Australia’s Sally Fitzgibbons was unstoppable today at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach as she racked up more 8.0 plus score waves in a day that many surfers get all season to win her first ASP Elite Tour event. Hawaii’s Carissa Moore charged through the final but was unable to match Fitzgibbon’s onslaught.
Fitzgibbons was emotional on the podium. “It’s so overwhelming. This is amazing,” Sally said fighting back tears. “Thank you for everyone coming out and watching today. It’s been a long journey for a win. . . As a young kid I’ve seen everyone ring this bell. . . To win this event is definitely the pinnacle of my career.”
Carissa Moore was smiling, and gracious in defeat. “I’m stoked to have made the final with Sally,” Moore said. “I wish i could have rung the big bell, but I had fun surfing today.”
Some would argue that there is no better job in the world than following the Nike 6.0 women’s surf team around the world and pressing the record button. We don’t think we’ve ever heard filmmaker Aaron Lieber complain about it. The film,Leave A Message, will be downloadable on May 24, 2011.
The St. Cloud Times, in St. Cloud, Minnesota has discovered that they have a hometown hero in big gap hucker Dan Brisse. As usual this story is filled with the kind of comments that can only appear in the local paper.
Being well-grounded can be a double-entendre when you’re a professional snowboarder. . . For Dan Brisse, it’s part of his personality, having grown up in Richmond before migrating to the winter extreme sports mecca of Salt Lake City. . . And when you come in contact with the snow like he does, the whole point is to make sure it isn’t a faceplant.
Yes it is. Click the link for the rest of the three-page profile.
In conjunction with the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art’sArt in the Streets show (which runs until August 8, 2011) the Levi’s Film Workshop is presenting a retrospective of skateboarding films along with a panel discussion featuring; Spike Jonze, Stacy Peralta, Lance Mountain, Ed Templeton, Greg Hunt, Ty Evans, Rick Howard, Aaron Meza, and Tobin Yelland.
Noted photographer and producer Patrick O’Dell (Epicly Later’d) will present a special compilation of seminal skateboard videos from the 1980s to today. The screening will be followed by a conversation with legendary skateboarders and filmmakers
This is a great chance to hear from the people responsible for creating skateboarding visuals for the past three decades. Skate Video Night is free and open to the public and goes down at 8 PM Wednesday, April 27, 2011 in the Vista Theatre at 4473 Sunset Blvd, LA, CA 92007. Click the link to RSVP.
Each time we link up a Signal Every Third Thursday video we swear it’s going to be our last one, but Dave Lee and the crew keep coming up with the goods.
This month Paul Schmitt and Terry Kidwell build an original horizontal lam Kidwell Model–just like back in the day. Mike Ranquet even makes a guest appearance.
Is it possible to build a snowboard in a garage? Sure. Especially if it’s Paul Schmitt’s.
Bobby Martinez was fired up and ready to fight his way to the top after taking out the world number two surfer Taj Burrow in Round 3 Heat 2 at the Rip Curl Pro Bells Beach.
“I felt the judges have been doggin’ me out. A surfer knows when another surfer gets a good score. I saw his whole wave and they said it was a 7, nah,” Martinez said at the end of a heat in which he’d flipped off the judges from the water. “I knew they were going to try to give it to him, but that was not a 7. . . My approach to that heat was to just surf,” he continued. “I’m not Occy (Mark Occhilupo) he’s not (Tom) Curren. That was just a heat that I’m very grateful I got through. I’m here to win, so I’m not going down without a fight.”
Burrow was visibly shaken at the end of the heat and with good reason. It was one of those heats that could have gone either way and maybe should have gone the other in hindsight. The one certainty is that this loss just made the perennial almost champ’s year ahead that much more difficult.
The men and the women will probably surf today (2:30 PM PST 7:30 AM local time).
For the rest of the day and all the results, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
Skater Tim’s Okasaki’s mom is totally convinced that he is gay, and she decides to turn it into a business.
“I even came up with my catch phrase,” she explains. “I’m Gay! Which I got Tim to say at any skateboard competition or to the media. Tim really got into it. I also came up with ‘skateboarding gaystyle.’ That was more of a business decision. I wanted to kids to become familiar with the phrase “gaystyle” because that’s when I started my company Gaystyle Enterprises.”
This is reportedly a sketch from a new comedy show called Angry Boys by Australian comedian Chris Lilley. Just watch it. . . we’re still laughing.
When Sole Technology founder Pierre Andre Senizergues first arrived in America with his products one of the first things the local marketing professionals tried to tell him was that he would not be successful marketing “skateboarding boots” in the US. He was reminded that skaters wore sneakers or Vans and that he should immediately drop the word “boot” from his marketing materials.
The appearance today of the new, limited edition (500 pair) emerica Heath Kirchart Shifter HK boot would suggest that Pierre still loves nothing more than giving America a skateboarding boot.
For the next two days, online shoppers can get product from Matix and Hurley at pretty much wholesales prices thanks to Jackthreads.com.
The “members-only, online shopping club that curates top-tier street, skate, surf and contemporary men’s fashion brands” is helping some major labels blow out core shops by moving some of their fashion failures at rock bottom prices. Nice, huh?
As one of our readers said via email:
“The strategy of big brands selling great product at wholesale to the public is the demise of the specialty retailer. Without the positive health of the specialty retailer (aka local surf shop) the brands will not have an authentic platform to tell their story.”
Guess the majors will have to rely on their “company stores” to get them through. Welcome to the aughts.
