We were busy as bees inside this big building

We just returned from an awesome week at Surf Expo. In case you haven’t been before, here’s the skinny. Surf Expo is a tradeshow for all the surf, wake and skate companies to show their new stuff in front all the shops on the East Coast and surrounding areas. The show takes place in Orlando Florida inside the Orange County Convention Center. We set up a booth and show all our new watches to any of the buyers of the shops who are interested. It’s a lot of work, but a lot of fun at the same time. As you can see from the photos below, there are all sorts of stuff going on from indoor wakeboarding (check out Tarah Mikacich) to models hanging out free swag to cool products like the Skullcandy X Converse collaboration. But of course, the coolest thing going down was the new Shark Watches. We’re already looking forward to Surf Expo January 2011.

Surf Expo Skate Jam

Introducing the Skullcandy Girls

Cool classic Converse X Skullcandy Collab

Tarah Mikacich - Indoor Wake shred at Surf Expo

Indoor Wake Speed Blur

Indoor Wakeboarding thanks to System 2.0

Home of Surf Expo | The Orange County Convention Center

And it was only Thursday

And another update from the 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing. On Thursday we had a couple promos with Cory Lopez and Bede Durbidge at HSS and Jacks so headed down early to survey the scene. Doesn’t anybody work? What a madhouse! It’s hard to imagine what it will be like on the weekend, but you can bet it will be standing room only throughout the entire event area. So were making the official claim, the 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing is the biggest circus Huntington Beach has ever seen. This may be a dream for some people and a nightmare for others. Depending on your view of big events like this you will either join the masses on the weekend or run like heck in the other direction. We advise you join the masses, especially if you’re a dude. You have never seen so many beautiful girls running around in tiny bikinis in your entire life. It is mindboggling and wonderful. You don’t have to give a darn about surfing either, there’s so much going on in the event area you may not even make it to watch any surfing. Plus the waves were really tiny and slow, so the action away from the ocean was generally more exciting. Good thing the swell from Hurricane Eugene is set to pump in Friday through the weekend. As we meandered through the crowded event area, we were lucky enough to catch The Sounds sound checking for their show later in the day. They sounded awesome, especially on the beach! Enough already, here are some shots from around the event and our US Open of Surfing poster signings with Bede Durbidge and Cory Lopez. Enjoy! www.freestyleusa.com

Cory Lopez and Bede Durbidge | 400 Posters in 2 hours

Cory and Bede's biggest fans!

Just a few people enjoying the day

Cory Lopez | Signing 100 Posters an hour

Branded

Shark Clip Sighting

Girls just want to have fun

Snapping a photo of Cory Lopez and Bede Durbidge

The Sounds sound check

Rasta Shark Sighting

Killer Shark Sighting

Hello there!

Ohhh, that tickles!

That's one way to launch a website

When: Today, Thursday August 4th 3pm – 5pm
Where: US Open of Surfing @ HSS and Jacks
What: Poster Signing with Bede Durbidge and Cory Lopez!

Stop by and meet Bede Durbidge and Cory Lopez today!

Cory Lopez | Setting the Shark Watch

With the 2011 Nike US Open of Surfing in full swing we headed down to check out some of the action and catch Cory Lopez in the first heat of the morning. While the waves on offer were weak and meager, the boys still put on an amazing show. With Cory being sponsored by Freestyle, we may be a bit biased, but he got robbed and lost out by .6 of a point. The backside reverse he pulled in the last minute of the heat was like hitting a 3 at the buzzer in basketball. It was clutch and he should have been awarded the points needed to move on. Regardless, he surfed really well and you can bet he’ll get them next time.

Cory Lopez | It's go time!

Cory Lopez | 7.33 for this air. Unfortunately, for a loosing cause.

Graffiti Girls | The US Open is not just about surfing anymore.

After the heat we headed down to Newport for a free surf and Cory put on an above the lip show in some pretty cruddy surf. It is ridiculous how fun he can make bad surf look. In fact, it should be illegal. Here’s a bunch of shots of the scene of the crime. www.freestyleusa.com

Cory Lopez | Gearing up to surf some Newport slop

Cory Lopez | Just another day at the office

The action on the beach was quite interesting too...

Cory Lopez | Lip Annihilation

Summertime and the living's easy

Cory Lopez | Fins Free Fun

Cory Lopez | Closeout Smash

Where there's beach, there's bikinis!

Cory Lopez | Spider Monkey

Cory Lopez | Look out below!

Cory Lopez | Surveying the slop

Bede Durbidge | Durbo heading out for a practice sesh

Bede Durbidge | Off the Lip

We love the Vans Warped Tour. So many good memories over the years! With the gears already moving toward the 2011 Warped Tour, we decided to take a look back at Warped Tour 2010. Kick your feet up and enjoy the slideshow to get you pumped up for another summer of filled with sweaty fist pumping rock and roll. And if you really want to reminisce peep this trailer for the Official Van’s Warped Tour Documentary titled “No Room for Rock Stars”. The history of the Warped Tour is pretty epic, so this flick is well worth a watch.

The 2011 Warped Tour Dates and Bands are getting dialed in. Click on over to the official Warped Tour site for the official news and what not. Maybe we’ll see you at a show this summer.

You know you want to be right here, right now!

Kabamskis! Finally back home and recovered from a great week at Surf Expo. It’s always a good time but it’s incredible how much standing on your feet and talking to all day takes it out of you. Fricken exhausted! All in all we had an awesome Surf Expo showing, the booth was cranking and the vibe was positive, not to mention the after parties where a blast. From the Quiksilver 80’s Skate Jam featuring legends like Tony Hawk, Christian Hosoi, Lance Mountain, and Andy MacDonald to Alek Parker’s birthday party at Adobe Gillas, we had more than our share of a good time. Put on a couple extra LB’s too. Man these pants are tight today. Anyhow, click on the photo below for a photo album on Facebook of shots we took at and around the show of people, places and things including cameos from Sunny Garcia and the ever interesting Mickey Avalon.

The Quiksilver 80's Skate Jam was a standout time!

The Surf Expo train keeps on chugging along on Day 2. Steady traffic and busy reps lead to a crowded booth which is always a good problem to have. As usual the Shark Collection is the runaway hit and the underlying message we are hearing is we need more colors. Anybody have any suggestions for new color combos? Let’s hear them!

Busy Booth

Surf Expo Shark Attack!

This is what you call a cold front