What evil lurks in the heart of man...

Oh but I do trust that you had an enjoyable evening last night celebrating Halloween with children, friends, loved ones. And did you dress up yourself? Play some whimsical character? Take the little ones door to door for candied treats whilst chatting with the neighbors for the first, and only, time of the year? Go out to a “grown-up” party featuring many naughty kittens and naughty nurses? Fireball whiskey cocktails?

Or are you a very scary necromancer who practices dark magick, lets the evil Ouija board guide your steps, and spent Samhain stand-up paddleboarding with likeminded Satanists?

Redondo Beach’s Daily Breeze is reporting that the chilling, profoundly disturbing occultist roots of SUPing were put on display, yesterday, in the town’s marina.

Dress in black, don a pointy witch’s hat, grab a stand-up board and a paddle — one that can be easily mistaken in the fog as a broom.

It’s the perfect tableau for a spooky Halloween scene.

Organizer Erin Hansen summoned water-loving witches and warlocks for the second annual South Bay Witches Paddle on Halloween day. The Redondo Beach resident had the idea to create the coven last year after seeing a post about a similar event in Morro Bay.

And the idea took off.

To add to the magic, Hansen held a witches costume contest via social media.

Hansen, a sixth-grade math teacher at Chadwick School on Palos Verdes Peninsula, said that since last Halloween came amid the heart of the coronavirus pandemic, seeing everyone on the water, safely having fun, made the inaugural Witches Paddle a gratifying experience.

Terrifying.

As you may, or may not, know, Redondo Beach is next door to Manhattan Beach and Manhattan Beach is home to SUP aficionado, and CEO of the World Surf League, Erik Logan.

Does the idea of The Ultimate Surfer make more sense now?

Satanic.

Welcome to Comboland.

Of all the many gifts orbiting in my personal constellation, the fact that I am an applied linguist, by training, often gets lost but I am and it’s true. A master of applied linguistics, even, and, anyhow, I am always paying attention to the words and phrases floating through our shared space.

Words and phrases that inspire like “hand jam.”

Words and phrases that completely annoy like “comboland.”

Surfline just released a duet, Comboland, Part One: Orange County + San Diego and Comboland, Part Two: LA – North featuring images, I’d imagine of the just-passed combination swell (coming from both north and south) that lit up our shores.

Comboland.

Comboland.

Any time a professional surfer enters that precarious position, in a heat, wherein she needs a combination of two scores in order to advance, then she has also entered comboland.

Comboland.

Comboland.

It is as if the surfer tongue is completely unable to utter the word “combo” without affixing “land” but why?

A deep etymological search reveals the word “comboland” is only used outside our surf world to describe the musical acts arising out of North Carolina between 1981 and 1984. The Spongetones and Fabulous Knobs etc.

I can’t imagine Joe Turpel is thinking about the X-Teens when describing a scoring situation Nat Young often finds himself in nor can I imagine the Surfline’s editorial staff listening to Luky Owen and Revolver when running headlines up the mast.

Comboland.

Comboland.

So annoying but while you’re here, please enjoy some comboland rock.

Bombs.

The world’s fifth richest man, friend of Kai Lenny, Mark Zuckerberg made news, days ago, by announcing that his company Facebook would be changing its name to “Meta” with a video release featuring himself achieving second place to the aforementioned Lenny in a “very cool” foil game.

Today, he reveals a new product offering, a Google Glass-esque something rather named Nazare after the famous Portuguese town, wave pioneered by fellow Hawaiian Garrett McNamara.

Per the industry publication Upload:

Alongside the reveal of the new Project Cambria VR headset, Meta (formerly Facebook) just gave a codename to its first pair of consumer AR glasses. Meet Project Nazare.

A demo video of Nazare showed some familiar AR experiences, like communicating with friends in virtual windows and even playing multiplayer with avatars appearing in the user’s living room. There was no actual picture of the hardware itself, but expect more information in the future.

Are you stung by your culture being appropriated by “big tech” or happy and honored?

Zuckerberg.

Say it loud and there’s music playing etc.

A man, reborn.

I’m in love, I’m in love and I don’t care who knows it! Oh who could have ever guessed that a sleek, black strap wrapping my left wrist, directly above my Nixon Supremacy watch, would change my entire life? Make me a better husband, father, writer, friend, surfer?

The surfing, itself, still did not register as an “activity.”

More work to do, gains to see.

But would you like to join me on this journey? Buy your own WHOOP here and receive a fifteen percent discount if you use the code BEACHGRIT at checkout.