Each time he surfs a frightful force propels Mick
Fanning to victory. His impulse to win gets stronger and stronger.
But what is his secret? To his endurance? | Photo: ASP
The secret of Mick Fanning’s Endurance
By Derek Rielly
He keeps a boy in a cage and feeds him booze and
whores and belts him three or four times a day! Maybe true!
Just moments after sailing into world title
favouritism (if Gabriel was paralysed with fear in
Portugal, wait until the long switch blade of the world title, of
Hawaii, of Pipeline is above his head), Mick Fanning explained the
secret to his endurance.
And such a secret!
“I still get letters in the
mail,” confides Mick, “mostly from cracked-up men in tiny rooms
with factory jobs or no jobs who are living with whores or no woman
at all.”
The people’s champion!
These fans, says Mick, “have no hope,
just booze and madness. Most of their letters are on lined paper
written with an unsharpened pencil or in ink in tiny handwriting
that slants to the left and the paper is often torn usually halfway
up the middle and they say they like my stuff, that I surf on
rail, that I don’t make mistakes.”
Mick is thoughtful. He lays on a clean
bed. We can hear the bellow of a truck outside.
“I wonder if they realise where their
letters arrive?” he says. “Well, they are dropped into a box behind
a six-foot hedge with a long driveway leading to a two-car garage,
three-jetski garage, a rose garden, fruit trees, animals, a
beautiful woman, mortgage about half paid after a year, a new car,
fireplace and a green rug two-inches thick…”
and,
The secret to your endurance?
“I have a young boy to surf for me now,”
says Mick. In between contests, “I keep him in a ten-foot cage feed
him whiskey and raw whores, belt him pretty good three or four
times a week.”
Does it work? What do you think.
” I’m 33 years old now and the critics
say my stuff is getting better than ever.”
(And the world title scenarios
at Pipe? Cut and pasted from ASP press release below!)
If Medina finishes 2nd or better at
the Billabong Pipeline Masters, he
will clinch the 2014 ASP World
Title.
If Medina finishes 3rd at the
Billabong Pipeline Masters, Fanning will
need to win the event and Slater
will be out of contention.
If Medina finishes 5th at the
Billabong Pipeline Masters, Fanning will
need to win the event and Slater
will be out of contention.
If Medina finishes 9th at the
Billabong Pipeline Masters, Fanning will
need to finish 2nd or better and
Slater will be out of contention.
If Medina finishes 13th or 25th at
the Billabong Pipeline Masters,
Fanning will need to finish 3rd to
win or 5th to send the title race into a
one-heat “surf-off” between himself
and Medina. If Medina finishes
13th or 25th at the Billabong
Pipeline Masters, Slater will need to win
the event.
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I’m having so much fun it’s
ridiculous!
By Derek Rielly
Mason Ho (yes! again!) on the enchantment of
surfing…
That hip sneer! That kinky top! Mason Ho surfs
and his face (and ours) light up at his flashing finery. Mason
makes BeachGrit (and you, we believe) hoarse with ecstasy. Where so
many others play a baleful tune Mason hula-dances to an electric
spark.
Over the course of four or five years, I’ve interviewed Mason
maybe half-a-doz times. And each time I hang up and, think, son of
a bitch, that kid is good. An original thinker and someone
unburdened by that undefined fear of saying the wrong thing.
Here’s some of his best.
On head-checks at Backdoor: I swear it’s a dick
thing, don’t even try it. I think, frick, it’s such a habit but I
cannot stop doing ‘em. Every time I watch a clip I think, frick,
stop doing it! It’s nice doing ’em at Backdoor. The look down’s so
easy I’ll do it on every thing. And then I got hooked on it. And
now, it’s like, damn it, I try not to do it. But it still feels
good.
On surfing: I’m having so much fun it’s…
ridiculous! I’m addicted to filming and surfing!
On surfing naked: I hate to say it, but I do
that so much. People would think I was out to lunch if they knew
how much I do that. Every full moon for the past couple of months
it’s been perfect. I don’t got much to do with chicks. I hang out
with chicks and they’re always, like, (in a sing-song voice) “Let’s
go on an adventure!” I’m, like, no way, I wanna kick it. My
favourite adventure is, I tell ‘em, “Full moon time!” And, we go
down the beach and get all sixties, all naked, and I go surfing
naked, whatever, get all weird… Oohhh… ohhh… I
don’t know if I should be saying that but… it’s all
sixties… it’s all beautiful-ed out…
On girls: I’m so bad, Derek, I think every girl
is hot. Australia’s the raddest place, for sure. Everyone asks me
and I tell them every single time the same answer – Western
Australia. Like… boooooom! You can’t beat (surfing) The Box and the
girls’ mentality over there. Too much fun! And, that Prevelly wine!
Damn! The mentality is like a 17-year-old Hawaiian boy!
On guys pushing up against Coco: Oh, fuck,
nowadays I just play dumb. When I was younger, I’d slap kids up the
side of the head. I thought it was a super funny thing but kids
would just get rattled. Nowadays, it just seems like I have too
much respect for her. I’m kinda like… she let’s me hook up
with all these… She lets me fricken runaround so
fricken… I just figure, fuck, I can’t be bringing all these
chicks home every night and then just snap on her with one guy so,
like, fuck it.
Kolohe or John John: Hooooo! That’s so sick.
That’s the sickest! Who’s better? Let me think. You’d be so
surprised how tight I am with both of them. Because, I’ve been
staying at Brother’s house every summer since I was 10 years old.
To this day, every single summer, almost all summer. I was just
talking to Tina, Brother’s mom, and I’m moving in tomorrow. So,
yeah, Brother’s like my full brother, literally. He was named after
one of my uncles, Kolohe Bloomfield. John John, on the other hand,
is the little brother I see at home every day. We surf together and
he’s sooo cool. He’s like too cool I don’t even know what to think.
He rips so fucking hard.
But, who’s better, that’s the question, let me think: oh brah, I
can’t say. I’d get so busted. I like John John because, obviously,
he can paddle out to Waimea, fricken pull-in at Backdoor and he’s
fully up to par with all the boys at home… I mean, I’ve never seen
Brother do that, yet. But, then, when it comes to me surfing every
day in super tiny waves all I’m thinking about is how I grew up
with Brother surfing at T-Street (in San Clemente, Kolohe’s home
town).
Who has the most aloha on the Shore: (Slowly)
Most… aloha… on the North Shore… sick question. I
wonder. I was going to say Kalani Chapman. He’s, like, almost like
a modern day Owl Chapman (Sunset stand-out, influential shaper and
Kalani’s uncle) – super cool and groovy without even trying.
He’s so nice – too nice to even try. But, come to think of it, if
he got burned five times at Pipe he’d rip someone’s head off.
Who has the least aloha: It seems like all of
us at home, we all try to have a lot of aloha on the land, we’re
learning you need to have aloha to get through life, but in the
water… (laughs)… we lose that aloha.
Is aloha variable? Like, in winter, does it evaporate
completely? That seems like it’s pretty true. A lot of
people do that at home. My Dad’s never ever done that, though. He
always seems super cool ‘cause he always has a lot of friends come
in the winter. It seems like Dad’s always showing aloha, year
round, so that’s what I’ve tried to copy. A lot of the boys get
all… SNAAAPPPED!… when winter comes round like,
“FUCK! THESE FUCKERS… AGAIN? FUCK!” And my Dad’s always telling ‘em
like it ain’t going to change, you’re getting all nuts in the
water. But, then, Dad kinda eggs everyone on. It’s fucked up. He
eggs everybody on and then when he’s in the situation, he’s cool,
but if it’s someone else he’ll be like, “Ho, what, you never even
do nuthin!” I look at my Dad and go, “What? You just told me 10
times not to do anything and now you’re teasing my friend for not
doing anything.
On Michael Peterson: I try to copy MP the most
when I’m surfing. Big time. Because he’s PSYCCCCCHHHED! So in the
moment!
On surfing: I love getting barrelled. It could
be a one-foot barrel or a 30-foot barrel, whatever, just let me get
barrelled. It’s such a sweet feeling. That’s my best manoeuvre.
Airs are second. Turns are third. People can be, like, “Oh, you’ve
got to do a big form carve.” But, all the guys who say that have
never done a 10-foot air so they don’t know the feeling. You could
be going a hundred miles an hour on a wave and do the hugest carve
ever and to me that’s the third best feeling in the world. But, if
I was going a hundred miles an hour and did a 20-foot air, and
fucking stuck it, I’d be the happiest man. And, then, if I was
going a hundred miles an hour inside a barrel? That’s number
one.
The 11-timer on the roter-and-a-half in Portugal
that has gone more viral than Ebola…
One rule here at BeachGrit. No aggregating. No swiping
stories from other sites or re-running the same Aritz or Nic von
Rupp clip unless it’s to make a point or hit it from a different
angle.
So when Kelly’s roter-and-a-half started
doing the rounds last night my heart sunk. His 720 (or whatever)
was too good to ignore, but it was spread so thin over all the
other surf sites I feared it would evaporate. What might
BeachGrit add to the pool of clips and soapy
adjectives?
An interview, maybe? This
exchange happened just before midnight, Peniche time, nine am
in Australia. Still warm!
BeachGrit: I love the
casual nose-wipe-to-board-flick at the end. How thrilled were you
to make it?
Slater: It felt real
nice but I didn’t know whether I double-grabbed or if I did whether
I had let go or whatever. I kinda blacked out with surprise that it
stuck as well as it did.
BeachGrit: Was it a
hail-mary -full-of-grace etc that stuck or was it a planned
assault?
Slater: I was trying to
rotate as far and fast as I could and see where I ended up. Kolohe
was talking about how good the wind was for airs and I was saying
how scary it was cause there were ramps but with such hard wind you
could take some stitches to the eye before you knew what
happened.
BeachGrit: Does landing
something like this elevate your spirit?
Slater: Yeah. It sure
makes you feel good. I’ve had the best air guys on earth and also
skaters and snowboarders all weigh in so it feels like something
special for me personally.
BeachGrit: Y’calling it
a 540?
Slater: The rotation in
the air was about a 540, I guess. I’ve heard everything from 540 to
720 to 900 depending on if you feel the whole rotation counts or
it’s a wall versus a down the line takeoff. I actually think it’s
an 810.
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Writer Robert Fazio (from New York City!) and I
disagree sharply on the subject of drones. I think they're just the
greatest things ever. But what is BeachGrit if not a hub of
opinion? To support my case, I present this photo of my great pal
Sam McIntosh (with whom I started Stab 11 years ago) at the wave
that deposits upon the rocks of Cape Solander in Sydney's Botany
Bay. Have you seen a surf photo better than this? I say no! Shot by
Mark Mathews' girl Britt! | Photo: Britt Jones
THOSE ASSHOLES WITH DRONES!
By Robert Fazio
Let a man surf in peace, for chrissakes!
I must preface this with an apology. I do not
mean for this to be a pontification. I am not an auteur nor am I a
cinematographer and I am also not a technophobe frightful of the
future hoarding every last cartridge of film that I can find. But
the Go Pro and drones are killing surf cinema.
Over the last four or five years there has been an implosion of
cameras made available at very affordable prices. This is wonderful
and great and I love everything about it. All people should have
the chance to document their adventures at ease for a very low
price. But since when did amateur cinematographers stop referencing
the greats like Goddard, Cervantes and Bunuel for the likes of
Michael “360-degree-angle-shots-only” Bay?
For a while it was only my eardrums that would bleed. There was
a period during the late 00’s in which dubstep took over surfing
and every large turn coincided with a thump while every “drop” was
prefaced by an insanely choppy sequence. The formula was so
predictable but the solution was easy. Mute your television and put
on some better electronic music that could keep up with the
edit.
The Go Pro-facing-the-body shot came next. This was a nightmare
for those suffering from Podophobia or anyone with half a brain
that pays a little attention to aesthetics. During this time we
learned that many pro-surfers don’t use toenail clippers. Although
in 2014 Go Pro footage looks more like homage to the last 30
minutes of Crystal Voyager with a modern twist,
it’s still repetitive.
Now we have the drone. Not only has the angle become
tired, when I go to the beach I don’t want to see some asshole with
a soul patch piloting a drone because he can’t surf the wave that
he is filming. Drones are obnoxious and ugly and they create
unoriginal footage that reminds me more of CNN’s coverage of a
crash site than it does of scantily clad men riding pieces of foam
in paradise.
Young filmmakers need to purchase a Hulu account, to check out
their Criterion collection instead of an Xbox Live account, and
study the masters. They need to carry their cameras across barren
deserts until their gluteus burn with lactic acid. They need to
get the shot. Technology doesn’t scare me.
Luddites be damned. I want more albums like Yeezus,
pushing buttons and creating outrage, and less reunion albums from
bands that had their time in the 70’s. I want more Opening Ceremony
and less pre-fabricated vintage. I want more Pynchon and less
Hemingway, although Hemingway shouldn’t be ignored.
Living in the past is for kooks. The drones are fucked yet the
future is bright, very bright. I implore that all cinematographers
in surfing continue to push boundaries and find new angles and new
ways of looking at things. But momma, please don’t take my Kodachrome.
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Sudanese-Australian boy photographed at Eastern Beach
in Geelong. "Bior came to Australia in 2002 at the age of six,"
says Frank. "Bior is a gun Australian Rules Football player and has
been selected to play for elite team the Western Jets. This young
man has a bright future ahead of him indeed, something to remember
in this era of political fear-mongering surrounding the immigration
debate." The photo won second prize ($30,000) for contemporary
photography at the 2013 Moran Prizes. | Photo: Jon
Frank
JON FRANK’S FATAL SHORE
By Anthony Pancia
A new photo book that holds a mirror to Australia's
soul. "It's not a political book," says Frank. It is…
Australia. Now there’s a tricky one.
A couple beats over 200 years ago, Captain James Cook plants a
flag in the name of England on a stretch of sand and the fun
begins. Between now and then unravels a lively tapestry of identity
defining moments and a flood of immigrants that helped shape the
country into what it is today.
And that’s where it gets a bit confusing.
Australia’s home to 23 million people, a mixture of good, bad,
angry and sad all living in a beautiful country girt by sea. And if
you had to pick one photographer to turn the lens on the people
that for better or worse make Australia what it is-wouldn’t you be
glad it’s Jon Frank?
Frank has set aside a year to, in
part, frame Australia’s identity but to also “take you on a
trip through a modern-day Australia far removed from the colour
brochure. It will weave an unflinching visual narrative to lead the
reader through the streets and back-blocks of our capital cities
and rural centres.”
The end result will be a large-format
book simply titled, Australians, all shot in the
distinctive Frank style, the style that set the Cronulla-raised
immigrant apart from the herd early on in his stellar career.
“It’s not a political book,” says
Frank. “But to tell you the truth, the Australia I landed in
aged 10 to the one we have now. It’s a completely different country
with a different set of ethics and morals.”
Frank’s chosen to shoot the book on film and at times of the day
which offer little in the way of flattering light. It’s a decision
which certainly gives the shots a certain feel but also harkens
back to his body of work as a surf photographer, open, often empty,
but always stunning.
“I made a conscious decision to avoid trickery in the project
and that may very well turn out be a case of me biting off my nose
to spite my face,” he says. “But, I don’t want to use beauty to
distract from the honesty of the work. I started off saying no
tricks, no using the light to provide dramatic affect. I’m
trying to not get caught up in the games photographers can play
using light but I don’t know how long I’m going to go along that
road. I might change tack halfway through and decide I need to add
some beautiful light, make things a bit more varied, but at the
moment I’m just trying to get to the nuts and bolts of the
people.”
The early results, which can be seen on an accompanying blog
(click here) are what you’d expect from Frank but are
also slightly uncomfortable to look at, as if we’re catching a
glimpse into an odd mundane private moment.
“I don’t approach anyone,” says Frank of his method. “And not
everyone likes having their picture taken. I’m a sensitive person
but there’s a certain amount of aggression needed to lift the
camera to your eye, stare someone down and take their picture. I’m
not always comfortable doing it but I see the benefit outweighing
any sort of squeamishness I might have about photographing a
stranger.”
Frank’s also embraced social media to chronicle the making of
the book, a welcome decision to his legions of fans but one he
reckons he may never would have if not for the book. “I’m no
luddite and let’s face it, the world doesn’t need another
photograph, that’s for sure,” he says.
So what’s the point? “I get depressed sometimes about the
new media landscape and the sheer quantity of visual information.
But, at the same time I find it liberating to pursue the craft of
photography using the techniques I enjoy but in a modern way, using
modern methods of communication like the blog and Instagram to take
people with me on the making of journey.”
Among the many looking forward to the end product is Aquabumps
founder, Eugene Tan, a much lauded chronicler of the Australian
identity and one of many to admit to being influenced by Frank’s
style.
“Jon makes people feel very
comfortable and in turn is able to capture those intimate moments,”
says Tan. “I can imagine the end result will be pretty
special, real and personal.”
