Watch: Go-for-broke surfer Dane Reynolds in “I am the happiness of this world!”

A too short but utterly lovely collection of one of the best surfers around.

If one were to give human semblance to the America of today, this hated and often misunderstood country, I would choose Dane Reynolds to be the model.

I would choose him as he is now, in the middle of his thirty-fifth year, in the midst of maturity full of pain.

This body is heavy, massive like the country that gave him birth. Short arms, dainty hands.

When he surfs he becomes like a  cowboy of the Westerns: ready to fire his guns at the drop of a hat, getting into a rage at the least provocation.

Essential viewing, as always.

Load Comments

Surfing’s thriller moment: Flashy son of former world number two stars in “Enough virginity, hypocrisy, censorship, restrictions. Pleasure is preferred to sorrow!”

Also, includes brief lesbian kiss and a big spin… 

Noah Beschen, the Hawaiian-born son of former world number two Shane Beschen, is no boy. He’s a real man, a man who lives his life in reality, not waiting for kingdom come.

And flashy as all hell.

This five-minute edit which is called YRUYNN (Why are you whining), wraps Noah’s not inconsiderable talent in a phantasmagoric, and vaguely demonic, fantasy that calls to mind Hugh Hefner’s Gold Room where stereophonic music, drinks and erotic opportunities abound.

Come for the Big Spin at Waco, stay for a glimpse of girl-girl caress.

Load Comments

Kelly Slater on John John Florence: “Inevitably, between he and I, there’s a level of ‘uncomfortability’”

Trailer for two-time world champ’s new film, Tokyo Rising, explores rivalry between the boy and the master.

To cut a long story short, Kelly Slater, who is almost forty-nine, and John John Florence, just turned twenty-eight, have the sort of rivalry that has, so far, dipped under the radar.

But as John John Florence’s new movie Tokyo Rising, a road-to-the-Olympics documentary reveals, there’s a level of level of antipatico between the two.

Simpatico is someone for whom you would jump into the river, in winter, to save from drowning; antipatico is someone you would calmly observe drowning in the river, someone you would refuse to help, even it is a very hot day in summer and you are dreaming of a nice swim.

Kelly wants, very much, to compete in the Tokyo Games; John John challenges Kelly to a duel and is quicker on the draw.

Compelling.

Tokyo Rising, out Thursday, on Amazon Prime Video.

Load Comments

Watch: Finger-banging felon gives hell to Wavegarden’s new bolt-on air section at South Korean wavepool: “Stark-white hair, beaky nose, thin lips, piercing gaze!”

The jewel in a three-billion dollar crown.

Haven’t touched the newly opened Wavegarden in Siheung, South Korea, on BeachGrit, even if it is the biggest of its sort in the worLd, even if pools do transport me to the most elevated heights of ecstasy, even if it is, rather clearly, an excellent reproduction of an ocean wave.

Initial thoughts: The pool didn’t look that much bigger than Melbourne although its little bolt-on air section did make me want to caress its secret, flagrant places with an eager tongue.

The tank is the centrepiece of a real estate development.

Dunno, maybe ’cause travelling is difficult and expensive and there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d get there within the next twelve months.

Anyway, this short features La Jolla’s Jacob “Zeke” Szekely (a man with stark-white hair, beaky nose, thin lips and a piercing gaze), whom you might remember from an Instagram post where he stomped the world’s first-ever Jazzy Fizzle Finger Bang, and Wavegarden founder, the Basque engineer Josema Odriozola’s kids Hans and Kai.

Water blue, ramps real and part of a three-billion dollar real estate play.

A miracle.

Load Comments

Full-length feature: How an IT specialist (and magazine) exposed the world’s best secret wave!

"I committed to nothing else. Logging some serious late-night hours online, I focused on studying the country, the terrain and bathymetry, the people, the marine life, weather-patterns, the cost, travel, logistics…"

Secrets, who needs ’em? 

Mirage, the ever-changing story of Skeleton Bay is a well-constructed and often discomfiting portrait of a wave, fiercely protected by a cadre of locals and South African surfers, that was  brokered to the world by a magazine and a computer nerd in 2008.

The Google Earth challenge was a Surfing magazine initiative to shoot a little out of the box, readers using the then new Google Earth tech to discover secret waves.

Deal was, you tell the mag, they let you join a photo shoot to the joint.

Brian Gable, an IT specialist, was a runner-up to the contest in 2007 (a wave in Western Sahara was chosen though no trip was made).

His loss drove him nuts.

As he wrote in the now-defunct Surfer,

“From that moment, I committed to nothing else. Logging some serious late-night hours online, I focused on studying the country, the terrain and bathymetry, the people, the marine life, weather-patterns, the cost, travel, logistics, etc. I corresponded with locals halfway around the world. Obsessed and possessed, I selfishly put personal and professional duties aside and spent my days formulating the ultimate package for the ultimate magazine surf trip. To me, it wasn’t just a free adventure for myself. It was a chance to prove that the gem I found not only stood up to every other world-class setup, but was on the very short list at the top. Then, on Wednesday, Sep 19, 2007 at 10:03 AM, I got the call. First prize, the Indians take the pennant, the whole freakin’ enchilada!”

Skeleton Bay, of course, is now a photo studio, many pro’s and so on.

Better than snorting crystal blow, as old-timers used to say.

 

Load Comments