Well, your all famous now...

sweet. I'm famous!

I've always wanted to be famous. Stokereport has helped me realize my dreams! Thank you stokereport!!!

I'm pretty sure the OB sidebar did not do justice to OB itself...
And I don't think that it did justice to the people that surf OB either...
Any of em

Agree with the good reverend. Lewis Samuels is nothing if not inconsistent.

Sex and violence always sells!

During the winter it is that a good friend in Alaska (Alaska for gawd's sake!) commented that he caved in a true surfing culture, because I understand it; it seems primitive and unfair, but just as much of a spot for 30 years.

I've had negative reports save me dinosaur juice. The flat tires mostly inconvenienced one of the imagination - I knew it would be different if it sucks - or they'll help you avoid a beating. Some of the community are still active watermen!

The truth about SUP berry lasted about 30 minutes following one old rule (OBEY!) I was the time or energy to do that, but I'm going to fight. Have you ever want to live in, so I'll take overit2's reality rather than fight it.

You want to go away or pretend that it's not draped in judgment and condescension. IMHO, It's OK for some to be broadcast to the San Francisco or any other impacted spot thing is that maintains this site!

I was in the future.

What does the article say? I'm cutting back on my paper consumption/buying, going paperless as much as possible.

It seems like Lewis Samuels has a friend or two in this debate. Overit2, perhaps you would care to elucidate? In the spirit of fair use, here's the two more relevant paragraphs (yes, I did go and pick up a copy and laboriously retype it):

On the other side of the spectrum were the Stoke Reporters–equally as, well, stoked as the Saffas, but completely lacking in skill and etiquette. Stoke Report is a regional website that encourages Bay Area surfers to upload real-time, user-generated surf reports via their cell phones. The result is a Twitter-esque stream of claiming from tech-savvy kooks who see Ocean Beach as a free ski resort (slowest surfer in front has right of way). They stroll up to the dunes, take a photo, and upload it for all the desk-bound world to see, along with feel-good claims like "###### is going OFF right now! Get down here dude!!!"

Needless to say, the Stoke Reporters' sense of naïve entitlement is not sitting well with the aforementioned ex-con, old-school locals. The more patient among these detractors have attempted to educate the Stoke Reporters in the complexities of surf culture via polite posts on the site's message board. "The search is part of the fun! Even Surfline doesn't condone spot-specific real-time reports!" No matter how gentle and reasonable the persuasion, all detractors have been permanently banned from Stoke Report. As a result, the natives are getting restless. The most prolific Stoke Reporters have reportedly been identified, and the next step seems to be a more physical brand of offline, parking-lot persuasion.

Does this mean that when I get my Stoke Report T-shirt and I wear it to the beach I might get a beat down? All I can say is, think before you act (original post deleted after careful deliberation). I only report after a session anyways. And I'm not condoning violence either, just common sense.

hmm - not sure if we should be encouraging any sort of surfer on surfer violence...

@Mark cutback Johnson, point well taken. Thanks. I have revised my original post.

that is one ugly fish. What is it?

Look what you made me do.

You made me blog: http://surfdai.ly/2010/05/thoughts-on-stoke-report.html

i believe that is a halibut.

I'll take three.

Cool! I look forward to checking that out. Thanks @overit2

Is this the same Lewis Samuels who was interviewed on niceness back in the day? I especially liked this part of the interview:

Niceness: What do you think of the SF surf scene?

Lewis: Well I'd love to tell you that I'm inspired by the local scene, or that we have this great community of local surfers, but we're not really there yet. In general, I'm fascinated by the subcultures and communities and social groups that evolve around shared activities. I studied cognitive anthropology at one point, and I still do some cognitive ethnography research as part of my current fucked office job. So I can take a step back and watch the different personas interact, these different character-types we have in the water… how they co-exist can be pretty interesting. But sometimes I see how people interact in the water and the parking lot and it pretty much breaks my heart. Cause we're so fucking lucky to be doing this activity, and at the end of years of doing it, the friends you make are one of the only thing you get to take away. It's an ephemeral act. The waves disappear, your best rides fade in memory, even your skills degrade with time if you surf into old age. The only thing that actually can build and really flourish is that sense of belonging, that feeling that you belong in the ocean and you belong to a community, that you have these life-long friends that you've gone through everything with.

I wish people realized that a bit more. You can give away a wave to someone in one session, and yeah, you'll never get that particular 3 foot mushburger back. You gave it away forever. But you probably never would've remembered it 10 minutes later, anyway. And if you give a few waves away every session, and treat others with respect, it comes back to you. It sounds lame, but I guess I'd like to see a little more empathy all around. Just think about other surfer's experience, when you share space with them, you know? I'd like to see dickhead locals cutting beginners some slack, and I'd also like to see those beginners respecting more experienced surfers by not surfing the same peaks. Find somewhere away from everyone else. That would make a huge difference.

That said, I think the SF scene could still develop into something great. Cause we have a lot of smart, interesting people in this city, and some of them surf. Artists, old school locals, intellectuals, musicians, writers. There's a lot of people worth meeting out there these days, and most of us are still in our own little worlds, hiding behind scowls, angry at each other for loving the same thing. That sucks. I understand where it all comes from. I've been a kook, I've been a transplant, I've been a local and an experienced surfer. All of those groups have valid concerns. I miss those days when I used to have to beg people to paddle out with me. But you can't hate the future; it's not a healthy way to live. And the future is crowds. I think the dynamic can change though, if we all do our part and try to respect each other.

http://www.niceness.org/surf/interviews/lewis.html

I honestly don't see anything incorrect or inaccurate with what Lewis wrote. I mean, maybe some of the verbiage he uses is a bit harsh and insulting to some of the users of this site, but I think his observations are pretty much spot on.

Lewis is far more/better than a "fairly trollish writer" than you accuse him of being, tehdely. He's a Magna Cum Laude graduate of a legitimate university (USCD), and has been at this surf journalism game a lot longer most stokereporters have even been surfing. If you know a bit about his history, and read a little deeper into his writings, you'll see that he is mostly controversial by design. The fact that this post has 14 comments so far as well as a separate blog post now written about it shows that he's affective yet again at getting a reaction.

I think if you can detach yourself from some of the semi-condescending tone and don’t take any of it as a personal attack on any one person, I think he makes some valid points:

* People DO post real-time reports on SR, and up until recently had done so at some of the more localized spots.

* Some of the more patient/thoughtful locals have come on to SR to attempt to explain the complexities of the local surf culture, and tried to do so in as polite of a manner as possible. These postings have often been shunned by the “locals” on SR. This is true.

* Lewis also wrote that some of the “ex-con/old-school” locals don’t seem to be putting that much thought into it, and they are straight up pissed. Again; this is true. I’ve seen it personally with my own eyes.

* Stokereporters are being identified. Again, this is definitely true. I’ve seen it and heard it with my own eyes/ears, as I remain anonymous in the background

So, if you take Lewis’ writing for what it is, and learn a bit from it, I think it can ease tensions a bit in the long run.

One thing I’d like to clarify about postings I’ve written in the past is about “surf culture”. When I say that many surfers in SF didn’t grow up surfing and get the experience of a true surf culture, I mean ANY surf culture. Some of the errors made by some stokereporters as they try to find a place in the local lineups would be common sense things to avoid for those who grew up surfing. Another way of saying that is that I’ve seen, many times, surfers from other towns move to San Francisco and smoothly integrate into a line up within a couple seasons, even at the more localized spots. This is because they grew up, as kids, watching the hierarchies and what to do/not to do in order to find a place a little higher up the totem pole. Some people post things in a somewhat harsh way, but there is often quite a bit of validity behind what they write, if you can keep your egos in check and pull out the important parts.

I use the word "trollish" as a compliment. And as a college dropout and shitty surfer, I acknowledge that the guy's more educated and accomplished than me. I do think his article is inaccurate beyond just using inflammatory language, however, especially when he remarks that Stoke Report has some sort of Nazi policy of banning anyone who disagrees. I can only think of one person who's actually been banned for participating in this stupid debate (funnily enough, it's @overit2's old account), which makes me think Mr. Samuels has a serious paucity of primary sources.

@kooktastic, freddiebrooks is right about the fish being a Halibut. That's my late Brother on the left who took over 4 hours to land it in Alaska. The year was 1992, and that was the largest Halibut caught that year @ 244 pounds.

@Kenny Reyes, is it wrong that Stoke Reporters are being identified now? I have been part of the changing surf culture since I began surfing way back when. And back then the Bo was dominated by one family of Brothers in the surf most of the time. If they weren't in the water, they were breaking into your vehicles, and or hassling you on the beach and in the parking lot if they noticed that your license plate frame said that you were from another county other than Marin. It is believed that one of the Brothers has a grandson who is now a top pro from the Big Island of Hawaii, first name of Dustin.

In retrospect, I hear and understand what you have stated above. However, and all that being said, regardless of who you are, where you are in "your" pecking order at any surf spot at any time, I will still surf, with the knowledge I have acquired over the decades of surfing at and with everybody, when I am able. Meaning that after two failed back surgeries, and at my age with my love, and understanding of the current surf culture (and it changes at every spot), I'm going in the water!

@Tehdely, if people on this site don't like what is written, no matter if it is 100%/without-a-doubt/bar-none truth, they can vote it down and off the site (or at least into the garbage can). But if something is said in a dignified, respectful way, and if the poster is speaking fact and not total balderdash, then I see no reason why something like that should get negative votes. But it can and HAS happened. I think sometimes people see the truth is a personal attack, but that’s not always the case. If I say something like, “If you paddle out to the top of the pack at Deadman’s on a heavy and/or crowded day, and sit right next to ###### expecting to get the first set wave, you’re in for a rough day.” – that is not a threat or me puffing my chest out. That’s a simple fact. But I think sometimes people see posts such as that as a personal attack, and they are often voted down and sometimes off the site (or garbage can).

If someone wrote something like, “Hey muthafucka, don’t you ever try to paddle out to the top and get my waves jackhole fliggity fago mof….” - yeah, I can understand why something like that would get voted down or off. But I’ve seen posts that are far less volatile/confrontational, when in fact the poster might actually be trying to HELP the general public, but the post is met with defensiveness or all out denial. Then, there becomes a lot of chest thumping on the SR’s end ironically, like, “I’m allowed to surf wherever I want. I’m respectful. I have a right!”

BTW, who is overit2’s old account?

@Wave Glider: no, I don’t think it’s wrong that stokereporters are being identified. If posters want to remain anonymous on this site they can do so. But seeing as a large percentage of posters on stokereport are techies, many of them have facebook accounts, twitter accounts, personal blogs, personal websites, business websites, etc. It’s not hard for someone with even a modicum of tech savvy to figure out who the real person poster is and attach a picture to their real name. It’s all out there and put out there willingly.

But, it certainly isn’t “my” pecking order. Wherever I go and surf in this world, it is “THE” pecking order. It’s up to the surfer to identify it and try to find a place within it. Hopefully we can use the information on this site and do so more smoothly. And I’m not saying if it’s right or wrong that SRers are being identified. I’m just 100% sure that they are, so I know what Lewis wrote is accurate.

It's not wrong that people are being identified if they choose not to be anonymous. It's pretty dang easy to be anonymous here.

Says the guy named after the outed CIA agent ;)

Another reality is that, unfortunately for me, niceness was 10x more negative & mean than anything i actually ever encounter in the water about 5 feet from one of the beach and in the video. If it would definitely be great for Stoke Report and would refuse to until it came out of this negativity, it's run its course far enough!

The uprising? Ah, I post very seldom but I'll just layer this in for context: http://stokereport.com/rant/former-niceness-crew-out-there

Instead of a diatribe (def: a prolonged discourse) about this topic, I'll let my last post in the link above claim my perspective.

And now, on to the graphics:

I'm a fan of Lewis Samuels' writing (his former blog was incredibly entertaining and thought-provoking), and tend to agree with the general rule of anonymity when it comes to surf reporting. BUT, the major theme of Samuels' article in Surfer was not about Stokereport- it was about how OB (and norcal in general) surfers got totally skunked this winter with tons of wind/weather and too much swell for our super-exposed beachbreaks.

I'd been wondering if anyone in the surf media was going to mention this fact, because all the mags have been hyping the 09/10 season for months. "The best season in a generation"- not for us. In fact, last year was 10 times better. Here's to next year, with hopefully no el ninos. Just gimme some moderate ground swell and a nice high pressure system with offshore wind thank you very much.

@slugger, really? I actually thought this was the best OB winter I'd seen in the last seven years. I can't remember seeing so much consistent, pretty high quality, 1.5x-DOH swell for such long stretches of time. I'm not equating size w/quality, either. I really thought the swell quality was pretty darn good, too. In fact, I was surprised he was so negative on our winter. Now, granted, I haven't been here for 20 years or anything, but I definitely thought it was better than last year. Hmmm...

I have to say I really miss Samuels' blog. That was classic reading. You're right about the basic theme of the article, but I thought the winter/fall was still pretty effing fantastic. There were numerous DOH mornings all season long at OB, so long as you don't mind paddling out in the dark through the whitewater beat down. :) Anyway, I think it's good that reporters aren't posting on the Fort, X, Y and Z. One thing Samuels got wrong, however, was the comment about Surfline not allowing real time user reports. I have seen real time user reports posted via mobile on Surfline.

@tehdely: funny!

That's not why I picked this name, but that post makes it ironic doesn't it?

BTW, I'm anonymous, it's not my real name.

As for the surf - it was too big most of the winter for me. Hopefully next year I'll be fitter, but I'll guess a lot of people might be in the same boat - not good enough to get out on a double overhead day.

I may be fantasizing too much, but it seemed like last January was one long, sunny, overhead and offshore month. And the rest of the season was solid too. My experience this year: I thought September sucked, November was the best month, December was good and then BLAM! 25 MPH SOUTH WIND/RAIN/20 FT. SWELL...end of season.

Which is why so-cal was so good. Didn't get all the weather, and reaped the benefits of the larger swells.

I'll admit to not having the best memory, and the recency effect is strong in me, but it just seemed I was stoked out of my mind way more frequently & way more consistently this winter than in any winter I can remember.

Of course, I also remember thinking the TOH+ days kept me out of the water at OB more frequently than I ever remembered previously.

On the flip side, this spring has just been frickin' awful. Indescribably so. :( I'm actually looking forward to the summer, hoping it'll at least deliver some decent south swell.

I've been more of a reader than a contributor around here. I stop in for the reports, but these etiquette debates always make me think I've walked into an overly-hip bike shop in the mission. We've had pages upon pages upon pages of debate about etiquette and how information is ruining/will ruin the experience for everyone. Really?

Cold water, bad weather, out-of-sight-out-of-mind-unmentionable-critters and let's face it, precious little in the way of quality peaks will ALWAYS limit the crowds. This isn't Oahu. We get a few months of good stuff at OB. Otherwise there are a handful of mostly crappy points along with a mellow longboard break or two. We live in the mostly densely populated city on the west coast and have the least crowded breaks in California. Nor do we have eye candy back on the beaches. Yet people posture on here about a "scene?"

Keep it simple. Go surfing. Smile. Don't be a dick. Should you waver on that last one, apologize. Repeat.

I don't say any of this to be a dick. Just a splash of reality.

fwiw, there has been a very large increase in traffic to stokereport.com since the article came out. i guess there is no such thing as bad publicity :)

Now's the time to execute your master advertising plan.

Fitness Singles!

The law of unintended consequences bites the anti-stokereporters in the ass! Amusing. Someone predicted that too - I'm to lazy to go look up who it was.

@tehdely: Adultfriendfinder!

@Righteousdewd: right on buddy. put it in perspective

yep. comment of the week from Righteousdewd: http://stokereport.com/rant/well-your-all-famous-now#comment-9009

Righteousdewd is right on...although i'm sure pete swedra/overit2 won't like it for some retarded reason.

We here at SurfTweeters.com wanted to chime in on this great topic.

Let’s get straight to the issue, shall we? I didn’t verify everything I read in your blogs or in the mags but irregardless, for the sake of discussion, I am going to assume it has all gone down the way it was quoted and commented on.

Surf culture claims to be this sort of fringe soulful group that has an inner connection to nature and the world around us by means of our passion for the ocean. Okay, that’s all wonderful and utopic. But lets look at the other side of surfing.

First off, surfing is a very individualistic and aggressive “sport” that requires one to be, for all intensive purposes, selfish. Why is this? Because, in just about any lineup, you want to get a wave, hence the term “surfing” and not “bobbing.” You have to essentially battle anywhere from 20-200 other surfers or you will not get a wave, period. Why is it that in most lineups there are usually a small handful of guys that get the majority of waves? Surfing is by no means a team activity, nor is it for the passive.

Surfers are just as intolerant of each other as any group that gripes about anything. Surfing has just as many opinions and sides as the most heated politics or religions of the world. Shortboarders hate longboarders, everyone hates bodyboarders, bodysurfers hate everyone, everyone hates SUP Surfers…let’s not even bring up kayakers, East Side, West Side, Nor Cal, So Cal, booties/no booties, new school vs hodads or any other of the rivalries we peace loving surfers have dreamt up. The point is we aren’t as soulful as we like to believe or promote.

That said, lets look at each related aspect outside of the actual “doing-ness” of surfing. Here we have everything from surf shops, boardmakers, clothing companies, media outlets (magazines, websites, etc), and organizations for competing (such as WCT, ASP, etc).

In a perfect world, from the viewpoint of being a local, either by living close to a surfing spot or by having enough time at a location to assume the location as “ones own.” From this standpoint purely as a surfer, there isn’t anything about the surfing industry that is positive. Ideally, as a surfer, you would prefer that the majority of the world hate surfing This would, in fact, keep everyone else away from your break, might reduce the numbers that flock to your area, possibly keep real estate prices down, allow you to surf any day of the week (including the weekends – can you imagine?), and the list just goes on from there.

Here’s where we get into the hypocritical aspect of the industry. First off, let’s look at the industry in terms of a microcasm, we will start with the local board maker or shop owner. Usually, this person is or was a local surfer who wanted to make a living, if possible, in the surfing industry. In the early days this guy shaped a few boards for himself and his buddies, then got more and more requests, blah blah. But, eventually, that shop can’t sustain a living selling to just a few locals, especially with competition and the necessity to pay the bills, buy a house or whatever else the guy dreams of. Ultimately, this local surfer turned shop clerk, turned shaper, turned shop owner, has to sell to, yes, here it comes, to the almighty tourist – the kook, the noob, the barney, the slug, the valley…the haole. Many, not all (maybe not even most), but definitely some, wouldn’t give the average person a second of their time, but now that it comes to money, you betcha, they do it with a big fake grin and a big “hey bro how you doin!” as you walk through the door. I love the guys who will call someone a kook in the water or heckle them as they drive up to check the surf, then turn around and kiss their ass when they come to throw some dinero down in the shop (or buy a subscription to their magazine)…we are starting to get to the point of all of this.

Easily seen on a small scale in local shops and on a bigger scale with full blown companies catering to “outsiders” and eventually getting so big as to sell the whole business to the afore mentioned, an industry dream. From personal experience there isn’t any place this is and has always been more prevalent then in Hawaii. In the late 80’s shops like Local Motion and BH seemed to cater to Japanese tourists with deep pockets, and not many others. There boards were easily 25% more then any other shop and their gear was simply plain old ridiculous in price (a model many surfing companies follow today). And I personally remember how the Japanese tourists were treated when they paddled into the lineup at Ala Moana Bowls with their brand new boards, neon rash guards, matching deck pads, noseguards and don’t forget how popular Zinka was. Let’s just say they weren’t treated as well as they were when they walked into the shop in packs or by the tour bus full (literally).

I found just last week with the Billabong XXL Awards that certain comments made about the winner of the biggest wave of the year was “an outsider,” “who can’t paddle,” relative of Hitler, etc...and it wasn’t just a well respected surfing family member who made comments, it was on respected industry sights as well. I mean, I understand these comments from a personal point of view but isn’t it in the interest of everyone in the surfing industry to break into none surfing countries like Germany? How many new shirts, shorts, boards, subscriptions and advertising can be sold in a new wide open market especially in this day and age? Why would anyone make a comment like that and then ask people, any people, to buy their products? Both of the people I noticed make the comments went right on pushing their products to the public (any public) the next day. Did they really mean they wanted to only sell to anyone other then people like him? I doubt it. Fortunately or unfortunately I am not in the industry so I can say whatever I like…right?

How else does this pertain to the surfing industry on a larger scale? When pros start wising up and looking at their futures, after the sponsorships, the world traveling, when they realize they can’t compete against the worlds best or they realize they are getting older, they start looking at how they are going to have to survive in the world in their later years and without being paid to surf. A very very few surfers make enough money to retire on or as a lifetime career, if either has ever happened at all aside from maybe Mr. Slater - it might be recent with all the money flowing in from corporate sponsorship but even then it is fairly doubtful. The majority of these guys realize the surfing industry is one of the best places for them to work in (look how many of them work or run in every aspect of this industry). If they have any sort of skill, outside of surfing, they try to use that to get in a position where they can stay in the industry, I would do the same. What better place for them to be? Talking to people they know, about the thing they know the best and the sport they love the most. For just about every surfer, just about anywhere in the industry is a dream job (at least compared to the alternatives).

Here we can now look at the industries magazines. Generally, the staff are surfers. But how does working at a magazine work when one is or was one of those “locals?” Are there any qualms or breaks in previous moral code? We’ve seen the issues raised when contests take over surf spots and the ensuing drama with the areas inhabitance. The problems aren’t just relegated to long ago history; take the most recent 2010 protests in Australia and the world media catching glimpses of the violence that occurs when surfers don’t want to leave a contest zone. And how do locals feel about the magazine coverage at their local break? Spots once viciously protected 20+ years ago as off limits to magazines and photogs now have 24 hour surf report cams (see comments later in regard to cameras and the businesses that provides them). Other locations that still have rules of this nature seem to be “okay” only if the current pro says “ya bros they’re with me.” Shades of hypocrisy rear their ugly heads yet again.

What does any or all of this have to do with the newest form of, and addition to, the surfing culture/industry? First off, the Internet itself has played a huge role on the next evolution of surfing media. Although the mags have stiff competition from the Internet, they too have had to create entire new sections of their businesses dedicated to keeping up with and keeping current to the Internet. Every major magazine is online, any that aren’t are, imho, nuts and doomed.

So, who at a magazine or anywhere in the surfing industry would make any sort of negative comment about a small regionally run social blog about surfing reports and opinions? Possibly an old pro or maybe a surfer who could be considered a local at some break somewhere? One that was sponsored by surfing companies that have products sold in department stores all over the USA or maybe the world, or maybe they just dream of this? A guy who works at a magazine that shows pictures of breaks that upset locals who really prefer the “no news is good news” mentality? Someone who gets paid by selling advertisement about a sport most locals don’t want promoted? Who sells advertising to companies no core surfer would be caught dead using? Does that staffer give two shits what anyone else feels about the work he does? They are making their living the honest way, they never went back on any beliefs they once held when they were “just a surfer” but now have to put food on the table and keep them getting wet.

But here is where the comments regarding Stoke Report opens up a bigger view of the double standard. Would that critic make the same comment if a well known pro or legend in the sport were using the blog or owned it? What if it happened to be owned by the mag itself? Is it because it’s “new” people to the surfing community? Really? If that is the issue, that’s hilarious. But I don’t think that’s what it is, despite it being said. I think it has more to do with the comment about making surf reports. It’s okay for the hypocrite kid at the shop who records the report for minimum wage but would snake you in a second in the water, position or not. Or was he just posting the surf report for locals only living in a certain radius of that location? They really ought to be specific in the report who it is for if that is the case. It’s okay for Surfline…oh wait that’s right they “don’t condone real time spot-specific feeds”…wait a minute did I just quote that correctly? ROFL! What are the 24 hour cameras for then (HD if you pay)? Well, now that I read that again when I quoted it, I can’t see anything new but the same old diatribe and hypocrisy that makes up the part of surfing I care about the least, the part that doesn’t have anything to do with the action itself and more to do with what makes surfing just like everything else in the world.

If the magazines have anything to worry about, it’s not local bloggers and so called kooks. It’s the fact that I can get more surf related news and media on the Internet in one day “free” then the 3 month old news I get from my new magazine issue that just arrived in the mailbox out in front of my house. And it isn’t just the news, it’s all the pictures, videos, contest information, events, results, surf reports, live feeds…everything the Internet has so far realized in it’s relatively short existence. If it weren’t for the quality of the pictures and interesting articles in the magazines, the magazine days would be numbered by way of the newspaper and CD’s death…and they still might be heading down that path due to the simple economics of it all. I love the mags, I love the controversy they stir and have stirred over the decades, hell I even love the god damn smell! I get a boner when I see a new issue in the mail of any of the 4 different mags I still subscribe to and will continue to do so until they become obsolete or fold like the many that already have (I am still waiting for my refund on a certain expensive mag that went under a year or so ago…is that selfish?).

I was conceived at a local break, literally. I was born at a local break. I have moved from local breaks, been beaten up at new breaks only to become a regular in the line up at that same break and move away again. Been a valley, a transplant, a haole, a con and a local. Tires slashed, rocks thrown, punched in the head and had my fins broken off by guys who look like they ate 3 of me for breakfast. I’ve had my little tow almost cut off for being a kook and not getting all but my foot through the face duck diving a break I will never be welcome at, ever. I’ve been dropped in by more pros then I ever care to remember. I’ve had the same pros try to give me signed posters, want to shake my hand at booths, offer me free swag to promote their wears, invited to their parties and shared many a beer with. I’ve been in crew on crew brawls with a pro surfer ranked top 2 in the world at that time, wrecked on drugs while sponsored by the biggest corporations in the industry at the same time. All this and many more experiences trying to do the thing I am most passionate about in my life.

These are my own personal dues, ones no one on SR will ever have to go through and never should. The meek insults and pathetic threats are easily endurable. You are more then supported in your blog by myself as well as many others publicly and privately. Even though we don’t always share your opinions, we enjoy reading them and viewing the other aspects of the SR site including all the great pictures AND reports contributed by your members. Personally you guys had the best pics and news out of SF this winter, better then anyone one else on the net, trust me I searched them all religiously and yours doesn’t cost a penny.

Just like everything else surfers can hate in each other, the comments made by others are just letting you know, you are part of the same culture. Welcome.

Fellow Surfers

www.SurfTweeters.com

@Surftweetersdotcom: Can you condense that into 140 characters or less? =). Seriously, well thought out.

I just want to add one other wrinkle to this whole thing, which is that anybody's particular perception of what constitutes "the rules" and "the norms" of surfing just ain't necessarily so. Lewis Samuels does not necessarily know "how it is" and "what NorCal surfing is all about." Nor (respectfully) does overit2, no matter how local and experienced he may be, no matter how many dues he perceives himself as having paid.

I guess it's just human nature that people who have been around in a place for a while come to think that they really know what's up and that they need to educate other people on how to behave. That tendency, as surftweeter emphasizes, only gets reinforced by the presence of a surf media and surf economy that wants heroes and hierarchies, rippers and "kooks," the better to sell products based on perceived anxieties about lack of "skill."

But for the most part, this stuff strikes me as being utterly meaningless. Surfing is just a bunch of water crashing on the shore. There is a comically elaborate culture that has built up around this natural phenomenon, but there actually are no rules about what's the right way to enjoy it, any more than there is a right way to take a walk in the rain or play with a hula hoop. Whether somebody does Air 360s on a Wizard's Sleeve or happily pearls over and over again on an inflatable pool toy, it's all the same. (Yeah, there is always the threat of intimidation and violence to back up the perceived righteousness of the "surf culture" status quo, which I suppose is why people don't go snorkle in the impact zone at Deadman's. But that threat of violence doesn't mean anything one way or the other about whether it's right for people to dish out such intimidation.)

I've been surfing for more than 20 years, have a ton of respect for the ocean and a love of the restrained, mellow approach exemplified by folks like Skip Frye. But I'm also incredibly tired of the over-the-top aggression, greed, conformity and humorlessness of what is supposedly "surf culture." Surfers strike me, almost to a T, as being the rednecks of the coast, totally oblivious to how goofy their violent, provincial prejudices are to anyone whose mind is even slightly open. And playing along with those prejudices no longer interests me.

Fun interests me. New experiences interest me. Jumping in the water now and then interests me. The rest of it can go.

"Surf culture" and the "surf industry" are just a kind of parasite that has grown like a boil on the side of a beautiful, simple experience. They're a sort of collective delusion, a quick-edited commercial set to a shitty pop-punk tune and edited into oblivion by Taylor Steele. None of it really matters (at least not to me), except the simple act of enjoying the ocean and feeling alive. Perhaps that is how some of the other "kooks" on this board feel too.