Happy to report that Balaram Stack has a new logo for his board. He has joined the Volcom team according to Surfing magazine's interview here. It is probably a better fit for Stack since Volcom will allow him to travel and do more videos with no contest requirements. Congrats on the new job Balaram!

Being unemployed sucks. It happened to me when I was 23 and 30. In this economy the official number is around 7.8%, but the real unemployment number (people actively looking for work, the underemployed, AND discouraged workers who have given up searching) is more than double that number. Unfortunately, Balaram Stack can now be included in that number. We reported that Stack was cut by Quiksilver two months ago. Now Surfer Magazine has an interview with Stack here where he explains how it happened, and what his current plans are. Keep your head up Balaram, New Yorkers are tougher than anyone else out there. If any of our readers is hiring, check out his video resume below.

First confirmed casualties from Quiksilver's reorganization are in. Long Beach's own Balaram Stack was let go from his Quiksilver sponsorship. The VSTR brand line will be discontinued, and Dayne Reynolds' Summer Teeth brand will be handed back to him. No cuts have been announced for Quiksilver's Europe team yet, nor any news about the sub-brands based there such as Moskova. A memo released by Quiksilver states that they will keep 130 surfers, and will continue to re-focus each brand where it is strongest.

This week Skullcandy's stock (SKUL) hit an all time low of $6.55, down from its $20 IPO price less than 2 years ago. Despite their good products (I own their Ink'd earbuds) and long list of sponsored athletes and models (like Long Beach local Balaram Stack), they can't seem to please shareholders. Skullcandy's brand image is strong so it may become a takeover target for a company looking to gain credit in the youth headphone market. But for now I'm just glad they can afford to keep models like Kate Upton on the pay roll. Happy Friday everyone.