Hawaiian proves versatility, again
19-year-old Maui kid, Kai Barger, hasbecome the third Hawaiian to win the world junior championships. Following inthe illustrious prints of Andy Irons and 2009 WCT graduate Kekoa Bacalso,Barger downed number one seed Brazilian Jadson Andre en route to the crown. In other news, Australiahas continued it’s sub-standard run of results in the contest. MattWilkinson was the only of our much touted juniors to reach the quarterfinals. A native hasn't won the contest since Parko in 2001. Click here for the finale
Strange times for women's surfing
Bethany Hamilton - you know the story, arm ribboned by a 15-foot tiger shark; inspiration, tears, Oprah etc followed. Yesterday she fell 1.04 points short of becoming the women˙s world junior champion, losing to France's Pauline Ado in three-foot Narrabeen mushburgers. Taking nothing away from Bethany - actually wait, no I think this might take something away from her - but surely someone else out there is wondering how a girl missing a body part, that, shall we say, is important to riding waves, can trounce the world's top juniors? Is she that good or is there something amiss in women's surfing? If the images of Bethany that recently landed on the desk of Stab, and will run in Derek Rielly's upcoming edition of our 'zine are any guide, you would have to believe the former. Watch her World Junior performances here and decide for yourself.Surf artists get the picture - redux
You may remember Stab's hotly debated online piece about the legitimacy of surf artists. Well, the mainstream media has followed our lead. The Sydney Morning Herald has done a four-page feature about surf art's drive towards mainstream recognition. Read it here, then read our earlier take here
Kooks only
Every surfer knows this person, has been this person or has encountered this
person. If you know someone who fits this profile, send them this video, and help make the world a better place.
A-train to A-Frame
The New York Times bores me with its smooth, informative writing. Fucken urban know-alls with their flawless experiences and sophisticated friends. Life is never that straight-up, I always thought. Or is it? Journey with David J. Lee as he rides the New York subway through the heart of a North American winter storm to a beach he's never surfed and has been warned not to visit. When he gets there, he finds an international line-up jockeying for grey, sub-zero pits within a Glock 9mm discharge of one of the globe's premiere metropolises. The way he describes the thrill of the surf chase, as encapsulated in a one-day sortie from NY, evokes the exhilaration we all feel when we embark on even the most ordinary day out. It's a fine piece made all the more delectable by the heat-wave and three-week flat spell that's enveloped the Australian east coast recently. Click here to take the cerebral journey to a frosted, surfing wonderlandABC Grandstand meets junior legends
The Billabong world junior championships are on right this second. Our boy Julian Wilson (pictured wedged
between the erect nipples of two petite brunettes in the recent Stab
hardcover edition) is back from an ankle injury, and throwing backside air
reverses like they˙re Sneaky Sound System albums. Dusty Payne is progressing easily through the flotsam, and an
east swell is expected to build over the coming days. Don˙t expect
to watch any of it live, though. With coin at a premium, Billabong has
foregone the expensive live visuals in place of heats on demand and live
scores and commentary. If you still want live action, try watching the Narrabeen surf cams with the commentary running. It's um, not so good.
A brief pause in proceedings
Our news feed will be flat lining ‘til January 6th, 2009. Use your designated, non-denominational holiday period shrewdly, spend up, and do your part to lift us out of this dastardly recession. We’ll be back in no time.
Our pals, the Goons
The Ozzie Wright-led Goons of Doom will be playing their unique brand of music at Sydney's Spectrum on December 27. Go watch. You might be awestruck by their shambolic stage antics, or angry you paid real currency in these lean times to see them. Worth the experience, though.
Big men cry too
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was born and reared in the almost Amazonian outpost of North-east Arnhem land. He was also born totally blind, and in the absence of braile or any sort of aid to his disability, found a right handed guitar, for himself, a left-hander, and began playing. In 2008 he released his first solo-album, independently. It would outrank Kanye West, MGMT and Pink on the Australian music charts, before winning the ARIA award for best independent release and best world music release. Rolling Stone says his music has been "known make big men break out in tears.”
SUCK IT, GEOFFREY!!
My name is Jose Feliciano and I came up with blind-man-playing-guitar-and-singing-from-the back-of-his-throat FIRST! So you can take your "world music" "Yolngu language" "Arnherm Land" and SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS, Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu! And drop your ARIA award off at my house. FELIZ NAVIDAD, EVERYONE!
Showing 1 - 10 of 100 Articles
