THE ARTFUL MOOKS 7-18-07
By Corky Carroll
I recently decided that I wanted to start painting. Actually I should say start painting again. Many years ago I used to do sort of combination airbrush and India ink paintings of tropical sunsets and island scenes. I cannot claim to have great artistic talents but for awhile I found a little niche with that medium and did fairly well selling my paintings in the art gallery down in Dana Point harbor. But, I sort of phased out of painting and into other things and more or less forgot about that until a month or so ago. That is when my pal Rusty gave me a box of acrylic paints and brushes. I figured “why not” and went out and bought a bunch of canvas’s and one of those French hats that artists wear. Ya gotta look the part ya know.
The reason I am mentioning this stuff is because today when I was deep into a meaningful masterpiece of my wife, the Muy Bonita Karlita, laying on the golden sands of a deserted tropical beach I suddenly had a flash back to my old high school art teacher. Ed Droan. Mr. Droan was far, far more than your ordinary high school art teacher. Mr. Droan was actually a surfer and a character in some of Bruce Browns early surfing movies. Mr. Droan was actually well known in the surfing world as “Mooks.” He was featured in comedy sequences in “Slippery When Wet” and “Barefoot Adventure.” Mooks was also a well known sculptor.
When I walked into art class that first day of my freshman year at Huntington Beach High School and saw Mooks sitting behind the teacher’s desk I was in shock.
“Mooks, what are you doing here,” I blurted out.
A look of total horror came over Mooks face and he rushed me out into the hall as fast as he could. Within’ moments the deal was done. I would never let on to anybody at school who he was and I would loan him one of my boards for the school year as it also turned out that he had just moved in right down the street from my house in Surfside. In trade I would get at least a B in the class no matter what. If I showed any talent I might get an A. I would up getting a B.
Mooks had an old VW bus which he let me drive a couple of times. I did neglect to mention to him that I did not know how to drive a stick shift at the time. The first time he let me drive it was one night when he and I had gone surfing at San Onofre and stopped to visit Bruce Brown on the way home. Mooks wanted to hang out with Bruce for awhile and I had a girlfriend who lived in Dana Point at the time named Theresa Tompson. So, Mooks let me take his VW bus to go see Theresa. This seemed the perfect opportunity to take Theresa down to Dana Cove, which was not only a great surf spot but also a great “parking” spot after dark. Parking, in those days, meant a place to make out with your babe in the car in the dark where nobody would bug you. So Theresa and I had a nice session of kissing and me not getting her blouse off and it starting getting late so I went to take her home. To get out of Dana Cove you had to go up a steep hill. This is where the NOT knowing how to drive a stick shift came into play. Going up the hill I kept trying to shift up the gears like on flat ground. Obviously I kept stalling the car and rolling back down the hill. I had no idea why this was happening. Theresa and I wound up walking up the hill and going to Bruce’s house to get Mooks. I can still see them laughing when I explained that there must be something wrong with Mooks’s VW bus because it wouldn’t make it up the hill.
Mr. Droan only stayed one year at Huntington Beach High School and then moved on. The last I heard he had become a famous sculptor and was living in San Francisco. I do remember that he tried to bring in a nude babe for the art class to draw one day and the school put the kibosh on that right off the bat. He might have been a little advanced for 1962 High School art class. Nonetheless I, for at least one, thought it was a great idea. If Mooks was able to teach me anything that year it was how to drive a stick shift.
THE BIG SHOW IS COMING BACK TO TOWN
7-18-07
By Corky Carroll
It is that time of year again when Huntington Beach becomes the focal point of the competitive surfing world and along with it the whole circus that comes along with the competitions. This is also the time of year that drives the hard core locals that try and surf at the pier everyday absolutely nuts. But that is all part of the rich colorful pageantry that is living in Surf City, U.S.A. During these few weeks when you mention Edwards and Slater you are not talking about the intersection or the city streets. You mean Phil Edwards and Kelly Slater and are talking about the intersection of the beach and the Huntington Beach Pier. O.K. maybe not Phil Edwards, but for sure Kelly Slater.
For me personally I both love and hate these weeks here in H.B. I love to see all the stuff and all the friends that I get to see that I hardly ever see anymore. I like watching some of the surfing competition as it opens my eyes to how amazing the top surfers have become and where the state of the art is at in this day and age. I also hate that, it further establishes just how far over the hill I am and how very long it was ago the I passed the peak and started the long, long slow decent into geezer valley, on the back side. But still, it is cool to see how good “good” is.
Speaking of geezers, and this has nothing to do with this story but I thought I would toss it out there anyway. My neighbor, the “Iguana,” has come up with a great idea for a new TV reality series featuring himself, myself and my pal “Blue Dog” Metcalf. It would be filmed entirely on my front deck and would be called “Geezers Gone Wild.”
There could be naked surf babes in the pool and all sorts of festive stuff going on. I have no idea where we are gonna get the naked surf babes but still it is a really cool idea, don’t you think?
Anyway, back to the story. I also like all the side events that go on during the “show” weeks. The Surfing Hall of Fame inductions are set for Friday, July 27th at 10 A.M. This takes place on the corner of PCH and Main Street in front of Huntington Surf ‘n Sport. The organizer of this event and owner of HSS, Arron Pai, has once again, and against his better judgment at that, picked me to help M.C. the inductions. It is so dangerous to give me live microphone in front of a crowd, you never know what is gonna come out of me. But Arron is brave enough to do that so I will be there. Wish us both luck.
Also there is the great people watching and hot babe gawking sessions. Fantastic stuff. Don’t forget the sunblock and sunglasses. You want to be stealth and not fried like a hunk of El Pollo loco. Speaking of which, and once again I am sorry for getting off the subject but in this case I can’t help it, a couple of weeks ago I was driving on a little road through the mountains in the middle of Mexico. I was on my way to a little lake in a place called Valle de Bravo which is a few hours northwest of Mexico City. My wife, the Muy Bonita Karlita, and I were on a little romantic getaway. We were driving along out in the middle of nowhere and came across a little place with a huge sign that read “El Pulpo Loco.” Pulpo is octopus in Spanish. Classic. This place was about eight hours from the nearest ocean, where were they getting the loco pulpos from? Anyway, I thought it was funny and worth a mention.
Back again to the story. What I don’t like about these weeks in HB is mostly the inconvenience of the traffic and parking and not getting my favorite table at Duke’s. But that all comes with the territory so it is not that big a deal I guess. I am not nearly as bummed out about it as those dudes I mentioned earlier who surf the pier everyday. All in all this is a good thing to see and good for HB. I have my sunblock and my sunglasses and am ready to be an observer. See ya down there.