Dancing on Australian TV has got to be one of the most intense things Mark Occhilupo has ever done. But doing obviously isn’t the same as succeeding, and thanks to low scores he has been cut from the show.
“I had such a good time all the other celebrities were so nice. I made a lot of good friends and Jad was all time,” Occy said. “I had a ball. I want to thank everyone for supporting me through this ride. It’s been fun. It’s not for everyone, but I had a ball. I’ll get back to surfing.”
Will Occy continue dancing after this experience. “No, way,” he said.
Austin Ware, Travis Beckmann, Chase Wilson and big money Spencer Regan.
At the 4th Annual K5 Pro/Am Surf Klassic held Saturday, May 28, 2011 at D Street in Encinitas, California Santa Barbara’s Spencer Regan edged Austin Ware, Travis Beckmann and Chase Wilson to nab his $2,000 in prize money.
Ultimately, Spencer Regan was crowned the 2011 champion and took home the $2,000. Local standout Austin Ware claimed 2nd place ($1,000) and Travis Beckmann, who punted a huge clean air reverse in his first heat giving him the claiming rights to the Best Air Award of $500, finished 3rd ($500) in the Finals. Chase Wilson finished a well-deserved 4th place and grabbed $250 for his efforts.
While we think it would be hard to get bad footage of Lindsay Lohan, surf film maker Taylor Steele (working for painter Richard Phillips) has captured something stunning. It’s almost enough to make us forget her jail-at-home ankle monitor.
With the “Lohan” video, shot last month in Malibu, Calif., by the surf-king filmmaker Taylor Steele (and exclusively previewing here), Phillips is also banking on a new direction. Last we looked, he was strictly a painter, albeit one with a certain fixation on the power of media gods and goddesses to distract us from the people they really are.
Well, the distracting part of the artwork is definitely working.
Apparently, the tiger sharks at Holualoa Bay on the Big Island of Hawai’i have been hungry lately. Two surfboards have been chomped in the last four days, according to a story in the Star-Advertiser.
The shark had come right up the tail of the board, clamped down over the skeg, pulling the back half of the 8-foot board under water, Honebrink said. . . The surfer, identified by Grace as Theresa Fernandez, was trying to grab onto the nose of her surfboard and paddle away from the shark, then the shark let go, he said. . . On Sunday at midday, a woman and her 3-year-old grandson were riding a stand-up paddleboard when a large shark knocked them both off the board about 20 feet offshore and took a bite out of the board, but didn’t touch them.
Just hope those Kona sharks keep craving fiberglass.
The event brings together the most dynamic names of surf and the beach in fashion, arts, design, architecture, music, film and sports. On May 26th, 27th and 28th. The Festival was envisioned by entrepreneur and surfer Romeu Andreatta. Festival Alma’ 11, will culminate in this eighth edition to celebrate the “Life At The Beach”, as the theme of this year’s festival.
“A lawyer in Dallas, operating without authorization from the family, made a unilateral decision to request a delay on behalf of the family as a way to provide sufficient time for the 10-page toxicology report to be translated into laymen’s terms and prevent the risk of its being misconstrued or misunderstood. … Unfortunately, this delay has now caused a firestorm of media speculation about the intentions of Andy’s family.”
In the statement the family also wanted to clear up some other issues relating to things Andy’s wife Lyndie was quoted as saying:
Firstly, Mrs. Irons has long regretted her previous remark about the truth “tarnishing Andy’s brand,” which she attributes to her confusion and grief at the time of learning of her husband’s passing. Secondly, Mrs. Irons’ quote that she believes the autopsy results will “contradict the rumors [of] a drug overdose” does not reflect Lyndie Irons’ or the family’s beliefs today. We know that Andy’s life and death were tainted by drugs and are ready to accept the Medical Examiner’s findings.
We’re looking forward to all of this being over. Click the link for the entire statement.
They chuckled when they saw Owen Wright over-surfing a small wave, and then their jaws-dropped as Adriano blasted his now infamous 8.23 point floater. After watching all four waves we asked them who won. They gave it to Adriano. What we realized from our completely non-scientific research was this–no matter how the ASP attempts to quantify their judging system it really comes down to whose wave was more impressive. Our test subjects agreed with the ASP judges.
The ASP Judges, however, didn’t seem to want to leave it with their scores, and yesterday (May 22, 2011) they released a statement regarding why the heat was scored the way it was. The number one reason they give for the controversy is that the Heat-on-demand don’t show Adriano’s wave properly. It was “a lot bigger than what was shown online,” they say. While, that can be argued all day long, it seems their best response is the following:
Our job as the judging panel is to score the surfers that are pushing the criteria to the limit. Both of Owen’s airs were good maneuvers (they are also the bread and butter for nearly every surfer on tour these), but executed on the easy sections of the waves. Where as Adriano’s floater was done on such a critical part of the wave. I would probably add that if Owen’s first turns on both scoring waves were bigger or more critical, then both waves would have been scored higher. . . I pose the question, would you, as a fan of top-level surfing, prefer the surfers to do a good turn on a small easy wave or a good turn on a wave that is going flat-out with a heaving, unforgiving closeout section?
As much as we got caught up in the discussions, when they put it this way we have to agree with the ASP Judging panel. Follow the jump for a more detailed explanation [click to continue…]
Turns out Danny Fuller isn’t simply a handsome man with nice abs and a penchant for dropping in way deep on really big waves. No, he’s an artist, too. And, though we apologize in advance for sounding surprised, his photos are compelling. We’re mentioning this because Fuller has a show opening tomorrow, Saturday, May 21, 2011 at the Known Gallery in Los Angeles titled Night For Day.
Fuller shot the photographs for his Night for Day body of work between midnight and 5 am during the brightest full moon at waters edge in Hawaii and Mexico. Fuller’s long night time exposures capture the hauntingly beautiful locations such as “Insanities,” “Keiki’s,” “Three tables,” “Hanakapi’ai,” “Monster Mush,” and “Playa Las Viudas.” The choices of these spots were based on the predicted effects that the tones of the sand and the clarity and depths of water would have on the eventual exposure to moonlight.
The opening reception begins at 8 PM. The Known Gallery is located at 441 N. Fairfax Ave., Los Angeles, CA. Night For Day which includes work by Kevin Ancell runs through June 11, 2011. Follow the jump for a video interview with Fuller regarding the show (or click here for photos from the opening.
After the emotion that Adriano de Souza displayed following his complete dismantling of Taj Burrow in the final of the 2011 Billabong Pro Rio on Friday, May 20, it was impossible not to be moved. It was a slow final. The waves were hardly consistent, however, de Souza soldiered through snagging the best of the waves and attacking and claiming them in his typical style.
By the halfway mark of the 35 minute heat de Souza was leading with a 6.5 and a 2.17. Burrow had a 7.0 on his first wave, but then completely fumbled his next two good waves. The crowd cheering wildly each time he fell couldn’t have helped. Following the falls it appeared that Burrows was broken. Though he got an okay wave in the final minutes, it was not enough.
“When you’re in a final you want to win it,” Burrow said from the podium. “I’ve been in two this year. I’m still happy. I love the Brazilian crowd. It was a good event. I’m happy to be in Rio. Thanks everyone for having us.”
De Souza kept the title at home in Brazil, won his second Elite Tour event, and moved into the lead of the ASP World Title race going into J-Bay. Through tears, a nearly emotionally incapacitated de Souza said the win was just too much for words. “It’s no words to say right now,” he said. “Thank you so much. I want to say thanks to my manager for believing in me. Thank you to Red Bull. And to all my fans down the beach. Thanks guys watching.”
It was an uplifting end to a interesting week on the ASP World Tour. While there may still be discussions about who won or should have won heats during the week, there is no doubt who won the final. Felicitações, Adriano [click to continue…]
