Raise your glass to the full rubber clad, longer surfboard riding, backward fin utilizing, leash getting pulled, cop calling, World Surf League loving adult learner nearest you right now!
And here we are, New Year’s Eve in Australia almost New Year’s Eve in America, the most exciting nights of the entire year besides Surfer magazine’s Surfer Poll and the World Surf League’s Opening Night Ball (or whatever it’s called).
BeachGrit’s Man* of the Year.
Who could it be besides the adult learner? Men* who picked up surfboards in their late twenties or late thirties and decided then and there, “Surfing is life, the rest is just details!” and/or “Old Men* Rule!”
Surfing is being remade in his* image or at least professional surfing. The World Surf League is run by adult learners dead-set on creating a new, vibrant community of other adult learners. It’s the growth market with millions and billions of promised eyeballs/participants from adult pre-learner and ex-WSL Dear General Secretary Paul Speaker.
A fabulous re-imagining?
A once-in-a-lifetime rebirth?
The adult learner’s go to twin sources for content (Stab x The Inertia) certainly think so and a hot rumor on their union coming soon!
In the meantime, surfing has been a cloistered, impossible to navigate little world. I have spent my entire life trying to negotiate it as an Oregonian youth and am now trying to negotiate it as an adult re-learner.
Oh sure the grumpy local is our mission. To shrink surfing to the smallest possible market until it is literally just me, Derek Rielly and you in the lineup but that is a future-less model.
So raise your glass to the full rubber clad, longer surfboard riding, backward fin utilizing, leash getting pulled, cop calling, World Surf League loving adult learner nearest you right now.
You, adult learner, are BeachGrit’s Man* of the Year!
*All masculine nouns and pronouns are gender neutral.
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HA! What about mid-40’s like me! Can I be man of the year next year? I sometimes wonder how good I’d be had I been an ‘adult learner’ and started when I was only 30…
BTW I have never posted an Instagram of myself surfing (at one point I admittedly might have been tempted had I personal photographer.)
the correct term (+ popular t shirt in california and the east coast) is “old guys rule” not “Old Men* Rule!” . both of which are false. we dont. we never did. we never will.
“Hey! I drive the Cool Bus, and it’s parked just over there!”
New server settings, hopefully fixed now!
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
genius
I saw it eventually but most of the comments on the stories I was seeing late last night were like … 12-24 hours old.
Ooooh!!!
So meta! Like surfing!
“You shoulda been here yesterday dude, it was going off!”
I need a definition of an adult learner. I’m very afraid that i might be one. First paddled out when i was 20 years old in the very waters that ElO seems to call home on my pals dad’s longboard. (Bonus fact: got my first short board from the other guy in the ElO cover shot! It sucked. I sucked. I still suck.) So i need to know. Where’s the line? Some conjecture: maybe Adult means person with financial stability and/or self awareness and/or non-surfing commitments that prevent the feverish poor decision making that defines most of us? In which case i’m (still) safe. But if adult just means old enough to drive yourself to the beach i think i might be part of the problem. https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
according to chas it’s late 20’s early 30’s as per the article… youre safe
Thanks Kahuna Scott ! Awesome ! So Dudes or Adult Learner or as we say here BiG Gals Next week local legal egal O2 will be discussing the latest in line up etiquette and litigation , Derek on how to turn that dog house into Bauhaus , Chas On Cocaine , talking fast and confident and surfing , Negatron on balance , the Indo board and moderation and sunny Steve Shearer will invite you to question your own viability (BIOLOGY -ability to survive or live ) and the rest of the crew hope you take up hang gliding ………………
“Surf Assault: Demand a Jury of Your Peers and Get You Out of a Voir Dire Snitchuation”
Next week 02 will be doing a cover of the Clash’s I fought the Law and the Law won while Mr. Smith goes to Washington ?
Ashton is such a Paine.
Though he lacks Common Sense unlike dat old man Thomas Paine ?
Wasn’t Paine the character that tried unsuccessfully to attack Mr. Smith’s good name?
Ashton so completely failed to think through his decision to call the cops.
Bingo . Senator Joseph Paine . A real Paine like being stabbed in the As(s)hton
Is that the Australian Cricket captain’s father?
No Pie , no relation to the night watchman captain . Senator Jo was Mr Smith’s adversary and old Thom depending on who you read was a founding father of the United States or just another Paine in the arse ?
Adult learners have no shame
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I kinda think the oblivious adult learners are better off then us lifers who stress about the minutia of every aspect of surfing.
Every time I walk down to surf, I try and think of the Buddhist thing about having no expectations to avoid disappointment.
As a re-learner I’m definitely guilty of wasting waves.
Ah Twins ? 2001 a surf oddity …….
I’d like to learn why I’ve been checking for BG updates religiously for the last 24 hours but only got these last 6 stories through all in one big crush now?
All this shit-talking!!! The swell window!!! Missed!!! Gutted!!!
BTW: Happy New Year everyone!!!
Unpaid server fees?
Russian INTERFERENCE?
I thought the lazy buggers were drunk , whoring or both and a happy novocastrian new year to you CB and Glitter Gritters .
Sorry! New server settings with overly aggressive cache. Hopefully fixed now.
Thanks!
Odd serving to diff parts of world. Didn’t know that was a ting.
Are you fucking kidiiiiiing meeee.
How the fuk is GMed not number 1!
I just watched again the whole last day of pipe and fukkk!
I blew on the couch pillow like the spit out of his barrells!!
Booooooooooooo, Booooooooooooo, Booooooooooo
Bah – Humbug !
A pox on all adult learners.
A StabNertia merger? Am I reading that right? That’s some absolutely Yeats-ian shit.
Give it a minute.
Like gyms that sell memberships to newbies the first week of Jan, board shops must see these guys a mile away.
Just another way to get away from their fat wives, should wear off soon.
( )*( )
From what I’ve seen of some of the adult leaners round here, some are probably already better surfers than you Chas..so how do we categorise them?
Ummmm adult learners?
https://m.youtube.com/watch…
who was that blowing the takeoff?
I really feel like this is problematic from an inclusion perspective. What about those yet to start learning? Or those that can’t learn due to geographical/economical/spiritual reasons?
And what’s with rankings anyway? Aren’t we all value-led winners?
Looks like the Obergruppenfuhrer got himself an appropriate haircut at least.