I wanted to share a new project I’ve been working on—a podcast. A few months ago, my friend, Kurtis Loftus reached out with a “wild idea” to start a show focused on men’s mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.
For those who don’t know him, Kurtis is an accomplished creative—a former marketing firm owner, endurance athlete & two-time world-record-holding surfer, and founder of Jacksonville Beach’s “Deck the Chairs” event and arts program. He’s also a Christian and longtime mentor in recovery.
Kurtis and I share a lot—surfing, faith, creativity, and, most recently, cancer. He’s been fighting (and winning) a battle with stage 3 prostate cancer while I’ve been on my own journey, and that connection led us to co-host this podcast together. We’re diving into topics like perseverance, fear, love, motivation, and the human spirit.
Episodes are about 45 minutes long, and we’re planning to start bringing on guests soon, experts and other men with their own stories. We’re not doing it for money—just hoping it helps even one person who might need it. You can check it out here, below (this particular episode dives into my cancer experience): If it resonates, feel free to subscribe.
Whoa!! Gretchen and I were staying in a place called Ruby’s Inn in a classic little western town called Hatch (Utah), at the footstep of Bryce Canyon National Park, and we woke up to a (mid-May) snowstorm! We’re such Floridians that we had almost nothing packed except t-shirts and shorts, lol! We actually had to buy some second-hand clothes at an outfitter because we were going whitewater rafting in Moab the very next morning! 36 degrees!!! Live and learn. Boy, some of those snowflakes were bigger than just about any I’ve ever seen- the size of quarters!
CONFIRMED! I made it to the Semi-Finals of the Ultimate Explorer competition! Voting has already re-opened (October 4th) and it ends next Thursday, October 10th! The Final then runs from October 11th to October 17th. There are 8 groups of 8 people in the Semis, just 64 of us left. This is after 2 months and a competition that started with close to 80,000 competitors. THANK YOU EVERYONE for your votes and support in helping me get this far! You can vote every day for FREE! Below is my voting/profile link!
Friends and fam- I just wanted to report that I won my Group and made it to the Quarterfinals in Outside Magazine’s Ultimate Explorer competition! Votes now reset for the Quarters starting Sept. 23rd. The Semifinals begin Oct. 4th, and the Final, Oct. 11th. You can still vote for free everyday (the vote/profile link is in my bio). If you wish to purchase votes (with all funds going to the National Parks Foundation), then wait for the 2-for-1 vote days!
Thanks to all who helped me get so far in this comp! Gretchen and I appreciate your valuable time, generosity, and support. We’re getting excited about potentially being in position to win, although it’s going to be tough these last three rounds! It’s been a wild ride and we appreciate NEFL showing out in this national comp!
P.S. A lot of folks have been asking me about how many people I am/have been competing against in this competition. As a Quarterfinalist, I’m now in the Top 1%. There are currently 768 people left of the nearly 80,000 who started the contest. We are divided into 64 Groups of 12 people each. I am in first place in my Quarterfinal Group of 12, with 2 rounds left (the Semis and the Final).
Gretchen and I caught Crowded House this week at The Amp in St. Augustine this past Thursday, the first concert I’ve attended this year! We had a great evening out! Here is their hit, “Don’t Dream It’s Over”. I was bummed that they did not play a single old Split Enz song, but they were excellent, nonetheless!
Check it out! A few scenes from my youngest daughter’s first go in the film production business! (She is a senior in the Honors Program at FAU, majoring in Multimedia Studies/Film Production). She’s interning at Flickhouse Studios in Miami. See her credit as 2nd AD on this short film project, “Young Kingdom” that recently wrapped in Miami!
Here’s another classic from The Church’s recent show at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall: “Reptile”. These guys and their music just never get old. They are such amazing musicians and songwriters.
I recently had the privilege to see the Australian alternative guitar rock band, The Church, live at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall. They were so good! They were touring behind a new album but also played some of their old hits. Here’s one of their all-time tunes: “Under the Milky Way”.
So much of the Church’s music has a melancholic feeling, almost like Pink Floyd in some ways, just really interesting and great listening music. I think this song, which has a pop element to it, may be their most popular, ever. It still sounds just as fresh as it did 2-3 decades ago. Check out their new album, “The Hynogogue”. It is also fantastic! I haven’t been able to quit listening to them!
Here ya’ go! I’ll only say that this was recorded sometime in May, a full week past Cinco de Mayo and definitely nowhere near Christmas! 🤷♂️ I think we were in Eustis, FL. Guessing there may have been Don Julio tequila involved. I’m not sure. 😂
We recently visited Charleston, SC recently and while we were there, we visted Folly Beach. Cool place, a lot like any East Coast beach town! Fun and funky with a mix of tourists and locals. Their new pier is pretty darn spectacular. We enjoyed tooling around the town and had some drinks up on a rooftop bar across the street from the pier.
My wife and I recently took a quick little trip up to Charleston, SC for my birthday! We bought tickets to see one of our favorite old bands – the Hoodoo Gurus, an Australian surf rock band. As luck would have it, Gretcehn’s aunt and uncle had recently bought a place up that way, and let us stay there. It was so beautiful! We had never been to Charleston and didn’t realize how (relatively) close it was – about 4 hours from Jax. It’s an awesome town, and we had a blast! We also went to Folly Beach (see next post). If you haven’t been to Charleston, put it on your to-visit list!!! Amazing food, beautiful historic architecture and laid-back people. It’s kind of like an upscale St. Augustine. Here’s some pics from the trip!
Nineteen seconds to remind you that God is good, all of the time. No filters. No adjustments. Only what’s in front of me; this world He created especially for us. Filmed in the Guana Tolomato Matanzas Research Reserve in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
And here is the last one from We The Kingdom at the Florid Theater. This song is called “Cages”. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a Christian band rock harder. Love this tune!
I’ll post a couple of more from the We The Kingdom concert live at the Florida Theater this week. This is the first half of one of their hits, “Child of Love”, maybe my favorite one that they sing. Their concert was a literal party! 🎉 Had to get this in two parts as the video accidentally shut off.
Enjoyed a date night out at the Florida Theater with Gretchen Wednesday night (yes, smack dab in the middle of Hurricane Nicole)! But Holy Cow, We The Kingdom put on one of the best shows I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a ton of shows in every different genre you can think of. If you don’t know them, they are a contemporary Christian band with a rock/blues/soul musical style (think Hammond organ, heavy guitars), and a retro-70’s-feeling stage vibe. You may recognize a couple of their songs (Child of Love, Holy Water) which have been big crossover hits. They have what you would call some “epic” stadium-style songs, the kinds you can’t help but get out of your seat, clap, stomp, and sing along with. They are incredible vocalists, multi-instrument musicians, and performers that just kill it live. One of the things that is really interesting about this Dove and Grammy award-winning band is that it is composed of two brothers, and one of the brothers’ daughters, and his son, along with one of their good friends. So, it is a multi-generational family affair, which is just so unusual. Obviously, they all have that musical gene! Gretchen and I had such a great time. The Florida Theater was packed and it looked like they filmed much of the show. Here’s Holy Water.
Here is the last video I made of The Fixx at their concert on 9/17/22 at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. This is a really beautiful, extended version of “Secret Separation”. It has always been my favorite song by the band. Fittingly, they saved it for their last performance as part of their encore. This was a fantastic, sold-out show in an intimate venue. The band was great. The crowd was great. And I think that both sides really appreciated what they experienced from one another that night. Enjoy this last one!
I recently had the opportunity to catch The Fixx, one of my all-time favorite bands that I only had the opportunity to see once before, 37 years ago at the UF Bandshell, for free! 😃 As luck would have it, a friend of mine had two tix in the second row to their recent show at the Ponte Vedra Concert Hall in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL that he could not use, and he offered them up to my wife and me, so I got to see them once again, for free. And, were they ever fantastic! These guys still have plenty of juice! The concert was sold out and the crowd was hyped. I think the band really enjoyed their stop here. Here is the classic, “One Thing Leads to Another” by the Fixx recorded on 9/17/22. Apologies for the lack of focus in the first 17 seconds! It resolves after that! Enjoy!
Jack Johnson, “Home” at Ameris Bank Theater 8-20-22
Woot! Date night! My wife, Gretchen, and I recently made a quick trip up to the ATL (Alpharetta, GA) to catch a Jack Johnson / Ziggy Marley concert. It was an awesome show! Jack was great, as usual! He played new stuff from his new CD, Meet the Moonlight, many old hits, and also threw in some great covers- Jimmy Buffet’s A Pirate Looks at Forty, Sublime’s Bad Fish, Steve Miller Band’s Space Cowboy, and even The Cure’s Just Like Heaven! (Long live the 80s! … and the 70s and 90s, I guess! 😃) . Ziggy Marley was also excellent. He played some of his music and a few of his dad’s songs. Here is an encore acoustic performance of Jack Johnson’s song, “Home“. Below that is a dual shot of the front stage and back lawn of Ameris Bank Amphitheater. Beautiful venue! It holds 12,000 people, I think. The show was sold out.
Sharks, jellyfish, and now one more thing to look out for in Florida’s oceans…
Only in Florida … Yes, gators like to go to the beach, too!
My daughter, Kaelyn, and I had considered paddling out to catch a few waves on this day (6/30/21), but the tide was dead low and swell fading after work, so we bailed and I decided to go for a run on the beach, instead. It was probably a good thing we skipped our session because when I got to the beach, someone else was paddling out at our local spot inside the Guana Tolomato Matanzas (GTM) Research Reserve in South Ponte Vedra Beach, between Ponte Vedra Beach and Vilano / St. Augustine – a real-life ripper / shredder!
This was about a half-mile south of the northernmost entrance to the park. I felt conflicted. I wasn’t sure who the real “local” was in this case. I’m a 3rd Gen native of Northeast Florida, but this guy still wins! In all my years here, I have actually seen gators on the beach a couple of times and even a little one in the water. But I’ve never seen one this size (a medium-sized junior) just go waltzing into the ocean like this. If Florida wildlife makes you nervous or you’re planning a beach vacation here, soon, you don’t want to watch this video… but I’m guessing you will anyway, so enjoy!
Quick Update: So, it appears my gator video went viral. Shortly after posting it on IG, I started getting DMs asking about reposting it or in some cases, just tagging me. Coastal Republic was first, followed by a slew of others. Within the first week, I could easily see nearly half-a-million views on just the major channels, themselves, and not any of the thousands that mentioned friends to share it with them. Tim Bonython, the acclaimed Australian cinematographer who produces Swell Chasers, made Biggest Wednesday and is currently producing The Big WaveProject, who has captured some of the most amazing big wave footage ever at places like Shipsterns, Chopes and the Right, among others, message me to use it in his IG story. Discover Sharks (over 245,000 views!) posted it, Beach Grit, Reel Life Fishing, Everglades Holiday Park (production home of the tv show, “Gator Boys“), NSB Inlet, Reel Life Fishing, SustainableSt. Augustine, Memol Wildlife, among others. Big shout out to NSB/NCFL ripper and Creative Director/Digital Marketer, Matt Dayton for letting me know what was happening with the video, which was quickly getting reposted without attribution in some places, and speaking up to make sure I was properly credited when he saw it. Appreciate it, Matt!
For friends who surf, I thought you might enjoy this clip from Surfers of Fortune, a vintage 29-year old VHS surf film by Brian Bleak. You can no longer buy it. It’s not on DVD. You might be able to find it on YouTube. It featured the Quiksilver crew tooling around Indo. It is one of the films that inspired my own surf travels through the years. Incredible surfing. Amazing soundtrack. Beautifully and creatively filmed, and edited.
A few years ago, my precious copy of Surfers of Fortune got jammed up in an old VHS player. I tried everything to get it out or just get it to move but was unable to do it. But in my eyes, that tape was way more valuable than the player, so I took the machine apart, destroying it in the process to salvage the tape.
Recently, I hooked up another old VHS player to watch it for the first time in many years, and yes- it is as brilliant as ever.
I wanted to share this extraordinary clip of a young Kelly Slater surfing one of the most incredible waves anywhere in the world – Lance’s Right (aka Hollow Trees or HT’s) because it is still today, the single greatest display of tube riding I’ve ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot). It is complete mastery: entering, exiting, slotting, positioning, sitting, standing, drop knee, even critical drop-ins … switchfoot. Incredibly, 29 years later, at age 49, he’s still performing professionally in world-class, Tom Bradyesque-style. He may not be his 20-year-old self (shown here), but he’s still remarkably close. But enjoy this! (P.S. You may have to turn up your volume. This is a decades-old VHS that was subsequently recorded straight off my television set, so not the greatest quality).
Looking for a fun Florida “staycation” getaway? Check out kayaking with the manatees in Crystal River during the winter months when the manatees head into Florida’s springs to keep warm. Super inexpensive adventure and a chance to experience some pretty interesting Florida wildlife up close and personal. You can even jump in and snorkel with the gentle giants if you like (but no touching, of course). We used Get Up & Go Kayaking for the outfitters. They have crystal clear see-through kayaks and great guides who put you right on top of the manatees. Check ’em out!
