Reflections & analysis about innovation, technology, startups, investing, healthcare, and more .... with a focus on Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes. Blogging continuously since 2005.

Tag: surfing (Page 2 of 3)

Best Surfing Video I’ve Seen in a While

Current TV sent me this one, called "Pipeline Posse," earlier in the week. You talk about your gnarly… As I said when I Twittered this link a couple days ago: if you think surfers are crazy, this will definitely prove your point. [And if you missed that tweet, you can follow me on Twitter by just clicking at the right.] Okay, some would call them crazy, but surfers are really a special breed.  Especially the ones who frequent the ultimate wave in the world…along with the massive amounts of other guys competing for position there.  Warning to viewers: this is not for the faint of heart:

This post is part of my continuing objective to take a break from blogging about tech once in a while to pay tribute to my favorite sport. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, as they say. In that same vein, and speaking of the "extreme" side of surfing, I want to say-hey to my buddies up on Lake Superior, who give an entirely new meaning to yet another kind of gnarly. Yes, they surf on Gitchigumi — the ultimate (dangerous) freshwater wave in the world.  If you want to some see Minnesota gnarly, check out the awesome photos on the Superior Surf Club web site.  And here’s a video on spring surfing on Lake Superior, shot by surfer Brian Stabinger in April 2008, I believe featuring one of the top surfers on the Big Lake, his close buddy Bob Tema:

By the way, I want to try to get up to Duluth again this year to watch and shoot pix at the annual "Coldwater Surf Fest" at the Park Point Pavilion — it’s Saturday, June 7, 2008. If I do, I’ll for sure be blogging about it, as I did last year.

UPDATE (5/3/08):  Another great shot on Lake Superior, taken at Thunder Bay, is this one I sent to my buddy at The Surfrider Foundation, Jim Moriarty, who blogged it recently. He blogs at Oceans Waves Beaches.

DEMOfall 07 Opens With Surf Videos(!)

Well, what a cool beginning — Digital Fountain, the first presenter, uses some cool surf videos shot in Hawaii to show off its new Splash content delivery.  I was lovin’ it. Though it won’t be available till January, it sure sounds great. Demofall07digfountain
It will deliver entertainment-grade video over any network, eliminating common problems like poor video quality, small picture size, slow loads, and frequent buffering. Splash uses Amazon Web Services to "deliver a low-cost, extraordinary consumer experience," said CEO Charlie Oppenheimer

Surfrider Foundation Benefit: ‘Art for the Oceans’

I’d like to take a little break in my tech blog here to put in a plug for an art auction benefit coming up September 17 in NYC, for one of my favorite organizations: The Surfrider Foundation. I’ve been a member since inception (1984), and one of my best friends has been executive Director for the past couple of years — Jim Moriarty, whom I met through our common involvement in the tech startup community. But that was before the Surfrider Foundation was lucky enough to snag him. Jim’s really been doing great things to grow the Foundation and increase its impact, worldwide. And I think this art benefit is an insanely great idea. Kudos to you, Jim!

Artfortheoceans

Any of you lucky enough to be in the Big Apple on September 17 should get yourselves over there, have a good time, and bid on some surfboard art!. It’s at the XChange, a cool, new event space you you can read more about here. I hope some people upload Flickr pix of the event — and I’d love to see some blog reports, too! (Because, unfortunately, I’ll be getting ready to leave for San Clemente right about then, which is ironically the Surfrider Foundation’s home base — so I’ll be rooting from the other coast.)

Again, this is the second annual “Art for the Oceans.” The first event was a big success, as Surfline reported here: Surfrider’s Art for the Oceans raises over $300,000 in NYC. And here’s how Surfrider’s annual report summed up that original event:

Nearly 700 people, including celebrities, New York socialites, and a host of East Coast surfers descended upon Milk Studios in New York City’s Meat Packing District for the Surfrider Foundation’s first-ever “Art for the Oceans” Auction. Master shaper Al Merrick created a whole school of 6’2” fishes, then gave them to artists to have their way with them. Some of the work was done by surfing artists and some was handled by artist surfers. Among the contributors were Thomas Campbell, Raymond Pettibon, John Van Hamersveld, Drew Brophy and Gus Van Sant. In addition, Herbie Fletcher and Gene Cooper each shaped 10-foot plus Hawaiian guns for the auction. Herbie’s was adorned by Julian Schnabel with his much heralded “Blind Girl Surf Club” motif, and the board took the honor of the highest bid, raising $75,000 from an anonymous donor. Following the auction, the crowd was entertained with an hour-long musical set by Citizen Cope.

I’m sure Surfrider is expecting even bigger attendance and attention this year. Right on, guys! I hope you raise tons more than $300k this time — gazillions! Because you’re doing great work, and surfers and beach lovers everywhere support you….

By the way, for more on the Surfrider Foundation, in addition to their great web site, also see their YouTube page.

A Day at the Coldwater Surf Fest – Duluth, MN

Well, it’s been a while since I did a post on surfing — way too long. But all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So, I decided I had to get up to the annual gathering of the Superior Surf Club this year, something I’ve been wanting to do for a few years, and I was finally able to break loose this time. Coldwatersign_3 So, early Saturday morning, I pointed the Passat wagon north for Duluth — board strapped on top. [That was for looks only — I’m a warm water surfer only! 🙂 …and just in case someone wanted to try my vintage 6-ft singlefin stick.] I’d been praying for both good surf and good weather for a couple of days, really hoping the event could get a big turnout. Sadly, neither happened — well, not much in the way of surf, anyway. The weather? It was downright horrible. But nothing stops these guys, so I didn’t let it get to me, either! Actually it started out sunny as I left the Twin Cities, and the forecast there was for 75 F. Lukeboard_2 But I knew a nasty low system was just to the north of us, and rain was in the forecast for Duluth — a 70% chance. The forecast high in Duluth had been trending down for a few days and was now only 59 F. Well, it never even came close to that! My car thermometer was at 46 when I pulled into Duluth, and I doubt it got much over 50 before I left. But it was fun, anyway, and I’m really glad I went. I wanted to meet these guys, shoot some pix, and blog about the event, which is officially called the Coldwater Surf Fest — this year’s was about the seventh or eighth annual. Lukeleft_2 It was held at Park Point beach park, a very cool place out on a long, thin sandy penisula stretching straight south from the Canal Park bridge, lined with beach houses and, yes, even some new condo developments cropping up. The road dead-ends at a small airport, and the beach park is just before that. It has a gorgeous, wide sandy beach, lined with birch and pine forest, and lots of park area, with barbeques, and a big log-cabin type public beach building with concessions inside. Boardlineup

My photos, a selection of which you see here, are now up on this Flickr set. Warning: these are not great shots, to say the least! Far from my best surfing photography…. Headingout_2 But the weather and surfing conditions were hardly ideal! With temps in the mid-40s, and winds straight onshore from the East at 15 mph+, the wind chill had to be 30 F. Fog was blowing in onto the beach, and I didn’t even realize for a while that it was fogging my lens pretty badly! My exposed hands were freezing — I needed gloves! Very soon after I arrived, I had to ditch the shorts and Rainbows for long pants, socks and shoes, a hooded sweat and jacket — just to survive the hour or so at water’s edge shooting. Nohoodleft The surfers, however, had all the right equipment (6-mil wet suits) and seemed comfortable in the 45-degree water — where hood, gloves, and booties are mandatory, or you will go numb, guaranteed!

Anyway, even though my photos aren’t the greatest, I still thought you like to see the event documented. But, hey, if you really want to see some great Lake Superior surf photography, get this little book called Lake Superior Surf Guide. At only $8.50, it’s a steal. You will be freakin’ AMAZED! It’s by two of the Lake Superior North Shore surfing pioneers — Bob Tema and Brian Stabinger — who were both at the event. These guys are somethin’ else. Both residents of the Twin Cities, they often head out at 3:00 am just to make dawn patrol at their favorite breaks on Superior. I also got to meet Greg Isaacson, another, more senior pioneer of surfing Superior, whom I’d been wanting to meet for a long time — ever since I read this great article he wrote a while back. Greg was also raising money at the event for the Tom Blake memorial just across the MN-Wisconsin border, to honor one of the fathers of modern surfing.

That’s right, all you surfers out there — we’re talking the Tom Blake, who is more famously associated with surfing in Hawaii and California. He grew up right here on Lake Superior, on what’s called the South Shore in Wisconsin. According to Greg, Blake was undoubtedly the first person to ever take a board out onto the Big Lake. Brianbottomturn The sport of surfing owes this man a lot, this pioneering waterman from the ’30s, ’40s, and ’50s. The big hardcover biography published on him a few years ago is a classic in many surfers’ libraries. And I was stoked to see Greg honoring the memory of this great man with a fundraising effort at the Coldwater Surf Fest. He even had some cool Tom Blake t-shirts made up, and I just had to have one…

By the way, here’s my previous blog post on Lake Superior surfing, called Gitchigumi Surf, which I wrote way back when I first launched this blog. That’s how I ended up hooking up with some of these guys by email, when they found my story — including Bob Tema. Bob was one of the featured surfers in the great documentary of a couple years about Great Lakes surfing called Unsalted. Do yourself a favor: go buy the DVD at that link on Amazon — you’ll be amazed at the sub-culture of surfing all over the Great Lakes.

But none of that Great Lakes surf culture can be any better than this group of dedicated coldwater guys on Lake Superior’s North Shore! We also talked about the interest building here to form a Lake Superior chapter of The Surfrider Foundation. I’m really stoked about that! A couple of guys are coming forward to help make my dream of getting a chapter going here a reality — Stefan Ronchetti, a surfer and professional inline skater based in the Twin Cities, and James Perry, a surfing physician about to move here from Connecticut, who was instrumental in getting a chapter of the Surfrider Foundation founded there recently.

It seems only fitting to me that the birthplace of one of the real fathers of modern surfing, Tom Blake — second only to Duke Kahanamoku himself as a surfing icon — should be the home of a chapter of the premier membership organization in all of surfing. Hey, we may not have an ocean, but we have great water, great beaches, and great surf breaks to protect, too! As my friend Jim Moriarty says (he’s Executive Director of The Surfrider Foundation), surfers are truly a global tribe. And I’m here to testify that the stoke definitely lives here in Minnesota….

Surf on, Minnesota North Shore brothers!! And the rest of you: bookmark that great Superior Surf Club web site…and come up to the Big Lake soon to hang out and see the action for yourselves.

Michael Arrington Was a ‘Surf Bum’ in Southern California

So says a piece in today’s Wall Street Journal: TechCrunch Site Makes Arrington a Power Broker. Hey, Mike….duuuude!!!! You’re one of us! Except you probably don’t have much time to surf these days, huh?

An excerpt from the article:

Two years ago, Mr. Arrington, a onetime lawyer and Internet executive, was living the life of a surf bum in southern California. Today, the 36-year-old has become one of the most influential people in Silicon Valley. Michaelarringtonwsj Like a latter-day Henry Blodget, the onetime star Wall Street analyst who helped fuel the late 1990s dot-com frenzy, Mr. Arrington uses his TechCrunch blog to determine the destinies of new start-ups and to fan the flames of the current Internet boom.

For many Silicon Valley venture capitalists and entrepreneurs, TechCrunch has become a must read. Internet companies mentioned on the blog often report huge increases in business after they’re featured. Others get unsolicited calls from venture capitalists who want to give them money.

How much revenue is TechCrunch currently producing? The article quotes Arrington as saying $120,000 per month.

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