Thursday, July 17, 2008

Save Trestles on Tour?

Inspired by the photo sent to us by Tour Bus Live of Eddie with the Save Trestles sign, I am going to be working on assembling other photos during the tour. Jack with a sign, Zach with a sign. The guys from Rogue Wave... Radiohead? We might run into them at the All Points West Festival in Jersey City. And photos with people from all over the country and Canada who care about Trestles to show that this is not just a local issue. Open space is a global issue.

Elizabeth

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Save Trestles!


I know this blog isn't about Trestles, but note my adoration of Pearl Jam (see blog entry "Best Night of My Life") and you will see why I am stoked about this photo of Eddie Vedder. Eddie's constant and continued opposition to the proposed toll road was one of the big reasons I thanked him for all of his support when I met him at Bonnaroo. The account of this photo comes to us from Jill and Gary of Tour Bus Live:

Hello.

We are VERY involved in the fight against the toll road extension
through Trestles.

We are active mostly through Friends of the Foothills by manning booths
at San O or at the Farmer's Market in San Clemente, etc.

However, we are also avid music fans and attend many concerts.

YESTERDAY, we attended the VH1 Rock Honors The Who event at the Pauley
Pavillion at UCLA - where Pearl Jam performed.

Prior to the show, we were able to see Eddie Vedder - whom I asked to
attend the hearing on the 25th (before I knew it could be in jeopardy).
Sadly, he is booked and cannot attend. We
also gave him a "Save San Onofre" t-shirt my husband designed for the
FofF a few months ago - maybe he'll wear it somewhere and be
photographed in it.

In any case, he offered (it was his idea!) to hold our sign that we had
with us and pose for a couple of photos!

We are sending them out to all the organizations involved in the fight -
but you guys are first since it's your sign!!!!!!!!

PLEASE post this! We were THRILLED that he cared enough to do this.

By the way, which we're sure you knew about, Eddie did include a
two-page spread in his recent solo tour program about the fight against
the 241 extension AND he talked about saving
Trestles on stage during his concert when we attended in San Diego.

If you need photos of those pages of the tour program he printed, let us
know - we can send those off to you.

Jill and Gary
TourBusLive.com

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Munich


Jack Johnson’s euro tour continues with a stop in one of the most important city of western Europe, Munich, also known for its bier festival, the Oktoberfest.

Surfrider Foundation Europe is developing a chapter in Germany with the help of Albert Royal, our German rep. Kristina, our volunteer, has proudly represented Surfrider Germany, and made an impressive work on the booth, explaining our ambitions and projects over Europe, and especially the legal support Surfrider wants to provide to euro governments to help them apply the European law who sets new standards on the opening of beaches and lakes to the public regarding the pollution level.

There are many surfers in Germany and there is a static wave in Munich. Jack actually got the chance to surf it before the show. The German audience felt concerned about the protection of all nautical areas, and we got lots of signings of the pledge.

I have to say that Germany has longtime been far ahead in Europe in the protection of the environment. No doubt that the Surfrider seed will grow easily in this land.

Next stop Loreley, for the next German venue of the tour.

Mahalo

Tom

One Night in Paris



9th of July, the Jack Johnson crew is in Paris for the only French venue. The least we can say is that the French audience loves Jack’s music. Bercy saw one of the most enthusiastic crowd of the Euro tour, clapping hands for Jack.

Paris was also Mason Jennings’s last show in Europe and his soulfull performance won the crowd. All the crew will surely miss him. Let’s hope that Mason will be back in the old continent soon.

The Surfrider booth was efficiently held by Jean Marc Aziza, ou Paris rep, and his wife. Jean-Marc is a lawyer and a very active member of the Surfrider community for many years. He’s organized several Surfrider happenings such as paddle sessions on the Seine to demonstrate against sewage.

Jack’s concert was a good occasion to explain his intense activism in schools and institutions to promote our activities.

The French venue was very successful, as we’ve found new members for Surfrider Foundation.

Next stop, Munich Germany.

Mahalo

Tom

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

UK Report



Five British venues in a row, after the Hyde Park concert in London, we’ve headed straight to Birmingham, then Newquay, and finally Manchester.

In all those venues, we’ve collaborated with reps from Surfers Against Sewage to promote their actions, especially some recently scheduled beach cleanings over the UK. SAS is doing very active job here, and it’s a very good thing that they joined the All At Once community along with Surfrider Foundation.

This UK tour has been a fantastic opportunity to bring our voice to the British community and globally promote our activities. At every venue, we had hundreds of names to our pledge signing list, and enforced the impact of our message.

After a stop in Birmingham, where the crowd was quite and intensely focused on Jack, we headed to Newquay, where the first venue was cancelled due to the bad weather. Fortunately we were able to do the second Newquay show between showers and blowing wind on dark clouds. Jack then said goodbye to UK in Manchester on an inspired set.

Next stop Paris, for the unique French venue of the tour.

Mahalo

Tom

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Hyde Park, London



“ Jack’s music is what is right with the world” - Ben Harper

Ben Harper’s homage to Jack on stage was one of the most intense moments of the Hyde Park concert.

30,000 people came to the venue to see Jack perform with his old friend Ben, and the least we can say is it was an emotional gathering. Mason Jennings, G Love & Special Sauce, Ben Harper and Jack Johnson were all captivated by the amazing British sky and crowd.

They all shared songs facing an incredible sunset, with a yellow sun popping out from the clouds. A moment we’ll all remember for a long time.

At the booth, I was efficiently helped by Angela Howe, from Surfrider US, and Audrey Gaston, Surfrider Europe development manager. All together, as the global Surfrider team, we’ve presented our organization to more than 1,000 people. A huge success for this first British venue.

We also introduced Surfers Against Sewage’s work and activism over the UK territory. SAS has been working for a while now over here and is a very popular organization. Both of our organizations are wishing to work again hand in hand for the future, especially to bring our voice to the European institutions, like we did in the past. The All At Once gathering is a good occasion to share ideas about that.

This first British venue was a fantastic concert, and we all went back on the bus with lots of memories to sleep with, sharing this idea that Jack’s music is definitely what is right with the world.

Mahalo

Tom

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

DAY 3: Barcelona, a new chapter!



Here we are in Barcelona for Jack’s third European concert (after Lisbon and Madrid). Barcelona is one of the most dynamic Spanish cities, famous for its cultural Catalan tradition. Lots of energy going on here.

For this venue, our volunteer will be Guillermo Pena, a very active member of the Spanish surfing federation who gave great help to contact other NGOs and invite them on the Village Green.

But more importantly, Guillermo has firmly decided to start a new Surfrider chapter in the Spanish east coast!!! Jack Johnson’s tour gives us this fantastic opportunity to meet committed people that wish to take action. Thanks again to Jack, whose support allows us to grow and spread the message on a larger scale.

During the show, a very intense and interested crowd came to the booth to ask for information and talk about how the Barcelona area beaches are polluted. We need to increase the number of volunteers around here, and Guillermo’s activism and energy will surely help.

He’s invited Fernando Labad, president of the Spanish Surfing Federation, who presented his activities and projects that include a partnership with Surfrider Foundation Europe. Fernando us developing a new project, called biosurf, that includes events and educational programs for the preservation of the environment. Hopefully this is the beginning of a long and efficient collaboration between our two organizations.

This venue was particularly profitable for our organization in terms of contacts and has set a base for a significant growth.

Once again, Mahalo to Jack for his support.

Tom