Enter a world of magic and mystery, in my own head, where surfing and snowboarding are considered real jobs! Amazing feats of daring and skill are performed every day - and that's just getting the footage onto film!
Media anarchist, film guru, surf addict and web video blogger!
Greg Long getting a serious shack at early season Jaws. (Photo: Billabong XXL)
Its Friday and that means peeps everywhere are stoked! So to make you even happier here are three videos from the world of action sports to amp you for your weekend.
First off is Greg Long, getting an early entry into the Billabong XXL awards with this massive tube at early season Jaws. The world was going crazy for Shane Dorian's wave, but then this one came along and blew it out of the water.
Red Bull Stratos was called off during the week due to wind conditions, but has been rescheduled for this Sunday, so watch this space.
The Rip Curl Pro in Portugal has had 2 lay days already, but may go live at 1pm today. Check out all the best surfers having a warm up session on Day 1.
It's your Friday Mix with the best bits and bobs of video from the web this week. First up you have the O'Neill Wake the Line from Germany, then it's the new surf film trailer, called Intentio, followed by a gnarly skate wipe with Thrasher Magazine's "Hall of Meat" and finally a little eye candy and the Miami Dolphin's Cheerleaders shooting their 2013 Bikini Calendar (Warning, the music on this one may drive you mad, but the visuals are great.)
The gorgeous Kate Upton recently joined the ranks of the Skull Candy nation and to celebrate, I thought I would post this video of her dancing in a very skimpy bikini. The original video was deemed to "Hot" for Youtube and was pulled within hours of being launched. Luckily, many had already ripped and reposted it. I am hoping my relationship with Skull Candy gets me a meet at some point. Nothing wrong with dreaming ...
Seems you cant run an American Energy Drink brand these days without doing a sexy Calendar shoot. I brought you the other American brand's shoot earlier this year and it was so popular, I thought I must bring you this one too. Sure to brighten up your Monday morning...
The Fool showing everyone how it is done in 2011. (Photo: Winston)
There was a time in the evolution of surfing culture that stands out above all others. It was a time that spanned 3 decades, from "Free Love", oceanic Longboards and family waves , to rock & roll and Single Fin charging and finally synthesizer music, Luminescent everything and Twin Fins. Yes these were the Retro days of surfing through the 60's, 70's and 80's. Most of us cannot remember those years, though we fondly know of them through the media and tales from our salty and much older surf brethren. But the good news is that for one day every year those years return to us. For one day we can be what our parents were in their hedonistic youth, for one day we can all Roll Retro!
The boards are more important than Roosta, Royden and myself... (Photo: Winston)
Last year saw over 500 people come join in the fun of the Rolling Retro surf day at LLandudno and over 5000 beers consumed. Families, groms, girls, woman, boys, men and even those rare creatures, the Pro Surfer. No one was judged, there were no first or even last places. Everyone got to surf their dream Retro surfboard and everyone walked away with a prize. This year is no different and this Saturday we will once again experience the past, while having an absolute party and good times.
Robby McDonald of Vudu Surf brings around 40 retro boards from his collection to the beach, so fear not if you dont own a retro board. We do however hope that you will bring your own boards if you have them, as we love to see old boards.
Roosta doing weird and wonderful things on a very old board. (Photo: Winston)
Prizes for the Day:
- Best Wave (Male, Female & Grom)
- Best Dressed (Male & Female)
- Best Retro Bikini
- Best Retro Board
- Best Retro Wetsuit
and a couple more throughout the day!
The event is at the Llandudno Lifesaving Club, while the prize giving and after party will be held at the Suikerbossie above Hout Bay and Llandudno. The Lifeguards will have food, cold drinks and sweets for sale and the Club Bar will be open.
NB: Llandudno is now a "Blue Flag" beach so be aware of the following: No dogs No drinking on the beach If you park illegally it is likely that you will be fined Increased law enforcement (keep it tidy please) Parking will be at a premium, so get there early, or you will be walking from up the hill.
Details of the Event and Common Questions:
Date: Saturday 21 January 2012
Entry: R100 (You will get a limited edition Rolling Retro TShirt & go into the draw for a Twin Fin replica, but only 100 places available.)
Registration: 9am at Llandudno Lifesaving Club
Heats start at 11am and continue to around 6pm.
Lifesaving Club will close at 7:30pm!
Prize Giving & After Party at Suikerbossie:
Prize Giving: 8pm
Entry: R50, includes a deluxe Boerie Roll or Veg Roll (If you entered the Retro, you will just pay R20 for the Boerie.)
Live Music and DJ Warbot till Midnight.
We HOPE you remain in your retro gear!
I first met Thalente a few years ago when we headed up to Dallas Oberholzer's Indigo Skate Camp for a crazy downhill comp in the Valley of a Thousand Hills. We went down to his shop at the North Beach skate park on Durban's beachfront and I was confronted by a very cheeky and extremely "talented" young black skater, who wanted to know who I was there to film. I introduced him to the crazy Austrians I was with and he ended up spending the next few days with us skating around Durban.
When we heard his story of running away from home and how he was living on the streets, we were very moved. But more than this tale of tragedy, was the huge amount of stoke this kid put out there, as well as gallons of confidence. I said then that this kid from the streets could have a massive future and Thalente did not disappoint. He skates really well and is super technical. He enjoys his life and spreads the stoke of skating wherever he goes. So enjoy this video and support local skaters and great initiatives like Indigo Skate Camp! http://www.indigoskatecamp.co.za/
Ok, please can someone at a South African TV network get this on air. Looks so good!
The ultimate athletes and the ultimate filmmakers paired with Hollywood story telling: Pulitzer Prize-nominee and Hollywood screenwriter Stephen Schiff (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, The Deep End of the Ocean, Lolita, True Crime) teams up with the action-sports wizards from MSP and Red Bull Media House to ask the ultimate questions: Why do these athletes do what they do? Why do they risk everything to achieve something as fleeting as a ski line on a remote crag, a momentary descent down a waterfall few have ever seen, or a leap through space between man-made mounds created solely for a leap through space?
Directed by Murray Wais and Steve Winter, and narrated by Academy Award-nominee Nick Nolte, this cinematic quest will take you from the Rocky Mountains to Morocco, from Bolivia to China, and from Thailand to Norway, as it gives rise to the most breathtaking stories.
Show 8 was absolutely awesome with the irrepressible Frank Solomon - big wave charger deluxe from my hood of Llandudno in Cape Town. Frank is sitting in 7th on the Big Wave world tour right now and representing for SA. We got a little drunk and the talk was pretty animated!
That's right you lucky bastards, your favorite Action Sports blogger is going onto the airwaves. Thanks to the insanely clever and incredibly handsome guys at 2 Oceans Vibe Radio, my new radio show is on Monday Evenings from 8-10pm (South African Time.) The show promises to be a good laugh as I have guests from the worlds of Action Sports and Social Media, liberally garnished with raw rock and banging beats.
Action Sports Guest: Markus Museler - Old School Productions
Responsible for Ultimate X, Halloween Jam and working on the Maloof Cup.
Website: www.oldschoolproductions.co.za Twitter: @Ultimate_X_
Media Guest 1: Debi Shabason - Black Media
Part of the team bringing you SA's only Action Sports show, theGoodLife, on Supersport.
Website: www.seeblackmedia.com
Media Guest 2: Paul Charles - theGoodLife
Camera Guy, sound guy, pretty much all round guy on theGoodLife.
Remember that if you tweet @KapteinKai and @RVCASA during the show, you can win a R300 RVCA voucher to go get some cool threads, as worn by the Captain!
Make sure you catch our second show of theGoodLife on Supersport 7 (South Africa) tonight at 8pm. This episode covers the Ultimate X event in Cape Town this past February. Action sports on display were Skating, Wakeboard, BMX and FMX. Also on the show, Rolling Retro with RVCA at Llandudno beach, the most popular surf CON test of the year.
Big thanks to ABSA our presenting sponsor and Old School productions our event partner for everything in Action Sports.
Welcome to the first in my new weekly series, Video of the Week. Every Friday I will be sending out my choice for the best online action sports video I have found during the course of the week. it could be funny, it could be insane and it could just be me in the video, who knows?
For this week, there were a couple of good choices, but eventually I had to go with this one, for the Red Bull Donkey Cross. What an epic idea for an event. Fun, funny and pretty dam action filled! check it out -
Ultimate X is fast growing into the best action sports event in South Africa. 2010 was a watershed event and the guys from Old School Productions built on that success for 2011. This year saw the return of BMX, skate and FMX, and the addition of Wakeboard and the massively popular BagJump. A couple of thousand Capetonians rocked up and boy were they not dissapointed!
The FMX boys blew the crowd away! (Photo: Pierre Marqua)
I started the day with a backwards jump off the 7m platform of the BagJump and that kept me awake and going for the entire day. The BagJump is a huge inflated bag used for stunts and training for snowboard, skiing and BMX. ABSA, the primary sponsor for this years event, was asking everyone there to fill in some forms and you got to jump for free all day. It was an amazing addition to the event as a whole.
BagJump is FUN! (Photo: Pierre Marqua)
Moses going big on his way to the Podium. (Photo: Pierre Marque)
Next up was the skating with a great street course built by Jamie and the crew from Dope Industries. A lot has been said over the last few weeks about the level of skating in SA, but I have to say I was suitably impressed by what I saw and filmed. Skating has always been one of the trickier sports to film, as you have to shoot a lot to get the gold. However, when you get the shot with the high level of difficulty involved in skating, it all becomes worthwhile!
Wake in the city! (Photo: Pierre Marqua)
Using the canal at the event location for the Wake contest was pure genius. People were able to watch from both sides of the water and the big kicker and monster rail put the riders to the test. I love when outdoor action sports are brought into the urban environment and I am pretty sure we will see an even bigger setup for 2012.
Cape Town's Hotties came out form the event! (Photo: Pierre Marqua)
Anyone who doubts that BMX is alive and well needs their eyes checked! We must have some of the best guys in the world right now and once again they blew minds at Ultimate X! Hardly any wipes, lots of huge combos and super high quality riding across the board! I look forward to filming with these guys again!
The BMX crew went large! (Photo: Pierre Marqua)
Last, but certainly not least, were the FMX crew from Jozi. Cape Town hardly ever gets to see FMX and these guys had the crowd frothing for more. The level of riding has exploded since last years event and many insane jumps were seen, with "Sick" Nick de Wit pulling off numerous back flips. We are definately going to need to get these guys down to the Cape more often!
Can you say - HUGE? (Photo: Pierre Marqua)
The event was finished off with much ice cold Black Label draught, YUM! (Yes, I am a beer slut) and great performances from Reburth, Taxi Violence and PHFat. I cannot wait for next year already! Look out for the full web video soon, our next episode of theGoodLife on Supersport in April, which will have this event on it and here is the Teaser video to wet your pipes!
