Byron Bay Today Weirdo Update July 27th 09

Bombora: The Story of Australian Surfing

Bombora poster

Screen Australia chose the Bondi Icebergs for its gala launch of Bombora, a two-part TV series that aims to tell the definitive history of surfing in Australia.

As the last rays of the setting sun illuminated the offshore but tiny waves of south Bondi, Producer and Director Paul Clarke invited Bob McTavish, one of the series’ star interviewees to preface the showing with a few remarks.

Your correspondent whipped out his trusty phone cam and captured the inimitable Mr McTavish’s amusing musings on surf addiction (see below).

Then it was on with the first episode. We see some very cool early footage of Australian beach culture and early surfin’ (check out the water shots from Waikiki c. 1920), but this effort is much more than a worthy recitation of surf history. I think it really gives the viewer a persuasive picture of how surfing naturally took root in a place where beach culture was rapidly coming into being – namely the east coast of Australia.

The deft intercutting of interviews, the judicious blending of archival footage and not over the top re-enactment along with Jack Thompson’s dulcet narration, come together in what strikes me as a well edited and pacey history. Film of course is the most collaborative of all the arts, so it’s generally pretty pointless to single out any one person’s contribution. That said, I think the writers (Paul Clarke, Nick Carroll and Greg Appel) deserve a significant share of the credit for giving the production such a robust and coherent structure.

This is a fine piece of work and I’m looking forward to seeing it again on Thursday the 26th of March at 830 pm on ABC1.

Taj Burrow Interview Video at Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro

From our friends at firststoke.com:

Video interview with ASP World Tour surfer Taj Burrow (AUS) at the 2008 Hang Loose Santa Catarina Pro. Taj talks about the 2008 season, the new contest format, and catching his first wave. 

Check out this interview from firststoke.com:

Here are links to other surfer interviews from the same event: CJ Hobgood, Tiago Pires, Jeremy Flores, and Miky Picon:::

http://firststoke.com/videos/3913-cj-hobgood-interview-video/

http://firststoke.com/videos/3895-jeremy-flores-video-interview-hang-loose-santa-catarina-pro/

http://firststoke.com/videos/3903-tiago-pires-interview-video/

http://firststoke.com/videos/3899-miky-picon-video-interview/

Audio: Phil Jarratt talks about new Kelly Slater book

For The Love cover

I was listening to Radio National when an interview with Phil Jarratt came on. I scrambled around for some cables and managed to get part of it recorded (see below). Jarratt is talking about the just-published book he helped Kelly Slater write and he throws in a few tidbits (eg Slats’ interesting theory about homogenized milk) to get the interest up. The book’s called For the Love, it retails in the US for USD35 and it sounds kinda interesting. Should be some pretty nice pics too…

Phil Jarratt interviewed about new Kelly Slater bio

Publisher site | Kelly Slater wikipedia entry | Radio National online

For the Love By Kelly Slater

with Phil Jarratt

Introduction by Jack Johnson
9 x 10-3/4 in; 192 pp ; 200 color photographs
Hardcover
Published in September, 2008
ISBN 9780811862226
ISBN10 0811862224

2009 ASP World Tour Surfer Tim Boal Interview

French surfer Tim Boal.

FirstStoke.com recently caught up with French surfer and Pukas Surfboardsteam rider Tim Boal, who recently qualified for the 2009 ASP World Tour. Tim talked about how it felt to make the tour, what the world should expect from him in 2009, and more.

Here’s the link to the story:

http://firststoke.com/news-events/interviews/18-2009-asp-world-tour-surfer-tim-boal-interview/