Lots of stories in the news lately about the groundswell of public anger in the wake of AIG’s use of bailout funds to pay out $165 million in bonuses.
It got me thinking about the disconnect between upper management and the little guy as we struggle through this economic crisis.
In the recent Surfline article “Tavarua Time” we’re shown pictures of Billabong’s CEO Paul Naude scoring perfect waves.
Theoretically, there should be no problem with this. Billabong is a core surf brand, and the fact that their CEO is a core surfer should make us feel good, right? That might have been the case a year ago. But now, this article seems a bit off to me.
While looking at the pictures, I kept thinking about my friends who run small surf shops. They’re not booking $5000 per head weeks at Tavi right now. Instead, I’ve heard stories of friends laying off friends, of owners sitting on tens of thousands of dollars of stale merchandise (from Billabong and others), and of shop owners literally not buying groceries because they don’t have the money.
Meanwhile, just like last year, “Paul Naude, CEO of Billabong USA, journeys to Tavarua with a small group of friends, family, company employees, and key retailers.”
Surfline tells us that “It’s not an official work trip, although work does get done here — this year’s journey included a Billabong Girls swimsuit shoot…The true purpose of this expedition is, and always has been, to ride waves. Perfect waves. And over the past 10 or so years that Paul has been leading his little crew down to Tavi, he’s scored…this year as hard as ever.”
Ummm… I could see some surfers who aren’t a “friend” or “key retailer” getting a little bit angry upon hearing that the CEO scored perfect waves everyday on a quasi-work trip.
Of course, Naude and Billabong aren’t spending taxpayer bailout money on a trip to Tavarua. But reading between the lines, it sounds like they are spending shareholders’ money to pay for at least a portion of this trip. Meanwhile, Billabong’s stock has dropped from a 52 week high of 14.16 down to 7.9. In the scheme of things, Billabong seems to be doing well, and none of this is out of the ordinary for other comparable brands. Money is spent on marketing, and surf trips are a perk. I’m not suggesting that Billabong did anything wrong or unusual on this trip.
But perhaps this isn’t the right economic climate to publicize just how hard they scored. I don’t know Paul Naude, and I have no idea if he had anything to do with putting this story together. But the picture below is of Paul Naude surfing. The caption mentions that “Paul likes to keep a running score of the number of barrels he gets during each trip. Occasionally, that number inches up toward 100. To his credit though, he only counts the ones he makes.”
I learned long ago that when you score filthy shacks on a trip, it’s never a good idea to claim those barrels to the friends who had to stay home and work. But, yes, let’s credit Naude with not counting his closeouts, too.
Perhaps this is the wrong time for any CEO to publicize 100 Tavarua tubes. If I’m that shop owner who isn’t a key retailer, who’s too broke to buy groceries, it doesn’t make me feel better that the CEO of Billabong got 100 shacks in paradise last week between likely margaritas and massages.
I”m better off not knowing that.
I’ve been thinking about this stuff and the AIG bonuses a little bit and I’m actually not that mad for two main reasons…
IF those people actually deserved those bonuses for working, they then deserve them period. Just because the economy blows, that should not have a correlation to an individual’s past performance. I’m not sure that’s the case here but just because they work for a financial entity doesn’t mean they should be punished for it because the economy slumped…
SECONDLY, all this reminds me of when my dad used to tell me to remember people in less fortunate circumstances. It wasn’t until I was a little older that I realized the complete fallacy of this sentiment. If someone out there has a broken arm, you aren’t going to go break your arm to make things “even” are you? It’s ludicrous to measure your own life by the standards of other people’s lives or worse, to live your life based on values of a less fortunate individual. That is not to say that humility does not have it’s place, but much like Nietzsche, I don’t believe we should adopt a mentality of feeling guilty about our own earned success…
In other words, Paul probably worked his fucking ass off for his company and now he is enjoying the rewards of that work. It just so happens that this is during a recession, but that’s not his fault. He just wants to enjoy what he worked for and I don’t blame him one little bit…
um, guess again. bonuses of up $6 million per person were given out to the very people who created the derivative products that helped bring the financial industry down. Your taxdollar is going to rewarding the very fuckwits who helped create this crisis.
“all this reminds me of when my dad used to tell me to remember people in less fortunate circumstances. It wasn’t until I was a little older that I realized the complete fallacy of this sentiment.”
Spoken like a true conservative who probably claims to be a good christian.
Alot of the AIG people who got bonuses worked in the department that was responsible for AIG’s spectacular losses recently. They’re not coming under fire for accepting bonuses during a recession. They’re coming under fire because they’re getting bonuses for making some disastrous decisions that resulted in losing a lot of money.
As for the bad taste Tavarua article - I find it even more distasteful that Tavarua is an exclusive, super expensive surf destination. US magazines seem content to never question the arrangements the resort owners enjoy there.
And Jesus Lewis, don’t you work for Surfline? Your criticism of the surf industry and media must be blowing minds after how many decades of complacency and laziness. Keep it up!
Why isnt anyone mentioning the role of Chris Dodd in the a.i.g. situation? He flat out lied to the public 2 days ago saying he had no knowledge of the fact that a provision to restrict the bonuses was taken out of the stimulus bill. Yesterday he admitted that yes, he did know about the provision being taken out and actually it was taken out by HIM! But someone in the Treasury Dept. told him to do it but he cant say who that was? WHAT THE F—? Are you kidding me? Why hasnt this recieved more attention? And Obama claims to have no knowledge of any such thing? So Mr. President. Either you a: did not read the stimulus bill before signing it or B: you knew about the bonuses back in Feb. and you are now faking outrage while trying to gain political points as the guy who goes after the big bad capitalist pigs who are taking money from the poor taxpayers. lets go back a little further. Which 2 senators recieved the most in campaign contributions from A.I.G in recent years? Bingo! Senator Chris Dodd and Senator Barrack Obama! Of course this stuff has gone on forever on both sides of the political fence but it is really frustrating how the current administration is fooling the masses into believing they are differnt. As far as being jealous of Paul Naude for spending a little time getting barreled, if you dont like it then dont buy their products. And if you are a distributor or surf shop owner and you feel you arent getting a fair shake then get into another business.And if you own shares in Billabong then complain to the board of directors or sell your stock. This is America bro. Get out there and create your own opportunities instead of crying about what someone else has going on. We should be screaming for Chris Dodds resignation as senator of Connecticut and chairman of the Senate Finance Committee or whatever his title is. Anyway thats all I have to say. You are still a funny guy Lewis but I am losing my steam over your humor the more that I see of your views of the world. God bless America my friend and PLEASE,PLEASE may God bless Marin County.
Well done Lewis. Please continue to call it like you see it.
Calling out your own employer is quite possibly the most baller shit ever.
that is bullshit,
thanks for pointing that out lewis,
He he he…..you got yourself a bombshelter Lewis?
God must be smiling today - because I agree with Mark. Unless you’re a shareholder you really have no leg to stand on re Billabong. They’re not in business to make surf shops money - they’re in business to make Billabong money. Surf shop owners sitting on too much product have themselves to blame. While a trip to Tavi may not be the best thing in the world to publicize right now, it’s hardly worthy of an uppity protest.
i don’t have a problem with the boss taking a surf trip, i just don’t like it how it got rubbed in people’s faces on surfline. he should have just put those pics on facebook and tagged his bros- no need to take it public.
maybe surfline is growling out his ass
as far as the swimwear shoot thing- there’s a lot of other cheaper island to go to…
i guess he bundled the surf vacation and the shoot together so that he could hit on the models and use the photographer to get some barrel shots
mark that was actually an excellent diatribe
and im with mcknight. naude earned getting barreled, but posting it on the biggest online surf media site is totally unnecessary. if i worked for billabong and had just gotten fired, id be slightly pissed
ooooooooohhhhhh. you are so right. hhhhhhmmm.
Shareholders should be pissed. What did having a meeting in Tavarua accomplish, rather than having a meeting in a boardroom or by videoconference? It ain’t 2007 anymore, expenses must be justified. Shareholders should file a derivative suit. Where does Billabong stock trade?
You’re such a pain in the ass samuels but god bless you, you’re shit rules.
As for billabong, and the major surf clothiers, they don’t give a shit about the workin mans element to the surf industry. If they did, they wouldn’t sell their clothes to the macy’s and jc penny’s of the world, they’d make sure the mom and pops were the only place to get their clothes.
Which is why I don’t wear their clothes! Never have, never will.
I try not to buy anything but boards or necessities like leashes & wetsuits. No lame ass 25$ screen printed tshirts or “lifestyle gear.” Don’t need to wear it or put stickers all over my truck to let everyone know that I am a surfer. Im not contributing to the pros next boat trip or Paul Naude. All that the big 3 have done for us is crowd the line ups.
Happy to say the Quacksilver is eating shit right now and divesting everything but their right arm to meet $316M due in 2010.
now we’re getting somewhere, lewis.
it’s funny how there’s a billabong ad banner on that article
I love you Lewis Samuels. Together we will fellate the world.
Nothing dubious going on here. Just the typical bro-brah reach around session. Billabong big wig does an off season trip to Tavi and Surfline does a good PR bit about it. Everyone wins. Billabong probably got a good deal on an offseason trip that would get prime coverage on a heavily trafficked website. Surfline gives Tavi and Billabong a bonus for their marketing budgets. CEO Pauly gets to claim his 100+ stinkbug head dips for the next 51 weeks.
Sean Collins will get the last laugh when Lewis gets some rocks flying through his windows. No one dares insult the surf industrial complex.
“No one dares insult the surf industrial complex”, thats a joke! the surf industry should start to watch their asses!i is that scott bass? bizarro bassy?
lewis you need to continue calling these sheninigans out!
Paul Naude is such a donkey! who claims they get barreled 100 times in barely 7 days?
We wouldn’t have a problem with this if it were any other company just going on a surf trip, but when it’s a surf company it is like a defecting member of the family. I feel the same way too in some way.
Paul Naude (makes $573482920202 per year) probably personally paid for this and has earned a lot of his success. I agree somewhat with what someone said earlier: it shouldn’t be rubbed in our faces, I have had friends in the industry laid off, and been laid off myself. But at the same time, we are all surfers (or at least posers, ha!) and those shots of perfect Tavi should make us amped for better days ahead.
I got barreled once. I was young. I didn’t know any better. I couldn’t say no.
One thing I do know is this: My rectum still throbs on cloudy days.
It’s their money, they do whatever they want with it. If Billlabong shareholders don’t like it (I actually think they don’t give a shit), then they have two options: sell their stocks or vote for another CEO. Shitty article Lewis, you’re gonna get yourself fired.
This slanderous piece of writing has absolutely no substance and the writer should be more than embarrassed. First of all get an education and work on your writing skills and second get your facts straight before you call someone out that you don’t know… Naude has more character, credibility, integrity and intelligence than anyone in the industry today!
I got $100 bucks that says you won’t make it to Pipe with your fantasy preview before surfline tells you go go blow yourself. Some of your articles are good but pulling every single persons card you see possible is stupid. Tasteless really…. At least Stab does it in a way that doesn’t make them seem like douche bags to everyone.
No one wants to be reminded of corporate greed especially at this point in the economy. Billabong (BBG) is just off the 52 week low, http://www.google.com/finance?chdnp=1&chdd=1&chds=1&chdv=1&chvs=maximized&chdeh=0&chdet=1237579905812&chddm=22021&q=ASX:BBG&ntsp=0
Take a look at the balance sheet on the last page of the half yearly results.
http://www.billabongbiz.com/documents/20090220_Half_year_results_CEOCFO_presentation.pdf
Do you see the parenthesis? ($48.5) million dollar loss.
Great Job Paul!
Yet another well run company.
Isn’t it wonderful that corporate surf giants DO NOT support the surfing oriented non-profits.
How does a for profit corporation justify donating money to save trestles or help children in the Mentawai islands?
While they may spend the corporate $$$’s on Board Meetings in Tavi, they don’t give a damn about anything or anyone else.
Lots of varied opins here. Might we also take a good look at what kind of Charity work Paul Naude and his company have done (are doing)??? People in these positions should feel a responsibility to the communities around them. So how much money has/does Billabong give back to local, domestic, global communities? Anyone got a ligit answer? Lewis?
My comments are specific to Billabong USA, and Billabong International’s contributions. I know that PAUL himself participates in many different projects.
All of the corporate giants have consistently failed to show significant support to the same resources that their products are aimed at.
If say a great surf spot such as trestles is paved over, how many fewer trunks, wetsuits, boards, etc… will be sold in San Clemente?
How many $$$s has BBG USA contributed?
If you don’t like ‘em, don’t shop ‘em. For the most part, corporations only do charity as PR. If BB doesn’t feel the need, so be it.
this is awesome.
I like turtles.
Billabong likes TURTLE SOUP!
Paul Naude is a great guy. I see him in Newport all the time. He’s pretty cute too. I love Billabong> I love Occy and Sarge as well.
This isn’t the first time Fillabong has had a corrupt motherfuck running things: http://theextremescene.com/article/former-billabong-ceo-deep-shit Great story Lewis. It’s Omar Etcheverry’s birthday today, you should throw him some love: http://theextremescene.com/article/former-billabong-ceo-deep-shit
who the f*ck is omar etchivery? some sort of Jihadist?
Haha meant to post this for Omar’s birthday, sorry. http://theextremescene.com/article/happy-birthday-omar
Sheeeiit, I no from Brasil. Whotdefock!?
poor Paul
2008 Monies paid:
Cash Salary 08- $930,000
Cash Bonus 08- $782,000
Nonmonetary 08- $ 18,000
benefits
Super-
annuation 08- $ 3,000
Rights 08- $420,000
Total 08 - $2,153,000
Paul Naude Also Owns - 1,821,179 shares at 7.75= $14,114,137
Where am I? Has anyone seen me lately??
Omar’s birthday? I had no idea that crusty old revolutionary from Libya was still alive… let alone surfed.
I heard there’s some sweet peakatollah’s in the Mediterranean.
wow, that’s a really bad blogm cyrus. do us a favor - quit the spaming ang go snuggle with your o bear.
Unless you’re a newly hatched pod person, you already know that the Surfline’s editorials, like opium, hashish, or alcohol, keep the canaille in a trance and oblivious of reality. But let me add that the surf industry, as a whole, considers it its calling to preach the gospel of deconstructionism to every living creature. Instead of focusing on why the industry’s goal is not to oppose juvenile, conniving irreligionism but to reinvigorate it with a villainous new purpose, I would like to remind people that I don’t know which are worse, right-wing tyrants or left-wing tyrants. But I do know that knowledge is the key that unlocks the shackles of bondage. That’s why it’s important for you to know that Billabong has specifically stated that human beings should be appraised by the number of things and the amount of money they possess instead of by their internal value and achievements. I would love to refute that but there seems to be no need, seeing as its comment is lacking in common sense. I’ll let you in on a little secret: corporate surf companies doesn’t want us to know about its plans to eviscerate freedom of speech and sexual privacy rights. Otherwise, we might do something about that. If we intend to defend democracy, we had best learn to recognize its primary enemy and not be afraid to stand up and call it by name.
That name is Paul Naude.
And by Paul Naude, I mean Jihad Khoder.
Paul Naude is a smart guy who’s worked very hard to get where he’s at today. He helped launch a company that people love. Billabong has, is, and always will be a brand that supports surfing and surfers. How much money has Billabong made for surf shops? seriously, I think Lewis is a smart, funny, witty, nihilistic motherf-ker, and I love his work. But seriously, If Paul Naude wants to spend some of his hard earned money on a surf trip, he should.
A lot of you fake named web posters will probably say that I’m sucking off an advertiser and that’s fine, my email is chris.cote@transworld.net, hit me up, we’ll talk.
Billabong is a company that has always supported the surf industry. Shut up and go surf. If we all buy into this negative bullshit and put surf brands in the same class as companies like AIG and GM then we’re all doomed. IF you guys care so much, go to your local shop and buy a pair of trunks.
Chris Cote
yes, I go on this dumb insider industry site just like the rest of you. Even on a friday night—i’m lame.
The great thing is that I totally know which pair of trunks to buy…they were all over my last issue of TWS.
I may be risking my life by telling you this, but Chris Cote and his backers at Billabong pay little or no attention to the negative impact that exhibitionism will have on our daily lives. To begin at the beginning, I cannot compromise with Chris; he is without principles. I cannot reason with him; he is without reason. But I can warn him and with a warning he must undoubtedly take to heart: If you study Chris’s imperialistic memoranda long enough, you’ll come to the inescapable conclusion that it’s unequivocally a tragedy that his goal in life is apparently to turn a deaf ear to need and suffering. Here, I use the word “tragedy” as the philosopher Whitehead used it. Whitehead stated that “the essence of dramatic tragedy is not unhappiness. It resides in the solemnity of the remorseless working of things,” which I interpret as saying that if one dares to criticize even a single tenet of Billabong or Paul Naude’s screeds, one is promptly condemned as impolitic, unimaginative, ruthless, or whatever epithet they deem most appropriate, usually without much explanation.
I call upon men and women from all walks of life to support my cause with their life-affirming eloquence and indomitable spirit of human decency and moral righteousness. Only then will the whole world realize that Billabong’s paroxysms are more than just impractical. They’re a revolt against nature.
In conclusion, let me just say that Billabong and corporate surf culture’s hatchet men employ no altruistic endeavors to weed out people like Chris who have deceived, betrayed, and exploited us.
How dare you Dylan Longbottom… errr… Chris Cote.
P.s. Is Dylan Longbottom one of the greatest pro surfer porn names of all-time? Methinks yes.
P.p.s. Fuck you ASP judges.
P.p.p.s
Chris Cote,
I’m unemployed and am in need of dignity, righteous benefits, and massive dollars…
No surfing required. For I am merely a shard of turtle scat.
… Call me.
Actually, a few funny and well written retorts. Yet no real names. I think I should give up surf turkey chat rooms for the rest of lent. I used to have go out on friday nights…oh, growing up.
Chris Cote,
I love you man… just pulling some leg bra!
… seriously, call me. My number is discretely hidden in the remnants of Occy’s drool ‘ponst your left testicle.
Don’t mind the harsh male voice that picks up either… he just mops up the entrails of quivering surfer-dude remains after my mouth is through tonguing their bleached assholes.
Surf turkey chatrooms? Ouch Chris! I guess you are accustomed to serious journalistic as well as artistic pursuits such as the Coach Cote skits during the Globe Pro. I understand how you can find yourself above these childish, anonymous rants on a relatively unknown site. Actually i thought Coach Cote was really funny but I also rank Borat as funniest movie of all time How about you?.P.s. Can I drop by your office and introduce myself in person and give you my full name? We can drive down to the harbor and paddle our sea sweepers south to the pier and talk about how cool the Irons brothers are.
Mark,
You are illiterate and well, basically retarded. Please don’t defend my friends with such juvenile outbursts.
… but I would sweep Brucie I’s taint with my tonsil paddle if it meant Lewis Samuels would fellate a dolphin blowhole while flossing his areolas with my K-Fins.
That’s right.
K-Fins.
Just wondering Chris. Is Transworlds obvious fall from grace in the surfing community at least partially responsible for you spending Friday night alone obsessing over surf turkey chatrooms and choking your chicken while fantasizing about being as funny as Lewis Samuels instead of attending one of those ” only those in the know KNOW” surf industry bro-job functions? If so then i have a GREAT idea! Start work immediately on a massive, in their face, screw the recession super size summer edition of t.w. surf with none other than Lewis Samuels and Jihad Khodr as guest editors! Dude you will have the Point Reyes to Big Sur market sewed up as well as half the line-up at Rocky Point! Tell those corporate barns that own your mag to not worry if you lose a few big advertisers. Hope and Change take time! And if they want to make up for lost revenue then all they need to do is start up Transworld Stand Up Paddle! That mag can make the money while your mag stays true to its hardcore roots.
Dude, we’re there… under the surface… just give us time.
putting too many ads in any magazine is sort of like raising taxes on the top producers in the country. The top producers eventually scale back production because they realize they are simply working for the government once they reach a certain point. And the government gets LESS REVENUE because of it even though it gets a higher percentage from each producer. AND there is less production from the ones we need to be producing.
If you put too many ads in a magazine then eventually people quit buying it because they are tired of the ads. So sales drop and the magazine has to drop their advertising rates so now they have more ads and a shittier product in general as well as less revenue because of the lower rates. But then again what do I know? I didnt even vote for Barrack Obama and look at the awesome job he is doing “transforming America”. P.S. Cote s.u.p.’s like he is in the special olympics.
So what S.F.? Franklin Raines made 90 MILLION DOLLARS as c.e.o. of Fannie Mae in only 6 years of running that institition into the ditch and in part triggering the current financial situation. And your bitching about Paul Naude making 2 plus million for a company that makes some good threads? Whats next? Unionization of the surf industry? Caps on executive pay? Company surf trips to Tourmaline instead of Tavarua?
Mark,
There is no such thing as “too many ads in a magazine”. For every spread ad that is sold, a spread of editorial is added to the magazine. The more ads you have, the more editorial you have to look at. At least you can flip the page without waiting for it to load first.
An ad sales guy saying there is no such thing as too many ads. Thats like a car salesman saying there is no such thing as too many cars on the road or Barrack Obama saying there is no such thing as too many ways to tax the American people. Or Jordy Smith saying there IS more than one way to skin a cougar.
Nice wit Mark but Im trying to have a normal conversation. Which is like trying to speak dolphin to a monkey. You’re funny, I get it. The harsh reality is it would be great to have a non-advertising magazine that was 100% profit based on it’s subscribers but you would have to charge 15$ for the magazine for it to be profitable (break even these days is the new profitable). That is just the way publishing works. Magazines try to keep edit vs. ads 50/50. Without ads magazines fail. Without ads, websites fail. Its just the way the world works. Get over it. Would would you suggest as an alternative? Besides selling your wit, which might work actually….
I get it ad sales guy. Transworld sucks but i get it.
if every CEO and mag editor would just read The Gift of Work we’d all be fine.
Thanks for the info bros. Now I know that if I just go down to my local bro shop and buy a pair trunks, all will be well with the world.
So Lewis…Are you saying we should stakeout this guys local spot and drop in on him till he cries and begs for a personal tax increase? If everyone that surfs in California dropped in on him one time, he wouldn’t get a wave to himself until the year 2064.
I wonder if Paul Naude and AI ever do h-bomb together on the boat on the way out to Cloudbreak.
Why do you guys even care? Isn’t the reason you’re all reading this because you surf? Maybe you should surf a little more and critique a little less. Lewis what gives you the experience to comment on the ASP anyways? You’re certainly no Derek Hynd……..
Glad to see someone isn’t afraid to be critical of the industry
I hear ya mark!!
Our government specifically told AIG that they could have these bonuses, now they are all grandstanding and pretending like it is AIG’s fault.
It’s our Federal Reserve who is responsible for funding these companies through artificially lowered interest rates and how that relates to our banking system. The people at AIG were just following the law! Now if we could have an honest monetary system like the constitution says we wouldn’t be having EITHER of these problems.
What Paul Naude is doing is living the dream. whats wrong with that and with letting the world see that even in economic times like these the dream still lives? most of us will never win a WCT title.. the only way for us to have the perfect mix of real world and surf world is through our work. i want to know that there is something worth working towards.
Naude should not be as concerned about the criticism he is taking for this fiasco as he should be for that half wit KOOK, Lance Tompkins,who is operating his Billabong Camp in Seaside. This cat is a druged out dude who knows nothing about running a surf camp, with his chain smoking inexperienced staff. They tried to run a camp in Seaside Heights; no permit and no insurance. Some kids going to get seriously hurt and sue the Balls off Bong.
SF you missed the point that Billabong is SurfAids largest contributor in both the Schools and Malaria campaign.
Paul worked hard… you bunch of bitter fuckers!
You would all do the same if you could. Stop whinging.
I don’t think lumping the Surfing top dogs into the same category as other corporate fat cats is fair. Especially when there is not one fact presented in Lewis Samuels latest rant. I did not know he was a qualified Financial commentator as well… know your limits Lewis.
Posting random thoughts lacks intelligence…And we all know how intelligent you are.
I wouldn’t surf Tavarua I’d surf my local area, and I wouldn’t want to wake up and be Paul Naude for any amount of money. Who cares about his 100 tubes per trip either way anyway ? Billabong and their employees are having their day, thankfully it will soon be over as they are a crass enterprise, but there’s no point in moaning about it.
To Idunno who made the first post: Your father didn’t suggest that you had to break your arm or feel guilty, he merely suggested that you ” remember people in less fortunate circumstances “
2 million dollars a year and he’s still stuck surfing shitty little thrusters, that’s what makes me laugh. . . . all that money and still no taste or creativity. . . .. he spends vast amounts to ride plebian surfboards on a wave machine, such a boring plot. . . . just a plastic corporate widget in a blue frame. . . . can’t escape their own marketing BS that’s the irony and their just deserts.
The truth always hurts but all these egos in surfing today are really the problem every one wants to see a little picture of themselves surfing look at me mommy I’m surfing there are the Pro dogs The Pic Dogs The Soul Dogs The LongBoard Dogs The Retro Dogs ETC ETC ETC Surfing as a whole SUCKS….. RIDING WAVES IS COOL… So shelve all your egos and enjoy or stay home…..oh by the way whoopi 100 barrels who couldn’t on that wave Mr. CEO EGO Times Up!
I have no money for groceries, but I am leaving to go down to Central Am. 4/1. Spent all my money on the ticket. Fuck it. I applaud Mr. Naude. Sometimes you just gotta say fuck this bullshit and get on a plane. Then everyone can bitch about it. Sniffle.
I can’t believe Surfline fired you for that. I’ll only be going on Surfermag.com now!
The bottom line is, isn’t it (?) that Billabong CEO scores free ad space for his company on Surfline - the world’s largest provider of electronic surf media. That’s just good business. That’s what pisses us off: the rich and industrious getting richer, getting bonuses, inflating egos while chasing - or rather just booking a trip to -barrels while our retired parents - who were also industrious -are watching their pensions shrivel and we see our friends losing their jobs or struggling to keep their businesses and families afloat. Isn’t that what this is all about.
I just spent 200 bucks to surf for 2 days on a small snowy island somewhere between Rejkavik and Vilnius. Yes, all surfers have that “fuck it, I’m doing it” attitude. Right? Who doesn’t make a decision to go surfing that doesn’t come into conflict with their budget or personal life. Proportionality though, leads us to grief when we see the new generation of wealthy surfers grasping our dreams when for the many those surf fantasies are just soooo out of grasp. Well, you know what. Fuck them. I surfed a freezing slab and a little left point with the sunshine out and snow on the ground somewhere in that zone between Rejkavik and Vilnus. Me and one friend. Stayed with a radical eco musician/ writer/ social worker friend of a friend in a 200 year old farm house and smoked some home grown with a strong coffee in the sunshine out in a field with the blue sea behind me. And then…fuck all of you healthy MFers, I had a hand rolled Golden Virginia cigarette and another! Hooked my friends friend, who is now my friend up with my old 6/5/4 and gloves - that we glued in the candle light the night before. Let the mafia have glassy Tavi and and sexy orange county dingbat models if that’s as far as their imagination takes them. Surfing is so canned these days and no one does a better job at canning it than the brides and grooms of Surfing Successville. God, the world is so much richer than CEOs, Surf Moguls and centerfold waves. As for waves, seriously there are about 10 places I’d rather be than Tavarua at this instant and none of them cost as much or come with … the hype and expectations. Give me a minute and I could list 100!
So fuck it Lewis, drive your own tractor, plow your own field. Greener pastures are everywhere….even in California (okay, not OC) You are a talented writer who has always been more than a porte parole for the machine. It’s so funny, everyone likes an archetype like Neo in The Matrix and we all study Plato’s allegory of the cave in one way or another, but when it comes down to reality, the majority -anti seeming as they may be- are enthralled with the illusory world. Moksha, Maya - look it up people, escape the commercial womb. Go get ‘em Lewis. Surf writing needs you.
oh… and surfline…. I sign up for free trial b4 every trip using another computer and email to get your reports. FU!
mark sanders is a douchebag.
Billabong is pretty much the worst surf brand and the brands they own are the worst in their respective categories. They are not core companies and they definitely dont care about the consumer or the culture as much as they say they do. So if you own a surf shop, don’t buy their stuff and if you are a core consumer and you buy their stuff, you should think about what you’re doing. think about who and what you are supporting. Do you really want your hard earned money going to an australian company run by rich south africans? I know I don’t.
baroo surf is as stoned and stupid as his surf shops name is ,he is upset because he can,t sell bilabong is jealous of billabong camps cant teach ect and ect and as far as insurance and permits he has none, does and requires it …
While I agree with Chris and some others that Paul has absolutely earned the right to go on surf trips, I do think he and surfline deserve to be called out for blatantly rubbing it in all our broke, underpaid faces the way they did. Thank you, Lewis, for doing so. Sorry about your firing.
and by the way, the new PowerRankings on Surfline are a huge step backwards.
Guy’s…you are all dreaming .
Where were you when Paul was working 15 hour days , and traveling around the world ,away from his family,to build Billabong, into the one of the top surf Brands in the world.
I have not see a guy work as hard (and clever) as Paul does,and more so in today’s economic climate.
Give him a break.
The man deserves a vacation .
And by the way…..ask the surf shops how much money they have made over the years from Billabong and all their other Brands.
Wow I never realized surfers were such whiners. If given the chance I bet each and every one of you would drop everything for 100 barrels in Tavarua. And if anyone actually cared, you’d post it everywhere for the whole world to see.
Jealousy…
the real laughable part is he isn’t pictured in any barrels….. hahaaaaa. and i can’t really picture it either
Peter Jackson is proud to be a New Zealander…it’s good to see he remembers his home land.