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"By eleven o'clock the seahad became glass. By midday, though we were well up in the northerly latitudes, the heat was sickening. There was no freshness in the air. It was sultry and oppressive, reminding me of what the old Californians term 'earthquake weather.' There was something ominous about it, and in intangible ways one was made to feel that the worst was about to come. Slowly the whole eastern sky filled with clouds that overtowered us like some black sierra of the infernal regions. So clearly could one see canon, gorge, and precipice, and the shadows that lay therein, that one looked unconsciously for the white surf-line and bellowing caverns where the sea charges forever on the land. And still we rocked gently, and there was no wind."
For the Union Dead
Colonel Shaw
The Aquarium is gone. Everywhere,
The ancient owls' nest must have burned.
and then a baby rabbit jumped out,
Too pretty, dreamlike mimicry!
Uppsala Institute for Diaconal and Social Studies "WaVE is predicated on the assumption that the intangible concept of 'values' is understood best through the ways in which they are expressed and developed in practice. Accordingly, it aims to study values through the prism of welfare: the provision of basic needs, and its related notions of citizenship and belonging, comprise the most fundamental level at which coexistence between different cultures, values and religions can be effectively examined."
"This site will surely be of assistance to those struggling with the intangible realities of wave phenomena."
"Contrary to overwhelmingly popular belief, there is in fact a heated, if somewhat intangible rivalry between San Diego's two largest institutions of higher learning: the University of California, San Diego and San Diego State University . . . I think it's high time we created some sort of SDSU-vs.-UCSD event. Some sort of contest. It would get plenty of publicity in a city filled to the gills with alum from both schools. Like, say, a surfing challenge. Yeah, that's the ticket. A surfing challenge. Then again, maybe that isn't such a good idea. After all, although SDSU is 20 minutes from the beach, thousands of students surf, while at UCSD, which is within eyeshot of some of the best waves in North America, there are a total of four undergrads who've ever shot the curl. And that's no myth, it's fact. I checked it out with an old SDSU statistics professor of mine. He surfs, too."
"In the locker room, I am given instructions and offered water by a series of young men who affect the studied vapidity and guileless cheer of particularly uneducated and drug-addled surfers. They lead me into the Cold Plunge Relaxation Lounge, where, after a decent interval of time, I am assured by the Spa Mandalay brochure I am reading (which is how I know I'm sitting in the Cold Plunge Relaxation Lounge) that I will be 'gently pulled away ... and flow effortlessly through this intangible atmosphere, the aroma of flowers and fruits in the breeze and thoughts clear.'"
"Usually, we think of air as being invisible. And even if we can feel the wind on our skin, we are not conscious of air pressure or changes in the atmosphere. However, some people -- in particular yachters, glider pilots, surfers, all those who are active at the interface of air and water -- have the ability to more concretely sense invisible winds, air currents, and low pressure troughs as a tangible reality . . . Since antiquity, wind has been called by a variety of names. In Japan, in particular, there are traditionally more than two thousand words, including regional and seasonal variations and derivatives, for different kind of winds. The proliferation of names indicates a sensitivity to wind -- proof of a highly developed sensibility toward that invisible, intangible object, and an inclination to perceive it as something real and substantial."
"The John Cate Band attack the material with the drive of perfectionists looking for an intangible refined sound like the surfers in The Endless Summer were seeking the perfect wave."
"What's the most valuable commodity on the Web today? According to many experts, it's an intangible property called 'attention.' Current surfers of the Web have millions of destinations to select from every time they go online, but limited time and attention to devote to the sites they do choose to visit. The competition for attention—Web marketers call it 'trolling for eyeballs'—is fierce."
"Now a completely new (for Australia), facet of the sport is being probed - the formation of a surfing- social club - a club of devotees of the surfboard; a club where surfers can relax in comfort, drink, play, discuss waves, boards and beaches. Nobody will deny that the Surf Life Saving Association is incredibly efficient in the art of saving people from the surf, but faced with broader issues - such as the intangible, but very real challenge of the short board - they are incredibly lethargic . . . Apart from the tangible assets of surf lifesaving, there is the almost unrecognised intangible one - the fantastic publicity value overseas of the 'virile Australian lifesaver'."
"With increased membership in the region, Surfrider's position is more influential when it comes to discussing the ACOE's plan and the subsequent exploration of alternatives. The environmental benefit of designating surf beaches is intangible in the campaign to improving coastal public access in the metropolitan region. Only once we are the table, can our voice be heard."
It was the frustrations of coaching that set Michael Martin on the road leading to the Australian Institute of Sport and his new job as Head of Department of Performance Psychology. After what he describes as a “reasonably lacklustre” career in competitive surfing, he took up coaching and progressed through the ranks from Learn to Surf classes to NSW State Coach. At this point he began to notice a problem for which he had no answer. Some of his best surfers seemed incapable of producing the performances in competition that they easily achieved in training. “They would just fall in a hole every time,” he said. “It obviously wasn’t their physical skills, so I had to assume it was something between their ears that was not functioning as well as it should. Of course I wanted to help them as much as possible, so I started to get into sports psychology. I hadn’t got very far when I realised it didn’t just apply to surfing and that I could use it across a whole range of sports – that was very exciting. One of the challenges for the psychology team here is that we are in the business of delivering something that is intangible, so we have to concentrate on the quality of how that service is delivered and how best it can be structured."
"Aren't computers pretty intangible. That's when you really feel like a loser - "what the hell am I doing sitting here playing with this keyboard?? I could be surfing with Tucker for chrissakes!!"
"We don't need to tell anybody about the visual impact of our boards. We just show them, and they drop trou. It's one of those intangible things difficult to measure, but people stop, and heads turn toward a JAM board. Maybe it's the retro striping and paint job, or the big gun shape, or the sheer length. It becomes the center of attention. People want to touch it, ride it, talk about it, and own it."
"To these San Diegans, this ritual of driving the half hour up Interstate 5 to Trestles and ending up on wide-open beach protected by natural marshland feels like an adventure all its own, and it feels very much like their business. Likewise, a similar demographic considers it their business when they pull a pickup truck into a spot at San Onofre State Beach, wax up a longboard, rush hot-footed across the sand at Old Man's, the whole time hearing the strains of ukulele from some old-timer under a grass hut, people smiling at each other, sharing waves as they ride shoreward, thinking as they do that the place is a last vestige of some intangible gone in this world."
"In addition to providing surfers with all the material needs of surfing, they [surf shops] supply a few intangible ones as well. The local surf shop owner will often hire some of the better surfers from the local area to work in his shop. In addition, surfboard manufacturers with retail surf shop outlets will often establish a surf team consisting of the hotter surfers in the local area. In return for free surfboards and high status in the surfing community, the surf team member promotes the surf shop. With these well known surfers working and hanging-out at the 'shop' when they are not surfing, the surf shop becomes a place to meet 'celebrities' and talk about the latest surfboard designs, the last surfing contest, and the current surf conditions."
"I was amazed that I hadn’t seen this site before . . . I spend the majority of my day in front of the glare from a computer screen and some of those moments find me surfing that intangible internet wave, but I have never seen this site until today."
"Surfing, in essence, is an intangible activity...it's a simple act, yet far more than the sum of its parts. Surfing contains certain primal emotions...elation, fear, joy, even love...yet also embodies aspects of esthetic experience as well...poetry, art, and music. Surfing is, for me, pure experience...it is food for the soul. Drawn out, expanded time compressed into a singularity...each drop of water visible and distinct...echoing perfection and offering redemption. Truly it is the closest thing to rebirth for the unbeliever or believer alike. God's cupped hands."
"It's on the delicate subject of surfboard building that Lopez pauses, before letting out a measured diatribe on the ripple effect the current trend is having on the future of his beloved industry. 'Sadly, it seems a lot of the surfboard manufacturing is moving to Asia for the cheap labor. The surf industry was tiny when I was growing up- was just a few guys making surfboards. I was fortunate enough to get into it early and have been building surfboards since 1968. It's been a great life and lifestyle to be able to have a good job and still be able to go surfing whenever the waves were good. The industry has grown tremendously in my fifty years of surfing and if all the manufacturing goes overseas, some kid won't have the same opportunities I did…to build his own surfboards and maybe make a career of it. I shudder to think tat surf kids in the future when comparing surfboards will discuss who endorsed it and whether it was made in Beijing, Bangkok or Shanghai.' "This worries Lopez. 'The foundation of the whole surfing experience is changing. When it shifts, I don't know what's going to happen. How is surfing is going to be perceived? What if all of a sudden, that imperceptible whatever it is that makes surfing so appealing is lost?' he muses aloud. 'The foundation of surfing is the surfboard, you can't do it without one.' "Lopez fears this will have an intangible, but important, impact on the soul of his sport. He cites a belief that craftsmen impart a certain mana, or personal power, onto the item they're lovingly creating. 'When I'm building a surfboard for someone like Laird Hamilton to surf the huge waves at Jaws in Maui, the entire building process, but especially the shaping part, takes on a whole spiritual nature. I really feel I'm channeling energy--created by my thoughts and feelings of how this board is going to be ridden by him--and that energy is going into the board as I shape it. Sometimes I get lucky: he gets the board and rides it and connects with the energy inherent in the board, which enhances his ride. When it does work right, the board it takes on a life of its own. I definitely think there is mana in all the surfboards I make. I'm really trying to put some life into that board for Laird or for that matter, anyone I build a surfboard for. Now, what's going to happen to our sport if suddenly all the surfboards are made by people who not only don't surf but worse, don't even understand or even care that much about it.' "Why is this important to Lopez? He says he hopes others experience the spiritual richness surfing has provided him. 'I've been really fortunate I took this surfing path and it's really opened the opportunity to finding the way to the truth and a spiritual awareness. That's what we're looking for. I have this thing I've been toying with for a long time--I call it surf realization.'”
"During the earliest years of post revival surfing, the sport slumbered in the subconscious of our society as a little known, even less understood, game that Polynesian peoples played in the waves. For neophytes who witnessed a wave being ridden, it seemed an unlikely harnessing of wild natural forces, beckoning in its grace and playfulness yet somehow distant and unfathomable. As an independent culture grew up around that activity, detached from the surrounding mainstream, and nurtured by a deeply ingrained receptor in the human spirit somehow titillated by the ride, the numbers of surfers slowly grew increasingly noticeable. But even as our numbers grew, the ride itself remained an intangible. Riding waves left no trace, produced no result, and depleted nothing. Our wake disappeared behind us. Our footprints were washed from the sand. No residue of value from what we did was left to prove it ever happened. Surfers held significant rides in their memories and sometimes stories of particularly epic days were passed down via oral history, until they too finally faded away."
"Something intangible, more elemental, however, stoked my boyish enthusiasm not just for surfing, but for life. That something, that quintessence — native to Costa Rica, and potentiated by Witch’s Rock Surf Camp, which billowed my sails — is…Pura Vida."
"You can't put a $ value on such an intangible thing as surfing, it's too spiritual. However I believe that most surfers are more fit, healthy in mind and less stressed (surf rage aside) than the average Australian. Also, we still retain the capacity for delight - last week at Gunnamatta and St Andrews a pod of doplhins, some very young, slowly swam through the surf. Every surfer, body boarder and swimmer that I saw watching them, their faces lit up with the pleasure of seeing these beatiful creatures. Now that has to be worth something!"
"These passages wash like an intangible surf across the cerebellum, immersing the listener in a cocoon of cosmic sedation, lulling the mind away from physical worries. Once separated from the material world, the intellect drifts with these eternal tones, becoming one with the minimal structure. Stripped of all civilized interference, the audience can descend into an internal darkness whose emptiness is primal and ripe for meditative impressions. From this void, the pleasant music allows mind and body to revitalize, drawing energy from inner regions in tandem with the infinite that surrounds us all."
"How do you define soul surfing? For me, it’s as intangible as trying to define falling in love, or trying to describe that indescribable moment when you poke your head out of a tent in a Tanzanian sunrise and see the plains of the Serengeti stretched before you, covered in a million milling animals in a mad migration. Soul surfing is poetry and art, music and light, a moment frozen in time. A soul surfer will be able to describe in incredible detail what it felt like to be inside the barrel of a perfect Jay-Bay tube – ten years ago."
"The pace of these compositions is unhurried, following a slow evolutionary progression. The tonalities ebb and return like an intangible surf, washing away tension and worry, and leaving a watermark of holistic purity that is deeply ingrained on the gray folds of the brain."
NEW YORKER Review of John from Cincinnati by Nancy Franklin
"Submerge focuses on a small coastal suburban area, 20 minutes south of Adelaide, which I feel is indicative of suburban culture around Australia’s coastal fringe. The cross processing of the film saturates the colours and suggests an external and internal pressure cooker effect on the suburban surfer. Submerge explores how surfing is a way of breaking away from a sense of suburban imprisonment. Submerge focuses on the stillness and contemplation of the surfer. The act of surfing is one way to 'physicalise' the immediate fear that is dealt with in suburbia, which is often intangible, alienating and dehumanising. Sitting out on the expansive ocean can put surfers closer to a more heightened physical, mental and spiritual experience. Surfing is not only an act of rebellion. Surfing can be an act of engagement which breaks the numbness that can shadow suburban life. The act of surfing is a way of 'tagging' without leaving a trace."
Yes Yes Yessssssssss of Intangibility The Starter Wife has a surfer pal. "Sam (Stephen Moyer), Malibu's mysterious handsome stranger, is the quintessential loner. He has always kept to himself, opting to ride his bike around the neighborhood or play Frisbee on the beach alone with his dog at sunrise over any of the typical Malibu activities. But when Molly Kagan moves in, he finds himself breaking his own rules, quickly unraveling the quiet life he has worked so hard to create."
Local Boys is number one on my list of dramas with a surfing theme. Mark Harmon is the kahuna. According to Jeremy Sumpter's site, "Local Boys is a tale of two brothers taking the waves and taking on whatever gets in their way. Filmed on location along the beaches of Southern California, Local Boys is loaded with radical surfing footage, breathtaking moves, and thrilling feats. Packed with adventure, point breaks, and women Local Boys is a coming of age story that captures the everyday hardships and freedom that come along with growing up."
Then we have the real magic of Surf's Up where penguins surf professionally. At a theatre near you.
Funnily enough, in most surf movies there are sequences where people try to use something other than surfboards to ride waves--planks, motorboats, jet skis, kayaks, outriggers, et cetera. In Rob Machado's Shelter, a dude tries to surf on a hollow-core door. But the one thing a surfing film needs is footage. Surfing on doors doesn't cut it. Surfing on beautiful green swells does. Slater, Shane Dorian, and Mick Fanning all rip in Shelter. My only trouble was recognizing who was up at any one time--probably because I was watching the looooooong rides and the amazing 360s and over the falls curl jumping. There was the obligatory 'watch me shape a surfboard sequence' characterized by the absence of power tools. Also, 'listen to me play my guitar and sing' background occurred alongwith the absence of Ben Harper playing--instead he's surfing! Cool! I think it was Corky Carroll who started the rock star motif for surfers. It's spread, now, to baseball, too, what with Bronson Arroyo recording disks. Even writers get together at gigs as the "Remainders" with Stephen King and Amy Tan. Fortunately, in Machado's film the surfers can actually sing and play well.
Outside of Oaxaca, there is a one to one relationship through numbers when it comes to tangibles. Riding a wave becomes tangible in the world of contests, endorsements, prize money. Number of waves. Points per wave. Metrics and the rebellion against metrics. Wall Street analysts are beginning to find ways to quantify intangibles in HR practices, for example. Morale's impact on productivity. Retention. Customer satisfaction. The rebellion against tangible measurements surfaces in the turn to magical realism and mysticism. Then again, what's tangible? Harry Potter has his wand. Tiger has his putter. Luke, his lightsaber. Moses, a staff. Casey, a bat. And Kelly Slater has a stick--well, what we call a "stick." Really, Slater has a surfboard. It's the one artifact that all surfers need to be called "surfers." Gidget begged her dad for one on her TV series. Moon Doggie had one, too. In Endless Summer, Bruce Brown's classic surfing movie, the sticks were long boards. In Dana Brown's Step Into Liquid, the sticks are long, short, and even hydrofoiled.
Sunday night, June 10, John from Cincinnati premieres on HBO. As Alessandra Stanley called it in the NYT on 6/8/07, "a solemn mythologization--and mystification--of surfing as unearthly pleasure and life-sapping addiction." Greyson Fletcher is a "surfing prodigy, an innocent who has a teenager's yearning to be sponsored and win competitions, but retains a purist's love of surfing." Bruce Greenwood is the kahuna, Mitch Yost.
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Thoughts on Pattern Recognition by William GibsonOneTwo Three Four Five Six Seven
sites
Book of Joe
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"I felt similarly to Friend mouse about the shrillness the first couple of views. And I also wondered if I'd be able to feel anything for these people. Something, though, made me want to keep watching and rewatching. I think it was the third time through the first episode that it shifted in an intangible but definite way. I don't know . . . it's thrilling. Maybe later I'll be able to be more articulate, but I think they might pull off something extraordinary. I am a die hard Deadwood fan. I've never felt about any other television show what I feel for Deadwood; it's disproportionate, almost embarrassing. And it stings every time I see the words 'From the Producers of Deadwood.' But . . . well, for now I'd prefer to avoid comparisons and just repeat that I think Milch may have done it again. Oh, Ed O'Neill, yes. Beautiful. No problem feeling empathy there. And Luis Guzman -- perfect."
"Whatever each surfer takes from the water — adrenaline, beauty, therapy — there exists an intangible element that causes the surfer to go back for more. But to fully understand all these descriptions you must have experienced it yourself. Watching surfers riding mountains and making peace with Mother Nature’s tempests is like watching poetry in motion. Surfing requires so much raw muscle and strength to paddle out past the white water gates that guard the sacred waves, but also requires agility and enormous patience." May Chow learned to surf in Half Moon Bay at the age of 9.
“Chilly winds are only a seasonal deterrent, but locals have the entire year to do their worst, marking their territory by treating foreigners to acts of disdain. Going to a new break can feel like being underdressed at a dinner party—others don’t mind, but they notice, and you have to be a real prince to play it off with charm. Localism is the same looming, intangible sentiment that has kept me from mentioning the names of any specific surf spots in this article."
“The secret about shaping boards is there is no secret,” Chuck laughs. “Some of these guys make like they have this big secret formula. There’s no secret. It’s basic combinations. It’s like being a good chef, you know. You go to a restaurant and order a soufflé or some fancy French thing. Each person is different, but that chef knows his customer so he may put a little extra salt or more sugar or something. As long as it tastes good to the customer, that’s all that matters. Everybody rides a certain kind of board at Pipeline but there are subtle little differences. So if I’m fortunate enough to hook up with someone like Randall that likes the board, then he likes what I’m cooking. It’s sweet to him, tastes good you know? But as far as it being a secret, it’s not a secret.” Maybe there’s no secret, but there is something intangible that Chuck gives to his shapes. He adheres to the traditional practice in which Polynesians always prayed before they did anything in their life and then gave praise “Mahalo ke akua” (thank you heavenly father) for the opportunity to do whatever task it was. “If you approach it from that angle,” Chuck says. “I really believe there’s something from me, some mana, that can go into that board.”
Local artist Bruce Reynolds attests to the old conservatism. “Incorporating any politically-charged image into your art was the kiss of death for any surf artist up until about 6 years ago,” he says. To call what Reynolds creates “surf art” seems a bit limiting, however; for though the avid waterman informs his eclectic body of work with references to the sport, the Pop Art, Abstract Expressionist, and Dada movements were instrumental in his decision to take up the craft in earnest. The biggest challenge is in gathering the components of each of these pieces, and Reynolds is constantly scouring his surroundings for prospective elements. “That’s the beauty of art. You can start with an idea, but it’s never completely concrete for me,” he muses. “It’s an orgganic process and you just let it unfold naturally.” His eyes are always “open” in the way Zen masters’ are; always on the on the look-out for something, whether material or intangible, which will fit perfectly into a particular creation. “You’re looking for something, yet you don’t know what it is until you find it. You’d never consider it to be essential at first, but when you stumble upon it, there it is. It’s a perfect moment.”
"Lopez has been riding the waves along Oregon's coastline for 14 years now . . . The last time he was in the islands was October 2005. He has no idea when he'll return for a visit. 'I spent 45 terrific years of my life there and now I'm in Oregon and at present, this is home. I guess home is just wherever I am and wherever I'm comfortable being home.'
Dr. Sarah Gerhardt looks like so many women one might find staring west and studying the water from Ocean Beach to Davenport; unfussy blonde hair, not particularly tall, deeply calm. She is a devotee of the ocean who's given some thought to the intangible side of surfing. "I don't just blindly go out there," she tells me. "There are times I paddle out, and I tell myself I don't have it today. It's not just about riding big waves. It's about finding out who I am. It's the mirror of truth and of finding out who God is. It's a very multidimensional experience. My approach is different than a man's is. I think men tend to leave everything on land, and deal with the task at hand. For me it's more complicated. When there's going to be surf, I really want to do it, mind, body and soul."
Film Movement says, "Even leads a directionless life. Tord, his best friend, is the opposite: a great surfer with a prestigious job and beautiful Karen as his bride. The last part is especially hard on Even, who is not-so-secretly in love with Karen. When Tord asks him to look after Karen while he is out of town, Even decides to clean up his act and master the waves to impress her. At first he's a prime candidate for drowning, but a local surfing legend becomes his mentor, and Even, Tord and Karen end up on a collision course with the monster wave." Monster Thursday is number two on my list of good dramas with a surfing theme. There's a mixture here of serious and funny with Kim Bodnia as the requisite kahuna. But Kim who was born in 1965 probably couldn't--as he claims in the film--have surfed with Da Cat, Mickey Dora.
"I don't know why I had high hopes for this movie. Just from the trailers, where the Silver Surfer flies through solid objects, I had the question: How can anyone possibly fight him if he can turn intangible at will? And Galactus... the 'guy' (if you can call him that) CONSUMES PLANETS. How can anyone possibly fight that? It seems like trying to fight off the Death Star with a squardon of Spitfires... So it could still be fun to watch if you can completely suspend your disbelief... but most of the reviews I've seen have slapped it around pretty hard. Not sure if I will still go see it, now."
"Wave riders Rob Machado and Shane Dorian transform an old Australian farmhouse into a surfers' commune in this film, which banishes all commercial and competitive aspects of the sport. Content to merely soak up the communal atmosphere, surfers Kelly Slater, Joel Tudor, Mick Fanning and many others hang out at the refuge and tackle the awesome waves. The soundtrack features Joachim Cooder, Sunny Levine, Mason Jennings, The Shins and many more."
Matt George is the kahuna In God's Hands. Matt and Shane fight because Matt wants Shane to grab for the dollars. Matt says that at some point everyone burns out. Shane's #1 but it won't last. Shane has a different idea that somewhere in Alaska an old man drops a stone in the water and that ripple becomes a swell that circles the globe, hits islands, breaks, reforms, and moves ahead to the next reef, breaks, et cetera. Shane's gonna be there when it breaks the next time in, like, Oaxaca.
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