I’m back. Bearing gifts.

I know, I know, pick up your dropped jaws.  I’ve returned.  I missed you, too.

Mostly, I popped back in to have a place to put together my version of a holiday gift guide – this one, for the one thing that has completely taken over my life in 2009… roller derby.  This guide is for anyone from aspiring newbies to seasoned vets, and every player in between.  Don’t skate?  Maybe this will persuade you to lace ’em up and give it a whirl!

1) Skate Snouts. From Demonica with Gotham Girls Roller Derby, they’re customizable – pick your team color and add a cute cutout or design!

2) Sure-Grip Sugar Wheels.  Derby girls practice and bout on all kinds of surfaces.  These wheels, developed by veteran skaters, work on just about ANY surface you could possibly skate on.  Sport court, polished concrete, even outdoors!  They’re a great backup wheel to have on hand when you’re just not sure what the surface is like.  And after all, derby skaters are ALWAYS prepared. 😉

3) Nutcase helmets.  Sure, you can rock a plain ol’ Pro Tec or S-One, but wouldn’t you rather protect your brain in style?  The xray brain one is my favorite.

4) Brookstone Dash Rolling Suitcase.  Let’s see… stylish? check.  Utilitarian? Check.  Able to stow multiple layers of foul-smelling pads and gear? Check.  Rolls on all four wheels? Check.  And you don’t have to haul it over your shoulder!

5) Skull & Crossbones Journal.  Roller derby’s not just skating – it’s committees, organization… a real business, for the skaters and by the skaters.  Keep your derby stuff organized in a journal that’s hard to lose.

6) Wicked Skatewear derby shirt.  Any one of the many, really.  Being a derby skater means collecting a drawerful of derby-related tshirts; in-jokes, other teams, and maybe even the coveted post-bout shirt swap with that gal who knocked you three deep into the suicides.  Derby love, baby.

7) Fast Girl Skates Emergency Tool Kit.  Perfect for stowing under the team bench during a bout – how many times have you had to scramble for a toe stop wrench or a spare set of laces?  Never?  Well, trust me – when it happens to you, you’ll wish you had something like this handy.

8.) Felt Skate Ornaments. Decorate your tree in style and donate to a good cause at the same time.

9) Sigg Large Capacity Water Bottle.  With thirty bottles lined up against a wall at practice, you want to make sure yours is unique, or at least easily recognizable.  This bottle is much prettier than a piece of green duct tape slapped over a Dasani bottle, don’t you think?

10) Tru Luv Tool Company Silver Skate Charm. Created by Jacquelyn Hyde with the OC Roller Girls, this is the most realistic derby skate charm out there – believe me, I’ve looked!  Be the envy of all the skaters on your team with this beautiful piece of jewelry.

a stopwatch, a whistle and a smile

Last night, I coached my first official roller derby practice.

No, I’m not giving up my role as a skater – I like hitting people way too much to give up now. 😉  Instead, our league is trying out a coaching by committee concept.  And I really love it!  About a half-dozen of us are alternating running practices.  It’s teaching us to respond and react to different types of direction, as well as highlighting the different skill sets of the committee coaches.

Me?  I’m not a hardass.  I love strenuous workouts, but I don’t love yelling.  I’m a firm believer in the ‘catching more peas flies (thanks, Jason) with honey than you do with vinegar’ mantra.  So my first practice last night focused on drills that had an element of humor to them.  On a blustery, cold, rainy, no-one-really-wanted-to-be-there night, I think it worked out pretty well.

Our last activity of the evening (before core and stretching) was Queen of the Rink.  Each skater for themselves.  Knock a skater out of bounds or on the ground, and they’re out.  (legal hits only, of course. ) Last person standing wins.  I was feeling SO good about myself, having weathered a couple of awesome hits – and then a can-opener type jab to my chest completely laid me out.   

Note to self:  when you feel yourself getting cocky, BEND YOUR KNEES.  😉 Because at that point, someone’s gunning for you.

the lowdown

so what have I been up to for the past, oh, fourteen months or so?  Nothing that would excuse my lack of blogging, unfortunately.

*I’ve gotten back into playing roller derby – this time, with the Circle City Socialites.  It’s so great to get to skate again – I know I’m not the fastest or strongest skater, but I know there’s a place for me.   It’s awesome.

*Since I’ve been skating so much, my lovely friend Laura convinced me to attempt to run the 09 Mini Marathon.  I’ve been training for that, slowly but surely.  Emphasis on slowly.

*I’m still drinking and critiquing with the fine folks at Hoosier Beer Geek, but my schedule doesn’t really let me join them as much as I did last year.  You can check out their upcoming events here.

So, anyway, sorry for disappearing.  I’ll try to do better.

bouts, birds, blogs and bands

 

 A quick roundup:

*Naptown came, Naptown saw, and Naptown sure as hell conquered!  Playing to a near capacity, record-breaking crowd at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, the Naptown Roller Girls burst on to the scene in consummate style (thanks to Jerry Lee’s Western Wear) and in substance (thanks to the hard-core skating skills and Mr. Whip’s incredible coaching) to beat the Music City Rhythm & Bruisers 160-116.   I’m so proud of my gals right now, and while it nearly killed me not to be skating alongside them, I remain amazed and ecstatic at what they’ve done in such short time.  This is how we roll!

*Andrew Bird at the Music Mill last night was entertaining as always.  I’ve seen Mr. Bird a couple times previously, and while this wasn’t the best I’ve seen him (the Southgate House show last year will always hold a special place in heart) he did trot out a big chunk of new music that sounded FANTASTIC. 

 *As I was purchasing my ticket(s) to the aforementioned show, the cute gentleman behind the counter glanced at my ID, did a double-take, grinned, and said “I KNEW you looked familiar.  You don’t know who I am, do you?”  It took me a moment to realize that it was an old friend from high school, who is now part-owner of the Music Mill and (from the looks of the packed house and restaurant) doing really well for himself!  Small world, indeed.

*You want to pick up Thursday’s issue of INTake.  Trust me on this. 

*If you are a computer-savvy type that can show me the ropes of basic CSS implementation, or perhaps even walk me through the process of migrating my blog onto my own hosted domain, I want to talk to you!  I can’t pay much, but I’m fruitlessly beating my head against the wall with this WordPress software.  Ugh.

*So Where’s Margot headed?  Hard to say, but their upcoming release won’t be on V2.  Here’s hoping they land on a more stable independent label.  I’d love to see them on Barsuk or 4AD, but I doubt they are quirky enough.  Whoever picks them up better realize that they are a gold mine waiting to happen!

all you need is an entourage

So you’ve eaten the last bit of leftover turkey, cleaned out all the peppermint Hershey Kisses from the candy bowl, and played with all your new holiday gadgets?   You’re looking for something fun to do with your time before work/school/life beckons again next week?  Let me give you a few ideas for the upcoming weekend.

Friday, December 29, come out to Locals Only for a Naptown Roller Girls benefit!  The gals are gearing up for their first bout on January 13, and they need your help to make sure it goes off without a hitch!  Find out more about the team, sign up to volunteer, watch rockers Devil to Pay, The Dockers and Her0, follow your favorite rollergirl in a game of full-contact musical chairs, and take advantage of Locals Only’s great food and excellent beer selection. (Might I recommend the vanilla porter?  It’s fantastic!)  Seriously, these ladies are near and dear to my heart, and while I’m not skating right now, I love each and every kickass lady on that team and can’t wait to be back with them soon.  So go show them some love, hard rockin’ roller derby style! 

Saturday, December 30, hometown rockers Margot and the Nuclear So & Sos will be tearing up the Irving Theater in an all-ages homecoming show.  You all know I adore the Irving (see here for some previous love), so it should come as no surprise that I am EXTREMELY excited for this show.  If you’ve never seen Margot and company live, this is your chance to catch them in a fairly intimate setting, among friends, at a venue that’s trying to do some genuinely excellent things for the Indianapolis music scene.   This is going to be one of the most-talked-about shows of the season, for sure.  The Irving is, as I said above, all-ages, so get your libations prior to (or after) the show. I’ll be hitting J. Clyde’s for a pre-Margot drink if anyone would like to join me. 

And finally… as if you need any more ideas for the debauchery-laced evening of sin and consumption that is New Year’s Eve, but might I suggest spending it at Big Car Gallery?  It’s not flashy or elegant, there’s no four-course buffet or pricey Chablis included, but you’ll get a night of eclectic music, quiet conversation, open dance floors, cheap drinks, interesting surroundings and hands-on art making opportunities… all for the low price of $12 each or $20 a couple.  The best part? The money will help Big Car stay open for business and exhibits in 2007.  The gallery has quickly become one of Indy’s best cultural destinations, making artistic and creative endeavors accessible to everyone.   Skip the half-hearted game of Trivial Pursuit, the tasteless cheese dip, and the bad 80’s cover bands this year.  You’ll be glad you did.

the most fun you can have on four (small) wheels..

The INTake article is out!

Since two of the girls on the team work for the publication, it was no surprise that they were the first to do a story on the league. Check it out—it’s basically a skating-themed issue, with a front page story about the league, a really awesome piece on the Naptown Real Rollers, and some other tidbits about skating.

So in celebration of our introduction onto the Indy media scene, we’re hosting a skating party!

Where: United Skates of America East (5001 Shadeland, off 465 E)

When: Friday, August 4^th, 7-10 p.m. (afterparty at the Melody Inn)

Why: Because we’re awesome and want to share the fun with all of you!

It’s an all-ages old school skating party, with DJ Metrognome spinning tunes. Admission is $5, plus $2.50 for skates – not required, but you know you want to!We’re planning on doing a drill exhibition, showing how the game is played, and playing full-contact musical chairs. We’re also going to have old-fashioned “dance cards” where you can pay for a slow skate with your favorite rollergirl! Sadly, the date conflicts with a lot of friends’ schedules, so I might be the only rollergirl in attendance with an empty dance card.

I’ll have to drown my sorrows at the skeeball machine…

Push. Shove. Derby love.

Yeah, go ahead and laugh. Really, I am.

A friend of mine asked me the other day why I’ve gotten so involved in this when, in her words, “it’s about the last thing on earth that I could imagine you doing.” Her reasoning was that I’m not particularly athletic or of the punk rock/DIY aesthetic, she’s never known me to pursue a sport of any kind, and (the funniest one) she didn’t think I was the violent type. So allow me to explain why I’m finding myself ‘married to the derby’, and hopefully dispel some mistruths about roller derby in the process.