When we weren't shuttling around from one event to another ("Flip Flops and Popsicles" art presentation at the Tripoli Gallery, and the Hamptons International Film Festival showing of "Savage Beast" and "Supernatural"), our down time was spent hanging out with Julian Schnabel at his palatial Manhattan digs. While I loved checking out the breathtaking view of the Empire State Building from Julian's living room, and watching Courtney Love dance (per my request) and strum her guitar at Julian's outdoor art studio, after an intense day of skateboarding, Christian and Greyson enjoyed beating down the summer heat by lounging around and swimming in the Schnabel family pool. Or maybe I should clarify. Greyson so much didn't lounge around and swim; He ran and leaped into thin air, literally making a lasting impression with his photogenic splashes. Look at him. He's having the time of his life! [caption id="attachment_1413" align="alignnone" width="401" caption="Ready to launch."]...

Though some of the waves may have lacked in size, you couldn't doubt that Montauk didn't provide for sheer scenery. The lighting, backdrop and white caps all made up for the smaller volume on wave control. Here are some shots I took on the final day of the Van's Joel Tudor Duct Tape Longboard Invitational. Bet you never thought New  York could be this gorgeous....

As I blogged earlier, Dibi, Nathan and I currently have some of our artistic creations displayed in the “Swell” exhibition in various galleries throughout New York. We've been getting a lot of really cool reactions and interest. Pretty heavy, ain't it? Check out a little review that the New York Times recently did about the showing. Copy and paste this link if you’re unable to click it: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/23/arts/design/23surfing.html?_r=2&scp=3&sq=swell&st=cse

Volcom is doing a special Pipeline/Pipe House series, mainly featuring Herbie and Gerry Lopez. This is Part II in a series and shows some crazy Herbie antics. Typical of Herbie but outrageous to the rest of us. Their next series will feature some cool Old School footage of Christian and Nathan back when they were groms, so stay tuned! http://volcom.com/news/article.asp?sid=&articleID=4384

So we just got the report in, and it seems like Herbie's trip to New York was a great success. He met a lot of new people -cool people - hung out, explored SoHo, and even sold an art piece. Seriously, how rad is that? Despite the frigid temperature, New York and its inhabitants were more than welcoming to Herb and he had a blast. Herbie stayed with artist Julian Schnabel at Julian's place. Julian's son, Vito, who is the curator for the art show that Herbie is featured in (Brucennial 2010: Miseducation), was at opening night wearing a Christian Fletcher t-shirt. So sick. And as is always the case, Herbie's back here in good ole San Clemente, already back to the grind with other numerous projects in the works. Among them, he's working on restoring all the old Wave Warriors series and Adrenaline Surf Series so all you guys out there ...