Sunday, August 23, 2009

Perfect Beach Day

Victoria Beach, Laguna Beach
Two Man VBall Tournament

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Vote To Help Save America's Shores


Have you ever wondered what you can do to help keep your favorite beach beautiful? The Barefoot Wine Beach Rescue Project has the answer. To raise awareness about major Surfrider Foundation environmental campaigns in celebration of Surfrider’s 25th anniversary, Barefoot wine is donating $25,000 to directly help support local Surfrider Foundation chapters and their efforts to protect America’s shores. Beginning May 1, 2009 through August 15, 2009, Barefoot is encouraging everyone to learn more and cast their vote for one of four Surfrider Foundation campaigns in need of more awareness and financial support. The four highlighted campaigns are:

* Clear the Path (Oahu, HI)
Focus on better beach access through public education and legislation

* Challenge Beach Management Permitting Practices (Palm Beach County, FL)
Working to stop harmful beach fill projects and educate the public on the fragility of beach ecosystems

* Save Gaviota Coast (Santa Barbara County, CA)
Helping preserve the Gaviota Coast from development

* Sink the Breakwater (Long Beach, CA)
Restore the natural flow of ocean currents, improve water quality and bring back waves

CAST YOUR VOTE HERE!

Sunday, August 9, 2009

Video - How to dress from a british point of view

Jess Cartner-Morley, fashion editor of the UK newspaper The Guardian's, guides you through the latest trends of beachwear via Missoni and Versace.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/video/2009/jul/18/how-to-dress-beachwear

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Quiksilver's Quick Fix


Always at the forefront of all things fresh, Quiksilver has teamed up with The Standard hotels to make co-branded men’s and women’s swimsuits to be distributed via vending machines poolside at the hotel's four properties and online at ShoptheStandard.com.

Joshua Katz, director of marketing and communications at Quiksilver Inc., explains, “This is a 24-hour customer, and a lot of times they might not have a swimsuit but want to take a late-night swim, after the hotel’s boutique is closed.”

For added flavor, each design has a "Quik City Guide" on the inside waistband, with addresses of local places of interest. The vending machines will also dispense zines and $10 works of art from local artists. Four men's retro-inspired men's styles will be available as well as a classic black string bikini for the ladies. Step right up.

Monday, August 3, 2009

Let's Pass the Beach Bill!


For the third year in a row, Congress is considering a bill to reauthorize the BEACH Act. This landmark law was first championed by Surfrider Foundation a decade ago.

The Clean Coastal Environment & Public Health Act of 2009 will increase the amount of federal dollars that can be spent on beach water quality monitoring and will modernize the technology we rely on to protect the health of the beach-going public. It also expands the scope of the BEACH Act to include tracking and cleaning up the sources of beach water pollution. The House of Representatives has passed this bill twice now, but it has not yet seen the Senate floor.

Urge your Senators to show their support for healthy beaches and robust coastal economies by cosponsoring the Clean Coastal Environment & Public Health Act of 2009. Don't let them put this off for yet another year!

Take action by visiting Surfrider Foundation's action website http://actionnetwork.org.

Digital Toys On The Beach

Posted on August 2nd, 2009 by Judi Cutrone on DigitalPivot.com

Last week, I was at the Jersey Shore with my family. As I sat there, surrounded by hordes of people roughly my own age, a thought struck me. In any other setting, I would lose track of the number of headphones I saw amongst them. But here, on the beach, I saw zero. Instead of seeing anyone clutching the famous Kindle and surfing between a stack of books, I saw ratty old paperbacks.

It hadn’t even occurred to me to bring either of my Apple products to the beach. When it comes to my two favorite toys, sand and water are a big no-no (also, my nieces and nephew wouldn’t allow it since all free time goes to shell collecting and sand castle-destroying). If I had done the research ahead of time, I would’ve been stunned by the lack of discussion on the web regarding protecting your technology on the beach.

None of the accessories in the Apple store address the issue directly, which I find to be more than a little surprising. Summer is a three-month season. The United States boasts nearly 12,000 miles of coastline. According to the Long Beach Township Beach Patrol, nearly 700,000 people visited the six Long Beach area beaches alone in 2008. I’m no statistician, but that’s a lot of people hitting the shore every summer, where the main activities beside swimming and building sand creatures are lying down, sleeping, eating, and reading. That’s prime time that could be spent buying mobile applications, playing FreeCell, checking your email and listening to your perfect beach playlist. So why aren’t there specific beach-friendly accessories or products from our major electronic providers? It boggles the mind. Or maybe that was just all the sun I was exposed to in a six-day period.

To save you some time, if you plan on hitting the beach this summer and are wondering how to keep your iPod and iPhone safe, the friendly folks at Apple recommend the Incase Sports Armband ($34.95) and the like. The good news is that my Apple specialist was “pretty sure” this would protect my iPod Classic from the dangerous sand, the alternative being the pricey waterproof options (ranging from $80to $350). The bad news is that wearing the black armband will mean an ugly tan line and the waterproof headphones will, well, make you look like an idiot.

I’m especially intrigued what this will mean for Amazon’s Kindle. After all, the little handheld device is supposed to “save publishing” and “is the future of books.” I would give you my recommendation for using the Kindle on the beach, but unlike Apple, Amazon doesn’t have a 24-hour chat rep and I’m too spoiled by the convenience of customer chat to call Amazon and be put on hold. Don’t even get me started on e-mail support. Why no one has officially deemed this system completely inadequate is another post for another time.

Judi Cutrone is a digital copywriter who has navigated the world of web design, brand marketing and new media initiatives since 2006. Follow her on Twitter and www.thecreme.wordpress.com.