New Film in Progress:
Joe Popp Skates Again!


Skate Diary Archive - May 2004
5/30/04
I went up to Riverside Skate Park for the first time. The park has a lot of history behind it because it was the first real skate park built in Manhattan under the preserverance of Andy Kessler. It is kind of strange because the ramps are covered with metal and have a painted surface. The first time I dropped in I busted pretty hard. I saw a few regulars from the skate scene there. Allen, who is this really great skater who started back about 3 years ago and Tamara, a woman whom I see often at Chelsea. It was hard getting used to the strange surface and I didn't learn too much, but Riverside is right on the water and free. The 6-foot ramp they have is pretty fun. I still can't really do any tricks on a 6-foot yet! The mini-ramp they have there is pretty bad. It's concrete in the middle and the transitions are too steep. The Vert ramp appears to be about 9 feet and I climbed up it only to look down and chicken out. I thought I could do it after the 7 foot drop in at Chelsea but it just didn't feel right. It hurts a lot more than Skatelite when you fall on steel!Ê Allen gave me quite a few pointers and told me about this great ramp he is building in New Jersey - very inspiring. It seems when ever I run into an older skater, they are always very helpful and just want to skate for the sheer joy of it.

Riverside - Free and on the Hudson!!!


5/29/04
After the busted session last night, I told Stuart we should skate Chelsea. We both live pretty close and it's not so crowded early on. The new Buddy Carr model is AWESOME! I was able to do a 50-50 Grind to Rock to Fakie in one run. These are simple tricks but to me represent a great leap in my learning process. Another thing I did was to drop in off of the 7-foot section of the 6-foot ramp. This is a big step because it goes slightly vertical. Dropping in on vertical is really more a mental thing than a real feat. It's like someone saying to you "Hey! Go Jump off of that cliff" because it really is straight down!!!
5/28/04
The weather is just plain awful but Stuart gave me a call to see if I wanted to go to this place in Jersey called RexPlex. I have seen pictures of it and it is supposed to be a cool park. It's awesome that Stuart calls me because he has a car and I like to skate with him and his son. No attitude - just have fun. He is also in the music biz so we talk a lot about gear and stuff. The problem was that when we got there this huge Christian rock concert was happening right in the Skate Park!! Man how annoying!! I was so amped to skate too. DRATS!!!

The RexPlex Ramp - unskated...


5/26/04
I just put together a new board that is sort of a combo of old and new school technology. It's a Bulldog Skates Buddy Carr model. I am going to give it a try and see if it works out. I just can't stand that popsicle stick, so this is a wide board that has a kick nose on it. We'll see if it helps!!

Bulldog Skates Buddy Carr Model


5/23/04 TOP SECRET! I bought a new school board, the kind which many old schoolers refer to as "popsicle sticks". I want to try some street skating because I think it will help my ramp and bowl riding. I am unable to go to the parks some nights because I get home late from work so I decided to give it a go. I found a small patch of cement directly across from Jacob Javits Convention Center. The cement is really rough but it the only uninterrupted patch of concrete anywhere near my apartment. I skated down there on the popsicle stick and tried doing Ollies, a trick in which you hop the board up into the air. I must have done about 100 and I think the highest one was about a quarter inch!! I need to be on a board as much as possible and it's fun, but I don't think I will ever be Ollie champ of the world!

Incognito - A nerd and his popsicle are soon parted...


5/22/04
I was unable to skate on Friday because I was out of town but I decided to skate today. I wanted to go to the big Skate Jam that was being held up at Riverside Skate Park but I heard some reports that it was crowded. I thought about it and decided that I wanted maximum board time and didn't want to wait to take my turn. YOU DURN KIDS! GETOUT OF MY WAY! GRAMPY WANTS TO SKATE!! I didn't want to inflict my grouchy attitude on a bunch of youngsters, so I went to Chelsea. It was crazy hot but I did OK. I need to work on my frontside turns but my 50-50 Grinds are getting better and I was able to grind 2 of them back to back although quite wobbly! There was this 9 year old kid from Kenya who was ripping on the Mini-Ramp and even did a few ollie airs over the roll in. He was different from a lot of the other kids because he had style. He commented on my board and told me he broke his nose recently while skating when his trucks locked up on the coping. I asked him his age and he replied "9". I was amazed at this kid's ability at his young age but the biggest thing I learned from him was that when he skated he had a smile from ear to ear. I decided not to be grumpy for the rest of the day...
Later at night there was a reading at the Bowery Poetry Club to benefit the Autumn Bowl, which was a bowl these guys built in Greenpoint, Brooklyn so they would have a place to skate during bad weather. All of the readers had work in a book called Life and Limb, which has just been released by a really cool indy publisher - Soft Skull Press. I was excited because Jocko Weyland was going to read. I just finished his book The Answer Is Never Ê and I was anxious to see him in person. The Answer is Never is best book I have read regarding skating because Jocko talks about skating as a way of life and not a sport. He admits that he will never be able to do a McTwist but still finds great rewards from skating. This book really hit it on the head for me - just skate and have a good time. He talks about his skating trials and tribulations in a far more personal level than Tony Hawk did in his book. After Jocko read a hilarious story about a fight with some roller bladers and their parents, I went up to him and said "Jocko, I just wanted to let you know that your book was a great inspiration to me, I just started skating again after about 15 years, thank you". He seemed a little taken aback but said "thanks, keep skating". He probably thought I was a super dork but it was cool he took time to speak to me an encourage me to skate. He is a true ambassador of skateboarding and I hope to interview him for the film.

The Answer is Never - Read it!!!


5/18/04
A guy from the BDS Board, Kronix (John), has an idea about renting out a park called Wooden Waves before they tear it down in Reading, PA. He wants to have a Bulldog Skates East Coast Skate Jam! I am totally up for it because I will get to film legally and also have a lot of older skaters in one place that I can interview and hang out with. Craig (yes the guy with the ramp), has already offered me a ride! This is the most noble gesture a person can make to the car-less! There is a really great camaraderie among older skaters and I am really enjoying it. Kronix is still working on the dates but it looks like it will be going down. I can't wait to put faces to all of the guys I chat with on the message board!

Wooden Waves Bowl!!!


5/17/04 I got an email from Craig and he sent me pictures of his unnamed ramp in progress. It is looking pretty sweet! He is just waiting to put the Skatelite on it! Can't wait to ride it!!!

Craig's Ramp looking SWEET!!!


5/16/04
I wanted to go to Owl's Head today but it rained something wicked the night before and I didn't feel like working for Popp's Pool Cleaning service so I just went to Chelsea again. I had plenty of time on the mini ramp and I am starting to get my 50-50 Grinds pretty decent. It is obvious I just need to spend more time on my board. It was extremely hot and just as I was putting my pads away and calling it quits, Stuart and his son Calder showed up. It was cool to see them, so I padded back up and rode the mini ramp and 6-footer some more. They are both inspiring dudes because they just love to skate and aren't worried about ego and image. Calder loves to take my Dogtown board for a few runs and does most of the tricks he can do on his board, once again proving that I don't need to succumb to the evil new school skinny boards. Another kid was able to Kickflip the Dogtown! Everyone loves to ride the deck so I am thinking about bringing two next time! Imagine if I start a new old school trend!!! Hmmm... does that even make sense???

My Dogtown Reissue - really not a BDS deck - but close!


5/15/04
I wasn't going to skate today but I had to drop off some music for a play I am working on. The rehearsal space was right near the Tribeca Bowl so I decided to bring my deck and pads. I had never been there before and was glad to find a really nice mini ramp and a really beautiful bowl. These guys were all shredding the bowl pretty well. At one point I was perched on the mini ramp and I heard a voice say, "Hey are you Joe Popp?".; I said "Yeah, but how did you know?". He said "Your wheels, I am from the BDS message board, I'm RoadRider4 (Armando)". It was really cool to have conversed with someone online and then meet them in person. Armando carved up the bowl very nicely and let me stand on his board - a Bulldog Skate Sacred Heart. The trucks were so loose I couldn't believe it! I guess that's the secret to good carving... I was too intimidated by the shredders to Drop In the bowl, but I had a great time at the park even though it was a little crowded. I will return next week very early to try to hit the bowl before it gets too crowded.

Armando's carving machine of choice


5/14/04
I skated my normal Friday 7pm to 9pm at Chelsea Piers and the place was just overrun with BMX guys. They use up so much space that it is hard to skate. My trick learning has become somewhat stagnate. I need to start riding during the week if I want to be able to progress. I am having fun and not pressuring myself too much though. I am starting to lose a couple of pounds and my recovery time from session to session is much quicker. My right ankle gives me troubles, probably due to the fact that it was run over by a U.S. Postal truck on 34th and 8th! Backside kickturns feel pretty good and I need to work on the frontside. My friend Jamie came out again but had a pretty hard slam and whacked his hip pretty good. I hope he doesn't call it quits. There was this guy there named John-O riding a 40" long board called a Comet and he was just killing it. Proving to me that I don't need a new school "popsicle stick" board to do new tricks, even if it would help, there is just something I like about not folding to the new school...

John-O killed the mini-ramp with this deck!


5/12/04
I wrote to Tony Hawk to see if he could give me some footage because I think he represents the evolution of skating. I got a note from his sister saying that Tony is too busy to answer his emails. I understand he's a big celeb now but it seems he has turned against everything that skateboarding stands for: being an outsider, expressing yourself just for yourself. I enjoyed his book Tony Hawk: Occupation Skateboarder and found it very inspirational, but after reading his book Between Boardslides and Burnout, my opinion of him changed. He had all of these pictures with celebrities (Monica Lewinsky!), and grumbled about signing autographs. I felt like "Dude, you have enough money from your video games alone to just stop doing tours, so why not just stop?" I think I relate more to guys like Salba who still ride anywhere with anybody and can still evolve but don't turn it into a contest. I sent an email to Salba (his name is really Steve Alba, but everyone calls him Salba) and he responded the same day. He said he had read the website and encouraged me to skate and just have fun. Good advice, because I don't think I will ever be able to do a 900 like Tony...

Salba - The man in action!


5/9/04
Finally a new piece of terrain! After getting my skate legs somewhat back under me, I decided it was time to hit some different terrain besides the Piers. I made the R train trek out to Millenium Skate Park which everybody calls Owl's Head because it is in a park of the same name. It is a really great park (free!) and has an awesome cement bowl with a spine in the middle that connects to a pool with coping. When I arrived there was some water in the bottom, I did a couple of runs but I didn't want to screw up my new Rock n Ron's Rockets bearings by getting them wet. So in the spirit of the original Dogtown pool skaters, I grabbed a broom and spread out all of the puddles. It was a lot of work but I wanted to skate that bowl! I worked the water for about 30 minutes and with some help from the sun I was able to skate. It is so different than riding a ramp! The walls are curved so it is harder to keep your balance, but man was it fun! The last time I had skated a pool was at Kona Skatepark in Jacksonville in 1988 when I fell flat on my face and split my chin open. I vowed to be careful... Pools are amazing because you can carve around and every turn is different as opposed to a ramp, which is kind of just back and forth. I love Owl's Head but I think I still need more practice and balance before I can take advantage of the place. I now see why guys like Salba dedicate their lives to finding, cleaning, and skating pools...

Millennium Skate Park (aka Owl's Head)

I have a newfound respect for this guy!


5/7/04
I went to Chelsea Piers yet again and had a hilarious session. A good friend of mine Jamie Verinis heard I was skating again and wanted to give it a try. He shows up wearing classic red Rector Pads and an old ProTec Helmet, the kind that looks like a football helmet without the facemask. To top it off he had these super tight seersucker shorts, which I now refer to as the "buldgies". Jamie is a surfer and skated back in the day. He did really well and even pulled off a flat ground 720. We skated the quarter pipe some and Jamie fell a bunch, but kept trying until he could do a backside 180. Later in the night we crawled into the 11-foot 1/2 pipe and just practiced pumping up and down on the ramp. A bunch of my friends were there and they all came around to the side of the half pipe and started cheering when either one of us got above the first sheet of plywood. All of these BMX guy's had puzzled looks on their faces as if to say, "Why are all of those people clapping, those guys suck!" How nice it is to have supportive friends! After hearing the ruckus, two Chelsea regulars, Stuart and his son Calder came over to the half pipe. They skated a few runs and we all had a great time. Stuart got up pretty high in the half pipe and did a few cool tricks. His son was able to almost Kickflip my Dogtown board on the flat bottom! Stuart and I have a pact that we will Drop In from the top of the 11-foot half pipe by the end of the summer. Good thing I have health insurance... Mary G captured a bunch of it on video....

No this isn't Jamie, but he was wearing the same exact pads and helmet!


5/6/04
OH MAN! This really rad dude Craig sent me some photos of his ramp in progress. He lives relatively close to NYC and invited me to skate it with him when he finishes it. People wonder why I am getting back into skating? Because a guy who has never seen me before invites me into his backyard to skate. Can't wait until it's done! Craig, we will film that day bro!!!! It's almost too pretty to cover it with wood!

Craig's Ramp (yet to be named!)


5/2/04
RAIN SUCKS!!!! I was going to do a photo shoot with photographer Tamara Zouboff at Chelsea Piers and we had to cancel because of the precipitation. DRATS! I may try to skate later if it dries up... DAMN YOU SKATE GODS! WHY MUST YOU MOCK ME!!!!

Later that day... Awesome! The rain stopped! I was able to get about 3 hours of knee pad and helmet testing. I dropped in on the middle portion of the the 6-foot half pipe which is just about vertical. On the mini ramp I was able to do back to back 50-50 Grinds. Some kid dared me to do back to back Rock to Fakies, which I have never done, and did it the first try! I think the youngster had been watching too much Jackass and wanted to see me put another dent in my head. Old Man 1 - Kids 0...