by The Editors on January 26, 2008
It’s always fun to read America’s Favorite City’s media coverage of their own twice-annual action sports spectacle, so here it is: they say we’ve all grown up.
Surf and skate fashions aren’t just for kids anymore. . . . Big-name brands looking to tap into an older, more affluent market are offering clothing lines with more muted tones and more sophisticated fits – a big contrast from the bright colors and ’80s silhouettes that are in vogue for the younger action sports set.
We think they may have missed the VeeCo booth.
[Link: San Diego Union-Tribune]
by The Editors on January 26, 2008
In the world of action sports Bnqt.com has been a bit of an outsider. Founded by a former AOL Sports-man, the site featured viral video of action sports along with a user-generated content community. Though the site never gained any traction, recognition, or significant traffic, it was still acquired by USA Today for an undisclosed amount of money.
“USA TODAY’s acquisition of Banquet is another example of the innovative ways we are trying to diversify our audience,” said Craig Moon, president and publisher of USA TODAY. “We believe that action sports are a dynamic and exciting category and that we have found an excellent stand alone brand which truly resonates with the youth audience.”
This purchase shows how desperate old media is to get involved with “the kids.” And to think, Time Warner sold their “action sports” sites a little less than a year ago. Then again, this certainly gives us hope. . .
[Link: CNNMoney.com]
by The Editors on January 26, 2008
California’s Central Coast now has it’s own surf movie about it’s own surfers with music from its own bands, thanks to filmaker Trevor Povah’s Lost in the Middle.
There’s kind of like this gap between Southern California and Northern California,” he said. “You have your Southern California industry with everything south of Santa Barbara and Ventura —San Clemente, San Diego and that whole surf scene. And then you kind of have the same thing going on in the Santa Cruz area, with a bunch of pros coming out of there and a bunch of film that has been produced.”
Povah’s idea: make a quality film featuring not only local surfers, but also local waves and music.
[Link: San Luis Obispo.com]
by The Editors on January 26, 2008
The OC Weekly has pointed out that on Youtube you can find a whole slew of famous action people saying “Save Trestles.” Check them out for yourself, and add a couple if you want. Yeah, Save Trestles.
[Link: OC Weekly]
by The Editors on January 23, 2008
From the Daily Telegraph:
A MAJOR search is underway at Bondi Beach today after a dead surfer’s body was spotted floating in heavy seas. . . . An Air Ambulance Emergency Helicopter was scouring between Bondi and Tamarama, assisted by lifeguards on jet-skis and water police, after the body, attached to a surf board was spotted floating at the southern headland about 7.45am. . . . The body was about 30m from MacKenzies Point when it was initially spotted.
[Link: Daily Telegraph]
by The Editors on January 23, 2008
Surfermagazine.com editor Zach Weisberg gets the chance to interview Richard Woolcott about Volcom’s recent purchase of Electric Visual and he only asks three questions. . . really Zach? And you’re calling that an exclusive? Here’s the answer to the first question:
Electric is a company that we have always felt would be a good fit for Volcom when the time was right. When Electric approached us that they were interested in looking for a strategic partner, we rolled up our sleeves and went to work. We believed we were the right company for them and fortunately everything worked out for both of us.
Click the link for the other two insightful, probing questions.
[Link: Surfermagazine.com]
by The Editors on January 22, 2008
A week ago surfer/physicist Garret Lisi’s “Theory of Everything” had the physics world rocking. Hollywood was knocking down his door and things were looking great. However, that has now changed apparently.
Garrett Lisi, an unemployed physicist with no university affiliation who spent his time surfing in Hawaii, had come up with the Holy Grail of science: a theory unifying quantum physics and Einstein’s theory of relativity. . . The media went wild. However, in the last few weeks several physics blogs have uncovered a problem with Lisi’s idea: it doesn’t work.
Just read the story. There is no way we can explain this anyway.
[Link: Telegraph.co.uk]
by The Editors on January 21, 2008
Companies who want to extend their eco-cred are hunting far and wide for people who can help them look green even when they aren’t. Enter Eric Ritz. His company Global Inheritance has helped Fuel TV with their Swerve Festival and more impressively, helped the X Games squeeze onto the eco-marketing bandwagon. ESPN’s Chris Stiepock calls him a “solution-based realist.”
In fact, what Ritz says sets him apart is that he and his “Generation Y audience don’t see big business as the enemy.” Convenient, huh? And so commercial.
[Link: LA Times]
by The Editors on January 18, 2008
Shaun Tomson and Jeremy Gosch’s new film Busting Down the Door will have it’s world premiere January 27, 2008 at the Arlington Theatre in Santa Barbara as part of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Combining awe-inspiring and often iconic surf footage from more than 17 surf films, such as Free Ride and Standing Room Only, with insightful and emotional interviews from the key players — be they Hawaiian, South African, or Australian — the film aims to do for the birth of modern surfing what the 2001 documentary film Dogtown and Z-Boys did for the origins of skateboarding several years ago.
While the whole, “do a film about yourself and future the legend” genre of surf movies is getting weirder by the year, this looks like it’s going to be an amazing addition to anyone’s surf film library. Click the link for all the background.
[Link: Santa Barbara Independent]
by The Editors on January 18, 2008
Gold Coast surfing icon Denis Callinan, 53, the “surfing solicitor” died January 16, 2008 from a heart condition, that his “best friend and Association of Surfing Professionals (ASP) president Wayne “Rabbit” Bartholomew said came as a total shock.
This is a complete surprise,” Bartholomew said. . . “He lived a super-healthy lifestyle. . . Icon is the right word,” Bartholomew said. “Denis is a huge part of surfing on the Gold Coast. He’s personally touched the lives of people through his legal work, through his work with different surfing bodies and through charity organisations over the decades and generations. . . . He is really irreplaceable. There could never be another Denis Callinan.”
Our thoughts are with Callinan’s family and friends.
[Link: News.com.au]
It’s always fun to read America’s Favorite City’s media coverage of their own twice-annual action sports spectacle, so here it is: they say we’ve all grown up.
