The last stage of our “suburban renewal” project for 2010 is just a few weeks away – that is, replacing the dull brown paint in the livingroom and hallways we’ve always detested with some soothing pastels to make all our recent floor work really stand out. Currently we have this huge ratty-looking rug we got on a trip to Mexico years ago hanging in a big area of the hallway that we’ve been wanting to take down for awhile (you know us Arizonans and all things Mexican, right? 🙂 ); the question was, what to replace it with?

And then my friend John from the Huntington Beach International Surfing Museum (HBISM for all of you insiders!) found me exactly what I was looking for – a 2′ X 3′ poster of Bruce Brown’s iconic surfing opus “The Endless Summer” (see above in virgin form) signed by none other than Bruce and one of the two surfers featured in it, Robert August). Figuring such a poster matted and framed would not just brighten up the hallway but say something about one the house’s owners (though I’m not sure what), I called up John and ordered myself one.

But it got me to thinking: why only Bruce Brown and Robert August? What about Mike Hynson, Robert’s companion in the move? So I asked John, and he tells me Mike typically doesn’t sign stuff like that without a nominal fee, and that others who have bought the same poster hunted down Mike (who is still well known in the surfing industry and has a new book out about his life) to have him sign. John told me that since I’m only a six-hour drive away from L.A. it would be worth it, especially since Mike apparently has a unique way of signing his name.

Now I’m intrigued, and a light goes off deep in my cranium.

Keep in mind that The Great White Shank is a minimalist by nature and a collector of virtually nothing except for books on Catholic theology and surf tunes for my MP3 player, so I’ve never really identified with all those folks I’ve seen at sporting events and golf tournaments who hang around to harass every athlete they can find to get autographs they can subsequently sell for profit – the autograph-hunting business being what it is.

But that’s the farthest thing from my thoughts. I’m just looking for a dynamic, statement-making conversation piece for a newly-painted hallway.

So, I’m thinking, why not? I’ll do the drive to L.A. and bring my poster with me. And, were I to be so fortunate as to get Mike Hynson’s autograph, why stop there? Why not see if I can get autographs from the three active members of The Sandals, the band who provided not only much of the music in the movie but its memorable, wistful theme song? That would mean trying to track down Walter Georis, who runs a winery in the Carmel area (the above video was filmed there), his brother Gaston, who appears to be affiliated with a restaurant in the area called Casanova, and their lead guitarist, John Blakeley (location and whereabouts unknown), whose most recent work with Ron Nagle, called “Tan Mantis”, is a gem.

And why not embark on such a treasure hunt? After all, once I’m back from India the only thing I’ll have to look forward to the rest of this year starting in September is the removal of my prostate and hopefully recuperating and out of diapers in time to attend fellow Goodboy Steve “Killer” Kowalski’s wedding in December. It takes me all of a minute to rattle the idea around in my head and commit to it. The question is how to get started, and then, if I can plant some good seeds, put a plan into effect. So this is my quest, and one that at least ought to be interesting enough to blog about and keep myself and my readers interested.

Updates coming as progress is made. Stay tuned.

—

Pool temp: 92 degrees