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Kelly Slater at Rifles. Rifles is hands down one of the best waves in the world. It’s sister wave Kandui’s (or Nokan as in “no-can”) as a reputation as one of the fastest, heaviest, longest left barrels in the world. Though often considered not makable. There are two land camps in the Ments (although I’ve read about construction of a third at Lance’s). Kandui Resort and WavePark Mentawai. Here are a couple of clips of what you wake up to at Kandui Resort from the Donkey Patrol surf blog. These guys will be waking up to these waves in a couple of weeks.

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If you’re a surf media junkie like myself and your monthly surf video purchase and four surf magazine subscriptions just don’t seem to be enough, Fuel TV has some great surf content. A friend suggested to me last year, and I was blown away by the quality and how much surf related content they have. They’ve got two weekly shows dedicated to surf content: Fins and On Surfari. Fins does a great job with profiles on surfers, photographers, film makers, etc. On Surfari is a travel show by a San Diego-based surf couple, Shannon and Shane McIntyre, who travel the world in search of surf and cultural experiences. Here’s an interview they did with TransWorldSurf Magazine. [Video Clips from Fins and On Surfari after the jump]

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If you’re a surfer, it’s crossed your mind on more than a few occasions–buying a camper, packing it all up, and heading south. Surfwise is a documentary about Dorian “Doc” Paskowitz and his family doing that. Doc was a Stanford educated physician who in the 1950s decided to live the surf life on the road and loaded the family in a 24 ft. camper (nine children all together). Jonathan Paskowitz, a professional surfer, tells the story of his family, their travels, adventures, and surf. Apple has a high-def version of the trailer. NPR has an interview with Jonathan Paskowitz, Doc’s son and a producer on the film. Surfwise was released in theaters on May 9, 2008.

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Red Bull teamed up with the world’s best barrel riders (Jamie O’Brien, Jamie Sterling, Ian Walsh, and Raimana Van Bastolear) to film the world’s heaviest barrel in the that’s never been done before. Using a 360 cam (I’d never heard of one either) strapped to their backs, they film the barrel from all angles. The resulting footage allows you to see the barrel from the surfer’s perspective and actually move the camera around the barrel for 360 degree views! Incredible stuff. You can actually pause the camera at any point and move the camera around and see the barrel from all angles. Since most of us won’t probably ever be dropping into 10 ft. Teahupoo, it’s a good as we can get for now. Here’s the link to the Red Bull site on the project with videos. Check out the photos below.

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Here’s a collection of what surfline editors selected as the best 10 videos of 2007. Unfortunately, I had to miss that epic tow session at Teahupoo in November because of a head cold. I’ll make it next swell, I swear.(Surfline link).

Bra Boys, surfing documentary about Koby Abberton and the surfing gang from Maroubra, opens tomorrow in select theaters in the U.S. (link) Russel Crowe narrates the film that focuses on true story of the Abberton brothers (Sunny, Koby, Jai, and Dakota) being charged with murder and accessory to murder. The charges threaten to put away Jai and Koby away in prison. It looks good and got nominated for a bunch of film awards I’ve never heard of. It scored a very respectable 83% on rottentomatoes.com. Russel Crowe will also be directing a movie by Universal and Imagine based on the story. Here’s a clip of them charging Ours–hell wave in Sydney.

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Here are a couple of short video clips I posted on Youtube from two boat trips I did to Indonesia. The first in 2005 to the island Panaitan in Western Java. Panaitan was where Timmy Turner’s movie “Second Thoughts” was filmed. The island has some epic waves and was a week long trip with a short motoring from port. The second clip is from a boat trip I did in May of 2006 to Northern Sumatra. It was a two week trip and we surfed epic spots throughout different islands. The spots are all considered “secret spots.” The surf up there was unreal although access is a little difficult requiring a long motoring to the breaks and a trip of at least two weeks. Subscribe to the Surftherenow videos on Youtube for more!

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Billabong’s posted their 2008 XXL Ride of the Year Nominees. In case you hadn’t heard, Billabong sponsors the XXL contest and gives awards (and cash) for Biggest Wave, Ride of the Year, Monster Paddles, and Monster Tube. They’ve got all the video submissions on their website. The Ride of the Year winner gets $50,000. Don’t quit your day job yet.

Here are my top videos of the past couple years. Any others you guys think deserve mention?

Movie: My Eyes Won’t Dry 2

It’s safe to say that the surfer, Brian Conley, lives the life. He gets paid by his sponsor Oakley to travel the world and surf the best, most perfect waves. That’s his actual contract right there. A couple years ago he released “My Eyes Won’t Dry.” The footage is primarily video footage taken from inside the barrel. Any great movie, deserves a sequel. Brian surfs Indo, Mexico, Australian and generally the best barrels in the world and films them from his board. The effect is mesmerizing. The dub soundtrack, however, may take the sober-ear some getting used to.

Click here to buy My Eyes Won’t Dry 2 from Amazon.

Brian Conley BarrelFest – Click to Play

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