Obama’s Way
From Michael Lewis’s recent article in Vanity Fair: Aboard Air Force One, I’d asked him what he would do if granted a day when no one knew who he was and he could do whatever he pleased. How would he spend it? He didn’t even have to think about it: When I lived in Hawaii, […]
California’s Central Coast
Apropos my last post about surfing in California, T, the New York Times style magazine, released its fall travel issue this weekend, and it features an extended look at California’s central coast. The tips—perfect for surfers passing through the region—are slowly being made available online. I travel for food as much as for anything else, so […]
A Weekend Surfing “The Wedge”
Hawaiian pro surfer Jamie O’Brien keeps up with National Weather Service reports. A few weekends ago, when he saw an alert that Orange County, California, had a high surf advisory, he did the opposite of what most people would do: he packed his bags and headed straight there. A gallery of pictures and a story […]
Warhol’s Surf Film to Premiere at MoMA in October
Artdaily brings us some good news via the Andy Warhol Museum: Warhol’s film San Diego Surf will have its world premiere screening at The Museum of Modern Art on Tuesday, October 16, 2012. San Diego Surf was filmed in La Jolla, California, about 30 miles down the coast from Los Angeles, in May, 1968. It was filmed in […]
The Annual New York Times Latin America Travel Section
Last weekend the New York Times published its annual issue featuring Latin American getaways. It includes stories on Managua, Nicaragua; Bogotá, Colombia; food destinations in Mexico City—not in Latin America, I know!—and Buenos Aires; and more. Most relevant to readers of this site, however, is an article on Chile’s surf coast. From that last story: About […]
NYC Surf Film Festival
The fifth annual New York Surf Film Festival starts next week at Nitehawk in Williamsburg. Check out this year’s lineup and get your tickets while you can.
The Onjuku Surf Shack
Designed by Japanese firm Bakoko, the Onjuku Surf Shack was built for an international couple who loves to surf. It can be opened to the ocean breezes and is located in a coastal fishing village approximately ninety minutes from Tokyo. Click through to The Fox Is Black to watch a two-minute video demonstrating the house’s […]
Bushwick on the Beach
The New York Times is apparently in love with Rockaway Beach. Several articles this summer have celebrated our new “Bushwick on the Beach,” such as “Boardwalk? Try Catwalk” by Guy Trebay in June. Just a few weeks ago there was this riveting article about what happens when the sun goes down: As the sun dips below the […]
Surfers Against Sewage, “Protect Our Waves”
The UK-based group Surfers Against Sewage has launched a new campaign called Protect Our Waves. It is meant to raise awareness about the environmental hardships faced by surf spots on that side of the Atlantic. Here’s a further description: The campaign aims to protect surf spots from unacceptable levels of environmental impact, degradation of surfing […]
The Italian Surf Academy
Growing up in Italy, guitarist Marco Cappelli had little exposure to surf music, but what he heard he liked. As the Wall Street Journal notes in a profile of Cappelli, he learned mostly from the scores to spaghetti western films. “It was not very systematic, my approach,” said Mr. Cappelli, who is 47, last week by phone […]
Saltwater Buddha
Mention that you’ve visited a surf mecca in Costa Rica, and a surprising number of people in your life reveal their own connections to the ocean. Yesterday someone I know mentioned that the best book he has read this summer is Jaimal Yogis’ Saltwater Buddha, which was published a few years ago. Here’s a review […]
Surfland Revisited
Last chance to see these beautiful portraits by Joni Sternbach at Rick Wester Fine Art in NYC. Exhibit closes tomorrow, August 10.
Web Surfing for Stories on Surfing
My blogging colleague Lauren has posted several highlights from the time we recently spent in Costa Rica. I’ve savored looking through my holiday photos, but when I need an extra shot of fantasy-getaway images, I’ve taken to looking up the “surfing” tag on travel websites. Here are a few to whet your appetite for an […]
Got Wood?
This weekend marks the fourth annual Wooden Surfboard celebration in Australia. In honor of the occasion, we asked Grant Newby, the founder of the day who has a blog about wooden boards, a few questions about this passion: HB: Could you explain why wood is good? Newby: I believe people from all walks of life have […]
Dropping In with Mark Cunningham
How is your relationship with board surfers in the water? In Hawaii we’re very tolerant of all forms of ocean recreation. Boogie boarding is crazy popular here. At Pipeline more often than not the lineup is mostly bodyboarders. Some lineups are more suitable for longboarding, certain waves are better for short boards, etc.; but occasionally […]
Stephanie Gilmore’s Surf-Beauty Tips
T Magazine has some helpful beauty tips from twenty-four-year-old Stephanie Gilmore, the Aussie pro surfer who just won her fifth ASP Women’s World title. J.E-L.: Which products do you use? S.G.: My skin is pretty sensitive and the saltwater dries it out. Sunscreens can clog your pores, and then, because the saltwater is cleansing your skin anyway, […]
Learning to Surf in Queens
Some New Yorkers have long known there are good surf spots within the city limits. Now that knowledge is spreading, and the New York Times reports on surf lessons at Rockaway Beach, a small corner of Queens that has also become something of a hipster summer hangout. I knew people surfed in the Rockaways; I just […]
Sentenced to Surf
An unusual form of punishment for young offenders in France: surf rehabilitation. Don’t miss this great article about kids who are sentenced to three months of surfing on the coast of France from Drift Surfing writer and photographer, Carly Lorente: Kids from all over France are being sent to a detention centre on the Basque coast […]
Chris Johanson, Encinitas Realization
This is my first movie. It’s a self-help film about individuality and what individuals pick and choose from society and culture to make our uniqueness. Although there is some tongue in cheek humor energy in the film, it is none the less about issues that I think are very serious and more than humorous. —Chris […]
Ron Church, California to Hawaii
First published in 2007 and now a rare collector’s item, photographer Ron Church’s California to Hawaii, 1960-1965Â documents “the last moments of a small and innocent brand of west coast surf culture before it became swallowed up by today’s wave jockeying, plastic surfboards, and manufactured surf wear.” The book was co-published by T. Adler Books and […]
Thomas Campbell, Slide Your Brains Out
Later this summer, Um Yeah Press will release Thomas Campbell’s Slide Your Brains Out: Surfing in General, 1997-2012. Here’s a description: Growing up in southern California, artist, photographer and filmmaker Thomas Campbell was raised on the DIY aesthetic of the early 1980s skateboarding culture. Photography tips came from like-minded fellow photographers employed in the skateboarding […]
Shops for Urban Surfers in New York
My last post mentioned the new surf-themed exhibition at Partners & Spade, a shop in New York’s Nolita neighborhood. Yesterday, the New York Times‘ “Critical Shopper” column browsed Saturdays Surf NYC and Pilgrim Surf + Supply, two surf stories in the Big Apple. Surferesqueness was the order of the day, for staff and customer and […]
M.Nii at Partners & Spade, New York
Partners & Spade, a shop in New York City, regularly hosts exhibitions. “M.Nii” has just opened, featuring found pieces and art by Mark Cunningham. It’s all about the culture of surfing, and features surfboard fins, vintage surf books, barnacled watches, swim trunks, and the like. See more pictures at the blog The Fox Is […]
