As my personal hypertext page is about Hawaii, I thought it would be “appropriate” to listen to podcasts about surfing. Though I do not personally surf, (I have a deep inset phobia of sharks,) about seventy-five percent of the people that I meet ask me if I surf when I tell them that I am from Hawaii. Hence, this podcast is not only for our English 138 class, but is dedicated to all those who are interested in surfing and the people who wished that I could tell epic stories about surfing back home (haha).
The first podcast that I listened to included the podcast of the Rip Curl Bells Beach 2011: Episode One. This particular podcast was about the fifty-year celebration of surfing at Bells in Australia. During this anniversary celebration, which was held during the Easter weekend of 2011, all of the world’s best surfers came out to surf in this competition. This podcast featured a live broadcast (that was recorded) of what was going on throughout the competition. I also thought it was also hilarious that the announcer talked about the legendary parties and pubs along the coast that were also participating in the festivities of the competition.
It was interesting to hear all that was going on. In the beginning, the announcer talks about how many people there are, and how there were spectators watching from the cliffs. He also talked about how there were past champions and competitors watching as well. I thought that this was great to include because it painted me a visual picture of what the scene looked like. The announced also named a number of sponsors; in particular, he presented Ford (cars).
In this podcast, the announcer included a live feed about what was happening in the competition. There were thirty-four of the best male surfers who were competing. Defending Bells champ and legendary pro-surfer Kelly Slater was one of the surfers who attended. Other competitors included a Rip Curl Wildcard surfer (one who was picked at random), as well as a local Victoria Wildcard (another surfer who was picked at random) from the Championship Moves Trials.
I also listened to two other podcasts about the Bells competition. The second and third podcast included the highlights of round one, two, and three of the competition. These rounds included live feedback of the competition, and talked about the high swells. Kelly Slater was definitely one of the highlights of the rounds as announcers raved about his achievements, awards, and talked about how his performance in the second round will likely get him a top spot in the competition. Other surfers included Australian surfers Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Jordy Smith, Dane Reynolds, and Owen Wright.
The podcast was really interesting to listen to because I realized that creating a podcast is not like having a conversation. Podcasts are supposed to be instructive and in this case of the Rip Curl competition, supposed to be visual, so that the individuals listening can see what is going on by just listening. I thought that these pod casts were awesome and exciting, and cannot wait to continue the Rip Curl surfing podcast series!