The First Jewel of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing, the Reef Hawaiian Pro, went down today at Haleiwa on Oahu's North Shore. Local Boy Joel Centeio took the win in front of his hometown crowd, and by 'local' i mean , like, literally lives across the street from Haleiwa. Joel got the bomb of the day in the final, backdooring a massive tube section before straightening out as a 2-story whitewater explosion engulfed his double fist claim, for a 9.33. He never looked back, as CJ Hobgood, Jay Thompson, and Alain Riou never caught up. In qualification news, several guys on the bubble, including Dusty Payne, Tanner Gudauskas, and Yadin Nicol, all fell in early rounds, so Sunset Beach is the last chance for them. The World Cup at Sunset starts tomorrow...

1-Joel Centeio 14.76
2-CJ Hobgood 13.74
3-Jay Thompson 12.17
4-Alain Riou 5.27

Lyn-Z Adams Hawkins landed the first ever 540 Mctwist by a female yesterday in France. I'd normally make fun of any full grown adult who abbreviates a name like 'Lindsey' with 'Lyn-Z', but now she can say she's the only girl ever to do something cool, so i guess i'll shut up. I've never even been close to being the only guy on earth to do something, unless you count getting stitches from playing foozball as 'cool'. You win, Lyn-z. This all went down at the historic Grand Palais in Paris, for Quiksilver's Tony hawk Show. Hawk also landed a perfect backside 900 just before Hawkins made history with her Mctwist. What makes this more impressive is that no woman, not even Lyn-Z, has ever landed one before, so this was truly a first.

It was only a matter of time before our video game obsession jumped a species. Apparently, dogs are flocking to the new Tony Hawk Ride game which was released this week. Dogs ripping around on skateboards is nothing new. Renowned bulldogs like Tillman the skateboarding mutt have been making the most of their low center of gravity for years, "ruffin" up the neighborhoods. But mastering Hawk's long-running video game was a problematic proposition for pups and their paws. Controllers simply weren't designed with mutts in mind. The latest version of Hawk's game, however, features a life size skateboard deck, which has got the dogs all howling since it's become the great equalizer between man and his best friend. Warning: you best wait your turn with these guys around.

The next skateboarding prodigy will be from China. With the worlds largest population, at roughly 1,325,639,982 people, China has the odds in their favor. Remember that circus acrobat guy from Ocean's Eleven? Imagine him on a vert ramp. Anyone see the opening ceremonies from the Beijing Olympics? Imagine that level of discipline and practice applied to skateboarding. If the chinese government can make us a Yao Ming, why not make us a combination of shaun white/tony hawk/kelly slater? The only thing holding back a potential Chinese Skateboarding Domination is the fact that nobody in China skates... Well, until now. Woodward is almost finished with a $4 million dollar indoor park in Beijing. As with everything else ive seen and heard about Beijing, this thing is pretty dang impressive. Theres a variety of vert, and a ridiculous pool being finished right now. If this park can generate a solid skate scene, we could be seeing some serious kung fu flavor in the world of skateboarding very soon. Check the pictures, courtesy of KickerClub. (and thanks to Clancy for the heads up).

Nathan Paul Gibbs paints pretty pictures. So pretty, in fact, that they have been shown all over the country, including Washington, where he was originally born; Florida, where he lived in his teens (and learned to surf); and Southern California, where he has lived since 1999. So very pretty that he has published two books of his work, The Betrayal of Man and Define Art and Surf, and has frequent shows featuring his pieces, including one at San Clemente's Gallery 104 on November 20th. Artists such as Vincent Van Gough, Jackson Pollock, and Paul Cezanne have all influenced the way Nathan puts paint to canvas. As a surfer and artist, his paintbrush has taken him to some of the worlds finest surf destinations, Fiji, Tahiti, Costa Rica, Australia, Mexico, and Hawaii to name a few. His paintings are incredibly vibrant and colorful, yet abstract enough to blur reality. Check out the gallery above, or check out his website for even more.
http://nathangibbsart.com/