Behind the Scenes of Saltwater Buddha

1437

Rant - Behind the Scenes of Saltwater Buddha

Jaimal writes: I was recently asked about the challenges involved in bringing Saltwater Buddha, the film, to life. Though there were many, the biggest was fixing my head.

When Nohoch Productions asked me back in 2009 if they could turn Saltwater Buddha, the book, into a film, I felt similar to when my high school crush – a terrifying full grade ahead of me – asked me to the Sadie Hawkins dance. Excited, but the overwhelming feeling was that of getting ready to pee in my pants.

There were just too many potential ways to screw it all up: I’m camera shy, not a pro surfer, and nobody funds surf films these days anyway, certainly not ones about unknown teenagers running away from home to find themselves. How would my story possibly compete for limited funding dollars with rodeo flips and thong bikinis?

Source: Read the Full theIntertia.com Story

Rant by chrispy

12 comments

goingleft
47 weeks ago

I brought that book to Indo with me. Written like a third grader. I really wanted to like it but the writing is horrendous.

Cazart
47 weeks ago

I had the opposite experience. I was expecting to hate it and didn't.

sharky
47 weeks ago

I wanted to hate it based on the title. Really enjoyed it.

sharkturd
47 weeks ago

Well you guys are no help. This does nothing to overcome my reluctance to read the book based on an assumption, fairly or not, of it being just another feel good "surfing changed my life" memoir. Where is H20man and his professional book reviews when we need him? One thing seems certain, though. If I'm this slow to pick-up the book, the movie will probably be out of the question.

Wave Glider
47 weeks ago

Enjoyably light reading. IMHO ; - )

http://thewatermanslibrary.com/Site/Kook.html

joemount2004
47 weeks ago

you mean: http://thewatermanslibrary.com/Site/SaltwaterBuddha.html

tehdely
47 weeks ago

Nice guy and a nice book. Looking forward to the film.

sharkturd
47 weeks ago

Thanks joe, but the text in that review is too hazy and blurry for me to read.

King of Kooks
46 weeks ago

Feh! Anything else we can do for you Turd? Mow your lawn? Clean your garage?

Rating 4 out of 5 stars.
I wasn’t sure what to make of this book when I finally picked it up. Candidly, I’m not a very spiritual person so I was a bit worried that this might be preachy or worse....boring. I was also concerned that this might be one of those books where people drone on self-indulgently about surfing being a religion, their path to inner peace, blah, blah, blah. The kind of bizarre stuff that makes me want to hide the fact that I love to surf. Turns out, this is a great book. Writing in pithy, self-deprecating prose, Jaimal Yogis efficiently describes his sometimes amusing, but always interesting, quest for meaning. Yogis manages to keep the book light, even when he’s tossing you a sizable chunk of religious philosophy. Fortunately, those introspective passages are written without any hint of self-importance. In fact, it’s quite the opposite since Yogis is the first person to clearly note that both his motives and actions are sometimes questionable. I also enjoyed Yogis writing about surfing. In many cases, surf-authors have a tendency to write about the act of surfing like it’s some sort of heavy artistic impression. The result are at best awkward, but more often they’re downright creepy. Yogis, on the other hand, has a gift for describing the act of surfing in a clear, entertaining manner that I think captures the best essence of the sport. This book is a very easy, entertaining read that I’d recommend to anyone who surfs. (October 2009)

sharkturd
46 weeks ago

King, that was right nice of ya. H20man's review is compelling enough to give it a read. Now if you can help me find my glasses...oh, and bring along that big macho Hoff pal of yours..got some cord wood that needs to be split. Thanks for asking.