HOT ROD SURF Past & Present and Reality. “The eagle never lost so much time. As when he submitted to learn of the crow.” –William Blake from The Marriage of Heaven and Hell. For all of our new visitors Welcome to the world of HOT ROD SURF where grease, traditional hot rods, sexy pin-ups, surfing, and choppers rule the world! In the past I, MWM, had a personal physical and mental aversion to embracing any sort of media communication as I genuinely believed it was a waste of time which could be spent building and creating mean road machines, driving them around, and living. Simply it would have been impossible to build all of the Hot Rod Surf hot rods {see our hot rod section} build all of the choppers {see our chopper section} and design all of our Hot Rod Surf products {see our on-line store}, pinstripe {see pinstriping section}, photograph Pin-Up’s {see pin-up section}, host our Hot Rod Surf Hot Rodder’s Barbeques, and at the same time try to explain it to someone who might not get it. To compound this reverse 7 or even 8 years ago in your mind (especially if you are new to Hot Rod Surf) ….imagine seeing rockabilly rebel flags, iron crosses, lighting bolts, skulls, loud rock & roll music, big belt buckles, pure bred Doberman pinchers, topless pin-ups, primer hot rods being test driven without floor pans and on top of that surfing and custom surfboards… All of the things listed are, and continue to be, HOT ROD SURF and were genuinely loathed and even in some cases feared by the ‘main stream mind set.’ “Independence is for the very few; it is a privilege of the strong.” (Nieitzche, “The Free Spirit”). ‘Back then’ there where no TV shows with tattoos, and hot rod and chopper building. We now live in a world where it has become increasingly mainstream to embrace the things which have been a part of the Hot Rod Surf experience for years. I walked into a generic discount clothing outlet to see t-shirts with skulls, lighting bolts, and choppers?! For personal and legal reasons, let’s say, I have had some ‘time off’ or more like a “time out.” During this ‘time out’ I have had an opportunity to write some books, and observe what has been culturally going on around the things all of us hold dear and love at HOT ROD SURF and I have some things to say. To begin with all of the Hot Rod Surf hot rods were built in our shop from early Ford metal which were found in pieces and deemed ‘unusable’ and ‘too hard to reassemble’ by just about everyone but me. When I use the word ‘built’ I want to be very clear that I mean, fitting, welding, designing, and painting were done physically by myself often with brotherly assistance from JP, and JF. The same goes for the Pin-Up photography and designs. It should be known that Hot Rod Surf is not some sort of mega business but rather the result of years of living a lifestyle and old fashioned hard work and ingenuity. A large part of the work was physical and the results are that Hot Rod Surf hot rods, choppers, products, and photography really do exist in physical Reality. It has come to my attention that the world of cyber and media realty (with a small ‘r’) sometimes portrays and can help share Reality and should sometimes be addressed. The real Reality of Hot Rod Surf is lived and loved by many… walking out to your 1930’s steel hot rod, kick starting your chopper, jumping on, putting the key in and hitting the accelerator, and flying down the freeway on the way to the surf combined with long hours of sanding, welding, designing, and grinding is the Reality of Hot Rod Surf. Writing about our lifestyle brand of HOT ROD SURF or discussing its existence or merits are also a reality but are much more unimportant than the Reality of the physical experience. The topic evokes images of our great American poet Ralph Waldo Emerson and his essay on “The Over Soul”- “the only mode of obtaining an answer to these questions of the senses is to forego all low curiosity, and, accepting the tide of being which floats us into the secret of nature, work and live, work and live, and all unawares the advancing soul has built and forged for itself a new condition, and the question and answer are one. By the same fire, vital, consecrating, celestial, which burns until it shall dissolve all things into the waves and surges of an ocean of light, we see and know each other, and what spirit each is of. Who can tell the grounds of his knowledge of the character of the several individuals in his circle of friends? No man. – Ralph Waldo Emerson “The Over-Soul” It is our strong conviction that Living should be done in Reality and Reality is the quality of the experience! Hot Rod Surf is here to be a kindred soul for those of you who enjoy the grease, the machines, the characters, the art, and the lifestyle. Over the years Hot Rod Surf has relied on the people who naturally understand the ‘spirit’ and Realty without having to examine and explain that which goes beyond words. We have now added a selection of some of the times Hot Rod Surf has appeared {see our past archives}. This should keep the new comers up to speed and give our old friends time to reminisce past barbeques, various shop locations, and the evolving scene. Enjoying the real Hot Rod Surf lifestyle! Live the Dream sm -MWM & The Hot Rod Surf Crew. August 29th, 2006 P.S. The new books will be shipped next week. They were held up at customs and “needed to be examined and x-rayed for contraband”?! Do we seem that bad? Sometimes we pay a price for our lifestyle!