A younger Chris Cote and friend pictured being dumb.
A younger Chris Cote and friend pictured being dumb.

Surfing before professionalism!

Dumb as ever!

This is not going to be a “remember when times were better” screed. We all share a point de vu here that times are as good as ever this very moment right now. They are the best and nostalgia leads to stagnation and irrelevance. Or maybe only Derek and I share this vision du monde. Dear Michael is too young to have a past.

In any case, Chris Cote just passed this video along and it made me smile. Oh I love the drone shots of today. The perfectly stitched edits, the immaculate surf, the superhuman skill. I love the music, mostly electronic with some rap and occasional Nirvana Nothing Else Matters thrown in for good measure. We live in an era where surfing, and surfing productions, are at the height of professionalism. We may chuckle at the World Surf League from time to time but, really, on a purely professional scale it is as good as the Masters.

No?

We can debate specifics later but do we agree that surfing is very buttoned up?

Yes. It is undeniable.

But watching juvenile hijinks, fart jokes, cut-away movie clips, boogers, making fun of people who work out, etc. from the Best of… TearDevils made me smile. It made me remember how dumb we all are. That fact sometimes gets lost in all the professionalism, our outright stupidity, though I know it is still there as much as it ever was.

So raise a glass and toast our dumb.

To us! To us all!

The Best of TearDevils – 1995-1998 from Jesse Schluntz on Vimeo.

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blumpkin mung
blumpkin mung
9 years ago

That edit really encapsulated the series well. My favorite part are still the fart reel.

blumpkin mung
blumpkin mung
9 years ago

The Tear Devils trilogy is an absolute masterpiece.

Wardo's PO
Wardo's PO
9 years ago

Jorma lives!

Tired old guy
Tired old guy
9 years ago

Where’s the pubescent Cote’s Drew Carey X-Ray Specs? Missed opportunity for the stupid level to be cranked to 11

huma's tears
huma's tears
9 years ago

If you’re going to use Google translate, please select all the text. “vue”, not “vu” (or so Google tells me). Nice use of italics, though. Classes beachgrit right up.

nyc surfing golden boy
nyc surfing golden boy
9 years ago

whatever happened to the strother bros?

Jocks
Jocks
9 years ago

Buttoned up? Nah …
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…

Jimmy the Saint
Jimmy the Saint
9 years ago

Was it Alex Gray that dropped in on Michael, did Karma strike?

Jen See
Jen See
9 years ago

hiiii this isn’t about this thing — but i liked your other thing in tsj! i don’t know why i didn’t watch strange rumblings when it came out. maybe it was a flat spell and we were too bitter to watch surfing at my shack or something. anyway, it’s scrumptious. the colors! i die for the colors.

Chas Smith
Chas Smith
9 years ago
Reply to  Jen See

Joe G is brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

Jen See
Jen See
9 years ago
Reply to  Chas Smith

it’s gorgeous!

Wiggolly's Paddling Style
Wiggolly's Paddling Style
9 years ago

I often go back and watch John Cardiel’s Epicly Later’d and reminisce on what made me love these activities.

Superworm
Superworm
9 years ago

I cried during the notebook.


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