More wintry East Coast shots from SURFER. Wintry is a weird word, no?
Water, Water Everywhere And Not A Drop To Drink
Hijinks On The High Seas… And Beyond
Author Archives: Casey Butler Harwood
City Surf Fix: The Sunburnt Cow
You know that saying, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em?” Well, since the Aussies have commandeered the ASP World Tour, I figure maybe it’s time we joined them- at least for brunch. This is where The Sunburnt Cow comes in.
The Sunburnt Cow is a little Australian establishment in Alphabet City, which boasts some of the best specials in town: Choose any two hours, pay $20, drink as much as you can. I swear. For a breakfast person like myself, the Cow’s main appeal can be summed up in two words: Endless. Brunch. Yes, that’s right. Endless brunch, I say.
On weekends from 11-5, $18 will get you Buttermilk Banana Pikelets (pretty much little pancakes) or Bush Benedict, PLUS (this is the best part) all-you-can-drink “Moomosas,” “Moo Marys,” Foster’s, etc. In other words, sustenance and warmth- perhaps after an ice-cold Rockaway session and a long train ride home.
City Surf Fix: Saturdays Surf NYC & Mollusk
I’m writing a story on how to get your surf fix while living in the city, so as part of my research this week, I’ve been visiting New York’s surf shops…
Saturdays Surf NYC is a city-chic surf shop located at 31 Crosby Street (SoHo). The selection of goods is smallish, but they do have beautiful JC and Lightning Bolt boards of all different colors, shapes, and sizes- along with cold water wax and leashes. The back door opens onto a courtyard, which may or may not be occupied by a humongous brown dog.
Choosing to capitalize on surfers’ coffee dependence, Saturdays put a tiny café area in the front of the shop- okay, it’s really just a counter with fancy espresso machines. The lattes are made with love by friendly, handsome guys- something that’ll cost you extra: $4 for a small, no special requests. It’s good coffee, however, and walking away with your understated white cup will definitely make you feel “cool.” Unless, that is, you’re fumbling to take covert photos of the place:
STILL FILTHY, Occy at Sebastian, and My Unsolicited Soothsaying
This is almost as awesome as the movie itself!
My totally unprofessional, Still Filthy-based prediction is that REUBYN ASH is going to be huge. His SF section is nonsensical. I don’t know, like I said, I have absolutely no authority to make these kinds of wild conjectures, but I just have this hunch that he’s gonna blow up.
The Drifter
I discovered, via one of Taylor Steele’s “tweets,” that The Drifter is now available on iTunes. Paying $10 seemed like a much better idea than paying $30, or whatever exorbitant amount it costs to purchase the actual DVD, so I impatiently pretended to read while waiting for it to download. Then I settled in for the long haul (yeah, 57 minutes) with a bowl of soup and clicked play.
Halfway through, despite the phenomenal cinematography, I found myself getting antsy. I wondered if Rob, who shirks all responsibilities and severs ties in the name of cutting loose, as they say, will ever begin to enjoy his trip, which most surfers will only ever dream of taking.
“High expectations make poor travel companions,” he says at one point, and while it may be a clever one-liner, it also seems to say, pretty clearly, that he’s miserable in paradise.
Rob Machado is undoubtedly a beautiful surfer, but a few too many melodramatic shots of him not smiling is enough to bring anyone down. I thought this was going to be carefree?
The end becomes a little bit more upbeat, thankfully, when Machado befriends local villagers and the jungle heat finally melts his intense exterior so that his inner human (-itarian) can come out and play with the kids.
I’m not saying I didn’t enjoy it; The Drifter is a well-crafted glimpse into the life of our most beloved afro-endowed barreller (no, that’s not a real word). I’m just letting you know that it is weirdly intense (read: depressing) at times. Does a happy ending conquer all?
Wave SKIING: An Entirely New Type of “Skurfing”
A friend sent me this video, which I think is really interesting, and could, possibly, be a new thing- at least for those who have access to the expensive equipment involved. Mike Douglas and Cody Townsend, who are both professional free skiers, were always curious about whether it was possible to ski on waves, they say. After “years of dreaming” and much experimentation, they settled on alpine setups (crazy!) and gave it a shot in Hawaii. They had to be towed in, for fairly obvious reasons, but once they were in, they were independent. Their success is kind of amazing. Watch it and let me know what you think of this nutty hybrid.
“Kelly Slater and Dream Crew Paddle Cortes Bank” from SURFER’s YouTube
There’s a mighty painful looking wipeout around 1:46… Enjoy!
Water, Water Everywhere And Not A Drop To Drink 