2 thousand 10
Happy New Year.
It has been quite a while since we wrote one of these...
Thankyou to everyone who wrote in and gave us feedback about switch-foot II, the new book. It was nice to read emails about crew opening our book on Christmas Day and getting stoked on it.
The surf got really nice here come New Years Day for about ten days with no wind to speak of and long long days where a nice dribble of headhigh waves just kept rolling in from the East. Thanks Hui.
So much been happening.
Magazines and Interviews
There has been plenty of printed material and things floating around about switch-foot II book, newspapers, magazines...we were even interviewed on JJJ national radio.
If you want to scope some of it, have a look at some of the stuff we do know is out there in surfing media.
- latest issue of the UK based Surfers Path magazine (Richard Kenvin cover shot: one page interview on switch-foot)
- November issue of Surfing World (very positive review)
- Latest Issue of Pacific Longboarder (epic review and shot of 'ed' surfing)
Also of interest is an interview that Cyrus did with Andrew Crockett you can see that here...hope you get a laugh from it.
www.korduroy.tv/category/blog/interviews
There is a funny enough interview here
www.swellnet.com.au/dispatch.php
a 'depth test' there
www.swellnet.com.au/depthtest.php
Greenough talks safety
After a recent near fatal surfing accident at Byron Bay involving a 10 year old child surfer (Pascal Dattler) and a modern pointed nose surfboard, George Greenough spoke out about the dysfunctional nature of these pointed noses (again) and it seems soon people will take notice.
The complete letter that george wrote to the local paper is below,
Pointed Nose Surf boards
If you look at the basic design of the pointed nose surfboard, the pointed nose really is a fashion statement. Also, it can be used as an offensive weapon to intimidate other surfers. It doesn’t make the board surf any better, in fact it adds extra length, increases swing weight and wind resistance…
Injuries caused by pointed noses can be very dangerous. You have the mass of the surfboard focused into one tiny area. The end of the nose is reinforced by a wooden stringer as well as fibreglass. Being hit by one of these boards can result in a deep penetrating type of injury, loss of an eye and even skull penetrations.
How many parents with small kids buy their kids this style of board, looking at fashion, not thinking about safety issues. How easy is it for some kid to fall off the back of the board shooting their pointed nose into their brother or sisters eye.
There is an easy fix to this problem.
• Find a jar lid or tin about 75mm in diameter.
• Place it on the nose of the surfboard, on the deck.
• Draw a line around the front and cut off what sticks out the front.
• Round it off and put a layer of fibreglass over it.
In collisions this will dissipate the energy of the impact over a much larger area, greatly reducing the chance of severe or critical injury. The board will surf better because you have reduced the swing weight and wind resistance. It is shorter, turns quicker, and pulls off moves you couldn’t do before. It gives you more confidence to go for new moves because it is safer and less likely to cause injuries to you and other people.
Stand Up Paddle boards are a new hazard in the surf. They are a large difficult to control craft, they fall into the same group of vessels as surf ski’s and kayaks and they should keep clear of other surfers and swimmers.
George Greenough (Broken Head)
Peter Drouyn
Ben Horvath put this interview/excerpt together with our help. Coastalwatch gets a lot of web traffic and we hope some of those crew come and visit us and buy a book! There is more on Drouyn in switch-foot II to add to the 27 page story in the first book.
Afro Dizzi Act ~ music
Afro played as a 12 piece band to thousands of fans bringing in the new year at Woodford.
They have recently released a double album, available in the shop www.switch-foot.com/view_item.php and are currently in Melbourne supporting Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra go here for there other dates in Melbourne www.switch-foot.com/afro-dizzi-act
People have been writing in asking us when the Band Of Frequencies will release their next album, we can tell you that the album is still being made with old analog gear and that the band has been very occupied playing festivals with Afro Dizzi Act, recording music, travelling and taking care of bidness. We hope to have the new album released in 2010, stay tuned.www.switch-foot.com/band-of-frequencies (lead singer and guitarist Shannon Sol. R Carroll is featured on the cover of the latest Sunshine Coast Surf magazine)
Neil Halstead : Stoked to hear he will be playing at the Byron Blues Fest. www.myspace.com/neilhalsteadofficial
USA customers
Switch-foot II book is now available for US customers. Thanks to the crew at Thalia Street who had the book on show over Christmas. Go here if you want more information www.switch-foot.com/view_item.php and if you are feeling cheeky then hassle your local surf shop to stock it.
If you want to know more about the 'switch-foot II' book go here www.switch-foot.com/switchfoot-II.php
Switch-foot (first book)
We have had lots of people writing in wanting the first switch-foot book. . . We hope to, one day, get enough money together to reprint the first book. We have looked at the book design in the computer and we have added some content and deleted one story which didnt fit the switch-foot ethos. This new revised edition will be available one day, but it is not available today.
Quotes
If you have the switch-foot books, or one of the books, please write us a quote about what you think about the book. We are collecting them for a magazine story we are working on in Australia.
Other stuff ~
Hi Fidelity ~ for those who received our christmas card and enthusiasm for 'hi Fidelity' loyalty program, we appreciate your support, it will take plenty of time to make it sing, but we are tuning the pitch fork right now and will keep you informed about the discounts you can receive from various crew that are into it.
Posters: We have posters of the second book cover available now, if you want one, or two, or a signed one, a framed one...drop us a line. www.switch-foot.com/view_item.php
Blue Magazine Japan ~ Angie and husband Kuni have been diligently driving up and down the coast working on a long story about the renaissance of the single fin surfboard in Australia. SHould be an interesting read when it comes out.
Harry the Hat ~ Sketch Holiday the artist has left the country, he is now in Bali...drop by and purchase some art to keep his international gypsy lifestyle alive. www.switch-foot.com/artist/sketch-holiday
Dane Peterson started a website for his photography and we love his passion for it. www.danepetersonphotography.com/
Facebook ~ we joined all that. www.facebook.com/#/profile.php
If 6 was 9 Surfboards ~ Neil Randall is making really nice old style single fins, he is based in Noosa ... get the handshaped goodness while you can we-are-if6was9.blogspot.com/
Traditional Log ~ if you want a heavy 30lb beast that rides well from the nose, email us about these new olds.
If you want to be truly inspired creatively have a look at this 8 minute video of this incredible woman painting with sand...never seen anything like it. www.youtube.com/watch_popup
Switch-foot author (Andrew) and wife (Felicity) are having their first child in March, so we are doing everything we can to help provide for that time, thanks everyone for their support, we might go off the radar for a few months or years....
|