Nate Lawrence: “After a few months in California [Nate is originally from Santa Cruz and still spends about 5 months a year there], it’s so good to be back in Bali. The crowds aren’t too bad and there are waves all over the island. But it’s hot. Really hot. It’s the kind of heat you can’t go outside in the middle of the day in. Which sucks because at bout 12pm the wind goes really glassy. But if you’re smart, like Mega Semadhi (pictured here), you’ll wait just a little bit. The sun will get golden and you’ll be able to surf all afternoon. You’ll get the best set of the day and go in on that wave. You’ll order a few beers and watch the sun go down. Then you’ll offer a cute little Swiss babe a ride home on the back of your motorbike. She’ll say yes and you’ll say, “It’s good to be back in Bali.”
Dear Youth Mega Semadhi, Bali
Dear Youth Our weekend with Austyn Gillette and Part Friend
Austyn Gillette was down in San Clemente for physical therapy on Friday. He said he’d be back to his house in LA around 2:30 and invited us to meet up. His band Part Friend was playing with Swimm. all was well until I arrived and Austyn was at the Emergency room with his friend who…
Dear Youth Ian Walsh and John John Florence at the opening ceremony for “The Eddie”
“I don’t understand them, but I sure do respect them.” Nate Lawrence told us that last night after attending the opening ceremony to the 30th Annual Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau event with Ian Walsh, John John Florence and the rest of the world’s best big wave surfers — including DEKKA author/photographer Derek Dunfee…
Dear Youth DEKKA Journals by Derek Dunfee
Editor’s Note: For those of you who don’t know Derek yet, you’re in luck. Basically this is like getting to ride shotgun to some of the world’s scariest places and waves, with one of the nicest, most talented dudes there is. He shoots photos, surfs the world’s biggest waves, travels at the slightest breath of wind…
The Anxiety of On the Road’s Original scroll After reading On the Road (Twice) I feel different
I’ve read Jack Kerouac’s coming-of-age novel On the Road twice now. First the heavily edited, Penguin Edition and now the racier, much more raw original scroll edition. I’ve also read most of Jack’s other books including Big Sur, The Dharma Bums, Tristessa, Visions of Cody, Mexico City Blues, The Sea is My Brother, and Satori in Paris…
Dear Youth European Photo Diary of Quinn Matthews
Editor’s note: It’s well documented what a national treasure photographer Quinn Matthews is. And while his Europe tour of duty wasn’t without it’s hiccups and we thought we lost him, or he’d lost it, or both, he did manage to come back with some gold. The gallery and story below by Quinn are proof that…
Dear Youth France, you son of a bitch
Chip nearly stomped a huge backside slob. Noa came so close I vomited on the beach. Dion lost his credit card, got a new one, and lost it again.
Dear Youth Damp Jeans and the wave of your life
I’ve been in Portugal for about two weeks, and it’s been sunny all of two days. The rest of the time it’s been gale force winds and rain. All of my clothes are wet, cold and dirty from the rain and mud everywhere. I tried to do some laundry the other day, but we don’t…
Dear Youth: Kelly Slater’s 540 sequence Processing Kelly’s air at the Cluster House in France
Kai, Blake and myself went down to Bayonne to pick up some film from a French lab. We had moules and frites on the river (just like Chas suggested) and were enjoying a warm Fall day in France when Mitch Coleborn texted us and said the waves were firing and to hurry the fuck up…
Dear Youth France House
Every one knows now that the best camera in the world is the one in your pocket. And hell, we all have one in our pocket! The only difference with these photos and yours, is Blake tends to wander around France with the world’s best surfers. He’s with Kai filming Cluster. Eating baguettes, drinking latte’s…
Dear Youth Deep Frence sand and currents with Quinn Matthews
France has been fun. Like, really fun. But like I think I said earlier, it’s a lot colder than last year, and I didn’t pack properly. There’s been a bunch of stuff that’s gone on but I’ll just get right to it and rattle off some observations and experiences in the past week or so….
Dear Youth Dead Lions Suck
Can we start planning the party yet? Holy shit. Issue 9 deadline nearly made us dead. And we need to start party planning. It’s time. And while shit aint confirmed, we need this man. Let’s just say, mark your calendar: Thursday, October 23 Something is going down. If you’re in the greater CA area, we’re…
Dear Youth Scenes from Europe: Part 2
Today I drove past a little Russian gypsy stall and there were a bunch of old cameras on display. I noticed a vintage 35mm Leica, brass plated with a slick wood grain wrap. It had this Nazi emblem etched into the brass. I managed to heckle them down to 120 Euros. It was a relic,…