"Before I really understood what was happening a lifeguard had me in a neck brace and an ambulance was on its way."
We surfers know the dangers of our second favorite pastime (after hunting the finest foie gras) and don’t take paddling out into the ocean lightly. Ever. Except maybe for those days where warm offshore winds tickles a Surfline 3 – 4 feet of beachbreak swell (actual wave heights 1 – 2 feet) but even then the terrors of a rogue leashless longboard or stepping on a stingray are ever present.
And let us become introduced to Kurt Braunohler, a beloved comic named “Top 10” by Variety, a few decades ago, and hailed for making the audience “see things that were always there but never noticed” by The New York Times.
Well, the ocean does not read reviews, good or bad, and dealt the 48-year-old a nearly life-changing blow, days ago. He reports:
I grew up surfing. I deeply love it. It’s a core part of how I understand myself. For the last two years I hadn’t gotten out much (kids, work, out-of-shape, etc), and it bummed me out. Two weeks ago I had a revelatory session. The best I’d had in years. I kept saying (out loud to no one) “I’m back baby!” I was stoked.
Two days later I was psyched to go out again. 15 minutes in. i drop in, the wave closes out and catches me on the head and drills me head first into a very shallow sand bar. My neck bent in a scary way. I heard a breaking noise. In my 35 years of surfing I’ve never had anything like it happen. I was pretty scared.
I (thankfully) walked out of the water, bleeding and disoriented. Before I really understood what was happening a lifeguard had me in a neck brace and an ambulance was on its way. Spent the day at the hospital and got it scanned. I’m very lucky there’s no bone damage. (My thanks to the lifeguards and paramedics who helped me.)
I was stuck for a while between feeling grateful to be alive and angry that it happened. But I’m letting the grateful side win. Thank you. thank you. thank you. I’m grateful to be able to walk the dog. I’m grateful to have dinner with my kids (who won’t stay seated for more than 30 seconds). I’m grateful to my wife for dropping everything and racing to the hospital to bring my glasses and buy me Jersey Mike’s and lift things for me. I Love you. I’m so happy to be here.
A real wake up call.
A “graphic” warning was included in the slide show and vulnerable adult learners are encouraged to not look at this image here.
Fans immediately flooded Braunohler’s feed with heartfelt well wishes including funny man Bert Kreischer whom you certainly know from the Ryan Reynolds’ film made on his life, Van Wilder, his standup, podcast or love of BeachGrit. Leaning into the latter, “The Machine” penned “@beach.grit headlines???”
Though the whole business is six days in the rearview, The People’s™ surf portal is always willing to lend a hand, thus, “Former top ten comic nearly breaks neck in eldritch surf wipeout.”
Not the best but often good enough is good enough.
Or, in the parlance of BeachGrit, “We sometimes sort of try.
Any real surfer knows you shine work, family and the kids for waves. Anybody who has broken their neck knows you don’t almost break your neck. You either break it or you don’t. Dude got a raspberry on his noggin.
I’m often stuck between grateful to be alive and angry. Happens to the best of us, champ.
At least its regular
Starlink.
Solar. Backup generators.
Digging the well, along with digging below frost line channel ditches for plumbing the cabin was the first thing I did after establishing the footprint for the cabin and conex containers
I goose so!
Angry gorillas are scary.
Neck injuries are no joke
lol
Too bad buddy didn’t say he saw a shark just prior to the sandbank suplex. We could’ve got 6 more articles outta this.
apropos to nothing in the above story, somewhere Otto is doing cartwheels in a field full of wildflowers while Happy C tosses him grapes: https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/d8aad6cc-6d7c-4f4e-80e7-806a4aef96ad.pdf?itid=lk_inline_manual_4
My cartwheels tend to more resemble that one janky shopping cart wheel that just refuses to be a team player, heading right while the other three trike ahead.
it was the right decision. Jack Smith was not vetted by Congress, and as such, it’s like appointing a private citizen lawyer to prosecute a case that involves top secret intelligence. You just can’t do that. The rules are clear. This was the one case that concerned me the most.
Does that mean every special counsel (prosecutor) since Watergate, including Robert Hur, were against the rules? We do have a thing known as legal precedent in this cuntry which are supposed to apply to everyone. Seems to get forgotten.
in Otto’s defense, and god knows I don’t love defending his side of the line, the issue was that the former special counsel statute passed by Congress lapsed, and was never renewed, and so while at least some of the prior special counsels were specifically authorized by Congressional law, Smith was only authorized by regs adopted by the DOJ without the force of congressional action.
But there were other special counsels, I suppose even Hur, who were authorized under the same regime as Smith so would also be suspect.
We’ll see what happens on appeal. Probably moot if Trump wins in November.
You seem to be disregarding the appointment of Danforth by Reno, Fitzgerald by Comey, Mueller by Rosenstein, and Durham by Barr. All special counsels appointed by AG between 1999 and 2017 while the statute was expired. I am definitely not a political specialist but those all seem to contradict your claim.
Apologies for not being more clear — I wasn’t being comprehensive by mentioning Hur, just noted because you mentioned him. You are correct, multiple special counsels were appointed outside the lapse of the statute, but not every one of them since Watergate, since the statute was in place for roughly 20-ish years between Watergate and 1999. As noted, an appeals court might reverse, we’ll see.
And precedent seems to be in the eye of the beholder – there is a comment in a Supreme Court decision from the 70s that would imply that special counsels are permissible even without the explicit congressional statute, but in today’s decision J. Cannon said that was just a stray comment by SCOTUS and not worthy of being followed as precedent.
So bottom line – we’ll see.
Prior to 1999, Congress provisions governed Independent Counsels. Think Kenneth Starr, also the guy who investigated the Iran-Contra affair and all the way back to Watergate.
After 1999, the Department of Justice created their department overseeing Appointment of Special Counsel when the DOJ felt itself had a conflict of interest or the appointment was in the interest of the public.
The fact is that this lack of Congressional oversight and confirmation should have been addressed back in 1999.
I read her opinion. There’s a lot of yelping about it, but it seemed like something that would appeal to the current SCOTUS majority (not to mention it tracked J.Thomas’s concurrence).
Looks like he was at El Porto from the selfie. Of course it happened at El Porto.
Clearly this was AI written, not a typo, missing word or grammar error. Do better! (meaning worse)
I’m greatful he knew how to spell grateful. Could’ve been a long day
Seems like he dosent understand himself all that often.
How often are you understanding yourself these days?
I hardly understand myself at all in winter.
I’m pretty confused with myself too
Perhaps you’re just not that pretty.
Try starting with “I’m not that ugly.”
this happened six days ago?
damn European time zones.