by The Editors on March 30, 2009
In recent article in the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research titled Ten Problems with Technology writer Raphael Cohen listed out ten reasons why even though the US military sinks “billions of dollars into new technology” it isn’t always used by the new “i-pod generation” of American Fighting man.
Number 10 on the list was “The Coolness Factor” and here Cohen said this about Oakley eyewear.
In terms of ballistic protection, a cheap set of no-name ballistic sunglasses will work just as well in most situations as a $100 pair of Oakley M Frame sunglasses, but they will not look as “cool” and certainly do not carry the same status. Soldiers often choose equipment that highlights their machismo. Just as teenagers model their look on what movie stars wear, young soldiers take fashion cues from their “movie stars”–usually operators in the special operations community.
Raphael’s suggestion: let them wear Oakleys when they’re out killing people to protect our freedom.
[Link: AEI]
by The Editors on March 30, 2009
Although we enjoy the creative output from the group of surfing brothers known simply as “The Malloys” we still can’t help but write silly captions in our heads whenever we see posed, wistful group photos like this one on the Nixon site promoting their work in a new documentary film on surfing in Ireland titled Waveriders. But we don’t want to play this game alone.
We’ll kick it off with ours:
Three tools escape from their shed.
Post your captions in the comments and the person with the best caption will win something.
by The Editors on March 30, 2009
Sole Technology’s Don Brown and Pierre Andre discuss the re-release of their seminal skate shoe the etnies Rap in a new video clip up on the etnies site. Say what you will about the state of the skate fashion industry, but it’s still nice to see the big guns out on the interwebs pitching their own products. . . . isn’t it?
[Link: etnies]
by The Editors on March 30, 2009
Santa Cruz surfer Sam Skelton, 24, and his friend Ryan Mackey apparently had a little nose to nose with a Great White shark last week while surfing at Platform’s, according to his first person story in the San Jose Mercury News.
While waiting for a set, a dark, large object in the water catches my peripherals. There, within eight feet of me, placed still in the water, the ocean’s most infamous predatory fish — a great white shark. . . The clarity of the water allows me to see its gills, the speckled skin going from dark to light, and its sheer size, which looks about 10-12 feet long. Fear penetrates my bones, heightened from all the shark-week programs and cheesy TV dramatizations that hype the great white as vicious and bloodthirsty. . . . In a frenzy of four-letter words mixed with “shark,” “holy,” and “big,” I paddle parallel to the beach, directly away from the predator, passing Ryan, who does not know yet what all my commotion is about.
The two eventually paddle in yelling shark the entire way, but no one else seems to care. To get the full feeling of giddy relief read the rest of the story. . .
[Link: San Jose Mercury News]
by The Editors on March 30, 2009
It’s like it’s just not making it in the world anymore unless you appear in a video game. Ken Block has reportedly signed on to be a character in the rally car video game Colin McRae Dirt2, according to a post on Gamers Daily News.
X Games team-mate of the late Colin McRae, Block is at the forefront of a new breed of pro drivers, competing as Subaru Rally Team USA Driver #43 in the Rally America National Championship and the world-famous X Games. He has also gained notoriety for his mind-blowing stunts in his Subaru WRX STI. For Colin McRae: DiRT 2, Block is working with the development team at Codemasters Studios as technical consultant, lending his wealth of knowledge to the game and advising on car handling.
Ken is apparently stepping in as the new face of the game after McRae died in a 2007 helicopter crash with his son and two family friends. Click here to watch Ken’s new promo video for the game.
[Link: Gamers Daily News]
by The Editors on March 29, 2009
Dreams came true on March 28, 2009 for Clairemont, California’s Jonathan Azevedo when The Make-A-Wish Foundation built him a skateboard park right in his own back yard.
“I just rode in a imousine to and from SeaWorld and there is a ramp in my backyard. And that’s not possible. That denies every law of physics and the space time continuum,” he said. “How is that even possible? Seriously, I’m freaking out.”
Sounds like Jonathan was about as happy as a kid could be, right? Not surprisingly people in the comments of the story immediately began complaining about the “traffic this monstrosity will generate.”
You stay classy, San Diego.
[Link: CBS8.com]
by The Editors on March 29, 2009
The headline to this Canada.com profile on Jasey-Jay Anderson Anderson shows passion for both fruits and labour comes off sounding more like a political story from some British tabloid than a piece about the legendary Alpine snowboard racer turned blueberry farmer.
At age 33, the Canadian snowboarding veteran has broadened his horizons to include a four-acre blueberry farm in Quebec, but Anderson hasn’t lost his zest for the slopes. In fact, Canada’s overwhelming success on the World Cup circuit — a 26-medal haul this season — has rekindled his competitive passion.
For the rest of what Jasey-Jay has been up to lately (in addition to labouring with fruit), click the link.
[Link: Canada.com]
by The Editors on March 29, 2009
by The Editors on March 28, 2009
No surprise. Kelly Clark edged out Mercedes Nicoll, and Sarah Conrad to win the Roxy Chicken Jam at Mammoth Mountain, California.
Kelly lived up to her reputation today as ‘Queen of the Halfpipe’ and took home her second consecutive Roxy Chicken Jam 6Star win. This puts her in excellent position to go after her first Swatch TTR World Title in tomorrow’s Slopestyle competition. “The title would be an amazing bonus to a really great season to me right now” said Kelly Clark setting her eyes on the prize. “It would just be like icing on the cake.”
If you liked that sample then follow the jump for more official PR writing from the Swatch TTR.
[click to continue…]
by The Editors on March 28, 2009
In a country where a vacationing woman was thrown in jail for two months for drugs after being given an injection by a doctor at a Dubai hospital and another couple spent three months in prison for allegedly having sex on the beach it’s amazing that anyone would show up for a protest. But surfers in Dubai did just that on March 29, 2009 after a swimmer died Friday on Sunset Beach near the world famous Burj Al Arab hotel, according to a story in The National.
The municipality argues that surfers are a hazard to swimmers, but defenders of the sport claim they actually save lives, and that Friday’s tragedy illustrates their point. . . “There would have been surfers to pull out the person who drowned as we often do, but we were just too afraid to turn up, not knowing what to expect from the police and municipality,” said Danny Van Doreen, of Surf Dubai.
Surfers have been ticketed not just for surfing, but also for having surfboards on the beach or in their cars. The surfers say the beaches that have been closed to surfers are the only beaches which “benefit from swells generated by winds blowing down the Gulf,” and they have no place else to go.
We wish them luck.
[Link: The National]
In recent article in the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research titled Ten Problems with Technology writer Raphael Cohen listed out ten reasons why even though the US military sinks “billions of dollars into new technology” it isn’t always used by the new “i-pod generation” of American Fighting man.
