In some unfortunate news, my friend, Nate Fletcher, broke his femur at Pipe yesterday morning.-- The weird part is he did it doing a cutback.-- The waves were 4 to 6 ft. and Uncle Eddie decided not to run the Da Hui Backdoor Shootout, so everyone was out free surfing.-- Apparently, Nate got a fun one, pulled in, got spit out, and threw down a ridiculously high speed cutback, and when he banked of the whitewater. Snap!-- It was the crack heard around the world. --See, quads go fast!

Dave Wassel said he heard the bone break from the beach, and Ryan Hackman said he heard it from the Quiksilver house.-- Fuck, that's gnarly.-- Dave and Myles Padaca pulled Nate out of the water and onto the beach where the lifeguards were waiting.-- He was taken to Wahiawa Hospital, and had surgery today at Queens Memorial Hospital in Honolulu. --Turns out, he has two fractures of the femur, and metal rods were inserted into his leg during surgery. --

Nate has always been the future of surfing.-- The guy was riding quads years before the fad, and I've always looked to him to see what's next.-- Let's hope what's next is some more ripping from Nate.-- Make a speedy recovery buddy!-- The photo above I took, the photo below is from Surfline taken by Sean Davey.

Nate's leg wasn't the only thing to break yesterday, my phone did too, leaving me with no numbers.  There's a lot of things I can't remember, but the things I may be the worst at remembering are numbers.  I dunno, I just don't think like that, you know.  I think it has something to do with that right brain/left brain thing.  I don't know what side I think with, but it's definitely the side that doesn't like numbers.

Well anyway, since I have no numbers I decided to rummage through the Analog site to get an update on Nate.  While I was there I stumbled upon this photo, which I like because of obvious reasons.  Kamalei walks on the beach very well, duh.

I forgot to send you guys my Holiday card. --Well here it is, better late then never.

Kauai's Danny Fuller has parted ways with Quiksilver and has joined the program at RVCA. So get ready to start seeing him shredding with Archy, Ford, Punker Pat and the boys. --Fuller's rad because he's from Hawaii, lives in Venice with his model girlfriend, and jets around the world to charge waves like Pipe and Chopes. Just livin' the life.

Check out surf legend, Christian Fletcher, getting his slay on in Bali.

Huntington Beach, CA professional surfer and aerial sensation, Ryan Carlson, landed one of the most progressive moves of the winter this year in Hawaii.  It went down at Rocky Point on the North Shore of Oahu, a wave known to inspire futuristic trick surfing. 

A Kerrupt Flip is combination of a 360 degree spin and a back flip.  In surfer's terms an inverted full rotation alley-oop.  The move gets its name from Josh Kerr, an Australian surfer who is known for progression, and is the first person to successfully pull one. 

Now, Carlson and others are taking the move to new heights, and being rewarded for it, as in the Kustom Air Strike Contest. A video clip entry contest rewarding the single best aerial maneuver with $50,000. Go to http://www.kustomairstrike.com/ to submit your vote today! Check out Carlson's entry below.

Here's a list of ten of my favorite lines that have appeared in the Quote of the Day section of my blog this year. They're in no particular order and will not make you smarter. The picture above is one I took of Mike Mo at the Downtown Showdown, the lighting was odd and the picture came out weird, so I thought it would be perfect for this session of weirdness.

1. "What's Are Kansas? - Mike Mo after reading an Arkansas liscence plate.

2. "I dropped out when I was 16, but had already given up 4 years before that." - Mike Mo on school, which is probably the reason for number 1.

3. "My friend Kamalei fell asleep at the wheel with five of us in the car and we flipped and rolled in the middle of the street on Oahu. Kamalei's head went out the window and he scrapped a whole bunch of hair off. That was a wake up call to never get in a car with someone who's going to go to sleep." - Bruce Irons

4. "See ya!" - Bruce Irons after he won the Search and was asked if he'll take back his retirement claim.

5. "I told you I was gonna flip the truck." - Bruce Irons after flipping the truck in Dude Cruise.

6. "Would you rather smell shit for a couple of minutes, or be sick for a week?" - Rudy Johnson on why it's more considerate to fart than sneeze.

7. "I pissed his couch twice and just flipped the cushions. He doesn't know until he reads this." -Neck Face about Spanky's apartment in LA.

8. "I wanted Dustin Dollin's puke on my board" - The Gonz

9. "I know, I've shit in that hallway so many times." - Rick Howard on the lack of a bathroom at the Berrics.

10. "The best contest would have to be the 2002 Bong Olympics in my kitchen" - Lane Knaack on his favorite contest of his career.

Here's what I feel are the Top 10 surf stories of 2008 in no particular order. It is only my opinion, if you feel differently tell me about it. Sorry Barca and Coco, I tried to squeeze you two in there. If it was a Top 12 you guys qualifying would of so made it. Photo: MORINformed

1. Slater wins his 9th WCT title, ridiculous.
2. Bruce retires from the WCT.
3. Andy may retire as well.
4. Still no Kickflip. As in no one has stuck one and taken the 10K from Volcom in the Kickflip Off.
5. ...LOST's 5'5" Redux is finally released.
6. Peter Davi dies at Ghost Trees.
7. Bruce wins The Search contest in Bali, and pretty much teases the ASP with a, "See Ya!"
8. Bird Rock kook is convicted of murder.
9. Joel Parkinson surfs a perfect heat in the Pipe Masters, and wins the Triple Crown.
10. Slates wins Pipe on a 5'11".

According to ...LOST my friend Chucky Rigano, aka Chuckaloopo, is missing. He was last seen cruising the North Shore with Occy and the boys, he then returned to California and hasn't been seen since. Apparently he was able to grow out his hair in the shortest amount of time ever.

The last time I saw Chucky was the night of the Surfer Poll Awards, I woke up the next morning in some random San Clemente apartment, and as I left I passed Chucky who was passed out on some couch snoring like madman. I caught a cab to the Boost Mobile Pro, and by the way how rock star is that? I was dropped off at the short trail (Lower Trestles) by a taxi, still wearing the same clothes from night before at the Surfer Poll Awards, and I was about to run into a shit ton of people who had seen me there. I couldn't deny I had a rough one.

Well anyway, if you've seen Chucky hit up ...LOST, they might give you a key chain, or a pair of socks, or something, as a reward. For more info on the case click here.

Transworld SURF has a rad photo gallery over on their site of the shredding thats been going down on the North Shore lately. The waves haven't been big, but they've been super ripable. Thus, as you can see above the chicks have been on the beach to see the show, check it out.