Making Friends With The Neighbours

I spent a couple of days with my 4 1/2 year old niece, Mame Diarra, this week. I've talked about her on this blog a bit before - mostly about how much she loves the ocean , and how unspeakably happy that makes me. Mame Diarra loves being in water. She can't swim yet, but she has no fear whatsoever so when you take her in the ocean or a pool, you have to watch/hold onto her her really carefully. The other day, we were in Brisbane, so I took her and she was in heaven. She was straight in there and jumping off the starting blocks and insisting that even though she can't swim, I let go of her so she could try. When I let her go she kicks and thrashes her arms and juts her chin out and smiles as wide as you can imagine. Oh man, I love her. After our swim we went to the park where she climbed high on all the equipment and made me climb up there with her. I gave up after a while and sat on the swing, so she started pushing me higher and higher. Then she got my phone and took p...

There have been some really wonderful surfing publications come out in the last 5 years or so. Kurungabaa: a journal of literature, history and ideas from the sea is obviously the one most close to my own heart, but White Horses and Wax Magazine  are other stand outs for me. As these publications have appeared, I've been really stoked watching the surf magazine scene diversify both in form, content and contributors. The key is that they are not surf magazines in the sense that surfing is the key focus. Rather, they are focused on thing oceanic whether they be surfing, sailing, swimming, diving, art, music, science, scholarship, history, the environment, sex, culture, politics or any other manifestation of that theme. Surfing in and of itself is actually pretty boring really (Oh come on. It is!), so by broadening out the focus these publications have revived this part of culture of surfing. So I have been excitedly awaiting the appearance of a new kid on the block, Great Ocean ,...

So, Roxy finally made a public statement in response to the bad press they received about a promotional clip they made for the Roxy Pro in Biarritz earlier this year. While I am always hesitant to link to these sites, you can read Roxy's statement  over on their blog.  But here it is for your reading pleasure; More than 20 years ago, we set out to create a brand dedicated to supporting women and girls in their love of surfing and beyond. Since that time, we have worked to build on this heritage by developing great products, creating new competitive opportunities for female athletes, and establishing and growing the Roxy surf and snowboarding teams. We continue to work to do more to achieve this mission.  As fans and supporters of female athletes, we are disappointed by recent mischaracterizations of the Roxy brand and wanted to take this opportunity to share with our fans the true vision and voice of Roxy.  First and foremost, Roxy is and always has been a...

You know pisses me off? Well, aside from the many things I've posted about on here, this ad pisses me off; Look, I know this ad is old now (it was released in July), but as you may have noticed I've been wholly without words lately, so allow me this indulgence it talking about what a disgrace this advertisement is. Also, I saw a full-page ad for this product in a magazine today. Basically, what I want to say is fuck you marketing. Fuck you marketing for saying that while it's good to be active and sweaty, you should only sweat in apparently invisible ways. That you should only sweat in certain places. That you should only sweat if it doesn't draw attention to your body. Especially to your lady parts! This stupid ad hits me on a personal level, because for a long time, I felt this way. I mean, I would totally have bought into this ad. For most of my childhood and adolescence I did ballet. I did ballet for 14 years from when I was about 3. I'm absolutely ter...

It's official. I'm mental. I'm that crazy person who talks to and terrifies strangers on the street. So tonight I was walking home from my fitness class (yeah, yeah, yeah). I was wearing tights and a t-shirt, and I was sweaty and stringy-haired and most likely red-faced. You know, like what people look like right when they stop exercising. Anyway, as I was walking up the hill past a bus-stop I saw a guy waiting there who looked as though he'd been at a gym or something as well. He was leaning up against a pole, listening to tunes on his head-phones and reading a book. It was the book that caught my eye. I'd nearly passed him when I realised the cover of the book looked as though it had a surfer getting barreled on it. Without thinking, I stopped and stepped backwards and stuck my head down to look at the cover of the book and asked 'Is that a surfer on the cover?' He looked at me and slowly took out his headphones as I repeated my question. I think i...