Surfing, Skateboarding, Music, Photography, Travel, Culture and general antics of the youth on the run.

Forced Creativity In a Musty Place Or, the art of throwing empty pint glasses at a laptop and expecting results

what youth dear youth

“Writing is the flip side of sex — it’s only good when it’s over.” —Hunter S. Thompson

 Editor’s note: Here’s something(one) new. James Royce is a young surfer/writer dude from California who’s been submitting and writing a few things here and there for us. Just another one of us trying to navigate all this shit we find ourselves in and make sure there’s a surf or two mixed in. I liked this. Probably because he went into a bar and left with something more than just a good buzz. Anyway, meet James. —Travis

 I’m writing this from a dark spot. Literally. The light above me is flickering. I’m at my local dive bar. A place walking distance from my house. It has all the classic characteristics. Cracked red booths, clientele that could be easily be Beyond Thunderdome stand-ins, a general air of destitute. You’d be forgiven if you mistook it for a truck stop with a liquor license. But the beer’s cold and cheap so I’m happy.

I promised myself I’d have a completed article by now. Five-hundred or something words on something. Anything. A short story perhaps. Maybe a science-fiction drama. Something about a man who invents a time machine just so he can fuck around with the course of history. Give Krotons a bunch of steroids to freak out the Spartans during the first Olympics. Hand Bruce Brown a RED camera then surprise Mike Hynson and Robert August at Cape St. Francis by paddling out on a thruster. Kidnap Joseph Stalin and make him watch Vines Clockwork Orange style. But then I hated that idea as soon as I opened up a word document. There’s no glory sounding like a discount Philip K. Dick.

So I looked elsewhere. Towards surfing. I watched Turtle Bay Resort’s premier awards show. (Hey, Chapter 11 won movie of the year — that’s a bit epic.). But I couldn’t find anything to get fired up about between all the backslapping. Then I remembered Pipe is coming up. But then I realized I barely know who’s in the world title race as I haven’t watched a contest since Lowers (RIP) and apparently a lot has happened since then. Ideas, dead ends, what’s allowed to live and die on the page all meshed into one. Anxiety started creeping in. I was stuck. Frozen. Was it finally time to drive out to the middle of the desert with a suitcase stocked full of various stimulants, hallucinogens, and libations? Do I go for a hard reset?

No. Dramatics never solve a thing.

And that’s how I ended up in the local haunt. This mildew ridden place. Where amenities like color TV, surround sound, and air conditioning are proudly advertised on a sign out front. One man’s daily conveniences are another’s technological triumphs. It’s funny, I’ve lived down the road from here my whole adult life yet have never made a conscious effort to drop in until now. The only reason I decided to saunter in three beers ago was because it seemed like a good idea at the time. Escape the stress. And now I don’t have any desire to leave. There’s no wifi — thus no distractions. The music’s good (new wave hits on heavy rotation) and I have a booth to myself. No one’s shot me a weird look while I pound away on my laptop. I have neither any complaints nor any intentions of leaving anytime soon. Hell, slamming an empty glass onto my keyboard and expecting results might be my soundest plan at this point. Going nuclear on the piss worked for Faulkner, Joyce, Bukowski and a slew of other greats. It’s worth a shot. And once I snap back to reality and realize I’ve failed spectacularly to get a thing done, home is just a short walk away. But I did leave with this in my laptop. It’s just as useful as it is useless. See ya soon. —James Royce    

 

 

what youth dear youth lost surfboards surf films

What’s Really Going Wrong… The not-so-forgotten films that shaped us

I woke up on a mattress, on a lawn. The house from the outside looks like something you’d have seen on the news. Trash thrown about, empty beer cans, mattress (and me) on the lawn, a girl looking for her purse in the garden. This is the …Lost house in San Clemente during the mid ’90s….

what youth bummer what youth recommends

What’s Bummer? The Internet is a cluttered mess, so we made the Bummer Tab

Ok, so out in Internet land, most websites that exist simply take what other people do, and they re-post it under the illusion that you think they made it. It’s the beauty and the curse of the Internet. At What Youth, we always said we wanted to create and we’d make only original stuff. Then…

what youth travis ferre andy irons content

I fucking hate the word “content” Picking my Friday night fight

I think I’ve written many emails ranting about this. But today we go public. I hate that word. Content. That dumb buzz word. That stupid, lethargic, lazy, sellout of a word is about as hot to trot in the surf industry as e-commerce (another yawn). There are entire teams dedicated to branding your entertainment, turning…

what youth top 34 surfing world tour

The What Youth Top 34 This is who’s coming on the very unprofessional What Youth World Tour 2016

So what’s the criteria? Well, it’s a perfectly inexact science that sees the surfers who represent themselves the most authentically through their surfing and living at the top. Their creativity rewarded. Their flaws embraced. Their zest and style counting exponentially. There are no numbers, it’s all feeling. Like music. Or poetry. Subjective. Like surfing should…

what youth dear youth ozzie wright

I just started saying yes to things Great advice from Ozzie Wright

“This year, I just started saying yes. Things I used to hide from or ignore I just started saying yes.” Ozzie Wright told us this as we drove by the Pass in Byron Bay, looking for the ever-elusive parking spot in the tiny lot. We’d surfed all morning, followed it with an afternoon paint and…

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John John won a very big contest today The Quiksilver in Memory of Eddie Aikau Invitational

About two weeks ago the Quiksilver Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational event at Waimea Bay was called to go. Only problem: the swell didn’t show up. Such is nature. But just to be sure, thousands of people flocked from all over the world only to wake up to rather small surf and no Eddie. But today,…

Tokyo to Bangkok to Sydney to Goldy We’re on the run again

We pulled up the driveway at Chippa Wilson’s house today to 3 brand new boards, ready to rip. Not beat up clunkers from deep in his garage. These were quiver staples of his. 3 completes, right there waiting for us. After a travel itinerary that lasted over 29 hours and 3 countries and 5 cities,…

Kanoa Igarashi Translated Tokyo with the newly qualified 18-year-old who’s got all of Asia behind him

Kanoa Igarashi has been talking non stop. Interviews and signings and Quiksilver and us. Then there are the people stopping him on the streets. It’s pretty exhausting to be Kanoa the last few days in Japan. But he sure doesn’t show it. Smiling, engaging and chatting with everyone. Kanoa Igarashi is having his moment. And…

what youth dear youth travis ferre

Japanese Customs Surreal arrival in Japan

We’re here looking for Kanoa Igarashi. Which is funny because he usually lives in Huntington Beach. And our HQ is in neighboring Newport. But Kanoa’s parents are from Japan and he spent a good portion of his life in Japan, actually starred in a reality show about his surfing when he was 11. Needless to…

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Dion Agius threw his phone at a wall And you should too (or maybe just hide it)

I wish more people would do this. We all say it. Threaten it. But Dion Agius just did it. Destroyed his phone, right into a wall —and he isn’t getting a new one. Now remember, as you see below, Dion can still be reached. He’ll probably be more engaged. More productive. Texts and info will come…

what youth travis ferre dane renolds surfing

When the Webcast Doesn’t Go Are we just using them to be lazy?

Yesterday I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little jazzed driving in for work knowing the Eddie was on. That meant no dead moments today. I’d always be able to flip on the webcast and idle there until something spectacular happened, which at Waimea was sure to be the case right? For some the day…

what youth travis ferre

A new Morning, Changing Weather So I guess I’m going to start doing this every day

Yep. Since I can’t quite spread my wings enough on social media and still relay all the rad shit we’re doing AND get my point across, I’m gonna do it here. Every day. Who knows where I’ll be or what I’ll be thinking or writing or doing, but I’m gonna say it and we’re gonna do…

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