Heir to Miki Dora’s Malibu throne Jonah Hill pokes head from reclusive lifestyle transition, spotted outside luxury camper van after Ventura surf session!

He's baaaaaack!

Surfers near and far are very aware of the great Miki Dora, how he owned Malibu during halcyon days then became vaguely reclusive, popping back on the scene from time to time before popping back out. Mystery and mayhem. Well, it appears that his heir apparent, one Jonah Hill, has taken notes and become something of a cenobite himself.

Hill recently announced that he would know longer promote his films in a public-facing manner, as it causes anxiety, and also deleted his Instagram.

Vanished from view… until, that is, he was spotted near Ventura, California in a “luxury camper.”

The Daily Mail described the “Mercedes adventure vehicle, also known as the Beast Mode 4×4” thusly:

The luxury camper van is fully decked out with mod-cons that include a two-person bed, tons of storage space, a shower, fridge and microwave.

It also is also equipped with a state of the art AC and heating system and gets its power from solar panels that are mounted on the roof.

Hill was companionless, in keeping with his new lifestyle choices, though seemed happy to be snapped, smiling and sharing a generous thumbs up.

You must click here to see.

Heart warming.

But where do you think he will go in the Beast Mode 4×4? Down Baja? Mainland Mex? Through the Darién Plug?

Adventure awaits.

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Ziff spiking (courtesy Forbes).
Ziff spiking (courtesy Forbes).

World Surf League owner Dirk Ziff rockets up Forbes definitive list of American billionaires on strength of robust professional surfing growth!

To the moon!

American billionaires around the world had trouble sleeping last night as they knew Forbes would be releasing its definitive guide to some of the world’s richest people in the early morning. Who would rise? Who would fall? Who would be feted and who would be deeply shamed, unable to show poverty-stricken face in polite society again?

Well, let’s all stand and cheer professional surfing’s grand patron, the one and only Dirk Ziff who soared up one whole place to land at equal 160.

The spike can only be attributed to the most watched season in World Surf League history.

Numbers, still trickling in, are robust though very much denied by correspondent JP Currie who called them “ludicrous” and declared it a “campaign of such deliberate misinformation and manipulation that it amounts to sheer lies.”

Forbes, though, knows this sort of game better than we do and must have weighed those 8.3 million viewers for Final’s Day, there on Lower Trestles cobbled stone, accurately. Assigning each real value. Launching wealth. Ziff, and his brothers, are each worth $5.7 billion and while I don’t know where his brothers invested their riches I know surfing and I know stratospheric surges and I read chief strategist Dave Prodan discuss the reality of boom.

To the moon.

Speaking of, Elon Musk took the number one slot with his $251 billion, a whole $100b over number two Jeff Bezos. Surfing’s Mark Zuckerberg fell to eleven.

Savor the rest here.

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Thank you for professional surfing.
Thank you for professional surfing.

Leading World Surf League correspondent lashes out over recent viewership announcements: “The WSL’s numbers are ludicrous. It’s a campaign of such deliberate misinformation and manipulation of statistics that it amounts to sheer lies.”

We have made these decisions for YOU.

Are there millions of fans of pro surfing we’re unaware of?

How about, Mr Logan, you tell us how many unique viewers there were. Or how many people were tuned in simultaneously at the peak of the Finals.

I’d warrant those numbers are spectacular in a very different way.

What do we think? 20k? 30k, tops?

Are you really telling us, Mr Erik Logan, that the WSL Finals were more popular than last year’s NBA conference finals, watched by an average of 7 million viewers (East) and 6.7 million (West)?

The 2022 Champions’ League Final between Liverpool and Real Madrid averaged just 2.76 million viewers in the US. Granted, soccer is still a growing sport in North America, but it’s significantly more popular than surfing.

Plain and simple: the WSL’s numbers are ludicrous. It’s a campaign of such deliberate misinformation and manipulation of statistics that it amounts to sheer lies.

The quest for data is a goldrush. It’s the mark of Erik Logan’s media savvy, if you could call it that. Whilst new for surfing, it’s hardly an original tactic. In fact, internet culture is predicated on it.

Consider TikTok, the app that has monetised our attention and vanity like no other. By the numbers, TikTok crushes all else. Where Instagram or YouTube offered millions, TikTok gives you trillions. Nevermind overnight fame, TikTok can make you famous in a few hours.

But where are these views coming from? What does it mean? How are they generated? What exactly constitutes a “view”?

These are questions no-one knows the answer to. TikTok is owned by the Chinese company, ByteDance, and they’re not exactly transparent.

Do the end users of the app care? Not in the least. They just see numbers. They don’t question them.

The WSL strategy is no different: here are some numbers that look impressive. Nevermind the evidence.

Fiddling the numbers may work in the short term. If the play is to make the WSL look like a catch so Ziff can offload it, then Logan and his campaign of nonsense is bang on. But if they really care about long term stability, the core fanbase, or the quality of the product on offer, the strategy is sorely wanting.

Where does this less-than-inviting schedule leave Medina and Florence? There should be little debate that these are the two most talented and well-rounded male surfers in the world. But would you, in their shoes, be motivated to return?

Is John Florence likely to tie up Vela and forgo chasing empty waves in the South Pacific to scratch around in the mush at Trestles, or be ousted by Filipe Toledo in a knee-threatening air show?

As for us, we’ll still watch, like the black and blue spouse who swears it doesn’t happen often. He’s just under a lot of stress, you see. Things will get better. It’s my fault, really.

But although the WSL may not lose us or care if it does, it should very much care about losing its stars.

The machinations of the WSL are nothing short of Orwellian. They do not hear, they do not care.

And in Orwellian fashion, only those who keep the machine going, the surfers themselves, have the power to do anything about it. Not that they ever will.

And who can blame them? Look how their little petition was scrumpled and dismissed after Margaret River.

We have made these decisions for YOU.

It is in YOUR BEST INTERESTS to DO WHAT WE SAY.

DO NOT QUESTION our strategies or structure.

But unlike Orwell’s proles, living in blissful ignorance of the meagre existence they are subjected to, the competitors on the WCT, men and women of the world as they are, surely know that the Tour schedule (and arguably, structure) is not as it should be. They know better waves exist.

They might squeak dissent in private, yet none seem willing to stand against Eric Logan’s cult of personality. Instead, they will shut up and get on with it.

They will begin the season at Pipe, knowing full well it should be the end.

They will return to Kelly’s Ranch, each sweltering and seething silently in the stink of Lemore’s heat. Nodding graciously to Kelly as they pass his trailer. “Yes, sir. Thankyou, sir. Please, sir, may we have some more?”

And they will trudge despondently back to Trestles, neutered and spayed by a venue that makes professional surfing look like it has all the verve of a model railway exhibition.

If you want a picture of the future, imagine Eric Logan’s clean Vans stamping on the face of surf culture – forever.

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Hawaiian big-wave superstar dubbed “world’s smartest surfer” lists million-dollar North Shore loft with golf-course frontage for rent, features “incredible amenities” including TV, couch and ceiling fans!

As well, "table and chairs for dining"!

It is difficult not to ladle superlative upon superlative when describing Nathan Florence, the middle brother of that storied clan, which also includes his two-time world champion and Olympian brother John John and little bro, the skate shredder Ivan.

Nathan Florence, who is twenty-eight and named after the son of the Hebrew King David, is widely regarded as the “world’s smartest surfer”, which ain’t much, I know, a very shallow pool indeed. Like the best white linebacker in the NFL or best Jewish sprinter or wielder of the biggest sword in all of Thailand.

Still, how many pro surfers were gobbling novels when they were six and who’ll reference French author Guy Sajer’s seminal wartime novel The Forgotten Soldier?

Nathan is the the most engaging of the three brothers, and gets his quirky, literary side from his Daddy John, I think, who wrote in his tell-all memoir eight years ago.

“I am natural flirt. I enjoy making people smile, chuckle, laugh. I am very sexual by nature. I was raised that way. I have always enjoyed the whole sexual innuendo sort of suggestion in general conversation. Something that would make a person raise an eyebrow while giving a sly knowing smile back. Very sexual in every way to a fault or not, I am not sure but this is simply how I interact with everyone from passengers at my tables to coworkers, friends and girlfriends.”

Anyway, Nathan has listed his gorgeous North Shore condo at the Kuilima Estates East community, four miles east of Pipe.

The two-bedroom loft was designed “provide guests with an elevated design aesthetic with a feel-good comfortability.”

The gorgeous North Shore of Oahu! A dream come true!
Simple but luxurious loft bedroom.
Many subtle tones and textures.

The amenities, writes its famous owner, “are incredible. It features a television, large sectional couch, free Wi-Fi, ceiling fans, air conditioning, table and chairs for dining, and a day bed. The kitchen is fully equipped and features a stovetop, dishwasher, water dispenser, Keurig coffeemaker, microwave, plates, bowls, cups, and utensils. Furthermore, in the community there is a pool, charcoal BBQ area, tennis courts and gazebo.”

Book it for nine days over Christmas and it’ll cost a reasonable seven thousand American dollars.

Inspect, book, here.

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Surf fans break out in spontaneous celebration as World Surf League iconoclast Jessi Miley-Dyer named Sports Business Journal’s “Game Changer” for 2022!

Party poppers!

The wins just keep on coming for the World Surf League in the glorious afterglow of Filipe Toledo and Steph Gilmore’s season finale wins there on Lower Trestles’ cobbled stone. There was, of course, the robust numbers making Final’s Day the most watched moment in professional surfing history, some 8.3 million people and counting. There was the roll out of the 2023 season, seeking to capitalize on growth and excitement by re-introducing Kelly Slater’s Surf Ranch back on to tour.

And now, the League’s own Senior Vice-President of Tours, Head of Competition Jessi Miley-Dyer has been named one of the year’s “Game Changers” according to the august Sports Business Journal.

The iconoclast made a name for herself this year by kicking Joel Tudor out of longboarding and being equality.

In accepting the accolade, Miley-Dyer wrote, “The @sportsbusinessjournal list of Game changers for 2022 comes out today. Incredibly honored to be included in this group of women.”

Praise from surf fans as spontaneous as it was uproarious.

Mark Zuckerberg’s one-time BFF Kai Lenny posted, “Congrats” with raise the roof emojis.

Ultimate Surfer and Bachelor host Jesse Palmer added, “YESSSSSS” with clapping hands.

USA Surfing forwent words and only used clapping hands and mini bonfires.

Sports Business Journal, big ship in the harbor, also clapped but only twice as compared with USA Surfing’s four plus fire.

On it went, on and on and on but how did you celebrate?

Or are you still sending invitations to surf fan friends?

Party popper!

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