A character study.
(Editor’s note: Besides quit-lit, and the saga of “man-eating” Great Whites, bashing/defending Miki Dora’s legacy has become a favorite sub-sub-genre of surf writing. Dora, to his credit, is a compelling study and while I thought I had my mind made up about how history should remember the man, the following piece changed it. Or at least made me very conflicted.)
Michelangelo Caravaggio, without hyperbole, the most impressive painter of his time, or all time; he painted his monumental canvases alla prima, no preliminary sketches or underpainting. Conceiving of an idea, he searched his mind for the faces and figures he knew the best: the bums, the larcenous, the gamblers crooks and slouches he hung with, and he brought them to life as the saints and Gods and heroines who knew them to also be.
When he painted The Death of The Virgin, the depiction of the most holy woman “of the people”, he used the best model for Mary that he could, a prostitute, whom he knew. She had drowned, and he painted her as such.
The monumental canvas, commissioned and contracted for the Church would of course be rejected by the Cardinal in charge. It was so full of honest emotion, of love and sorrow and rage at this woman’s premature death. It was, and is, the painting that would certainly speak to the world.
An outrageous affront, cried the Cardinal! Crude beyond belief! and unacceptable. Why? Because she had bare feet! (the official reason), and of course the painting would not be paid for, instead it was hidden away for years. However the open secret of the time was that everyone, including the self-righteous Cardinal knew that this woman was indeed a prostitute and therefore an improper stand-in for The Virgin.
Caravaggio constantly flaunted his skill and ideas against a church that at times supported him, or even apologized for him, and then at times punished his very existence. The history of his work shows us that the only constant was his dedication to his art.
Caravaggio was at best a rude and arrogant loudmouth and a petty criminal, but at worst a rage-a-holic, guilty of murder. He rejected his own brother who tried to help him, and he burned every bridge he had, and used up every chance he was offered. He painted himself as the villain Goliath, head hewn off. More than once! And he did so because he knew he personified that monster, but also because he knew he was the best artist to do it.
What an ego!
He doesn’t have a tombstone that I know of. He died alone on swampy beach, sick and desperate.
Dora once claimed that he declined to share his thoughts on how surfing made him feel, because “those thoughts were his own and he didn’t wish to share them.”
One certainly wouldn’t want to do things the way Dora did. And I for one, would certainly never want to emulate the tragic self destruction of Caravaggio either, but it seems as if each character lived their life for themselves and not for anyone else.
I have to get this in before Spazz and/or Plumber’s Butt Kiwi Kaikoura dude catch on I’m commenting again.
The funniest thing about that Dora Is a Nazi deal happened a week ago today.
Walked into Duke’s Malibu for Taco Tuesday and KAthy Kohner “Gidget” Zuckerman approached me with her lower lip out and she said: “Those boys never burned a cross on my front lawn! They could have asked me.”
She looked genuinely hurt that she would be accused of being the recipient of something that mean.
That came from Warshaw who doesn’t just spell things wrong at times.
But Warshaw went all mea culpa, so all is well.
But that was funny.
I love this town!
Gidget’s a good sort.
If you want some truth about Dora, insist that Spazz and Derelict run RF with Greg Noll and also The Great Ocean of Atmosphere. with Tubesteak.
They can do it for free.
You guys just want to keep beating up on a dead Cat. –“The vintage years are over. I have my memories, and that’s it. I want to keep them to myself”. MSD– RIP
Dora is the one (un)lucky dork that a bunch of surf dorks decided to idolize. He’s like that super jock that the dorks decide to place on a pedestal. He’s like a Kardashian: no one can satisfactorily explain why or how he achieved such interest. It’s simple: the kardashians have big butts, and Dora was a good surfer who charismatically didn’t give a Fu$& about being a Kardashian. Dork idol status achieved.
I don’t think anybody idolizes Dora, but he did have the cojones to speak out against the ‘surf industry’ and the status quo at a time when that was unheard of. “These few Wall Street Flesh Merchants seek to unify surfing only to extract the wealth”. No wonder he made some enemies.
I guess i misunderstood; I assumed the older generation thought Dora was some amazing cultural icon. To me, it seemed he was a decent surfer who lamented the new crowds and commercialization of surfing; also, seems he was a crook. Not sure why he’s so famous amongst surfers.
For years we saw big business exploit surfing to whoever wanted to ‘buy’ in. It seems Dora was the only vocal critic of them back then. Whether it was an act or not, Dora seemed to rail against them and the status quo. “I surf for my pleasure only”. I don’t like contests, noises, bullhorns, people telling me how to ride, it destroys the whole purpose of riding waves. “These few Wall Street Flesh Merchants_______” Classic stuff.
Nobody was saying stuff like that back then. I saw the commercialization happening also and was stoked someone had the nerve to call BS on them. At least that’s somewhat my perspective on it. It just reasonated with me. Now with the Wsl trying to basically turn surfing into a money making scheme again, Dora words seem to ring true again.
Was he a crook, a scoundrel, ya to some extent. But man, those were the 60s and 70s and everybody was like anti- establishment and pulling scams or smuggling or selling drugs to keep surfing. A little credit card fraud just didn’t seem like that much of a big deal. Most surfers back then felt we were already living outside of societies norms. Dora still seems to be part of the face today of that non-competitive, anti-estsblisment faction. At least, thats more or less how I see it…….Da Cat lives……
yeah, times were different. I always lked his wave approach, nice rail placement etc. Scamming corporations was considered ok, but not ripping off your neighbors. Yeah, I know, hypocritical….I was just a dumb kid…I think that 60’s ethos fell apart when all the bad drugs hit…
Ya, (and not trying to justify anybody)
but a lot of things fell apart in the 60s, even the kind of moral fabric we used to have, just seemed to disappear. Free love, free drugs, evade the draft, deal drugs “tune in–turn on–drop out”. It was pretty wild……
Well that makes a lot sense. I agree Dora wholeheartedly, ie, I can’t stand the people who place profit over everything, people who see our natural resources solely as something to make them money. I didn’t like that he was a “crook” but if he was just stealing from “the man,” ie, banks, credit card companies, well then, good on him! I guess I am a Dora fan.
Don’t know his whole past, he pulled some other scams also, it was (trust me) some wild times back then. And I don’t know if fan is the right word but I do respect how he called BS on the surf industry and others exploiting surfing. Hope you get some waves this week.
Thanks for taking the time to write about Dora. Same to you (hope you get some waves!)
He made plenty of cash from his own surfboard model and other surf related commercial ventures. He didn’t like the commercialization of surfing unless it was making him money. Dude was a total scammer, hypocrite and full of hot air. Some things he said did and still do resonate with people but he constantly contradicted himself or I guess just simply changed his mind.
Can’t we just move on to Micheal Peterson for Fuks sake?
No, because this Dora thing is a very California obsession.
Oh yes of course
California uber alles.!
no it isn’t. its just beyond your little bald brain
Sounds good. Blame it on Beachgrit, they just won’t let a dead Cat rest in peace……
Chas, you must have got beat up pretty bad by some people in the surf community to go into hiding, you even used a small “f”, not a capital F as in someone’s real name, a dead giveaway. Go ahead, just fess up.
For many, he was the “angry young man of surfing.” He was loved, hated, and too often misunderstood. The unlikely surf legend hurt some people, and inspired quite a few, but no one ever questioned his love for surfing.
You waiting for me to fess up? It ain’t me. I don’t play these sorts of games and not afraid to write 30 stories on one subject back to back to back x 10.
I don’t do IG, so couldn’t comment there, but I have to tell ya that that poodle clip is one of, if not the weirdest goddamn things I’ve ever watched. That there is some strange madness.
Japan. I hope/pray they do that for surfing.
God(zilla) willing.
The commercialization of the sport, the homogenization of behaviors, were some of the issues Dora always fought against..
I think he more or less ‘invented’ that stereotype of surfer’s life. Honest question: that type of behaviour was common amongst surfers before Dora?
I think being an asshole is definitely not the first thing that come to my head when I think about Polynesians who, you know, kinda invented the thing.
When I think about being a surfer I don’t think abour Dora or his lifestyle, to be honest
From what I gather his step father, Gard Chaplin, who introduced him to surfing wasn’t the nicest guy
When they put in parking meters in downtown Los Angeles or Hollywood in the fifties, Gard got a sledge hammer, took Miki with him down there at night, and started breaking them for charging you to park on the street.
I don’t know a lot about Gard, he seems an interesting character, but I vaguely remember reading a comment about him that he really wasn’t a nice guy. Dora looked up to him. But he can’t have been all bad if he was the original cool hand luke
Gard wasn’t the original cool hand Luke, or ‘cooI’, I think he had kind of a mean streak and I believe disappeared under mysterious circumstances in Mexico.
Cool Hand Luke and Indiana Jones are who I aspire to be.
Fictional characters
Interesting!
How?
Cause I’ve never seen you wear a hat?
sometimes nothing can be a real cool hand
fact check this with matt warshaw, (or maybe a mohel), but i vaguely recall reading some story about gard chapin taking miiki to be circumcised when he was 10 or 11. yeah, not nice.
I don’t like all the stereotypical surfer behavior either, but I really do like the way Dora surfed:
https://m.youtube.com/watch…
Through the pilings at the old P.O.P pier, classic!! Made me smile. Thanks Chas, uhh Frank. So if Chas isn’t frank. Who is frank?? Come on, cop to it……
Like I said I’m frank, Dora lives, & that clip makes me smile too,
Good night!
a mid-length board it looks like too, getting some bottom turn action going!
Thanks! They’re like that for sure. Good book on the topic: https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
Yeah but Caravaggio was a genius, Dora wasn’t.
Well said Jimmy
Well duh.
Im frank and so is my wife!
https://youtu.be/u5woPvYxWDM
Blessed are the Franks
Charlemagne . He was so frank he was King of the Franks .
Frank Black or Black Francis ?
if you’re Glad, I’ll be Frank
(tom stoppard)
Chas, just fess up, afraid of a little more negativity from the surf world being directed towards you for beating up on a dead Cat. Very ‘frank’ of you Chas.
I believe Chas’ expertise, besides Great Whites, is in beating a dead horse.
Is that a positive or negative trait…..
But it’s righting a whole lot.
You’d have to ask Laird about that.
beating off a horse, more like…
That’s more like a Cote challenge.
Well, while surfing can be (and most likely is) an art form to many, and Malibu was the canvas for Miki, aside from that, I don’t think the above comparison fits, and is just Chas’s attemp to create more controversy and dig up more web $$ hits.
Chas didn’t write the article.
Who did?
frank
That’s not an answer. Frank who?? It could be Chas playing with words, as frank as in “being frank”. —-adjective, frank·er, frank·est.
direct and unreserved in speech; straightforward; sincere:.”– Sounds like Chas to me.
Chas can’t be the devil’s advocate. He wrote “Welcome to Paradise, Now Go To Hell”.
After some of things Chas wrote here, ya he could be, I think it’s more than safe to say it’s Chas who wrote this. Very ‘frank’ of him.
Nope! I’m not nearly this coherent or thoughtful!
Someone said a while back saying they thought you actually write every single word on this website, including articles and comments.just you having a thousand conversations with yourself.
Even I can’t argue with it.
It’s true
I’m, hes doing it right now
Jen See is Chas without the high heels on.
God O2 now you’ve got me thinking of Victoria Abril in Pedro Almodóvar’s “ Tacones lejanos” or High Heels
https://youtu.be/wxPxKefg0LE
Ha!
What about Aero(Chas)Smith?https://youtu.be/nf0oXY4nDxE
I prefer the lead singer’s daughter being told by the original Strider to Ride Hard in the Lord of the Rings .
https://youtu.be/_QlyN_IVhR8
I really preferred her in Stolen Beauty! https://youtu.be/SStzlZz6lxc
Liv it up.
Not to mention her creation of NZ first wavepool at the end of the scene …… she is a real pool Tyler ?
I saw Steven Tyler last year at Kahului airport. He was tiny and dressed in a leopard/leather ensemble. He was with a very young woman, equally tiny, and wearing the exact same outfit. Dude quite literally looked like a lady. It was an unbelievable mind-fuck for me.
One time I saw Tom Carroll at my local, wow he’s small, and what a fricken ripper!!!
“Mon père disait toujours: dans la vie y’a pas de grand, y’a pas de petit; la bonne longueur pour les jambes, c’est quand les pieds touchent bien par terre.”
Coluche
haha…man I have zero french…https://fr.wikiquote.org/wiki/Coluche
Ok …. no problems . Basically he said
“ my father always said . in life there are no big and no small ; the correct length for legs , is when the feet touch the ground . “
Craig Anderson is the Surfing world’s Steven Tyler. Dainty.
Former: Dane Tee X Dainty Collaboration
BUSTED!
She’s v. busty.
Oops. You were responding to a different comment. Thought you were referring to Liv.
Yes you are! Honestly!
What’s going on here, are you talking to yourself.
I’m just sitting here enjoying one of the compliments of my life, gettin’ confused with Chas! But heck, I’m fine with the “$$ web hits” (?), just make the check out to “frank”!!!
Check made out by Dora?
No third party checks please, ha!
Did somebody just say BOUNCE ?
Quit whinging
clear over their heads, beyond their field of view
You can’t be a surfer. You think you’re better than everyone else, but the People™ know surfers are the worst.
much appreciation for the art history!
an odd comparison, though, since the criticism directed at dora is not for being selfish and wild, nor fighting the establishment, but rather being 1) a racist, white-supremacist asshole, and 2) running to the lawyers and courts when he felt aggrieved, which should be considered the opposite of “fighting the man”, the antithesis of stylish insouciance.
also, highly questionable whether just surfing well at perfect right points measures up to great art. how good was miki at pipe, for example?
that is kind of interesting… do not Cali surfers have a bad rap outside of their home breaks as a general rule.
I don’t know about Cali Surfers , but in the early eighties in Sydney , people used to want to rap me on the head every time I went surfing , anywhere ……
Did Caravaggio complain about not getting paid for work he had done? If not, then how can Miki Dora be considered a true artist and worthy of such an analogous presentation as the article above?
Well, I’ve thought about this one too, and of course you are right!, but… Dora was supported, on the DL, by the big corp dollars, why? Because he somehow earned it? IDK, but by that same token Caravaggio was a tour de force, and the church big wigs that were really in to art knew it & had to give him commissions, they wanted to look at those paintings just like everyone else!
I don’t know much about art history but awhile back I caught a program about this guy and his use of new technologies to uncover the layered lives of artists’ paintings.
Guess we can say Dora was a layered guy too.
https://youtu.be/694XUHVuGQo
This whole analogy thing to Caravighio is totally weak and doesn’t hold water Chas..
Love the concept Frank, excellent piece. Fuck yeah, type more.
Mrs Hippy once told her sisters that I had two groups of friends, totally disparate from each other. Solid professional/father types and rogue personalities scratching out life in the margins.
One thing I will tell you, the steady freddy’s in my social circle always want to hear my stories or catch up on the wild guys. The wild guys never ask about the conservative bros and are surprised to see them still surfing.
Talent will always enjoy attention, vanilla custard is boring to vanilla custard.
Thanks Hippy! I’m probably more of one hit wonder, that was it, I shot my wad, and I’m also probably the steady Freddy in that deal too!
Nice work Frank ! Made me revisit two of my favorite works of Caravaggio “ The Inspiration of St Matthew” and “St Matthew and the Angel “ . Thanks again . Was thinking of Leo’s 8.33 celebration but imagined the Old Master looked more like Wade Carmichael and behaved like a losing Cardoso …. ? If only there was a surf Angel to guide the hand of evangelical surfing journalists ?
Rad! Those are awesome ones. You’re lucky if you’re in France though, you can go see “Virgin” in the Louvre, but on my bucket list is to go to Rome and see Judith Slaying Holofernes. Cool handed vigilante! https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
I do have a soft spot for girls that a handy with a knife. I am currently in Germany . Might make my way , eventually to Potsdam to see The Incredulity of Saint Thomas .Thanks again for firing the synapses .
Are you the real Frank ?
The one who wrote this piece on art history ?
Just asking for a friend…
(and there’s a discussion going on further up the page about if you’re actually chas)
It’s me, straight from the horses mouth, so-to-speak!
One thing I Do have in common with Chas is: I love exclamation points!
You didn’t directly answer his question. And what’s your real name, Derek, Chas, Longtom??
I’m starting to think that you’re frank.
C’mon Sam everyone knows Longtom’s real name, heck he’s written a few articles in TSJ lately.
Ummm, now that you mention it, could very will be…..
GASH surfboards used this in their advertising in the 90s. Same pic but she was holding the Simon Buttonshaw gash knife.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c…
That’s so 90s, in a good way!
“Michelangelo Caravaggio, without hyperbole, the most impressive painter of his time, or all time”
Possibly not the most nuanced way to start and article on a man who has divided opinion to such an extent.
Yeah, exactly, look what happened when Dora was mentioned.
Sorry, I know! I used to get B-‘s in English!