Everyone knows he grew up in Hawaii, but now there is video proof from the Associate Press that Barack Obama has some solid water skills. Now, if we could just get some spearfishing footie we’d know for sure.
[Link: Youtube via TransWorld Surf]
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Southern Californian’s can get a copy of Billabong Media Director Jim Kempton’s book Surfing: The Manual: Advanced and have it signed in person this Saturday evening August 16, 2008 from 5-9 PM at the Surfing Heritage Foundation in San Clemente at 110 Calle Iglesia. Then on August 20, 2008, Jim will be signing books at Duke’s Malibu.
The book is described as:
The definitive guide to surfing from the world’s leading extreme sports publishers, Wavefinder. Never before has such an esteemed assembly of the world’s greatest surfers come together to provide the deepest insights and secrets of surfing for surfers.
Kempton definitely knows who to talk to.
[Link: Wavefinder]
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We’ve tried to think of all kinds of ways to monetize surf web cams, but there is nothing better than someone just handing over $1 million. Even if they are Australian dollars.
According to as story on Goldcoast.com.au, the Queensland Government’s Smart State Innovation Projects Fund has handed the money to Coastal Watch’s Chris Lane (pictured right) to help “keep beaches safe.”
Most of that will go to fund the technology which will allow Coastal Watch cameras to count the number of beach users at a particular break, measure wave height, and the shoreline position hourly. . . .It will also provide real-time pictures of beaches which allow lifesavers to monitor areas from their clubhouse. . . “It’s good to be able to help out surfers to find the best surf or boaties where the chop is,” said Mr Lane, “but it’s great to be able to help keep people safe when they go to the beach
Right. And it’s great to have another $1 million, right? Surfline. . . . you listening?
[Link: Goldcoast.com.au]
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A. Garrett Lisi, the surfer/snowboarder whose Exceptionally Simple Theory of Everything sent shock waves through the theoretical physic world last year has just won another grant from the Foundational Questions Institute to continue work on his theory, according to a story on Newscientist.com.
Lisi will get $77,222 to work on his theory, which involves using a recently mapped 248-dimension mathematical structure called E8 to unify all the fundamental particles and forces, including gravity. In the last round of awards in 2006, FQXi gave Lisi $77,280 over two years.
That should keep him in the water for a while.
[Link: New Scientist]
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Looks like Grant “Twiggy” Baker and Greg Long may have landed an XXL monster while out Saturday, August 9, 2008 about a kilometre outside Dungeons in South Africa’s Hout Bay.
“The waves were definitely the biggest I’ve ever seen in South Africa and possibly the biggest anywhere,” Baker said. “Greg towed me into one giant wave that was so big I was terrified and started hyper-ventilating. . . . Later, when we saw the photos taken by Craig Kolesky with a large lens from Chapman’s Peak, we realised that those were possibly the biggest waves ever recorded, on a par with the rides we had a Cortes Bank in January which were measured at well over 70 feet.”
Guess we won’t know until Bill Sharp gets out his ruler.
[Link: News24]
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[Editors’ Note: Last month, surfer Brad Gerlach and the Beastie Boys’ Mike D. joined the crew from Operation Amped at Zuma Beach to help teach some war-wounded veterans to surf. Boardistan surf correspondent Ben Marcus was there to see it all first hand. Here is his story.]
Mike D is living and breathing proof of the duality of man… the Jungian thing. He is, at the same time, one of the quietest and least quiet humans on this earth. As drum major for the Beastie Boys, Mike D is right up there with Jaco Pastorius, David Bowie, Wild Cherry and Average White Band for Funkiest White Man Ever. Mike D is the man behind the beats that have propelled the Beastie Boys into the hit machine that has mined more platinum than South Africa X Russia. Their first album, released in 1986, when platinum times nine and in just over 20 years they have sold over 20 million units. That’s a lot of units.
The Beastie Boys’ Body Movin’ was playing on Indie 103.1 at about 9:00 in the morning on Monday, July 21. In front of Tower 14, the Sicky Dicky tents were going up and there were a lot of surfboards scattered around as Operation Amped was setting up to take about a dozen injured war veterans out for a day in the surf.
Leaning against the seawall, the thin, quiet guy staring out to the ocean with eyes that seemed to know what they were looking for, was none other than Mike Diamond. By his own admission, “The name is D., y’all and I don’t play/And I can rock a block party ’til your hair turns grey/’So what you sayin?’/I explode on site/And like Jimmy Walker I’m Dynomite!”
But in civilian life, Mike Diamond is as quiet and unassuming as Mike D is “a special individual/Pulling out knots/pulling in residuals.”
Please follow the jump for the rest of the story.
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The statue of George Freeth, the man credited with bringing surfing to California has been stolen from the Redondo Beach Pier according to a story on KTLA.com.
The statue has graced the pier for 31 years, but overnight it vanished. . . . The bust was created by the late sculptor Terry O’Donnell. It’s designed was based on old photographs of Freeth who is credited with bringing surfing to California from his native Hawaii in 1907.
Wonder if anyone has checked ebay?
[Link: KTLA.com]
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The UK’s Factory Media LTD, the parent company of Surfer’s Path, Kingpin, Onboard, Surf Europe and 10 other action sports magazine titles is launching a video channel called Mpora.tv today according to a story on Marketing Week UK.
The channel, which launches in the UK today (4 August), is set to extend across Europe during the year. The launch is intended to supplement the user-generated video website Mpora.com and is aimed at expanding its core audience to include mainstream viewers.
Nothing like video to bring in that mythical “mainstream viewer” huh? Guess we can add Mpora to the growing list of action sports video crapragators because it doesn’t look like they’re doing anything new.
[Link: Marketing Week UK]
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If he was planning on waiting for his first win on the ASP WCT Tour Kaua’i’s Bruce Irons couldn’t have chosen a better event as he edged Fred Patacchia, Jr. in the finals.
One of my goals when I joined the tour was to win an event and I wasn’t sure if it was going to happen since I’ll be stepping away after this season,” Irons said. “But the waves pumped this event. This is what the Dream Tour should be like all the time. I’m definitely stepping away from the ASP Tour at the end of this year, but I’m not retiring. I’m still planning on competing at Pipeline and Teahupoo and at venues that I can get into.”
Funny how different the results look when contests are held at new spots. For the record: Kelly Slater went out in the third round, but it still in the lead. Looks like Trestles is going to be a fun one.
[Link: Honolulu Advertiser]
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According to the press release “New Emissions of Light and Sound, Globe’s most recent surf film release, was honored with the “Most Innovative Film” Award at the 2008 Huntington Beach Surf Theatre Film Festival. The event, in it’s 6th year, is hosted by Big Red Productions, following their week long Surf Theater during the US Open of Surfing, and is a big honor for all filmmakers involved.”
New Emissions was nominated in three categories, including Best Corpo Film and Best Cinematography, but took home the big prize for Most Innovative Film. . . . “Winning the Most Innovative Film award is the ideal award for what we set out to achieve in making this film,” said the film’s director Joe G. “Combining an originally scored electronic soundtrack from DJ Sasha, with our Super 16mm film was always going to produce something different than most of the films put out today. We’re just happy that the response to the combination has been so positive.”
Oddly, we still haven’t seen this one.
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