Breaking Ice

My computer is covered in orange post-its, dosed in black permanent sharpie. My sink is full of dishes and my apartment is in a hurricane of confusion and filth. In a strange and unexplainable way I’m now in my happy place. It’s the final turn in my final edit for Breaking Ice, the long cut.

I’ve veered from the blog for almost a week. A week that included a stint of 30 hours without sleep, being lost in the woods in Tantallon and watching over sized muscle-heads beat each other senseless. I even got paid for it. An interesting career I’ve chosen indeed. And after finishing these unorthodox assignments it’s been back to my layer of creative confusion I call home to go to war with surf on film. That being said I am happy to announce that within two weeks Breaking Ice will be heading to a post house for final color correction, final audio mix and then hopefully I can put this beast to rest. Never question my commitment to the cause, the culture that some of us are trying to preserve. The east coast surf culture that I was welcomed into almost three years ago. This is my gift back to you, so enjoy. I’ll see you in the water.

Nat Young : photo Snapperrocks.com

The Sand Bar at the Domain Casuarina Beach Resort in New Tweed Coast Queensland Australia will be the sight of Nat Young’s latest book launch, The Complete History of Surfing from Water to Snow. It’s part of the 25th celebration of the 2008 Hyundai Malfunction Surfing Festival. The book launch will take place Friday the 25th at 5pm.

For more info on Nat’s book launch, his career and the Hyundai Malfunction Surfing Festival check out Surfersvillage.com

A quick update from our good friends Andrew Hunter & The Gatherers. Face from the bands debut album Victory at Sea has been added to the East Coast Countdown. That means that with your help AH&G could crack the top ten. If you haven’t heard the track visit myspace.com/andrewhuntermusic.

Go to eastcoastcountdown.com and vote for Face before Sunday. Vote as many times as you can before your fingers become blistered and bloody from pecking away at your keyboard. Listen in on Sunday to see if they make it and if you hear Face contact the band, and let them know it was your vote that put them over the top. Demand a t-shirt for your troubles and tell them you read this here. Grab me a t-shirt while you’re at it!

Cheers

Mike

[Owen Wright : photo Kirstin Wilson]

Owen Wright (Culburra, NSW) is surfing’s undisputed high-flyer after taking down the greatest-ever line-up of aerialists at the Boost Mobile Surf Sho presented by Nokia at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast today, walking away with his largest pay day ever. The eighteen year old Aussie put the contest out of reach with a near perfect aerial, scoring a 9.93 out of ten.

“With a couple of minutes remaining the perfect ramp popped up and I sealed the deal. When I landed it I hoped no one landed anything bigger cause all the guys were capable of pulling a big move off. It feels great to win it.”

To read more on the days events visit Global Surf News

I checked the clock again and I was right. 12:32 in the am, Thursday morning and that was two hours ago already. I’ve just begun…

…I ventured from home around 11:00 in the morning to catch up with an old friend, Andrew Hunter. Singer, songwriter and surfer. I caught his performance at the Seahorse the week earlier and wanted to say hello…

…Andrew leaned in to refill my tea. “I wrote that one a while ago, but we just got it to where it needed to be.”

[Story and Gallery continues...]

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Hi all, Shoo here. Your friendly neighborhood Blog Admin… Just thought I’d take a moment to let you know that the ability to leave comments on the posts have returned. I have been fighting a bit of a pitched battle with the Spam-bots since Breakingice was launched, so I had to take some rather Draconian measures… Now, there’s a new update to the software – promises have been made – you know the routine…

So please feel free to leave a comment, talk amongst yourselves, kvetch, whatever you like… Just remember, unless you’re a vicious little spam-bot promoting growth, reduction or some kind of wacky foreign investment scheme, your comments are always welcome at Breakingice.ca!

Selah,

Shoo.

I’m back behind the steering wheel with my foot on the gas. Those responsible for my iMAC debauckle have been sought out and persecuted. Justice served… they won’t be causing us any more trouble.

I must admit I’ve been slow on the rebound. It’s been tough getting back to writing. Luckily I came across a great website www.seaschool.org. And as it turns out, Gorillas In The Fog Director, Breaking Ice Cameraman, Pat Bannister is giving seminars on surfboard shaping. Is there anything this guy can’t do? Here’s the ad:

Build Your Own Surfboard in a WEEK!

Come and learn the art of shaping a surfboard with us and have it ready for summer waves! Taught by Patrick Bannister, this course will take you through the steps of the process to create your own professional-quality surfboard.
Introduction session at Sea School office, 2057 Gottingen Street, Halifax, Thursday June 5th, 6-8:30pm
All other sessions at Bloomfield Center, 2786 Agricola Street, Halifax
June 14th & 15th, 9am-5pm
June 16th-20th, 5:30-9pm
June 21st & 22nd, 9am-5pm
$700

I’ll be back in fine form tomorrow with my interview with Andrew Hunter of Andrew Hunter & the Gatherers.

Mike

[Photo courtesy FFF]

March 29th marked the 3rd annual Nor-Easter Surf Classic at White Point Lodge presented by Billabong and SANS. Who better to give us a quick wrap up than our man from FistFullaFives Steve Smith. Here’s what he had to say:

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You may be wondering over the last week or so what happened to breakingice.ca? Where are the daily posts? Is Mike on vacation? Has he been kidnapped by vigilante locals, unhappy with his articles? Have they decided to seek justice through dark and violent means? Or has he flown the coup and left for a warmer climate? Is he now living on a beach with bikini girls and an endless supply of Jamaican rum? All relevant questions but alas, my life isn’t that exciting. Here’s my problem:

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photo courtesy SBC Surf magazine

I was out early the other morning, hunting around Halifax for a video camera. After losing faith in all appliances electronic I found myself wandering onto Blowers Street and into Dacane’s Surf Shop. Owner/operator and surf local Lance Moore was inside. I yelled as I made my way forward. I interrupted his reading but he seemed happy enough to see me. I had some questions about a used board I found for sale and he assured me the price was right.

I asked what he was reading and he passed me the new edition of SBC Surf, Canada’s surfing magazine. It just hit the stands. I started scanning through, and Lance grabbed it from my hands. He flipped it two thirds of the way through and there it was. Malcolm Johnson, SBC Surf Editor had caught the premiere of Breaking Ice: The Birth of a Canadian Surf Culture, and found fit to find a place in his magazine for his thoughts on my documentary.

 

When the lights went down for Breaking Ice, more than a few squares in the audience must’ve wondered what had hit them-their festival screen had suddenly been given over to wipeouts and cutbacks and noserides and freezing arse winter waves, all of it narrated by middle-aged men who, though seemingly normal, had built their lives around the outwardly insane pursuit of surfing in conditions cold enough to glaze inches of ice onto the rocks. Breaking Ice ended to a thunderous round of applause…”

Call it an ego boost, excitement or even a bit of vanity, but it’s always good to know others appreciate your work. I haven’t wiped the grin from my face yet.

The magazine is gorgeous. Great photography, well thought out articles, including pieces from local surfers Nico Manos and Neal Durling and an article on Maine transplant Dean Petty. To say the east coast of Canada is represented in this magazine is an under statement. Keep it up Malcolm, and hopefully instead of twice a year you can do this thing once a month.