Nixon in China (part II)!

Chas Smith

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We are not enemies, nor even friends. We are bros.

NIXON SURF CHALLENGE 2015 | HAINAN, CHINA from NIXON Europe on Vimeo.

Richard Milhous Nixon, 37th President of the United States, visited China in 1972. It was very historic as, up to that point, there had been no formal relations between the two countries. President Nixon met with Chairman Mao. They spoke in generalities with one observer, Winston Lord, being less than impressed with Mao’s style. “I remember distinctly, coming out of the meeting somewhat disappointed…” he said. “I was impressed with the physical impact of Mao. It was also clear that this man was tough, ruthless, and came from a peasant background, in contrast to the elegant, Mandarin quality of Zhou Enlai. However, I thought that the conversation was somewhat episodic and not very full.”

President Nixon was impeached in 1974 and became the first President in United States history to resign. In his final speech he said, “We have unlocked the doors that for a quarter of a century stood between the United States and the People’s Republic of China. We must now ensure that the one quarter of the world’s people who live in the People’s Republic of China will be and remain not our enemies but our friends.”

Forty-one years later, Nixon, watch company from Encinitas, CA is ensuring that the United States and China remain not enemies, and not even friends, but bros. The Nixon surf team just went and shredded Hainan Island. The waves looked fun. The Chinese spectators appeared pleased/indifferent. The sun shone brightly on all.

Bros.
Bros.
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Finally: Surf style is mainstream!

Chas Smith

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Men's Journal has declared 2015 the year of SurfCore!

You’ve been waiting. You’ve been standing inside your closet feeling the fool because your shirts are Quiksilver and your pants are Volcom and your shoes are Globe and you have absolutely nothing else to wear. You’ve seen the critical stares of today’s youth when you step outside and even though your Billabong tee is hiding underneath a fairly subtle Brixton hoodie. You’ve been thinking, “Will I ever be cool again? Will the girls ever look at me and not gag?”

Guess what? As of today, according to Men’s Journal, you are! And they won’t!

Pop the bubs, darling, because this has been declared the year of “SurfCore!”

Lumbersexual? Done. Normcore? So last year. 2015 belongs to you and me. “Unlike with the lumberjack look or anything else, surfcore is all about authenticity,” menswear designer Derek Buse, tells Men’s Journal. “You can’t say confidently that every guy wants to buy into the lumberjack look, because not every guy wants to live and represent a lumberjack lifestyle. But with the surfing lifestyle — the tan, the laid back vibes, the idea of always being surrounded by your friends — the majority of guys would sign up to have that aesthetic and live that life.”

Hell’s bells sign up for that aesthetic! Shit yeah live that life! This whole business is written on our sexy pterygium eyeballs and threadbare SurfExpo boudoirs.

“Surfcore comes from an actual community of people who live that life everyday,” Joe Sadler, Derek Buse’s partner, continues. “It’s a club that anyone can join, too. Any guy can go surf, and it’s easy to fit in because it’s more than just a sport — it’s about getting with your boys and finding a place to hang.”

Son of a bitch it’s more than a sport! Motherfuckin’ gettin’ with my boys and findin’ a place to hiz-ang!

But it is actually really complicated to look SurfCore. Read how here. And thanks Men’s Journal! Someone is getting laid tonight (the guy who stocks the milk at my local grocery store with the most serious neck tan line)!

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Raimana Van Bastolear is our daddy!

Chas Smith

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Big waves. Very big waves.


The portly Tahitian with the broadest smile may be surfing’s best ever representation (besides Kelly Slater of course). Watch this Teahupo’o day. Listen to the music of waves detonating on reef and hoots from boats. Picture yourself in one of the boats but definitely not on one of the waves. Unless suicide is your game.

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Mr. Slater goes to Washington!

Ashton Goggans

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Get bent SeaWorld!

The stakeholders over at SeaWorld are going to get a screen full of Kelly Slater’s baby blues tomorrow.

Our polished prince—who you’ll remember riding boards with Orca-inspired art by Kevin Ancell last winter—will be joining in on SeaWorld’s annual meeting on behalf of PETA (who own Trojan Horse stock in SeaWorld, so they can attend such meetings) from his Tavarua bungalow.

According to PETA, Slater plans to “educate other stakeholders, propose policy changes, and demand the release of its orcas, who have been enslaved by the company for more than 40 years.”

Slater’s full Mr Smith Goes to Washington-esque monologue can be read below:

My name is Kelly Slater, and I’m here on behalf of PETA. The veil has been lifted on SeaWorld. All the ads in the world won’t change what the public now knows to be true: that the company imprisons highly intelligent, emotionally complex, social animals in tiny, barren concrete tanks, which leads to aggression and disease. 

SeaWorld is experiencing declining attendance and revenue, and dozens of companies, including Southwest Airlines, Panama Jack, and Mattel, have recently ended partnerships with SeaWorld. 

As a professional surfer, I’m lucky and privileged to be able to spend the majority of my time in the ocean—it’s the place where I feel most at home, and thus, I feel an obligation to protect that which I have a voice in influencing.

Please, tell us, when will SeaWorld allow the animals it holds captive to return to their home—the ocean—by retiring them to a seaside sanctuary? And wouldn’t this at least be viewed, if nothing else, as a public relations win for you? 

By righting the wrongs you have committed in the name of corporate profit for so many years, you may actually be able to recoup some of the respect that has been lost in the eyes of the public and work toward an end to the problem of animal suffering. Thank you.

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An elephant seal

Taylor Paul: “I’m famous, bitches! Like Li’l Wayne!”

Chas Smith

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Surfing Magazine's ex-editor-in-chief surfs Alaska and does the Dew!

I was once an editor-at-living-large at Surfing Magazine. It was during the benevolent reign of editor-in-chief Taylor Paul. He was very kind, with an easy smile and wonderful gait. He walked on his toes, just a bit, like he was walking on air. Like he was better than everyone.

And he kind of was. We drove from San Clemente, one week, all the way to his home in Santa Cruz and beyond. We laughed. We stole wine. He surfed and I complained about the cold. It was magical and, if I recall, we wrote a story that won surfing’s version of the Pulitzer. The nothing.

Life moved along. He got married to a wonderful girl with an even easier smile. She walked on her toes too, like air, but actually is better than everyone because her life is dedicated to saving the hideously ugly elephant seal. She is a saint.

Life moved along even more and Taylor shifted as editor-in-chief to an at-large role and I heard he went to Alaska with his wife but I did not know what he was doing there and I did not care because it is cold.

And then, this morning on his Instagram account, I saw this.

That is Taylor Paul getting barreled. That is him on his toes, just a bit. That is him occupying the same piece of stratosphere that Li’l Wayne once did.

Did you know Li’l Wayne was a spokesman for Mountain Dew? They quickly dropped him for rapping something vulgar and racist/misogynistic (read here!)

Don’t worry, Mountain Dew. Taylor Paul will not let you down. You have chosen……wisely.

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Photo: Steve Sherman/@tsherms
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