Watched an episode of Iconoclasts on the Suncance Channel this morning. If you haven't seen it, it's a show that puts two celebrity figures together where one is an admirer of the other. One of the two travels to the home environment of the other and the two basically just spend time together in what appears to be unrehearsed situations and discuss their jobs, attitudes, feelings, and anything else that might come up in converstaion. One of my favorites from the first season was Michael Stipe of REM going to New York to interview celebrity-chef Mario Batali. One of my favorite momentes was when the chef rode the singer on the back of his scooter to the Union Square
farmers market where they shopped for ingredients for a dinner they
were cooking that night. I've been to that market many times, and it
was interesting seeing powerhouses of music and cuisine pick out cobs
of corn.
The show seems to strip away the artificial celebrity BS of the actors, musicians, athletes, and yes, chefs, that are involved in each show, and captures more real, everyday kinds of moments. The episode I watched this morning on the Tivo was Eddie Vedder + Laird Hamilton. Eddie had gone to Hawaii to visit Laird at his home. They did some surfing, paddled boards along the coast, took a helicopter ride over the island, and generally talked about what it means to love and respect the ocean. I knew that Eddie was a friend of the ocean conservationists prior, but didn't know he was a surfer until I heard he was going to be doing this show.
I remembered Pearl Jam contributing a song for the Music for Our Mother Ocean (MOM) project. Eddie mentioned during the episode that the band was a quarter through their tour during his visit to Hawaii, and the episode ends with Laird coming to see Pearl Jam play at Santa Barbara (by the way, Laird rides up to the concert site on a bike and reveals that he's ridden all the way from Malibu to see the show). During the show Eddie dedicated his song "Big Wave", an ode to surfing, to Laird as he sat at the side of the stage.
For those of use who would love to do just once what Laird does weekly, it was an amazing show. To see Laird in his own environment talking about what gets him charged, and to see the incredible views of Maui , makes you want to hop on the next flight. And as if living with Peahi in your backyard is not enough good fortune, to be married to the beautiful beach-volleyball playing Gabrielle Reese isn't such as bad situation either. Those daughters of Laird's have come from good stock.
The episode reinforces the notion that there is definite spirituality in the ocean.
Here is "Big Wave". The lyrics are difficult to understand, but you can follow along here.
Download 225_big_wave_pearl_jam.mp3
Aloha
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