Surfer Dan ...Rides Again -the makings of the album

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So I put out my second album nearly two months ago now. It was a project that took several years to assemble and complete. Due to the long span of time the creation took it is not particularly current with regards to my life. My cohort, technician, producer, and friend of nearly 20 years, Jeff Kuglich helped me facilitate it's eventual release as a digital only album. This allowed us to share the music without having to spend money for a physical production, but unfortunately some of the images and written content that were initially intended were not available for listeners. Thus I decided an explicative blog post regarding "...Rides Again" was in order.
First off, the cover pictured is a photograph that my friend Peter Matushek took of me at Lake Street beach in Gary, Indiana. Peter was the friend that I met through Laura Utrata who convinced me eventually to give lake surfing a try after returning to Chicago from Kaua'i in late 2007. Here is an excerpt from an email from Peter in February 2009:
"Dan. I'm telling you man. You gotta ignore all the other bull**** that is stealing your money and get a wetsuit. The times I've had out there are priceless. I've met some really cool people and get a total release from the everyday f***ing crap that sometimes consumes life. I'm sure you know the feeling. It has made my life so much better knowing that I can get out there on my board and forget everything. So get your sh** together man. We can surf and then drink some beer/... Good times await."
That pretty much sums up "the stoke" of surfing in general, and basically marked the end of my resistance to lake surfing; "riding again" in effect. The title also spoke to my life in general, of making a new start back in Illinois while fostering a continued love of all things I had come to hold dear throughout my years away from Chicago from 1996 until 2007.

Photo Courtesy of Peter Matushek

Here's me and Peter in Encinitas at a camping trip dubbed The California Classic organized by some midwesterners and Cali residents a few springs back. This was also my first time surfing in California.
So anyways, back to the album. Here is the artist bio and the album blurb that I wrote to accompany the  release.

Photo Courtesy of Cheryl Parkes

Bio:

Native of Illinois and currently residing in Chicago, Dan Skoda, first dubbed "Surfer Dan" by hip-hop artist Qwel, lived out west for a decade including six years on Kaua'i. There he became an avid surfer and picked up the baritone ukulele, thanks to then roommate Ben Gaskin of Sweetgrass. Dan is essentially a one man band currently, and has thus far chosen not to perform publicly.

Album blurb:

The five years in the making follow up to the Sad Songs of Surfer Dan, … Rides Again is a 10 track assemblage of all original material. Tunes range in style once again, musically influenced by reggae, surf rock, rockabilly, and blues; And thematically from social commentary, Christian spirituality, odes to both parents, and a love song to nature. Once again Jeff Kuglich joins in on all production and creative direction. All instruments and vocals by Surfer Dan, adding some guitar here to the usual foundation of baritone ukulele.

Music style tags:

Reggae, surf rock, ukulele, rockabilly, blues

Artist tags:

Amos Lee, Eddie Vedder, Glen Hansard, Sizzla, Dennis Brown, Thievery Corporation


I wanted to do an album of all originals, which was certainly a challenge. I still generally prefer to play covers of some of my favorite artist's tunes, and feel like my artistic strength is perhaps still better showcased with covers. Nevertheless, we made it happen, and I hope that there's a little bit of something for everyone here.

1, Man of Peace
This track pre-dates my relationship with one Cheryl Parkes and is a ponderance on my lengthy single life. I was questioning why it could be so hard to find what seemingly simple needs and desires that I had in mind. There's a peace that comes with being a part of a partnership, and I was ready to find that missing piece of the puzzle.
2. Sometimes Waking
This was somewhat a contemplation on politics and how everyone seems to think that politicians and government are responsible for fixing things and making the world what it ought to be. I was countering that it's on each and every individual to create the changes that need to take place in our world. Our actions are of the utmost importance, and as long as we live in selfishness and ambivalence nothing will come about. What mark do we want to leave? Life is the opportunity.
3. Angel
So I realized the album was lacking a love song, and I decided to write one to nature. It calls upon many of my experiences living in Washington state, California, and Kaua'i where I was able to witness the wonders of creation firsthand. My faith was strengthened in these discoveries, and a belief that none of these beauties could be created by accident.
4. Unformulaic
This song is pretty straightforward. I never finished college. I learned and grew by following my own heart. You don't have to feel pressured by the confines of "normalcy" in this life. You can make up your own mind about things. I used to think eventually I would figure out "what I wanted to do with my life," in the sense of a career. Well we'll just have to see about that. Everybody has to live their own life one way or another, but following the herd certainly isn't always the best choice.
5. Sweetest Fellow
This song is for my Mom, Sarah Skoda. The "sweetest fellow" comes from my most cherished lullaby that she sang for me as a child. I love you Mom.
6. Dirty Mistreator
This blues number on the ukulele came about from an inside joke with my dear friend Laura Utrata. I thought that using some raw sounding uke in a blues context would be a cool juxtaposition. Jeff was pleased that I was accepting of some heavy affects here.
7. Waves in My Time Zone
There aint' always surf in the midwest. This track comes with a parental advisory. Apparently somebody forgot that fricken' was the correct lyric once on the chorus.
8. G.B.
This one's for my Dad, G.B. Skoda (Bryan.) Without actually teaching me directly, he got me started playing the guitar when I was about 11.  That wasn't all he taught me. I love you Dad.
9. You by My Side
God's looking out for me, I know it. Everybody has to go through some hard times and tribulation in life. But if you believe in him he will see you though it. I need him; we all do whether or not we know or admit it. 
10. Victory
I don't know what heaven is like because I'm still alive. I don't want to be ensconced in material riches, I just hope that I will find my way to a place of peace and rest and love; and if by some chance I can surf on a beautiful sea of crystal water, that would be just right. That would be my idea of winning. 
We can all ride again.

Photo Courtesy of Nick Brandt

"The Sad Songs of Surfer Dan" my first album is currently still available on Amazon.com on cd under the artist name Dan Skoda (instead of Surfer Dan.)

Wine Tasting Sendoff with... The Kush's!! @ Redenbaugh Manor 1/19/2013

 

Some of you may know a friend of mine named Mike Kush.  A couple years ago he came to work with us at Binny's on Grand for the holiday season.  What can I say about Mike; he's soft spoken, extremely helpfull, full of wine knowledge, and not as jaded as the rest of us retail laden wine people. He and his wife Jen are two of the nicest people you are ever likely to meet.

 

Mike and Jen have chosen a slightly different path than most of us. They have been travelling the wine regions of the world working harvests in both hemispheres and many timezones, while keeping a base in Chicago in between the two vintages. Currently Mike works the harvest in New Zealand as winemaker, then will return to Portugal where he will do the same in the fall. Jen has worked in the lab or cellar as needed.

 Having been stolen away by the South Loop store for this season, we saw much less of Mike this year than we would have liked; so Steve took it upon himself to arrange a little tasting gathering at his and Amy's beautiful home in Sauganash. The food and wines were amazing. Amy made some delicious roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy, and a lovely salad; not to mention deluxe cheeses and cured meats from Gary at the South Loop store, and scrumptious pies from Who's Your Mama Bakery. Passionfruit Merengue pie, I love thee.

I tried to write a little something about each of the wines, but will keep it brief as my notes mandate. Feel free to skip ahead if this language is foreign or simply disinteresting.

 

From Bedrock Winemaker Abrente 2011 Napa Valley Albarino subtle nose, light color, scant tropical fruit,"zippy" acidity, bright lemon/orange/citrus

 

Raul Perez Muti 2007 (Albarino) same grape from a legendary Spanish producer smooth mango on nose, fine texture, lemon and acidity present, lavender herb notes, some oak, smooth and complete, this wine continued to develop beautifully for the duration

 

Greywacke 2011 Marlborough, NZ Sauvignon Blanc grass, gunflint, gooseberry, ripe vibrant fruits and a smooth finish. winemaker had worked at Cloudy Bay probably the best known higher end name in NZ Sauv Blanc

 

Bedrock White Blend Cuvee Karatas 2010 Sonoma. classic Bordeaux style blend utilising Semillon and "Sauvignon Musque" (apparently a clone of Sauv Blanc that I had not heard mention of prior,)from 120 year old Monte Rosso vineyard fruit as well as 40% Kick Ranch lemon curd, ruby red grapefruit, soft acid

 

Anthill Farms Pinot Noir 2009 Demuth Vineyard (above Booneville in California's Mendocino county) 13.3 ABV This is our current favorite Cali Pinot Producer, always subtle and understated stuff from one of the cooler, foggy, rural coastal areas in the state. One of the few climats in California which is really suited to producing a classic style of Pinot Noir in all its subtle brilliance light, cloudy, vibrant cherry, clove, eucalyptus, showing some fairly ripe vintage quality, young slightly primary yet showing good promise...

 

Merry Edwards Pinot Noir Klopp Vineyard 2007- warmer Sonoma pinot with a bit of age. Incidentally Mike knows this wine well, as he worked a harvest here balsamic, butterscotch, eucalyptus, cherry, some oak, dry....now smooth, together, drinking well. Given the ripeness of 07', this pinot is showing pretty mature secondary character

 

Carlisle 2007 Papera Ranch Zin ripe jam, green mint, rhubarb; was tasting a lot of mint on the wines this night, and wasn't hating it

 

Booker Vertigo 2008 Cali Rhone style blend concentrated burst of raspberry/ boysenberry and dry blueberry, well balanced and persistant; slutily delicious

 

Ayoub Chardonnay 2011 Oregon Bone dry chablis-like Chardonnay without a hint of oak, compact bright apple on nose, white pear/green pear skin, subtle iodine and gun flint. I wanted to love this wine a bit more, it needed the perfect food pairing, possibly showing a slight lack of ripening for this vintage. Take a look at that low alcohol!

 

Auteur 2008 Shea vineyards Pinot Noir Jammy and bright fruits expressed on nose, vanilla and some baking spices

 

To Steve and Amy, thanks so much for opening your home, kitchen, and cellar, to us. You are extremely gracious by all measure.

 

Furthermore Mike should be congratulated on bringing his first wines on his own label to market this year at Binny's, and in some restaurants in Chicago! Two pinots and a a riesling, all of which showed really well when tasted, great job Mike. "Chasing Harvest," the apt name on the artfully modern designed label. We look forward to tasting your future releases.

 

I feel a certain kinship with Mike, having made a couple wines myself we both know the intrigue in that creation. It's hard to not be a bit jealous; now longtime wine consultants, myself and Steve know well that there exists a great deal of romance that we associate with making wine versus selling. Life in the many wine regions of the world has a reward in its quality and connection to nature and the land. For those who are willing to complicate their lives a bit to live fully, and to do what they love, we raise a glass.

Wine Box Creations

Hey folks.  As most of you already know, I have been crafting some interesting pieces from recycled wooden wine boxes that I score from work.  First I choose a wine box, then I cut off most of the sides with a circular saw, just leaving a lip about 3/4in thus creating a basic frame.  Then I stain the oak or pine a dark mahogany and in some cases apply polyurethane coating.  I thought it would be cool to collect the photos from my first 7 (and a half) boxes, and give a short description of what the heck was going through my mind or a basic concept that was implemented.
My first box was inspired by a really cool tile that my friend Pam from Kaua'i gave me.  I wanted to create something larger, and was also inspired by some back splash tile work, thanks Peter, that I'd been seeing around. Not being able to really do anything more permanent in my apartment.

I get most of my materials off of ebay, and here I've used some Mexican blue "Talavera" tiles in conjunction with these small colored or stained bamboo "domino tiles," which have found their way into a few of the pieces.
The second piece was inspired by some vertical gardening links that Laura posted on facebook a while back.  I decided to try and create a living piece with tree fern bark which is a popular orchid growing medium and I have also seen if the form of large Indonesian sculptures at the field museum.  I mounted an array of Tillandsia air plants that grow without soil and take their nourishment from the air.  A few of the plants have since croaked, but most are doing OK and showing some slow growth.  This picture is current with 3 of the R.I.P.'s removed.

 My third box came together rather by accident and was built around some Japanese plastic tiles that come from a game called Hanafuda which utilizes plants and animal imagery representing the calendar year.  These tiles represent February, and feature the plum tree, which is the first tree to bloom at the end of winter, as well as the Japanese Bush Warbler whose song denotes the start of spring.  I thought this imagery was relatable to us winter dwellers in Chicago, in anticipation of it's conclusion.  It's called "Plum Pagodas."

At this point I realized that I basically have enough of these things on my own walls, and thought I should start making some for my friends.  Somehow I came up with the idea to do an homage piece for Sean of his Dad's Les Paul Black Beauty that was perhaps the single most iconic image you could associate with his beloved personage.  One of the greatest men I have had the pleasure to know.  "Pop's Oconnor's Black Beauty."  I used actual gold tone pickup covers and black bamboo tiles to represent the guitar.

Next I had a couple of pictures from my last trip to Kaua'i in February, one of me in my fedora, and one of Pete and Mary's adorable girl Finley in Uncle Bryce's fedora, that I decided to fuse together and give to her at M.J. and Paul's wedding in Coronado last spring.  I don't think it's what she wanted, since I wrapped it up and let her open it, but hope she was able to appreciate it still.  This was my first integration of photography, and I used Mod Podge Matte Paper adhesive/sealant.  This was a fairly small one at 6x8 or so.

This was the precursor to a family photo montage that I had been contemplating.  Fairly self explanatory, I used some old photos that Mom had uploaded for me with a couple of old family friends in the mix, as well as one of my favorite shots of my Mother's parents Don and Betty Arnold (Mama and Papa.)  We miss you guys!

Next I had Pam visiting from Kaua'i celebrating her birthday and put together another vertical garden inspired box with a nice slab of leopard skin jasper that I had found (ebay.)  I didn't think it would travel well assembled, so I asked Pam to mount the Tillandsia to it herself when she got back home.  I have always had a budding fascination with different precious stones.  This is an indoor/outdoor piece, if you live in the subtropics that is.  Vertical Garden featuring Leopard Skin Jasper and Tillandsia.  I thought this turned out pretty cool, and I'm looking forward to see the finished product in person.  P.S. Thanks Pam for adopting my little Bougainvillea, it's looking great!

Hang in there we're almost through!  My next inspiration was to do a Japanese architectural piece like a tea house or temple.  I ended up implementing photos again, this time with a few from the Japanese garden at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco that I took a few years back.  The door is a picture I took of the cellar at Turley winery in St. Helena when I was interning at Neyers in 2007.  There were some grape bins in the way of the right side of the doors which I covered with some cut pieces of another photo from the same roll if you look closely.  Shaolin Temple.  Still not sure what I'm going to do with this one.

The final piece is back on the surf art tip.  It's basically unfinished, as I'm yet to permanently apply the photo, which is a classic old shot of surf legend Tom Blake surfing at Hermosa Beach pier in 1939/1940.  Thanks Swell.com fall catalog 2011!  This box had some cool removable dividers which I also stained and shellac'd.  I have the first bottle of wine that I drank when I moved into my apartment in June of 2008, and another bottle that has one of my favorite wine labels.  Catherine LeGoeuil 2005 Cairanne, and Herman Story Nuts and Bolts Syrah 2007 respectively.

Well that's all folks.  Thanks for taking a look at my Arts and Craps. I now realize that the total comes to 8.5 pieces.  This shall serve as the documentation for future collectors.  Hopefully somebody will bring one of these into Antiques Roadshow in 60 years!

Ten Thousand Dollar Tuesday

  So, for about a year or so, I have been the fortunate participant in a series of tastings at the home of my esteemed colleague Steve R.  We have been privy to a collection of amazing older wines collected by Rod V. during his many years in the wine business.
  These are not your average wines that folks like us can afford.  Had they not been purchased at an opportune time, before they became known, popularized, and aged carefully under temperature controls, these wines would fetch mind-boggling prices.  Thus the 10, 000 Dollar Tuesday title here. 
  We are a small group of passionate food and wine aficionados, paring these wines with appropriate fare, thanks largely to Steve, and Clint's culinary explorations.  It seemed like high time for me to start sharing the experience hopefully in a way that is of some interest. 
  These notes detail our tasting on March 29th, 2011.
Attendees: Rod, Steve, Gary, Clint, Myself

Bollinger 2003
subtle nose,  mango, white peach, gains weight on the palate

Bouchard 1976 Montrachet Grand Cru- Domaine de Chateau de Beaune
glistening viscous apple juice to the eye
initial nose fairly intense cantaloupe, finishing with a lingering butterscotch
so amazing with the duck liver pate, also serving beef tartar salad with egg, onion, and vinaigrette
* This is especially notable as my birth year's vintage, this is the second time I've had the good fortune to try this wine, the first being almost exactly one year prior.

Domaine Marey-Monge Romanee St. Vivant 1969
smoky, toasty nose, some iodine and prune. light brown color with a limited core of ruby, some soy developing on nose.  This wine was in the furthest state of decline of all the wines we tasted.

Romanee-Conti 1969 Monopole  The current vintage price of this wine alone is pushing $5,000. 
bright brick red, fiery nose, plum and soft cherry, mineral component more vibrant.
stewed veg/ forest floor, smoked almond, nose going prune now, cherry still there...staying alive

Henri Lamarche 1969 Vosne- Romanee  La Grande Rue **
ruby to light orange at edge, vibrant black plum and a strong citrus fruit character here, some sawdust?  most vibrant fruit of the flight so far, but the nose of the Romanee-Conti still piercing, outlasting this wine
Pate and 69' burgundys  =   ahhhhhhhhh....

Armand Rousseau 1969 Charmes-Chambertin
dry cola nose, potting soil, most alive fruit yet!, ruby sunset color, best tasting quote ever: "it's like rubbing a butt," thanks Gary!!
Now dining on grass fed beef, roasted bone-in sirloin with potato gratin, braised mushrooms and onion.

Jaboulet-Vercherre 1969 Clos de Vougeot ** perhaps the most famed vineyard in all of Bourgogne
asian spice, cola, round/smoove, dry cherry and herbs, full red color, bright nose. wow!

Romanee-Conti 1970 La Tache Monopole
red berries on nose, alive, grape, red cherry, plum, perky compared to the 69's, a.maz.ing.ly youthful

Ch. Haut-Peyraguey 1975
savory, fairly sweet, nice wine, light caramel, honeyed red apple, served with chocolate cheesecake

  These wines are so interesting, you can't easily convey it.  We are tasting history, and the character of these wines is still very much intact.  Fruit is diminished, grapes turned to raisin, eventually leaving only the basic elements of alcohol, acid, and tannins, forming a structure, and a vehicle to transport you to the place and time when these vines gave forth their fruit.
  I had hypothesized that the "buzz" or "high" from wines like that almost seems fundamentally different from that of the young wines most of us are accustomed to.  Certainly the alcohol is lower in these wines than most anything drunk international these days, but perhaps the actual composition and evolution effects the mind and body slightly differently as well.
  Well thanks for reading.  Some final notes, the **'d wines were my favorites of the day, I have to agree with Steve that the Clos Vougeot was the wine of the day.  Not terribly surprisingly, the most impressive name Domaine La Romanee-Contee wines, although brilliant and sound, were not the favorites of these tasters.  Until next time, Salut!