JUST TEAZING

Just a lil teaser. Its almost ready. Still Brewing but its almost time. Quick to the point.

Shadows of the Same Sun Punkt Trailer from Thomas Brookins on Vimeo.

ITS ON NOW!

Shadows post production is in full swing. Hopefully if all goes well, in the next year we will have a fully functional Death Star, oops, wrong movie. Shadows is looking more & more like a documentary & Im stoked out of my mind to just keeping busy!

DARK DAY FOR OUR ROCKAWAY

Its a very sad time as a surfer who was endeared by many paddled out at the beginning of the much awaited Nor'Easter only to find his fate yesterday. Our condolences to him & his family. There's is a drive to possibly raise money to help his remains get back to his family in Brazil. Stop into Boarders surf shop or Elegante Pizzaria to donate. Allesandro was a novice surfer, only surfing since basically July paddled into the horrible rip currents & heavy surf & was lost for more the 20 minutes before someone called for help. His body was fished out of the ocean at the end of my street & seeing it was a little bit hard to swallow for this town since we haven't lost a surfer to surfing before. This will be the 1st Surf related drowning in NYC history according about everyone in town & Audry Pfeipher a local politician. That being said, Surfers are usually the safe sound people in the water looking out for others & being careful & well trained and are a plus to the environment. Heres is the News report on his death. RIP.




Please all, Know your limits, be smart & if your relatively new to surfing, listen to your elders & local people, take head & respect the beach, etiquette, people & your life. Its not worth it. Live to surf another day.

Respect & love to all.

WATER IN RELATION TO INSPIRATION

Water and art can be very powerful, when to 2 collide who knows what can happen.

FUNNER THEN EVERESTER!

How fun was that day, i'll post more pix from our beloved Tommy Lunchbox as I get them.

WATER SONG

Surfers make great music, come out & see them play. Condo & Imaginary Weapons on 1 Bill. Just sick.

SERIOUSLY, THERES SOMETHING IN THE WATER!!!!

Funny, I bumped into Vincent D'Onofrio from Law & Order Criminal Intent & The Cell, checking the waves this morning. He seems to love surfing & tho it was flat, he stopped by for a lil appreciation of the ocean. He has many family ties through Queens & frequents the beaches when he can to get out on a board & relax in the waves. He seemed to be stoked on a wave he predicted will be coming yet Im not seeing it in the forecasts. lol! I hope he's right!



For real, there's something in the NS3 water that gets people either married or pregnant! In the last few years, I have seen more couples form, get married, buy homes & have kids at an astounding pace. An example is, Collin & Bridget. They are now married and on their way to Italia tonight for the big honeymoon. . Congrats & we love you guys! See ya around 4 to drive you to the airport! Amazing wedding! Amazing weather for an October day. It was summer all over again! How fun was that!?
Thanks for the pics guys!

Happy Couple,


The wedding Director?


The vail always looks so nice on the... wait...Videographer?!

TRENDS

Well it seems to be the Bee's Knees to visit NYC with a surfboard. Kassia Meador has made multiple trips here & I had the pleasure of sharing the line up with her on a great lil day of surf. Watching her destroy it on a fatty fish was just amazing but she wasn't the only one. Mikey Demple was just a stones toss away. I hadn't seen him since he was shooting "Picaresque" in Costa Rica. They had a good crew & it was good to see him surfing here. But if thats not enough pros for you, hows about legendary Laird Hamilton, who showed up to talk with CEO's at Amex today where my great gal got me a signed copy of his new book explaining good health. He says he's always stand up paddle boarding & his book is pretty interesting. Lots of working outs, yoga & pics.

What is in the water here? Is it foreshadowing? Is our lil forgotten town a new destination for pros? Who knows, time will tell but for now its all good just watching someone as purty & rips like Kassia Meador & to share some fun in the water with great surfers like Mikey Detemple.

Cheers big ears!
Psycho

KASSIA & WEGENER

Well it seems everyone is on to NYC & its awesome ability to stun visitors with its vast eclectic lifestyles & people from all corners of the globe that have brought so much life to this city & make it the true mecca it is. I had the pleasure of sharing the line up in a place I'd never imagine with Kassia Meadors & John Wagner. Kassia is one of almost any modern long boarder riders idols. She is graceful, cute as a button & seems to be genuinely good natured in her movies & interviews on TV. She is sponsored by quicksilver & as far as women's surfing, she's forced it into the lime light with her colleagues.

John Wegeners Alaia boards are made from a special wood & fashioned in the ancient surfers from Hawaii. Light thin boards that take great skill to master. I rode one of these in CR with Mikey Detemple while he was shooting his new movie "Picaresque" and it wasn't easy to learn at all. It was awesome to meet you & stoked you shared your boards with the locals! Amazing craftsmanship as well as his surfboard designs make him a very influential person in the surfing world. It was a great pleasure seeing you here in NYC & thats something since surfers (Especially NYC locals) aren't usually so stoked to have visitors at their home break. ; )

Cheers & welcome to NYC Kassia & John!
Psycho

WILD BILL HURRICANE

NYC August 2009 NS3 Sessions! from Thomas Brookins on Vimeo.

ROUND AND ROUND!

GO BILL!!!

FLAT

August is always a test for the urban surfer. Its so flat we're going insane, frothing at the mouths, stealing from corner bodegas, cursing at little old ladies, Is there no end in sight? I guess time will tell & when Septembers comes a knocking things start to look a lil brighter but till then troops, get that chin up & quit your bitchin. Do some sit ups & push ups & go for a jog, cuz when its on, its on & I'll be there in full swing, cameras a blazin!

Cheers & Hnag in there yall,
Psycho

THE REEL THING

If you haven't seen my other works through EVP, then heres my professional Demo Reel. Its just awesome to point my camera at anything & everyone! I do love it so!

EARTHMOVERS VIDEO PRODUCTION REEL from Thomas Brookins on Vimeo.

Cheers,
Psycho

IM WATCHING YOU!!!!!

Photo Courtesy of Shawn Roche Photography

EVP WELCOMES GREY GHOST SURFBOARDS

Welp, if ya cant think of 1 shaper in NYC then your just not a surfer. The amazing & infamous Joey Clams & Grey Ghost surfboards joins the Earthmovers Video Productions sponsor List for the feature "Shadows of the Same Sun." His style of board shaping is unmatched in NYC which is apparent in his surfing style and attitude. His customs are ridden by some of the best surfers on the Beast Coast & its hard to contain yourself looking at some of those beauties as you can see I've lost all composure lusting after that sick, sexy lil Quad Fishy! (He actually didnt shape that board but I have no excuse for my actions! again... lol!) Proud to have him!



Photos by Megan Sullivan

See more on GG Surfboards & Joey here,
throughtheeyesofaghost.blogspot.com

http://magic-quiver.blogspot.com/2009/02/grey-ghost.html with photos by Shawn Roche.

Stoked, Love ya Joey!
Psycho

P.S. I cannot wait to see Frroky's new Quad when its all glassed up! I'll now leave you with a gratuitous shot of me rockin a Rock&Roll floater!

NY Post Vs. Rockaway Beach

I don't know what it is but almost everything the NY Post ever writes about us here in Rockaway is usually negetive, from Rants about how there's nothing here and how barren it is to misquoting local businesses but the article posted about the Lifeguard having headphones on while on duty wasn't really a fair shake. Meanwhile they continually ignore the much larger issues such as crimes going unattended to, prostitution & drug dealing & crimes of all kinds happening across the street from a Precinct yet it never gets fixed while citizens get ticketed for swimming with out their wallets to show proper ID when asked or the ridiculas backwards way the Parks Department deals with picking up the trash & conservation issues but hey, that might be too much work for the Post? Yes, the lifeguards usually don't wear iPod headphones and I am not condoning it at all, but the day that picture was taken, it was a very rainy day with storms & calm seas. Not a swimmer in sight for miles. pretty much an empty beach & this lifeguard knew that. Not to mention, those lifeguards are mostly local people, sitting in the blistering sun all day watching over swimmers under the control of the Parks department. (which isn't exactly the best manager of our city's public nature parks and have many backwards rules & regulations seen as ridiculous to many professional life guarding associations and beach organizations from Long Island to California.) Even if you ask a life guard about the bureaucracy of it all, they can list a thousand things wrong with how its handled here in the city & many local opinions believe its ass backwards from the way a beach should be controlled & caters to an elderly community who has a larger say in the town government because they don't understand the changes happening in the Rockaways with all the development & new traffic.

None the less, these Hero's save so many people on a daily basis, they should all be handed medals each week. 2 days ago a lifeguard saved 2 kids stuck in a rip-tide right in front of me only to be scolded by 1 of the boys, saying they were totally fine & weren't drowning. Their ignorance of the danger these two 6 or 7 year olds were in was apparent and also equally as ignorant were the parents sitting on the beach clueless that their kids were being sucked out to sea. No one wrote about the save, no one talked about it & no one patted this young lady on the back or said, "Good lookin out." She did her job & did it well & there 2 less grieving parents in the world today. Who knows why the NY post has to always bash Rockaway & look for reasons but they do it regularly. Im just sick of the media trying to grow drama for the sake of sales because theyre not smart enough as an organization to write intelligent news articles that can sustain them but the next time one of the Posts staff is at any beach & has themselves, family or friends in need of assistance, maybe they might think twice about how ridiculous that embarrassing article was when they get a 2nd chance at life.

Props to the Life Guards of NYC & Rockaway beach & thank you all for everything you do.

KICK IT UP A NOTCH!!

Welp for some time now Ive been wanting to upgrade my equipment. Its been a long hard road being the Sony HVR-Z5U is one of the most sought after cameras on the market & has been on back order at the infamous B&H for over 6 months with no delivery date in sight. After some poking & prodding I finally sweet talked someone there who told me that they actually had one on hold in case they needed another one for their display. Turns out B&H has been remodeled its pro video areas since the cameras release & this unopened box has been in their warehouse for almost a year & they kindly hooked a brother up. Months of saving & waiting in frustration & I now have one (and I'm one of the few) here in NYC. Stoked!

Be on the look out if those swells should ever kick in because I'll be out there shooting your ugly mugs in 1080p so get some Clearasil ya noodles!!! ; )



Cheers all,
Psycho

Germany Takes NYC

Picaresque

If you havent seen it yet, Its out. Picaresque is out & is getting amazing reviews. Check out the trailer.

FLAT SPELLS?

If its flat & there's nothing to do, then hook yourself up with a nice Margarita in a coffee thermus! Turn a boring day, into a fun day & share with friends!

WEATHERING THE STORMS

Welp, too bad it hasn't been tropical storms and the constant rain feels like April just caught up with us now but at least I've had a few lil fun longboarding mornings. No one ever gets pix of me surfing because I like to hide away from the public in the water but Good ole Tommy Lunchbox got 1 of me with a lil drop knee cutback in some less then Perfect lil shore pound. LOL!




Also, if your a local NYC Final Cut Pro editor & love surfing, Please give me an email at thomasbrookins@gmail.com The Movie has been sitting dormant for a while with a lack of editing done. If your interested in possibly having your hand in one of the most original surf documentaries in recent East Coast times, Please get in touch with me asap.

Cheers!

LOVE!

If you haven't seen it, check out loveisanart.com Its a great lil alternative to boring wedding videos. Super affordable & really well produced.

Air France flight 447

In Loving Memory.. Dr. Jose Rommel Souza and Isis Pinet. Air France flight 447
RIP, GOOD FRIENDS.

From Jimmy at NYCWATERSHOTS.COM, PLease follow this link to read about this wonderful couple that will be deeply missed by surfers across the globe.

http://www.nycwatershots.com/?p=331

If your a surfer in the NYC area, there will be a paddle out this weekend in Rockaway beach's main surf beach at around noon so wether you knew them or not, feel free to join hands & respect life together.

OH SNAP-SHOT!

Lil end of winter tidbit, Bobby V of FTW clothing & shop cuaght on a backside hack in NYC. Not a bad Transplant huh?

Cheers Bobby!

ROCKSTOCK & BARRELS FEST!

"Boarders Surf Shop and St. James invites you to get ready for summer at the next annual Rockstock and Barrels event this year on June 13, 2009 on the beach, on the boardwalk and in the skatepark at B. 91 St."
Signed,
Poppa Graybeard

Well, here we go again folks, my favorite festival of the year is upon us again! If your with in earshot of this tell anyone & everyone. An all day event on the beach with Surfing contests, Skateboard contests, Give aways, Live bands & fun to be had by all & all day long! How often is there an out door party live on a boardwalk in NYC? Not to mention the after parties so I've heard, can be off the hook!

Its a truely amazing day & it only comes once a year & it was where I premiered my 1rst movie so come on uot & join is & see what all the Buzz is about!

9 DEEP!

Finally today there is no more waves for me to surf. UHG! Also, Thanks & Good Luck to Nate & Ellie on there Travels to Liberia Africa! The Party Saturday night was great, I'm still feeling that lol! Heres me & Allison trying to figure out your itinerary drawn on the board in your kitchen!



I hope you guys make a good home for yourselves & please send lots of pix of these!

5 DEEP

5 days in & waves are still building. Hope everyones enjoying this as much as I am. I should put the board down for a bit & shoot some video but I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN! Again, Cheers to Mother Nature!

THE SOGGY BOTTOM BOYS

For the last 4 days there have been fun waves to be had. Nothing especially hard or super challenging, definitely nothing to compare to perfect but its nice to have the consistency 4 days in a row or more. That doesn't happen often so heres you Mother Nature! Thanks for the fun!

In other local NYC news. The Bride oh mine's Kickball team is heading to the Championships. Apparently their lust for beer & pizza hasn't slowed their pace as they are Manhattans 1 undefeated team in the league. If your not doing anything this Wednesday & Know where "At the Johnsons" bar is in the LES, stop by the basket ball courts across the street & watch the games around 6 to 7 pm & then kick some balls for 8 buck pitchers at boss Tweeds after the games for all out Kaos & Beer pong!

Watch out for the Brides magic pitching gloves! RED HOT!






Cheers!

TOASTED BUNS

Rip Curls H-Bomb Review with Ron (Ronshores/ASP Addict) Shine for Dailystoke.com This was shot on a day that looked warm out but it was a freak warm sunny day in the middle of winter & as you can see he is wearing a 3/2mm in 38 degree waters & he was toasty. The suit itself seems lightweight & very warm even with out the coils engaged. Watch the review for more details. If the price eventually comes down, maybe surfing blistering cold winters in a heavy 6/5/4mm suit are over. Watch it in a standard definition below or copy & Paste this link to your browser & hit the HD button on the bottom right hand of the player to see Ron in brilliant Hi Def.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LF3Ucq_O_qY




Also for more surf related news, interviews, contest rankings & the antics of Ronshores, click the Daily Stoke thumbnailed link on the right side to visit the Dailystoke.com website.

ROBOTS WILL DESTROY OUR WORLD

If you havent seen them before, Come see Imaginary Weapons in Brooklyn. Local surfer, Brooklyn born & Raised Joey "Frroky" Giuseppe Giamona blows up his drums like he's pissed about the end of the Supranos in this experimental post punk apocalyptic mind Fark of a band. If you like Sonic Youth and Earth destroying robots then you'll love this. This trio grew up together in BKLN since they were tiny tater tots & puts on an energetic, powerful & fun set. Its a Saturday night, WTF else is better then this! Follow the Flyer! Can you hang?

Heres Frroky doing what he do in the NYC surf scene!

iPhoney!

Thanks for the Goodbye cake everyone, I'll Miss youall at Biology Camp!
Look even has a lil picture of me on a boogey board when I was little!




I dont wanna go, I'd rather end it! HARI KARI!!!!




Thanks for talking sense into me Psycho! Heres a cold one on me!



Just had to rub this in while we got waves this week! LOL! Cheers Jeff Anthony! Hope to see ya soon!

BOTTOMS!

No, Not this bottom,




This bottom. lol!
I custom painted the bottom of my Lost Quad. If you want someone to custom paint your board, Let me know. I don't do this very often but I might consider doing more since the economy is kicking my ass! Click the pic below to see the full size image.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A 1000 WAVES

Slices the wave like a Ginsu chef!! You gotta love the Tanker in the background. NYC waterways rule!


Local Surfers from Rockaway create nycwatershots.com Above Jimmy Brady, co-owner of the company.

Copy this link & see the site,
www.nycwatershots.com
Or, click their avatar on the right.

Great guys, great surfers & a great site. I mean who would you want to get a good shot of you? Someone standing o a boardwalk with little knowledge of the sport or would you have a seasoned waterman who knows the wave in his home town better then you know you own backside? Local surf hero, Firefighter, Jim paddles out with his cam to grab some really nice up close pictures. Aaaaaand you'll be supporting local artists & friends! They have skills. Check out their images from the water. A rarity in these parts but with their skill as surfers, they will probably produce some great shots in the years to come, maybe a few of you. Hey, ya never know, go check out their galleries & see if your in there.

Cheers all! The Bride has a fat brandy waiting for me! see yas in the line up!

1 FOR THE ROAD.
Heres Jimmy ducking Cloud Break.

MELT YOUR FACE!

For all you fans of Surf Punk Psychobilly Rock & Roll, Legendary NYC Guitar players & just happen to be in Manhattan sipping away your brain cells, then check this out. From Simon Chardiet himself.

"On Friday April 10..
I'm playing with BBQ Bob and the Spare Ribs,my first nyc show with them in 2 1/2 years at...rodeo bar 375 3rd av><27th street at 10 im am assuming the psuedonym "J. Paul Ghetto"for this event.please all come out for this-I need allies!

Fri 24 april with my jazz band the Blue Greens at Sunnys Bar 253 conover street-red hook bklyn,ny.(by the fairway supermarket,or beard st stop on b61 bus)10pm All shows no cover.live music is the perfect antidote for the recession!!"

Cheers all, hope to see yas there supporting a fellow surfer!
Psycho

Oddity

Well its odd being its April 8th & we just got snow. The West winds have been honking & there really hasnt been too much for surf round these parts but on another note, Check out Dailystoke.com & read up on some of the pros, their standings & some great interviews with people Like Andy Irons. At least it keeps my mind in the water when I'm sitting out. Coming soon, be on the look out for "Ronshores" take on the New Rip Curl H-bomb Heated wetsuite.



In other related News, the FTW shop in Rockaway Beach has finally opened. Its grande opening party had a visit by a few local hero's & some Pros from out west. I think the owner put to rest any shadow of a doubt & threw a solid opening packed shoulder to shoulder with local parents, kids, surfers & passerby's. Even Local mentor & surf shop owner Steve Stathis stopped by to wish the shop well. The openeing helped in telling people about plans to organize the surf community & support programs for contests & young surfers to get into the game. Local favorite band Indiculture mellowed it out with their chill surf styles & loaded up with acoustic power & an upright base player drew in almost any one from any era. I guess we'll see how FTW hold up. Its risky name has caused quite the contreversy so its up to him to to make it work. Good luck to him.


Cheers,
Psycho

Sticks to your Ribs

Tonight is the grand opening of the FTW store in NYC. Instead of following larger surf companies interested in only the Manhattanite fashionistas, Owner Robbert Vaughn of the famed Von Dutch clothing company decided to completely think outside the box. Growing up & surfing the pro circuit in Cali, he thought moving to NYC would never bring him close to the water again. He found waves right here in NYC & decided to make it his home. He was so stoked in fact that the 1st time I saw him out in the water he had the look of a 10 year old zooted up on Jolt Cola. It was a cold kegger day & he was throwing down like a Volcom video. The guy can surf. He brings with him a wealth of knowledge when it comes to the surfing industry as well as a place to base his new clothing line "FTW" and into a community that can be very skeptical of outsiders but that doesn't seem to bother him much. His store will even in fact be different from the other local shops simply because he is not catering to the usual beginner or long board crowd that seeks out boards for their newer level of riding but a more core short board shop which doesn't exist here in NYC. You'd probably find something more like in on the west coast. Hopefully they can add to the local economy and his shop doesn't look like anything we're used to seeing around this area.

If your not doing anything stop by the grand opening party featuring everyones favorite local band "Indiculture" on 116th st. tonight. Starts at around 7pm till whenever.

Also Cheers to Stoked mentoring, if you haven't heard of it, you need to. Read more about it here,

http://newyork.timeout.com/articles/own-this-city/73007/stoked-mentoring-cause-of-the-week

Great Job Steve!

THEY DO GROW UP FAST

Well it looks like the local killer grom has grown up & got himself a Geology degree & has his 1rst job upstate NY studying um, uh, Geolisticle stuff, but if your around the Tap & Grill in good ole Rockaway Beach NY April 2, swing by his last night of work at the bar & send him off proper. He's been there since the beginning & in my opinion 1 of the best Bartenders there. He is responsible for more of the damage to my liver then I am. I never had to tell him what I drank & it was always sitting on the bar when I got there! He will be missed for sure. He will be lanlocked where he's going so for good times sake, heres a few shots of our boy killin it!


Cheers Jeff & Good luck bro!

Eye Candy

Here is a short unedited test clip from "Shadows of the Same Sun" featuring Will Hallet, owner of NYNJSurf.com. Stay tuned for more on the "Shadows" project from behind the scenes & more. Not bad for a guy with NO BUDGET! lol!


Sony V1U Redrock Light test from Thomas Brookins on Vimeo.

Heres a short for your pleasure that was shot & edited by Myself & Noah Ward of a very cold day here in NYC. The few surfers that were out were VERY cold & most of them had a hard time dealing with NYC's harsh 17 degree 30 MHP winds in the 38 degree waters in the middle of a snow storm. Props to them for giving it a go anyhow! Just an amazingly fun winter day. Enjoy!



Cheers,
Psycho


March 2nd, 2009 from Noah Ward on Vimeo.

THATS ENTERTAINMENT

So we've had so many bands from all over the world submit so much great music for this movie its hard to choose between them all. Stop by my Myspace page to hear some of the submissions & visit their pages for more info on th bands themselves & upcoming shows & Tour dates.

http://www.myspace.com/psychovideo

We're not done listening tho so keep em coming. As an ex-musician myself I love hearing everything. Also, if you have any vintage surfing footage from New York pre-1980's or photos circa 1960's, I would love to see it. Photos Below courtesy of Steve Stathis at Boarders Surf Shop.





Please contact me at psychosponger@yahoo.com for more info. Who knows, you may be seen in a surf movie & forever etched in the history of the surfing city.

Cheers,
Psycho

Welcome to the New Earthmovers Video Productions Blog

Hello all, 

In this blog we will cover the progress of the upcoming movie in production now, "Shadows Of The Same Sun". Hopefully we all can have a little fun along the way & learn about many things related to the bonified Surfing history here in New York City. Tho its been pretty much forgotten over the years by many, there are people and families with stories of this city's legends and tales of the surf as far back as 1958. Here is a some mystery video from the 70's that we all regard as the missing link & with legendary guitar player Simon Chardiet and his band the Supertones kickin it up a notch on the sound track.

 Also, a new generation of surfers make their own new path. Currently, I am still looking for people for interviews and information of surfings past all the while in the neighborhood, we are usually drooling over wave forecasts like any other surfers in the world. 

So Cheers Big Ears!

Welcome to the blog!

Psycho