Change or die.

One thing people universally love is for someone new to come into their ranks, be it school, at work, in sport, and tell them what’s wrong, outdated, needs to alter. Much like early-2000s dot-commers whipping in and informing the blue-chips that the economy had fundamentally reformed, man. Exactly like International Surfing Association president Fernando Aguerre instructing the Olympics, running intermittently since 776 B.C., to “change or be changed” as surfing comes swinging in to Tokyo this summer.

Cowabunga, hodads and barns.

And we must discuss more but first let’s get all the spicy talk straight from President Aguerre himself in Reuters, which has been around since 1850 and began disseminating news by utilizing homing pigeons.

The additions are part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) bid to reach a younger audience and International Surfing Association (ISU) President Fernando Aguerre said the impact of the changes could not be overstated.

“The IOC, and I think the world, wanted youth,” Aguerre told Reuters at last month’s ISA World Surfing Games in southern Japan.

“So in the beach and ocean, coolest sport? Surfing. Streets, coolest sport? Skateboarding. Outdoor coolest sport? Climbing.

“So suddenly, in one giant stroke they add the three environments; the outdoor, the ocean and urban.

“It will be the single most important program change in decades, probably ever.”

Instead of leaning on the experience of established Olympic sports in preparing for Tokyo 2020, Aguerre thinks some of the traditional disciplines could learn a thing or two from surfing, which has also been provisionally included in the program for Paris 2024.

“The old sports need to adapt,” said Aguerre.

“(IOC) President (Thomas) Bach is very clear about that from the first speech he made when he accepted his election he said ‘change or be changed’.”

“The evolution of the species is one of those that change… or the ones that didn’t change that are nowhere to be found.”

And President Aguerre just dropped hammer after hammer as “cool” sports start a rockin’ and a rollin’ and HELL YEAH!

Change or die discus, get out da way pole vault, screw you 100 meter dash. Surfing is here with groovy pals skateboarding and rock climbing. It’s like a boy band of pure rad and steeplechase better be quaking in its soggy sneakers. Steeplechase better be thinking of ways to add ‘gators wearing wrap-around shades to the water if it has any hope of survival. Greco-Roman wrestling better incorporate some YouTube influencer-style. Like, “Subscribe to my suplex #KatyPerry.”

Marathons better…

Wait, is surfing “cool?”

Is “cool” still “cool?”

And how do you think President Aguerre’s comments went over with his Olympic colleagues? Was everyone busily taking notes or…?

Inspired by the great fashion houses of Shanghai, vulnerable adult learners as well as the stench of cheap teenage perfume…

Days in the making, and inspired by the great fashion houses of Shanghai, vulnerable adult learners as well as the stench of cheap teenage perfume, BeachGrit announces, proudly, the reopening of our online store.

Here, you will find:

VAL t-shirt: Don’t be afraid to show the world you stand in solidarity with the Vulnerable Adult Learner surfer or VAL. This t-shirt, which is only available in white, features a chest and back print that was crafted by the noted artist Paul McNeil. Do you dare?

I Want My BeachGrit car air-freshener: Bring the anti-depressive smell of BeachGrit into your car, office or home! Comes embedded with special cheap perfume scent reminiscent of teen parties!

BeachGrit tailpads (in myriad colours): This three-piece tail pad, with a striking design that calls to mind the super graphics of Barbara “Bobbie” Stauffacher Solomon, will thrill its new owner on several levels: it’s made in the same factory as the market leaders, whom you know, and uses the same EVA lightweight premium foam and 3M glue. Its most compelling  feature, of course, is what we might, euphemistically, call the “breakthrough price.”

I Want My BeachGrit coffee mug: This exciting item has been designed to handle heated liquids such as coffee but its opaque finish also enables the discreet sipping of spirits during work hours.

The Girls t-shirt: And, here, BeachGrit‘s newest and boldest graphic yet. Created by our go-to artist, the noted sculptor, painter and graphic designer, Paul McNeil, this t-shirt commands attention with bikinied women and a masterly use of typography, a McNeil specialty.

And, more! Click here to visit store. 

All prices in US dollars. Free shipping to anywhere in the world.

Note: T-shirts begin shipping in two weeks, printed in Australia, hand-screened etc.

"He was in attack mode. He thought we were prey."

And did you see the Jason Statham, Rainn Wilson vehicle The Meg? I watched the first thirty or so minutes on a flight to Copenhagen. From what I gathered scientists were doing sciencey things in a state of the art oceanographic research center when they stumbled upon a 75-foot shark thought to be extinct. I switched over to the Elle Fanning masterpiece Teen Spirit which brought me to tears and didn’t return to The Meg so don’t know how it ended but fear I may find out in real life for it was revealed just today that “one of the largest sharks ever recorded in the area” is terrorizing southern California. Eating kayaks and other horrifically uncouth behaviors.

Our very own M.E.G.

Man-Eating Great (White)* and these ill-mannered beasts used to know better. They used to congregate in South Africa and northern California leaving our sun-drenched, star-soaked paradise alone but no longer. The Great White apocalypse is fully upon us and we must turn to San Diego’s NBC affiliate for the very latest.

Two San Diego men are thanking their lucky kayaks for taking the brunt of a great white shark bite near Catalina Island over the weekend.

Danny McDaniel and Jon Chambers can call two large shark teeth souvenirs, or maybe even good luck charms, considering the shark they once belonged to.

The two experienced scuba divers were taking a break from their diving trip, coordinated through La Jolla-based company Power Scuba, to kayak to Ship Rock near Catalina Island when Daniel felt a strong push.

“I look back and I see this giant, actually just a snout was on the boat as he was chomping down on the kayak,” said McDaniel.

“He was in attack mode. He thought we were prey,” said Chambers. “It was petrifying and amazing at the same time.”

Once they realized they both were OK, they waited for a few minutes to make sure the shark was gone before starting their 25 minute paddle back to Catalina Island.

“I said, ‘Jon I got a tooth.’ He goes, ‘Yeah, is there another one?’ It was a good experience that I would never want to do again, but it was a good experience,” said McDaniel.

Chambers and McDaniel said experts at Scripps Institution of Oceanography estimated the shark was around 19 feet long based on the size of the two teeth. It could be one of the largest ever recorded in the area.

19-feet long. That is two-plus Shaquille O’Neals one standing on the other’s shoulders. Four Jason Stathams who claims to be 5’10 but we all know is 5’8.

19-feet long. How did this beast grow so huge? How many men has he already eaten? How many men can he eat at the same time?

These are questions we must find answers to and I think it is time for us to start our own non-profit research and education center. We can call it Surfers Against Man-Eaters or S.A.M.E. and carry out important duties like telling all kayakers and stand-up paddleboarders to get out of the ocean because there is 19-feet of hell coming their way and beach clean-ups.

Can I count on your participation?

*Man-Eating Great (White) can also be written M.E.G. White. Like Meg White of the White Stripes and her erstwhile bandmate, Jack White, just played Surf Ranch. A conspiracy? I feel it coming…

"The tyranny of prescriptive joy."

I have, unfortunately, not watched one minute of this year’s Quiksilver Pro France. The time difference between California and France’s western front is unwieldy and I haven’t mustered the necessary internal fortitude. I thought this lack of professional surf watching was going to make me sad and maybe sick but, oddly, the opposite has occurred. I wake up each morning healthier and heartier than the night before. Happier. There’s an undeniable spring in my step.

I didn’t correlate the two, not watching surfing and my improved state of being, but I should have for a new series of studies declare that the “tyranny of prescriptive joy” including, but not limited to the World Surf League’s “Wall of Positive Noise™” is actually depressing and possibly killing us.

And we must turn to Forge, a publication about personal development, for more on what is being called “toxic positivity.”

But that relentless focus on positivity — what Kate Bowler, a Duke Divinity School professor and former cancer patient, described in her memoir Everything Happens for a Reason as “the tyranny of prescriptive joy” — isn’t just ineffective. Research has shown that it’s actually harmful.

One 2012 study found that encouraging people to push away their negative emotions often has the opposite effect, making them feel bad about feeling bad, in addition to whatever else they were already going through. A 2005 study found that relentlessly focusing on the positive during times of stress — what the authors call “avoidance coping” — increased the risk of depressive symptoms later on. And there are plenty of other examples out there pointing to the same conclusion: Forced positivity often leaves us worse off.

It can eat away at relationships, too. “Seeking out people who bring ‘positive vibes only’ will ensure shallow bonds,” says Cleveland-based therapist Karly Hoffman King, whose work focuses on trauma. Instead, the relationship becomes a performance of happiness. Difficult conversations, moments of vulnerability — all off the table. “People are left to deal with their feelings alone instead of seeking support,” says King. “Offering up toxic positivity like ‘look on the bright side’ or ‘it could be worse!’ often just makes the other person feel invalidated, creating a wedge between the two of you.”

In her work counseling cancer patients, Los Angeles-based health psychologist Stephanie Davidson often encounters family members who maintain a facade of positivity so extreme that the patient feels they can’t discuss their fear or the losses they’re experiencing. “Feelings that we don’t like are not the enemy, and there’s no research that says acknowledging those feelings will make medical conditions worse,” Davidson says. “However, there is research that says that those who are not able to get support from those around them tend to do worse.”

On and on and on the piece goes, detailing the horrors of life behind the Wall of Positive Noise. The pain and suffering. The illness and death and it got me thinking. Now, I know I’ve been all down on “suing” and “lawsuits” lately but what if we brought a class action against Santa Monica? I think, if forced to listen to one heat featuring Joe Turpel and the ’89 World Champ Martin Potter any judge or jury would agree that we have been poisoned.

Did you read about the billions of dollars Purdue Pharma, maker of OxyContin, is coughing up in settlements?

I imagine we’d be looking at something like that.

So?

Are you in?

Come and get your piece of the fun…

Shortly, and in waves that may prove to be an improvement on yesterday’s bad tempered, indecipherable closeouts, although Courts C and Johanne Defay found inviting morsels, we’ll be gifted the money end of the contest.

https://twitter.com/wsl/status/1181305696492482561

https://twitter.com/wsl/status/1181245387295903753

Round four. Eight heats (I checked).

I choose, Jeremy, Ryan, Marc, Julian, Gabriel, Seth, Kolohe and Italo. Betting agencies in Australia have locked out multi-bets thereby eliminating the possibility of a million-dollar payout.

And did you know that Jordy Smith, Sally Fitzgibbons and Stephanie Gilmore have all successfully negotiated the Olympic selection process and have qualified for Tokyo 2020?

https://twitter.com/wsl/status/1181245387295903753

Many excitements, as our Japanese friends say.

But, first, today, Hossegor, France.

Buckle up, dress down.

Watch here. 

Quiksilver Pro France Round of 16 (Round 4) Match-Ups:
HEAT 1: Jordy Smith (ZAF) vs. Jeremy Flores (FRA)
HEAT 2: Ezekiel Lau (HAW) vs. Ryan Callinan (AUS)
HEAT 3: Marc Lacomare (FRA) vs. Wade Carmichael (AUS)
HEAT 4: Julian Wilson (AUS) vs. Jack Freestone (AUS)
HEAT 5: Gabriel Medina (BRA) vs. Adrian Buchan (AUS)
HEAT 6: Seth Moniz (HAW) vs. Leonardo Fioravanti (ITA)
HEAT 7: Kolohe Andino (USA) vs. Yago Dora (BRA)
HEAT 8: Michel Bourez (FRA) vs. Italo Ferreira (BRA)