It's a fiery war of words!
We don’t agree on everything here but can we at least agree that Brad Gerlach, 1991 world #2/big wave pioneer, is one of the most well-put together surfers alive? I’ve never seen a picture of him where his ensemble looked poorly thought out. Natty. That’s how I would describe him. Natty or maybe debonair.
Well, on his Instagram feed this morning a woman described him as a “Bondi Hipster” (in the above photo).
Brad responded:
I just had a read about what a hipster is because I get called that sometimes and I can’t say I like it. Feels like a put down. Here’s a quote that explains it ; “Hipster has simply become a word which means the opposite of authentic”
To which she replied:
hipster means “a person who follows the latest trends and fashions, especially those regarded as being outside the cultural mainstream.”
And as an Applied Linguist by training (MA ’01), I feel it is my responsibility to step in and referee this wild street brawl. Our words’ meanings reflect usage, especially in English, and it seems that “hipster” is almost always used in a pejorative manner. A few years back it may have simply meant “fashionably different” but today it means “try-hard.”
Therefore, Brad Gerlach is the winner and not a “hipster.
Watch the new age traveler here!
Are you kidding me? There’s not a more
hipster dude that has ever been ranked in the top 5. The guy showed up at our surf shop in the 80 s looking like lead singer of Duran Duran. From then on he’s had a different look with every fad. Just look at the photo archive if you don’t believe me
we lost “bro” too, now completely pejorative term
http://fortune.com/2017/06/…
Brads lookin all flash and shit and I’m just stuck here in my Quicksilver boardies, O’Neil t-shirt and Rip Curl hat
This fucker has been hip since the early 90s. Hard to beat that. A fine surfing specimen if ever there was one, in and out of the water. Carry on, sir.
Always seemed to be trying just a touch too hard for me to be a fan. A little too self aware. Like he spends six months breaking down video to figure out how to hold his pinkies during a cutback.
Geesh, and here I was thinking I was weird for fretting over my wrist angles during the first stage of my backside bottom turn.
next time try swinging her bottom with a frontside turn. It allows a near seamless transition that is both stageless and not weird as you gather momentum into your next lip smack.
whats an applied linguist do to earn a buck?
Starts a surf-gossip website, naturally.
gerr’s the man!
Is it just me, or does he look like Johnny Depp?
that dudes a “queef”
saw him shit on a parking lot attendant in san diego at a night club, never forget it because i “was” a fan…dude rolled up in in a blacks suv, the girl driving was smoking hot, they couldnt find bar parking, the lot attendant apologized and directed the driver to some on street parking but Brad wasnt satisfied and decided that it would be ok to park in the liqour stores clearly and boldly labeled parking spots, the lot guy advised the driver that he would tow the car if they broke parked in the spot, “youre not going to tow our car!” replied the Brad…”three hours later” Brad and his female counterpart return the the parking lot to find their vehicle was gone, The Gerr went nuclear on the lot attendant, calling the man every belittling stereo type of not being rich or famous and the cherry on the top is The Gerr asking “do you know who i am? you dont know who i am? you fucking pee-on!” the parking lot attendant was cool as fuck and said “man, i told you i was going to tow your car if you park there.” one of my surfing heros was now just a piece of shit like every turd out there, and he thought because he rode waves that he could crap on a parking lot attendant who was just doing his job.
braaaaaaad!
terrible news if true
I forgive him; we can all be self-righteous pricks from time to time. More importantly though, what was he wearing?!
early 2000’s sales rep look, tight shirt loose fitting pants and bright white shoes.
Ah fuck! Now that is some terrible news if true
houston we have a problem
The presentation of this story seems odd. So, you were just hanging around outside a night club when Brad pulls up. You are standing so close that you can over-hear a conversation where one party (Brad and smoking hot girl) is still in their vehicle and are able to “accurately” quote what they said. THREE HOURS LATER you are once again, or perhaps still, standing outside the night club. You once again just happen to hear the conversation and “accurately” quote it. You describe the parking lot attendant as “cool as fuck”. A description we are all guilty of using to describe ourselves at one time or another. Were you the parking lot attendant? I believe so.
Or worked with him. Unfortunately, I believe it: Too many people are waiting for any excuse to be an asshole. I saw it hundreds of times as a waiter and valet.
That being said, he flowed a $5 tip – a solid tip 20 years ago when I valeted his car.
“cool as fuck” is not punching a grown man talking shit to your face.
i was not that attendant but because in california you cant smoke in bars, i happened to be smoking outside at both points of that evening…
Oi
Brad also ran the neckbeard before Beschen or Dane.
For whatever reason, a well dressed gentleman is threatening to some. Maybe it’s a little dick thing or something? Looks good, surfs good. The only chink in the armour I see is his responding to comments on social media. Head high Brad, haters gonna hate.
This is obviously fake news. In the video still we can obviously see Johnny Depp has been stung by wasps. Photoshopping Rondog in the background isn’t fooling anyone.
There is no getting one over on you.
As the original hipster, Brad isn’t one in the same way that Allah isn’t a Muslim.
Would you really say Brad is the proto hipster?
Hah. Good point. If a hipster is the dapperest of men, we’d have to go back to Louis XVI and then jump to Chris Isaak. I guess Gerlach really is just a hipster in a long line of well dressed men.
I think the trick is looking well-dressed, but also like you didn’t make an effort. I think Gerlach pulls off the first condition, but not the second, hence the pejorative designation of hipster.
It’s probably the hat. If he dropped the hat he’d be surfing’s James Dean.
(But, of course, if he’s balding, he has to keep the hat or he’d have to do a Slater, and his rep. couldn’t stand up to the GOAT’s)
a hipster is not the dapperest of men. a hipster wears shitty clothes from a thrift store and works in a used bookstore. gerr is just well-dressed.
I guess I’m a half hipster, then. Crap. I’d been ripping these people for years, and now I come to discover that I’m just self-loathing.
which half?
He’s been there for two days and he’s already a stereotypical “Bondi” anything is impressive, took me a year on the North shore just to gain the “harmless blow head” epitaph
$20 says Brad writes a song about this on guitar. Something with a silky, smooth and hip rift.
Brad Grelach is a middle aged man who has retained his good looks fitness and charm.Still surfs at a super-human level. Chicks dig him. Cheerful with a quick with. Somewhat of a comedian. Always interested in moving forward. As far as wardrobe somewhere along the line Mr Gerlach has been taught the value of always looking sharp and never dated. The surf world should celebrate this guy.
Well said!
There you go again Gerr, writing about yourself in the third person…
but do chicks still dig him? I always pictured him as closeted anyway.
haven’t seen you here for a while Troges, how they hanging?
took Brad to bring me out of my hibernation. I do enjoy him, even if he is a hipster.
On a second look, he likes like a chap from Maroubra going to yet another friend’s funeral…
But by definition he is “trying hard” to put together those outfits. In fact, as far as I can tell, that’s all he does.
I tried alittle harder over the weekend, it was appreciated… and I, and my wardrobe was better for it.
Making your wife horny, mate? On ya.
a statement like this demands photo evidence!
Wow, slinging mud like you know him? Maybe he just like the finer things in life like fresh threads.
mud slinging? you kidding? you should see my closet. if anybody around here is trying hard to look good it’s me.
Obviously that was Brad’s Heritage-Prep look, not his Bondi Hipster look!
I mean totally no duh.
Sure, always nice headgear, btw, Gerr… but what about Conner’s secret turn?! I’m beginning to feel I’ve been conned. Fuck, bruh.
You’ll know it’s coming because the signal to unleash it is Brad throwing his fashionable headwear into the sky.
You don’t throw Donna Koran in the sand, that’s just uncivilized.
He’d catch it, he’s not a savage.
Or j C.rue or tjmax
That turn is so fucking subtle we all missed it.