Making Friends With The Neighbours

Clips like this make me think I might have missed my calling as an astrophysicist - Carl Sagan , Neil deGrasse Tyson , Brian Cox *. But then I remember how much maths is involved (blergh), and I know I made the right choice. But holy crap, astrophysicists, way to put things in perspective. This too. *Yeah, Cox isn't technically an astro physicist, but he's awesome and I'm counting him here anyway.

Yeah, I know. It was yesterday.* And yeah, I know this video is not new, but it's awesome. Stephanie Gilmore really does have a lovely, smooth approach to waves that is a pleasure to watch. If there is anything specific I would like to acknowledge this International Surfing Day, it's the much improved visibility of women as surfing participants in the water and in the culture that I've noticed over the past few years. So great! Dear Sylvia, love Steph. from Morgan Maassen on Vimeo . *So was UNHCR World Refugee Day , which I feel horrid adding as a footnote to this post. I don't really know what to say about that, except that all Australians should read the first and last chapters of Nam Le's book The Boat . Also, here is something I wrote when the boat of refugees smashed  apart on the rocks at Christmas Island. Almost 50 asylum seekers died in this truly terrible and avoidable incident.

As I told you, I’ve just moved across the sea to a new home in a new country. In many ways, it’s not such a huge change; English is widely spoken, we have a similar recent colonial history set against a significantly longer past, and the north island has a lot of environmental similarities to my own home country. But there’s a lot that is different as well. For example, I know so little of the Maori history, people and culture, the cold is something new to my way of life and thinking, I don’t know where to get anything (what shops sell what?), and the coastal places on this wild west coast are very different to the powdery white sand and the clear, warm water, of the sub-topics I grew up. Here the sand is black, the water a chalky green, there are a lot fewer people (the beach I run on is often empty), and the beaches are buffered by looming hills and cliffs. It is incredibly beautiful and I’m blown away, but it’s still not in my heart. Not yet anyway. So right now, I’m givin...

I know everyone is posting this clip of Benji Brand in Namibia, but it really is so, so beautiful. The colours, the mist, the pace... None of it has any resemblance to my surfing life, but quel gorgeousness!

This awesome person became an Australian citizen today.  (Photo by Nathan Oldfield ) So bummed I wasn't there to celebrate with her. But so, so happy that now she gets to vote in elections (especially since she votes for the same team as me). xx

I have been meaning to write here. I have been meaning to write here about my move to New Zealand. About my little cabin overlooking the sea, about the black sand, the green water, the tides, the moon, the sky, the feather-duster plants, and my embarrassing hesitation to get in the water. I've been meaning to tell you about the day the swell was about 10 foot and no-one was out, about the days it has been tiny and crowded, about how I've already found women to surf with here, how they encouraged me into the sea, and about how I went negotiating a left-hand point break for the first time. And did I mention getting to watch the sun set into the sea from my window almost every afternoon? But despite all my intentions, I've not yet managed to get words on a page, so this little entry and these images will have to do for now. But will some one please bug me about this - I clearly need a push!

(Mostly because I have similarly long arms.) Greta Gerwig is just so cool - despite my reservations, I really loved Frances Ha - and this Arcade Fire song is great to run to. Especially when you mentally practice about the dance moves you could be doing instead...

So are you watching the Fiji Pro? The solid waves of Fiji are back on the WCT for the women, and it's really turned on for them! I'm supposed to be working, but I'm thoroughly enjoying  watching it live here . And I don't even really like competitive shortboarding! (Update: Um, why are there no women commentating, interviewing, assisting, etc? Are there women judging? I can see them serving drinks in the bar, but so far, no-one is involved in the representation of anything in this broadcast. Seriously though, is this still happening? Oh hang on... Rosie Hodge just interviewed someone. She is so much better at this gig that Laird Hamilton. Ugh. I guess that comes with experience, which she is gathering after having done this for a while.) (Update again: Did you see that awesome little marketing clip where one of the women says 'Why are we here? Because we frickin' rip and we deserve to be here!' Awesome. Despite this, there is still comment on this from...

I have written many, many times about how almost all the swimmers I wear come from one lady - Sarah Kearney of Gypsy Jacket . Sarah and I met through our blogs, actually, and developed a friendship via our words and my love of Sarah's swimmers. Then we had the luck to meet in the sea through a mutual friend and now we are actual, offline friends as well. And I just love her. This little video by Ashley Beer gives you some idea of what a lovely, thoughtful, open-hearted woman Sarah is, but if you get the chance to be in touch with her - or to own one of her lovely creations - then you'll find out she's even lovelier than this film can convey. GYPSY JACKET from Ashley Beer on Vimeo .

I'm a lover of the sky, the sunset, forests and the sea. I'm a fan of panorama and things that make me feel small and insignificant. But I forget that sharpening my focus and looking into things can make me feel just as small, just as insignificant. So this is what a drop of water from the sea looks like when it's magnified 25 times. I'm not clear on where this drop was taken from, but you might want to think of it next time seawater is streaming out of your nose, eyes and ears after a surf. (via Lost at E Minor .) And this? This is a grain of sand.

Bronwyn Adcock has written a great piece over at The Daily Life about why the ' Rip Curl Pro at Bells Beach finally realises sexism is bad for business '. You can read it via this link . In 2012, while researching a story for the Griffith Review I spoke to surfing administrators and promoters to figure out why such a retro, Puberty Blues-esque approach was warranted in this modern era. The ASP seemed rueful; of course they'd like to give the girls a better go, but they had to think of the sponsors, and the sponsors didn't see a market for women's surfing. A promoter told me the problem lay with women and girls themselves – girls don't want to grow up to be athletes he said, they want to be bikini models, that's why there's little investment in the "sport" side of women's surfing.  The problem with the arse-trumps-athleticism "logic" though is that following it wasn't working for the sport, and the ASP was struggling to ma...

This clever, funny, surf short from Ireland, Riders to the Sea , is written and directed by Orla Welsh. I saw it as part of the Ocean Film Festival touring Australia a couple of weeks ago. Clever and funny, huh. I like when women are presented as more than surfing damsels in distress, and this woman most certainly is all over this situation. I also like when women are presented as having a sexuality that isn't passive or disinterested. And hers certainly isn't. Well, until she notices the empty waves. It think it was my favourite film from the festival and it was certainly the most original. Thanks, Orla Welsh! A quick search about the name of the film reveals that it is the same as a famous Irish play from 1904. From the  related Wikipedia page : A one-act tragedy, the play is set in the Aran Islands, and like all of Synge's plays it is noted for capturing the poetic dialogue of rural Ireland. The very simple plot is based not on the traditional conflict of human ...

I have often written about how much of a sub-topical, warm water lover I am. About how last year I bought my first ever steamer (a 3/2), which I only needed to wear a handful of times. About how I have rarely had call to venture, let alone surf, further south than Sydney. This was never about gloating, this was about being honest about how and where I surf. This was done so I could be judged accordingly. But things are about to change, friends. Things are about to get frosty. Because I am moving to New Zealand. I am moving to a place of cold water, black sand, short-board dominated, lefts. I am moving to a place where the sun sets into the sea! I am moving to a place where a short-legged spring suit is not going to get me through the winter. Dang, where a 3/2 isn't going to get me through the winter! But in a way I'm kind of stoked because it's a good test. I know lots of people who have given up surfing when they have moved to colder climates. Really! And while that ...

So I just stumbled upon this image of Clara Bow over at The Sunset Sessions  tumblr, and it made me pretty happy. Surfing and cowgirls combined? Come on! So obviously I got obsessed with this, and although I didn't find out much specific information about this image, I did find a few others that are clearly form the same shoot.  This one above is my favourite.She looks so happy.  Also, here is a bonus 1929 artwork of Clara Bow surfing, by Enoch Bolles. Happy Friday!

If I could choose one song to explain my life right now, it would be this - the second movement of Beethoven's very famous and recognisable Symphony No. 9 in D Minor , which is played molto vivace (very lively). From about 9:40, shit gets so real and so, so awesome. According to the  Wikipedia site about this piece : Normally, scherzi are written in triple time. Beethoven wrote this piece in triple time, but it is punctuated in a way that, when coupled with the speed of the metre, makes it sound as though it is in quadruple time. Yep. Sounds about right... I highly recommend you play this some time today, and play it loud. And, if you know me at all, laugh.

It's a truth universally acknowledged that I'm easily excited, but nonetheless, finding ocean waves on other planets is still pretty cool. I read this story over at I Fucking Love Science : Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, looks a lot like Earth, except in deepfreeze. It’s got a nitrogen atmosphere, along with lakes and seas, channels sculpted by rivers, and even mudflats and rain clouds. The moon is so much like our planet that it’s a frequent setting for sci-fi... But while Titan appears so earthlike in so many ways, it's still a very alien place. The moon’s lakes and seas are not made of H2O -- at minus 290 degrees Fahrenheit, Titan’s surface is way too cold for liquid water. Researchers believe their water is actually a mixture of hard-to-freeze hydrocarbons like methane. And Titan’s lakes are eerily smooth: where are the waves? After all, "We know there is wind on Titan," says Alex Hayes of Cornell University. "The moon's magnificent sand dunes [...

I just thoroughly enjoyed this: In a time when irrationality seems to rule both politics and culture, has reasoned thinking finally lost its power? Watch as psychologist Steven Pinker is gradually, brilliantly persuaded by philosopher Rebecca Newberger Goldstein that reason is actually the key driver of human moral progress, even if its effect sometimes takes generations to unfold. Although, despite it all, I'm still a massive champion of compassion, empathy and love, especially when coupled with reasoned thinking.

So last Friday night I went and saw  Out in theLineup , which was showing as part of the Byron Bay Film Festival .  Out in the Lineup  is that film about gay and lesbian surfers that you have been hearing about for a while now, and which I have been really looking forward to seeing.  From the film's website :  ‘Out in the Lineup’ uncovers a culture that has strayed from its foundation of freedom of spirit, open-mindedness and connection to nature. David [Wakefield] and Thomas [Castets] learn about the dominance of male rituals in surf culture and the way this has marginalised minorities. They also hear about the pivotal role sponsors and media play in maintaining out-dated stereotypes. On ground level they hear stories of fear, isolation and self-doubt, but they are also inspired by tales of hope, self-empowerment and transformation. Beyond simply exposing this taboo issue, this film seeks to affect change. It aims to confront the surf industry and the ...

My friend, Kim Satchell, showed me this clip the other day. Thanks Satch! ) I love this approach to thinking about life, relationship, experience, culture, and love. In particular, I love the way he is open to the mess of things - the funk - and all the heartbreak and complexity that entails. Don't make the mistake of thinking I'm all 'Bring on the heartbreak! Bring on the pain!', because I'm totally not. I want to avoid that shit as much as I can. But I also recognise that if you are going to live a life then that stuff is going to come at you, so you might as well have some way of making sense of it. Or at least, to find a way though it. And of course that means seeing yourself within all of that - for taking responsibility for your place in the mess of relationships, of culture, of difficulties. Seeing your place in this stuff lets you learn something from it, even if that something is simply 'Well, I won't do that again'. Like Mr West here, I d...

If you're in Byron Bay tonight, Out in the Lineup , is showing as part of the Byron Bay Film Festival . You should come!