Everything around us blinks, rings, sings, shouts, distracts, vibrates, reminds, likes, comments and downloads. The chaos and beauty of the world is overshadowed by technological distractions and tweets that possess no lasting significance outside the screen they’re displayed.

Hawaii's Shane Dorian leads the list of finalists in the 2013 Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards taking place this Friday, May 3rd in Southern California. Thanks to several extraordinary rides on an epic swell at Jaws on Maui, Dorian, 40, accrued an unprecedented five nominations in the event - one in every category except wipeout and female performance.

We wont get to see shots like this of John John Florence © ASP/Dunbar.

Defending Champion John John Florence Withdraws from Billabong Rio Pro

The Billabong Rio Pro, the upcoming third stop on the 2013 ASP World Championship Tour, will commence without defending champion John John Florence (HAW), 20, who has officially withdrawn.

The defending event champion was sidelined during the opening stop of the year with an ankle injury sustained on the Gold Coast. Florence was unable to compete at the second stop on tour at Bells Beach and has opted out of the Billabong Rio Pro in hopes of healing 100% before rejoining the elite ranks....

Derek is a talented Videographer and was on hand for one of Aprils Epic Pipe swells. This past April is likely to go down as a one in a decade month for late season swell. Here's a treat to remember by.

4/8/13 Late Season Pipeline Swell.

Film/Edit: Derek Hanson
Song: Friend (Lover) by Evenings
Archival Footage: archive.org

Hiatuspictures.com

The state of Hawaii has allocated $20 million of their budget to purchase 280 acres of land surrounding Maui’s famed Honolua Bay from the Maui Land and Pineapple Company. Once finalized, the state will designate Honolua as a state park. The decision was met with enthusiastic cries of support by members of the Save Honolua Coalition, a group that has been pressuring the state to protect the land from a series of proposed developments, including a golf course and a series of luxury homes.

Kauai's Stephen Koehne just dropped a video of him hunting huge fish and bigger barrels. The Kauai hunter trips through Tahiti, Pipeline and other environs searching out throaty barrels. Between pits Stephen gaffs huge fish and passes on the surfing tradition to his toddler.

Nathan Florence. Photo: Tony Heff

Professional Surfer Nathan Florence and Water Photographer Tony Heff honored the legacy of Sion Miloksy by winning the 2012-13 Steep and Deep Pipeline Photo Challenge. During its second year, this contest grew immensely. Participants submitted their sickest steep and deep shots from the water, land and aerial angles of Banzai Pipeline and Backdoor from November 2012-March 2013...

The World Surf Cities Network (WSCN)—a fledgling, tourism-focused organization based in Spain—is flirting with the idea of adding Hainan, a tropical island province off China’s south coast, to its list of world-class surf destinations. The other nine members are frothing, wave-stoked surf cultures such as the Gold Coast, Durban, and Hossegor. But what about Hainan? Well, sure, a handful of low-key pro events have been held there over the last few years, but not only is it off the radar of most surf trippers, it doesn’t even support a significant local surfing population.

Surfer profile of Eala Stewart, a young and upcoming ripper from Honolulu. He currently lives in a mango tree on the North Shore fine tuning his craft.... somebody sponsor this kid already!

Photo: Tom Blake and Duke Kahanamoku

Tom Blake/Thomas Rogers Co. paddleboard from the late 1930s

Any Tom Blake Model is a must-have, but here without question is one of the finest we've ever seen. Constructed from lovely Philippine mahogany ( deck and bottom) with redwood rails and sealed with covered screws, this beauty is in original condition. The Thomas Rogers Company of Venice had the license to build Blake paddleboards from 1932 to 1939. This model was made during the end of their production as evidenced by use of Blake's "life-ring" brass drain plug. Quite simply the top of it's class. pre-auction estimate $10K- $15K...check out the video