We get a lot of mail here at ReadyMade. It comes in many different forms. Sometimes we get the old-school, pen to paper kind which is always nice (below, some mail deputy editor, Amy Palanjian, recently received).

 

 

We get tweets from our kind readers on Twitter. We get notes on our Facebook page. We get feedback on our Forums. But most often we get an obscene amount of email in our obscene number of email in-boxes (hey RM colleagues, seriously, we need to figure that out right quick!). Don't get me wrong, my favorite part of the job is the back and forth with readers but I'm not convinced that we need to have eight different "mailboxes." Sure it might make things a little more organized seeming but to me it just feels overwhelming. Still—with a big huge assist from my colleague Alexa Fornoff—I brave the murky depths of our in-boxes daily. They are always filled to the brim with spam but also bursting with design related treats I couldn't live without. The trouble is, separating the proverbial sh*t from shinola can sometimes prove quite difficult. Thankfully last Wednesday that wasn't the case. Staring at me proudly from our "info@readymademag" in-box was an email titled "New DIY Surfing Network" from a gent in Los Angeles named Cyrus Sutton. Now, it very well could be a case of wanting what you can't have and since I've never been able to surf worth a damn I'm always drawn to anything related to the sport. And if you pair "DIY" with "Surfing" then I'm pretty much sold, and that I was.

 

 

I opened up the email and the attached press release and this is what I learned: "Korduroy.tv was born from our disillusionment with mass production. From ocean swells to mountains and their valleys, we live in a gravitational playground of free fun. Yet never before has forking out wads of cash for the latest and greatest surf gear been so deeply engrained in our culture. It's this irony that has inspired us to create a place where ideas can be shared that respect self-sufficiency, craftsmanship and a surfing experience of our own design." This sounded pretty good to me so I did a quick cut and paste and made my way to Korduroy. The site is divided into four "channels": Surf Sufficient: a series of video tips and tutorials showing how to make, fix, and reuse things around the surfing experience. All Yew: the start of a viewer-based show focusing on shorts from surfers making and riding their own designs.  Shortboards, longboards, wide boards, narrow boards, wood boards, bellyboards, handplanes... Anything goes as long as is propelled by swells. Sea Movies: A break from your day.  Clean and simple films marrying shots of the ocean with good music. World Wide Webclips: Random videos we like.

 

 

There's lots of great surf footage on the site (above is one of the featured channels), obviously, but, since I don't surf except in my dreams, my favorite part of the site is that much of what they show you is easily adaptable to life as a land lubber. I was really into the "Pimp My Five Speed" video and the "Best Sunblock Money Can't Buy." On top of all the really cool how-to tips from the folks at Korduroy they also clearly have good musical taste and the videos are set to great tracks like "Don't Be Mad at Me" and "Blue Sky" by the Blank Tapes and some other great songs by the likes of Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra and Clutch of the Tiger (another of Shawn Lee's projects). I tried getting a hold of the original Korduroy correspondent, Cyrus Sutton—who in another case from the "Small World" files, happens to know a good friend of mine from San Francisco whose been trying to teach me to surf for years, much to his frustration—several times. However, my outreach failed as of this posting. He was no doubt out catching a wave or two. More power to him. As for me, I'm gonna have to settle for hopping on my newly tricked out five speed for a frantic, glorius ride through Manhattan traffic. Thanks Korduroy!