From the video gamers perspective it seems that Tony Hawk: Ride has been getting some pretty mixed reviews. On GiantBomb.com reviewer Jeff Gerstmann says that “Tony Hawk: RIDE’s shoddy hardware and ill-conceived software merge to form something completely abysmal,” and he goes on:
Attempting to make some sort of peripheral-based skateboarding game is a neat idea, and one that, if the peripheral were robust enough, could result in some sort of faux-skating experience that approximates the real thing in a way that’s accessible to non-skaters without being completely offensive to anyone who’s ever pulled an ollie. But everything about Tony Hawk: RIDE, from the game’s structure to the skateboard hardware itself, is an absolute mess that feels incapable of pleasing anyone, regardless of his or her skill level.
When a group of surfers in Coos Bay, Oregon saw a couple paddling a 10-12 foot boat out into the surf they watched waiting to see what would happen, according to a story on The World Link.
Surfer Larz Richardson was wading in the water waiting for a next wave set, when he saw the middle-aged couple paddle out toward the ocean in a small boat. . . When the waves hit, it knocked over the boat, estimated at 10 to 12 feet long, throwing the man and woman overboard. Neither had on a life-vest. . . Richardson paddled about 20 yards and pulled the woman out of the water. . . “She was underwater when I got to her,” 33-year-old Richardson said. “She barely avoided drowning. She got really lucky.”
Kind of makes us wonder what the couple was thinking. Surfers to the rescue once again.
Artist Evan Hecox has a show opening at Paris, France’s The Lazy Dog on December 3, 2009. The show titled Strange Nature runs through January 18, 2010. In translation it goes a little something like this:
Evan Hecox draws up the portrait of the gasoline of the city. Its works depict urban scenes or isolated elements, with a quasi kinematic treatment in its sharp contrasts and the abstraction. Hecox takes as a starting point its many voyages through America and Asia. It is fascinated by the complexity of the town landscapes and the unimportant “commuters” with the eye of the idler.
We couldn’t be happier that Australian Stephanie Gilmore, 21, tied up her third ASP world title yesterday at the Gidget Pro at Sunset Beach. She is exactly what women’s surfing needs right now. She is smart, strong, friendly, and talented.
“It’s surreal to win for a third time,” Gilmore said. “It’s amazing! I woke up this morning and knew it was going to be a good day. The waves were building and you sort of get that fuzzy feeling throughout the day. I really don’t even know what to think about it. I just want to thank everyone for the support that I’ve had throughout the whole year.”
It was a third place finish behind Australian Sally Fitzgibbons and winner Hawaiian Carissa Moore that put Gilmore over the top. Stephie won the Roxy Pro on the Goldie and then reeled in three seconds and a fifth. We wish her luck in the Billabong Pro Maui. [click to continue…]
Copper Mountain, the newest member of the Powdr family of resorts will open their 22-foot superpipe tomorrow Saturday, November 28, 2009, according to a story in the Summit Daily.
Copper’s pipe will host the US Snowboarding Team for daily training sessions. The US Snowboard Team will have exclusive training times from 8:30-10:00 a.m. on weekends and 9-11 a.m. on weekdays leading into the USSA Grand Prix at Copper, Dec. 10-12.
British actor Charlie Bewley who plays the vampire Demetri in the latest installment of the Mormporn series Twilight apparently spent a couple years hanging out in Whistler snowboarding according to an interview on Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch blog.
I really did enjoy snowboarding. I played rugby most of my life and then I switched to snowboarding, which provided me a lot of inspiration. I think in some respects, spending time in the mountains was something that prompted me to stay away from England and take up a path less trodden.
We haven’t seen an issue of Skatebook in quite some time, but apparently the editors of the teen girl magazine Seventeen have. That must be why they put the $15 book-a-zine in their special feature on “Gifts For Guys.” And Michael Ballard is so proud of it that he sent out the following press release:
When one finds themselves in a particularly awkward position the best solution is simply to bust yourself, right. Tell everyone before your problem is the focus of people’s hate on the message boards. . . . So before I answer any more email about what a sell out we are, I just want to say it is a surprise to us too. I guess we should be mad; our cool factor has been given a black eye. But then again Seventeen has a circ of nearly 2 million, maybe we should start taking lipstick and hair gel advertisements.
Apparently, Mr. Ballard doesn’t know that there is no such thing as bad PR.
When Billabong announced yesterday (November 23, 2009) that it had “entered into a conditional agreement to acquire” online retailer Swell.com it brought to a close one of the most interesting action sports .com stories of the past decade.
Founded by former Salomon Smith Barney analyst Nicholas Nathanson and entrepreneur Jeff Berg in late 1999 following the first crash of the Internet economy, Swell.com tried nearly everything to find online success and burned through millions of dollars on the way. Management tried snowboarding editorial and e-commerce, skateboarding editorial and e-commerce, they formed a “strategic alliance with Primedia’s Surfing Magazine in early 2001 and yet nothing seemed to work. It was only after they got back to basics and became an online catalog fashion retailer in November of 2001 that the company appeared to stabilize.
Adding one more company to the list of his shrewd acquisitions over the past five years Billabong USA President Paul Naude spun this one nicely in the press release.
“We look forward to growing the Swell business and further developing it as a showcase online platform for the US boardsports industry,” he said. “The internet plays a significant role in the recreational habits of the youth market so it is important for our Group to ensure we provide them with a premium brand experience when shopping online.”
As hard as it is to believe, until this purchase, Billabong had made no real moves on selling direct online in the US. While Quiksilver hired Swell founder Nicholas Nathanson to build out their e-commerce platform, Billabong continued to sell online only through its retail network. More than anything, this purchase will allow Billabong to begin tapping into the higher margins that only selling direct can provide. That alone is a good enough reason for the purchase.
Billabong says Swell.com had an annual turnover of less that $16 million and that it would contribute less than 1 percent of the company revenue, according to a story on Goldcoast.com.au.
What will be most interesting is to see how many of Billabong’s competitors (i.e. Quiksilver, Volcom, RVCA, Rip Curl, O’Neill, Hurley) continue to do business with the online/catalog retailer after the sale is completed.
We’ve been covering Swell.com since the beginning in 1999. Follow the jump for a Sacklunch/Boardistan timeline of most Swell.com events of interest during the past decade (along with the commentary we wrote at the time) and relive all the .com good times. [click to continue…]
Last night at Hensley’s Flying Elephant Bar & Grill in Carlsbad, California in a room that usually acts as a concert space, a large group of Sinisa Egelja friends gathered for a memorial roast. With a slide show of hundreds of photos of Sin rolling on a screen behind them as one friend after another got up to share stories of their creative, kind, funny, and sometimes demanding friend Sin.
The Skateboard Mag co-founder Grant Brittain spoke of the time that Sin lived with him and his wife and how Sin installed industrial shelving over the doorway from the inside forcing people to crawl through the shelves to get into his room. Todd Finney, a co-worker of Sin’s at Airwalk spoke of the time Sin said, “Todd, come in here.” And when Todd went in Sin was standing in his room wearing nothing but a briefcase held at his waist.
Alli Sport’s Chris Miller spoke of a time when they were in the far east sourcing products when Sin suggested they make a jacket out of cat fur, and then have “one pocket made of dog fur.” Miki Vuckuvich lead the group in a Serbian toast and then gave Sin’s daughter Stella one of Sin’s pro model skateboard decks which had a Serbian saying of good luck on it that Miki had never noticed before.
Between these stories Cec Annett would occasionally read from emails sent by people who could not make it (some of which can be read in the comment section here). It was an evening filled with great memories of a man that will be greatly missed by everyone who knew him.
Follow the jump for photos for just few of the people who attended.
