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!
I came across these two great videos today. In one you have a guy most people have not even heard of, Matt Meola, and in the other the icon, Tom Curren.
The New kid on the block, Matt Meola.
Matt Meola just won $100'000 in Taylor Steele's new Innersection competition for his part, which you can view below. I had never heard of the guy before now, but watching his video I was mightily impressed. He looks like he has the new school air brigade down pat, however, I reckon Tom could teach him a thing or two about barrel riding!
Style and grace from the Old School master, Tom Curren. (Photo: ASP)
Tom Curren is a surfing legend. Multiple world title holder, redefined rail surfing and possibly the smoothest surfer of all time. He certainly cracked a few airs, but he definitely does not have the arsenal of the new school kids. Check him carving lines in beautiful Indo waves in his video.
I cannot get enough of Ken Block and his Gymkhna series. The most watched video series on tearing the ass out of rally cars on the net for a reason! Here is the re-edit of version three, just for you! Enjoy!
There have always been rivalries on the snow between the Boarders and the Skiers. However, the advent of free skiing has really upped the ante from the ski guys and gals. I never really found skiing to exciting top watch, but nowadays the skiers are holding their own in the park and freeriding. representing the ski club we have Philipp Baumgartner and from the boarders, the latest offering from DC's This is Snowboarding campaign, Torsten Horgmo. Watch these two videos and you decide for yourself!
After a bit of a bad start, losing in Round 4, Jordy made sure of his continued climb to the Quik Pro win with an amazing come from behind victory over Joel Parkinson. Parko surfing in his home event looked as good as won, then let Jordy take a wave under his priority and had to watch as the Saffa took the wave to pieces and won the heat.
Kelly is still in the hunt! (Photo: ASP)
King Kelly also had to fight through the 5th round, and also had a huge mental mountain to climb. He defeated Ace Buchan in their encounter and is still in the running for the number 1 spot in 2011. Lots of speculation still over whether he will stay on tour, Kelly had the following to say, “Sometimes I look back at everything and I’m pretty stoked, it’s been a long time, I just love it. I don’t always love the competition side of things and I just love to surf and love to get in the water. It’s a blessing to surf here alone. All of these people don’t get to surf Snapper with no one out. I want to keep making heats so I don’t have to free-surf as much. I don’t really know about my plans this year. I guess I’ve put it out there that I might retire or it’s been put out there by other people. I guess people didn’t expect that I would get a title this late in my career and I don’t know what’s possible.”
Other contenders for the Quik Pro title are Taj Burrow, Matt Wilko and Brett Simpson, who all dominated their Round 4 encounters. Make sure you log on tonight in the early hours to see if our boy can take the prize! Go Jordy!
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!
Well any thoughts you may have had that Kelly Slater was heading for retirement, can be put to rest. He absolutely smashed young super grom Matt Banting in his Round 3 heat.
Joel Parkinson showed that he is on his way back to his best form after last years injury lay off and had the crowd of local Snapper pals screaming.
Matt Wilko on his backhand was going beyond vertical and showing some of the best backhand surfing we have seen in a long time. Still waiting for Jordy's heat to be put up, but look out for it later today!
I came across these guys on Vimeo and spent like an hour just going through their stuff. Really amazing! Such beautiful shots and scenic blending with action. These are the kind of films that inspire me to keep going and keep filming!
The weirdest thing about acting in a movie has to be the wait for the end product. After telling your mates about it, seeing the photos and doing audio in studio for post where you see bits and pieces, you still have to wait almost a year to see the finished product. But after much waiting, we finally have the sneak peak at the Blue Crush 2 trailer and I have to say I am pretty stoked. The movie looks epic, the girl's surfing looks really good (Good work water unit) and I even cracked a millisecond in the trailer, haha. So take a look and get amped - we are so gonna have to have a premier in Cape Town!
