Bullet Hole Takayama and More

Greetings, Shredderz! It’s time for yet another installment of the Social Media Roundup, featuring a few standout posts from the past month of my ongoing phone addiction. We’ve got some good ones for you, including one of the most hilarious surfboards you’re likely to find anywhere. More after the jump…

This is one of the funniest / coolest / weirdest boards I’ve ever seen. Sadly, due to technical difficulties, I can’t embed the Instagram post. Please check it out here — I promise it’s worth the read. When I first saw the Donald Takayama board above I thought it was toast, but then I realized the owner had it airbrushed to look old and beat up so his wife would be none the wiser. That’s funny enough, but if you look closely at the Instagram post, it’s actually a very detailed and well executed airbrush. Would it have been easier to go with a stock surfboard and put the extra money towards some couples counseling? Probably. Am I glad the board came out exactly as it did? Absolutely. Oh, and we haven’t even discussed the bullet holes lamination on the bottom, which is apparently a reference to an “unfortunate situation with an ex-wife, a pistol, and [the owner’s] surfboards.” Plus, it’s a hand shaped Donald Takayama stick! This one really ticks all the boxes, especially if your spouse is cramping your style when it comes to collecting. I don’t know if the board is still for sale, but hit up The Surfboard Collective if you’re interested.

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@stephaniegilmore

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I love watching Stephanie Gilmore surf. She actually posted an alternate version of this edit with a different soundtrack, but I prefer the classical music version you see here. If you’ve ever wondered how a short video could be peaceful, relaxing and inspiring all at once, look no further.

I love to geek out on Shawn Stussy rarities, and this board is a trip, as it even pre-dates Stussy’s work with Russell Surfboards in the Seventies. The board is actually one of Shawn’s personal riders, which you can tell by the 007 written beneath the glass. There’s another IG post here where Stussy weighs in on the board — always great to get the story straight from the horse’s mouth!

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Timing • Not any board. One of the Crown Jewels of the short board revolution. Paul Gross coming in at the rivermouth #Rincon, circa ‘81. • I’ve been asked many times why I never photographed Greenough back in the day. I ask myself the same question. He was revered then as much as now. He was elusive for sure, but he was around; and I had many friends who were good friends with him. The reason I never pursued was really quit simple – timing. Right around this time in the early 80’s sailboarding was blowing up. I would often ask Kim Robinson, who knew him well, what he was up to. Kim offered to introduce me any time. But the general word was that he was not surfing, maybe a little matting. All his time was being spent building the fastest sailboard possible to race around in the channel. Viewing from an historical perspective, documenting that sounds cool now – having images of Greenough tinkering in his backyard, fiberglassing trippy sailboard hulls and speed blurring the Channel, sail and all would have been incredible to document. I beat myself up looking back and thinking about it. Yet the mind set back then, specifically right in the early 80’s is that you either surfed or sailboarded. There was a brief schism and I fell heavily on the surfer side. There was too much core cutting edge surfing to document to go off and shoot “sailboarding“, even if it was Greenough. Yes, mistake for sure. I stumbled upon Greenough in the El Cap parking lot once. I was just arriving to shoot @davidpuu and Randy Cone on a really good day. Greenough was heading towards his car. Some one whispered,” That’s Greenough; he was out on his mat killing it.” That unmistakable haircut, that leaned over gate, dripping wet wetsuit, mat under his arm, unlocking his car door to leave – timing. 😏 • Yes, this second shot of Randy @rconehere was the same day at Cap😏 • #velo #elcap #greenough #georgegreenough #hull #davidpuu #randycone #rincon @surfersjournal #surfersjournal

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Love this photo of Paul Gross toting a Greenough-style spoon exiting the water at Rincon. For more on Gross, who’s had a fascinating and wide-ranging career, check out this interview on the excellent Liquid Salt.

Last but not least, you can never go wrong with some Phil Edwards.

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