by The Editors on July 17, 2009
In anyone else’s hands the Drive Thru Series from Poor Specimen would likely have broken down on the side of the surf film highway years ago. But with Greg Browning at the wheel and Donovan Frankenreiter and Benji Weatherly’s as co-pilots it seems that they just keep getting better and better. This is especially true with Drive Thru Australia, which had its world premiere last night (July 16, 2009) at the world famous La Paloma Theatre in Encinitas, California.
The crowds began showing up at six o’clock and by the time the doors opened for the second of two sold out shows their was a mob out front. And this wasn’t a free surf film showing. It was full pop $8 night at the movies price. While Wired Magazine Editor Chris Anderson may think that digital content is headed for free, the Drive Thru series proves that surfers are not only willing to pay for quality content, but are quite happy doing it. “These are the best surfers in the world,” said one man standing in line for the 9 PM showing. “Of course I’m going to pay to see them.”
The other thing that didn’t seem to bother anyone was that this was Donovan Frankenreiter, Benji Weatherly and Greg Browning’s (pictured right with Pat O’Connell) second drive through Australia. Five years ago (an eternity to groms in the audience) they made a similar trip with Rob Machado, Kalani Robb, and Dean Morrison. This time Pat O’Connell, Shane Dorian, Mark Occhilupo, and Andy Irons joined in.
Follow the jump for more. . .
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 17, 2009
We’ve always been fans of the wahine. And there’s no better place than Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina for the 2009 East Coast Wahine Championships.
Surfer girls of all ages and all abilities are invited to compete in this fun for everyone surf contest. Longboard, Shortboard, Bodyboard, and Novice divisions.
Sign up soon before the spots are gone.
[Link: East Coast Wahines]
by The Editors on July 16, 2009
The Surfrider Foundation has teamed up with Legoland California in Carlsbad, California for the Celebrity Mosaic Project. A group of celebrities including musician Tom DeLonge, Tony Hawk, Al Pacino, Brooke Shields, Heidi Klum, Jamie Lee Curtis, Peter Facinielli, and Thomas Gibson have built their own ocean-themed Lego mosaics that will be on display in the theme park and available for auction on Charitybuzz.com. All the proceeds will be donated to the Surfrider Foundation.
“We are excited to be celebrating SEA LIFE Aquarium’s first birthday and partnering with them for the Celebrity Mosaic Project,” says Matt McClain, Surfrider Foundation’s Director of Marketing and Communications. “Their idea to use unique celebrity mosaics as a creative way to educate the public about our fragile ocean and marine environments is fantastic and aligns perfectly with our mission.”
We always figured Matt McClain for a closet Lego blockhead but we are impressed that he rolled it into his work so seamlessly. [click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 16, 2009
Those who still have cable hooked up to their televisions can catch Shaun White and Brazilian big wave charger Maya Gabeira (she’s the one on the right) pick up their awards for Best Male and Female Action Sports Athletes at the 17th annual awards ceremony which were held last night (July 15, 2009) at the Nokia Theater L.A..
The show, hosted by Samuel L. Jackson, will be televised on ESPN and ESPN HD on Sunday, starting at 9 p.m. ET.
Congrats to Shaun and Maya.
[Link: ESPN.com]
by The Editors on July 15, 2009
Rumors have been running since last month that new Black Box Distribution CEO/Partner Frank Messman would find a way to “grow the business” at Jamie Thomas’ warehouse but some are finding it a mystery that they have fallen off the street and become slaves to surf fashion with zero hesitation. That appears to be the case according to a Tiffany Montgomery story on Shop-eat-surf.com.
Carlsbad-based Black Box will be responsible for the sales and distribution of Insight in the U.S. – essentially backend operations. The Insight USA team will remain in charge of marketing and product and keep their offices in Los Angeles. The Insight sales management team will also work in Los Angeles. . . Black Box owner and President Jamie Thomas said he has admired Insight for awhile and described it as “the coolest apparel brand out there.” . . . “I appreciated the originality and rawness of the brand,” Jamie said. “I personally found it inspiring.”
Fear not men of North County, your women are safe for the time being. Insight USA President Jesse Faen will reportedly be staying in Los Angeles.
[Link: Shop-eat-surf.com]
by The Editors on July 15, 2009
One of our favorite Tweeters in the past few months has been @whoisJOB. For a while we mistakenly thought it might have been some ploy by Postsurf.com’s Lewis Samuels to keep things even more interested for him on the North Shore, but today we find out that it is acutally LikeBitchin.com’s Charlie Smith.
In a post titled “I Tweet Jamie” Smith writes:
Twitter is terribly retarded, unless you are famous. Then it is fun. Jamie O’Brien is just famous enough for fun and I have spent the last few months writing his tweets. It started slow. He was in Bali so I said things such as, “I am looking for a restaurant that serves breastmilk.” People responded less than favorably. “You are a sik fuk!” It built throughout my tenure. A month ago I wrote, “Bagels are donuts for fags” and felt very pleased with myself. People responded less than favorably. “Stop hatin!”
We kind of hope he keeps going. Don’t know what they will mean for Jamie O’Brien, but we’re guessing he can probably take care of himself.
[Link: Likebitchin.com]
by The Editors on July 15, 2009
Nothing clears the line faster than a shredded wetsuit and blood, and maybe that’s one of the benefits designer/artist diddo is going for with at least one of these new wetsuit designs.
The first edition contains four original designs: a rusted iron diving suit evoking the days of Jules Verne, the anatomic musculature suit as a homage to our inner strength, a wet suit which gives the illusion that the wearer has been attacked by a group of hungry sharks and finally a whale shark patterned suit that celebrates the brilliance and originality of our natural water world.
Think we’ll just stick the the rusted iron diving suit. Then the outside of the suit can reflect the insides our knees.
[Link: by diddo via NBC Los Angeles]
by The Editors on July 15, 2009
Seems like it’s been a while since we’ve been to a good ol’ VeeCo movie premiere in the heart of the OC. And this one is going to be good.
[Link: Volcom]
by The Editors on July 15, 2009
The waves at The Billabong Pro at J-Bay were so good that for the past two nights we’ve been falling asleep with a computer on our laps and cracking it open each time we’d wake up during the night to check in on the comp. We were kind of hoping to wake up early enough this morning to see the finals (click here to watch it on video), but ended up missing them by about an hour and a half. Four AM has always been a rough hour for us, but not apparently for Joel Parkinson. He kicked the final off with a 9.47 and even though Damien Hobgood was killing it like few goofy footers have he couldn’t line up the scores.
“I knew the waves were dying down towards the end of the day and it was going to be important to get on the board early in Final,” Parkinson said. “I’ve been sitting up the point at Boneyards for most of the event and trying to find the ones that would run all the way down the point – that one was no different. As I stood up I had a really nice line on it and I tried to make the most of it. Turned out to be a crucial part of the heat.”
For all the official press release results, follow the jump, or click here to watch all the heats on video.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on July 15, 2009
Kelly Slater and an ESPN made-for-TV pro surf association? That’s the idea being discussed in a story posted on Wetsand yesterday.
You’ve probably read the details by now, about ESPN giving the whole pro surfing thing another shot, but with real money and a completely new format that will culminate in an eight-event summer tour, ESPN coverage, live webcasts and a three-year commitment. But there is a significant rub. The tour will feature only 16 surfers, and allegedly, those surfers will be comprised of the top 8 rated surfers in the world, and 8 hand-picked wild cards. . . Slater has been understandably critical of the way the sport has been governed for some time. His dissatisfaction stems from the fact that the ASP is a toothless body, which it is. It has no real assets. It acts merely a sanctioning body that’s controlled by the owners of its events: Quiksilver, Billabong, Rip Curl, Hurley, Vans and O’Neill.
For as much criticism as the “toothless” ASP gets, it’s difficult to imagine a scenario where adding ESPN to the team would make it better for surfers, surfing, or the audience.
[Link: Wetsand]
The other thing that didn’t seem to bother anyone was that this was Donovan Frankenreiter, Benji Weatherly and Greg Browning’s (pictured right with Pat O’Connell) second drive through Australia. Five years ago (an eternity to groms in the audience) they made a similar trip with Rob Machado, Kalani Robb, and Dean Morrison. This time Pat O’Connell, Shane Dorian, Mark Occhilupo, and Andy Irons joined in.
