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Mapping Montauk’s unusual / Still Waiting on JiMMy “is My Board done yet?” goldBergBen Watts’ Day PaSS / edWard alBee’s CultureD Colony / Cynthia roWley’s alien SightingS

Cults on eaSt vS. WeSt / mantauk With allan WeisBeCker / other gooD Stuff

a love letter to montauk / Summer 2011$ free for you. take one and pass it on.

tWo

cut the map out and take it w

ith you on your journey. please don’t litter!

Our alternative guide tO the easternmOst tip Of lOng island

root for the underdog at montauk's second biggest lighthouse.

Liar's saLoon: find a good seat in the corner and watch people punch each other in the face.

watch a "top chef" fan favorite in action at The surf Lodge.

sample 8 types of german brew at ruschmeyer's beer garden.

art barge: don’t panic, it sounds like it’s full of creative garbage but it’s not.

theodore roosevelt and his rough riders were quarantined after the spanish-american war at camp Wikoff. now rough rider is the name of a lower level condom. coincidence? i think not.

riTa's horse riding sTabLes and peTTing farm: try my personal favorite, “horseback riding paintball”

The movie: so small only one film plays at a time. i’m spending the whole summer lobbying for Big MoMMa’s House 3.

watch divorced dads on weekends with their kids at puff n puTT mini golf.

troll for hidden treasure at money pond. people rarely find anything so this is

basically you just walking around. just trying to limit your expectations.

watch the classic montauk sunset: cuLLoden poinT. that is, if you really care about that kind of stuff.

before the hamburger there was: deep hoLLoW ranch - the first cattle ranch in the united states, established in 1658. it was a simpler time for cows. they look upon it fondly.

montauk: our favorite coordinates in the world41°2’18”N 71°57’2”W

napeague meadow road (< a mile or so this way, off rte. 27)

7/11: where else can you buy condoms and yoo hoo at the same time?

text: hannibal buress, HanniBalHanniBal.tuMBlr.coM

161 second house road

at the end of soundview drive

star island road

401 west lake drive

183 south edgemere street

8 montauk highway on rte. 27

659 montauk highway

across from iga on montauk highway

3 west lake drive

3 edgemere street

Montauk Curiosities: The record for the most underwater rope jumps in one hour is 900 and was set by ashrita furman (uSa) at the gurney’s inn pool in montauk, ny, uSa on 23 august 2001.

i have so many friends in montauk:some,a few,are people. - W. D. Akin

Montauk Anatomy: Fins

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debunking monTauk myThs:

Welcome to the first issue of The Usual, a love letter to montauk from two of the area's biggest fans. Consider the paper you hold in your hands our way of repaying everyone for the welcoming vibes, the endless lobster rolls and for tolerating our poor attempts at surfing. We’ve tapped clothing designer Cynthia rowley, surf legend and memoirist allan Weisbecker, playwright edward albee and Jimmy “is my Board Done yet?” goldberg, all of whom call this "drinking village with a fishing problem" home, to help us tell the story of summer 2011. We hope you enjoy it. if not, it also makes a fantastic birdcage liner.

“‘take your time’ is the worst thing you can say to me,” jimmy goldberg warns when we stop by his ding repair shop one foggy may afternoon. he’s counted 24 dings on the old long board we’ve dropped off, and at $12 a pop, it’s not a cheap fix. But Jimmy is the best—and only—in the area, and the more he talks, dishing on his surf trips to Costa rica and on working as a commercial fisherman, the less fussing over money seems like an issue. That, and with his husky voice, tanned skin, and hands with calluses that each hint at a story more hardcore than the next, Jimmy comes off as the kind of guy with whom you don’t necessarily want to end up at the negotiating table.

everyone firmly rooted in montauk has a story. for Jimmy, it began with his Bayshore high School science teacher, who taught him how to repair surfboards when Jimmy was 14, the same year he learned how to surf. it was 1961, and Jimmy honed his craft both in the workshop and in the water before heading to California to work at hanley. But as many others like him, who grew up riding the tough swell of the atlantic, he couldn’t stay away too long, and returned shortly to launch hook Surfboards. “Somebody asked if i

Jimmy "is my BOard dOne yet?" gOldBerg

made boards, and i said, ‘yeah, i’ll make you a board.’ and if they liked it i’d continue. if they didn’t like it i’d never do it again.”

along the way Jimmy earned a reputation for taking his sweet time. if you’ve been in montauk for at least twenty-four hours you’ve probably seen the bumper stickers that read “is my Board Done yet?” The lore is that a disgruntled customer—frustrated at sitting on the sidelines while his surfboard was still being worked on by Jimmy—came up with the affectionately taunting slogan. in fact, it was the surf stalwart himself that began circulating the sticker as a marketing campaign for his business.

admittedly, Jimmy does take a while to finish his boards, as “the black hole”—a pile of boards collecting dust in his tiny workspace—attests. his pickup truck sports the advertisement “repairs, while you wait” with an infinity symbol under the text, indicating that you could be waiting forever. But Jimmy also insists that if someone really wants their board it can be finished in a day or two: “i can work really, really quick if i want to.” The stipulation being that Ditch Plains stays under four feet, in which case, those 24 dings—and his customers—will have to wait. ☐

photos: glenn glasser, glennglasser.coM

hook Surfboards / Ding repair (631) 379-7292Photos: Jimmy's workshop and truck, 2011

four

montauk Blessing of the fleet, 1993; Crossing the atlantic on eagle, 1995Baja, mexico, 1996; Baja, mexico, 1996; kid in kot field, Blue mountains, Jamaica, 1978

Baja Sea urchin Diver, 1996; montauk Surf kids, late 1990sOpposite page: ‘Paradise Pavones,’ Pavones, Costa rica, 1998

photos: allan weisbecker

allan WeisBecker

manTauk:

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over a fresh catch of calamari on the dock at lenny’s, allan weisbecker, the “gonzo” writer of the american surf memoir, looked me square in the eye to punctuate his point: “i called the captain a fat fuck.” the author is recounting the time he sank a vessel carrying 8,000 pounds of marijuana because the coast guard was in hot pursuit. as a pot smuggler, pioneer of the long island surf scene, and one of Miami Vice’s first screenwriters, weisbecker’s nonfiction, most notably in search of captain Zero and cosmic Banditos, have earned him cult hero status, inspiring a generation of surfers to leave their comfortable american breaks in search of great waves and adventure.

his last book can’t You get along With anyone? served as impetuous for a travel film, currently in production. it touches upon deeper issues such as media cover ups, the state of the world, and man’s vicious cycle of denial: themes that have occupied the new york native’s thoughts ever since his ‘experiences with murderers in paradise, sociopathic girlfriends, dumb ass literary agents, cranky movie stars, and hollywood in general.’

you mentioned your dad started bringing you to montauk from the city when you were young?my dad was a little crazy in his own way, a true eccentric. he began bodybuilding in the '50s before fitness was even a thought in the commercial mind, as well as scuba diving and spear fishing. he included me in everything, god bless him.

Did you love being in the water early on?yeah, i was going to be a marine biologist at first, and then surfing changed everything.

Did you learn how to surf here?Ditch Plains in about 1965.

What was montauk like back then? Put it this way: gosman’s was a hot dog stand. montauk changed very slowly but over the years it was significant. about half of it is State Park so it’s sort of safe, more or less, depending on how you define ‘safe’. Starting at age 16, i would spend the summers out here in a tent at the trailer park (for about three bucks a day) and i got to know the local crew that are still my friends today.

Do you remember your first board?it was called a ‘malibu Custom,’ but it wasn’t ‘custom,’ it was a pop out. They just called it that; my intro to commercialization in surfing was instantaneous.

how did your surfing develop from there?after seeing Endless Summer and realizing that long island wasn’t the hub of wave riding, i moved to the north Shore in hawaii. i was 20 and living at ground zero for several sorts of revolutions, sociological and surf-wise. The north Shore was sort of an outlaw subculture within an outlaw subculture. We looked down on hippies – who got stoned and pretty much just sat there. We were going places (on waves) that no one had ever gone before.

What’s your favorite place to surf?it would be Pavones where i lived in Costa rica, but i’ve crossed it off my personal surf map.

Why can’t you go back?has to do with a murder investigation i did there in 1997 and that came back to haunt me in 2006. it’s in my last book.

how did you start writing?around 1980 i decided to get out of the pot smuggling business, because somebody did something that i would have kill him to stay in the business. you can’t stay in that business and have someone rip you off. i decided i didn’t want to kill anybody. a lot of things came together badly at the same time. The Coast guard caught me off of Puerto rico with 8,000 pounds plus various other catastrophes…

So where did that leave you?i come back stateside, open my closet and my lawyer’s coats are hanging in there, my girlfriend at the time stuttering some bizarre reason. So i checked into the un Plaza hotel, which i stayed in because their security is so good cops can’t get in. i made a list of what else i wanted to do with my life. it had a lot of things on it, but i had always been interested in making films and writing.

i knew this guy in hollywood who was producing tv’S Laverne and Shirley, and features also. i called him and asked how to get into the making movie business. he said, “Write the best screenplay ever written and bring it out here.” Then, being the character he was, he hung up on me.

So i sat down and wrote a script that i’d had in my head for a while – i had to buy a book to find out what screenplays even looked like. in about a month i went out to hollywood, handed it to him and hung out at his pool while he read it. he closed it and offered to option it then and there. it was probably the world record for a sap showing up at hollywood and getting a deal. i got an agent who put me together with michael mann and was off to the races, with miami vice and film scripts. Sure seemed easy. The hard parts came later.

Were you surfing out there?not as much as i should have been. one reason i did the Captain Zero journey was that i had slipped out of surfing. i knew i had to get back to it.

Were you too busy with other aspects of your life to focus on it?The smuggling thing got really distracting. i had a lear jet and could have put my surfboards on for side trips, but i didn’t. i can’t explain why. I lost the plot, as the British say. Surfing and being rich don’t mix. you either do one or the other.

you recently returned from Costa rica where you’d lived for a few years. What were you doing there?Went surfing. i built a house, went surfing.

fell in love, went surfing. got in trouble because of a murder investigation i’d done for a magazine (Men’s Journal), went surfing. Wrote a book, fell out of love when i realized my girlfriend was a sociopath, then came back to montauk… Went surfing…

The book you wrote is Can’t You Get Along With Anyone, A Writer’s Memoir and a Tale of a Lost Surfer’s Paradise. Where did the title come from?it was the body of an email i got from one of the literary agents that i fired.

how many agents have you fired?lost count. The last one went in less than a week.

Because?he was going to sell CygaWa, right? okay. When i asked him if he’s read my first book, Cosmic Banditos, which was published by random house and then Penguin, he said no, he hadn’t. So i ask him if he intends to read it. he says, no, since he’s not going to sell it. at that point my finger was quivering on the firing another agent trigger. Then he says that he did read In Search of Captain Zero, like reading it was a major accomplishment.he pauses, then adds, ‘every word.’

Boom, gone.

Sean Penn bought In Search of Captain Zero for the movies, right?That’s true.

apparently you didn’t get along with him either.Sean’s last communication to me was, and i’ll quote: ‘i hope you stay in Central america until something resembling death.’Sean (along with a studio that put up the bucks) buys the book and hires me to write the screenplay, right? i have a conflict with the studio over the screenplay and go to Sean for back up, which as the producer is his job. turns out he hadn’t read the screenplay or the book. i take exception to that. Sean takes exception to my taking exception and the next thing he’s wishing me ‘something resembling death.’ Which i don’t get. i mean what resembles death?

how could he buy the book for the movies without reading it?ho-rayyy for hollywood.

you had some sort of problem with John Cusack, who bought your first book, Cosmic Banditos, right?That was over money.

Didn’t you physically threaten him?yes, but from a distance, one coast to the other. John’s a black belt at kickboxing.

it seems like in the film you’re making your problems with people have…expanded.

yes, expanded. explain.During and after my experiences with murderers in paradise, sociopathic girlfriends, dumb ass literary agents, cranky movie stars, and hollywood in general, i started really looking into how the world works, meaning the difference between what we’re told about world events and what really happened. and so down the rabbit hole i went.

my impression is that you’re into various conspiracy theories.

What do you mean by that term? ‘Conspiracy theories’? That there’s always some malevolent force behind events. Well, for example, according to the 9/11 Commission report there was a conspiracy. in fact, almost every crime committed is a conspiracy. all you need is two or more people involved and you have a conspiracy.

After a discussion of world events since World War II, Allan says:look, the problem in discussing these issues — especially for a little interview like this — is what the media has done to our way of thinking.

Which is?let’s say you ask me if i’m glad that a Seal team killed osama bin laden last april. i might say, yes, i’m glad, or i might say, i wish they’d taken him alive so we could get info on the rest of al Qaeda. right? Pretty simple. everyone knows what you’re talking about.But what if i say, osama bin laden’s been dead since a few weeks after 9/11? Suddenly, it’s like, What?! i’d have to explain about all the evidence that surfaced in early 2002 – unreported by the mainstream media, of course -- that he was dead.

i mean the whole thing is ridiculous on the face of it: for a full decade – two and a half times the length of World War two -- our trillion dollar defense/national security apparatus and their satellites that can i.D. you from space by your thermal imprint couldn’t find a six foot four inch arab dragging around a kidney dialysis machine. But very few folks reading this will understand the obvious truth of what i just said, let alone actually look into the subject. formal, peer reviewed studies have been done – and for me real life has born this out – showing that once something has been repeated over and over enough times, people are incapable of processing new information that contradicts whatever the belief is.

The big D. Denial.

how does this sort of thing fit into a film about a surf trip to mexico and Central america, which is what your film is about?ain’t easy. But i somehow combined pot smuggling with quantum physics in Cosmic Banditos, so i figure it’s worth a shot.

What’s the title of the film?Water Time; Surf/Travel Diary of a Mad Man. That’s ‘Mad Man,’ two words, not ‘madman.’

if you believe people are incapable of changing their minds, what’s the point of making the film?or doing this interview, right? good question. let’s say a thousand people read this. Down the road, i’m hoping that one person out of the thousand is fooling around online, looking up who angelina Jolie is banging these days or whatever, and maybe for the hell of it or to prove i’m a crackpot, they google ‘9/11 Commission report’… Then, maybe someday deep down the rabbit hole i’ll meet that person and they’ll thank me.

most folks just get pissed off.

To see a trailer of Allan’s film or read his latest "Down the Rabbit Hole" essay, go to Banditobooks.com. ☐

SiX

monday tuesday Wednesday Thursday friday saturday sunday

1sl: DJ CHElsEA

lEYlAND7–9 pm

- - - - - - - - - EE: DJ DustiN

FrANks- - - - - - - - -

SE: LATE nIGHT SOIREE

2sl: Cults

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - - tsb: livE

ACoustiC sEts From 6 pm

EE: DJ CHElsEA lEYlAND

- - - - - - - - - SE: AfTERnOOn DJ

+ POOL PARTY

3sl: DJ JACk lubEr

4–7 pm sl: G lovE

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - - tsb: livE

ACoustiC sEts From 6 pm- - - - - - - - -

SE: CInEMA UnDER THE STARS

4SE: MExICAn

MOnDAYS - - - - - - - - -

nB: nAnCY ATLAS

5sl: DustiN FrANks

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - -

EE: iNDustrY NiGHts.

livE musiC

6sl: NANCY AtlAs

6–8 pm

7sl: DustiN FrANks

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - - EE: CAmp

rusCHmEYEr's biNGo

- - - - - - - - - SE: REGGAE

8sl: DJ CHElsEA

lEYlAND7–9 pm

- - - - - - - - - EE: DJ DustiN

FrANks- - - - - - - - -

Se: LATE nIGHT SOIREE

- - - - - - - - - nB: TELLY

9sl: ACt tbA

7–9 pm - - - - - - - - - tsb: livE

ACoustiC sEts From 6 pm

EE: DJ CHElsEA lEYlAND

- - - - - - - - - SE: AfTERnOOn DJ

+ POOL PARTY

10sl: DJ JACk lubEr

4–7 pmsl: GiANt pANDA

GuErillA Dub squAD7–9 pm

- - - - - - - - - tsb: livE

ACoustiC sEts From 6 pm- - - - - - - - -

SE: CInEMA UnDER THE STARS

11SE: MExICAn

MOnDAYS

12sl: DustiN FrANks

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - -

EE: iNDustrY NiGHts.

livE musiC

13sl: NANCY AtlAs

6–8 pm

14sl: DustiN FrANks

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - - EE: CAmp

rusCHmEYEr's biNGo

- - - - - - - - - SE: REGGAE

15sl: DJ CHElsEA

lEYlAND7–9 pm

- - - - - - - - - EE: DJ DustiN

FrANks - - - - - - - - -

Se: LATE nIGHT SOIREE

16sl: DoNovAN

FrANkENrEitEr 7–9 pm

- - - - - - - - - tsb: livE

ACoustiC sEts From 6 pm

EE: DJ CHElsEA lEYlAND

- - - - - - - - - SE: AfTERnOOn DJ

+ POOL PARTY

17sl: DJ JACk lubEr

4–7 pm - - - - - - - - - tsb: livE

ACoustiC sEts From 6 pm- - - - - - - - -

SE: CInEMA UnDER THE STARS - - - - - - - - -

nB: JOE DELIA & THIEvES

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SE: MExICAn MOnDAYS

19sl: DustiN FrANks

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - -

EE: iNDustrY NiGHts.

livE musiC

20sl: NANCY AtlAs

6–8 pm

21sl: DustiN FrANks

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - - EE: CAmp

rusCHmEYEr's biNGo

- - - - - - - - - SE: REGGAE

22

sl: DJ CHElsEA lEYlAND

7–9 pm - - - - - - - - -

EE: DJ DustiN FrANks

- - - - - - - - - Se: LATE nIGHT

SOIREE- - - - - - - - -

nB: nAnCY ATLAS

23sl: FrANkiE rosE

AND tHE outs 7–9 pm

- - - - - - - - - tsb: livE

ACoustiC sEts From 6 pm

EE: DJ CHElsEA lEYlAND

- - - - - - - - - SE: AfTERnOOn DJ

+ POOL PARTY

24sl: DJ JACk lubEr

4–7 pm - - - - - - - - -

sl: Forro iN tHE DArk

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - -

SE: CInEMA UnDER THE STARS

25SE: MExICAn

MOnDAYS

26sl: DustiN FrANks

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - -

EE: iNDustrY NiGHts.

livE musiC

27sl: NANCY AtlAs

6–8 pm

28sl: DustiN FrANks

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - - EE: CAmp

rusCHmEYEr's biNGo

- - - - - - - - - SE: REGGAE

29sl: DJ CHElsEA

lEYlAND7–9 pm

- - - - - - - - - EE: DJ DustiN

FrANks - - - - - - - - -

Se: LATE nIGHT SOIREE

30sl: GrowlErs

7–9 pm- - - - - - - - - tsb: livE

ACoustiC sEts From 6 pm

EE: DJ CHElsEA lEYlAND

- - - - - - - - - SE: AfTERnOOn DJ

+ POOL PARTY

31sl: DJ JACk lubEr

4–7 pm- - - - - - - - - tsb: livE

ACoustiC sEts From 6 pm- - - - - - - - -

SE: CInEMA UnDER THE STARS- - - - - - - - -

nB: JOE DELIA & THIEvES

caLendar:

legend:sl: surf lodge. 183 south edgeMere stThe surf lodge summer music series is presented by svedka

rM: rusChMeyer's. 161 seCond house rdee: eleCtriC eel at rusChMeyer'stsB: the sand Bar at rusChMeyer's

SE: SOLE EAST. 90 SeConD houSe rDSole east’s Cinema under the Stars is presented by The hamptons international film festival.

nB: nAvY BEACH. 16 navy rDnavy Beach's live music Sunset Set is scheduled around the sunset, approximately 5–7 Pm.

ruschmeyer’s signaTure cockTaiL

2 oz Svedka vodka1 oz agave syrup

1 oz fresh lime juicefresh watermelon muddled with mint

half chopped jalepeno

Preparation: Shake and strain over ice into a rocks glass.

cults g love growlersdustin franks nancy atlas donovan frankenreitergiant panda guerilla dub squad

Seven

the neW yOrk-Based Band kick Off 4th Of July Weekend as part Of the surf lOdge summer music series

q&a:

have you ever been to montauk?

no, but we’re really excited to go. the surf lodge is the show we’re most excited about this summer. we never have time to relax on the beach so it will be nice, and we want to stay through fourth of july rather than be stuck in the city watching fireworks on somebody’s roof. although last year we went to coney island. i won the hot dog eating contest.

you moved from san diego to new york. how did you adjust to the east coast mentality?

it’s an adjustment going from san diego, where you have to drive everywhere, and there’s not really anything to do and nothing open past eight at night. the only bad thing is the insane weather. i think in general everyone in the band is definitely more east coast than west coast. new york is just the best place to be in the world.

you’ve been on tour for a while now. do you enjoy it?

we’re on tour for a really long time, pretty much straight until december. we have a few days off in december and then start back up in february. ever since we put out “go outside,” “abducted,” and “you know what i mean,” we’ve pretty much been on tour. our first ever tour was in july. we’d be like three weeks touring and two weeks in the studio, so we haven’t really had a break. there are certain low points on tour, but then when we get home we can’t wait to get back on the road because we don’t really know what to do with ourselves besides driving all day and sitting in a bar at night.

have you amassed a slew of groupies yet?

we have a few who have traveled to, like, five different shows. it’s crazy when that happens. there are certain cities with the same people that are always at the show, and you think, “really? you really want to see us again?” there are some pushy people that will push their way backstage and sort of follow you around. and there are a lot of fifty-plus men that will come up and say how much they love my smile.

What do you listen to when you're driving on tour?

we were in a small van for the last year that didn’t have air conditioning and this tour we upgraded to a sprinter, and it has an xbox so i hang out in the back while watching everyone play video games. there’s a rotation where a group of two will play "tiger woods pga tour" and then they switch because they have to get their game time in. when the guys are not playing video games we’ll read or watch movies.

What song of your new album will people listen to as their summer anthem?

it changes for me everyday, but today it’s “oh my god.” ☐

Cynthia roWley’s three f’s: friends, food, and fun

“fear eats the soul,” designer cynthia rowley once said. this ethos extends to all areas of her life. in the ‘80s, rowley staged her first runway show in her apartment and fearlessly invited all of new york’s fashion editors and cultural elite. the show served as a launch pad for her eponymous line, which today includes clothing, accessories, baby ware, and

even band-aids. with stores in twenty five cities around the world, last year was the right time to open a montauk outpost, where rowley has been a part- time resident since 1999. an avid surfer, she stocked the boutique with wetsuits from her collaboration with swimwear brand roxy. here we talk sun, surf, and alien sightings with the illinois native.

you grew up in illinois, Where did you learn to surf?you know people surf on lake michigan…on those really windy days. ha!

you’ve had a house in montauk since 1999. What is one of your fondest memories of the area?Walking barefoot on the beach with my kids. even though it happens season after season, it never fails as a summer favorite.

are you concerned that the community is becoming too “hamptonized”?yes, definitely, which is why i must take this opportunity to tell you about the frequent alien hauntings in montauk, the rocky refuse we call a beach, where the sun never shines and it’s always ten degrees cooler than the rest of long island!

What’s a typical montauk weekend like for you and your family?The f’s: friends, food, and fun.

your wetsuit collaboration with roxy debuted last year and featured light pastels, while this year’s palette favors darker colors. What was the idea behind this summer’s collection? The colors really vary. it’s more about taking wetsuits into the future rather than retaining the stagnant vintage designs typical of classic surf gear, like the hawaiian flower or the 1950s graphic. The rowley/roxy wetsuits are about looking forward, and offer sexy, beautiful alternatives to the standard black men’s suit.

you and your husband, Bill Powers, are both involved in artistic fields, and you recently launched the online art retail site exhibition a. Can you talk a bit about why you feel this site is important?We felt like there was this huge market of untapped young collectors that should have access to good, affordable art. exhibition a is intended to provide a lot of directives so that subscribers can kick-start their collections in a thoughtful way, and own work by some of the most important contemporary artists out there.

i was looking at these great photos of you and your daughters in Peru. how important is travel for you? travel and exposure to new experiences are huge for me, and it’s really important to me that my girls have those opportunities as well. Peru was amazing. it was this crazy dichotomy of extreme lavishness (at the luxury Collection’s tambo del inka, where we stayed), and rugged outdoors (hiking machu Picchu and rafting). my mom came as well, so we’ve been jokingly referring to it as “mom-chu Picchu.”

your swimwear in particular seems inspired by far-off cultures. Does travel play a large role in your design process? yes, our whole summer collection has hints of tribal prints and indigenous graphics. every collection is a blend of influences and inspirations, so of course anywhere that i travel offers new contributions to that alchemy. ☐

The surf Lodge's summer music series presenTs cuLTs on JuLy 2, where west coast natives brian oblivion and madeline follin will perform a selection of '60s- inspired pop gems from their debut album. the duo have been on tour since releasing their chart-topping single "go outside" last year... what she considers to be the group's summer theme song. we caught up with follin, the band’s vocalist, in a van somewhere in the middle of pennsylvania to discuss her fifty-year-old groupies and xbox.

Photos: a wetsuit from the rowley/roxy 2011 collection; Cynthia and family at the beach

eight

day pass: Ben Watts captures 24 hOurs in mOntauk

Born in london, england, Ben Watts has been photographing new york's urban culture since moving here in 1995. today, he is a regular contributor to new York Times Magazine, GQ, Interview and Rolling Stone among others. here, Watts takes us on a 24 hour tour of montauk, from behind the lens of his hipstamatic. Benwatts.com

Montauk Curiosities: at the end of the 1600s montauk was notorious for harboring pirates. legend has it that Captain kidd left two treasure chests of booty in montauk’s money Pond, although no loot has ever been found.

montauk is a commercial fisherman with a six handicap.- W. D. Akin

Montauk Anatomy: oysters

nine

ten

Montauk Curiosities: The new york State record for biggest striped bass catch is a 76 pound (34 kg) fish caught off montauk in 1981.

montauk:no good weather,no bad weather,just strong character. - W. D. Akin

Montauk Anatomy: knots

eleven

THE G

RAND TAXONOMY OF

MONTAUK

NAMES

PEOPLE

MISSPELLINGS

POPULAR CULTURE

RELATIONSHIPS

THE OCEAN

FISHING

FISHINGPHRASES

AUDACIOUSBOASTS

GIRLS’ NAMES

RELIGION

BOYS’ NAMES

FAMILY

PLACES

PERSONAL TRAITS

FISH SPECIES

SEA MAMMALS

SEAFARING VESSELS

SEAPHRASES

PHRASES ABOUT LIFE

LIFE

TWO NAMES

ONE AND A HALF NAMES

BAIT

MISS...

LADY...

MONTAUK

HOLLYWOOD

GUNS N‘ ROSES SONGS

REST OF WORLD

SEXUALREFERENCES

CAPTAINS

MONEY

MEDICAL

THINGS FISH DO

SHARK FAMILY

ADDICTION

PEOPLE AT SEA

SOPHIA ROSE

JOAN-E

NINA-B

LADY C

LADY GRACE

SUSIE E

MARIE

ALYSSA ANNLADY FIN

BARBARA ANN

SEA BEAR

WAHOO

RAINBOW RUNNER

MAKO

TORO

HAMMERHEAD

STRIPER

BLACK FIN

SEAHORSE

JOEL L

CAPT. KEITH

BIG GAMBLE

FAST LANE

BITE ME

SOB

AL’S GIRL NOW

DOUBLE D

PREDATOR

FISHOHOLIC

FRENZY

REELTIMEREEL HOPE

FISH ON

PURSUIT

TOTALLY HOOKED

TOP HOOK

COMMOCEAN

NASTY-NESS

CRACK OAR

ARC ANGEL

RETAINER

EMPTY POCKETS 3

NO PROBLEM

FLYING DUTCHMAN

D.D.’S REVENGE

RIVE GAUCHE

BLACK SHEEP

VIKING

FOLIE A DEUX

MUDDY WATERS

SUNDAY RIVER

MISS MONTAUK

LAZYBONES

BAMBOLEO

FREEDOM

RUBA

TEASER

SEA SNIPER

SEAHAG

ANNIVERSARY

SCOUT

BAD DADDY

WESTLAKE

SEAWORTHY

BLACK FIN

BOTTOM LINE

KENNEBUNK

PEQUOD

DANCES WITH WAVES

SOAKER

FISHERMAN

REMEMBER WHEN

NOTHIN’S EASY

THUNDERFISH TOO

LADY J

MISS ELLIE 2

CAPT. RON

JELLYWORM

DEEP QUEST 3

MR VIGGS

ONE MORE DRIFT

ARABELLA

KAREN SUE

CUT N’ RUN

50/50

WHARF RAT

NEXT GENERATION

OCEAN SPIRIT

JESSIE ROSE

TUNA TANGLER TOO

KELLY

GRADITUDE

HANG EM HIGH

WHY KNOT?

IN THE RED

SINFUL

EMMA KATE

ORCA

FLYING FISH

IMPULSIVE

AQUAHOLIC

THE DOG HOUSE

MISS BEHAVIN’

MATILDA

WILD THING

BAILOUT

SUCH A DEAL 11

MY PENSION PLAN

AFT’R TUITION

ASLEEP AT THE REEL

GOTCHA

PREDATOR

BANDIT

PANCHO

TO THE MOON

BLUE CRUSH

MAYBE BABY

GET-N-ANYSKIPPIN’ CHURCH

DELIVERANCE

LIONHEART

AMAZING GRACE

EL BRAVO

GLADIATOR

PREPARATION H

NOVEMBER RAIN

DOUBLE HEADER

HUNGRY JACK

SUNDAY DRIVER

SQUIRT

4-PLAY

What a person calls their boat says a lot about who they are (Impulsive); their world view (nothin’s Easy); their sexual prowess (Double Header); or their penchant for cheesiness (Dances with Waves). it’s these names and

dozens of others that we gathered anchored along montauk’s docks, presented categorically below.

tWelve

edWard alBee’s cultured cOlOny photos: glenn glasser

Montauk Curiosities: from 1920 to 1933 montauk’s shore became known as “rum row” because of its use as a “drop off” point for rumrunners during the country’s 13-year prohibition.

every montauk localis slightly bent...by the wind. - W. D. Akin

Montauk Anatomy: Fish hooks

thirteen

since 1967, playwright edward albee, best known for the groundbreaking "Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?," has run the edward f. albee foundation, a seasonal residency for writers, painters, sculptors, and composers. housed in a nineteenth-century barn, the foundation’s coupling of writers and fine artists extends albee’s ethos that creative disciplines do better when exposed to one another. albee, who is also an avid art collector, talks with brooklyn-based painter and hofstra university instructor jim lee—who spent an august two years ago working at “the barn”—about pollack versus de kooning and what’s wrong with today’s art market.

i read an introduction that you wrote for a milton avery catalog and you mentioned that your taste in art is catholic – – and Protestant. [laughter]

So what’s your attitude towards collecting art?if you go to my loft in new york you’ll see a milton avery next to a [lászló] moholy-nagy next to an african mask -- i don’t discriminate. i have a number of found objects mixed in there, which i also consider to be works of art. i don’t insist on – or my eye and my mind don’t insist on one kind of thing. i don’t have any junk around and my collection is based on an awful lot of artists that have been forgotten by a lot of people, as well as artists that haven’t made it yet. i also have my [Wassily] kandinsky, my [Jean] arp and my early [marc] Chagall. i have a lot of stuff. By itself [a piece] has to be very interesting, but it also has to relate in some odd way - relate to some aesthetic historicism. i used to have a couple of Cubist paintings that i always found interesting and i hung them next to some african masks and then i saw the show at the museum of modern art [Picasso and Braque: Pioneering Cubism] with the Picasso studio and the Braque studio with their african pieces.

What is it about the african masks?i find them so extraordinary. The so-called primitive art is as sophisticated and aesthetically demanding as any art. and yet it was not made as art. art shouldn’t be made as art, it should be made as something that one relates to and is useful in some kind of social way.

i find what draws me into a work of art is that it addresses more questions than answers.That’s because questions are more interesting than answers. answers are easier and are usually somewhat less interesting than the questions.

are you still excited to go to the galleries?i make my way through the trendy junk that everybody is showing these days – it’s not really serious work. it’s annoying. art has become commerce in a way that it never was. There are so many rich people with not much taste that want to accumulate the new. and there are so many artists that are trying to catch the brass ring. you know, mark rothko didn’t sell a painting until he was 53. So many people are trying to

be fashionable and the art market is just as corrupt as any other aspect of our culture.

Do you see this as the biggest challenge for an artist today? i find it’s tough for creative young artists because of the commerce, and for the playwrights, the novelists, the painters, the photographers, and the sculptors as well. But sculptors always have a problem because sculpture takes up too much space, and its heavy and it doesn’t fit into the decorator’s concept of what a room should look like. [laughs in jest]

Did you write a lot of criticism? and do you read any art criticism? yes, i’ve written a fair amount but i’d say i’m more visually oriented. most art criticism isn’t that interesting… i get artforum just to look at the ads.

So you don’t read the new york times or the new yorker?Well, i like Peter Schjeldahl. even though i find him wrong half of the time, he’s still definitely interesting, although i find his conclusions sometimes unnecessary.

ad reinhardt says that “in art the end is always the beginning.” how do you respond to that?of course it has to be.

are we getting close to the beginning?The end of each piece is the new beginning. or the end of each movement is the new beginning, but more important is that everything interacts. That is most

important—how all the arts interact. That’s why, as a playwright, i find painting, sculpture, and music as important, if not more important, to me than words and writing.

When you are writing, do you listen to music?i don’t want to hear anyone else’s music. i don’t want to hear anyone else’s words. i don’t want anyone’s aesthetic to get in my way. i want to be focused on the reality of what i’m doing. i think, as a painter, if you were making a painting you wouldn’t even want any other paintings that you are working on in the same room as the painting you’re working on because they may influence you.

you were a painter at one point, do you still paint?no, not anymore . . . i gave that up.

Do you have a process?every time i write a play i pretend that i’ve never written one before, and i also pretend that no one else has ever written one before.

is it a problem if you see the influences within the work of an artist? no, not at all. i say to use them. But make them your own. We should look to those that came before us and use them. Don’t just borrow – steal. it’s not about hiding them; it’s about how you incorporate it into your own aesthetic.

Select one: Pollock or de kooning.hmm... i don’t’ know. They’re both interesting. i tend to like de kooning’s early black and white work but i think the last work is just terrible.

you know, Pollock did some extraordinary work and is also important. it’s difficult to pick one over the other. you need to see what happens to an artist.

is it difficult because Pollock died so early?it’s tough to say what would have happened. you take an artist like motherwell - he was interesting in the ‘50s and even some of his big black and white “kliney” paintings are interesting but after that . . . and look what happened to kline when he added color to his work – it fell apart completely. We can’t judge what Pollock would have done, we really can’t. i don’t know what would have

happened. i mean what if he’d stopped drinking? it might have fallen apart.

is there anything for artists to react to these days?The problem is the spectrum of what to take from has gotten so huge and the varieties of middlebrow experience that can be imitated are so tempting. i just wish that art would stop being popular for about thirty years. i think it would settle itself out and that would leave the good people to go forward because they’d be painting just because of painting. What i do find is that sculpture is getting more interesting – quite often more interesting than painting. for example i find Cy twombly’s sculpture more interesting than his paintings, ultimately.

Who do you think deserves a lifetime achievement award?i give it to [the poet and playwright] Sam Beckett, although i don’t like some of the painters he liked.

Who did he like?Some good second-rate french painters that i didn’t think much of, but he did like good music. he listened to good music. So did rothko, he listened to good music when he painted.

you were close with rothko?yes, we knew each other pretty well.

What do you listen to?all kinds of things, but mostly classical.

from our conversation, i take it that you need a lot of creative crossover in your life.i think crossover is essential to creativity. it is one of the reasons the foundation works as well as it does. if there were nothing but poets here, who’d learn anything? The artists are supposed to interact. having different disciplines here makes it pretty useful.

What do writers need? isolation and a small space and a beach to go to and look at things. ☐

Photos: in and around the edward f. albee foundation, 2011

fourteen

“i started photographing in montauk in 1999, making large format landscapes and seascapes. after many years with my eye fixed solely on the ocean’s surface, i slowly raised my camera upwards. including the sky in the image, which eventually led to my paying more attention to the things surrounding the tiny area of texture and wave that i had been concentrating on for so long. as i did, surfers inevitably found their way into my photographs. They appeared enough times to make me realize that we were in a shared landscape, each participating in our own way with the ocean.

the shared landscape: phOtOgrapher JOni sternBach captures mOntauk’s memOries

Working with the wet plate collodion process was a way to combine my love of this historic and immediate medium with a very current cultural phenomenon: surfing. making pictures that are processed on the beach has created conversations about photography, the environment, surfing, art, and why we are all out there together, making this happen. most of my subjects are strangers. my time with each surfer is a pause, either before they enter or after they come out of the water. The tintype process is slow, and does more to encapsulate time than freeze it. i love the collaborative nature of working with my subjects to create a photograph that both captures and somehow also looks out of time.” ☐

"freddie + harry," unique tintype, 2009; "minnie + lulu," unique tintype, 2006"lily," unique tintype, 2007; "Jan," unique tintype, 2009 Jonisternbach.com

Montauk Curiosities: arthur Benson of Brooklyn bought all of montauk for $151,000 in 1879.

montauk is:t-shirt.no shirt.Sweat shirt. nightshirt.- W. D. Akin

Montauk Anatomy: Anchors

fifteen

stephen “talkhouse” pharaoh (ca. 1879–1921) was dubbed “last king of the montauk indians,” despite not actually being a king, nor being last of the montauks.

Stephen Talkhouse

Publishers:

Ben Pundole/robert mckinley king and grove, Kingandgrove.com

Editor:

yasha Wallin

Art Director/Designer:

emily anderson

Contributors:

W. D. akin, hannibalBuress, glenn glasser, Jim lee,

Joni Sternbach, Ben Watts

Special Thanks:

elyssa Dimant, Jakob holder, honey, trip hosmer and the WCg crew, rex lau, Diane mayo, Shelby meade, Joe

termini and abe Wallin

Copy Editors/Proofreaders:

alex Carp, Charles mcleod, Jennifer Piejko

hisTory Lesson: coLophon

talkhouse was famed for his twenty-five to fifty mile daily round-trip walks around eastern long island for which many landmarks (and a bar) along his route are named. talkhouse died on august 30, 1879 at the age of 58, and he was laid to rest in a small indian burial ground on talkhouse lane in montauk.

talkhouse was said to be a descendant of Chief Wyandanch, who, around 1642, sold much of the eastern end of long island to British for twenty coats, twenty-four hatchets, hoes, knives, looking glasses, and 100 muxes (a form of drill). The early montauk were major manufacturers of wampum—traditional, sacred beads used as a kind of currency among northeast woodlands tribes. This made them powerful and the envy of their neighbors, most notably the Pequots of rhode island—who Wyandanch allied with British colonialists to secure protection against, eventually leading to the tribe’s demise. ☐

We carry over 30 designers from all over the world whose common theme is that they are in some way inspired by the ocean and beach life. Surf Bazaar is about maintaining a good quality of life and taking a break from the hectic day to day. a lot of people show up to montauk on a whim still in their work clothes. We help them by providing not just the basics (swimwear, towels, sandals, soaps and sunscreens) but original items you wouldn’t find elsewhere.

surfing sarToriaLisT:

the Buyer fOr surf Bazaar @ the surf lOdge talks shOp

our men's swimwear lines olasul (designed by a peruvian surfer) is a standout.

mikoh is our favorite for the ladies.

not all recycled bags are created equally: these custom barkley sound bags are made out of rescued sails; with

our bright neon ones using rare sails from the '80s.

sarah beltran puts her beach gatherings to good use with dezso, her line of bright woven bracelets fashioned from

seashells and seahorses cast in silver.

get more bang for your buck with this jumpsuit that can also be worn

as pants in earth cotton gauze with flora silk trim.

we love this barely-there racer back tank in white cotton gauze with

turquoise silk trim... as will the dudes.

this gauze halter dress (pictured in sand cotton

gauze with sunset silk trim) is lightweight enough to

wear all summer.

our favorite this year is our own namesake line: surf bazaar. the sunset inspired collection

comes in light cotton gauze and coastal colors (sand, water, stone) with neon silk trim.

Cover image:

allan Weisbecker, montauk Surf kids, late 1990s

Back image:

Joni Sternbach, "lone Surfer," unique tintype, 2006

The Usualissue #1

Summer 2011

Captain kidds Pathmontauk, ny 11954

info@theusualmontauk.com

Printed in new yorkPaper fSC certified

© 2011 The Usual

The entire contents of The usual is © copyrighted and may not be

reproduced, either in whole or part, without written permission from

the publisher.

surf BaZaar: 183 soutH edgeMere street, thesurflodge.com