This is one of my new favourite things on the internet. A group of Australians have decided to try the waters and launch an independent, online 'publication'. Yes, there's plenty of content out there, every halfwit with access to a computer has a blog (myself for instance), but I never tire of it. It's like one giant, online dawn patrol parking lot. I drink my coffee, I groan at the state of the waves, I laugh at the outrageous statements and brilliant yarns, I scratch my stubble appreciatively over someone's new board and I haven't left the house. This however, is a step beyond. Cohesive and simple, it's about the writers really. Australians absolutely live surfing, the beach and the coast are so much a part of the life back in the Lucky Country on a daily, ingrained level and The FreeRide Voice is so far a fantastic expression of that. They care about every aspect of it all, they take Professional Surfing seriously and yet manage to give it the respect (or lack thereof) that it deserves, and they apply the same exacting critiques to the blokes down the local. And they do it with fantastic literary smartarseness. It's a good read, go back through the archives and dig- Derek Hynd's there, Steve Shearer is there, intelligent commentary on women's surfing, the economic woes of the mainstream culture and the zeitgeist of Parko is there. It's good. Support them.
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