John Van Hamserveld, the artist that created many legendary pop images, album covers, and movie posters of the ‘60’s and ‘70’s, will be entering into the Laguna Surf Gallery this Saturday. The artist behind the universally known Endless Summer poster will have select pieces exhibited at the gallery until December 11th. The opening of the exhibition will include live music by White Buffalo and a book signing of Goin’ Big: Gotcha and the Evolution of Modern Surf Style.

RECEPTION: Saturday, November 22, 2008 • 4 - 9 p.m.

BOOK SIGNING: Goin’ Big - Gotcha and the Evolution of Modern Surf Style

Live music by White Buffalo! (a supporter of TOMS shoes)

LOCATION: The Surf Gallery
911 S. Coast Hwy. Laguna Beach, CA
(corner of PCH and Thalia)

INFO: 949.376.9155
www.thesurfgallery.com

Show runs from November 22 - December 11, 2008

Lately, the world’s been even colder and cruler than usual. Which makes our 20% Discount on All Regular Priced Jackets special all the more appealing. Both you and your wallet will stay warmer. Hmmm… wonder what size Wall Street is and whether they’d wear a trench or a bomber?

Laguna Beach creative agency SKYLAB Media Group will host their gallery opening this evening, featuring acclaimed painter Andy Anh Ha. A favorite among young Hollywood, (Jessica Alba is a regular collector), Ha’s paintings explore the theme of beauty through struggle, and use a wide variety of media from metals and texts, to polyacrylics and traditional oils.

Husband and wife team Lydia and Doug McLaughlin are the creative powers behind SKYLAB, and bring a contemporary approach to the work they produce through their graphics company. But in addition to bringing emerging artistic talent to Laguna, the McLaughlins firmly believe in philanthropy through art. Twenty percent of each piece sold will go to a charity that buyers will  select from an available list upon purchase.

There is no other wave in the world that has dominated the hearts and minds of surfers like Pipeline. Through two-hundred pages of captivating and timeless images from over fifty of the world’s best photographers, combined with words from surfing’s most renowned writers, Pipeline: The World’s Most Respected Wave tells the stories from almost five decades of heart-stopping action: the first rides, the first contests, triumphs, deaths, localism, foreign invasion and performance revolution.This Saturday, Gerry Lopez and other Pipe legends will be on hand to autograph The Pipeline at the book’s launch party, held at Billabong-USA’s highly-acclaimed “board room”. Only 350 tickets will be on offer for this historic event. 

Get a copy here! Or pay homage to the “Wold’s most respected wave” with the Limited Edition Book.

 Photo by James Tull, Transworld

With more deliciously harmonious mixers than a red frat party beverage, last night’s Hallowseve Monster Mash was destined to be a devilishly fun affair. And a disco ball and half-dressed girls with animal ears were just icing on the black and orange bunt cake. Hosted by Brixton, Transworld Surf, Raen and Chemistry, the gala was held at the motorcycle-flanked Flying Bridge in Oceanside.

To add to the sweaty, smoke-filled atmosphere they threw the Creepy Creeps into the mix. The solid retro-style surf rock band got the dance floor swarming with vodka-marinated angels and the OG Rat Fink. No lack of skin, booze or good times there. Their seasonal warbled guitar and punk riffs added some boogie to the booze cleansed parquet; showcasing some sassy dancing ghouls and a guy doing the no pants dance (for real, no pants in his vicinity). All-in-all, it was a pretty classy shindig that brought some frosty Bud Light to the school night.

For more photos of this event click here

We’ve received numerous reports that tomorrow’s coverage of the Xcel Pro will showcase the best conditions yet. Still to surf are 2007 Xcel Pro champion Joel Centeio, as well as last year’s finalists Mason Ho, Makua Rothman, and Alex Gray, plus 2006 Xcel Pro champion Evan Valiere. You can watch all the action live on the contest’s offical website. This year’sevent is presented by our good friends at Honolua, Kustom and VonZipper, which by all accounts mean that North Shore tourists better run for their lives.

So big, it’s double overhead. So heavy, it’s dropping bombs. So dope, everybody wants in. From hoodies to wetsuits to bags to shoes, we’ve marked down nearly every style from your favorite brands. If today were Halloween, we’d be the cool house giving out king size Butterfingers.

In light of the dwindling economy, there are still a few lucky (not to mention innovative and amazingly talented) buggers that got a shot at the mother load of breaks at Thurday’s Follow the Light Award ceremony. Follow the Light Foundation (FTL) was created in 2005 in honor of Larry “Flame” Moore. After nearly 3 years of battling brain cancer, the legendary surf photographer and photo editor of Surfing Magazine passed, leaving behind this foundation to help finance the dreams of surf photographers.

On the line this year were $5,000 clams and a coveted opportunity to go on a trip with the Surfing Magazine crew. We can only imagine that this trip will include the best surfers in a location the rest of us only dream about. But the paper doesn’t come without the chasin’. In addition to the contestants’ undeniable talent, they were required to submit essays that covered their passion for surf photography to proposals for what they would accomplish with the grant money. The competition was tough this year with over 60 entries, but it was narrowed down to these 5 lucky finalists:

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2nd Annual Hurley Art Chest

It’s not often that you can find yourself rubbing shoulders with Rob and Kalani while scoping out mentionable unmentionables. With the event-throwing prowess of Hurley and a whole slew of celeb support, lingerie shopping just got a little more interesting. The second annual Hurley Art Chest, held in the always fashionable West Hollywood, was a ménage of celebrity adorned t’s and corsets and surf industry smiles. Hurley Art Chest is a silent auction art show created to raise breast cancer awareness.

Featured at this year’s Hurley Art Chest are Hurley t-shirts and corsets that have been customized by:

Bar Refaeli
Rob Machado
Selena Gomez
Sally Field
Calista Flockhart
Jason Maloney
Keri Hilson
The cast of 90210 and Gossip Girl
Big Foot

And many, many more.

Bridging Hurley product with the worlds of art and entertainment, the elaborate and one-of-a-kind corsets were, um, well, supportive!

(See exclusive photos of the event at Swell’s Flickr page.

Remember when being elected Homecoming Queen or dance team captain was the coolest accolade a girl could hope for? Nowadays they’re expected to have a video resume polished before Freshman year—just in case CNN or Tyra Banks comes calling. Seriously, today’s teen has aspirations even Hillary would call ambitious. Case in point was last week’s Generation Next design competition hosted by O’Neill and Teen Vogue. (more…)

In what was a very fitting end to the contest to end all contests, The OC Tavern was ripped a new one as friends and fans came out to celebrate the finale of The Boost Mobile Pro 2008. And despite a very narrow loss to Slater (which led to his 9th world championship) Taj Burrow proved there are no hard feelings when you have hard alcohol. Click the jump to see more photos.

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We sent The Dude to take photos of the Boost Mobile Pro, and wouldn’t you know it, history happened right before his eyes. Check out our Flickr page to see the moment Kelly won his 9th world championship.

FOAM’s relaunch party went down this past Tuesday at the Surf Gallery in Laguna Beach. As you’d expect, the crowd was hot and so was action. (Seriously, there was no air conditioning). Rochelle Ballard, Kassia Meador, the Gudauskas trios, and Donovan Frankenrieter were among some of the elite to soak up the free drinks, sushi and atmosphere. Click here to view the photos on our Flickr account.

Live Girls! Drinks! The Growlers! Live Girls! Food! Art! Live Girls! See it all at OC’s hottest night spot, The Surf Gallery in Laguna Beach. It’s going down Tuesday, August 19th from 6pm - 9pm with the FOAM Magazine relaunch party. Live music by The Growlers. Bachelorette groups will get front-of-the-line and VIP access. 2-4-1 prices on all shooters. Special appearances and autograph signings by the FOAM Girls. Arrive before 9pm for free bottle service. Please, no bandannas, head rags, sport jerseys, extra baggy clothing, or weapons of any kind. Video surveillance will be in progress.

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Aside from the surf, sun and sand, this year’s US Open blew us away with the fans’ uber amount of creative energy. Literally, there was style for miles. Intern Nicki went snap happy to show us the beach fashions that turned the boardwalk into a catwalk. (Above: 1.poolside, 2.vogue, 3.globetrotter, 4.showoff ) (more…)

For everyone who’s been begging us to post bikini shots from the US Open (all 117 of you), today is your lucky day. Intern Molly spent the better part of her day playing papparazzi while trying hard not to look like a perv. By the way, if you have any US Open photos you would like us to post, please send them on over. (more…)

When it comes to giving back, no one makes it look as good as Billabong. Building on the success of last year’s wildly popular launch party for their new charitable division, Design For Humanity, this year’s bash was regarded as the biggest industry fundraising event of the season. Going down this past Thursday at the Avalon/Spyder Club in Hollywood, lucky attendees saw renowned DJ Steve Aoki in full force, along with the tragically hip MGMT. Guests also viewed specially commissioned art from Wolfgang Block and Chris Jordan, as well as a rare collection of surf photos from world class photographers Rob Gilley, Dustin Humphrey and Steve Sherman. But the night’s main event was the fashion show featuring one-of-a-kind pieces that were revamped from Billabong’s current spring and summer lines. This all-star party was made truly unique with the art, photos, and fashion available for auction on Ebay with 100% of the proceeds benefiting The Surfrider Foundation. Our every ready girl-about-town Elsa was their with camera and cocktail in hand. Check out her exclusive pics and videos.

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 The contest may be over, but this t-shirt is good for another 364 days. Pick up your official 2008 Billabong Pro Tahiti tee here.

Our good friends at the South OC Surfrider chapter are inviting everyone to their annual Halloween costume party, going down this Saturday at the Ocean Ave. Brewery in Laguna Beach. Now normally we wouldn’t give mention to yet another bar night in LB, but this time it’s special. This time it’s for our beloved Trestles. Your $20 cover charge will be donated to Surfridrer’s Save Trestles campaign, which is THE topic of conversation in these parts (although it’s closely trailed by the upcoming premiere of Real Desperate Housewives of Orange County 3). So come on down and give ’til it hurts. We’ll be dolled up as Donovan’s moustache.