Fencing With A Muse: Hitting the Waves Again

*Gerry looking fit.

Good to see Gerry hitting the waves again in Malibu in preparation for his role in Mavericks and hopefully for the thrill of the sport too.

And on the topic of waves, I went to opening night of the LeRoy Grannis exhibition at M & B Gallery in West Hollywood last month. It featured some wonderful limited edition framed photos by the well known local Hermosa Beach surfer/artist who passed away earlier this year. I would have loved to purchase one of them, but settled for a book of his work instead.

While I was browsing several other books at the exhibition, one of the surfers of the era was showing me his vintage VW parked on the coast in one of the photos as he and his friends headed down to the beach with their boards. It was very cool and the guy still looked good and very fit/slim. In his sixties, he was still surfing, of course. Grannis surfed well into his 80's.

http://thephotoexchange.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/leroy-grannis-commemorative-show-at-mb-gallery/

http://www.effluviamagazine.com/effluviablog/2011/07/13/not-to-be-missed-mb-gallery-leroy-grannis-the-commemorative-s

Old Shows:

http://www.mbart.com/exhibitions/_39/_img/

http://www.mbart.com/exhibitions/_39/

I grew up near the beach so it was very nostagic. Now I live a couple of blocks from some popular surfing spots where old timers mix with the new kids.

There used to be several fraternity houses right on the strand in Hermosa. A very large house is still standing on First Street (painted bright yellow now) and has been renovated and made into a private residence again.

Actor and surfer, Jonny Weston

Some nice memories of spaghetti and beer bashes with live bands there and some very dedicated surfers who never went to bed some nights, partying, then hitting the books before surfing the waves in the morning before school. I still remember the names and the faces.

But back to the movies...

Mavericks finally has a lead in the person of Jonny Weston, who will play Jay Moriarity to Butler's Frosty Hesson in the Curtis Hanson directed surfing flick filming this fall.

It's looking like a good year for the muse, with the promotions for Machine Gun Preacher and Coriolanus gearing up and the buzz for both films very positive.

Life is sweet for Mr. B. at the moment and it looks like he is enjoying it, despite the paparazzi.