Of Pools, Fools and Alternative Realities
The following article was written by blindboy.
Surfing has experienced a 30 year long financial bonanza during which its main corporate sponsors managed, with a head start from Coca Cola, to convince a sizeable market that not only was surfing cool, but that board shorts and a t-shirt were a fashion statement. So miracles happen, but not often, and not forever. The writing is on the wall, as well as in the financial pages, that those days are over.
Some still place their faith in His Holiness Pope Kelly or some business genius to lead their corporations out of this downturn, but the more likely outcome is that the gold rush is over. The concept of cool, if it still exists at all, has moved on and, in so far as it ever happens, sanity has returned to our collective fashion sense.
So, after 30 years, I think the wider surfing community has the right to look around and see what benefits have flowed through to us. If you think this is a misplaced sense of entitlement, I disagree. The surf clothing companies traded on the image of surfing which was never their exclusive property. If you ever had, or took, a photo in a magazine, if you ever wrote for them, if you made surfboards or competed in high profile events, even if you just ripped up your local break from time to time, you contributed to the image they traded on. So what did you get? Beads, trinkets, a shiny trophy or two, a few hundred dollars, a free wetsuit, a couple of boards? Well done! You exceeded the national average there.
Most got sweet FA and quite a few got completely shafted as the skills they had developed were overtaken by methods of mass production. How many skilled shapers lost their market as mass production put more money into fewer pockets? Bad luck you say, that's the way the world turns. True enough. There is no reason why surfers should be any less greedy and exploitative than any other segment of society, but there was no obligation for them to go that way either.
The tall poppy syndrome? Well maybe, but remember the old truism, the people you shit on as you rise are the same ones you meet on your way down and there is, amongst many of my generation, and later ones, a sense of grievance at the way the industry has promoted surfing without regard to the impact of that promotion on local surfing communities. 300 comments on "Bring Back The Biff" speak to the vitality of that feeling.
So what might we realistically have expected? In the first place perhaps that they didn't go down that road at all. Most of the companies who went on to make hundreds of millions were doing well enough in their core markets before going mainstream. There was never any reason, beyond greed, to sell board shorts to bastards in Boulder or t-shirts to tossers in Tottenham.
Given the near inevitability that greed would out, there should have been much more community investment, not just in competition but across the board. Ask yourself, regardless of what you personally got, what did your local surfing community get other than ever more crowded waves? If that doesn't persuade you, draw up two lists; one, who made the most money, two, who made the biggest contribution to surfing's development. I can think of maybe two names that might appear on both lists. Or ask yourself where did all that money go? I would suggest largely to a relatively small number of people many of whom had no real connection to surfing beyond the desire to suck a buck out of it. And what did they do with it? They tried to make even more money.
And the greatest missed opportunity: artificial reefs. The science and engineering have been in place for sometime now but we have been abysmally slow to move. If you think that it might have been an obvious move to generate good will disproportionate to cost, for a company that claims surfers as their core market, to fund a couple of full time specialist workers to identify locations and get approval at the various levels of government, you couldn't be more wrong!
A new generation of surfing entrepreneurs, including His Holiness are building another business model based on wave pools. They say that no-one ever went broke under-estimating public taste so I expect they will succeed and the sheep will line up to be drenched in some giardia infected dam or bleached in some chlorinated pool because, in terms of water quality, it is hard to see anything viable between those extremes. And wave pools will irrevocably change the nature of the sport, reducing it to a closed repetitive routine on an endless supply of cloned waves, probably performed by the same sort of wizened midgets that dominate gymnastics.
But of course, how else could it go? Artificial reefs are not a practical investment. They will not concentrate the disposable cash of the surfing market into the hands of the few, so forget it kiddies, $10 a wave on cheap Tuesday is all you can look forward to! But don't worry, the recycled rhetoric of " ....we're all just surfers together." will work the same magic as it did for the clothing companies, the advertising will be fantastic and the gaming experience, to die for.
Sour grapes from a whinging old bastard? Not really, I have had a fabulous time surfing and have no regrets at all. Nor am I trying to gain some future advantage. I still surf and will continue to do so but not with any great emotional attachment, decent sessions and good waves are just bonuses now. The vast bulk of my surfing, and by far the best, is behind me and I am comfortable with that.
This morning I watched perfect lines of swell turned into average waves on the local reefs, while further along the headland peaks formed at the head of long walls before backing off into deep water. I don't even care if I never surf it, I would love to see a reef built there or in any of the hundreds of other locations along the coast with similar potential. For the first time in a long time I think there is the possibility of real positive change in the way surfing develops. There is a slim chance that greed may not dominate the way that it has in the past, but I find it hard to be hopeful, I can only too clearly imagine those lines of wave pool fools. What was that old song? "Let's Get Fooled Again"? Or something like that.// blindboy
Comments
Good article, thanks. Wouldn't you reckon a large local council might shell out some $ for a reef, just like they now do for skateboard parks, etc? It would become a tourist attraction if it was made well. I suppose there would be too many government authorities required to sign off on such a project. Too much red tape to cut through to make it work? I rejected the surfing multi-nationals years ago........and it feels GREAT!!!
Artificial reefs don't work, ask the crew at Bristol, England. Huge money was spent on research and modelling and the thing is a dud.
Surfing reefs may not work, but I reckon the sand slug is a great idea worth looking into.
http://www.swellnet.com.au/news/2462-cronulla-s-latest-surfspot-all-new-...
@prg,
I think you mean Bournemouth. Bristol doesn't have any waves, although it is close to the Severn Bore which pumps out waves more regularly than the reef at Bournemouth.
And yeah, artificial reefs, at least as we traditionally think of them, have proven to be far harder to construct than previously imagined. As Ben mentioned, I believe the idea of a sand slug, or an augmented bombora, or anything that plays a role in breaking up swell lines while not having a wave break directly on top of it (no objects in the near shore zone stopping longshore drift) is the way forward.
As usual Blindboy, another well written article and an enjoyable read. However, I think you take an overly cynical and at times one dimensional view of the commercialisation of surfing.
With regards to reefs, monumentally expensive, relatively unproven and from an altruistic sense, not really good value in the eyes of a council man who needs to cater to the majority. I agree though, some of the big 3's profits could have gone into a little R&D.
Wavepools? Those have been covered ad-nauseaum.
As for surf clobber? You'd have to think the Bastards from Boulder and Tossers from Tottenham only bought those T-shirts because they wanted them, now they want something else, pretty simple stuff really.
I ask you if you could wind back the clock, same situation, role reversed, would you have channeled your immense profits back into the comuunity or the environment, or would you have grown fat, rich and lazy as human nature quite often so dictates? Be honest with yourself, you are an older surfer who has watched this pan out over your surfing life, what would you have done? These handful of blokes, picked up the ball and ran with it. Sure they may have forced the stuff down our throats but we didn't have to swallow it. I kind of wonder if human nature surprises you? It's sad but it don't make it untrue.
Also, apart from the super wealthy, thousands of people have built comfortable lives from this sport. Hey, even the purveyors of this site have built a comfortable living from this sport, they may not be rich men but they have children and families and enough to eat. They are not unique. Some have risen to the top, some have fallen over the edge, some have drifted down to the bottom, some are treading water. it's a rich tapestry to coin a phrase. Still, nothing surprising in that.
As for me, you're right, I've only ever gotten a few trinkets from surfing but I don't mind, I'm pretty happy with my lot in life.
Just stopped in on my way through. I mostly agree with Zen. As usual. Another well written article and an enjoyable read, BB, but a bit too polemic for mine.
Disagree with you, Zen, that Ben, Stu and Craig have enough to eat as they have children and families. I'd like to think we've all moved on from cannabilism.
Excepting, perhaps, the Wild West Coast boyos.
Blindboy, you speak of the loss of the spirit of surfing, correct?
You speak in philosophical lament that can only be recognised by those that were lucky enough to be of a time that now exists only in the memory of those that lived it, correct?
I hear you.
Yeh I can get a bit OTT on this issue but at the same time I was there when all this kicked off and had my chances to hitch a ride but I could never really stomach it. This was purely visceral rather than ethical. My walk away point came when one of the majors employed me and I found out that they had funded my employment from a government training grant for regional areas. At that stage I was already highly employable in several fields and had to move to that regional area from Sydney so the whole thing kind of turned my stomach you know the whole "if it's legal we'll do it" tax minimization. I'm alright Jack attitude. Screw that for parasitism Is what I say and that was the prevailing ethic in the industry then and probably more so now so zen absolutely fuckin' not in the unlikely event that I ever make more than I need I'll give it away. Money is a pain in the arse and those who chase it are the most boring people on Earth. Life's too short for that shit!
Prq1972
Artificial reefs can work for sure if they are built properly.
The limestone block reef in Perth works really well, only breaks a couple of times a year but when it eventually does get swell it is the best wave in town for sure.
They had the right idea in that rather then build a new reef just make an imperfect reef more perfect. Fill in a few holes and straighten some contours out. Way cheaper then building a whole new reef.
However ...... There is something you can do about it.
Firstly you have the writing skills and experience.
Secondly you have the history.
So write to educate.
As an elder, tell the dream time stories.
If you open even just one person's perspective to a greater vision, you just might inspire great change.
what m-mouse said. Blindboy -you had me at D.O.A.... keep it up.
Bonza have you given The Guantanamo School Of Medicine a listen? Not quite DOA but well worth a listen.
Gidday, breakwalls are proven to work really well. We have often looked at some places where it would be easy to build one, and dreamed.
Breakwalls depend on sand movement and there are plenty up and down the coast that don't produce much but, that said there are probably locations where they would work well. As with reefs it all comes down to the quality of the science and engineering. We know how to do these things and they represent a much better long term investment than pools.
The sand slug theory worked well in Cronulla last year with the end result being a mixed a-frame peak at The Wall with a long running left all the way to the shore.
Initiatives like this are worth investigating more until some definitive reef technology is developed.
Until then failures like the one seen at Bournemouth will continue to leave councils and governments wary of artificial reefs.
Here are some shots of the sand slug bank and the dredge that delivered the sand from Port Hacking in the background..
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q10/sasurfa1/IMG_7753.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q10/sasurfa1/IMG_7752.jpg
http://i132.photobucket.com/albums/q10/sasurfa1/IMG_7737.jpg
@blingboy.. yeah mate a bit for sure.. i check in on the AT label from time to time.. dig GSOM sounds & the message behind it..
@craig looks good. Different solutions suit different locations but the main point I'm making is that wave pools are not part of the solution to over crowding. They will very quickly become a major part of the problem.
fact. logic. emotion. exaggeration....
and speaking of a massive ball of fukal, blindboy just spewed enough platitudes to fill a bloody flat barge.
the best thing about a surf company, or any company for that matter is the fact that I, like so many others freely bought a number of things that are worth FAR more than the meager crumbs I handed over in said transaction.
wealth envy will be the end of society long before greed ever is.
nothing new here, ole' Blind one.... the road to wealth passes through the graveyard of today's jobs.
"The main point I'm making is that wave pools are not part of the solution to over crowding."
I'm not completely sold on the theory that artificial reefs would solve the problem either. More breaks = more space = more people willing to fill that space. Testament to this is the world's best artificial wave, Snapper Rocks, and the astronomical head counts it sees on even average days. In the 90s it was hard to imagine how the Gold Coast could get anymore crowded and then along came Snapper and the 90s now seem like an antediluvian nirvana.
Also, anyone willing to fork out bucks for an artificial reef, especially if it was a corporation, would want to see it get serviced as much as possible.
For many years I was a staunch anti-artificial reef aficionado, riding high on my horse named Self-Righteousness. I even attended an International Artificial Reef Symposium with the sole aim of writing a disparaging article on them. I surprised myself at the symposium by developing an appreciation of the work and theories of Andrew Pitt.
Pitt's primary theory is the 'beachbreak controlled bombora', think 13th Beach, Congo, Wairo, or any beach where there is an outside bommie that breaks up straight lines of swell. Rather than having an artificial structure in the wave zone, and hence impeding sand flow and increasing risk of injury and litigation, Pitt proposes building seafloor structures offshore (or augmenting existing natural structures) to turn stretches of beach prone to closeouts into zones of wedges and peaks.
I don't think it'd solve the problem of overcrowding but I strongly believe Pitt's theory to be the soundest, and also the cheapest, option of artificially improving wave amenity.
Totally disagree about the artificial reefs bb. Like reecen said the one at cables in Perth was excellently constructed, but when you build a reef at the most swell protected section of coastline for miles, even for Perth you don't get a great result. Anywhere else would have achieved good a working example of have artificial reefs can make a functional surfing wave. Massive opportunity missed there.
Gidday Craig, yeh, that's a great idea, we even noticed that effect around sw WA. Busted up, refracted swell lines. I don't even think black's would be a wave without the Phantom.
Stu I am happy to modify "reefs" to "structures" if you like but I don't see these increasing the surfing population significantly and certainly not by comparison to the potential impact of wave pools. The main growth in surfers in most areas now is probably population growth. I don't know how many new dwellings are planned in my area but there are hundreds of units already under construction and another 600 about to be approved. So the issue for me is to try and reduce the impact of that growth by increasing their options.
Ideally the reefs or whatever would be run by the local councils and not for profit organisations. If you have a local boardriders club with a hundred members prepared to pay a fee similar to a golf club membership for preferential access to the break for a certain number of hours per week, you are starting to get the financial muscle to fund construction and maintenance. Surfers are affluent these days, the potential is there to do this stuff.
Yeah, well, of course I can't say with any certainty but looking at another high density surf area - i.e the Gold Coast - and the advent of an artificial wave increased the surfer population. That said, some surfers might argue it lessened the load at places like Palm Beach, Burleigh and Currumbin, so maybe there is validity in increasing options.
Anyway, proving they work is one thing, getting approval is another. At Cronulla it took twenty years to get a skate park built because whenever one was proposed the residents always complained. Imagine the might of coastal property owners upon hearing an artificial reef (or structure) might stop sandflow and cause erosion, ruining 'their' beaches?
@Uplift,
I've often thought the same about Blacks. Many good, big waves have outside reefs that draw and focus swell energy before it unloads on an inner shelf.
@Whaaat,
Hello!
Approval is always going to be a mission and that is why I finger the industry for not getting on board. If you have part time amateur groups trying to get these sort of projects up it enormously increases the difficulty. Get a couple of full time professionals with relevant experience and you can identify the most viable locations and the key issues for the various stakeholders. Difficult absolutely but you can have a dozen or more projects up for approval at any given time.
I note that no-one so far has gone to the central idea of the whole piece....that the surfing industry has increasingly concentrated the wealth it produces into fewer and fewer hands and that wave pools will only continue and intensify this process at the expense of the quality of the surfing experience. So I take it you are happy with that scenario.
I'm not entirely convinced on that premise BB. The first part I've no trouble with - surf industry money concentrated into only a few hands - but I don't see how wavepools necessarily continue that trend. If they are successful, then sure, those operators will get wealthy, but I don't see how wavepools will detract from everyone else's surfing experience. I just can't see people taking up surfing because of waves they caught in a pool.
I completely disagree with that last point Stu and what made me think about it was Slater's involvement. Do you think the guy who has completely dominated surfing for however many years is retiring to set up a few dinky coastal pools to make us all happy? Doesn't fit with the personality type I would say.
What can beat being World Champ a dozen times? Selling surfing to the world. Think China for a start. How many pools? How many surfers? And where are they going for their boom economy holidays? Anywhere there are real waves. I can't read peoples minds but his ownership of pro surfing combined with his interest in wave pools has all my alarm bells ringing. Money? If it works they will mint it. And all they need to succeed is for the Chinese economy to keep humming and the rest of us to be silly enough to play along.
I'm certain someone could make a difference, I think the difference is being discussed right now. Positive thoughts do actually make positive actions.
The sand slug theory is interesting as I think that happens all the way up and down the Gold Coast being such a sand based bottom and various sand pumping jetties, as well as groins that help the flow of water from inlets.
At the moment the residents along some beaches are having the council replace sand but in Geotech sand bags?
As the sand slug theory previously mentioned by Ben, how would these sand slugs go if they were bagged into Geotech sand bags?? I know that the Gold Coast city council would not pay for that one, as they probably see no need for this to happen, Being "Surfers Paradise"??????
Surely the sand put into proper Geotech bags would last a lot longer and not get blown away in the next big storm?
Could someone explain why Stradie breaks like it does so well, with fuck all swell on the other beaches, is it because of the seaway trench and of the swell refraction caused by it, similar to the sand slug theory.
Well BB you may not have a clue who mighty mouse is, but the mouse has your inside line.
Rechannel your energy and write to educate.
There's a lot of negativity in how your writing now.
You can change that with a simple change of angle.
Tell stories to open up perceptions of what is surfing as handed down to you.
I wish I could do it but I don't have those talents such as you have to write, nor your cred with a pen.
Go on, I dare ya
Mighty mouse, reminds me of an old Chinese story where the emperor asked of his court artist 'Why do you always draw demons, why can't you draw a horse or a dog?' The artist replied 'because horses are difficult to draw, demons are easy'.
Also, I can field that one Wellymon, I'm from the northern end of the Goldie and Straddie and the Spit was where I pretty much grew up. In the late 70's early 80's where the Broadwater entered the sea, it was a series of ever changing shallow water peaks and very dangerous. After 1985, the breakwalls were completed and the channel dredged. This stabilised the north and south of the breakwalls. A few other factors come in to play, one is it's practically the only place on the northern end that can handle a bit of south in the wind, the south-east facing direction stands up any sniff of swell and combine that with a series of offshore reefs a couple of k's out to sea and the sandflow out from the Broadwater and you get those lovely Sth Straddie peaks that are just so hollow and photogenic.
I was blessed with the curse of negativity.
Keep at it Blindboy, any writing that's worth a jot has a dark edge. Deliver it with zest and piquancy and you'll never lose your audience. Go the other way and there's a job waiting for you in PR.
@BB,
A mate of mine is currently living and teaching in Ningbo, near Shanghai. He's a very keen surfer and since moving there has spent a lot of time traipsing the coastlines and nearby islands (Taiwan, Hainan), he's also paying close attention to the perceived effect the Chinese economy may have on the surf industry. We all know how the ASP, ISA and assorted surf companies have begun spreading their tentacles into China, yet it's Clif's opinion that it will be a very long time before there is any noticeable effect at our end. There's still a veritable gulf between their political, social and cultural situations and ours.
I don't want to bungle his theories but that's the gist of it.
G’day y’all. BB, this is your first really negative piece that I can recall, so I disagree that you inherited negative genes or are inherently miserable. And you wrote the piece in English, not French. But it is a polemic, I know you would admit. Which is fine, but I think you would also agree that polemicism is not as persuasive an argument form as a balanced argument showing the pros and cons of both sides before perhaps drawing to a conclusion on the respective merits. For example, I’m unsure of the evidence you have to show that the surfing industry has increasingly concentrated the wealth it produces into fewer and fewer hands. A vast number of Australians are shareholders in public companies, including BBG and Quik, albeit by proxy through their super funds. What is happening to BBG is a disgrace, but it is a serious blow for those shareholders as much as it is a karmic slap for Greasy.
Of Slats in particular, I’m not convinced that a personality type that thrives in a hypercompetitive environment is by natural extension a candidate for a dictator-like tilt at global domination. Frankly, I think he’d get bored with the necessary administration and paperwork before the first AGM came around.
And we thoroughly thrashed out the issue of surfing’s expansion into China last year. I thought the consensus was that the cultural zeitgeist of the period for which you yearn (but which I recall as one dominated by bloody awful wetsuits and boards that made sea-going tankers look nimble) was a one-off and never to be repeated, especially in a country whose soccer team cannot even beat Thailand’s.
Which is not to say that I don’t love your writing. Au contraire, mon ami. I’m just putting the case for better balance. To which you are more than entitled to respond by telling me to go and get fucked.
Peas.
Hi whaaaat great to hear from you again. I'll have you know that I am proud of my negativity and it has served me well over the years. There is truth in the adage that pessimists make more accurate predictions than optimists. Well that's my story and I am sticking to it. I understand that a lot of people will just put this down as a rant but as I said in another post, no-one except Stu, who agreed with me on the concentration of wealth, and whaaaat, who didn't, has addressed the main ideas I put forward.
I'm just interested, do people really think that Slater's two recent ventures into buying pro surfing and developing wave pools are not part of a larger marketing scheme?
The greatest limit on surfing's ability to generate money is that participation, and therefore public interest, is limited to coastal locations with suitable climates. Change that and you have a whole new world of profit. If this sounds an unlikely future you should have been there in '74 listening to the talk about expanding the clothing industry. Laugh? I nearly pissed myself!
Thanks BB it’s always good to see someone stick their neck on the block and we should appreciate you for it. As surfers we need to think as a collective and work on what we can do as a group without following the mainstream. I seem to remember how surfers were renowned for it. Long before the days of mass communication and other technologies that could assist to create an alternative think tank. I agree pro surfing and others have created a huge world wide population of surfers but virtually not one extra wave. That in itself says a lot!
We need to develop ideas that assist local surfers to build or add to existing reefs at their local breaks at a low cost with materials that will not harm the environment. It could be some sort of system that locks together. Whatever it is it should be seen as something that can be added to or changed as needed to keep its shape. An ongoing project.
Imagine the sense of community it would bring back into surfing if you succeeded at your local break. We need more surfing breaks and this problem isn't going away so why not work on something that future generations will thank and respect us for. I understand that there is not one simplistic solution and there are environmental and approval concerns but on the North Coast where I live, artificial reefs are being seriously considered to slow down beach erosion. The time is right so why not research the possibilities. Anyone got an idea or two that could create another surfing craft industry? If the biggens stole this one we would all be cheering.
Hey BB, I owe you a little apology... I didn't mean your own personal negativity ... But love your response .... I slung off that line as I made my way out the door. I should have given it a bit more thought so i didn't confuse.
I ment the negitivity that sourronds surfing at present, the images and the projection of, to sell surfing and anything attached to surfing... Like an artificial wave. etc....
Shit if an artificial wave doesn't beat all ... How far off the reasons why The Duke, Midget, Nat , MR, Rabbit, MP, etc etc etc and me and you and all those like us, do some want to take the art and craft of surfing???
And how did someone figure out I was an old Zen master???
Thanks shockwave, I think one of the other things that happened as the industry developed was that it pulled talent out of the local communities and into the industry so the individuals who might have taken leadership roles in this became detached from their roots.
Who's reading this thread?
Do you realise what Blindboy has just shown?
For those of you that don't , I'm going to spell it clear...
Kelly Slatter is a Wall St trader. He has taken over the company that is/was pro surfing.
He is branding himself to sell to the world as a better world.
He is not the first. He won't be the last.
Me, I'm not buying that stock.
The question BB leaves you with is .... What are you going to do?
(there you go BB, hope I did your writing justice)
That's not what BB wrote at all. You're projecting your own view of purgatory. And unless I missed more than I thought over the past month or so, Slats is not a ZoSea shareholder.
No. Correct me if I'm wrong, BB, but your primary contention is that the Surfing Industrial Complex sold the soul of surfing for 30 pieces of silver, then left town without cleaning up the mess it made. But what was surfing's soul again? Was it the misogynistic, racist, white trash version, where if you were female, black, yellow, Latino or brown you could never hope to join the tribe?
Commercialisation has grown the whole, for sure. No longer do young Indonesians have to grow up knowing the closest they'll get to a board will be pulling a tourist into the tinny after a session. My daughters can paddle out at most breaks without copping a barrage of filthy epithets. If egalitarianism is one of the byproducts, part of the price of having our precious elitist pastime 'commercialised', I for one am happy to pay.
There are at least two sides to every story. And surfing had some pretty seedy sides. Still has. And not all of them can be said properly said to be the fault of the so-called Surfing Industry.
Your heart is in the right place, BB, but you're shooting the wrong target. We surfers are singular and selfish and often stupid. Witness the incoherent, irrational, testosterone driven drivel on another part of this site that is presently passing itself off as 'idea sharing'. By revered tribal elders, in some instances.
We all share some measure of blame. And some measure of credit.
'Twas ever thus.
Sorry ,your right whaaat . It's bad writing on my behalf but I have have already confessed to not being up to the skill of BB.
If I had written correctly I would have said something like The name Kelly Slatter is a brand, and as such trades like brands trade on a stock market. And pointed out that other brands trade around that dominant brand.
I would have also pointed out that I was referring to a post BB just wrote and not the article itself where he states ... "Do people really think that Slatter's two recent ventures".. etc etc.
Apart from my poor execution in the writing department, I still reckon I'm close to what BB is getting at.
But we will have to wait and see what he will say about that himself, if he choses to.
“Money is like manure... it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around.â€
Roller, being an old Zen master and a lover of philosophy, I like your style.
Mighty,
the crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow.
"It's a metaphor for how things are thrown at you in life, and how they really aren't as bad as they seem"...
30 pieces of silver whaaaat? They got a better price than that. I'm not sure how seventies racism and misogyny fit in here but my experience was that , for all their faults, surfers were reasonably enlightened by the standards of the times. Perhaps it was different down your way. In fact I would suggest that if you did a year by year comparison of advertising imagery in surfing magazines it would reveal a massive increase in the use of exploitative images of women over the years courtesy of the major surfing companies. As for those Indonesian kids, surfing's contribution to the economic growth that made it possible for those kids to surf was negligible.
I suppose in the final analysis if you think what has happened over the last 30 or 40 years in surfing is just fine and you are comfortable with another round of what I have characterised as exploitative development as well as professional surfing organised like a private fight club, fair enough. We just have different views of things.
From this end, while you're entitled to keep an unswerving belief in the infallibility of your analysis, ultimately, each reader will decide its value for themselves. This one never expressed being comfortable with what you call exploitative development. Rather, I said that commercialisation and its effects were rather more complex than your conclusions allowed for, and that your writing would benefit from acknowledging this, your analysis would be more powerful as a result, and your conclusions more nuanced and therefore more compelling.
But who am I kidding? Au revoir, ami.
PS. Zen. Lovely takedown of the big fella. Stay well.
It's an opinion piece whaaaat and I am open to persuasion by opposing argument. Yes commercialisation has complex consequences but I'm not doing a PhD here so a bit of polemic from me, I would hope, has a kind of balancing effect against the spin from the vested interests. Don't stay away too long, it's great to get some incisive criticism now and then!
they think they know better 'bout what’s good for me,
please sweep your own porch before you come preaching to me
@the-roller, if you define preaching as the expression of an opinion different to your own, I'd suggest you get used to it.
The only thing that's as bad as it seems, is the misses giving the mouse the shits !!!
Mouse history....
Once upon a time, a surfer with deep history came to the mouse house and showed the mouse what he called the future of surfing.
The mouse was speachless really. He looked at the surfer with deep history and said, " you gotta be kidding" etc etc with experlatives attached.
The surfer who, with his brother's, had a decent score on the board (pun intended) in surfing then proceeded to tell the mouse what he should do to take advantage of his offer.
Stunned, the mouse responded, "with every board you sell, one of my mates, your mates will sell one less board and that will impact on their livelihoods. No surfer with a deep history in surfing f#@* off the mouse ain't going there".
The world was changing so the mouse picked up his cheese and moved on.
The surfer with a deep history went on to sell thousands of these the future of surfing boards and bought himself boats and cars and a big house etc.
The mouse's cheese house that he sold so as to move on stocked these boards of the future and became big business.
Time ticked on.
The surfer with history brothers went broke trying to make surfboards and compete with the surfer with history, even though they had an even bigger history themselves.
Then the winds shifted and the surfer with history went bust himself.
The cheese house the mouse sold that stocked these boards of the future is now in big debt and its future ain't so big no more.
Now there's a story in there somewhere that tells what's been lost and why.
Of course the commercialization of surfing has benefited some , but at what cost to others and is it proportionate or heavily lop sided ..... And did anyone care about their brother when looking to feather their own nest.
Yeh complex stuff for sure and I've not got any answers except... Pick up your cheese and walk when something stinks and move on. Chances are your being sold nothing you need.
I know there's an element of pontification in how the mouse words things, and its there cause it is not an opinion being given but a fact being exposed.
I raise this for your consideration my surfing brotherhood ... The only reason why there is any discontent with the way surfing has gone is because the philosophies that gave birth to the surfing culture way back in the day have been undermined ,... By self interested parties.
The only reason why there is any discontent with the way surfing is going is because it is attempting to go even further yet from those philosophies..... By self interested parties.
Therefore, any surfer with a connection to surfings rich historical past feels the pain.
Anyone without that connection rolls along with the punches not even knowing they are being hit.
BB, I stated earlier on that I hear you. And I think I did and have attempted to add a perspective to your article. Only you will know if the mouse has been a help or a hindrrance.
It's all good mighty-mouse and I really like the perspective of that last comment. If we go back to the surfing communities of the sixties and seventies all they really wanted was to be able to continue surfing their own breaks. Population growth and increased mobility were always going to increase the numbers but the promotional activities of those seeking wealth and fame had a huge impact not just in the numbers but in the nature of the people in the water. Sometimes I think the number of surfers in the water is much the same as it ever was, it's the hundred fold increase in kooks that stuffs things up.
Yeh well its got the mouse beat this wave pool stuff.
After a lifetime of it the mouse still hasn't found anything wrong with just going surfing....
As soon as its taken outa the surf, how can it be surfing ????????????????????????????.
Oh you brave new hero's of tomorrow, your as stupid as you look if you think it is.
"O, wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such wave pools in't
Billy Shakespeare saw 'em coming from afar.
Ha ha ha.... Stu the mouse lovz ya. How you found time to even breath on a Sunday morning at home with the wife, twins and another under three years old, let alone create a post, is an inspiration to all sets of gonads thinking of making a family.
Lovz ya work bro.
All three are currently asleep in the back of the car. I'm parked overlooking the beach at Queenscliff while commenting on a surf site. It's quiet now but in about 15 mins it'll be saliva, shit and screaming and that'll be my 'surfing' time over for the day. Close as I'm gonna get.
I'm starting to see some merit in wavepools, just quietly...
Ha ha ha... Cool then when you buy your ticket for your hour over the net, don't forget to book and pay for your parking, and your protective suit to save you from chemical rash, and take enough coin for a snack and drink from the kiosk, oh and a locker to protect your valuables, and remember not to piss off the life guards cause they will kick you out before your hours up,dont forget to pick up your Webber or Kelly promotional pack, (depending on which pool you chose), and also a must, don't forget to sign up for the rewards scheme...... Have a great time
Kelly Slatter and Greg Webber and associates.... Here's an old surfing axiom.... Fuck Off.
Now I'm beginning to understand BB's negativity..... xx BB.
.....it's an illusion Stu you'll get over it.
Hey BB .. re your comment about the one hundred fold increase in kooks.....
Seems to me Kooks are the result of two things.... Social attitudes, and surf schools.
Currently as a society Australia is very hedonistic is the mouse's view,
And surf schools mostly just take the money and offer no real surfing education .....
Point is, those two things combined and we have attitudes in the surf unparalleled in surfings history thus far.
Your thoughts ?????
Sorry tp go off topic but the very way surf schools teach - multiple crew on waves, everyone walking straight back out en masse has given the 21st century surfer the POV that all breaks work like this.
More beneficial would have been smaller class sizes and a cyclic system set up ie each participant is set off by the instructor as a line is walking or paddling around the break back to the instructor. Incoming surfer would be caught by another instructor who gives one on one feedback. A third instructor is off to the side where the line is rotating back out giving one on one instuction on paddling back out and surf etiquette.
The whole SA teaching system is flawed they should have looked to the mountains for teaching systems.
Dear Non, if you find you way here, see what I mean .... Great ideas for our consideration.
Cheers legless
Lov
the mouse
It is a good article BB and I have managed to read this a few times.
It would be awesome if someone could put money back in the surfing community, artificial reefs? sand slugs and so on. Do you really think this will happen? If so how can it happen?
Could a law be passed in the Australian Court for certain profit making surf companies to get taxed a certain amount, where this tax goes into paying for artificial reefs and the likes?
What about all the money that the Pros make, what about they get taxed and it goes to making artificial reefs etc. On the Volcom Pro telecast , I saw what some pro surfer had made in 2 or 3 years earnings, it was a big wad of money, unbelievable in my eyes.
Yeah it is a shame with mass production on surfboards, but I still go to shaper that Ive used for awhile and he shapes me a master piece, that I pay $700 for and it lasts a few years, even longer as I tend to look after things now.
Anyways is that you BB in the photo with the cut coins in your eye sockets?
"Anyways is that you BB in the photo with the cut coins in your eye sockets?"
Not unless BB is really Donald Pleasance, as that's Don as seen in Wake in Fright albeit with decimal currency.
May he is stu.
Maybe Donald Pleasance is an acronym for BB......
its a strange universe after all.
I mean wave pools? Why didn't god think of that.... he had fuck all else to do on sabath, he could have found time.
BB... thank you for the subject matter you kindly placed on the table for discussion.
The sad thing is someone will use these wave pools and not knowing any better will call it surfing.
It should be remembered that all such monsterous abberations of surfing put to us as inspiration, are born on the back of a dollar.
See ya in your next negatively inspired rage..... Lov it.
MM.
Read Phil Jarrats' Salts and Suits book, it gives an amzingly detailed and no holds barred insight into the whole surf company phenomenon, from the turn of the 1900's right through to 2009.
itll open your eyes to the reality of the domination of the big 3 (and others) and how close some came to total destruction....
of note is that Qwicky were going to fund it, but because he was telling the real story they asked him to change it or can funding. the legend found other funding and produced one of the greatest reads ever.
I wholeheartedly concur Qwocka. Anyone who hasn't read Salts & Suits should do themselves a favour.
Qwocka, cheers but no thanks. Know the book, know the author. Read it?
Shit the mouse and friends and associates had to live it.
The things I could tell you.....
The pain and the anger that still lives inside some of us..... It rises every now and then.
PJ being a great writer, I'm sure created a great read. But I also know a book can not contain the entire truth.
Geoff McCoy has been attempting to get his story out for years, but its so seemingly outrageously impossible that what he is saying could be true that people think he's twisted mad. He's not!!!
Mr Blind, excuse my short post,
Can you please outline how artificial reefs will in some way reduce crowds or create more equality in the surf?
Can you sufficiently propose a strategy on how surf manufacturers can economically benefit the community?
Can you, in your infinite wisdom, tell the dear readers of this site how you can implement change for every surfer, at every surf break in Australia?
If you can answer these questions in a constructive manner, it would be appreciated, as it will allay any ambiguity to your opinion piece.
Much respect, Camboboog
Boog crawl back up your nose you little weed.
Though you may be able to read, though I suspect your mother does for you,
You fail to comprehend and understand.
Quick make like your working, the boss is looking....
@camboboog
Can you please outline how artificial reefs will in some way reduce crowds or create more equality in the surf?
I don't think you can do much about equality in the surf but in terms of reducing crowds on one level it is as simple as the same number of surfers divided by more spots. On another it could be about a more rational approach to dividing up the available waves. If artificial reefs are constructed in conjunction with not-for profit organisations similar to golf clubs then preferential access to members could be given. Ideal? Probably not. An improvement on the current moveable mob of idiots drifting from spot to spot. I think so, you may not.
Can you sufficiently propose a strategy on how surf manufacturers can economically benefit the community?
Many wealthy sports have charities dedicated to assisting former players and associates who are down on their luck. This can take many forms from funding rehab to simply paying the rent. Given that I can probably name a dozen or more ex-competitive surfers or industry workers who are doing it tough right now, this would be appropriate. Also I haven't seen much in the way of financial support to local clubs lately. Maybe the ones I know of have just missed out but in my experience strong local clubs foster a sense of community that helps people support each other.
Can you, in your infinite wisdom, tell the dear readers of this site how you can implement change for every surfer, at every surf break in Australia?
Well obviously not, but I never claimed that I would. My point is that those who have had the power to make improvements have not done so.
Slightly off topic maybe but the below example of being denied an offshore purchase yesterday for an essential piece of surfing equipment certainly doesn’t leave my grapes any less sour with the surf industry bigwigs:
“Thanks for your order, I’m afraid we are no longer able to ship O’Neill, Billabong, Rip Curl or Quiksilver wetsuits to Australia so with regards to order 54733 we have cancelled your order and no money has been taken.
Sorry for any inconvenience, the retailers in Australia do not want us to ship to ‘their’ territory which is why we won’t be able to provide you with any of these brands in the future.â€
If my wetsuit was made local by locals supporting locals than I’d happily compromise on the price difference. Coughing up a few hundred extra in coin for something made in Thailand at a fraction of the retail price sold for almost ½ the price in UK/US compared to here is different story. Won’t stop me getting the offshore purchase – ive just used a mates address in UK who will forward on for me. All this does is just confirm what is already known by the regular everyday lifetime surfer.. surf industry corps and their cronies are no different to any other mass produced major global corp. In this case Fake, unethical, irrelevant.