Posts in category: Babble
Babble 04/01/2008
Aloha Aloha
Aloha Airlines said Sunday it will halt all passenger service, signaling the end of an airline that has served Hawaii for more than 60 years.
Aloha, which filed for bankruptcy for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 21, was a casualty of fierce competition and rising fuel prices. The airline said it will stop taking reservations for flights after Monday.
“We simply ran out of time to find a qualified buyer or secure continued financing for our passenger business,” said Aloha President David Banmiller in a statement. “We had no choice but to take this action.”
Aloha has suffered since Phoenix-based Mesa Air Group Inc. launched a new interisland carrier called go! airlines in 2006, triggering a local airfare war.
Banmiller didn’t mentioned go! by name in his statement, but did blame the company’s demise on rival companies.
“Unfortunately, unfair competition has succeeded in driving us out of business,” he said.
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Babble 03/31/2008
The Bra Boys Can't Stop Getting in Trouble
Read this story and thought it was pretty interesting. What’s wrong with these guys? (please don’t beat me up) Why can’t they stop getting in trouble? Are they just trying to get enough stories for Bra Boys 2?
Back to the breaks as Bra Boy busts bankruptcy blues
by Kate McClymont
BEERS, breaks and bankruptcy are matters the surfer Koby Abberton knows well. But as of this week it’s only breaks that remain on the Bra Boy’s agenda with news from Hawaii that Abberton has been charged with assault after a hotel brawl. Honolulu police said Abberton was arrested after he punched a 27-year-old man in the face who was trying to break up a fight. The incident happened in the early hours of March 8.
At least Abberton is no longer a bankrupt. When he was declared bankrupt in 2006, with debts of more that $1 million, it was discovered the surfer had never filed a tax return. Among his debts were $940,000 to the National Australia Bank and $150,000 to the NSW Crime Commission. His lawyers, Armstrong Legal, were owed $50,000. They had acted for him when he was charged with perverting the course of justice over his brother Jai’s killing of the stand-over man Tony Hines. Jai argued it was self-defence. The jury agreed. Younger brother Koby was found guilty of lying but received a suspended sentence.
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Babble 03/31/2008
Bullshit SoCal Shark Sightings
Just who do those deadly looking fins slicing the waters off Huntington Beach belong to?
Rumors of great white shark sightings along the Southern California coast in recent weeks are the buzz of the beach, leaving a few surfers spooked.
Tom Larkin is convinced that a shark jolted his surfboard and left what looks like a bite mark on the back end while he waited for a wave in the waters near Bolsa Chica State Beach earlier this month.
After paddling in as his damaged surfboard took on water, the 26-year-old stock analyst from Manhattan Beach said he “proceeded to freak out in the parking lot. I don’t know what else it could have been.”
But Huntington Beach lifeguards dismiss the reports as hogwash — even though great whites have been spotted in the area in years past.
“As far as we know, there’s not any evidence there’s great whites in our vicinity,” said marine safety officer Steve Reuter of the Huntington Beach city lifeguards.
And Los Angeles County lifeguard patrols haven’t recorded any unusual sightings, said Capt. Terry Harvey.
“It’s springtime; people are saying ‘shark’ and they’re freaking out,” Reuter said.
He said surfers and swimmers are more likely to encounter less-dangerous thresher, blue or nurse sharks. In other words: “I would call it shenanigans.”
Reuter’s only recent shark-related incident was an injured 3-foot mako shark that washed ashore, thrashing around in pain. After bystanders tried to pet the dying animal — which normally stays in deep water — lifeguards had to destroy it, he said.
[ via: latimes.com ]
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Babble 03/28/2008
Jenna Jameson Goes Surfing
Jenna Jameson headed down to Tavarua Fiji with boyfriend Tito Ortiz to Hang with the Nixon crew for the Annual Nixon High Tide Hold’em. Here’s some epic footage (and horrible music) from the week.
Nixon / Surfer Magazine Slideshow
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Babble 03/28/2008
Random Things I've Found - "Happy" Accident
ok, this is the new feature called “Random Things I’ve Found” because over the years, I’ve found and collected a lot of random things, and I decided I might as well show them to you (on slow news days) instead of just keeping them in a box.
I found this image in a LIFE Magazine from the early 1940’s, and still think it’s funny every time I see it. Do you think the photographer set up the shot like that, or is this whole thing just a “happy” accident?
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Babble 03/28/2008
Dono, Jack & Zappos
Check out the new commercial that my good friend Richard Henkels (check out his AWESOME website for hours of entertainment) just shot for Zappos. The spot uses Donavon Frankenreiter‘s song “Free”, which Dono originally had on his demo, but then re-recorded with Jack Johnson for his self-titled debut.
I may be wrong, but I think I remember them also using this song in a Verizon commercial last year. Good on ya’ Dono, keep ca$hing those checks!
What do you guys think of the spot? Fitting use for the song? I think it works.
p.s.- the quality isn’t great, I’ll post a better version when I find one.
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Babble 03/26/2008
HUGE Tres Palmas
Pretty amazing shot of Dennis Ritch at Tres Palmas in Puerto Rico last week. If you’ve never seen it before, Tres is basically the PR version of Waimea. It only breaks when it’s huge. Also, there’s massive elk horn coral heads all over the place, so the consequences could be pretty bad if you blow it.
[ Photo: Tom Casella ]
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Babble 03/26/2008
Quiksilver Busted for TNT
Last year this Quiksilver commercial Dynamite Surfing went viral really quickly, and people (dumbasses) actually believed it was real.
Real or not, I just don’t understand why they picked such a kook for the surfing in the video, the guys got the worst style I’ve ever seen!
Anyway, here’s the show Mythbusters proving that it could never work.
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Babble 03/24/2008
Get a $15,000 check for only $750
More specifically, you can buy Cory Lopez’s winning check from the 2003 U.S. Open of Surfing at Huntington Pier. Of course, it’s not worth $15,000 any more, but hey, you do get some other junk with it.
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