89. Rookie
Nobody knows Rookie's name. He is the 17-year-old runaway who somehow
found himself in Florida Ben's car. Rookie doesn't say much but skates at every
spot and rips. Rookie has a very bad case of athlete's foot or something. His
feet look like a scaly dinosaur's foot.
Poor Rookie got shit from everybody, especially Ben and Jimmy. On one of
the final nights he fought back a little, though, and punched Ben in the nose.
But that is the final straw when you are a Rookie. I woke up in the middle of
the night and found everybody tying up the Rookie with tape until he looked
like he was going to be roasted over a cannibal's fire. Rookie rules.
100. Backyard
Vert Ramp
I am not shitting you, they are still
alive. Ten feet tall, 24 feet wide in
someone's backyard. There are usu-
ally the locals and some girls hang-
ing out drinking beers.
We found one in Gunnison, CO.
The session was going down in no
time as a crowd gathered to watch
Darren, Chet, and Wez get down on
the ramp.
The backyard vert ramp is a beau-
tiful thing. I personally hadn't seen
one since I was a kid. There is just
something about drinking a cold.
one in a backyard with a vert ramp.
Start building.
77. Jimmy Moore
Jimmy, when where you born?
June 27, 1972.
Now, whose birthday is that?
Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Captain Kangaroo,
and Elvis.
It is true that you think you are genius
because you were born on Einstein's birthday?
Wrong! No genius. Everyone is brilliant.
How are you brilliant?
I'm stayin' away right now. I had an Indy hat on
today that I got for free... and I am broke. Someone
offered me six bucks for it and I didn't take it.
Why is that brilliant?
'Cause I wouldn't have wanted that, and the
downer side, when I'm rolling in the car with my
measly six bucks, would have been such a bummer.
Those mere little things are all it takes to keep it
real. Period. Self-control. I want a cig so goddamn
bad right now, I'm about to go roll cigarette butts.
What's self-control? Does it make you feel bet-
ter not to go roll cigarette butts?
Yeah, it does. All you need to do is feel better; it
gets the train rollin', you know? The vibe, you know?
If you get the train started then there is a good
chance you can continue that way if you believe, but
if you can't get it started then there ain't
shit goin' down. You'll be suckin' down all kinds of
substances all the time livin' like a damn vermin gut-
ter piece of death. It just ain't cutting it.
Where are you from?
Missouri. That's right. Same place Navarrette's
from dude. Navs is from Overland Park and don't
ever forget it. I don't care how long it's been, dude,
you can't drop Overland Park without knowin'. Miles
Davis was from the Midwest. He said that his sound
was a Midwestern sound.
Why do you skate? Do you want to make
money from it?
I got money for a while and I got jacked. Once I
started getting money it got all jacked out. I got
jacked on the JNCO. I gotta skate 'cause I can't get
high no more. I literally shot from that realm.
What are you gonna do when you get home
from this trip?
I'm gonna paint the outside of the ranch, pay the
rent, and head over to LA.
What's in LA?
I got some boys who believe in me and my fan-
tasy-ass life. I got Smith Family Robinson treehouse
on all this. What do you think about that? Fuckin'
100-foot rope swing, you've never done shit like that.
101. Party
The party ensues after the session
is over. It is usually never planned,
unlike those ones people put up flyers
for to hype up some stupid event. No,
this is the real thing where you just
go with the moment. You are stoked,
everyone else is stoked, and you
might as well keep being stoked.
Maybe "party" is a lame word for it;
the event is more an extension of #1
fun. Whatever you want to call it, we
did it plenty, pretty much everywhere
we skated. I got a couple bucks on
the next trip to the store.
Above left: Jimmy Moore, frontside
invert to rail, Albuquerque, NM.
Right: Darren Navarrette Japans a
fatty. Gunnison, CO.