Crackie Onassis
FOF
Local Hero
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So heavy, you can't pick it up.
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« on: June 30, 2008, 04:08:38 PM » |
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Just finished this book. Let me just say this, I"ve never been a Dora-guy. I'd hear the stories and think "what a creep."
Now, this book by David Ruskin puts things in perspective by telling Da Cat's story in a "Citizen Kane" "Edie (Sedgewick), "Please Kill Me" interview-only style with the Chuck Barris movie thrown in for good measure.
I've always wondered how people like Greg Noll put up with this guy's paranoid schtick? The thing is, it wasn't schtick. Dora was an undstable dude who got his way because he could surf well and people wanted to be around him.
His Father (Miki Sr) seems awesome in the book, but we don't know the whole story. Dora's second hand accounts paint a portrait of the aristocratic Hungarian restauranteur who disapproves of his surf bum son's lifestyle. On the other side of the paternal influence you have the stepfather, surf pioneer Gardner Chapin Sr, who was murdered in Mexico and the one who taught a young Micky Chapin the ways of the grift. Put em together and you get Miki Dora.
A really good book, even for people who don't surf.
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Palin is as Palin does.
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Bubba
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« Reply #1 on: June 30, 2008, 05:50:28 PM » |
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This post on the Oregon Surf blog "Sissyfish" is fun because it invites you to speculate on who would best be cast as Dora when the movie version of this book comes out (Leonardo DiCaprio's production company bought the film rights to the book). The post is also fun because the book's author adds his two cents in the comment section. I can borowz teh Dora piographic? I lek two reed. |
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Crackie Onassis
FOF
Local Hero
Online
Posts: 7779
So heavy, you can't pick it up.
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« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2008, 05:56:00 PM » |
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Not myne. I borrowzed it. Young Dora: Nathan Fletcher. Malibu Dora: Alex Knost Fugitive Dora: either James Caviezel or George Clooney. Da Bull:  ?? Gard Chapin Sr: Woody Harrelson |
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« Last Edit: July 01, 2008, 08:10:13 AM by Crackie Onassis »
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Palin is as Palin does.
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elkisthebachelor
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« Reply #3 on: July 01, 2008, 10:37:58 AM » |
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Not myne. I borrowzed it. Young Dora: Nathan Fletcher. Malibu Dora: Alex Knost Fugitive Dora: either James Caviezel or George Clooney. Da Bull: ?? Gard Chapin Sr: Woody Harrelson Actually, Mark Ruffalo isn't a bad choice at all. Dora:  Ruffalo:  |
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Free Manson. Take acid.  |
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Bubba
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« Reply #4 on: July 01, 2008, 01:47:47 PM » |
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Ruffalo definitely would be at the top of my list. I'd put Josh Brolin up there, too. Not so much on the physical resemblence, but because I think he could ace the whole bourgeois grifter thing.
Problem is, whoever played him would have to be able to surf, right? Right?
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Igotsoul4u
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« Reply #5 on: July 01, 2008, 06:41:07 PM » |
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Igotsoul4u
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« Reply #6 on: July 01, 2008, 06:42:10 PM » |
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i think i just made myself look pretty gay.
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elkisthebachelor
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« Reply #7 on: July 02, 2008, 09:31:13 AM » |
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i think i just made myself look pretty gay.
It happens. Just dust yourself off and pretend that no one noticed. Bubba, I was thinking about that, but the crap they can do with special effects these days could probably cover that. You know, film CJ Nelson shredding Malibu and then somehow slap and actors face on him. It's not like we're still in the Beach Blanket Bingo days. Which reminds me: http://www.beachblanketburnout.blogspot.com/ |
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Free Manson. Take acid. |
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da Kook
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« Reply #8 on: July 02, 2008, 09:43:21 AM » |
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i think i just made myself look pretty gay.
It happens. Just dust yourself off and pretend that no one noticed. Bubba, I was thinking about that, but the crap they can do with special effects these days could probably cover that. You know, film CJ Nelson shredding Malibu and then somehow slap and actors face on him. It's not like we're still in the Beach Blanket Bingo days. Which reminds me: http://www.beachblanketburnout.blogspot.com/Yeah, but if they make a modern day surf movie and DON"T have an Eric Von Zipper-like character (with "the finger"), I'm not gonna watch it.  |
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"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." Albert Einstein
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snaggletooth
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« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2008, 06:47:17 PM » |
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book was awesome!
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SeaCliff
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« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2008, 09:06:30 PM » |
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Saw it on the shelf at B&N the other day - almost picked it up. Then I remembered I dont have time to read books.  Great review tho, Crackie....ahh..maybe I'll get to read it one day. |
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"I could not help concluding that this man felt the most supreme pleasure while he was driven on so fast and so smoothly by the sea…" 40.58°, -73.70°
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snaggletooth
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« Reply #11 on: August 07, 2008, 09:34:51 PM » |
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i read the rensin biography and then Dora Lives (by Steyck and Kampion). I have to say Rensin does a phenomenal job of painting the picture of Dora's life, as Crackie perfectly described. The Dora Lives, while a pretty book to flip through, doesn't capture the full picture - it's sort of a summary.
SC, worth the time if you can carve it out. Commuting has given me more time to read, although much less sleep with an 80 hour+ work week and a surf addiction to try to balance. The Dora book made me feel a little bit like a failure though, with his "work is for schmucks" attitude.
Another quick read that I really enjoyed right after the Dora books was Da Bull: Life over the Edge. Similar in that it incorporated interviews to paint the story of each chapter of Noll's life.
Anybody have any other suggestions for good surf books? i've read gazillions, but I'm sure i'm missing a few good ones
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Bubba
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« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2008, 10:34:58 PM » |
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Anybody have any other suggestions for good surf books? i've read gazillions, but I'm sure i'm missing a few good ones
"On a Wave" by Thad Ziolkowski. |
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SeaCliff
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« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2008, 11:12:50 PM » |
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Another quick read that I really enjoyed right after the Dora books was Da Bull: Life over the Edge. Similar in that it incorporated interviews to paint the story of each chapter of Noll's life.
ahh...another one I have to make time for one day soon... |
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"I could not help concluding that this man felt the most supreme pleasure while he was driven on so fast and so smoothly by the sea…" 40.58°, -73.70°
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Smith St. Surfer
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« Reply #14 on: August 07, 2008, 11:56:54 PM » |
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Anybody have any other suggestions for good surf books? i've read gazillions, but I'm sure i'm missing a few good ones
"On a Wave" by Thad Ziolkowski. Caught Inside, Daniel Duane. In Search of Captain Zero, Allan Weisbecker Hotel Honolulu, Paul Theroux (nothing really about surfing in this book other than the fact that it's in Hawaii, but a wicked good take on the underbelly of paradise). |
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Barack Would Go
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