NXT 
I’ve made it more than apparent that I hate the word content. I hate all of it’s definitions. Content. Content. And content. Fuck ’em all. It’s a bad word. It’s a vanilla plain oatmeal crappy word that encourages status quo and general well being and I’ve never gotten along with it no matter how you’re defining it.
As you read this, something is happening in a small California town called Lemoore that is apparently causing some disruption to the “Dream Tour.” Let’s call it discontent. Which is a word I can very much get behind.
Kelly Slater and his KS Wave Co. are holding a specialty event at the wave pool today, which is interesting because I’m pretty sure the WSL has to be involved otherwise there is a breach of contract because surfers on tour can’t do non-sanctioned events, but I won’t bore us with that. The important thing is apparently the wave has gotten even better. I know about this event because I have friends there (I was not invited, and I’m OK about that), and Stab has decided that it’s the fodder for returning their voice to relevance with their new editor. Which is great. Welcome back.
But all this oddness in Lemoore, CA is a further validation that the surf entertainment world is in a strange way. Within the past week I have sat with some minds I greatly appreciate and just kind of realized how everything is stale and boring — maybe fucked — but for sure in desperate need of something to rally behind. And maybe this discontent is just what we need! Danny Fuller scratched his head in our edit bay asking, “Is this it for the ‘surf industry?'” And then over tacos (and water somehow) with Joe G we discussed similar topics and he appeared just as baffled on the state of things. But it is not with doom and gloom that the discussion turned, it’s with optimism. The fired up discontent kind that saved our meal and day. There is so much opportunity out there. So many ways to fire this thing back up to make surfing rad again. Because chasing the elites to a wave pool in a weird town where Rob Machado is playing guitar is not my idea of rad. But booking a last minute ticket to the east coast to chase real waves is. Because Mother Nature is still at it, even if the Dream Tour trades salt in for chlorine. We still like the song in our headphones and we’d rather chase swells than wait in line at the pool. Discontent is out there, and we like that. —Travis
