good evening. been kind of busy packing and shipping out WE ARE ONE tshirts recently. it’s a great feeling to know that so many people care in this world. people from all over the world like japan, hawaii, america, australia, europe, and even tahiti are buying the tshirts and making donations. i have the sticker on my surfboard right in front of my face when i paddle and every time i look at it, it makes me feel good that everybody is coming together at a time like this. i want to thank you for that…
as for japan, there is still uncertainty of the radiation. some people are choosing to leave the areas of high radiation, and some people have no choice but to stay. a lot of my friends are asking for my advise and i honestly don’t know what to say. i’ve been watching the american news and to see our military bombing libya at a time like this upsets me. i wish our military forces were in japan helping the people, and helping to control the radiation leak at the power plant. now i heard that the water in tokyo has high levels of radiation. what does that mean? can you even brush your teeth? shower? i think i’m going to go online tonight and find out answers for myself as nothing is being reported here in america anymore except our warplanes bombing libya. my mind and heart is on japan and so are millions of other people. i can only hope this nightmare ends soon. please keep strong, be safe, and think positive. ganbatte japan!!!!

this is my grandpa’s classic 1984 toyota tercel. original owner with 114,000 miles. mint condition! not too many of these around anymore….

my grandpa is 91 years old and drives stick shift/manual. that’s pretty cool.

Yes We are!

good morning, i still can’t believe we’re involved in another world. i turn on the tv and can’t even watch the news from japan anymore because we’re bombing libya. what about japan? what about iraq? what’s going on with this world? it’s pretty sad.
i finally got a chance to go back and check all my email from the time i went to palau. i wanted to say thank you to everybody around the world for the earthquake info, tsunami info, and worrying about our group. we were all fine sitting on the hilltop watching the ocean and waiting for the tsunami. lucky, it didn’t hit palau. i’m sure all of our minds were thinking about our home at that time. although traveling has its ups, it has its downs too. when tragic things happen, the only place you want to be is, your home…. anyway, wanted to thank everybody again….

as a surfer, you live a dangerous life. as a diver, you live a dangerous life. as a photographer you live a dangerous life. for me, it’s a triple threat. do i know the risks? yes. is it worth the rewards? yes. i always felt that it doesn’t matter what job you choose, if you love it, go for it… one person i know who loves his job more than anybody else is this person, Naoya Kimoto. dedicated to keep the hard core surf scene in japan alive, kinsan risks his life everyday. i shot this photo a few years ago at backdoor, the same place where a famous water photographer died a few days before that, the same place where it sent me to the emergency room twice, and the same place where kinsan recently got hurt. whether it’s a surfboard, a surfer, the wave, or the reef, backdoor shows no mercy. swimming out there and waiting in the impact zone is a high risk job that not too many people want to do. so every time i see a photographer out there, i give them the upmost respect. it’s dangerous, it’s deadly, but it’s a job. get well soon kinsan….