Couch Surfing

Due to a scheduling snafu, I was left without a DVD last Sunday night. So I decided to try "Play Now" online movies that Netflix offers. The first movie on my queue offered: Bruce Brown's Surfing Hollow Days.

First, I needed to download the viewer and all the little doodads needed to make this work. This took 40 minutes, including the system restart, freeze and restart again. YMMV, but the first time you use this, don't make the popcorn until you're all set up.

Next, picture quality. At full screen, below DVD quality, but not too bad. Most of Surfing Hollow Days was old footage that wasn't crystal clear anyway, so maybe this wasn't a big problem. I don't think it would work for a big screen SFX type movie, though.

Still, a nice benefit to Netflix, and I will continue to watch movies online. I'll keep you informed.

What about the movie? I've loved Bruce Brown's Endless Summer since it first came out, although I've never surfed and can barely swim. This film is not as epic as Endless Summer - it seems to be a collection of clips from Brown's surf safari's around the world (Hawai'i, Tahiti, So. Cal., Australia) from the early 1960s. There are some wrap-around segments of Brown from the 1990's as well.

The waves are great, and so is the surfing. But a big part of it is Brown's narration. It's mostly simple - the location, surfer's name and a comment on the style or waves. Sometimes there's a corny joke. All delivered in a laid back, yet stoked California twang.

Well, I'll admit it. I was watching on the couch, with my laptop on my stomach, after a long day, and, listening to Brown's stories of another wave, another surfer, I drifted off to sleep. I think I missed the part where they discover Pipeline.