The Surfing World Loses a True Waterman

From the Surfrider Foundation’s MySpace blog:

The surfing world lost a true waterman this week, with the passing of John Kelly at the age of 88.

Not only was Kelly instrumental in defining modern surfboard design, he was seminal coastal environmentalist, founding Save Our Surf in 1961.

Aloha John!

Griffin Lecture Series

Sunday, August 19, 2007 – 1:00 p.m.
Typographical Transcendence: Tales from the Griffin Vault

Carl Rohrs, artist and instructor at Cabrillo College, discusses Griffin’s unique contribution to graphic design featuring rarely seen works by the artist.

The Surfer on the Cover of the 2nd Beach Boys Album Died

I read it here, at the blog of the San Onofre Surfing Club. His name was Les Williams. I never knew who was the surfer on the Beach Boys Surfin’ USA album cover, but it’s a great shot with style on a considerably sized wave. A big wave. The album is among my favorite Beach Boys albums, and even pure instrumental Surf fans should know it.

Los Angeles – The 50s and 60s

Maverick’s Flat 1966

Dumb Angel Blog is delivering the goods here. The next best thing to being there at the time is knowing all the good stuff.
All the themed night-clubs. The recording studios and labels. The Doo-Wop groups, the R&B and soul acts. The garage bands who covered them. The cool jazz-acts. Early Doors, artists and mindblowing interior design. Pheww… You owe it to yourself to check out this update of the Dumb Angel Blog.

Great Surf Soundtrack Comp!

chaiman of the board comp cover

Quoting from their MySpace profile:

Surf Soundtracks 1964 – 1974 Released on July 2nd on Harmless Records

Never mind the Beach Boys, Chairman Of The Board is a collection of vintage soundtracks from iconic cult surf films. Underground film makers wanted original music, a harder sound to reflect the new wilder cinematic expression now possible on the face of a wave. The soundtrack they chose to enhance this visual experimentation was the mellower stoner blues and psychedelic rock, which perfectly captured the cerebral highs of living the alternative dream. The music featured on this compilation, some of which has never been released, originates from six of these classic surf films.

I have some of the films on VHS or DVD, and some of the released soundtracks on vinyl. It’s a really great genre with a very high musical standard. And it’s something you can play to people if they ask you what music surfers listened to, in the 60s (and early 70s in this case).

Tiki News Website

Where would Tiki be without Otto von Stroheim’s Tiki News?

Established in 1995, Tiki News is a printed magazine containing 84 + pages packed full of historic and current Tiki information. The first magazine to solely cover Tiki!

The same folks bring you Tiki Oasis each year!

The original Tiki weekender! This August 16-19 join us in San Diego for the seventh Tiki Oasis! Experience top Exotica and Surf bands, the best DJs in the country spinning vintage vinyl, vendors selling unique Tiki trinkets and idols, relax poolside or dance the night away at the Hanelei Hotel! Come and enjoy three nights and three days of fun in the sun!

International Surfing Day

Pacific Longboarder made me aware of the International Surfing Day

On Thursday, June 21 surfers from across the globe will unite to celebrate International Surfing Day. The annual observance, now in its third year, was established to inspire waveriders everywhere to take a day to share and acknowledge their mutual love of surfing and our beach and ocean environments.…

French Polynesia to Host Longboarding European Showdown in July

Wow… some guys have all the luck…!

From 24-29 July, the world’s best longboarders will gather in the beautiful archipelago of French Polynesia, on the island of Tahiti for a battle for both women’s and men’s european titles.

The black sand beach of Taharuu, Papara, will be the location for the 4 Star WLT event and is known to offer great surfing potential on all conditions, from 3 to 8+ ft swells.

read all the news here:

Pacific Longboarder