It’s a pleasant 24 degrees, and Gorkin’s just returned from a day’s punting in a Smyrna beach shorebreak. His “little yappy rat dogs” screech in the background as he recounts to me his recent trip to Nicaragua, during which he scored “the best beach breaks I’ve surfed - a barrel every wave.”
I ask, what’s plans for this arv? He replies in his trademark, laboured Floridian:
“I’m gonna pull a mull, go check the surf again, then figure out"
HOUSE:
Not big and not small. Three
bedrooms with a floater room to
hang out in. It’s like you would see
on the east coast of Oz. A little surf
town.
CAR:
I ride a scooter, a Honda Ruckus. It
looks like a little dirt bike almost.
(More like a Dirtbike-Vespa
half-breed if you ask us)
FAMILY:
My mum, dad, brother and sister.
There’s probably 20 or 30 of us,
with my mum’s family and dad’s
family.
CHRISTMAS:
It’s shit. It used to be pretty
decent, but now I think it’s going
to be pretty small. I just broke up
with my chick. I used to do a lot of
stuff with her family and shit but
its all good - I just joined Mycrack
(Myspace)
the other day.
TV:
It’s decent, an RCA
(American brand)
VIDEO GAME COLLECTION:
I still play Tony Hawk. I don’t even
know which one. I see all these
guys playing the real video game,
out there surfing, so I figured I had
to hop off the video game and surf
a little more. I’ve got the old-school
XBOX with four or five games. A
couple of Basketball games, Nascar,
surfing (Kelly Slater).
APPETITE:
I can eat some food, especially
after a good session. I would start
the day with a huge, gnarly cup of
coffee for the first session. Maybe a
mushroom Swiss omelette for
breakfast. Maybe like a little sub or
a little sandwich for lunch. Then I
hit this place called Clancy’s,
where you can get a bunch o’ gnarly
margaritas. After a good surf, you
just put down a bunch of margies
and some fish tacos.
INTEREST IN POLITICS:
I’m interested. I just don’t know
too much about it, I registered just
this year. I usually just travel and go
on my surf trips and cruise. It
seems kind of interesting. You’ve
got this Obama dude, some black
guy who says the right things. He
says some things that the basic
person can comprehend. It will be
interesting to see who wins. We
could have riots. Who knows what
could happen in this shitty place?
It’s supercharged.
ENTHUSIASM FOR A BLACK
PRESIDENT:
Fuck, I’m not prejudiced against a
black dude at all, but I just don’t
know who I’d vote for. He seems
alright. But then I get these things
saying he’s like a gnarly terrorist
and shit, so who knows what the
fuck to believe nowadays.
GROUP OF MYSPACE/
FACEBOOK FRIENDS:
I just joined Mycrack the other day.
Mycrack? Yeah it’s kind of addictive.
I’ve got 110. It’s only been five
days. I’ve got to get fired up on that
shit. I’ve got to be like the Aussies.
You guys are gnarly on that shit. I
was hanging out with Woody
(James Woods)
this summer and he
was fucken frothing. I just broke up
with my chick, I got to get on the
Mycrack and start marketing, start
cooking the crack.
BIGGEST AIR:
Maybe a six-footer at Mexico
beach, on my birthday last month.
The waves were going off. I picked
up a little scrap wave, the wind was
into the right, I was hauling ass
down the line. I hit the section and
it just threw me up there, no grab,
just an air reverse or whatever. My
video guy missed it. (Lucky for
Gorkin, someone else got it and he
ended up pocketing 3K courtesy of
the Billabong Freewave challenge)
LOVE FOR AMERICAN MAGS:
Fuck, they’ve been the same for
years. I don’t think the right guys
get the shots sometimes. A lot of
politics, you could say. Over here
there is a lot of censorship.
DESIRE TO TRAVEL:
I was content for a little bit. My
ex-wife told me to take advantage
of it. This last year I’ve been really
amped. I went to late season
Hawaii, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica,
Nicaragua, and we cased all these
hurricanes around here over
summer.
EX-GIRLFRIEND:
About 5’3, a little nugget.
PROPERTY PORTFOLIO:
I own my house.
LOSS FROM THE
STOCKMARKET PLUNGE:
I’m not too involved in that.
CONTRACT LOSS FROM THE
ECONOMIC DOWNTURN:
Fuck, I don’t know, nothing I hope.
If it does, whatever, as long as I can
be out in the water.
PUNCH:
It might knock someone out. This
poor kid cut me off one day, and I
was having a bad day, and I kind of
slapped him. In America, mate, you
get fucken sued. It’s not like over
there (Oz).
BIGGEST WAVE:
A ten-footer. A big wipeout. I don’t
go mad styles, but I’ll go out.
WARDROBE:
Lots of trunks and T-shirts. I might
need to be (more fashion
conscious), with all this Crackspace
shit. I’ve gotta meet some chicks.
FAVOURITE BOARD:
A 5’3 round nose thing. Two classic
twin fins.
QUIVER:
I’ve got like four or five boards. It’s
just the way I roll. Matt Biolos
shapes them. I could probably use a
few more, but that’s what happens
when you have buddies who don’t
surf for a living.
IPOD:
A black one, 1712 songs.
CAMERA:
I don’t even have one.
WAIST:
31.
DREAM WOMAN:
I had one. Yeah my ex wife, 5’3, the
little nugget.
CONTRACT:
Four more years. Not big enough.
$32,000 a month.
DID YOU SAY THIRTY TWO
THOUSAND A MONTH?
Nah. $3,200. If I was on that much
I’d be mulling it up all days.
TROPHY CABINET:
I got like ten or 12 trophies. The X
games gold medal is my most
prized. I got MVP.
LIBRARY:
I got like ten books. Discovery
America. Its about Vikings and all
these other guys. I got the Slater
book, yeah classic - I didn’t finish
it. In Search of Captain Zero.
Hannibal Lector is a good book.
LIBIDO:
Oh fuck, I’ve got to shoot one off
daily. I think we all do.
PENIS:
Ten inches.
REALLY?
I’ve been blessed.
LAPTOP:
Don’t have one.
FOOT:
Size ten.
EGO:
I heard it’s out of hand sometimes.
If I take my buddies out in a
session I gotta talk a bit of extra
shit. I’ve been trying to learn to
watch a bit more and not open my
mouth. Sit back and not be seen,
rather then be all on the scene.
BRAIN:
7/8 fitted hat.
TAX BILL:
They Suck. For independent
contractors it’s gnarly.
HANDSHAKE:
A good firm grip, I’m not into
bumping fists. A firm handshake
and always look someone in the
eyes.
PAIN THRESHOLD:
If I stubbed my toe I’d be like ‘Ahh
fuck! Fucken stupid shit.’ Then I’d
go pull a mull and it’d all be good.
COULD YOU GIVE BIRTH?
Fuck no.
Does anyone say yes to that?
RELIGIOUS BELIEF:
Its not huge. I believe in another
something, that’s for sure.
NIGHTLIFE:
Its been turning on. I’ve been
hitting the local clubs. Daytona is
like 20 minutes. There are surfer
chicks, little chicks that just want
to lay out, black chicks. It’s all
practice.
CREDIT LIMIT:
zero right now
HEART:
Pretty big. I’m a good person.
SURF MOVIE COLLECITON:
Mediocre. My favourite is ‘What’s
Really Going Wrong’ (old Lost
movie)
. Its got Chris Ward when
he was like 16, he was really styled
out but still doing big moves. I got
the Dane Movie. I like the way that
guy surfs. I’ve seen campaign 2, but
there is too many one-manoeuvre
clips.
SHOE COLLECTION:
One pair of flip-flops, one pair of
shoes.
DESIRE TO BE PROGRESSIVE:
It’s pushing me. I’ve got to step my
game up. I was trying some
backside mute alley oops.
SELF-CENSORSHIP METER:
I am more careful then I used to
be. I used to be really open about
smoking weed, drawing weed
plants on my board, just telling
people, ‘I don’t care, I get high.’
People are too harsh on it. There
are so much more worse things like
heroin or crack, or the oxy-cotton
things that are eating people up at
the moment. A little weed is all you
need.
APPETITE FOR WEED:
I get high. I don’t over-indulge, but
I get high. Before I go surf I’ll do a
couple of little bowls. Then after I
surf I’ll have lunch and do a couple
after that and go surfing again.
COLLECTION OF BONGS:
I’ve actually got a bong sponsor. At
one point I had four of them sitting
around. He would send me a few at
a time. I’d send them around to the
boys. Doubles with a tube, all glass,
no double chambers. They’re super
uptight in Florida about smokin’
weed. It ain’t like Nimbin. That
place is insane. I was tripping, just
checking out the different.
