Spicoli, our manager, handles all these "action sports" guys. I love alien subcultures but this really isn't one. These athletes make millions a year competing and there's no prize money, it's all in endorsements. It's a whole different way to look at stardom. Yeah, the Stones are t-shirt salesmen, that's where they make their real money, and these kids are selling sneakers, but they're athletes and they're rock stars in a really cool way. I've never seen such low key superstars. And it's really a youth culture. Tony Hawk makes millions a year and is the second or third most recognized sports figure. I know the name Tiger Woods, but I didn't know Tony's name. I asked our crew. The old people had no idea, but Nate and all those guys knew right away.

In the Hard Rock parking lot, they had set up this festival. There was music playing, and lots of people on bleachers. I didn't see any competition (I had to do my stupid show), but I saw them warming up. I saw a kid named Eric, in a green baseball cap and white t-shirt. He was warming up on his skateboard going around the "street track" which is just plywood set up like mall stairs and railings. I was told he just signed the first "8 figure" sneaker deal. He sells more sneakers with his name on them that Shaq and another basketball guy together. I was just watching them warm up, but they're good. It's like watching jugglers warm up, they miss all the time. They fall off all the time. It's pretty amazing stuff. I loved their youth. I loved the way they stood. I loved the humility coupled with the cockiness. There seemed to be a real camaraderie. These seemed like good kids. I watched a guy who looked like Henry Rollins (he was the oldest there at about 30) sign an autograph on a t-shirt for a little girl. He looked so tough and he was so gentle and humble. The crowd was so excited. It was going to be a great show. It didn't seem like other sports. There was something else going on. Something else that I wasn't part of. I watched the old men talk to these superstars as they figured how to make money off them. I watched the kids smile and be polite, as the old people used their slang and fit in. It all seemed very "Hard Days Night." These guys are the Beatles. The Beatles when they mattered, when no grown up knew their individual names. It was odd to watch the Beatles up close and not know which was which and just watch and hear about the money as though that explained it.

I watched Paul Rodriguez. He's "junior," his Dad's the comic, but he doesn't use "Junior" because there's no overlap in who knows him and who knows his Dad. He makes millions of dollars a year. A lot more than his Dad. I think he was 17.

I didn't stay long. I watched all the Hard Rock catering in the VIP tent being laid out all nicely for beautiful, skilled, genius kids who would eat with their hands. I wished all the old people had been forced to wear tuxedos.

As I was leaving, I met a kid. Now, I've been using the word "kid," like old geezer always do, for anyone that can be trusted, anyone under 30. But, this was a kid, the way kids use it. He's 13. I think his name was Ryan (but it could have been Paul, John, George, or Ringo), he had a bowl haircut (called "Arthur" I bet). He was a really good looking kid. I had been talking to his Mom. His Mom was younger than me and really proud of him. He had been out warming up. Mom asked him if it was too hot. He said it "sucked." I shook his hand as I was introduced to him. He had this glow of health and gentle confidence and power about him, but he was just a kid. He wasn't super tall, or strong, or anything, just a good healthy kid. He didn't seem snotty or anything. Polite, kind, not distracted. This kid just won every competition. There are no age brackets, he just won. He's a skate king. He's a boy king, except he's not crazy, and snotty. What he has to prove, he seems to do with a skateboard. His Mom wasn't a stage Mom at all; she was just nice to him. They seemed close. They seemed happy. Spicoli asked if he'd like to see the Penn & Teller show. He said, "Could we?" He's makes millions of dollars a year. Millions. He could buy the Penn & Teller show and the theater.

It's a completely alien subculture. It's a youth culture. Old people saw the Beatles and were scared. This old guy saw these kids and I was just filled with joy. Man, things are going okay.

I don't mind other guys dancing with my girl. The kids are alright.

Penn

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