Here's what I like about Hub:

1) The writing is very big on active verbs. ("Bodies sprawl. Scott and the rear paddler scramble for the high side. I'm squashed into the left bow with the fourth man on top of me and the full force of the river pounding down on us...I relax my grip on the tube, slip into the current, and move onto the next problem set.")

2) The models dress strange and look pissed off.

3) The surf photos are great.

4) The writing is usually good (Hub #9 contains Benjamin Weissman's piece, "Pushed"), and sometimes the editors have the great idea to print words on top of other words so we can feel like we're having a drug reaction and have to stop every ten seconds to look away from the page at a palm tree or something.

5) It's free, and amazingly, for a limited time, they'll even mail it to you.

6) Hub is shamelessly insensitive. ("...Trevor Peterson wasn't there, killed only days before...I knew his wife and kids were there, nearby, living without this amazing man. They were living with the pain of his death and I was on my way to have one of the best experiences of my life...I turned off my Discman and took off my headphones.")

One would have to be an insensitive fool indeed not to immediately send for a copy, or run out to pick one up. Hub comes out quarterly, and can be gotten at ZJ Boarding House, 2619 Main St., Santa Monica, CA 90405, or you can send your request by e-mail to mikke@interranp.com.