Ever wondered why Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanza all happen to fall around the same time of year? It turns out that they’re all originally celebrations of the winter solstice, which is the point at which the days stop getting shorter and start to grow longer in the northern hemisphere. And Santa Claus – he actually [...]
There’s a story in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about veteran local surfers banding together to prevent surf schools from holding group surfing lessons at Pleasure Point. The surfers claim that the surf schools are over crowding the surf spot, creating a safety hazard for all who frequent the spot. The surfers and the surf schools [...]
"After spending two years in bed with Lyme disease, Steven Kotler had lost everything: his health, his job, his girl, and, he was beginning to suspect, his mind. Kotler, not a religious man, suddenly found himself drawn to the sport of surfing as if it were the cornerstone of a new faith." Read entire review [...]
Everyone’s fantasy is to somehow get paid to surf. Well, how cool would it be to be able to go to college and study surfing? Students at UCSB can take Prof. Stuart Sweeney’s Geography of Surfing course, which looks pretty sweet. It’s like Broceanography 101. And if that’s not cool enough, then how’s about an [...]
Yesterday, over 100 people gathered at Muizenberg beach in Cape Town, South Africa to attempt a new world record for the Most Surfers Standing on One Wave. Once approved, the South African’s unofficial record of 73 surfers riding the same wave will beat the official record of 44 currently held by the Lahinch Surf [...]
Here’s an article that puts surfers (and surfing) on a pedestal. Says surfing has gotten a lot more popular in recent years and that surfers are donating more of their time to charitable causes that aren’t necessarily surf-specific. The author doesn’t substantiate his claim with any hard data apart from the fact that last month [...]
If I could go back and do college all over again, I’d give some serious thought to doing it like Alexandra Cheney. Wheaton College granted her a $25K fellowship to travel to some of the world’s finest surf destinations (Polynesia, Australia, Japan, Costa Rica, Brazil and South Africa). Her mission is to study the intersection [...]
There’s no telling how accurate their numbers are, but the IWGA estimates the global population of recreational surfers to be around 20 million people. There are roughly 2.5 million surfers in the United States alone, the majority being on the Pacific coast. Link
Double Crown records has some podcasts of cool traditional surf guitar instrumentals (Dick Dale style music). Check ‘em out http://www.dblcrown.com/podcasts.html You should be able to stream the podcasts in your browser. I’ve listened to most of them. So far I think show #13 is my favorite.
I hate to be the one to break this to you, but according to the New Economics Foundation, a self-proclaimed "think and do tank", if you live in the U.S., then you’re one of the most unhappy people on the planet. Grab a tissue and choke back your tears for a minute while I explain. [...]