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    #26
    I was advised to read "kook" by Peter Heller when I started surfing and found it an enjoyable read.

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      #27
      Men only in Tahiti. They've called off a few days because of small surf but today it was pumping. Wednesday will be finals day (1/4 Final - the final). Large and vicious tube rides. I expressed this above about the Box, but I find the drop in, get tubed, get out surfing to be less interesting because there's no real finesse with this kind of surfing. But the wipeouts can be intense and it's a really gutsy type of surfing.

      Here is a link that should be spoiler free if anyone wants to watch any of the heats.

      https://www.worldsurfleague.com/even...ahupoo/results

      I'm close to finishing Barbarian Days. I've really enjoyed this book. I picked up Kook and will finish a football book I set aside to read Barbarian Days before starting Kook.

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        #28
        I'm reading Barbarian Days too. Though I've taken a break (at the point where he's about to leave Indonesia) to read the latest Murakami. Should be back on it at the end of this week.

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          #29
          Originally posted by Amor de Cosmos View Post
          I'm reading Barbarian Days too. Though I've taken a break (at the point where he's about to leave Indonesia) to read the latest Murakami. Should be back on it at the end of this week.
          As I noted above, some of the early parts were a little less interesting for me, although I enjoyed learning about how he came into surfing and the way it hooked him right away. Once he starts traveling, I was sold. But I like travel writing and I like road stories. As the book progresses, there's a lot of details about the waves and how he learns certain spots. I'm pretty surprised that the book got so much attention given the descriptive details about surfing, which I would assume might be less interesting for a general reader. But I've really dug it.

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            #30
            I missed the last few competitions in the 2019-2020 season, but watched some highlights after the fact. I meant to post about that here to note that the men's and women's titles both went to the wire. The men's title was decided during the final heat in the final competition at Pipeline. Really exciting stuff.

            What reminded me to post here is reading a Match of the Month report from Newquay in WSC from May 2017. I've been catching up on some issues that I never had time to read. Anyway, surfing is mentioned quite a bit in that report. Here's a nice swell from that general area:

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTbPZjHjfUw
            Last edited by danielmak; 01-08-2020, 03:54.

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              #31
              I've posted before that I find big wave riding interesting, but much prefer to watch contests when the waves require a surfer to display a range of skills to win a heat. With that said, this is interesting:

              https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/...e-year/616216/


              https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/22/s...gtype=Homepage
              Last edited by danielmak; 22-09-2020, 23:53.

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                #32
                The 2021 season is underway but I haven't had time to watch any of the competitions. I did pick up a copy of Kook, as recommended above. A flight to Los Angeles meant 4+ hours of reading time each way. I enjoyed the book, although not as much as Barbarian Days. Finnegan is a better writer and also his links to surfing from a young age show a more sophisticated connection to surf culture. What I liked about Kook, though, is the focus on learning to surf as an older man. And the general premise (going from not learning to surf to riding legit waves that attract real surfers) was interesting. I like books that can blend travel writing, some level of thoughtful cultural analysis, and have a little bit of a memoir feel. This book has some of that, although Heller and his girlfriend (later wife) tend to stay put at a few breaks in Mexico. Anyway, I enjoyed reading it and was happy to take a break from reading work stuff and football stuff.

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                  #33
                  I rented a car when going to visit some family for the holidays. I screwed up and selected Economy when filling out the booking form online. The car was a two-door clown car. The customer service guy at the counter was a talker and it turned out an old surfer. We talked surfing for 30+ minutes while I waited for the family to show up with luggage. When I realized we were in a clown car, the guy put me in an SUV for the same price. It pays to know about surfing.

                  Anyway, this is an interesting read if you have ever paid attention to surfing magazines:
                  https://beachgrit.com/2022/01/worlds...im-surfing-on/

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                    #34
                    This is a couple weeks old but I thought I already posted it. Kelly Slater won the Pipeline Masters a couple weeks back. The guy is 50 years old. I was impressed with Tom Brady winning the Super Bowl at 40 (?) but surfing requires a level of physical fitness that makes Slater's win mind boggling.

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                      #35
                      Here is an older "long read" piece from BeachGrit about Martin Potter, focused on his 1989 title winning season. There is some nice literary flair at times. At other times, too many quotes are stacked together, but it's an interesting read about a guy who started the professional tour at 15 years old. https://beachgrit.com/2014/09/long-r...rfing-coolish/

                      There's a bit more about the wave he caught in the Pipeline Masters as a 17 year old in this piece:
                      https://tracksmag.com.au/waves-that-...at-pipe-548969

                      And there is comparison between that Pipeline ride and Laird Hamilton's ride in the BeachGrit piece. Here is a short video that feature's Laird's wave.

                      Last edited by danielmak; 13-03-2022, 00:23.

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                        #36
                        Some more older stuff. I recently picked up a photo book called Photo/Stoner that tells the story of and features photos from Ron Stoner. His story is kind of the story of California in the 60s. Here is a Surfer Magazine post that features some of Stoner's photos.

                        https://www.surfer.com/features/was-...fornia-surfer/

                        And here is Bruce Brown's first surf film from the late 50s. You can see the seeds of Endless Summer.

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                          #37
                          An interesting profile of big wave rider Kai Lenny by William Finnegan.


                          Here is a video that is linked in the piece if you're not interested in a feature but want to see some big wave surfing.


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                            #38
                            I haven't had time to watch any surfing since I last posted, but this came across Instagram, which is pretty dope.

                            https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cq-Hc..._web_copy_link

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                              #39
                              ESPN+ picked up rights to the WSL (surf league) in case anyone in the US cares. I assume international viewing is still an option through the WSL app or their web site. I don't know if the second competition finished yet, but the Pipeline competition is still on the ESPN+ app.

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