I went for my usual Autumn Bowl session and had the whole place to myself. It was a rainy morning so I am sure a lot of folks just decided to stay in instead of braving the weather.

It was a good session. I left the music off because I just wanted some peace and quiet after a rough week at work wrestling with computers. I hit the bowl for a while and focused on getting some frontside grinds in the shallow end. I got a couple of really nice ones but they still feel very out of control like I am going to slam. I feel like I cheated death when I make one. Bailing on them isn't as scary as it first was. You just keep rotating your body and you won't fall backwards onto our head.

I skated the Mini Ramp too and at first I couldn't get a 50-50 to save my life until I really focused and got my energy going. I was making a bunch in a row and even a sketchy back to back one. I also did a bunch of tiny tail taps on the coping hoping to work myself up to a tail stall which most kids seem to learn in about three weeks of skating. Hmmm, old dog new trick I guess...

Later in the evening was the NYC premiere of the Christian Hosoi movie Rising Son at the Knitting Factory. I was really amped to see it because I always considered Hosoi to be the world's best skater at his peak. He later got into drugs and fell from skate grace right around the time the X Games started up in 1995. He would later get busted in January of 2000 for trafficking Crystal Meth. Now out of prison, the film chronicles his whole life from his early roots until now as a born again christian.

It was a really great movie and the skate footage was incredible. But it shows how easily corruptible people can be. This guy was at the top of his game and just went way too far with the partying. I can see how it could happen as I turned into a freak when my band started to get a little famous in Tampa Bay. Good thing we never got too big!

The big deal of the night was when I saw Steve Caballero. I flipped out. Hosoi was the world's greatest skater, but Cab was (and is) my hero. I liked his style and he always seemed like a normal nice guy and not a rock star. He was always grounded and still skates for the first company that signed him - Powell. He invented some of the greatest tricks and adapted to street skating when vert died for a while. I am not giddy around celebrities but this is a guy that I have read about my whole life. He inspired me to skate. I asked him for a picture and he obliged with a big smile confirming my opinion of him as a great person.

It was a great day filled with skating and skate film and I went for a few beers after the movie and met some friend at the Ear Inn. I heard later that Hosoi, Caballero, Hassan, and Kessler all went to the Autumn Bowl for a session after the movie that went into the early morning. I wish I had the foresight to realize they would go there after the film - now that would have been some footage!

One of the only celebrity shots you will see me do - Steve Caballero.

Hosoi speaks about the film and God...

Frontside in the Autumn Bowl...

Today my good friend Tylor and I headed out to Paul's house to strip off the heat transfers on the old school Popp Skates decks. This was an interesting situation for Tylor because he designed the graphic and for him to help me actually strip it off was ironically funny. Not to worry we are going to have them screened and dipped once we complete the job of sanding them and then they will be perfect.

It was a long day. We took the 9A Red and Tan bus out to Norwood where my boss Paul lives and stocked up on supplies at the Lowes, Ace Hardware, and the Beverage Barn. It was pretty nasty work but Tylor always works with such a good spirit that the time just flies by. We were using a chemical stripper that would sting when it touched your skin so we wore blue chemical proof gloves.

We came up with a good technique where I would apply the stripper and scrape the boards with a plastic scrapper as to not damage the wood, and then Tylor would give them a light turpentine wash. After we stripped all of the boards we started sanding them but the day was getting long. We totally completed and boxed 20 of the boards. I am going to return alone to finish up the sanding which goes very quickly. Man, I hope people buy these decks after knowing how hard I am working to make them amazing...

A huge thanks to my boss Paul for use of the garage, the rides, and making us roast beef sandwiches for lunch!

Tylor preparing to destroy his own artwork!

Chemical proof gloves? Hmmm...

The workshop of the Yankee Peddler - board stripping complete.

My daughter Gabrielle and I skated at the Stanley M. Isaacs roller rink on 96th street today. I ride my skateboard and she rides her Razor scooter. It is really beautiful to spend this time with her. She is a hilarious interesting person who looks at life with an optimism that only a child could possess.

We usually just do laps and play tag (on wheels) and then we have races. It was a beautiful day in NYC and it's nice to get some exercise with my daughter.

08.19.06

Today was the first time my wife Rachelle accompanied me to the Autumn Bowl. She is so sweet to me because she understands how I need skating in my life to help me deal with the stress of everyday life in NYC.

It was a great time at the bowl. A few guys I have skated with many times before Dylan, Seth, Jay, and Chris were all there. I got a few really good grinds in the bowl, including a few nice ones in the deep end which I have not been able to do in a while. I also got 2 back to back frontside grinds in the bowl. Maybe I was just showing off for my wife?

It was a great day and I got some 50-50s on the mini ramp but did not get any back to back 50-50s but I was close a few times. I was just relaxing and skating, having a great time with my wife, and forgetting about goals.

My wife shooting me skating for the first time - funny stuff...

My boss Paul has agreed to let me use his garage to sand the boards! This is good news because I had really no other option. My best friend Tylor is going to help me. Tylor is an amazing dude. He did the graphic for Popp Skates and is also a very accomplished musician. He can play any instrument and is a renaissance man in the true definition of the word. the cool thing about him is that he is also just a regular person. We watch football together and just hang out and drink beers. You are a very lucky person if you meet one guy like Tylor in a lifetime...

Popp Skates graphics creator and my best friend - Tylor

08.15.06 Today I started a Mac OS X Server class at Novaworks to help me administrate our server at my job for The Sonic Arts Center at CCNY. The class is ridiculously above my level of expertise. I will struggle through it but it is going to be a long 4 days! The teacher is a bass player and he is really cool. He understands that I am in over my head and seems to be willing to help me get what I need out of the class. I do not want to turn into an IT guy!

I got an email from Joe at Penn's Wood saying that he will redo the boards but I have to strip them down. I tried one in my kitchen sink and it is going to be a very long process. I have no garage so I am going to beg my boss Paul to use his garage out in New Jersey. Paul is a great guy I am sure he will help me out.

I skated the Autumn Bowl for the first time in a long while (since before the big wedding anniversary party). I was amazed to find that I could still do 50-50s! This is a great thing because it means I have achieved muscle memory regarding this trick.

I do feel very run down and tired. I have gained a little weight and my stamina is greatly reduced. I have to shave off this weight but I am addicted to steak! Help!

I have a small collection of boards going mostly reissues but I have to start selling these. I just spent a bunch of money on Popp Skates and I need to generate some income. I also need to make room in my dinky NYC apartment to put the Popp Skates stuff!

I did this project where I set up 3 boards to look just like the ones I lusted over in the June 1979 issue of Skateboarder Magazine. The pictures below show the ad from Skateboarder in the middle and the decks that I set up on the 2 outside frames of the picture. I just sold the Ray Bones Rodriguez, but the other 2 are for sale. Make offers! Remember you are supporting a struggling artist and his family!

The deck I always wanted - a Ray Bones Rodriguez snub nose. SOLD!

An Alva Leopard - another dream board!

Dogtown Wes Humpston - a pig board exemplified...

Today is my one year wedding anniversary to Rachelle! We never had a real wedding party so we decided to have a big bash out at the Bohemian Hall and Beer Garden in Astoria Queens.

It was a really nice affair but somewhat stressful. We had to chase around the staff at the Beer Garden because nothing was ready when we got there. I had to help lug the sound system from outside and the Bar was late getting set up. Not good for thirsty relatives... After we got settled though it was a wonderful time. I got to see family and friends I have not seen in a very long time. My cousin Judy showed up and I have not seen her in at least 20 years! She gave me a piece of stained glass that was my grandfather's as well as an original drawing. It was a really beautiful gesture.

It was a very emotional day for me because all of my brothers and sisters were together for the first time in many years. Rachelle and Gabby were so sweet and dressed beautifully. Rachelle even had a Popp Skates groom's cake made by the bakery! She is an awesome woman and I am sure I can spend the rest of my life with her because she gets all of my little (and big) quirks.

It was kind of a long night. I played with my old bands dogs on ice and and my eponymous outfit Joe Popp. It was fun but hard to do. I don't have the old spark for music that I once had and that really saddens me. It used to be everything I was about and now music is just a nostalgic old sweater I break out for special occasions. I wonder where that drive went? I guess it was the years of being denied being able to do it for a living that finally just ground me up into nothing. Maybe one day the muse will return...

Several of my friends played a few songs as well. Most of these friends I have known for many many years, and witnessing them play just added to the beauty of the night. No, I never got to be the rock star I wanted to be, but I met a lot of great people along the way - and for that fact I wouldn't change my past for any amount of fame or stardom...

My lovely wife Rachelle and my beautiful daughter Gabrielle...

The groom's cake - eat a piece of Popp Skates!

Popp Skates decks are coming in but I am kind of bummed. The Popp Skates decks I ordered from Madrid are all screwed up! I have been waiting a long time to get these boards and I am so upset that they are not perfect. They used a heat transfer process which did not turn out very well.

The decks look like orange skin - all bumpy and all of the decks have crinkles on the edges where they heated up the shrink wrap too much. I am going to have to try and negotiate something with Madrid to get a refund.

On a good note the new school decks I got from Penn's Wood are amazing! They are black dipped in paint and then actually silk screened. This is the old way of doing it and I am really excited to have find this company that does really high quality work for small orders. After seeing what these guys can do I think I am going to try and have them dip and screen my old school decks from Madrid. The trouble is that I have to strip and sand all of them down.

Popp Skates new school decks look killer!!!!

The old school decks - not so good...