MP in Surfer mag

General Discussion
1

The new surfer mag came, with an article on Michael Peterson.  I realize he needed help (he realized it too), but to me it seems a mistake on the part of the mental health professionals whose care he was under that some surfing was not included as a therapeutic activity.  I mean, he gets a speeding ticket, is taken in for evaluation, and never paddles out again!  By the time he passed away, the meds had pretty much killed his spirit, from the sound of things. 

I dunno, maybe just second-guessing here.  I realize the contest scene and pressure of being in the spotlight were not good for him, but doesn't it seem like the physical act of surfing would have been healthy for him, from time to time?

BTW, on a side point, anyone remember the article "No Visible Signs of Progress" from an old Surfer mag back in the 70's?  The mental hospital on the beach?  Would have been the perfect place for MP!

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If you haven’t read the MP biography by Sean Doherty (http://www.amazon.com/MP-The-Life-Michael-Peterson/dp/0732276098), I suggest you do. Sean Doherty spent a lot of time speaking to MP in the process. If I recall correctly, it wasn’t the speeding fine, but rather the realisation that the surfing world was moving beyond single fins and rail turns and embracing Simon Anderson’s thruster.

Another good MP link is the film “Searching for Michael Peterson”: http://www.theage.com.au/tv/sport/searching-for-michael-peterson-2848397.html

Cheers
Paul

3

It is sad that in our day and age the stigma of mental health continues to persist.

Even if, to a lessor degree, the import of helping people that frequently suffer from chemical imbalances by over production or lack of neurotransmitters that affect mood, drive, and the ability to handle daily stress common to all of us.

At least one former world champion has had such challenges, and his behavior was sometimes subject to intolerance if not ridicule. That individual  was successfully diagnosed and has lived a more balanced productive life to this day.

But the stigma still remains, therefore don’t PM me asking who that person might be.

It is a fact that physical exercise benefits individuals suffering from depression; particularly an individual like MP who was keen on surfing. Surfing  might very likely have benefitted him be releasing endorphins and enkephalins… the so called pleasure neurotransmitters.

I sometimes wonder if true creativity isn’t somehow linked to a form of madness? At least for some like Dali, Van Gogh, Picasso…MP?

Maybe schizophrenia is just another reality in a parallel universe that society has yet to understand.

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[quote="$1"]

It is a fact that physical exercise benefits individuals suffering from depression; particularly an individual like MP who was keen on surfing. Surfing  might very likely have benefitted him be releasing endorphins and enkephalins.......... the so called pleasure neurotransmitters.

[/quote]

Yes, that's the point.  And it also has health / fitness benefits, which he sorely needed.  The fact that they didn't pursue this, just kept him doped up on med's for the remainder of his life, was (I think) a horrible oversight.  The phamaceutical equivalent of locking him up in the cellar.  At least that's the impression I got from the article.

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Ironically, there are new studies suggesting the possibility of 'enrichment" by Prozac subscribers.

It’s unclear if the SSRI allows the individual that has historically had difficulty focusing, an improved ability to take in information that requires focus and patience (i.e. reading), or if someting more anatomical ocurs along the synaptic trail (or what have you).

If Prozac has that capability, then I suppose I would be obliged to suggest that LSD might also have the ability to enrich an individual’s thinking capacity… hence the term coined in the 60’s “mind expanding drug”.

The problem with drugs, on the whole, is that we are all distinctly unique, and reactions to any number of drugs can be unpredictable. I know at least one fellow who  was addcited to cocaine and used it so he could sleep.

Go figure. However, that’s not entirely different from how stimulants frequently mellow out children while doing the opposite to adults…

Some things in the world continue to remain mysterious and abstract.

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enkephalins sound good ! …where can I get some?

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...from surfing ... [endorphins , at least !] ...how 'stoke' FEELS !!

 

 

"It is sad that in our day and age the stigma of mental health continues to persist."  [deadshaper]

 

 yes , it is  !  VERY SAD INDEED. .

 

  ....until we know someone , or work in the field ourselves , or suffer ourselves ["walk two weeks in their mocassins": , is that the indian proverb?] , or decide to get educated ...  ignorance , unfortunately persists , as does its partner , 'fear of the unknown'....

 

 ( I can still well remember MY first days , working in the mental health field , and my own fears and insecurities of "what will it be like ?"  ... I remember also , that I  went through similar feelings / fear[s] , first days on the job , working with kids with cerebral palsy) )

 

  unfortunately , in queensland [ and i'm only guessing ? worldwide?] at the era of M.P's incarceration , knowledge and therapies may not have been as developed / tolerant as today , so it's always 20/20 in hindsight eh huck ?

 

  but yes , that said , i woulda LOVED to have seen M.P. continue surfing , for SURE !!

 ...having read the book , interviews , and watched the movie ,

 I,  too, couldn't help but feel it was a loss ...to both him , AND us ! ...that he didn't er  're-enter' the water after the incarceration

 

  ....may we learn from this , hopefully ???

 

  cheers !

 

  ben

8

" ....BTW, on a side point, anyone remember the article "No Visible Signs of Progress" from an old Surfer mag back in the 70's?  The mental hospital on the beach ?  "....

 

.... DO you have a COPY of that article , please , Huck ?

 

I would be VERY interested to read it !!

 

  cheers mate !

 

  ben

9

[quote="$1"]

" ....BTW, on a side point, anyone remember the article "No Visible Signs of Progress" from an old Surfer mag back in the 70's?  The mental hospital on the beach ?  "....

 

.... DO you have a COPY of that article , please , Huck ?

 

I would be VERY interested to read it !!

 

  cheers mate !

 

  ben

[/quote]

Hello Mr. Chips!  No, I don't have it, except burnished into my somewhat faulty memory LOL.  There is a hardcover compendium of past Surfer Mag articles that has it, I saw it while browsing at the bookstore one day.  I think its this one, but can't say for sure, without holding it in my hand.  http://www.amazon.com/dp/0811870340/ref=rdr_ext_tmb

The story line was that the county builds a mental hospital on the beach, and all access is blocked off and forbidden.  The beach has great waves, and all the local surfers are bummed.  Shortly thereafter, a surfer is committed to the hospital.  I can't remember the details, only that he finagles a surfboard, and has all this great surf all to himself.  He continues under treatment, with no visible signs of progress.  Can be heard laughing uncontrollably to himself some nights.

BTW, discussing with my wife as a sounding board, so to speak, she thinks MP had to have allowed his surfing to be taken from him, that he didn't fight to get back out there.  I'll admit that in the Surfer Mag interview, he talks about what a relief it was to him to be incarcerated, no sex, no drugs, no contests, good coffee three times a day.  Nevertheless, I see him as the victim of a system that doesn't have the individual's best interests at heart. 

Since you know more about his situation, can you tell me: was it ever an option for him to get back into the water?  Just how doped up was he?  Did they do anything more severe than drug the poor guy, i.e. lobotomy type stuff?  I know that was an area of experimentation back then, and it wasn't always broadcast what they were doing.  Just curious, I need to read the book and see the movie, I guess.

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Hah - yes, that's it!  Thanks for posting that.  Wouldn't Sunrise Hills Institution have been the ideal spot for Mr. Peterson?  He and Mr. Yeti would have gotten along famously.  Wait - I'm confusing fiction with reality!  Maybe I need to check myself into Sunrise Hills!

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thanks HEAPS , Uncle !

 

  I wonder  two things

 

1.  when that article came out , how MANY other naked surfers rocked up there , claiming to be his 'brothers' / 'tribe members'  ?

2.  if it was ? autobiographical ?

..... was "alvin darkling" ** in fact a "nom -de-plum" ,  for mikki ??  [ because , it sounds like the ultimate scam ...private surf break , three meals a day ?free rent?  a bed for the night ... ]

 

it reminded me of the writings of john smythe [ who went under the name of 'carlos izan' *, among other names?] in 'surfer' and 'skateboarder ' mags , [? c.1975 onwards ?  , from long term memory ?] ...usually accompanpanied by craig stecyk's photos ...what a TEAM !!

 

  CHEERS for the ...er..."flashback"  [ha !] , Uncs !  

 

  ben

 

* .... 'carlos'...spanish ?  brazilian?     .....'izan'  ... = 'nazi' , spelt backwards   [q: what year did the movie "the boys from brazil"  get released ?! ]

 

** "alvin darkling"  ??? .....hmmmm.... [another  "I wonder"  ... did this article , by any chance , come out the same year that the movie 'alvin purple ' was released ... similar names , is all ... ??

13

“laughing and crying is the same release”… Joni Mitchell, “Free Man in Paris”

 

…genius, or… madness?

 

 

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IMO, both Joni and Salvador were genius (although I think Salvador was also part-conman)…we all have our inner self , but to expess those thoughts to the world at large is where the genius happens…

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Genius is probably as elusive as the fabled unicorn.

Dali, Mitchell and Michael Peterson offered fresh perspectives to us;  the general society.

Most of life is a rerun…our lives are filled with an over-abundance of mediocrity.

Going to the bathroom, fetching the paper, getting the mail, clocking in at work, eating, watching tv, driving to school, shopping at the market, listening to a favorite song, sleeping, shaping, surfing, screwing, yawning, farting…

(Perhaps) genius is rising above the mediority and looking at every day motions from outside the box.

Innovation is fairly common, genuine creativity is extremely rare.

 



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