can forget the amazing characters conjured up in Francis Ford Coppola and John Milius's Apocalypse Now? Fantastic stuff and a true work of art. Some have said that this is the ultimate surf movie with Colonel Kilgore and his boys searching out grinding peaks under Charlie's nose.

Lets not forget Lance Johnson on the forward .50's and his reputation as a nose rider back in the beaches south of L.A

Id like therefore to draw your attention to a new film from John Milius, called, 'between the Lines'

This new film/doco follows the experiences of several surfers at the time of the Vietnam War. Some chose to go the jungles of South East Asia while others made the choice to flee to Canada to escape the Draft.

Milius as many are aware also did the film classic Big Wednesday, which originally flopped at the box office but eventually found its way to be the defining surf movie of an entire generation. Milius also wrote the script for Apocalypse Now and so in this new film/doco we have yet another take on that incredible sixties period as seen through the eyes of Millius and those Surfers who were caught up in the drama of uncertain times.

It is also interesting to note that although the Vietnam war was lost on the campuses and streets of the United States through the various anti-war protest organisations and left wing fifth columnists, on the battlefield American and Australians never lost a major action.

To all those boys swept up in an unpopular war and vilified or forgotten by governments that sanctioned their action, Papa Nui says, you are all heroes who deserve our gratitude and thanks, the Papa remembers you and your comrades POW and MIA who are no longer with us.

"WE SURF IN FREEDOM FOR THOSE THAT CAN'T"