I dont know either brother from a bar of soap… But like you, I know the basics… They’re entertainers on the land and in the water and they have hit the world wide web with their own Blog, not one their sponsors set up with any corporate bullshit. Just a raw, simple and effective site that will have you kicking back laughin to yourself… Laughing alone is one of the best things you can do in this world… They have got ‘emselves a video camera and along with knowing every pro on the planet makes for some candid entertainment… Most mornings I do the usual rut boringly run on my emails and make sure I still have enough money for lunch that day… Then I scour through the sites that kick off my morning, maybe find some inspiration for the 8 hours of editing or shooting I have ahead of me… The first place to go is the goods life… But there is a heap of others ive sussed out, most can be found in our ‘like minded fools’ tab just to your right… The controversial penslingers at stabmag.com always have something to read, with the likes of Jed Smith happy to write his mind on the pages of the site and you can always scour through the lil weeds section… Which I do out of habit and concern that I could well be singin for my supper with all the lil weeds editing like Walter Murch… Theres a heap of young rigs vying to be the next chick to stir Derek’s cocktail umbrella… and good on em… ‘Give me a stab’… what a concept?… But the list goes on, my good mate Kai Neville is in the process of piecing Modern Collective together with a team that will shake the salt of ya face with electronic, hi fi mayhem… It was only 6 years ago Kai and I were battlin’ it out for the best angles at Hippies carpark… Reminiscing what would life be without huh?… Dion has just re jigged his site and its pretty sweet, unless he is stranded on an island in the middle of an ocean unknown and he cant get online… But when he’s in civilisation the place flows with clips, pics and chicks that make you feel like you missed the boat… Our good mate Sharna from our talked up ‘Not just a pretty face’ section has her strange lil world of design and all things strange at ‘the shy party‘, but she sure knows how to spot a rig… Cheads and Spencer and a heap of other Aussie QSers have the tourlife which again is a site that just rubs salt in the wound that is yours/ours current life, but theyre takin’ a gamble on makin a life out of what they love and fuckin good on ‘em… They know how to have a good time, there’s no doubting that… Then theres this guy ’smart casual’ who is just a dude with a strange eye and a heap of different camera’s, angles and perspectives on life that I find refreshing in amongst a world of tightly cropped ‘action’ shots, you will get too see photo’s of surfing not just who’s stickers are on what board, along with what he has been up to hangin with mates and artists and all thing’s left of centre…Then last but not least is our good mates at Empire Ave, a site devoted to the collaborations and creative elements of the board industry and like they say ‘its so fresh its delivered by ninjas’

anyhow it’s sites like these that have helped put RV on the internet map and our thanks go out to them for the miles of traffic that have found us through you/them… first, present and past tense eat balls… write it how you talk it …

cheese ya grater…

Are Vee

Got to see my first game of Baseball yesterday… Padres vs Pirates… Play ball!

7 days in and I still havent time adjusted… That aside I have finished cullin clips for ‘Still Filthy’ and things are looking good… On top of what’s already in the bag, Sterling, Granger, Kolohe and Torrey have just scored back to back days of Mexican bliss, Jack is in Bali shootin’ with Taj and Rasta, Dwayno is rollin with Joel in Fiji and Kendall will be on his way to Tahiti with Wade and Laurie… Productivity is at an all time high and with a few months left of shooting things are looking good, good indeed…

A few shots from the trip so far, they aren’t real flash but neither is my brain at the moment… here they be.

first shot of the trip…

This has been home for the last week… Budro beach house

Hank Williams the 4th… Jarrod’s sidekick

The place I am staying is like a Cali surf – skate museum… The shelf above my bed.

the Still Filthy log cabin…

socks and thongs… Piv dont approve.

5 days in to my U.S work vacation and i’m still trying to grasp how far off my perception of the states was… I thought everyday was gonna be full on, all systems go, comin’ home each day socialy drained… ya know?… Work wise it has been exactly that, I have been on logging lock down for days but with each day comes a pile of keepers… The vibe in Encinitas is as mellow as any little coastal town on the east coast… I FUCKING LOVE IT!… I thought the food was gonna be oozing with fat, topped with ranch, ketchup, cheese, mustard and a neat lil pile of sugar… Instead i’ve been eating like a byron bay juggler… In between the odd pizza slice and a few devil wings i’ve been chilling out every morning to a fruit smoothee and some sort of omellette filled with shallots, avo, onion, ham, egg and a whole heap of goodness that once again makes me think ‘I couldnt of been further from the truth’… Im a fuckin’ pleb, pretty much the equivalent of any tourist in Australia hoping to ride a kangaroo or see a surfing koala…

I cant wait to stop off in Bali on the way home, get my hair braded, grab a few bintang singlets and a copy of that latest James Bond DVD… what?… get fucked…

I just peeled out of bed to an email from Wade.

There was a bit of general how you been? how good is Cali? and so on…

It finished off with a link to a video from a young kid from his home town, Nick McDonald. Nick was in the water when we shot CD episode 2 ‘the Kronks’ and was surfing as recklessly as Wade but just fell short on stomping anything… Thats what made us take note, the kid didn’t give a fuck about nailing a lil spin, it was all or nothing… The Moffat groms were ravin’ about him, telling me stories of the rolls and flips he has landed… ‘but no one got it on camera’… It was obvious this kid had the same blood runnin’ through him that took Joel and Wade from psyched up Caloundra kids to the DVD players of the world.

This short clip was shot by Nick’s old boy and edited by a mate of his (so keep in mind, when your a kid your dad usually misses all your best clips, its part of the parcel)…When your sponsorless this is the only choice you got, you gotta work for it not like the celebrity kids who get picked up when they’re 12 and pampered through their junior days, til they come out the other side with a sticker kit, ego and not one life skill to save ‘emselves… ‘Good luck on the ‘QS mate, now off you go‘

This kid is gonna earn his spot in the surf world… His peers know who he is, its only a matter of time til the rest catch on.

So to any company out there lookin’ for a rad kid to rep your company, Nick could be right up your alley.

Wade doesn’t throw out to many compliments or props unless they are well deserved…

”Nick Mcdonald is 18. He surfs as good as most of the top juniors his age in Australia but doesnt have any major sponsors or backing. He surfs with a lot of flair and power not unlike a young Andy Irons, he looks alot like Andy too. His airs are nuts.
I’ve surfed with this kid for many years now and I have no doubt that with some backing the kid will turn alot of heads in the surfing world.”  WSG.

If he’s not out hunting waves he is probably diggin’ holes or stakin’ bessa’s so if you’re chasing the kid you might have to do a run around the job sites of Caloundra…

We have been talking it up for sometime now… Models this, models that… The concept of showcasing Australia’s finest girls sounds great, making it happen is a few steps harder…

That was until we met Monique Mears…

Apart from her obvious beauty Monique is a professional… In a world full of beautiful girls ‘work ethic’ can be the one thing that sets you apart from the rest. Monique has her feet planted firmly on the ground and her happy go lucky nature makes for more than just another swimwear model…

But at the end of the day it’s her smile that will send most lads around the bend…

We introduce you to Miss Monique Mears.

RV: How have you been? How’s life been treating you?
MM: Yeah really well… Got a full time job which I love, A place to call home and great friends and family surrounding me. Couldnt be happier.

RV: Let us into the life of a model? it must be a tough road?

MM: It can be. Mine wasn’t very tough though. If you’re an international high end fashion model then yeah I think that’d probably be a hard road but I do swimwear which was pretty easy to get into. I’ve been doing it pretty full on since I turned 18 but i’ve sort of settled myself down now. As long as you make the most of every situation your put in and always be yourself with as much confidence as possible… It’s not tough at all.

RV: There’s more to it than just looks right?
MM: I’d hope so. The last comp I done was the national finals for Inside Sport on the Gold Coast last year and I won Miss Personality. I know i’ve come away from every comp or every photoshoot as someone to be remembered. I think that’s important and from that i’ve managed to get quite a few jobs/shoots because people have remembered me and passed my name on.

RV: What magazine would you love to be on the cover of?

MM: The Source. It’s a hip hop mag and i’d probably have to be a musician if I was going to be able to be on the cover of it.. But I love that mag!

RV: What’s your best and worst feature?
MM: Best feature would be my eyes… My worst?… My fingernails… Chronic Nail biter!! (dont look)

RV:  What do you think of ‘feminism’? Are you happy for a guy to open the car door for you?
MM: Yeah of course I am, but to be totally honest… I’m perfectly capable of opening the door by myself… Though open the door for my mum and i’ll love you!

RV: Leaving the toilet seat up? why is it such a big deal?
MM: Is it?? If I wanted to go to the toilet in the dark and the seat was up then i’d be a bit devo’d… I dunno… maybe the whole reason behind leaving the seat up hasn’t sunk in with me yet.

RV: What is the one thing that shits you about us guys in general?
MM: I dont think I have one. All guys are different so I can’t say… I hate it how guys have to be dominant… but then some aren’t dominant enough. I really have no idea!

RV: What are your sights set on in the modelling world? What do you want back from modelling?
MM: I want to get enough of a name for myself to start my own swimwear/lingerie brand or  design for a major company.

RV: If you were only able to listen to one genre of music for the rest of your life? what would it be?
MM: R’n'B… Its all I listen to anyway.

RV:  What’s one thing in this world that really ruffles your feathers?
MM: When I get on the train in the morning and the speaker says ”doors about to close”… You have to fully struggle to get in the carriage, no one moves to help let you in !!! Ahh.. FRUSTRATES ME SO BAD!!

RV:. The one thing that puts a smile on your face more than anything else?
MM: My Mum… without a doubt!

RV: As a model you are paid to look good, what do you do to keep fit?
MM: I just dance… That’s all.. The gym and I aren’t friends at all… Maybe ’cause I need someone to tell me what to do to get into it. But seriously… I’ve attempted going and then I just look at all the equipment and dont know where to start and then I psych myself out. I used to work out heaps at home but i just dont anymore… Thank God for my metabolism or else i’d be a HUGE HEFFA!

RV: Whenever you hear a girl asked what do they look for in a guy ‘a good sense of humour’
always comes up… why is it that some of the funniest guys I know cant find a girl to save themselves?
MM: When have you ever heard a girl say JUST THAT???… It’s usually followed by tall, dark and handsome!… There’s two ways to put it I guess. If a girl doesn’t say that then she’s shallow… But if she does say that then people just think they’re saying it cause they have to… It’s a lose, lose situation for us. But its the same for guys… If I asked you that question would ‘a good sense of humour’ come up?

RV: Ken Oath!… Magda, me, milkshakes, under the stars… wondering what if

RV: What do you look for then?
MM: A good sense of humour haha… Taller than me when i’m wearing heels. someone cuddly… I like to be able to fit my whole arms around someone. Cheeky smile. Adventurous. Patient… Who is good at what he does.

RV: Whats the best and worst tune line you’ve heard?
MM: This is the last thing that happened to me… I was at the eastern in Bondi on Wednesday and a guy came up to me and just straight out asked for my number… No intro or anything, so I said ”no”… Of course… But then I said.. “Your biggest mistake was that you didnt ask my name”. So he asked me my name and I just replied “It doesnt matter now does it?” and turned around. I don’t really get approached or find that people are on the tune with me… I dont really put myself in the position for things like that to happen.

RV: A muscle bound, fake tanned, crab stick offers to buy you a drink…whats your response?
MM: No thankyou.

RV: You get invited to the RUNAMUK VISUALS cricket test match… Are you sunbaking with the girls, smackin 6’s with
boys or spewing up from too many shandy’s?
MM: Smackin 6’s with the boys… I dont know how to play but im up for giving anything a try… I do like sunbaking with the girls too I wont deny that…

RV: Whats your thoughts on the amount of girls pashing girls you see on a night out? is it an epidemic or is it just ‘cool’
MM: I dont see that stuff happening… I’m too busy minding my own business on the dance floor but I do see pictures of that stuff… I dont think I have any friends that do that stuff… It’s what you go through in highschool. I think its childish and stupid and chics that do it crave attention way too hard. Unless your actually GENUINELY bi or lesbian… Then thats alright…

RV: What do you think is the best look for young blokes like us? RV thinks current trends are destroying our livelyhood
MM: I work for a mens clothing store and i’d agree… I’d never date a guy that wore Tight as jeans. I like just a straight cut jean with a shirt and some nice shoes. I hate RABEN shoes!! I love hoodies…

RV: A few words to describe Runamuk Visuals?
MM: Unique, a Class of its Own.

RV: ohhh, you dont mean that.

thanks Monique…

Bags are packed and im off to L.A to start Billabong’s new flick Still Filthy… Never stepped foot in the States so im pretty pumped about the whole adventure…

I will keep this place flowing with content of the trip and anything Wade, Brades, Lee and the boys get up to while im away, if worse comes to worse we’ll just run back to back ‘no need for words’.

We will be back producing Creative Destruction episodes in May with the keepers being saved for Still Filthy.

On the off chance your still checkin the site Joel… ‘Spot on mate’… Everyone here at RV is backin’ ya…

Heres a few shots my camera phone. So many times I haven’t had my camera on me, seen a good shot and been reduced to the grainy 1 megapixel dusty lense of my blackberry. camera phones=good invention. WSG

”You can use this shit or not… Up to you its all off your camera i didnt really work out how to use it. Check the one photo of the thing floating in the water I swear it looked like a body, freaked us out.”

One of my mates dropped off a beaten old board Jordy had given him after creasing it at Bells last year… The board’s had a rough trott since, but she has been kept alive with constant repairs… The time had come to give her a bit of a revamp… The only directions were

‘I want something colourful and fucked up’…

I literally got a heap of spray cans, shut my eyes and sprayed paint all over the thing… The result was dreadful... Flouro green, flouro pink, flouro orange, purple, yellow and blue dont mix well… I was ready to acetone the thing but I thought I might be able to save her from being the ugliest board ever…

By far the strangest spray i’ve ever done… But it is colourful and it is fucked up…

What’s the name of that crab out of Spongebob squarepants?… Looks a lil like that shellback… Then again, maybe it just looks wack.