To hell with the high road!
It has been almost one week since Stab’s new editor Ashton Goggans and I met in pastoral San Clemente, California. There, you may recall, I completely lost my cool and flew over the reclaimed wood coffee table betwixt us and tried to silence the portly man by use of strangulation. Though I haven’t carved out the time to listen yet (you can here!) I imagine it sounds choked and ugly. Still, even after almost one week of reflection, the only thing I would change is that I would have gone over the table sooner and more often until that smug, smarmy bastard either fled or fought.
I don’t like Ashton Goggans one little bit. His behavior during his brief stint in surf media has been marked by two-faced artificiality and self-serving stabs in the dark. To simply play the game, as it were, of smiling and nodding while being subtly underhanded and demeaning bores me to no end. I have purposed to say what I feel even if what I feel is wrong.
Now, many if not most of the reviews of the podcast have been unkind, focusing on how Ashton utilized my button pushing tactics and how I was too thin-skinned to put up with the abuse. The classic he-can-dish-it-but-can’t-take-it argument. All fine and good except when have I ever been a proponent of taking it? I nudge, poke, cajole and grenade throw from this tiny little soapbox precisely to get a reaction. Some heartfelt scream that can be employed, at the very least, in the cause of entertainment and at the very most in making surf media great again. Real opinions, real beliefs as opposed to snide, cool silence.
Keeping one’s cool, I think, is most important when dealing with children or the mentally/physically compromised but has replaced genuine communication, and real fun, in our surf world. To hell with measured responses, I say. To hell with neatly worded yet empty digs.
To hell with the high road.
And no, this speech is not cribbed from the great Martin Luther King Jr. though I understand your confusion.
Who the guy sitting at the table who’s not Chas? Donald Trump’s lawyer? Where’s the STAB man?
Thank you for jumping across that table.
We all really appreciate it, truly.
I have to agree with you.
Are there any actual surf journalists out there instead of surf journalism journalists? Bunch of bloody 12 year olds.
THAT WAS THE BEST THING I HAVE EVER HEARD
Did David lee scales get paid for the photo? Good to see he getting photo cred
this picture brings up another question: if this is the surf version of mailer v vidal, doesn’t goggins look more like mailer? the portly badger-rage thing. but surely chas wants to be mailer, right? confused
i hereby retract every negative thing i’ve ever said about you. to approach this rumble-in-the-bumble showdown wearing what appear to be calfskin driving mocs? the very pinnacle of elan. well played indeed. the other dude looks like a schlub.
That’s not violence.
Been listening to Down the Line since the beginning and enjoy David’s new spin on things and yours too Chas. Its fun…its not serious. Something u say all the time. So, then what do u want? Serious or not? You dish it out but you can’t take it? Are you a keyboard warrior or do you actually want “surf journalism”?
Regarding you being baited, I can agree making it personal is a fair line in the sand to draw…..but have you ever made it personal cos its “fun” or “entertaining” or cos its just surfing…..
Either way saying what you feel is all well and good, even if its not correct but you’re a journalist….is the spin of facts that are known to be untrue just fueling the fire or fake news, or as many may put it lowering the level of conversation? And (hopefully) I am ahead of you, when it come to lowering the conversation, Stab et al have already done that by “selling out” to the “man”…fair criticism.
However, if thats the issue, why do you have an issue when someone says that you have lowered yourself to National Inquire level “journalism”? No one takes surfing seriously. Should they? I dont care, but you really seem to, unfortunately I dont know which side of the fence you think you want to be on.
Cheers for the chance to reply..
That dude looks like a little bitch.
https://www.youtube.com/wat…
Right on!
ha , or secular humanists!
Have we all stopped to admire the table… Do we think it is hardwood or softwood?
You go low, we get high.
“Ashton was a treasure and I was actually sad to see him go. Not pretend sad like with Michael. A handsome, well-dressed man who could hold his drink and cuff his pants. He came from San Francisco, I believe, and brightened our sky with many pieces…” I guess you did use past tense though.
Hang on, present tense: “He is smart, informed, fun and is my very favorite of our exes. Best of all, maybe, Ashton has a spine. A strong, straight spine. He is the sort you’d want in you corner during a bar fight.”
I learned more of the man after writing this!
Indeed. As did we all learn more about you. Tell me Chas, while I’ve got you down here in the non-choir section – this wanting to destroy Stab. I can understand it from a competitive perspective. But is it to win their audience [upward inflection], or do you want to destroy their audience as well?
I agree with Chas. It’s so assumed that everyone will “take it” now because that’s what civilized folks do. That’s so boring.
To be fair, you both sounded bad. Ashton seems to be just a clueless wanker who wants to be cool. All you did is expose yourself as a kept man who has the time to work for free and hold a false sense of superiority over the rest of the insular surf community. It is interesting you bring up the Mailer-Vidal thing because like Vidal you are acerbic for the sake of conceit and you too “lack the wound”. Thank you for reminding me that surf media is the worst. Signing out! I hope to see you in real life to discuss this.
140? I’m not cutting off 15 points for anybody.
Beach Grit’s comments section is dorkier than Stab’s, but clearly inhabited by smarter people on average, he said to the guy who led with a poopy joke.
https://youtu.be/2hvNi0VZwc8