DVD Review: New Emissions of Light and Sound

This is the best use of leftover footage I've ever seen. Take leftover footage of the Hobgoods, Taj Burrow, and Yadin Nicol (w/crazy haircut) from Secret Machine (same photogs, same trips), mix with a well paced and synchronized Sasha soundtrack, blend in artsy underwater shots, behind the wave shots, good editing, scenery shots and BAM! you have this DVD. I have a strong affinity for surf movies with great music & great waves. This one has both. I wish my trips to indo had this Sasha soundtrack playing while I was there.

If you really hate electronic music you should probably give this a miss. If you can tolerate or enjoy electronica then this is very well done and you will find it highly re-watchable.. If you had a big TV and a good sound system you could put this DVD on as background at a party and be psyched. The disc automatically starts playing about 20 seconds after you stick it in (more like a CD than a DVD) and automatically loops back to the beginning when it's done.

DVD Review: New Emissions of Light and Sound

This is the best use of leftover footage I've ever seen. Take leftover footage of the Hobgoods, Taj Burrow, and Yadin Nicol (w/crazy haircut) from Secret Machine (same photogs, same trips), mix with a well paced and synchronized Sasha soundtrack, blend in artsy underwater shots, behind the wave shots, good editing, scenery shots and BAM! you have this DVD. I have a strong affinity for surf movies with great music & great waves. This one has both. I wish my trips to indo had this Sasha soundtrack playing while I was there.

If you really hate electronic music you should probably give this a miss. If you can tolerate or enjoy electronica then this is very well done and you will find it highly re-watchable.. If you had a big TV and a good sound system you could put this DVD on as background at a party and be psyched. The disc automatically starts playing about 20 seconds after you stick it in (more like a CD than a DVD) and automatically loops back to the beginning when it's done.

Mentawai Boat trip bookings bouncing back after slow 2007

It's the beginning of what the cruise industry calls "Wave Season", the first 5 months of the year when the majority of cruises, the majority of leisure travel, and the great majority of indo boat trips get booked. From what I've been hearing Mentawai bookings for the 2008 season have been pretty strong. The 2007 season had slow bookings because of the strong, consistent SE winds in the Ments during July-Aug-September of 2006.

These winds didn't really affect Northern Sumatra but they caused bad word of mouth for the whole area. It's not hard to imagine why - with strong SE wind you blow out all the rights that typically need some combo of N or W wind. When most surfers are regularfoot and HT's, Bank Vaults, and Rifles are blown out for the better part of 3 months, you're going to have mostly dissatisfied guests. If they wanted windy lefts they would have gone to Fiji.

The bottom line is if you've been thinking about a boat trip this year you should book early, especially if you want a specific boat, need specific dates, or want to go off the beaten path. Many of the most popular boats/guides are booked out a year or more in advance by repeat customers. Boats going to more obscure areas like Northern Sumatra or the southern Ments need longer trips, which means fewer total trips to choose from on top of fewer boats that run those routes.