Riding an Artificial Wave of Entertainment Success

Gnarly news.

If the perfect Artificial Wave for landlocked surfers is created, it figures to be invented at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography by two La Jolla surfers turned entrepreneurs.

Sounds right.

And then tested at a German-flavored amusement park in the hill country of Texas, near San Antonio.

Oh, really?

Explanation: The Boogie Bahn, developed by Tom Lochtefeld and Carl Ekstrom through a contract with Scripps, is now in operation.

As part of the Surfanburg portion of the Schlitterbahn (German for slippery road) Water Park in New Braunfels, Tex.

Yes, there are other wave machines at other amusement parks. But its inventors say the Boogie Bahn is the ride of the future.

“We’re after the ultimate surf wave,” said Ekstrom. “The things that most of the parks have are just big mushy things, not good for anything.”

Lochtefeld has seen the future and it is water. He’s founder/president of Raging Waters, with parks in California and Utah.

The Lochtefeld/Ekstrom apparatus has steep walls on both sides. That creates a wave as water is pumped side to side.

The rider stays put and goes left to right, right to left, up and down. “You can pick up, stall, turn out, everything,” Ekstrom said.

Now the wave is 4 feet or so (with a padded bottom to cushion wipeouts), and Schlitterbahn customers are limited to bodysurfing, inner tubes and Boogie boards.

The inventors have cranked it up to 8 feet (by increasing water flow) experimentally, and envision use by surfboarders.

Think of it: surfing contests could be held in Iowa. Or Escondido.

The Boogie Bahn made its debut July 3. Response, says Schlitterbahn official Jayna Wilkinson, was “phenomenal.”

“In Texas,” Wilkinson explained, “it’s kind of different. We haven’t had a lot of waves here.

“Until now.”

Back in the News Again

Court jousts.

Michael Schaefer, former San Diego councilman and ever-ready (but always-losing) political candidate, is back in the news.

Schaefer and Jon E. Hollmann, an attorney who represented Schaefer in a bankruptcy matter, are fighting in court over a 1984 Corvette that Schaefer promised Hollmann as payment for legal services.

Hollmann: “Schaefer is a disgrace to the legal profession.”

Schaefer: “Hollmann is an ingrate, my trusted attorney who turned on me viciously.”

Even after the Corvette suit is settled, the two will have yet another shot at each other.

Schaefer is suing Hollmann in Small Claims Court for $524 over a law book Schaefer loaned to Hollmann.

That’s $24 to reimburse Schaefer for the cost of having the book returned by messenger, and $500 for emotional distress because Hollmann kept the book too long.

Hollmann: “Mr. Schaefer has some interesting legal theories.”

Schaefer: “I’m not going to back down.”

Tests, Dogs and Voices

Believe it or not.

* Just fill up this little cup . . .

The San Diego Police Department has instituted a random drug testing program.

Three times in recent months the computer has compiled, sheerly by random, a list of cops to be tested. And three times the list has included, sheerly by random, Chief Bob Burgreen.

* The San Diego County Canine Blood Bank in Mission Valley is running low.

Donor dogs get a free screening for heart worms. Their owners get a T-shirt.

* Dave Hood, the longtime host of San Diego’s now-canceled “PM Magazine” television show, hasn’t been seen much lately. But now he’s got a new gig.

He’s the voice of the murderous Amazon Queen in the new holographic video game, Time Traveler.

* San Diego bumper sticker: “How I Am.”

Too me.