Papa Nui; Xmas day on the coast.

This Xmas morning it rained flatout, a true tropical deluge, what to do? Go to the beach of course and wear my USN rain parka.
Merry Xmas to you all!!!

Nisei greaser!

Pre-dating Rockabilly by about 13 years, This greased up Nisei teenager plays his guitar in the barracks at Manzanaar Relocation camp circa 1942.

Why Alex Knost is King.

In an era of mechanical professional surfing its refreshing to know that there are individuals out there who understand that style is everything. In this study Alex Knost channels the true essence of surfing meets skateboarding. For those of you that remember this photo is eerily reminiscent of those from Skateboarder Magazine circa 1975.

Black Cats and French Bulldogs.

Coral Creepers.

Papa's legacy unearthed.

As a family we used to go to the beach all the time and some of my fondest memories are when I think back to sitting under the huge striped canvas umbrella. My brothers and I would make fun of our father who loved the beach but was never much of a swimmer. To get him to take his singlet off was a major effort but when the Casbens came out, wow that was a big deal! Dad had walked into David Jones, one of Sydney's premier department stores back in 1948 and bought his Casben swim shorts and they remained forever the stuff of family legend. I remember them on family holidays all throughout the late 1960's and also when my parents took me on coastal surfing adventures in the mid to late 70's up the north coast and into Queensland. They were forever present, rarely used for anything more than sitting on his towel and for the life of me I can't ever remember them getting wet.
Last weekend two of my brothers went over to Mum and Dad's house to help them spring clean the place and so I put them up to the task of unearthing the Casbens.
Mission accomplished! And now, 62 years on the Casbens are in my possession and ready for a whole new summer ahead.

Papa Nui Brings the Pacific to Unionville Sweden.

Lofgren Tradition Garments and Papa Nui brings their great collaboration to Unionville in Sweden. For all of you over there in the cold of wintery Europe, buy a Papa T-shirt and feel the tropical warmth of the Pacific envelop your shoulders.

Neptunus Rex validates the Papa.

Avast ye mateys! Be it known to all Sailors, Soldiers, Marines, Landlubbers, Park Statues, Box Car Tourists, Politicians and others who may be honored by his presence that PAPA NUI has been gathered into the fold: has been duly initiated into the many mysteries of the order of the deep and shall henceforth and forever enjoy our royal protection. Be it further known that by virtue of the power vested in me by all living things of the sea, I do hereby command my subjects, the mermaids, sea serpents, dolphins, skates, eels, whales, sharks and all other denizens of the deep to abstain from maltreating his person should he fall into the Sea.
Disobey this order under penalty of my Royal Displeasure.
DAVEY JONES his majesty's royal scribe.
NEPTUNUS REX ruler of the raging main.

Saga Boy

Hula Ink

Inked up Hula style in the great tradition of our mariner forefathers.

Nisei Japanese Amercian cool 1942

Certainly one of my favourite photos by Dorothea Lange taken in 1942. This goes a long way to show that not much is new. Engineers boots and big selvage cuffs that predate every style icon we though we had.

Beyond the Reef.

Tulagi or Bust, Surfcraft strikes in the Pacific.

Inspiration is surely a strange thing. Recently at a surf market event in Byron, Paul McNeil artist in residence at ZED surfboards showed me their new Zed Knob vehicle. Sighting the obvious omage to Papa Nui I was quite flattered at this unique resin job with its recognizable military overtones.
However as I was standing there, in my mindseye I instantly saw a sunbleached coral airstrip in the South Pacific and a row of battered and faded planes, weathered by the harsh light, salt and tropical rain. Each machine kept servicable by dedicated aviation mechanics who would salvage wrecks for usable parts to keep em flying in the most adverse of conditions. These 'frankenstein' warbirds would be ready at a moments notice to sweep the skies clear of Nippons finest.
With this vision in my head I found the inspiration for board aesthetics to come. Im seeing my new craft in this light with Paul McNeil's 'panel-fade' art work. Perhaps its the Olive of a battered P-39 or the salt stained USN Grey of a motor patrol torpedo boat hiding up a mangrove tributary within stiking distance of the 'Slot'.

Sea = Zed.

Dain Thomas the Houdini of hulls.

Sea Surfboards and the Cell space in Byron Bay's industrial area was for all but a brief moment the centre of surfing's alter universe. Riding high on the redefinition of old skool is the new skool or that there really isn't a skool at all, the Sea team, consisting of Dain Thomas, Matt Yates and Paul McNeil toyed with the concept that the surf vehicle can be a functional tool as well as a piece of art. Their hulled bottom single finned logs were nothing less than beautiful with a style, grace and aesthetic which to the appreciative eyed approached perfection. Alas all glory is fleeting and so with the demise of the original partnership a re-birth was conceived in the guise of ZED.
Zed's mantra is to keep the concept tight with small runs of specialty products aimed at the discerning surfer.
With a new team at the helm each partner brings talent and an entrepreneurial spirit to the fore front. Dain Thomas is the master shaper who learnt his craft under the tutorage of the legendary Bob McTavish. Paul McNeil is the art director with a high profile presence that stretches back to when Mambo was anything but an old fart joke. Today his signature splatter style resin board art has spread across the globe.Finally there's Brent Wayland with his model playboy goodlooks and talent for conceptualising a garment range that is the sartorial equivilent of Dain's boardshaping.
This is Zed, follow them on facebook 'ZED surf' and hop on now before the bandwagon leaves the garage.

ZED selection, log, sea biscuit and zed knob.

Z-knob with a colour job that only the Papa could inspire.

Papa gets a brand new coconut.

I looked and looked but no messages from JFK or the crew from PT-109.

John Swope USN war photographer Japan Assignment.

John Swope was one of the first American photographers to land in Tokyo directly after the surrender of Japan in August 1945. His official assignment for the USN was to cover the release of allied prisoners from POW camps located around the Tokyo area, specifically Omori and then onto Nagoya and Sendai.His portraits show the special aura of the liberated GI's who were defeated but not destroyed.For the Papa these individuals, each with their own unique sense of personal style redefine the term 'grace under pressure'.
POW MIA you are not forgotten.

Papa Nui Says....

One God One Country One Fin.

Papa Nui and the time space continuum.

'60 year old technology, contemporary application.'
photo by Michael Sanglio via hydrodynamica.

In surfing I denounce the corporate that shapes the 'sport', pays for the performance and pushes the message that wins over the vulnerable and the unquestioning. In fashion it is much the same I distance myself from the seasonal rubbish and the homogenized cool.
I make parallels here to both, because each is an extension of who I am and representative of my individuality. And yet we all must live in the moment and be a part of the greater experience of society. How then is this achieved and how is it possible to stay true to ourselves without disconnecting or going underground? I believe it's the ability to live in your own space and create a spacial awareness that is your own reality.
Surfing for me is to feel a deeper connection, an awareness of it's rich cultural heritage. I see myself as a node on a tangent line that begins back in the Hawaiian islands at a time of Polynesian royalty and so I choose to ride boards whose designs break free of contemporary restraint, they are my instruments, freeform projectiles from which I create my own version of reality. Each board has it's own identity and idiosyncrasies and must be ridden in a certain manner, but all must be surfed in the conditions of the day amongst waves shared by other surfers. Even so, my boards and I exist almost exclusively in my own space as it's a reality that only I could create, a space every bit as individual and complex as myself. In this space I draw phosphorescence lines that leave a wake stretching back a millennium. I like it this way, it provides a purely individualist approach to something that is as common as high street fashion. It's my take, a projection of something deeper inside of me, it's my style and that's all that matters.

Tales of the South Pacific Hard Cover 1947

After wearing out several soft cover versions of my favourite book I finally secured a first edition hard cover of Tales of the South Pacific published in 1947. At the beach over the weekend Mrs Papa snapped this great little shot.

James "Chubby" Mitchell.

Chubby Mitchell's de-lightful touch at Makaha, circa late 1950's

I have lots of favourite surfing photos but this one is a stand out. There's a light-footed grace which speaks volumes about the essence of style.
Chubby Mitchell was a Hawaiian that moved to California in the early 50's and lived near Manhattan beach. Chubby was 5'7" played football for San Jose State College and was a superb athlete even though he weighed in at 285lbs. He was a jazz lover who was known for his cross stepping, nose riding, an enormous appetite, sharp wittedness and elegant ukulele playing. There's something about this photo that inspires me to want to strip back everything superfluous and to focus purely on the quintessence and soul of the foam dance.

Tropical decor the Papa way.

The Papa loves Orchids.

Sketches from the Front line 1943 number 9.

Sketches from the Front line 1943 number 8.

Day dreaming in the islands and remembering that first day in 'life drawing class'.

Sketches from the Front line 1943 number 7.

And after the war has finished what of peacetime..

Sketches from the Front line 1943 number 6.

"Huh cheap white labour, him fella no good longa Angua-boy"

Sketches from the Front line 1943 number 5.

Fashions in the Field, via Solomon Islands 1943

Zoot suiting the army way!
Man oh man,
Lamp this sadistic cape with the murderous drape
Shoulders a' swagger knees all a' bagger.


1943 Fashion colours, Olive, Khaki, Rust Khaki, Khaki Khaki


Despatch Rider or Catwalk Fashion?

Sketches from the Front line 1943 number 4.

Sketches from the Front line 1943 number 3

Some members have of course been preparing themselves for the 'after struggle' for sometime.

Post War occupation.....you have nothing to fear girls the concert piano awaits you.

Sketches from the Front line 1943 number 2.

Difficulty in sending and recieving messages in the Signal Corp.