Dick Blue found this drifting around on the ethnomusicology circuit:
"Is There Such a Thing as Surfing Music?
Never has a research project sent me back to basic ontological questions. My current research seeks to understand and interpret "surfing music" as a regional Californian cultural practice. Yet if music is at the center of this study, what is that music? Sam George, the long-time editor of Surfing magazine, makes an interesting distinction between "surf music"-a sub-genre of popular music including songs about surfing (Beach Boys) and guitar lead instrumental rock (Dick Dale) that blossomed from 1961 to 1964-and "surfing music"-music that surfers like. Of course this opens the doors impossibly wide, leaving me to ask if there is such a thing as surfing music. The crux of this question leads me back to one of the oldest assumptions of ethnomusicology: human groups (the ethno of our musicology) tend to express themselves musically. Does what I am calling an "affinity group" such as surfers develop a musical expression? Is surfing music a legitimate subject for an ethnomusicologist?
Hmm, indeed. I hear academic jobs are hard to get.
Elsewhere in today's segment, this comes from our friend Gascia O. in R & D:
Arts & Culture >> Outdoors
Relationships are all about relating
Feb 27, 2007
By Michael and Milton Willis - La Jolla Light
For many surfers, surfing is a lot more than the art of riding waves.
It's
also about having a personal and close relationship with the ocean.
Sailors,
fisherman, poets and surfers have expressed a special love for the
ocean
since the beginning of time. And the wave rolls on today.
Those who know the ocean must be filled with love and devotion. She
demands
respect. She commands responsibility. Her truth is her justice. She
speaks
to those who listen. She calls to those who cannot resist. To love her
is to
commit fully to her mind, body and soul. To be loved is good. To love
is
better. No love; no life.
The seed of love is respect. Without respect, there can be no true
love. The
ocean is a wonder park, a school, and a source of life. It's a place to
connect and harmonize with the very essence of all life.
Surfers are best to approach the ocean with deep reverence. An old
surfers
saying goes, "The Ocean will give you a thrill, but disrespect her at
your
will and you may find you take a spill. What she teaches, surfers must
learn, if to shore they want to return."
One does not have to love in order to respect, but one must have
respect in
order to love. Respect begets responsibility, the ability to respond.
Many are the moods, and emotions, of the vast, mighty, ever-changing
ocean.
A wise surfer heeds the vicissitudes of the ocean and responds
accordingly.
One moment she can be calm, and the next moment can be roaring with
tempest.
Sometimes, she plays and delights. Other times, she disciplines and
punishes.
Do everything right and you may experience heaven on earth. Do anything
wrong, you may experience something else. Each, and every, surfer is
responsible for creating their very best rides as well as responsible
for
causing their worst wipeouts with their thoughts, and actions, whether
they
acknowledge it or not.
Surfers and watermen demonstrate respect and responsibility for the
ocean,
less because of fear and more because of love. At the center of a
powerfully
breaking wave is calmness, just as in the eye of a swirling hurricane.
Truth is at the center of love, which revolves around and emanates from
truth. Everything in the universe changes except the truth. Love that
is
true lasts forever.
Regarding the ocean waves, it shall matter not whether they're big or
small,
breaking this way or not at all. If a surfer loves the ocean with all
his
heart, he will always love the ocean with all his heart, yesterday,
today,
tomorrow, forever and a day. Can't change that. Just as love does not
last
without truth, truth cannot last without love. Can't change that.
As a surfer begins to love the ocean, the ocean seems to speak out, or
communicate, with that surfer, not necessarily in words but rather in
feelings and impressions. Surfers listening to the ocean find it easier
to
surf in harmony with the ocean.
This type of listening does not take place with the ears. It takes
place
with the heart. [Note from G: I think I'm going to use that in my
diss].
Communication comes in many forms other than words - small gestures, a
person's posture, or the way something is said, can communicate volumes
more
than anything said.
There are times when a glance, a movement or saying no word at all
could say
more than all the words in the world. Rest assured the ocean will
reveal all
life's deepest mysteries for the surfer who finds a way to listen.
Some surfers flirt. Some fool around. But when you find love, you stick
around. You get out of love what you put into love. Whether you love
surfing, reading, stargazing or another person, be like a waterman who
maintains a deep and committed relationship.
Give your all. One must put in 100 percent to receive 100 percent.
Anything
less brings that much less.
Be present. Be awake. Be alive to your feelings as well as others. When
a
surfer harmoniously dances on the wave, there are no distractions. Wave
becomes surfer. Surfer becomes wave. The two become one. Suddenly,
everything becomes crystal clear and the whole universe joins together
in
perfect synchronicity. Here, now, forever and a day, renewing and
strengthening, Love, affection, romance and passion, wave by wave,
moment by
moment. To know love is to know life.
Aloha.