Marvin passed away last week. He was truly one of the original Wave Warriors. That’s all that needs to be said.

Check this out. Some surf stores up in San Francisco ran out of all their Astrodeck Traction pads, Wave Warriors t-shirts, Christian Fletcher t-shirts and Christian Fletcher Reefers sandals. Herbie, ever the consumate professional, didn’t want those guys to wait around forever in getting their new shipment so he raced on up there to deliver the goods. Needless to say, Herbie ran past a red light. But could you blame the guy? When people want their Astrodeck and Christian Fletcher swag, they want it NOW!!!

Here’s another installment of “Hey Dibi”…the series where you ask my mom anything…and I do mean, ANYTHING, and she’ll give you the God’s honest truth of what she thinks. Don’t be afraid to bring up anything and don’t be afraid to hear what she has to say.  Mom never holds back!

Oh, and check out this photo. Pretty cool, huh? Bruce Weber took it at my grandparent’s house. It’s one of my favorites of me and my mom.

Hey Dibi,

Do you enjoy being a mother? Or better yet, do you enjoy being Christian’s mother?

- Mark Moises

Dibi: It’s been an amazing adventure; extreme highs and lows and everything in-between. What a LIFE!!!

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Hey Dibi,

Dibi, hello! What is it like running your own company, Astrodeck, with your husband? Do you get tired of working with each other?

- Evelyn Kinski

Dibi: I’ve never worked for anyone else, so I can’t compare it with other jobs. But I think we work well together. Some of it’s quite interesting, some of it sucks, but I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to work in an environment where we can be creative and do some fun wacky things. Like, how many people get the chance to do something as bizarre as this? Like, who the hell cares what I think?!? Do I get tired of working with each other? That would be DUH!!! But after so many years of living and working together, I can’t imagine it any other way…and some of it’s pure comedy!!!

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Hey Dibi,

What virtue do you think is overrated and one you stand by fiercely?

- Patrick O’Malley

Dibi: All that hand-slapping “bro” bullshit…so phony…but get in trouble and most of those guys are gone like the wind. I’ve always tried to be a FRIEND and that means no matter what!!!

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Hey Dibi,

There is this gross, ugly, smelly Mexican that won’t stop coming by my house and calling me. I think he might have stolen my son’s iPhone. What to do? He thinks I’m into that.

- Lisa Humphreys

Dibi: Get a hand gun and a rottweiler. Like, really!!!

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Hey Dibi,

What really pisses you off?

- Senton Crowley

Dibi: There’s kind of a list, but, if I had to choose…maybe one thing related to business, I hate being treated like the little woman. That international customers want to only talk to Herbie, what a joke. You know, like most chicks, it’s the little stuff that blows my mind.

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Hey Dibi,

Congrats to you and Herbie! You guys are great! What’s the secret to your success?

- Henry Mous

Go to your corners! Most women want to talk about what’s brothering them but when I’m feeling great, all’s well. When I’m tried, just like everyone else, life’s a bitch. I go ride my bike, go to my own room, where ever to be alone and relax and rejuvenate and everything feels much better. It’s not Herb’s responsibility to make me feel good, it’s mine. I don’t know if it was personal info you wanted or business, but if I’m not clear you can always write and ask again.

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Hey Dibi,

Admit it, Dibi, you smoke the herb right? LOL, it’s cool, you can tell me.

- Hector Bartiza

Dibi: Oh, there are a few things in life that I like to leave to the imagination.

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Hey Dibi,

Did the Fletchers vote for Obama?

- Jeff Walden

Dibi; Hope and change…um!

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Hey Dibi,

What do you love about your sons? What do you love about Nathan and what do you love about Christian?

- Megan Rocha

Dibi: I learned a valuable lesson years ago from a very dear friend of mine about love. It’s not how you feel about them but about how they make you feel about yourself. That’s the gift. I adore them both and they’re so different but when they say “Hey Mom…” and they’re talkin’ to me, it’s GRAND…

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Hey Dibi,

Dibi were you a conventional mother or a hippie? I do not know much about you but for you to answer questions for CF’s site makes you pretty cool in my book. Love the answers you give too. Thanks for the laughs!

- David Paulsen

Dibi: Well, I guess I started out as a hippie. I ran away from home with Herb when I was sixteen. Life was great, the beach was perfect, the waves in front of the house were unreal. Then life started to kinda get in the way, you know, responsibility has a tendency to do that. WOW, kids. So it was time to grow up. Christian started goin’ off pretty early and someone had to be there to be counted on. Is that conventional? I don’t think much in my life would be looked at as conventional, and I don’t think I could have enjoyed Christian so much if I had delusions of being June Cleaver.

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Hey Dibi,

When is the angriest you’ve been with Christian?

- William Bweller

Dibi: Waiting in a hotel room in Tokyo for him to show up when we were scheduled to leave the country. Man, was I pissed! He strolled in with, like, one minute to spare and couldn’t understand why I was uptight. He had been out all night getting tattooed!

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Hey Dibi,

If Christian and Nathan were in a contest who are you cheering for?

- Dustin Hibbs

Dibi: Either. It’s not going to make a difference to me, and if it make a difference to them, that’s their stuff to work out.

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Hey Dibi,

Hey there. Where did the name Astrodeck come from? Any meaning behind it or just a name?

- Thomas Creager

Dibi: It was 1976, and everything was sleek and cool. We thought that “Astrodeck” was a great name for something that was the last part of a perfect-shaped surfboard - where your foot is planted for maximum torque in your turns. Christian used it to launch air, so it really ended up pretty okay.

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Hey Dibi,

The Fletcher’s make San Clemente. So what do you like about San clemente? It has been your home for years, yes?

- Rodrigo Parga

Dibi: I love running on the beach and riding my bike, and my family are all close-by, so it’s always home.

Check out Volcom’s Pipe series featuring my dad, Herbie Fletcher, and Gerry Lopez. The original Pipe House owners, back when my dad started the whole Wave Warriors. The next Volcom series will feature my brother Nathan and I back when we were groms.

http://volcom.com/news/article.asp?sid=&articleID=4384

It’s probably a conservative assumption to say that you probably know a little somethin’ somethin’ about Herbie Fletcher.

Legendary surfer, superior waterman, raging jet skier, surf traction pad mogul, crafty shaper, Wave Warriors film magnate, husband to the fiercely creative and independent Dibi (Hoffman) Fletcher, father to flying alchemists Christian and Nathan Fletcher. Blah, blah, blah, the list goes on. And on and on. Seriously, if it involves innovation, water, and surf, it probably has Herbie’s scent on it. And it would take an extra two days to even slightly dwell on his past involvements with the wakeboarding world, the 1984 U.S. Olympic team, modeling with Versace, and his friendship with Julian Schnabel, Bruce Weber and Ingrid Sischy of Interview Magazine. Just to name a few of Herbie’s list of accomplishments and contacts, mind you. But, no. No, no, no. We’re not going to get into all of that.

Because whether you may have known a lot about all of this or only a little bit of some of this, what most of you probably didn’t acknowledge or realize is that Herbie Fletcher is also a talented and gifted artist. What started as a faint teenage hobby has grown into a gradual and passionate adult persuasion. (More about Herbie and Julian Schnabel and the Blind Girl Surf series artboards in another blog.)

Whether it’s on surfboards or on canvas - whatever type of medium and style - the ever-expressive Herbie splashes it. And let’s not kid ourselves, he always makes a big splash. So much so that now Herbie and his artwork will be featured at the Whitney Museum under the direction and presentation of Vito Schnabel (Julian’s son).

Brucennial 2010: Miseducation will have it’s gala opening on Thursday, February 25th. The event will premiere at 6 PM and is expected to last until 2 AM. Obviously, those New York art types know how to party until the wee hours of the morning. This first night is open to the public and will run until April 4th, 2010.

Herbie is one of a few select artists who will present his lauded pieces up for viewing and purchase. So if you’re in the New York area, take a go at it. And if you see Herbie, say “hi”. We hear it’s going to be snowing big-time while Herb’s in NY; we hope he puts on a little more than just a pair of Astrodeck sandals.

Below is the official press release. Have yourself a gander and then check it out in person.

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PRESS RELEASE FOR BRUCENNIAL 2010: MISEDUCATION

I think the Brucennial is like—in the life of the people—it’s like an anniversary in the life of people. The people, they need moments to celebrate themselves and that’s what a Brucennial is. The Brucennial happens every two years, or really, you know, whenever we feel like it, and it’s a moment of celebration of the history of the people—of the reason why the people exist, of the nature of the people. Again, it’s like a person. If not there would be a flux of time without an interruption and I think that as people, people are live entities and they need to have some moments where they recognize this liveliness of their existence.

- Francesco Bonami

SoHo: The Bruce High Quality Foundation is pleased to announce the opening of The BRUCENNIAL 2010: Miseducation on February 25th at 6pm.

Since its founding, the BRUCENNIAL has evolved into The Bruce High Quality Foundation’s signature public program, as well as the most important survey of contemporary art in the world ever. Following the triumphant successes of BRUCENNIAL08: Doing it Again (Bushwick) and BRUCENNIAL09: Smithumenta (Carol Gardens), BRUCENNIAL2010: Miseducation brings together 420 artists from 911 countries working in 666 discrete disciplines to reclaim education as part of an artist’s ongoing practice beyond the principals of any one institution or experience.

The BRUCENNIAL will be housed at 350 West Broadway. Additionally, BHQFU projects will be on view at RECESS at 41 Grand Street.

The BRUCENNIAL is presented by The Bruce High Quality Foundation in collaboration with Vito Schnabel. 350 West Broadway is provided courtesy of Aby Rosen.

It’s so weird to me that people lie unnecessarily. Let me explain what I mean by that.

We all lie. To say you never lie, would be a lie. I mean, you know, we’ve all lied to our parents, siblings, maybe teachers. Some people lie to figures of authority. I can understand all of that.

To cover your tracks, to get out of a jam, to try to “lessen” the blow and maybe try to be nice when the situation is awkward and bad. Maybe we lie to even make people feel better or give them some kind of comfort and compliment. I’m not saying lies like this are better and noble, but it happens and it is what it is.

But what trips me out are people who lie when they don’t HAVE to lie. Ok. Let’s say, you have a really cool friend. Super nice guy. But he’s so fugly and looks like a chupacabra. I mean, seriously, the guy’s face is beat. And he’s crying that no chicks would ever date him cause he’s so ragged and hideous. Now, you can either just ignore his comments and not say a thing. Or…you can be like, “Hey, man. You’re not so bad. You’re not Quasimodo.” Now you know he’s way more ugly than Quasimodo…but you lied to try to make him feel a little better. That’s not so bad, is it?

But what about people who, out of the fucking blue, for no reason say things like “Oh man, I just got barreled at Pipe with no one else out and no one regulating. I’m going to be on the cover of this surf mag, blah, blah, blah.” Like why would you say that when there are probably 400 people who could disclaim you and call you out on your lie?

The funniest one I recently heard was some guy telling me how, off the www.astrodeck.com site, he had just ordered eight “Wave Warriors” and “Tweak Freaks” dvds…what a lame fuck. Those films aren’t even on the site and we sure as fuck don’t have them on dvd. What the hell? Why? It’s just weird to me. Saying shit like that doesn’t impress me. It makes me think you’re mentally deranged and a huge ass kisser.

I welcome anybody who visits my site. Friends, haters, lovers, fans, groupies, Republicans, dick-draggers, skateboarders, snowboarders, Wall Street types, nerds, Eskimos, borderline retards, tennis players, Angelina Jolie, Rabbis, Lutherans, boxers, violinists, pastry chefs, shit-talkers, people with bunions on their feet, fat chicks, skanks, bankers, artists, musicians, hillbillies, cross-eyed kooks, unicorns, dentists, longboarders, ping-pong players, the whole state of Alaska, tap dancers, vegetarians, carnivores, clowns, diabetics, cholos, crips, bloods, groms, old-timers, taggers, yoga instructors, lispers, Armenians, architects, actors, and especially your sister and your mom.

Whoever, whatever, whenever. It’s all good.

I hope you’ll stay along for the ride.