What You Missed: X, U.S. Open of Surfing, Movies on the Beach, 20-foot Waves at the Wedge

By Vickie Chang Mon., Jul. 27 2009 at 12:08 AM

Categories: What You Missed

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Keith May

So, what'd you miss this weekend? We had a (mostly) surf-related-filled weekend--a sure sign it's summer. And Orange County. But we're pretty sure you knew that.

There were some astounding 15-foot-plus waves at favorite surf/body board spot the Wedge in Newport Beach on Friday. Photographer Keith May was there bright and early and caught the excitement. Though the day wasn't without tragedy (see Matt Coker's Navel Gazing post), many still chose to brave the intense surf--but more, like us, chose to ogle from ashore instead. See the amazing photos right here!

Up next: Los Angeles punk rock legends X played at the Pacific Amphitheater at the OC Fair. Exene Cervenka? Still lookin' good, of course.

John Gilhooley

We like to call this one "Punk rock frowny face." Exene, Billy Zoom and crew played a generations-spanning setlist, amidst the (delicious) sights and (delicious?) sounds of the OC Fair. See the rest of the photos from the show here!

Keith May

Photog Keith May also caught one of the cooler events happening regularly this summer: Presented by the Masonic Order of the Rusty Projector (seriously, that's the name), "Movies on the Beach" brings well, movies to the beach--San Onofre, to be exact. 7/25's event brought us the 1971 Bruce Brown classic Any Sunday starring Steve McQueen, Mert Lawill, Malcolm Smith and many other riders, pro and novice. As you can see from the photo, it was pretty much the ideal set-up. Beautiful beach, beautiful film, beautiful waves, beautiful surfers. See the (beautiful!) photos riiiight here.

John Gilhooley

And then: THE BIG EVENT. The 2009 U.S. Open of Surfing took over Huntington Beach--and Orange County--for an entire week. And it was AWESOME. Courtney Conlogue, a 16-year-old from Santa Ana is the women's champ, the surf was great, there were performances from several area bands, and for the first time, there was even a BMX portion presented by Nike. Check out photos from the weekend, 7/24-7/26, by none other than the surfing photographer John Gilhooley.

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