It's impressive to see that you're non-judgmental & that you don't place yourself on a pedestal above others.
I get what he's saying, full timers don't really relate to part timers, and that's true. Most of those who aren't committed to the lifestyle, just don't get it. It's not that they are less of a person, they are just less of a surfer. I was once there, so I get it. He may sound like a d*ck about it, but when you have someone who hardly ever paddles out trying to talk to you as though they are an authority on the sport / lifestyle, it can be a bit annoying, as you know full well they have no clue, because you do it every day / week, and that type of experience will make you see things differently than the summertime pro or part timer. IDK, I don't judge anybody who wants to give it a try, because I hope others can get bit by the bug like I have and enjoy the same level of stoke / happiness that I receive from it; it's just those who POSE as something they are not just to try and RELATE to you and feel like they are on your wave length because they too have "surfed" is what gets me.
100%. I recorded it via on-demand a few months back and have watched it probably 20x since. Awesome flick. Give me your list, as I feel like I've seen most of the more celebrated ones but you'll have ones to suggest that I haven't seen. Not a documentary, but have you seen Drift? It's like a better and different Chasing Mavs, minus the incredibly smoking and resilient to aging Elizabeth Shue.
Not sure I can agree with that one. I doubt I will ever surf everyday because I cannot stand surfing <3ft waves. Does this make me less of a surfer? Perhaps in some eyes but I always thought it was about how hard you shred not about how much time you spend in the water.
+1 Got it on BlueRay, one of fav's but still have Thicker Than Water at the top of my rotation right now, no matter how many times I watch it that vid gets me in the mood to paddle out every time, the music is on point, by far my favorite at this moment. Also, The Pursuit is a solid one to check out if you haven't already. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IY5HnXGM5uU
To it's their own, but I always thought it was about being in the water as much as possible and being stoked, not "shredding hard", sure I want to do well out there, but "shredding hard" has never been a goal I aspire to. But if that's what surfing is to YOU, then that's you brotha, nobody is going to keep you from that. Surfing 1-3 foot waves brings me great happiness, not sure why it wouldn't others, but that's what it is to me.
I'm sure you guys can add dozens more, but here's a few good preliminary schitt tests: 1) Take him out for 3 consecutive days of dawn patrol and even better if it's in the rain. If he's not in time or "something came up", you got your answer. 2) Take him out on a day that is at a break with only one way out back and has at least moderate size and power, with short period sets that have at least 10 waves in them. If he gives up before he gets out back at least once, you've got your answer. 3) Ask him which of the following he prefers and why: glassed in rocker or removable rocker. If you get any answer at all other than a laugh, you've got your answer. 4) Same as #3, but replace question asking which of the two is the greatest of all time: Laird Slater or Kelly Hanilton. 5) Take him out to any break at any conditions but just be sure to bring a beater board you're not going to ride that day. Flip it over and start carefully waxing the underside of your board. Hand him a spare bar of wax and then keep getting some nice bumps all along your fins and concaves. If he does the same, you've got your answer.
Fair enough. Wasn't trying to knock your style. My stoke really only results from the adrenaline charged waves where you're not quite sure if you're going to make the drop, section, turn, etc.
Riding Giants - yes Movie described - Ride the Wild Surf. That makes Noll sick. guys sitting in a "pond and then riding down the face of a 25 foot wave."
bubonicphoniks is the 15th son of the Lama and the original Dali Lama of the SI Forum. Listen to this man. Digest his wisdom. He is the guy you accidentally drop in on and when you paddle back out to apologize he calmly says "It happens, man. Nice wave." As Yoda once said (and I paraphrase) "Surf or do not surf. There is no 'try'."
I hate getting asked to take someone surfing when I know they're not gonna catch the bug. I usually tell people to do a bunch of push ups every day for a month and then get back to me...No one usually gets back to me. Then there's the friends I know would love surfing and excel at it but just aren't willing to take the plunge due to laziness or lack of dinero. Whatever, it's a good thing it's not for everyone. It has taken me 10 years to get to the point where I can consider myself a half-way decent barely proficient surfer. And the only reason I made it to this point is my best friend was bit by the bug from the start, whereas it took me 6 or 7 years to get to that point.
Perhaps this will sum it up for everyone... As long as there are people that tell chicks "yeah, I surf" and they get laid, this will always exist. Civilization exists in order to impress the opposite sex. To paraphrase Dave Chappelle, men don't drive nice cars because they like them, they drive them because women like nice cars. If a guy could get laid in a cardboard box, he'd never get a house.
No I haven't been able to score that or September Sessions from JJ. On Demand has a ridiculously high quantity of documentaries, other surf classics, and surf B-movies and so does weird cable channels if you do a search and DVR them. I've hot all the more notable ones by now, cheesy or not. In God's Hands took a while to show up on cable but it did. Same with Step Into Liquid and got that on DVR for good but had already borrowed the DVD by then and watched it 12x. Search through the cable and On Demand and you'll find surfing b-movies none of us have ever heard of. I'm with you about putting them on all the time just because. I'll typically have something on for an hour or so before dawn patrol as I get my schitt together. When I'm just bumming around the crib at night resting or getting work done I'll have one of them playing for the 15th time even if I'm not glued to the screen. Friends know that by coming over to the crib at any point they've signed the disclaimer that there will be a surf flick on. They don't mind since a handful of them ride or skate and the rest still get good grinders and adult bevvies while here. It's funny when the chicks say "wasn't this on the other night?" when it's a whole different vid but looks the same to the outsider (not Ponyboy or Darry). What's taken things to a new level of free enjoyment has been using the adapter from the laptop to HDMI for the big screen to play full-length vids off the Net and using the aux jack into the receiver for sound. Endless supply then. PB&J my good brah, I can understand your stance on TS acting like he "invented the thruster" when it comes to the surf vid culture and you've been in the game long enough to get jaded on just about anything. He has put a ton of rad stuff out there and if it's not hilarious (Stranger Than Fiction was brilliant, c'mon) then it's a thought-provoking doc. Any of you tekkies got more server space than I do words and feel like having an online library of surf films available for the SI loyals? The admin/owners were good enough to put up Storm Surfers for us but not sure if they'd fancy doing it for all other films in history. Keep throwing out the titles brahs. I know it's been done before but I already got through all those.
Two weeks ago I showed up at my usual spot as quickly as I could after work (can't ALWAYS skip it when there's a mortgage to pay) and found a large number of guys were in the lot packing it in after their sessions. "You should have been here earlier. It completely shut down about 45 minutes ago!" "That's a shame and all, but I'm still going to sit on my board for a couple of hours." Turned out to be a very fun session. The ocean was bathwater and things picked up after 20 minutes. Definitely beat anything else I would have been doing. Kooky or not, it's worth my time whether it's Lake Atlantic or HH.
All good man, definitely didn't take it as a knock on my style, we just see things a little differently is all, and that's ok. I think what happens for some people is they become jaded, what once got them excited (1-3 footers) no longer has the same effect, as they have grown in the skill department and NEED a challenge to get that same type of "high" they once got. Laird Hamilton talks about this a bit, it takes a 30 footer for him to get the juices flowing sometimes, I think it's from being desensitized, it happens in all types of things. The bar just gets raised higher and higher until one day you just don't get stoked anymore, unless it's death defying, I get it, I just don't think I'll ever get that way, I try to be thankful for any wave that is rideable, but then again I grew up on the Gulf and have been traveling to the E. Coast most my life. I'll be full-time on the E. Coast in about 3 months, so hopefully I don't eat my words by having unlimited access for extended periods of time.
Very well-said K2. Isn't Chappelle making a comeback? Not gonna lie. So much of what my animal brain tells me to do from the minute I wake up in the morning (or several mornings prior) is instrumental to mating in some direct or indirect way. That said, I'm probably more sick of the base-level, kook-type interviewing that comes from chicks than wannabe dudes. EVERY girl will immediately say "I want to learn how to surf" once they find out you do, but not every dude. "Sure (insert wahine's name), I'll teach you to surf. But first, we've got to review some out of the water basics. It's not great to do those in the sand since you'll get some in your teeth. I've got a great yoga may at my place that works perfectly we can start you on. Wear a two-piece because it's much more difficult to move on a board the more you're wearing."
Hell you couldn't tell I surf if it wasn't for my sick circle tan all winter. I find my wife's reaction to people telling her, "oh your husband surfs, that's sexy." Anyone who is married or long term with someone and surfs know how "sexy" they think it is!
Right on, brah. The chowdah spoken by parking lot monkeys or sand gnats or even the cats just coming in from the water are too often like Ben Stiller in the AI Fair Bits clip that was posted yesterday so graciously by cipriano. I go out morning, day, night, afternoon, dawn, dusk in flat, chop, peelers, good swell, bad swell, no swell, gee that's swell, and I'm never disappointed if I expect nothing and give thanks to anything that comes my way. For me, there's always some type of skill I can work on no matter how bad or flat the conditions are. Stay out long enough and you'll always see a set or two that you're stoked to hop on even if it's because you were staring into a oceanic lake for 90 minutes and a 12-incher looks as tasty as a 12-footer. Waves or no waves, you're in the water on the ocean exercising your autonomy and true nature. If that's not time well-spent when the rest of the world feels imprisoned, then get the hell out of the water before you pollute it.
Isn't that funny? It never fails, as others are leaving and as you are getting in they'll always tell you "you shoulda been here earlier / yesterday", they even make a joke of it in The Endless Summer, it's been going on for years. It's like they want you to be jealous of the session they got but you didn't. Too funny man. I'm with you though, definitely worth the paddle out no matter what if you made the decision to go. Sometimes it's not as big as you hoped, but who cares, you'll make fun out of it if you want to. It's all a mindset.
