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Santa Cruz tarp surfers Homer Henard, Omar Etcheverry and Nic Lamb have been on quite the ride this year ever since their breakthrough video went viral. The youtube clip has more than 2.4 million views now, and as Santa Cruz Sentinal reporter Isaiah Guzman reports, it has them riding the "proverbial endless tarp."

The video got people all over the world buying tarps, and now up for a People's Choice award...

It also landed the video's three cast members in an upcoming Mountain Dew commercial.

"We created this thing out of nothing," said Homer Henard, one of the masterminds behind the video. "We were just pulling tarp and now we're getting paid to be in a commercial. It just shows that with a little imagination and a little creativity anything is possible."

The boys will be up against some stiff competition in the viral video category, including "The Paparazzi" and "Giant Double Rainbow," which have 43 and 20 million views respectively. (Really?)

The tarp surfing video has perhaps a more involved following than its competitors. A trend has started throughout the world as evidenced by tarp surfing website postings and requests for interviews and television spots from Japanese and European media.

"That would be pretty hilarious if they had us tarp on the (awards)," Etcheverry said. "Maybe they'll have us push a rock star through there or an actor."

"I would ask people in the county to go vote for these guys," said Danny Keith, who runs the group's website, TarpSurfing.com, and owns Santa Cruz Skate and Surf Shop on 41st Avenue. "Why don't you help the boys bring one home?"

We couldn't agree more. Good luck boys.

At the beginning of the school year, Murrieta Valley, Vista Murrieta and Murrieta Mesa high schools all issued a ban listed under the "inappropriate clothing" section of the dress code policy in their schools. The Murrieta Valley Unified School District board policy reads that "students' clothing must not present a health or safety hazard or a distraction which would interfere with the educational process."

Many of you may be thinking to yourself precisely what the Metal Mulisha believe; this is complete bullshit!

The Mulisha and their lawyers have decided to fight back against the schools, they've issued a letter in September accusing the school district of "trademark dilution, interference with a potential business relationship and violations of the First and 14th Amendments of the United States Constitution. The First Amendment guarantees the freedom of speech and expression. The 14th states no laws can be passed that abridge the privileges of citizens or deprive anyone of property without due process."

Whether you believe the Mulisha purpose for the fight is solely because it will effect their sales, or you think their motive is because they want to take a stand for the kids against the district, or maybe they feel this is a direct attack on their brand, either way you slice it, their not going to stand for it.

Mulisha's clothing is widely popular amongst the kids in the District, and they want nothing to do with being grouped into the banned category with iron crosses and Nazi/neo-Nazi symbols.

GrindTV Style will continue to monitor the situation in a case that feels like another example of an out of touch group of older individuals who sit on the school board, not aware of what the Brand actually represents, limiting what the students are allowed to wear to school. Hopefully the Mulisha will invite the district board members out to compound for a day with the team so they can see what their really all about. They will certainly see for their own eyes that they are in no way associated with Nazi/Neo Nazi groups. Although they may form a different opinion on why they should ban clothing from a bunch of beer drinking moto guys.

Leonardo DiCaprio was in attendance today -- and announced he was making a $1-million donation -- as world leaders gathered in Russia approved an ambitious plan designed to protect wild tigers from what many believe is an imminent threat of extinction.

Because of poaching and critical habitat destruction, only 3,200 tigers remain throughout Asia, where 100,000 of the magnificent beasts roamed a century ago.

The first-ever tiger summit, held in St. Petersburg and hosted by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, resulted in the approval of a plan intended to double the number of wild tigers by 2022.

About $127 million -- the funding coming largely from governments and conservation organizations -- will help support what is known as the Global Tiger Recovery Program.

Provisions within the plan, among other things, call for paying poor countries to halt deforestation and provide for stepped-up enforcement against trafficking in tiger parts, which are in high demand in China and India, for use as traditional medicine and aphrodisiacs.

DiCaprio, a board member of the World Wildlife Fund, attended the summit and added star power to a conservation effort that needs all the help it can get. His $1-million donation was made available immediately.

"Illegal poaching of tigers for their parts and massive habitat loss due to palm oil, timber and paper production are driving the species to extinction," the actor said. "If we don't take action now, one of the most iconic animals on our planet could be gone in just a few decades.

"By saving tigers, we can also protect some of our last remaining ancient forests and improve the lives of indigenous communities."

DiCaprio, star of such films as "Titanic," "Blood Diamond" and "Avatar," also made trips recently to Nepal and Bhutan, where he rode elephants through tiger habitat as part of an anti-poaching effort. Earlier this year he took part in a WWF effort to raise $20 million for conservation through the Save Tigers Now campaign.

In a statement, Carter Roberts, WWF president and CEO, said of DiCaprio: "His financial commitment will spark urgent on-the-ground conservation for tigers. His storytelling will inspire people around the world to help."

The 13 countries that still have wild tigers, besides Nepal and Bhutan, are Russia, China, Bangledash, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.

Unfortunately, many are are poor countries that generate revenue through products rendered from trees. The World Bank has offered a $100-million loan package to some of these nations for conservation work, which includes creating and protecting new habitat. The Global Environment Facility has committed $12 million to fund regional projects that show benefits for biodiversity and reductions in carbon emissions, or saving forests.

Poaching is a greater threat than deforestation in many countries. John Stellar, chief enforcement officer for the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), told Reuters: "The situation is now so serious that if we don't get enforcement very soon then the money we're spending in other areas, one could almost say, is flushing down the toilet."

Ironically, this is the Year of the Tiger on the Chinese calendar. Largely because of poaching, tiger numbers have declined by about 2,000 since the last Year of the Tiger, 12 years ago.

The next Year of the Tiger is 2022, which is why it was chosen as the target year for the goal to double tiger numbers. If that happens it'll be a major success story, but if tiger numbers show further decline or fade altogether from some regions, there will be little reason to celebrate.

-- Photos: Top two images, showing a Siberian tiger and actor Leonardo DiCaprio helping to set up a camera in Nepal, are courtesy of the World Wildlife Fund. DiCaprio image was by Jan Vertefeuille. Bottom image is courtesy of the Global Tiger Recovery Program

GRINDTV NEWSWIRE via ASP - HALEIWA, Oahu/Hawaii (Monday, November 22, 2010) - Yesterday saw the emotional return of Joel Parkinson (AUS), 29, to the winner's dais. The Australian, who was sidelined from competition following a horrific heel slice last July, returned to the singlet for the opening event of the Vans Hawaiian Triple Crown of Surfing, the Reef Hawaiian Pro. Opening his campaign with a Perfect 10 on his very first wave, Parkinson steamrolled the competition, netting the event's highest scores before dominating the Final yesterday afternoon. With a win under his belt, his confidence high and the ratings' lead in the hunt for the 2010 Vans Triple Crown Title, Parkinson is now emphatically back in action. Sean Doherty caught up with Parko following his win to see where his head was at. This...is their story...

How are the celebrations going?
Louie's cooking the barbecue, there's a heap of the boys here at the house, and I'm eating a sausage sandwich and drinking a beer looking out over Pipe. Pretty good, I reckon.

With the drop in the swell it looked like more of a chess match out there today.
It was a real day for strategy. It just wasn't consistent enough for your surfing alone to do the talking. There had to be some paddling and positioning and heat strategy as well, so you really had to be on your game.

It seemed like a real struggle for pretty well everyone to string two good heats together.
I suppose. I had one heat where I struggled to even find a 6, but it was one of those days where you just had to go out and find a way to get the job done. There probably wasn't a lot of pretty surfing, but there were a lot of really close, hard fought heats.

During all those months of rehab and physio, working on your foot, could you have ever dreamed you'd score a win in your comeback event?
Not my first event back, no. But after my first heat, I knew I could win the contest. Coming back from injury and not having surfed a heat in such a long time, you kind of half expect that a shocker heat is coming your way at some stage. Luckily for me it never did. But with every heat I got through I felt stronger and had a bit more faith in my surfing.

So you're leading the Triple Crown, and probably the favourite to win it for the third time in a row. What would it mean to you if you did?
It would be a great thing to make something from what's left of the year. It's been the most radical year of my life. To win the Triple Crown would mean a year that's had so many ups and downs would end on a high. There's a long way to go though, and a lot of surfing before I get anywhere near thinking about winning.

And this was the first contest you've surfed in a long time without Andy (Irons) being there. Was that sitting in the back of your mind the whole time?
For sure. It will be in the back of my mind for the rest of my life. My memories of Andy will last forever and will always be with me. It's still so raw right now that it's hard to draw too many positives out of it just yet. It's been such a radical year, so sad and so happy at various times. I think of Andy and I'm sad, then I think of my son Mahli being born and I'm happy, and I think of Andy's son and I get a little sad again. It's all so up and down. But it really makes you think about and treasure everything you have. As much as I miss Andy, my memories of him and the times we had are so precious and so happy that I'll never forget them. We've got to move on and stay positive, because that's exactly what Andy would be doing. And I can't wait to meet his son. There are going to be so many aunties and uncles who'll love him and look after him.