Surf Culture in the Mainstream?

This is kinda BS, so many crappy products show images of surfing, are you so desensitized you miss it? capri sun much?


just google Miklos Dora or start here: http://www.mickeydora.com/Letter Pages/BIARRITZ_1984_JUNE_30.html

Ironic that his counter culture rants are for sale...did I say Ironic? I meant sickening......

http://www.surfersjournal.com/journal_entry/miki-dora

My whole life is this wave. I drop into it, set the whole thing up, bottom turn, pull up into it and shoot for my life, going for broke, man. And behind me all the **** goes over my back -- the screaming parents, screaming teachers, police, priests, politicians, kneeboarders, windsurfers, they're all going over the falls and hitting the reef head first." -- Miki Dora

 

Thats a pretty funny and insightful quote. Starts out describing surfing as an escape to get away from nagging parents and teachers and by the of the sentence he's throwing fellow wave riders under the bus. Next guy in the lineup: FU!

 

I saw someone surfing well and knew I was going to do it. it had nothing to do with 'starting to consistently get barreled and pull off maneuvers I worked so hard to do.' freedom is what it's all about for me,from people and rules that restrict me, from man-made crap.riding a wave,nature,the ocean,the feeling of doing that which defies imagination.purity,beauty,love,joy,peace is all in surfing,if that is why you pursue it,if that is why you do it,if that is what you seek.
ride the wave in to the shore
you don't have to look no more
glide away and forget your
search for what you're lookin' for
droppin' in
cruise along
makin' it
perfect song

 

I hear ya, but I don't take that as exploitation. A surf board on the front of a Capri Sun package doesn't affect the surf community at all. I don't expect Capri Sun to donate money because they use a cartoon board. I mean, that happens to every entertainment industry in the world. Basketball. Tennis. Gold. I mean, icons and logos are always using that stuff. Baseball bats. Skateboards. None of that affects basketball as a whole. That's just an image.

Thats like me getting upset at a Holister store. I walked in one before. There were surf boards hanging on the walls. They have never been used. There were photos all over the wall of male models on the beach with boards under their arms staring out into the ocean... Those guys are not surfers. Holister is named after a surf private surf Ranch outside Santa Barbara. The company has nothing to do with surfing at all... Thats more on the exploitation side, but thats life....

Is Ralph Lauren exploiting the sport of Polo by putting models in outfits that actually dont play polo?

My point is surfing doesn't get any more exploited than anything else in the world.

There is nothing in the mainstream that is making a ton of money, only because they are exploiting the surf industry.... At least I can't think of any. I mean, one of my Jamaican employees always wears a Holister Surf shirt. I asked him if he has ever surfed. He said no. I mean, I am not offended by that and I certainly don't feel exploited, or like the guy is a poser because he wears a surf...

Every beach Tee shirt shop in every beach town in the WORLD sells the "Lifeguard" tees and hoodies. like "Ocean City Maryland Lifeguard"... Is that exploiting lifeguards? No... People just think its cool.

Lifeguarding is cool. Surfing is cool. I have no problem with people that identify what we do as being pretty awesome, because it is....

Old guys that never golf or have never golf go out any buy "Masters" polo shirts. And expensive Golf sweaters... Thats not exploiting anything....

Kids that wear Lebron James Jerseys are not exploiting basketball....

Michael Jordan in all his gatorade commericals wasn't exploiting kids, or basketball, or gatorade....

We live in a capitalist society... You have to make money. People have to turn a profit. Just because surfing may help that sometimes doesn't mean its exploitation....

If anything, its shedding more light on what we do, and it is also giving us credit. Its making the rest of the world trying to mimic what we do.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery.... I just think that people throw the term "exploited" around too much.

Are we as surfers being exploited? We buy expensive wetsuits and board, with huge logos on them. All we are doing are becoming walking billboards. Free advertising for the companies in which we just did business with... I mean, the more people at the beach wearing quiksilver wetsuits are going to increase quiksilver retail sales in all the tourist shops. Kids and families are going to buy the brands that they see the real surfers wearing...

So if you want to get all deep on exploitation, then you could go on all day long about pretty much every part of our lives being exploited. From the food we eat, to the music we listen to, to our political views and where we get our information from, to the fact that we are constantly monitored via email, via web searches... All of our data is gathered and we are exploited....

We are actually being exploited on this very website if you want to look at it that way. The targeted ads. The content...

I just don't buy into that. My answer to all this is, welcome to America. You think Hawaii does't "exploit" the surf culture for profit.... Sure they do... Of COURSE they do. But it keeps food in their peoples mouths. So to me, thats business as usual. Not exploitation.

 

Dang nabbit fellas. You're gonna scare away the third female to ever participate on this forum.

 

Nice.

I finally feel that way, but for many years, i was so obsessed with surfing. It was never enough. I dedicated so much time and effort, trying to perfect everything. I lost sleep over it. Thats all I would think about. it was only been in recent years that I just sit back and enjoy the fruits of my labors. Thats when you get all the joy, peace and love out of it.

Different strokes for different strokes, but I worked at it like it was a job at one point. Giving more effert than I had to give

 

I surf dare fore I is!

 

Look what you started 'stephmeister'. Shame on you.

 

She was a bot. And Buxton scared her away with creepy PMs and an invite to the hillside in the Terra. Can't knock the lad. We miss 100% of the shotts we don't take. Boy's gettin his kill count up there.

 

zach619, preach on.

Really, don't stop posting.

 

Zach, I hear you on this: "but I worked at it like it was a job at one point. Giving more effert than I had to give"


lost more than one job mis-using sick time and having a master other than the one that pays me

 

We go through different phases of commitment and perseverance where the source of our hustle differs from time to time. Our motive for effort will directly correlate into whether the outcome will be one of satisfaction or the greater outcome of joy.