STATE OF THE UNION ADDRESS
By Diamond Dallas Page

What’s up?

I’ve been so busy since I got back from Indonesia that I haven’t had the time to get with Rich to do this email. I actually took the time to write the whole thing out myself on my computer, but I lost it. I guess I didn’t save a backup. I’ll know better next time.

Before I get into this email, I want to explain something that’s been brought to my attention. Every email, I end with Live Life at 90%. I’m writing a book on this subject now with my cohort Marlon Ransom. The reason that I bring this up is because JT brought to my attention that most people probably don’t understand what Live Life at 90% means and said I should explain it in my next email. Here’s the short version…living life at 90% means that life is 10% of what happens to you and 90% how you react to it. Living life at 90% means that you try to live life as best as possible and make the most of that 90%.

Indonesia…the sharks, poisonous snakes, the coral reefs that can cut you like Freddy Krueger, the barracudas lurking beneath the waves, and the mosquitoes that carry malaria (you can die from malaria in 12 hours and it happens every day). If I was to think about all those things, it would all be the negative 10%. If I chose to dwell on that negative, I would have missed the trip of the lifetime. Thanks, JT.

So, where to start? It all starts on a 1:30 AM flight out of Los Angeles through Taipei, Kuala Lumpur and arriving 36 hours later in Jakarta, Indonesia. Jakarta is what Tombstone was to the United States in the 1900s, the true wild, wild, wild west. We went out the first night and partied our a$$es off and had a hell of a time. What’s crazy about Indonesia is that some parts are very wealthy and other parts make South Central L.A. look like Beverly Hills. The next morning, with very little sleep, we were up and headed to Padang. Once there, about six hours later, we were heading out to our seventy-two foot luxury yacht which was going to take us 12 hours out to sea to the best surf I have ever seen. I was invited on this trip by my buddy John Thompson (J.T.) who I have been friends with for years. While I was in Hawaii this year, staying at his house on Kaui I met a guy named Jeff “Q” Hackman. Back in the 70s, he was a champion surfer and now he is the head guy of European Quiksilver. J.T. is also one of the top stockholders of Quiksilver, which is how they connected. Jeff and I hit it off big time in Kaui and he asked me if I wanted to hook up with some of his buddies on the surf trip of a lifetime. Getting back in the water? There’s no way I was passing that up. On this trip was Jeff’s son Ryan, Alessandro, John, Belly, Thom, and JT. When I got to the ship, I met the captain Burt first. Then there was Martin who owns this ship as well as three other ships that various surf companies and surf enthusiasts use to take trips on all the time. It’s kind of like chartered fishing…chartered surfing. You take the yacht out for a week or so at a time and surf the breaks. You don’t even have to paddle out because they have a smaller boat to tow you out the first time. If you get caught inside and the waves are pounding you, your a$$ is grass and you’re on your own. Unfortunately, that’s what happened to this greenhorn from time to time.

The first night on the boat I was so burned out from flying for 36 hours, not sleeping, and partying in Jakarta, I skipped dinner and passed out cold when I got on the ship. This was the last time I would miss dinner again. The food was five star every meal. Our chef Liz was unbelievable. I’m a guy who never easy dessert, but I ate it every night on this ship because she had one extravagant concoction every night. If there were no waves at all, this trip still would have been worth it because the food was that good.

The next morning, I was up at 5 AM and we had just pulled into our first surf location called the Burgers. They had beautiful waves rolling off to the right. Now, I have to tell you how important waves rolling off the right are to me. 90% of all surfers surf to the right because that’s the way the breaks go. If you go to the left, you get eaten alive especially in these kinds of breaks. You stand with your face towards the waves because then it’s easier to surf. Now, if you go left, facing the waves that’s called goofy-foot. Yeah…goofy-foot. So, if I have to go left, my back is facing the wave which is much harder. These were perfect breaks and the biggest waves I have ever surfed. Thank God they were going right. I learned a valuable lesson that day – Don’t get caught inside the big breaks. Because if you do you get washed into shore. There’s no beach here. It’s that same coral razor sharp reef I was telling you about. There were times I was scared as hell of getting tossed into there. There are some great shots from that day on the site of me hitting the waves with my buddy.

Every night we’d drive to a different location and wake up in a whole new surf break. If the surf break wasn’t working, we’d go to another island and try there. Unfortunately, for me, I would never see another right break. On the positive side, I learned how to go left. In the beginning, I was using my 9 foot 6 longboard. After about the fourth, Martin showed me that if I used an 8 foot board that I’ll be tearing the waves up. I tried the board the first time, the sun was just going down. There were only three surfers in the water. One was Bob Hurley, the owner of Hurley Surfboards. What a great guy he was. All the boys were on the boat to see the old man, the rookie to see if he could get up on that small board. Bets were flying left and right. Only two guys thought I could do it, Ryan and my man Belly. They were just about to put the money down when I tore into a wave. I could hear the cheers from the boat as I finished the wave. From there on out it was all left from one wave to another. The waves were from 6 to 8 to even 10 foot faces which were awesome for me.

Every night, we would hang on the front deck of the ship on our beanbags drinking beer and wine and watching the most gorgeous sunsets I’ve ever seen. the islands were the greenest, bluest water you’re ever seen. No pollution out here. The stars were an astronomer’s dream and you could see satellites moving. It was truly heaven. We were moving so we didn’t have to worry about malaria carrying mosquitoes. Trust me when I say that is always on your mind. I can’t recommend enough checking out the pics on the site.

After 12 days of the best waves I;ve ever seen, I started the journey home…which only took 28 hours. As soon as I got home, I was sitting back watching the Sopranos when I get a call from JT who had just flown in six hours after me. He found every hotel at LAX booked so I went to pick him up. He told me that my friend Stone Cold Steve Austin was at the same airport bar. I told him to get over there and introduce himself and I’d be there to have a beer with them soon. When I saw Steve, he told me he would be going back and forth to Hollywood to start up his acting career, looking for his next deal just like me. I told him if he needed anything to just give me a call.

The next night I returned to the ring with Dusty Rhodes’ new company AZ#1 The Black and Blue Division with his new partner Dave. Dusty was on the card with Abdullah the Butcher. They must have wrestled 1000 times over the years. That’s a conservative guess. As usual, there was a ton of blood. Dustin Rhodes was on the card. Me…DDP… was on the card against Johnny Swinger. I’ve always felt good about working with Johnny. Being out of the ring for 25 months, I thought it was a really good match. The crowd reaction was excellent. Johnny asked me if I was nervous before we went out. I told him lock up, I pushed off him and said see ya out there. It was a house show, so it was easy.

That night I sat around with Dusty, Dustin and the guys telling stories and drinking beer. I love talking to that old man…if you weel. In closing, I’ll tell all the skeptics who said I wasn’t doing Rob’s movie…Guess what, monkies, I filled two days last week playing a character called Billy Ray Snapper. Rob sent me a post-it on the script before I left for Indo that said “I want you to play Snapper, the baddest MF alive.” Rob has written such a good script that it is amazing to me that it’s only his second one. It’s funny, it’s gory, it’s smart…if you like Natural Born Killers, you’re going to love this. I think it blows it away. It has some of the greatest dialog I’ve ever read with a phenomenal cast. After filming the second day, I thanked Rob for the opportunity. I’ll give you more details as it comes along. I have a few more days of shooting this month. I guess the movie is no longer positive bull$hit. When I signed the contract, it became positive bull$hit level 9. Now that I am doing it, it’s positively good $hit.

On that note, I’ll leave you with… it is what it is.

Be Unstoppable, and live life at 90%

Diamond Dallas Page