The Frog House, Newport Beach, California’s most famous surf shop, may be getting to boot thanks to being located in an area that has been zoned residential since the 1970s, according to a story in the Daily Pilot.
In 2006, Newport Beach was updating its general plan, which included taking action on zoning restrictions. Two years later, an ordinance passed that required the city to take action on Frog House and three other nonconforming properties in residential areas. . . “[In 2008] the choice was that the commercial uses in residential uses have a year to abate or apply for appropriate modifications or permits, or they would have to leave their location,” Hunt said. . . Although the public has had access to the ordinance since 2008, Hunt said that the city did not contact Frog House directly when the change happened.
But the Frog House isn’t gone yet. . . apparently there is still some paperwork that can be done to prolong the process. Hopefully, it will be allowed to stay until the owners choose to shut it, sell it, or move it. Click here to join the Save The Frog House facebook group.
We’ll admit it: driving onto the Paramount Studios lot in the heart of Hollywood makes us feels like stars, but were were not alone. Last night, (October 2, 2010) a couple thousand of LA’s hypest skateboarding fans joined Vans for the 6th Annual Downtown Showdown. It was a crazy, four-feature, traveling skate contest that took up five pseudo downtown streets on the back lot and delivered four hours of non-stop action.
This year’s features included Pretzel Grip’s (Girl/Anti Hero) freaky figure eight speed track the “Time Trials Classic,” Black Label’s “Off the Wagon” gap to stair set, Zero’s “Blood Bath” volcano, and Foundation’s “F’d Up Stair Set.” The crowd followed the skaters from one feature to the other while the entire thing was filmed and broadcast live on the web. There was almost too much going to keep track.
Mick Fanning dominated the heaving Culs Nus barrels like a man to claim his second Quiksilver Pro France win today (October 2, 2010) while finalist Kelly Slater took some savage beatings (click the image above to watch the final). We slept through the entire day’s event and will be forced to catch all the heats on demand via the Quiksilver Live iPhone app.
“That was difficult,” Fanning said. “Kelly (Slater) and I were talking out there about how we were trying to get in the spot. There was just a lot of water moving and it was super challenging. I got absolutely hammered by that set – copped the whole thing on the head and it killed me. You were either in the spot or you weren’t, and I was fortunate enough to be there for a couple.” . . . “This one feels pretty good,” Fanning said. “Last year, the waves weren’t really pumping. This year, it almost didn’t feel like a surf contest, but rather a bunch of guys getting barrelled off their heads for a few days.”
This win moves Fanning into third place in the ASP rankings and helped Slater increase his lead over Jordy Smith by 7,250 points. Follow the jump for all the details. [click to continue…]
A teenage surfer at South Africa’s Melkbaai beach was bitten on the foot Friday (October 1, 2010), according to a story on iAfrica.com.
However, the surfer, who appeared to be a teenager, had relatively minor injuries to his foot. . . He had three deep lacerations, penetrating to the bone, and had lost blood. . . He was treated on the spot and en route to hospital, Visser said.
Sharks appear to come closer to shore around the Cape this time of year, according to the story. This time a little too close.
The nostalgic story hinges on on a bachelor party at Rocklyn, California’sEpic Skatepark, but it starts 19 years earlier when a “skateboarding rapist was on the loose in Davis.”
I knew that we were in for some trouble. . . Not that we raped anyone, of course. But the fact that we were skateboarders who were already categorized as idiots and flunkies meant that we would automatically be perceived as the potential rapists. . . We were right. Things changed.
As if we weren’t spending enough time in front of our computers or staring down into our iPhones, the Vancouver based goggle company Recon Instruments introduces their new Transcend Goggles in collaboration with Zeal Optics. The goggles are apparently the first to be “GPS-enabled.”
Transcend provides real-time feedback including speed, latitude/longitude, altitude, vertical distance travelled, total distance travelled, chrono/stopwatch mode, a run-counter, temperature and time. It is also the only pair of goggles in the world that boasts GPS capabilities, USB charging and data transfer, and free post-processing software all with a user-friendly, addictive interface.
The goggles will be available October 10, 2010 and retail for US$499 (click here to buy a pair). Now, if they only had a video in for our iPhone display, we’d be set for the winter.
The new SHRED web site is packed with exciting gameplay tips! Kids will be on the deck mastering killer moves after viewing dozens of training videos that demonstrate over 50 jaw-dropping in-game tricks, including everything from kickflips and grabs to Tony’s signature 900! The site also showcases talent profiles of all the pro riders featured in Tony Hawk: SHRED, as well as a developer blog to keep fans up to speed with all the latest and greatest game news right from the source!
Last night (September 30, 2010) the 210 AR4T Gallery, on Coast Highway in Laguna Beach, California, hosted snow photographer Chris Brunkhart’sHow Many Dreams In The Dark? book signing and gallery show.
The well-attended event featured several large Brunkhart prints, a photo wall of close to 400 individually pinned photos, and numerous pieces inspired by Brunkhart photos from collaborators like Zach Egge, Jamie Lynn, Mike Parillo, Matt Donahue, Dan Peterka, Carl E. Smith, and Alex Bacon.
Our digital world is so fleeting, that sometimes it good to hold a collection of work that will survive most natural disasters.
This whole staying up all night to watch the Quiksilver Pro France isn’t going so well. We end up catching a little late and a little more early and have no real idea what’s going on in between. It’s like France has it’s own time zone or something.
Today, the event got all the way through round five before they had to shut it down for the day at 6:30 PM local time (9:30 AM PST).
Our favorite heat came in round 4 when Kelly Slater snuck a win over Michel Bourez and Owen Wright with a barrel and and air in the last minutes of the heat.
“I needed to throw something at the end of the heat,” Slater said. “I couldn’t really hear all the scores out there and I knew I needed something. That second barrel probably wasn’t too deep so I tried to finish with an air and it worked out. You play a different game in a man-on-man heat with priority. You would never surf a completely different bank in man-on-man. It cleaned up over there. That little bit of wind. It’s dead glassy now. It’s perfect.”
It was classic Slater, but then we’re suckers for that stuff. Anyway, tomorrow quarter finals look a little like this.
QF 1: Brett Simpson (USA) vs. Daniel Ross (AUS)
QF 2: Kelly Slater (USA) vs. Michel Bourez (PYF)
QF 3: Adrian Buchan (AUS) vs. Kieren Perrow (AUS)
QF 4: Mick Fanning (AUS) vs. Jordy Smith (ZAF)
Follow the jump for the results and official word from the ASP. [click to continue…]
The Las Vegas intro is included above and these are the links to the full video event coverage: Glendale, Az; Ontario, CA; and the Las Vegas Finals. Watch ’em all at once, we dare you.
The Frog House, Newport Beach, California’s most famous surf shop, may be getting to boot thanks to being located in an area that has been zoned residential since the 1970s, according to a story in the Daily Pilot.
