Dennis Quaid turn in The Substance also very wonderful. Photo: The Substance
Dennis Quaid turn in The Substance also very wonderful. Photo: The Substance

First-ever dog inducted into Huntington Beach’s Surfer Walk of Fame!

Pup joins Kelly Slater and Ian Cairns in glorious memorialization.

Those who have not watched the new Demi Moore/Margaret Qualley film The Substance are truly missing out. Those who have, were treated to a fine show that featured many twists and turns, though it is the opening bit of interest to us, here. The sequence features a younger Moore receiving her star of the iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame. What is particularly absorbing, in the scene, is how those stars are actually embedded into the cement.

It is a painstaking process requiring much art and skill.

Intriguing, though I note because, today, Sugar the Surfing Dog became the first animal to be inducted to Huntington Beach’s Surfer Walk of Fame alongside Kelly Slater and Ian Cairns.

The 14-year-old pup was rescued by Ryan Rustan who reportedly battled drug addiction and mental health issues before adopting her. The phenom went on to win multiple World Dog Surfing Championships, Surf City Surf Dog and Purina Pro Plan Incredible Dog Challenge titles.

“I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that [Sugar] is exactly why I’d turn my life around, right here,” Rustan told The Los Angeles Times. “This is just so special.”

Mayor Pro Tem Casey McKeon declared from the dais, “We were working hard to try to find something to immortalize Sugar. We’re really grateful that the (Surfer Hall of Fame founding Aaron) Pai family made this happen today. Sugar will be forever immortalized in the Surfers’ Hall of Fame, that’s pretty amazing.”

Truly.

But back to the walk itself, it appears Huntington Beach has surfers and/or their dogs scribble in wet cement with a stick. Very rural patio. Maybe a more elevated process should be devised?

Well, David Lee Scales and I did not discuss any of that during our weekly chat though did have a long and passionate back-and-forth about soup. Scales prefers bone broth bases, chicken noodle topping his list. Lobster bisque is my favorite followed closely by French Onion.

Where do you land?

Listen here for inspiration.

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Koa Smith says new WSL tour sucks!
Koa Smith, honey skinned and shiny, barebacks WSL in online rant!

Ultimate surfer Koa Smith slam dunks new WSL tour with devastating golf analogy!

“This would be like having the tour players play Putt Putt to see who’s in the majors.”

The last time Koa Smith was on these pages was one year ago, extolling the virtues of charismatic faith healer Joe Spinoza.

The three-time NSSA champ, runner-up to Zeke Lau’s Ultimate Surfer and prized fashion model said he witnessed, first hand, own eyes, the miracle of the lame and crippled being gifted back the use of their legs, the sorta thing last seen in a pretty little town called Lourdes in the Pyrenees and, previously, when the noted Jewish preacher Jesus Christ put the paralysed back on their feet in the ancient Jewish provinces of Galilee and Judea.

“I saw people getting up out of wheel chairs. I saw canes in the trash and people cracking their hearts wide open and feeling true love for themselves!” claimed Smith. 

Today, Koa Smith, who is twenty-eight, has slam dunked the WSL’s new Challenger Series with a withering put-down on the WSL’s own Instagram page. 

The best surfer in the world should master all surfing elements.

Going to respectfully drop in here and paint a dream.

What if the challenger series offered an opportunity for the next generation of the sport to shine and show there worthiness in different aspects of surfing. So when they get to the CT they are ready!

Creating a well balanced schedule at consistent beach breaks. Point breaks lefts and right and a wave of consequence.

Exciting surfing, better waves, more views, more sponsors, better surfers!

Like collage football vs. NFL Same field younger players.

Or if golf is an example this would be like having the tour players play Putt Putt to see who’s in the majors.

After a little to and froing in the comment, Koa Smith laid out his dream tour.

1. Krui (left point)
2. Nias (right barrel or right point when it’s small)
3. Huntington Beach (beach breaks)
4. El Salvador (right point)
5. Haleiwa

You like?

As for the new Challenger Series, former tour surfer Davey Cathels responded simply, “Jesus Christ.”

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This is actually a snap the World Surf League sent out in its press release to promote the 2025 Challenger Series. Huntington Beach (Photo by Pat Nolan/World Surf League)
This is actually a snap the World Surf League sent out in its press release to promote the 2025 Challenger Series. Huntington Beach (Photo by Pat Nolan/World Surf League)

WSL wows surf fans by delivering “historically dull” Challenger Series schedule ahead of holidays!

Rise and grind.

Surf fans near and far woke up flabbergasted, this morning, properly wowed one and all. The World Surf League had delivered its Challenger Series schedule, overnight, and while expectations remain generally low, the itinerary was wildly tedious with some pundits describing it as “historically dull.”

Surfers with Championship Tour dreams will begin the journey in Newcastle, Australia this June before flying to Ballito, Huntington Beach, Ericeira then ending at Saquarema middle October.

There will be 80 men and 48 men on what some pundits are calling “the tedious tour.” 10 men and 7 women will be invited into the bigs at conclusion.

Travis Logie, WSL Senior Tour Manager, Challenger Series, attempted to put lipstick on a sloth, declared, “As we head into the 2025 Challenger Series season, the WSL is excited for new changes, including the increase in women’s qualifiers to the CT. We look forward to kicking the season off at the iconic Surfest Newcastle, and to see who will earn their spot in 2026.”

The 2025 Longboard Tour was announced at the same time with our cross-stepping brothers and sisters beginning in Huntington before going to Bells, Abu Dhabi and El Salvador.

No word, as of yet, from Tyler Wright on any of that.

If you had to participate in one of the two, would you Challenger or Longboard?

In case you forgot, “The World Surf League (WSL) is the global home of competitive surfing, crowning World Champions since 1976 and showcasing the world’s best surfing. The WSL oversees surfing’s global competitive landscape and sets the standard for elite performance in the most dynamic playing field in all of sports. With a firm commitment to its values, the WSL prioritizes the protection of the ocean, equality, and the sport’s rich heritage, while championing progression and innovation.”

Happy holidays.

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Surfing at Tel Aviv wavepool
The new Wavegarden tank in TA.

Tel Aviv just added a wavepool to its overflow of exquisite treats for visiting surfers!

A new joint in town to lay down the Hebrew Hammer!

While it isn’t the greatest time to visit to taste the exquisite fruits of the most progressive city in the whole of the Middle East, bombs aimed at it from five different enemies mean you gotta keep your head down, the opening of a wave pool there has made it a must-visit when the noise dies down, which it will. 

In Tel Aviv, and unlike Jerusalem a couple of hours drive away, there are no heavy vibes, religion is kept at arm’s length, mostly, along a promenade that runs along the ocean-front you’ll find 12 clicks of sometimes very good beachbreaks, jetties and reef, and now, on the outskirts of town, is a new Wavegarden tank.

There isn’t anything particularly special about this tank, but if you were ever thinking about a surf trip where the food, gals and hospitality are world-class, and you still get to wave your board around, think: Tel Aviv. 

It’ll be an eye opener for the Yay Palestine crowd. Where are the blood-thirsty hook-nosed Yahuds? Where is the so-called genocide?

I’m not a believer in cultural relativism and, therefore, throw my lot in with the brave Jew, in with the country that has produced six Nobel Prize-winning scientists since 2002, with its world-leading solar energy and space programs, cutting-edge stem-cell research, three of the most prestigious universities in the world, a country for whom equal rights between men and women is a no-brainer, where homosexuals don’t live in fear of murder or imprisonment. 

Read “Israel is the raddest surf trip on Earth!”, “What the Gudauskas Brothers got wrong about Israel”, “Let’s go schlepping, surfing gets into the 2021 Jewish Olympics!”, “Ozzie Wright sings King of the Jews!”, Movie: “The Hebrew Hammer!”.

Pre-sales for the pool close December 31 and the joint opens in March 2025.

And speaking of Jews, do you remember when Dane Reynolds groomed Eithan Osborne into becoming into a Hebrew Olympian? Oy vey! 

Ozzie Wright and Otis Carey had a helluva time there years back too!

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Josh Moniz wins first leg of Triple Crown harnessing mystical “insatiable form”

"I was just trying to get on the good waves and in the end it all worked out in my favor.”

The first leg of the Triple Crown of Surfing is now, officially, in the books though there would really be no way to know it. What was once the most important competitive month on the calendar, contests at Haleiwa, Sunset and Pipeline, has been degraded to a digital challenge. Done real dirty by the distressed cobbler Vans and the World Surf League, which gutted Oahu’s North Shore of importance when it moved the aforementioned Pipeline to the season opener,

Well, I am here to report that Josh Moniz won the opener harnessing what the World Surf League is describing as an “insatiable form.”

Moniz declared afterward, “It feels great to win. It’s been a while and I’ve had a pretty bumpy surf career competing so to have an event like this where it went smooth from start to finish is pretty cool. I can kind of feel that momentum again and be able to play at that level with all the big boys. I was just fired up to be in the water with a bunch of my friends and knew I had to surf good to win. I was just trying to get on the good waves and in the end it all worked out in my favor.”

Days before the event, he took Vans to task for excluding Jamie O’Brien from the Pipe Masters, hammering, “I usually keep my opinions to myself, but I’ll speak up if no one else will. This isn’t about me trying to get a invitation—it’s about what the Pipeline Masters represents to surfing and the respect that this wave and event deserve. Even if it means I may never surf in this event at Pipe again, I’m okay with that. I’ve had my moments winning events at Pipe, and I’m grateful for all of them. If speaking out helps even one person who deserves a chance but might never get it under the current system, then it’s all worth it.”

A win at Haleiwa once would have given him a clear shot at the Triple Crown, especially with a good Pipe result which would have been extra delicious after the above bash.

Dumb digital version.

Boo.

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