Byron bay surf festival

[lostman]

The first 100 or so pages focus on the history of Bali. Research very detailed and extensive and to be honest I found it fascinating and left me wanting more. After the 'Morning of the earth' discovery it was just a few anecodotes from expats and friends. Some were interesting and deserved more exploration, Fly Bradley for example. The overwhelming impression I was left with was that Jarrett had sold it to a publisher got a decent advance, headed to Bali and worked hard researching the history but unfortunately he lacked the skills or dedication to translate it with any depth. Then took it easy and finished the majority of the book with lazy anecdotes from expats and friends with no real direction or purpose and a loose connection with surfing. After the brief history at the start it gets weaker by the page. This climaxes with Jarrett pissing in the pocket of the Deus crew, no doubt because of his Noosa connections. The ending was a complete disappointment, I actually felt that I was had upon completion of the book, ie paying $30. I do reccomend it primarily because of the history and it will be good value when purchased in a $10 bargain bin at front of bookstore in a few months.
Blindboy has a much better review than mine over on SN!

[steve shearer]

How'd you go Nick?

I had aspirations of showing up and putting you on the grill but they changed planes on me.

Surf festival just meant more Byron Bay shitfight to me: Surf Culture Now? I did a driveby and then absorbed ten minuted of Rasta talking with the Mayor at the Surf "lit" lounge. to be honest, nothing on that line-up seemed worthy of being called literature.

Is that really Surf Culture Now? If so, you've got to admit big-time Carroll, that after twenty years of backing the performance pony and making slyly disparaging comments about the retro movement that you backed the wrong horse.

Where was the debate, the dissension, the provocation, the free-thinking , the originality, the vision?
All I saw and sensed was gladhandling, pocket pissing , navel gazing and a town imbued with it's own importance jerking itself off.

Thoughts?

[Beanpole]

On a more local slant Steve, how do you rate the Mayor?

[Yuke Hunt]

How'd you go Nick?

I had aspirations of showing up and putting you on the grill but they changed planes on me.

Surf festival just meant more Byron Bay shitfight to me: Surf Culture Now? I did a driveby and then absorbed ten minuted of Rasta talking with the Mayor at the Surf "lit" lounge. to be honest, nothing on that line-up seemed worthy of being called literature.

Is that really Surf Culture Now? If so, you've got to admit big-time Carroll, that after twenty years of backing the performance pony and making slyly disparaging comments about the retro movement that you backed the wrong horse.

Where was the debate, the dissension, the provocation, the free-thinking , the originality, the vision?
All I saw and sensed was gladhandling, pocket pissing , navel gazing and a town imbued with it's own importance jerking itself off.

Thoughts?

Isn't surfing simply an act of wacking ones self off ... Byron as such being the reciprocal of said jism

Welcome to Byron Bay
the wank sock of reality.

[steve shearer]

Smilin' Simon?

not very highly.

[Beanpole]

Yeah, I tended to get that impression from what I've read.

[el rancho]

i really wish nick had given prior notice regarding his meet up with Merkin Coffee Co tm cos I'm running low and he could have acted as courier. For a small fee.

[Nick Carroll]

How'd you go Nick?

I had aspirations of showing up and putting you on the grill but they changed planes on me.

Surf festival just meant more Byron Bay shitfight to me: Surf Culture Now? I did a driveby and then absorbed ten minuted of Rasta talking with the Mayor at the Surf "lit" lounge. to be honest, nothing on that line-up seemed worthy of being called literature.

Is that really Surf Culture Now? If so, you've got to admit big-time Carroll, that after twenty years of backing the performance pony and making slyly disparaging comments about the retro movement that you backed the wrong horse.

Where was the debate, the dissension, the provocation, the free-thinking , the originality, the vision?
All I saw and sensed was gladhandling, pocket pissing , navel gazing and a town imbued with it's own importance jerking itself off.

Thoughts?

Well I wouldnt judge the world of surfing by how the Byron surf festival looks, it seemed like very much a Byron Bay thing; the surfing community up there seems very keen to show itself to the world as something unique, especially in comparison to its supposedly Evil sister city to the North

And I wouldn't want to pour acid on everyone there, like why? For sure there were a lot of people trying very hard. All those Gato Heroi semi longboards and craft organic foodstuffs, fcuk me, talk about effort. It was like something out of Gwyneth Paltrow's blog if Gwyneth decided to go "surfing" for a week. But it all seems pretty harmless to me. Not like the vicious street fight the night before outside Cornells pub: a bunch of roided up footy bogans versus the entire bouncer population of the pub. We drove past it coming into town, a fair bit of blood, the footy guys roaring at the bouncers and a lot of scared people looking on.

I stayed at Rusty and Trish Millers house, I really like both of them a lot, and their daughter Taylor did the q and a with me and Tom, she was intelligent and tactful and worked hard all day to make that thing happen. Seems to me like there's a lot of strong women in the Byron surf community, a lot of the men seem a bit floppy by comparison. Maybe they are trying too hard to appear enlightened.

Max Pendergast was cool, he has some funny shit to say about the whole scene.
Frankly I think it's a pretty small world up there and there's a lot of different people involved in it, not just hippy dippy girls dancing to vaguely lugubrious boy folk singers and wannabe-1970 style templates. Gary McNeill for instance had some sick little boards on display, he is a fcuken good designer I think.

I like Rusty's photo books too, they're killer.

[Nick Carroll]

btw if you wanted debate, vision, blah blah blah then you shoulda been going in surf contests when you were a kid, because I tell ya what, as far as creative whirlpools in surfing have gone, two weeks at an Aussie Titles or Bells in the 1970s fcuken shit on any surf festival I've ever attended.

Youd show up at a spot at the same time as 150 other surfers from round the country or the world, surf with each other, check out boards, fight over waves and heats, go to the Pub, thrill of victory or agony of defeat, and go home with 25 new best mates, 30 places to stay, and 70 new ideas about the sport.

[Beanpole]

Growing up between the Gold Coast, Byron and Nimbin sure had its moments but it really used to do my head in regularly as well.

[steve shearer]

And I wouldn't want to pour acid on everyone there, like why?

Christalmighty, maybe not acid, but surely as a writer, journalist, critic your intellectual faculties must have something to say apart from the fact they are all really nice people with the best of intentions.

[steve shearer]

Well I wouldnt judge the world of surfing by how the Byron surf festival looks, it seemed like very much a Byron Bay thing; .

Thats interesting.......we move in different circles....but the very strong impression I get on the Sunny Coast, North Coast excluding Byron, and even on the Gold Coast, not to mention Sydney and even Vicco is that for want of a better term the non performance side of surfing is in the ascendancy.

Thats separate from the weight of numbers Kookocracy.

Something happened twenty years ago when Litmus was released: a slow burning counter vailing movement to the Slater Momentum Era focus on tiny volumed performance boards. At first it was clumsily called "retro" and slyly attacked by various scribes but it's grown luxuriantly since then and shows no sign of abating.

Mainstream surf media were very slow to cotton on but now when I open Tracks or Surfing World or any of the Seppo mags it seems it's really become the dominant theme of the surf culture. Byron Bay might lay claim to being the apogee of that movement but I think it's very myopic to claim it's solely a Byron Bay phenomena.

[Beanpole]

I'd nominate Sprout myself Steve.

[steve shearer]

nah Thomas Campbell was just a better financed superficial by the numbers rip-off of Kidman.

Litmus was the first principle and primary cause.

Sprout was released almost ten years after Litmus. The movement was mainstream by then.

[Beanpole]

Disagree. Thomas Campbell has a few things going for him that most surf cinematographers don't. He takes a different approach to the act of filmmaking based on actually learning about filmmaking. Not to bag Litmus but I think you underestimate him.

[steve shearer]

Granted, stylistically and aesthetically Campbells' films were very well crafted compared to the zero budget Litmus.......but as far as the actual content, meaning and significance of the films go. No fcuking comparison.

[Yuke Hunt]

Well fcuk me ... and I thought it was Alby Falzon's little gem MOTE that started it all, way back in 1971.

[Cranked]

Granted, stylistically and aesthetically Campbells' films were very well crafted compared to the zero budget Litmus.......but as far as the actual content, meaning and significance of the films go. No fcuking comparison.

Not taking the piss, but I would love to hear you elaborate on the actual content, meaning and significance of the films.

Also love the to and fro between you and Nick... reasoned debate, way to go.