FLOW: The True Story of a Surfing Revolution

I also got this movie as a gift (I get lots of surfing-related things for gifts, lol) about 2 years ago. I've watched FLOW: The True Story of a Surfing Revolution at least 5 times. The movie chronicles the creation of the famous Channel Islands surf shop in Santa Barbara, CA by legendary shaper Al Merrick. Starting off in a small space and only selling a couple of boards a month, Al Merrick soon began to expand his empire by sponsoring some of the biggest names in surfing: Tom Curren, Kelly Slater, Rob Machado, Bobby Martinez, Ken "Skindog" Collins, Dane Reynolds and more. The movie delves deeper into the relationships fostered between these surf stars and Merrick himself, with special focus on how that relationship motivated them to reach the top. The DVD is really a clever way of marketing for Channel Islands...not only do people pay a lot of money for it ($29.95, more than most DVDs) but more than once a well-known surfer mentions that if you show up to the beach with a Channel Islands board, people automatically wonder who you are and think you're "legit". Despite the advertising aspect of the movie it's still very well done and gives you a good background on the advent of the shortboard (shortboard revolution) and the rocky road to world titles for surfers like Slater and Curren.

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The Bruce Brown Golden Years of Surf Collection 1958-1963

I recently got Bruce Brown's golden years of surf collection for this past Christmas. So far I've only watched Slippery When Wet (doesn't sound like a surf movie, does it? sounds like something more...x rated lol.) and Surfing Hollow Days. Both are great, if you're into old school longboarding videos and the origins of the sport. Bruce Brown himself introduces each video and explains the context of each (Slippery When Wet happens to be the first surf movie he ever made, 6 years before the famous The Endless Summer). Slippery When Wet follows Bruce and a couple of his buddies as they attempt to live and surf in Hawaii for $100 a month. More than one scene shows them eating cheap and delicious canned beans for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner...goes to show you that people will do anything for good surf. Highly recommended.

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XCEL's Titanium 6.5 mm booties

I was able to surf on thursday because my electronic writing class (that I'm making this blog for) got cancelled. I have a pair of XCEL Titanium 6.5 mil booties that I got as a gift, so I have no idea how much they cost or where they were gotten from. I've been happy with them up until this point, but last thursday I sprung a leak in the left boot. My left foot went completely numb after an hour (it's a slow leak) and it's just a big enough leak to be annoying. I looked them over and think I found where the water might be getting in. On the back of the boots theres a loop that, as far as I know, is meant to help you getting the heel over your foot when you're taking them on or off. The rubber sole comes up to meet it, and I think somehow that sole got peeled back, letting water in. I guess I'll try to repair it with some wetsuit repair gunk, we'll see how that goes.

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DaKine's Suburban Glove

I bought these gloves for $18.99 from www.hellyhansenusa.com. The exact page is here. They came within a week and there were no problems with the shipping or delivery. I finally got to use them today (it was 15 degrees this morning with wind gusts to 45 mph, so they were definitely necessary...made for an enjoyable walk to class) and I'm pretty impressed with them. They're not thick enough to stop the wind, but otherwise they're very warm. They're also a good compromise between bulky, warm gloves and skin tight gloves that are like wearing nothing at all. I'd definitely recommend them, especially for the price (MSRP at $18.99). Despite being fairly cheap, they appear to be made pretty well. We'll have to see how they hold up.

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