FPN

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the craziness.

Jacksonville. Des Moines. Denver. Calgary. New York. Scranton. Newark. Jacksonville. Toronto. New York. Chicago. Denver. New York. Harrisburg. New York. Charlotte. Security checkpoints. Exit rows. Cameras. Film. Hotel rooms. Taxis. Per dium. Beverage carts. Rental cars. Surfboards. Subways.



I just moved in to a new place and got my room all set up. Good thing I'm home two days in the next month and a half.

meet margo.

Margo feels trapped.

I sat next to her early today on my flight from D.C. to Jacksonville. Rarely do I talk to the people I sit next to. I usually am too busy falling asleep. Today however I had already got some needed rest on the first leg of my flight and decided to strike up a conversation.

It began with the usual, "Are you heading home?" Some small talk about where we lived and what not. Margo lives in Fairfax, Virginia. She doesn't really like it there and wants to move down to Amelia Island, where she is originally from. The major thing keeping her from moving is her stuff.

The thought of having to move all her stuff is so daunting that she has determined to stay where she is.

She is always buying things. Furniture. Clothes. Nic-naks. She likes the buzz it gives her. She knows that it is just a temporary fix, but she keeps buying things. Now she has so much stuff that she can't go where she really wants to go.

She feels trapped.

By stuff.

I told her to have a yard sale.

the little bro.

I cruised down to The Social in Orlando last night to see this guy Matt play some music and thought I'd bring along a camera. Here are some frame grabs.




As you can tell, he was getting into it.

more amazingness from fanfarlo

This band is brilliant.




In other news, a different version of the video Dustin and I made is up Surfline.

ESPN 8: the Ocho!

I surfed all morning Friday as the swell from ole' Bill started to fill in. My plans were to surf my brains out all weekend, but at noon on Friday I got the call. It was Dustin saying that we were leaving in a hour to go shoot some video with some really, really good surfers. I was equally as stoked.

Here is what came out of it:

peru montage

Peru Montage from Eric Hires on Vimeo.

the boys are back

Check out this trailer...not so much for the movie as for the Matt Hires song that was used in it.



Cheers!

m a c h u p i c c h u

On sunday we took the train out of Cusco (picture 1) down into the "Sacred Valley" to check out the ancient city of Machu Picchu. It was absolutely incredible. Mind blowing. The way this civilization shaped and stacked rocks, with no mortar or cement and using only simple machines, is hard to imagine. They had a system of fresh water fountains, irregation, and sundials.

The city is much bigger than it looks from the pictures. It is about 1/2 of a mile long and 1/4 mile wide, and shaped to look like a Condor from above.

I am back in Chicama now and a big south swell is filling in! Going to shoot a lot of surfing the last two days of the trip.

Check out the band "Radical Face".

Paz!

c u s c o

I think Cusco is the coolest city I have ever been to. It's beauty is awe inspiring. Sitting up in the Andes at 10,912 feet it takes your breath away, literally. The streets are cobblestone and barely wide enough for a vehicle and the architecture is absolutely stunning. I will have pictures soon.

Being here makes me appreciate being able to travel so much. Sitting out on the stoop of the hotel drinking coffee this morning and watching people from all over the world pass by puts a smile on my face. I am going to have to make some sacrifices to be on the road for so long, but mornings like this make me realize it is all worth it.

"I couldn't have found G-d in the Seminary, he thought, and he looked at the sunrise."

Rejoice in the L-rd always!

p e r u : d a y t e n

1. Where we are staying in Chicama. Ridiculous.
2. Me and Julio down by the schoolyard.
3. Rickshaw!
4. Rockstars.

Heading to Cusco and Machu Picchu today...

c h i c a m a

p e r u : d a y ?

Where we are staying in Chicama is ridiculous. It may be the coolest hotel I've ever stayed at, no, it definitely is. You can sit in hot tub on the deck and watch the entire wave break down the point. The atmosphere, style, and people here are superb. I feel kind of out of place staying in such luxury in this dusty, small, middle of nowhere town.

I surfed for a few hours yesterday, this wave is fantastic! It needs a good size swell to break right, but was working well yesterday...today, not so much. And a good thing because I was in bed most of the day making frequent trips to el bano. Both ends. My theory of brushing my teeth with the local water to build up immunity just bit the dust. Actually, it is working. I bet I don't get this bug again while I am here. Best to get it out of the way early.

We will stay here for a couple more days before heading back south and to Machu Pichu.

Vaya con Dios!

p e r u : d a y f i v e

p e r u : d a y t h r e e

My boards arrived at one o'clock on the second day and we went directly to the "best break in Lima", Herradora. It was overcast, cold, huge, and rocky. I didn't realize how big it actually was and paddled out on my 5'10. Not enough board for the macking double overhead plus sets that were pushing through. I was either not making it into the wave or trying to airdrop backside. I pulled off a couple drops for some super fun rides, but more often than not I ended up getting pummeled.

Today we headed south on the Pan American highway to a surf camp run by this rad dude, Oscar. Oscar gave us a ride to a left hand point known as Puerto Viejo (Old Point). Here I broke out the camera gear and filmed these big rollers filling the foggy sky.

p e r u : d a y o n e

The security line at the Orlando airport was horrendous. It made me despise Disney. Kids with Mickey Mouse ears getting yelled at by their parents on their way home from the "happiest place on earth". Yeah right.

I had the middle seat on my first flight. It has been awhile since I've had to sit in the middle but it wasn't so bad. I checked three bags and my surfboards did not make it. I have to pick them up tomorrow. The camera gear is all here safely though. If I had to pick one bag to get lost, it would have been my board bag. I just pray they make it here safely tomorrow. The swell is supposed to be pumping.

Jesus picked me up from the airport. That was pretty cool. He couldn't walk on water, but he could talk on two cell phones and navigate the Lima traffic simultaneously. That is pretty miraculous. It is late here but the Miraflores district of Lima is bustling. I'm off to bed, hoping to get up early and start capturing gold.

Adios!

s. america and other endevours

Hello friends. I am preparing to head south to the ancient Incan kingdom of Peru. It can be argued that the Peruvians are actually the founding fathers of surfing and not the ancient Polynesians. I will be starting work on a surf based documentary and surfing my brains out.

The documentary is going to explore the world's best waves through the eyes of the people who live on their shores and show how these local surfers revolve their lives around the wind and the tides. This will be the first trip of what may be a year and a half long project journeying through 25+ countries.

On this first trip down south we hope to score some heavers like this:

And find some endless points like this super long slider:


Gracias por leer! Vaya con Dios.

demo reel 09

So, here is my first reel:

DEMO REEL 09 from Eric Hires on Vimeo.

I love what I do. I am so stoked to have found something that I really enjoy and super blessed to have Dustin teaching me the ropes.

fanfarlo

if you have something to do, just blow it off and watch this:

Fanfarlo - Harold T. Wilkins by Stachemou HD from Stachemou on Vimeo.

Secret Garden Video Series: Fanfarlo (SXSW Edition) from hoovesontheturf on Vimeo.

it's in a camera's lens.

It's in the air, it's everywhere
It's in the air, it's everywhere
It's in the air, it's everywhere
It's in the air

It ain't down her dress
It ain't up her blouse
It ain't in a bottle
It ain't in a powder
It ain't down her dress
It ain't up her blouse
It's everywhere else
It's everywhere else

It's in a baseball glove
It's in a wild flower
It's in a peace dove
It's a nice hot shower

It's in the camera's lens
It's a head high wave
It's in the laying hens
It's a Shark's Cove cave

It's on a sailboats bow
It's in a slice of homemade pie
It's in a wedding vow
It's in her big brown eyes

It's in a real good book
It's in a nice long talk
It's in her sideways look
It's on a midnight walk

It's in an airplane trip
It's in a sweet mustache
It's on a mountains tip
You can't buy it with cash

It's in a home cooked meal
It's in a long bike ride
It's the way you make me feel
When our worlds collide

It's in the air, it's everywhere
It's in the air, it's everywhere
It's in the air, it's everywhere
It's everywhere

bullet points.

I don't write on here enough. I need to write more to keep all five of you interested and entertained. Here are some sentences of what has been happening:

I went to Tampa and surprised Pop's for Pop's day.

The surf was super fun on Friday!

More waves on the way?

I am going to shoot a surf project in Peru and Brazil in July.

Then hopefully Indo in September.

And France, Spain, Portugal after that.

Heading to OK City Sunday for another "Get Motivated" seminar.

The Gaslight Anthem is a rad band.

So is Radical Face.

I love summer in Florida. So good.

Sweaty days.

Cool evenings.

Sweet tea and watermelon.

Rejoice in the Lord always.

life is happening.

I just rolled back into good ole' St. Augustine after a four day trip to Alaska. I have been working for a business seminar called "Get Motivated Seminars". We just put one on in Anchorage. I may have a different outlook on a lot of what is taught at the seminars, mostly in regards to money, but it is a super fun job. I get to hang out in cool cities with great people. Off to Philly on Monday to do one there.


I am not working on the fishing boat anymore due to some pretty amazing video opportunities that have come up. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I will hopefully be traveling to 20+ countries over the next two years working on a surf documentary project.

Tomorrow I will be shooting a music video with The Dustin Miller. Good times.

Also, check out this band called Fanfarlo. You can download their album for one dollar.
http://fanfarlo.com/?utm_source=sigur-ros&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=060909_sigur-ros_email

Rejoice in the Lord always.

discover the journey.

"Who wants death prepares for war, who wants peace offers forgiveness."

the PAIX Shirt [VIDEO] from Discover The Journey on Vimeo.

it's all crazy! it's all false! it's all a dream! it's alright.

It feels great to be back in Saint Augustine...even if it is only for a week. I love this sleepy little town. I am the studio with Dustin going through footage from The Thumbs Up Project. He is editing film from his trip to Mexico with Dane. It looks amazing as usual.

I have been feeling a little extra gusto in my life the last couple weeks, which is totally unrelated to my job working for Get Motivated Seminars. My great friend Andy Luce and I have been encouraging each other to "step it up" in many aspects of life. It is crucial to have friends like that. As much as it is possible, surround yourself with people who are pushing you forward, not pulling you backwards.

An Andy Luce original.

P.S. The new mewithoutYou album, "it's all crazy! it's all false! it's all a dream! it's alright" came out today. You should go buy it.

i did it.

I ordered an iPhone.

Dang it.

I am excited to have so much information at my beck and call, yet hesitant for the very same reason.

gnarliness...

I think that blog posts without pictures can be rather boring. This post will not have any pictures, so if you want to stop reading now I will understand and will not be offended.

For those of you who read posts without pictures, this post is a general update on what is going on in my life. If you don't care about what is going on in my life, then you can stop reading now too.

Now, the first phase of "The Thumbs Up Project" has come to an end. It was a good and successful journey, just successful in different ways than I had pictured in my preconceived ideas, which is often times how success works. We did not pick up many hitchhikers. Two and a half to be exact. However, we met tons of fascinating, inspiring, weird, and talented people with many interesting stories. The Thumbs Up Project will be a work in progress. I am going to have do some hitchhiking of my own for phase two.

I am currently hanging out in beautiful Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA. Surfing everyday with Russell Browndogger and staying with my buddy Chris Christenson. I want to move here. I love this part of California.

But...I have to leave on Tuesday. Flying to Maine. I've never been to Maine. I am working for a cheesy motivational seminar, but will get to hang out with some great people and hopefully do some fun Maine things, like eat lobster.

I am going fishing in Alaska again. I didn't think that I was going to, but was made an offer that I could not refuse. I only have to go from June 15 - July 15. A month of gnarliness. Yes, that is a word.

If you care about me enough to have read all of this, thanks and I love you.

God is not a white man.

A sweet video my friend Mayumi from Japan sent me:



Also, check out the new post on The Thumbs Up Project.

because it is there.

I appreciate life more today than I did a few days ago.

Two years ago Winston and I attempted to climb a 2000 foot rock face called "Solar Slab" in the Red Rock Canyon, just west of Las Vegas. The mountain denied us the summit and sent us rappelling down in darkness...without headlamps.

We have been talking about that piece of rock ever since. How we wanted to go back and take it down.
The Slab fell before us yesterday, but not without a fight. We started our climb at the crack of 10. We moved fast, but were held up by a father and son team climbing ahead of us. The mountain pelted us with violent winds once we reached the exposed upper 1500 feet. We reached the summit but our joy was put on hold. The winds continued to grow stronger, sustaining 25-30 knots with gusts well over gale force. Dark clouds lingered, snow began to fall, and night was fast approaching.

The rappel anchors (hardware drilled into the rock) at the top were impossible to find. We had to down climb a 5.6 crack to search for the anchors at the top of the 11th pitch. Super sketchy. We considered bivouacking on the mountain, but it was getting COLD.

Joy filled my heart when Winston located the anchors. Hope! For the next five hours or so we battled the wind, cold, and snow as we rappelled pitch after pitch. It seemed never ending. We checked and re-checked everything we did, knowing that our senses were dulled due to dehydration, hunger, frustration, and cold.

The ground never felt so good.

We arrived back at the truck at 3 a.m., only to find shattered glass where the passengers side window used to be. Seriously? Both of our laptops and our camera gear was sitting in the cab.

Somebody had been doing donuts in the gravel lot and sprayed Eleanor, busting out two windows on her starboard side, but leaving all our belongings. We taped up the windows and passed out. We would deal with them in the morning.

My sleeping bag never felt so good.

new post on The Thumbs Up Project

The Thumbs Up Project Video Blog # 1 from Eric Hires on Vimeo.

New website for my current adventure!

www.thethumbsupproject.org

Falling Whistles

Falling Whistles Bike Tour from Eric Hires on Vimeo.

rant.

Take the words "I can't" our of your vocabulary.

When thoughts of overwhelming doubt threaten to storm your mind you must beat them back with Spartan force and intensity.

Don't give them an inch.

If you put your mind to something, and then work and work and work at it, there is nothing that you cannot do.

Don't even begin to let money stop you. That is an excuse.

If you don't create what you want to create, or do what you want to do, or travel where you want to go, it's not because you can't....it is because you don't.

horse manure and table saws.

Today was a beautiful, chilly day in Denver. We were up at the crack of eight to go load the truck up with horse manure to deliver to some of Winston's friends who are getting their gardening soil ready for planting. After scrubbing the bedliner for an hour trying to get the veggie oil/horse crap out of the grooves, we began to build a drawer system for the bed of the truck. Something that will allow easy access to all of our gear. We came up with a bomber system, it is just taking awhile to complete. We worked by light of headlamp until 10 tonight.

The plan for tomorrow is to finish the drawers, take some of Winston's stuff to storage,organize our gear, pack the truck, and be ready to hit the road on saturday. A rather ambitious goal, but we like to aim high.

300 nights.

I am preparing to embark on the next stage of the adventure. Tomorrow I fly to The Mile High City where my good buddy Winston and his ultimate veggie oil powered truck await. We will spend the next month + driving around the western U.S. of A. making a film about hitchhikers and traveling kids.

There will be more to come on this, but as I was reflecting on the past ten months of my life since graduating from college I realized that where I have slept has sort of defined this stage. I have not had my own living space since last April, but I haven't paid rent either. Here is the breakdown of where I have spent my resting hours over the past 300 nights:

Inside on the floor: 89 nights

On a boat: 69 nights

On a couch: 40 nights

Outside on the ground: 39 nights

In a bed: 38 nights

Inside on an air mattress: 25 nights

skydive!

Skydive! from Eric Hires on Vimeo.

simple machine.

Here is my latest project:

Simple Machine from Eric Hires on Vimeo.

Costa Reeker

This spot was epic.

Scotty and the White Rhino.

Michelle DeTemple and The Dustin Miller.

Yeah.

Miguel. We took him surfing for his first time.

"Film rules!"

Despite three days of howling 40 knots offshore winds we were able to find some great waves and get the footage we needed. We had a great crew and the laughs never stopped flowing.

 My 25th birthday was one of the best ever: fun waves, dude time, seared Ahi, baile, pretty girls from Argentina, and a bonfire on the beach. 

Next up: Make a short film for my friends Tony and Ben Sasso as they prepare to bicycle across the country to raise support for Falling Whistles.

the least of these and costa rica.

The hungry.

Those without clean water.

Complete strangers.

The naked and cold.

The sick and diseased.

The incarcerated. 

Jesus said that if we neglect these people we neglect him.  

____________________

I leave for Costa Rica in the morning to do some filming for this movie:

So stoked.

visual armory.

My great friend Andy Luce is a brilliant artist, photographer, and graphic designer. Check out his new portfolio site.

i went sky jumpin'.

Video is coming.

i love Sigur Ros.

amen brother King.

Thank you Dr. King for your sacrifice and your example of non-violent resistance. 

Godspeed President Obama.

What a great and historic day.

 

my december.

Here is a little montage of my sailing adventure. 

my december from Eric Hires on Vimeo.

guava

This is my first film of many. Enjoy!

guava from Eric Hires on Vimeo.

merry 2009!

Thanks to my good friends Angie and Megan for not leaving me hanging at the stroke of twelve.