by The Editors on September 22, 2008
The biggest Trestles toll road hearing yet is going on today at the O’Brien Hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar, California.
The U.S. Secretary of Commerce scheduled the hearing to get public input on the controversial 241 Toll Road extension that will reportedly have a huge effect on one of the continental US best surf breaks. The issue has grown even larger since the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council jumped into the fracas.
While it’s too late to speak at the hearing, it’s never too late to show up to support the cause. The hearing runs today, September 22, 2008 from 10:30 AM until 8:30 PM. If you live in SoCal, there is still time.
[Link: Save Trestles]
by The Editors on September 19, 2008
Globe International Limited released their 2008 annual report today. And while the document contains loads of interesting information (like the fact that the company suffered a $24.6 million net loss in fiscal 2007/2008) we dove straight to the “Key Management Personnel And Top 5 Remunerated Executives” section (page 34), because we love knowing how well our friends are doing.
Here is the breakdown of salaries plus cash bonuses:
Matthew Hill $948,222
Chief Executive Officer
Matthew Wong $554,490
President – Europe
Gary Valentine $433,271
President – North America
Marc McKee $421,263
Graphic Designer
Bod Boyle $381,507
President – Dwindle
John Sherwood $344,879
Vice President – North American Sales
Steve Douglas $233,129
President – Australia
Jessica Hogan $213,129
Chief Financial Officer
Gerhard Correa $154,700
Company Secretary
And this “salary transparency” is just one of the reasons that it sucks to work for a publicly traded company. Though, it obviously doesn’t suck that much for many on this list.
[Link: Sydney Morning Herald]
by The Editors on September 19, 2008
Maverick’s surf photographer Don Montgomery has left his hometown of Pacifica and moved to the Sierra near the town of Placerville, but his friends wanted to give him a proper send off party.
His buddy and business partner Eric W. Nelson, a big wave documentarian and videographer who produces all of the Maverick’s video films (also the first person to shoot Maverick’s from the water on a surfboard), was behind the party. Eric told Montgomery in advance there was going to be just a little farewell get together. What Nelson did not tell his friend is that Mayor Jim Vreeland would be on hand to officially proclaim the day the “Don Montgomery Day.”
Montgomery’s early photographs of Maverick’s stunned the world when they were first published in Surfer magazine in 1987. In 2007 his photo of Shane Desmond at Maverick’s won the surfer the award for largest paddle-in wave. A lot of surfers are going to miss Don, especially when they’re throwing their asses on the line.
[Link: Pacifica Tribune]
by The Editors on September 19, 2008
Surfline.com has amazing photos from Greg Long and Mark Healey’s trip to China where they surfed a tidal bore on the Qiantang River for close to 12 miles.
Greg Long and Healey zigzagged and carved through our familiar zone. But once they shot Bridge #6 together, the river bent and the wind turned offshore. Rippable sections popped up all over the place. We were forced to forge ahead, much to the dismay of the Communist Government officials, because there was no way for the guide boat to punch through the eight-foot wall of whitewater. And this was our precise excuse for forging past our boundary during the final day.
Click the link for all the photos and the rest of the story.
[Link: Surfline.com]
by The Editors on September 19, 2008
Newcastle, the latest in what seems like a string of gay surf movies coming out, is premiering in its Australian namesake city on October 29.
The film is a the coming-of-age story about three young surfer brothers growing up in Australia, according to a story in The Hearld.
While rising surf star Jesse chases waves and girls and battles his resentful older brother, a former surfing champion, misfit Fergus develops a crush on one of Jesse’s macho mates.
The film was written and directed by American Dan Castle who says he “wove aspects of his own experiences as a surf-mad teen into his Newcastle script.” In a humorous twist of irony, the film is being distributed by actor Mel Gibson’s company Icon Film Distribution.
[Link: The Hearld]
by The Editors on September 17, 2008
While claiming to be the first person to do anything in the world is getting more and more difficult, Jafar Alam, 25, says he’s the first Bangladeshi surfer. And now he is sharing his love with the Cox’s Bazar Surf Club which he founded in 2002..
This month he will hold his fourth annual surfing competition, when a group of 15 American surfers will descend on the beach to compete against locals. . . . He now has 48 students, including 12 girls. Although home to a 125-kilometre (78-mile) stretch of unbroken coast, it was only the occasional intrepid international tourist who would test the waves, he said.
It would probably be an easy contest to win. Better start packing.
[Link: Daily Times]
by The Editors on September 15, 2008
As we overhead someone say last week, “Ol’ Naude has had a pretty good year.” And we would agree. According to a report in Australia’s The Age Billabong’s Paul Naude unloaded a few shares last week:
Last Monday he sold 250,000 shares at AUS$13.35 each. The AUS$3.3 million was the most he had raised from share sales for quite a while. . . . Last year he disposed of 100,000 at AUS$15.52 a share, while going right back into history — March 2006 — he raised AUS$2 million when he flogged 125,000 shares at AUS$16.06 a share.
Taking a little money off the table probably isn’t a bad idea right now.
[Link: The Age]
by The Editors on September 13, 2008
Wonder why we never see product from Hollister on sale at CostCo?
by The Editors on September 12, 2008
Todd Murashige, 40, was surfing Crouching Lian near Oahu’s Kaaawa when he remembers seeing a shark head next to him. He started paddling for shore and the next thing he knew the shark had taken a large chunk out of his thigh, according to a story on KITV.com.
Murashige pried the shark off his leg with his hands and said he could not feel his foot when he got back on his surfboard. However, he did see most of the flesh on his right thigh ripped open, he told his family.. . . A fellow surfer helped him into shore and called 911. “When I was lying on shore and I thought I was going to black out, and I told myself if I blacked out I would die. That’s what I really felt. So, I called my wife and I called my mom. I guess you don’t really realize,” Murashige said.
Doctors at Queen’s Medical center say he is doing fine, but he is unsure whether he will ever surf again.
[Link: KITV.com and Honolulu Advertiser]
by The Editors on September 11, 2008
When anyone is surfing against Kelly Slater in a final we often find ourselves pulling for them because we’ve always loved the underdog. Today, we were on Taj Burrow’s team as he and eight-time world champion Kelly Slater traded waves (sometimes one right behind the other) at the Boost Mobile Pro presented by Hurley.
Coming out of the water at the end of the final Taj was visibly angry. It didn’t seem to be normal frustration with losing a heat. He was mad. And he had every reason to be.
[click to continue…]
The biggest Trestles toll road hearing yet is going on today at the O’Brien Hall at the Del Mar Fairgrounds in Del Mar, California. 
