Dean's World

I'm not normally one to watch a lot of documentaries. But I must say that the best documentary I've seen in a long, long time was Step Into Liquid, a documentary on surfing throughout history and throughout the world.

Mind you, I've never been on a surfboard in my life. I sort of doubt I ever will, given where I live and everything else in my life I do. But I was utterly entranced by the beautiful photography, the soundtrack, and the utterly charming and interesting people. For reasons I can't entirely explain I just had a wonderful big grin on my face most of the time.

I think it may have to do with relating it to my experiences as a skydiver or some other crazy things I've done. All I know is when I saw that first scene of tow-surfers skimming at 30 miles per hour through a 70-foot tube, I knew that I was cursed: I should have been born on a a coast. I would have been a surfer for sure.

It's on Showtime this month, and you can rent it. Even if you've never surfed I'll bet you like it.

(link)

DSmith (mail) (www):

We have that on DVD. It's wonderful. :) It also has a high replay value, at least at our house, so that makes it a good bet to buy imo.

12.29.2004 9:58am

Pril (mail) (www):

i dont have it. I've seen "Endless Summer" a billion times, though. I even grew up in a SoCal beach surf haven and was never able to learn to surf. I contented myself with boogieboarding, which is really pretty fun.

i love watching surf videos though. Here's one i guess i'll have to pick up. Thanks :)

12.29.2004 3:30pm

If you liked Laird Hamilton and the tow-in stuff (my fave), there is an even more incredible documentary called just "Laird". I got it in a box set with one called "strapped", which is about the group of 8 guys, including Laird, who invented tow-in surfing. The box is called The Laird Hamilton Box, subtitled "the ultimate big wave collector's edition". It's great, unbelieveable if you like big-wave and tow-in.

12.29.2004 8:35pm

Oh, and speaking of "Endless Summer", "Step Into Liquid" was made by the Dana Brown, the son of Bruce Brown, who made "Endless Summer". :)

12.29.2004 8:43pm

Dean Esmay (www):

Yes, "Step Into Liquid" was made by the son of the guy who made "Endless Summer," and furthermore, the main surfers from "Endless Summer" are in it. :-)

12.29.2004 10:17pm

Arnold Harris (mail):

Some 140,000 people in south Asia, or whatever the number is, stepped into liquid early this week, in spades. And none of them stepped out again. Be careful of testing one time too many the powers of what you fuck around with. Mother nature frequently is neither kind nor benevolent.

Arnold Harris
Mount Horeb WI

12.30.2004 7:23pm

maryatexitzero (mail):

Most of the people who died in this horrific disaster weren't engaging in any risky behavior. They were fishing, eating breakfast, minding their own business.

This event shows that nature is so nasty, it'll kill thousands in a genuinely random event. I don't know why, but this encourages me to try surfing this summer, something I've been putting off for years. I don't know if it's an effort to transcend nature's nastiness, or if it's just a way of saying 'you never know what will happen next, so it now.'

12.30.2004 10:34pm