Ya think Surfing Magazine reads Swaylocks.
I was thumbing through the latest edition of Surfing Magazine for the first time in years because I noticed the caption “ Surfboards 2009 … Where do we go from here. “ Wondering if this issue might be different than most of the other issues of this hype machine, it didn’t take me long to figure out that in all of the years it’s been around, this might be the most pretentious issue they have ever put out.
Once you flip the ad pages of this ridiculous publication and actually begin to read some of the content, it’s easy to see they not only specialize in selling fantasy….they also enjoy taking credit for things written by other folks on the internet and putting it in their magazine as their own. They would have you believe that they have been out on the prowl for real surfing stories and these stories just come as the natural result of investigative reporters and the magazine’s connection to the real pulse beat of surfing.
I think the first thing I noticed about this issue is the part in it called “ Random fin check “. Which would have you believe they just happened up on the content found in the section. The writer puts in his lead sentence…†in the beginning removable fins were for the cave man, then came demand and competition and technology and Kelly Slater and Wham!
Can’t you hear the clouds parting and God ready to come out and deliver a revelation?
The writer then mentions how we now have super - tech fin systems with adjustable whatchamacallits and then goes on to only mention four of the eighteen or so fin systems out on the market.
FCS and Futures are easy. Most Surfing magazine issues have numerous ads for them and they are the two largest fin systems in the world. You will have to guess how the other two were chosen to sit with the big two. One thing you can be sure of, is the fin companies left out of this so called random bit of advertisement…were left out on purpose. The ones included were not chosen randomly or because of the order of their importance, but because they in some way made a payment to Surfing Magazine. Nothing in these types of publications is random. Nothing is done because someone just forgot. Everything is done on purpose and with a purpose.
Another thing you will notice if you frequent some of the major board building web sites is how similar the 2009 surfboard article is to those web sites in both it’s subject matter and the layout. Many of the subjects written about have been discussed for years on the web in detail and some of the so called new ideas given by the writers in Surfing Magazine seem as if they were close to if not downright plagiarized from some of the main writers on those sites.
Look at the names of the mini articles within the article: So much for the Revolution, What’s happening with the next big thing, What’s happening with Fire wire, backyard revolution, Asian shrinks, what’s happening with the green surfboard, the return of the master craftsman, what’s happening with Surf tech, and what’s happing with super surfboards. Sound familiar? Go to any one of the major board building forums like swaylocks and look at the threads. Almost all of these subjects have been written about in detail.
This is what these so called “surfing magazines†do. They copy other’s ideas, they make up stories and they create a world where those that pay them or support them get flaunted as some new found hip product or company in the world of surfing. There is barely an ounce of legitimate writing in the entire rag and I doubt more than an ounce of real truth.
Only Nick Carroll writes about the one of the last pure things left in the art of board building. The master craftsman who puts his hands on foam or fiberglass and creates something from scratch that’s close to perfect and enjoyed by surfers around the world. Even then he flubbed the title by naming it, “ The return of the master craftsman. “ As if they ever went away and needed to return. Maybe some returning from giving their life’s work to Asian pop outs or does he mean the master is the new trend at the high price? Quoting Rusty from his article, “ As I get older, I’m just more interested in building nicer stuff. “ Is a guy who used to build not so nice stuff really a master? I always thought the master always made something nicer since his name was on it and only the snake oil guys sold it by logo and marketing only?
The men that are true master craftsman and have continued to shape or create are and have been the real backbone of the entire industry. Not the hype masters that own magazines nor most that advertise in them. Most of us that have been surfing awhile don’t need to be reminded of the master craftsman, because most of us use their talent for our surfboards and gave up the mass produced junk or back yard lower talent amateurs years ago. To those of us who love just being out there riding waves instead of chasing the herd, many of these craftsmen have been our friends as well as the guys that make our toys. We certainly don’t need Surfing Magazine’s input on the matter. Especially when it’s just a copy of what we have already read or written on various surfboard related forums.
Aside from the article of mini articles on 2009 surfboards, you will also find and entire page dedicated to Sterling Spencer’s girlfriend. Yep an entire page long interview with a Gulf Coast surfer’s girlfriend, complete with the G rated details on when they first made out and how she calls him sturkey or sturkels. Paid for I am sure by daddies surf shop and placed right next to an ad of Gerry Lopez shaping a board. Is this a Surfing magazine or Teen Beat?
How disgusting is it that people pay money for this garbage? The dorks have truly taken over the publishing side of Surfing Magazines to go with same type on the fashion side. I can’t even imagine who reads it and finds it entertaining.
I guess it will be a few more years before I spend a dime of my hard earned dollar on an advertisement vehicle called Surfing magazine… my digestion can only take so much.
Flipping through the final pages of the surfboard gallery complete with Surf Shop label boards… the lyrics to the Adam and the ants song kept ringing in my head……“What’s the use in robbery if nothing is worth taking…it’s kind of rough to tell a scruff the big mistake he’s making. “
A few years ago I was actively involved in a surfing-related website that eventually devoled into what is now called a blog…or maybe