World’s greatest surfer Kelly Slater
eulogizes the incomparable Kobe Bryant on anniversary of tragic
death: “One year ago today I took this picture. Hours later, Kobe’s
helicopter would crash in this exact spot due to these clouds and
poor visibility.”
By Chas Smith
Poet laureate.
Hours ago, inspired by the great Amanda Gorman,
I begged for surfing to have a poet
laureate though was woefully forgettable of the truly
epic voices we already have amongst us. The one and only
@Eddie_Haiku, Bex Vidina who may, or may not, be Australian, and
the world’s greatest surfer Kelly Slater.
Forgettable-ing the latter is my profound personal shame for he
took to Instagram not four hours ago to pen a tribute to the
incomparable Kobe Bryant who tragically died in a helicopter
accident last year on this very day.
Per @kellyslater:
One year ago today on my flight home from San Francisco !
took this picture for some reason. It’s the morning sunrise over
the low clouds (cloud emoji) over Calabasas. It would be Kobe
Bryant’s last sunrise. Hours after I took this picture Kobe’s
helicopter would crash in this exact spot due to these clouds and
poor visibility. It was a sad day indeed. Make every day count boys
cause you don’t know when it’s your last.
Truer, more poetic, words never penned and it may be the
greatest Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, social media post ever sent
live.
The muses inspiring the world’s greatest surfer to pick up us
his phone and shoot a cloud formation that he has, no doubt, had
seen hundreds (thousands) of times but on that very day.
National Football League quarterback Tom Brady may be headed
back to the Super Bowl for and unprecedented run but the GOAT
belongs to us.
Belongs to surfing.
Make every day count.
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World’s most famous poet Amanda Gorman
serenades her heart’s true love: “There’s no place I’d rather be
than on a surfboard out at sea!”
By Chas Smith
Legendary.
Oh but there is absolutely no way you are,
today, unfamiliar with the world’s most famous poet, the very
exceptional Amanda Gorman. The Harvard student has already achieved
much acclaim throughout her 22 years but nothing more high-profile
than her reading an original work at the inauguration of President
Joseph R. Biden a week, or some such, ago.
Her poem, as well as her presentation, received only rave
reviews and deservedly so but there is something much greater than
fame or fortune tugging on those heartstrings.
And are you pleased as punch to count someone so accomplished
amongst our ranks or do you feel the need to warn her of this
all-consuming, all-destroying lifestyle choice?
Well, if there is anyone who can make surfing great again it is
Ms. Gorman and I would like to encourage her to write more
surf-specific poetry.
Heaven knows we need it.
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Invasion Day, Brisbane.
Breaking: Queensland authorities find
Covid-19 fragments in coastal sewage sparking panic as Australians
gather for “Invasion Day” protests!
By Chas Smith
"Australians all let us rejoice for we are young
and free..."
But oh rats. Mere hours ago we learned of 2x
world championship Tyler Wright’s impassioned call
to her fellow countrypersons to forego traditional Australia Day
celebrations and attended protests for Invasion Day instead.
“Jan 26th is Invasion Day…” she wrote. “My fellow white and non
indigenous Australian friends where are you all showing up for
Invasion Day marches? If you can’t make one, how else are you
showing up for First Nations people everyday? Unity comes after
accountability and truth telling. Let’s hold each other
accountable. Let’s all do better to dismantle individual, systemic,
structural and institutionalised racism founded in white
supremacy.”
Woke n wonderful… except…….
Oh nuts.
Queensland authorities from Maroochydore in the south to as far
north as Cairns found fragments
of Covid-19 in the sewage sparking panic as it
suggests undetected cases are roaming amongst the general
population and very likely heeding Tyler Wright’s call to show up
everyday.
Queensland recorded zero locally acquired cases of coronavirus
on Tuesday but an alert was issued after fragments of the virus
were detected at seven sewage treatment plants in the state and
then a large Invasion Day march took place in Brisbane.
Much testing is being encouraged as the fragments could be from
persons who had already had the disease but could also suggest the
lightly-symptomed are out holding other persons accountable,
dismantling individual, systemic, structural and institutionalized
racism etc.
Yeopersons work, no doubt.
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@joeherron.net
Shocking amount of native surf sense
growing naturally in Minnesota’s frigid north: “I think it’s
important to be conscious of yourself and your impact on others,
especially if they’ve been surfing these waves longer than you and
you’re a newcomer!”
By Chas Smith
Heaven on earth.
Every year, or some such, the world is
re-treated to almost unbelievable stories of men and women who
surf, surf, in the Great Lakes and do it in winter,
winter, when there is snow on the shore. The genre is
generally forgettable with the same tropes rolled out consistently
(surfing seeming like a summer activity with its participants
festooned in short-pants, winter storms actually required to create
waves, the fact wetsuits exist etc.) and boring except,
except, I just stumbled upon one
from Duluth, Minnesota wherein the featured surfers
possess a shocking amount of native sense and let us meet Big Wave
Dave Rostvold and Joe Herron.
Rostvold is a shaper who works out of Castle Glass Surfboards
and says, “It kind of feels like a fairytale. Surfing is a dream
for a lot of people around the world. To be able to do it here in
the Midwest, that’s a dream come true.”
Poetic, no?
Herron is a photographer who once
saw surfers plying their pastime on Lake Superior and “asked
permission to photograph them” because he knew surfers “are
justifiably protective of their knowledge, especially in the North
Shore’s frigid waters. Good waves are a finite resource, and
mastering simple maneuvers, like popping up into a standing
position, can be deeply humbling.”
Thoughtful, no?
Herron became so enchanted that he began surfing himself though
adds, “It’s funny—I can both see that I’ve improved immensely since
I started, but I’m also still really bad. It’s very tough, it’s
physically demanding, it can be scary, but certain people just
enjoy those kinds of activities.”
Certain people like us, no?
The piece segues into the standard “waves on lakes need high
wind, the sort that is only produced with winter storms” etc. but
flips back around to Rostvold and Herron who basically encourage
beginners not to, point to a kook spot for them to go if they must
and declare, “I think it’s important to be conscious of yourself
and your impact on others, especially if they’ve been surfing these
waves longer than you and you’re a newcomer. You shouldn’t be
putting yourself in a position that could hurt someone else. I
think selflessness should be the first goal, then it’s ‘Can I catch
a wave?'”
Wise, no?
The sort of wisdom that is more and more difficult to find in
our Wavestorm clogged oceans.
Does it make you think lake surfing is the dream come true for
you?
A fine home in Duluth will run you 200k.
Smart money.
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Two-time world surfing champion Tyler
Wright heats up surf fans with Australia Day post critical of
country’s “genocidal history, “institutional racism” and “white
supremacy”!
By Derek Rielly
"No pride in genocide!"
The two-time world champ Tyler Wright has again fired up
against the forces of rabid prejudice in a post denouncing
Australia as genocidal, racist and its annual day of celebration a
symbol of the country’s structural and
institutionalised white supremacy.
For non-Australian readers, and for many Australians too, I
suppose, who might be unaware of the date’s significance, January
26 represents the day in 1788 when eleven prison hulks from England
arrived in Sydney Cove to establish a penal colony.
This penal colony has since become one of the world’s most
stable democracies, free healthcare, school, and so on. A
free-wheeling capitalist society wrapped in the loving arms of a
generous welfare state.
For our indigenous brothers and sisters, the arrival of the
European was a catastrophe, a disaster still unfurling two
centuries later.
Ain’t no secret there.
From Tyler,
Jan 26th is Invasion Day. My fellow white and non indigenous
Australian friends where are you all showing up for Invasion Day
marches? If you can’t make one, how else are you showing up for
First Nations people everyday? Lets show @scottmorrisonmp that
there is No Pride in Genocide, celebrating on jan 26th is ignorant
of our colonial and genocidal history. Unity comes after
accountability and truth telling. Let’s hold each other
accountable. Let’s all do better to dismantle individual, systemic,
structural and institutionalised racism founded in white
supremacy.
Apart from the usual high-profile groupies, rank and file fans
weren’t so convinced.
Good or bad, history is history. I’m proud of our country,
what it stands for and what we’ve been able to achieve. I feel this
post is ridiculous and divisive but being a free country we are all
entitled to our own opinions and we have to right to freely express
our thoughts. Why do we have to apologise for everything? We should
celebrate that there has been good and bad, but through it all, our
country is an amazing place for everybody. I find it difficult to
believe there’s systematic racism, everybody in this country has
the same opportunities and choices and it’s up to you what you want
to make of it. Happy Australia Day everybody.
Ill be celebrating Aussie day on the 26th January like
everyone else should be. Yes I’m ABORIGINAL and I’m over all this
crap about changing the date. History is history, move on and enjoy
life. Cant change the past
Haha aussie black lives matter movement. Maybe it will
completely divide your country like it did mine. Good luck virtue
signaling just like the 🇺🇸
Thanks but no thanks!!! Love this Country for everything and
everyone who is part regardless of Nationality,colour or what ever
else you are!! Was nice following you but catch ya
later!!🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺
Very divisive comment, how about coming together like Warren
Mundine is advocating
One fan asked,
Can you be more specific about the systemic, structural and
institutionalised racism that you see? As you mention
that this was founded in white supremacy, do you think white
supremacy is a problem that still exists in Australia
today? Is there another date that you would suggest for an
Australia Day celebration?
And received this reply,
I think it’s more a focus on outrage, hate, division, blame
and generally telling young indigenous kids that the world is
against them. I’m sure Tyler feels good about the virtue signalling
though……..
You’ll remember, four months ago, when Tyler dropped a knee at
the Tweed Heads Pro for for four hundred and thirty-nine seconds in
solitary with Black Lives Matter, the number representing “one
second for every First Nations person in Australia who has lost
their life in police custody since 1991.”
Tyler correctly raised the issue of black deaths in custody,
something that’s been in the public consciousness in Australia
since a royal commission was called in 1987 after a horror run of
indigenous Australians dying while in police custody.
And, now, “Overall, the rate of Indigenous deaths in custody has
reduced since 1991, as of June 2020 lower than the rate of death of
non-Indigenous people.”
Of 2608 total deaths in police custody between 1979 and 2018,
roughly five hundred of ‘em were indigenous.
