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2009/07/13
FCDG Thames Fatales at RVRG Slaughter Daughters Jul 11, 2009 - the last road trip
 It's a good thing I decided to jump on the bus with the Thames Fatales this weekend for the trip to Ottawa, it's their last bus-required, long road trip of the 2009 season that is currently booked. My first derby trip on a bus full of my teammates, where last year, my first road trip to a training camp was to GMDD Vermont Training Camp with Big Tickets of HCRG. We pulled out a little after 7 with our team and support staff (like me, with my wrapped ankle and purple calf muscle) and even an angelic-faced baby rollergirl-to-be in tow. A big purple bus with a retired OPP Canine Unit officer, a friendly man named Kurt at the wheel to safely drive us all across Ontario for 7 hours. The road trip there included the reading of applications for the receipt of a green and white Trucker hat to wear for victory laps and post-game hair coverage, which ranged from team spirited to scandalous and hilarious. Of course there was sleeping and occasional hilarity, but the terribly rainy and stormy weather kept the skies interesting. We checked into our rooms and went to eat at a place called Al's near our hotel on Carling Ave in Ottawa, Ontario and though closing, they stayed open and the cooks there churning out quick eats for us all in record time with awesome pizza, and other quick eats for the girls to get some fuel for the game. A quick rest and dress to dry off, and we went to the game. My job was to setup the Merch table and sell merch for the first period and between periods, and post game pack up. In between I could watch the game. Unfortunately, the Thames Fatales were defeated by the tough-as-nails blocker line-ups and quick jammers on the line-ups for RVRG's Slaughter Daughters that night, but showed their own toughness by taking and giving some big hits, and not giving up; continuing to fight, even with the point spread was at its' largest. The final score was 150-77 for the RVRG Slaughter Daughters. The Thames will get a chance to reverse that outcome in a re-match this fall in London. For me, I found out the day I was injured at the gym, our team captain was contacting me to invite me to join the roster and play at this game, which was a crushing moment, but I was able to help the team with merch sales, so it's all good. I've got lots of time to recover, and improve even more, before the September date of the next game vs TriCity. The after party was a blast, though we had to wait to get in the location due to a busy BluesFest in Ottawa, but A poutine at 2 AM on a street, a fight, crazy pictures were AWESOME and Sunday morning hangovers were in effect and helped a few of us bond. The ride home was a long one, with sore muscles, bruises, welts, exhaustion, hang overs and painful injuries in knees and (my ankle) bruises from bumpy road vibrations being the main complaints, but a happy junk food day of rest area stops and Tim Horton's coffee. Sleeping, trashy magazines, and fun with tea bags and waking sleeping teammates was an afternoon past time (see my facebook for photos) and the defeated but tough and optimistic FCDG arrived back in London ready to get to practice this week, get the game video and start working on how to reverse that score when they meet the Slaughter Daughters in the Fall. For me, I'm walking and will start Yoga this week and try to rehab for a first day back to skating at a rookie practice next week. FCDG is recruiting! If you're in London, or know someone who is, that's female, 18+ and wants to give roller derby a try, tell them to let us know or visit the FCDG website! We would like to see a dozen more rookies to come into training for the 2010 season. 2009 is time to learn! Video from the bout is coming and will be here later tonight! Labels: bouts, FCDG, recruitment, RVRG, Travel
2009/01/24
Roller Derby Saturday!
I'm off to London, Ontario today to look around and look at a possible new home. Never fear, there is always a derby motive behind everywhere I go too. I'll swing by the FCDG practice space, and the event center in the daytime to find it and clock the KM from the possible new home... I mean, I need to know if I have to bus, drive, bike or can skate from my house to derby practice, right! I did want to pop in and give you 4 events you can check out tonight... all are facebook events..... Today, January 24 at 5:00pm Carolina Rollergirls All-Stars vs. Naptown ; Bootleggers vs. Duchland in Raleigh NC. Today, January 24 at 5:30pm Lock Block & Two Smokin Bouts!! in Pittsburgh, PA Today, January 24 at 6:00pm ARRG Trivia Night - Saturday, January 24th! Arch Rival Event in Maplewood, MO. Today, January 24 at 8:00pm Betties Fun-raiser Party! and for all us Eastern Canadians, you have plenty of time (like 12 hours) to get out to T.O. for the Betties Fun-Raiser. I know there are other events, but I gotta go get my day going and get rolling to London. If you're on facebook today and know of any London, ON sites I should go check out, send the address to my facebook! If you can't get to these events, find your own local roller derby and see what's goin on! Derby Luv to ya! Labels: FCDG, Travel, wrapup
2008/11/25
GMDD Skills Clinic Recovery
Now that I am recovered from the derby weekend, with rest and hydration, I can more adequately tell you about it. The Highlights: A large turnout fit into the space GMDD had setup for the event nicely. GMDD hosted the event very well with easy registration and insurance USARS event coverage available at entrance, and lunches included with the registration fee. Good job and judos to GMDD for putting on the clinic and allowing us Canadians to come join in the fun. Bonnie D Stroir and Bully Julie are experienced skaters, and experienced trainers, with a great breakdown of moves like a Slay Ride, ( you know the one! ), The Waitress (backwards whip resulting in block/whip combo) to get a jammer out from behind a wall, and backwards blocking to drop back in a pack. There were jamming drills too, and Bonnie demonstrated how a jammer can use patience, transitions, backwards skating, jumps and hops to not only mixup the blockers in the pack, but make her way through a wall, and please the crowd at the same time. A note here, as a jammer agility drill commenced where a pace line of jammers forms behind a pack of blockers and has each skater take a turn jamming through the pack of passive blocking while never letting her feet glide/stop - run, jump, hop, transition, run run run - Montreal jammers reeived the most cheers from onlookers. Seems Montreal has been working on that drill already and knew how to do it. And one other thing, work with the rules. Ok, so sometimes a new rule release comes out and we look a new rule and go, HUH? That's lame! Why can't I do that? Instead of reacting like it's something you can't do, devise strategies to make that rule work FOR you. Examples: You can block anything on a person except their back. You can use your back, your torso, your hips to do that. So block your ass into their crotch, their thighs, your back into their "shelf" (yeah, their golden tickets) to off-balance them. Stop blocking where people are strongest, and go for the weaker points. Bashing into each other, shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip, is just butting heads and not getting anything done. Jammer Example: The Jammer can't get lead jammer if she goes out of bounds or gets a penalty on first pass, so if you're a jammer, be a blocker for 5 seconds and block the jammer you are racing out of bounds within 20 feet of the pack, and you just did double-duty and help yourself get lead jammer. 3 other notes: You can hold your jammers hand and not do a whip if the placement is not right (wait for the corner), but be aware of the blockers. If you hold hands with your player for more than 3 seconds, making a wall a blocker or another jammer from opposing team cannot get through, it's multi-player blocking penalty. So be aware of where you are, and be sneaky to avoid a peanalty. It's great to try to fit in the crowd-pleasing slay rides, waitress whips, and show-off stunts, but if you have to do it lame and boring with a booty block, or a regular whalop that isn't that low to the ground, and it's not pretty, or you fall? Who cares?!?! You get the job done, you do what you have to, and once in a while, on a good jam, you'll get to do something WOW. But it's going to be rare. Don't give up. If you have to work harder than other players in your league to get a new move, a hockey stop, to become more agile, then make yourself take time to work on it. At home, on the street, at the gym, at the rink, in your house, in the garage, or ask your trainers/coaches/captains for a little time in a practice to work on the thing you can't do on your own if you need to. But get the basics down 100% before adding the WOW moves. You'll never get to fancy moves that are in control, and effective, until you can stay up, stay stable, and time it right. Take heart. Once you master the basic, you can get more creative and become the girl that makes the crowd go.. "Hey! Did you see that girl? That was awesome!" WIth that, I'll be posting the pictures up on my facebook over the next day or so, if you want to take a look. Thanks to Bonnie and Bully Julie, GMDD, Burlington/Essex Junction VT and to the Adirondack Ferry operators that didn't laugh at me for being excited about my first ever ferry ride crossing from VT to NY on the trip home. And special thanks to Big Tickets of HCRG for sharing her truck, TomTom, and the room with me even when I got tired, hungry, cranky and bitchy. Labels: GMDD, San Diego Derby Dolls, training, Travel, wrapup
2008/11/22
Road Trip to VT: Day 1 GMDD Skills Clinic: Cut out the Whores Playing
Hey Derby Luvvers! If you not one of those of us 70-80 or more rollergirls that have invaded Colchester/Essex Junction/Burlington VT for the Green Mountain Derby Dames hosted skills clinic with Bonnie D Stroir and Bully Julie of the San Diego Derby Dolls this weekend, then hopefully you are supporting your local roller derby by attending a game, a fundraiser, or an event they are telling you about, right derby luvvers? For the rest of us that ARE cool and committed enough, we are at VT and ready to do some derby training! Of course today was just the road trip to get here. 10 hours and my highlights are as follows: 1) Making Miss Big Tickets wait outside while I grabbed my PC and snacks and maling sure my derby widow could finish baking the bread I was making (I didn't know Tickets would be there so early, so we had no fresh sandwiches to snack on, booooo) 2) Getting stuck in traffice in the Toronto area, and threatening a tailgater with a "back the f off skate to the head" 3) Count them: 2 illegal U turns when we missed the GPS turn, or it, or I, was wrong haha 4) Discussing a stripper named Bambi Mixes-a-lot and her habits while waiting for her "limo driver" to take her home, her grooming habits and her claims to fame. 5) Thinking the border guy was asking a trick question when he looked at the two of us in a truck and said "Are you travelling with anyone else?" after we had already confirmed it was just us Turns out, he was asking did we know of other people going to the clinic, and I was all, "Yeah! Montreal, Londond, Kitchener, lots of others" and found we were 10 minutes behind 2 other car loads (unknown who it was) 6) Counting the number of food and beverage items to land on Big Tickets' Tickets. I am up to I think 5 things so far. 7) This is the best, and will be our catch phrase of the weekend: We get to our hotel and Anita Martini shouts a greeting from a balcony above, we are at the desk checking in when the clerk gets a call. It's an elderly couple in room 314 complaining about noise, and she says, "Aw it's sounds like they're just whores playing" (I think technically she said horseplaying, but I asked if she said Whores playing and she said yes..) It gets better, so first we knock on the door of those FCDG and Kitchener girls and we say, "Stop playing around, whores!" and tell them the story...... yeah, you had to be there, and it's alot funnier after a 10 hour drive LOL Here's a photo or 2 from the drive, from a bathroom stop that turned into a blackberry / facebook / texting delay...    And yes, nerdy glasses ARE cool and yes I was tired and cold so shut up and Good Night! ;) Til tomorrow, derbyluvvers,..... Labels: GMDD, Travel
2008/11/16
New England Regional Skills Clinic presented by GMDD
There are 6 more sleeps until the kick-off of the Green Mountain Derby Dames (GMDD) New England Regional Skills Clinic with Bonnie D. Stroir and Bully Julie of the San Diego Derby Dolls on Nov 22-23 in Burlington, Vermont. (actually the local is in Essex Junction, VT). You can still register for the inexpensive event ($55 registration includes a box lunch both days, and USARS insurance will be available for Canadian and newbie skaters.) And about the Canadian Roller Derby skaters, there will be a full-fledged invasion of Canada into this event. There are MTLRD (Montreal) , HCRG (Hamilton, ON) and FCDG (London, ON) attendees I know of personally, and I believe there may be some others. I am excited to be heading out Friday for the two day event!! So get your gear, book your hotel, and get your butt to Vermont next weekend! If you can't make it, just stop by here, Friday for the pre-trip, Saturday night for a day 1 write up, and Monday for full updates from the party, Day 2, and my road trip experiences. Labels: FCDG, GMDD, HCRG, MTLRD, training, Travel
2008/11/10
Another league splits.... can't we all just get along?
In my usual early week review of all things roller derby, I heard about the Central New York Roller Derby league that has split. Now we have the CNYRD and the Utica Roller Girls. So let's look at the Pros and Cons of starting a new league, or splitting your league: Pros:-You can correct mistakes and use your past experiences to build a better organization -You can direct your new league to be more go or more show (concentrate on development of athletics, or development of crowd-pleasing as you see fit) -You can have control over where your dues are going and can use a communication style that fits you better. -You can make your own rules and not go by the original league rules. -If starting a new league, you get the automatic gratitude of your future new recruits when they fall in love with roller derby. - You'll have more networking opportunities. Let's face it, be honest, we all want to be popular. -You may have a higher position than you had before, so you may have more access to training and information than a basic skater. Cons:- If you are splitting: You dilute the talent pool if there is a league in your city already. Depending on your numbers of new recruits each year, you'll now have competition for those new skaters that could be super stars. -You will have to compete for media coverage, promotion, sponsors and fans. With the economy being in a recession, people do not have as much money to spend on a family of 4 at $15 ticket prices with snacks and merch as often. -You may have a lot of drama and gossip and fighting amongst the former league members, and the ones that come with you. Now, if you're into that kind of drama, more power to you. This also depends on the amicability of the split and the size of your city. -You undermine roller derby to the fans and the original league to other roller derby leagues, which can hurt fan sales, fundarising, and future bout contractual agreeements. - If it's a new league in a new city, it will be a LOT of work. Be prepared for it! And be aware that you will not make everyone happy all the time. -If you're a new league: Getting sponsorship is hard. - You will have to devote twice as much time to roller derby, because now you're a skater, as well as part of the business that has to run the business. - You will need partners and other board members to help you. And you will have to trust each other. - Leaders have to lead. So you will need to work harder, try harder, practice more, and inspire others with your greatness, or at least your commitment to greatness. I am sure there are other issues, I couldn't list them all. And every city is different. But if you're thinking of splitting, or of creating your own league in a own with or without roller derby, it's important to do what's best for roller derby in your town. Roller Derby is bigger than a single skater. Everyone can't be happy all the time, but if some people can be happy most of the time, and most people can be happy some of the time, and a few people are unhappy only some of the time, then that's probably as good as it's going to get. Ok, I am talking about this because I miss roller derby and if starting a new league would fix my time issues and allow me to go back to full-time training and practice tomorrow, part of me would say, YEAH! do it! But the logical, derby luvver part of me says, no. There's already a lot of roller derby and some awesome leagues in my part of Ontario (ToRD, GTA, Hammer City, Tri-City, London (Forest City)) and it would be bad for roller derby. So I'll be patient for '09. In the meantime, I have the GMDD skills clinic with Bonnie D Stroir and Bully Julie of San Diego in two weeks, and I am trying to arrange a practice with the Blue Ridge Rollergirls in NC for my annual US Thanksgiving trip home, and I am also waiting for a final trip approval for a business trip that will allow me to catch a practice with the Rocky Mountain Roller Girls in Denver in early December. Keep your elbows down and skate hard! Later, Nia PS - 47th day of no smoking - I'm making it! Over halfway through my 90 day challenge. And I am a non-smoker! Labels: GTA Rollergirls, Hammer City, HCRG, practice space, rollergirls, team building, training, Travel
2008/10/29
Halloween Skate in Paris
Ever wanted to get a zombie-on-wheels' perspective of a European city? You are in luck! There is a 3-hour group skate scheduled on Halloween night at 10pm through the streets of the Paris. In general, the city's Friday night skate, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, has become a staple of Paris nightlife. Roller-skaters began meeting for night rides in the early 1990s without legal permission. Nowadays, "Friday Night Fever" is billed as the largest group skate in the world. Depending on the season, it attracts up to 25,000 skaters, supervised by 150 staffers, policeman and "Protection Civile" vehicles. These ensure that the route, lined with cheering pedestrians and camera flashes, is clear for the 1.5 km-long procession.
Where: Place Raoul Dautry in the 14th arrondissement, between the Montparnasse office tower and the Paris-Montparnasse train station.
When: Every Friday, all year round, except in case of rain (although a drizzle will usually be ignored). Departure from Montparnasse at 10 p.m.; return at 1 a.m.
In other unrelated semi-quasi-sorta-although-not-roller-derby Halloween news, I'm happy to report that Voices in my Hand has returned from the dead with all new comics. Labels: roller skating, Travel
2008/10/19
Skate of the ... Thames Fatales!
 Welcome to London, Ontario, also know as The Forest City, home of the Forest City Derby Girls. Back in the days, we first saw the London Thrashers, and then les Thames Fatales were born as the second team for FCDG. I first saw FCDG at The Beast of the East in Montreal back in April, and I was excited to see how they had progressed since the first of the season, because I hadn't been fortunate enough to be in contact with SufferJet (the league president) or any of the London derby girls, since the Beast, so I wasn't sure what their season had been like. So with complete joy, I popped into the Fairgrounds events parking lot, and was quite pleased with the location. Large parking areas, foot traffic, crowded area... very nice. Then, I walked in, grabbed a program and the first thing I noticed was that there was a large beer "garden" to my right, a stage setup behind that, a court with team locations on the far wall, and bleacher stands to the right of me, and suicides at the far end of the track. Not bad. A slippery concrete floor concerned me, and pillars that were a foot outside the 10 foot safety mark concerned me more. Seemed scary and a little dangerous. But, the smart hockey town, has a mini-zamboni on hand, and had coated the track in sugar water to make it more sticky, so it turned out not bad... 
Ok, so to the important stuff, the bout. First off, London is not a very large league, and they have had to play with short teams (less than 10 players) and due to that hindrance, they have had to shorten their bouts to 3 X 15 minute periods. It made for a noticably shorter period, and added a bit of a challenge, as the teams had much less time to catch up with time for 2-3 less jams in each period.
The crowd had filled in nicely, and Stone Mason, the main announcer, introduced the refs that were made up of refs from FCDG and included visiting volunteer refs from ToRD, HCRG, and I think the other was Kitchener. (Tri-City). I had met some Tri-City girls in the parking lot before the game, and they are gearing up and preparing for their game against the Montreal B-Team (The Montreal Sexpos) next week. Nervous but looking like they can handle it.... I look forward to seeing what they got next week.  Anyway, the bout started out and from what I could see at first, The London Thrashers and Thames Fatales are pretty equally matched. Both list quite a few girls as jammers, pivots, and blockers so they all have a lot of well-rounded skaters. The first period seemed to be a bit of a challenge, with the slippery floor causing some slowness to the pack, and falls that left a couple of players catching their breath. But what became evident is that it took that first period for the teams to kick in strategic thinking. It was 21-19 score in favor of the Thrashers at the end of the first period.
 For period two, the speeds improved, I saw better blocking in the pack, and jammer strategies began to emerge, with jams called off strategically and some walls forming in the packs by the blockers. By the third period, Thames Fatales had pulled into the lead and were headed for the win.
The turning point was a jam in the late second period (I think it was late 2nd anyway), when 3 of the Thrashers blockers were piled into the penalty box all at once, leaving the Thames' jammer to skate through an almost empty pack and pile on 8 -12 points. During the third period, the Thrashers kicked it up a notch, and I saw one massive wall formed at the head of the pack that was only broken up by Thames' Anita Martini (I earlier wrote this as Anita Margarita, but I think Anita forgave me) , too late, as the jam ended just after. There was some hard blocking by the Thames' Annie Takers #5678 in period 1 (Thanks for getting me Annie's name, Anita!) The Thames Fatales' MVP had to be SufferJet with some very impressive jams under her belt.
Wanna see a video of one of the jams?
The Thames Fatales took the championship in front of the large hometown crowd in London, and that will end the season for FCDG until next year. Next week, its Tri-City vs Montreal Sexpos.... another derby weekend on the way!
Labels: bouts, FCDG, Travel
2008/07/16
New Skidz on the Block (MTLRD) win over HCRG - Awesome Game!
 Hey hey derby- luvvers! Sorry it took a couple of recovery days for the news, but my weekend travels to Montreal for the MTLRD vs HCRG game on Saturday night was crazy fun!
As usual, to a good loud crowd and 2 for $5 cold PBR cans of beer, MTLRD put on their usual good show. This season MTLRD is playing 2 periods of 30 minutes. At first I was concerned, when I saw the end of the first period with players hot and tired, but as a fan, the two periods and the one break in the middle gave me more game time, and kept me watching with more glee. And MTLRD introduced their New Skidz cheerleaders this weekend. They need megaphones due to the bad arena acoustics, but the crowd loved them anyway, and they did a great job! (above: me and Georgia after the game. And who said we were never together?)
 The crowd murmured over Iron Wrench and gasped over L'il Momma, cheered for Cat Attack and Wrath Poutine, and loved Georgia W Tush as always. HCRG were out in full HCRG style with Cheesegrater, Karla Koma, BitchSlap Barbie, Sheer Hell, Ivy Rupted.... well don't have my program on-hand right now, but it was a great game! At the end of the first period, MTLRD led with 33-10 as the score. But by the middle of the second period, HCRG had come back and the score was 41-38.  After a timeout, the New Skidz showed their grit and hung on and gained to win it 58-48. I cheered for both teams, but was so proud of the New Skidz, and my previous team and league-mates that I was happy even though shocked that I saw HCRG lose... I've never seen them lose before - it was creepy! (just kidding! I was amazed though!) The after party started out at KGB and we migrated to a Bar across the street for various shenanigans, and I even found time to hang out with my friend, Seth, who is a part-time DJ for MTLRD. God, I blended in just like I never left, and I miss my Montreal friends a lot! But Life is good here in Ontario too. And I will figure out how to stay in roller derby. Have no Fear!  Labels: bouts, HCRG, MTLRD, Travel
2007/12/17
whip it, whip it good!
Drew Barrymore is going to be directing a film about roller derby! According to Productioncharts.com the film is about, "a Midwestern, small-town, teenage girl discovers the high-energy world of roller derby and must decide if she’s willing to go against her parents and friends in order to pursue the sport she loves". They better be filming this in Montreal! I think everyone could go for a GWT cameo. Everyone, aka my mom. I also have some exciting announcements to make in the near future. Stay tuned! This photo is for all of you that live in hot weather! This is a photo from my window looking down onto the street after a two-day long blizzard. Think of all of us here freezing our tushies off. 
gw tush
P.S. I have a lot of exciting travel plans for 2008! San Diego x 2, Los Angeles, NYC, Philly, Minneapolis/St Paul..and more to come! See ya'll in '08!
P.P.S. Who's going to the Blood and Thunder Training camp?? I am sooo excited!
Labels: blood and thunder, Travel, whip it
2007/12/10
Wrecked, Wrecks, and Moving up!
So in the past two weeks, I've been kinda quiet, I know. The kickoff to the holiday season has come with a bang. I enjoyed a drunkfest with my Contrabanditas teammates two weekends ago that left me hurtin on Saturday morning... I was hungover and seem to remember being made to make prank calls to friends, and stumbling down some stairs... hahah This weeked I had a day job work party with an open bar that went well, I wasn't that drunk, but the cab I was in on the way home decided to pull out into traffic and get us hit right in front of my building, so that was fun... *yeah right* In other news, I have Chet Wisconsin, a ref for the Central City Roller Derby in the UK, becoming a blogger for Derby Luv - this week will be his premiere! And a new Rollergirl piece on the Little Rock Derby Girls has been agreed upon so watch to meet some Little Rock rollergirls! I am big on the dreams for Derby Luv, but need help. I am still looking for Canadian skaters that might want to play a game as a Derby Luv team at Rollercon 2008 (if i can get us a team to play against and get permission from RollerCon to be in a scrimmage with our name) - We have about 6 confirmed players from Vancouver to Montreal, so if you want to be on the team, contact me! We need to start talking options and fundraising. Derby Luv wants to do a better job, so if you have any suggestions for stories, or ideas on what you'd like to see more of, let me know! Don't forget to visit the Derby Luv Skate Shop Rollergirl on your list this year, and check out the store for Derby Luv Merchandise. If you grab a promo code from the link below, you'll enjoy Free Shipping from our skate shop! All proceeds from the skate shop and out merchandise store will go towards making Derby Luv able to continue and grow, with travel and the Derby Luv Canadian Rollergirls able to go skate!  Labels: merchandise, skates, Travel
2007/11/25
There and back again, a Rollergirl's Tale...
Wow! Thanksgiving with the family, shopping and Roller Derby.. what a non-restful, but totally awesome Thanksgiving vacation to North Carolina! I've got some images and video to share, but I can give you a brief synopsis of my practice with the Blue Ridge Rollergirls.... Let's just say that their brawny Coach, Mike, and their Blue Ridge Mountain Bruiser (that's what I am calling them) girls were awesome! As friendly as can be, but as tough and fast on their shiny glass-polished cement floor as you can imagine. Those pyramid rest period scissor kicks and banana peels, those suicides that went on forever... and that drag line.... AWESOME! The Blue Ridge Rollergirls say they have finished their first season as well, and it could have been better. It seems even my home state that still has roller rinks around, places to play are still hard to find. They ended up at a community center, couldn't sell beer, and were not allowed to book enough in advance to promote their games more than a couple weeks in advance. Come On - support your local roller derby if you're in Western NC and get out to Asheville to see them next time around! That sucks! My dream is for every league to have their own home space where we can all practice as much as we can in dry and warm places, and we can all have our events and games in the same space... how awesome would that be? So on the plane I go in an hour, with my sore stomach muscles, sore back and in shape and tight legs... Roller Derby Hurts, but I LOVE ROLLER DERBY! Thnks to Chell-O Shooter, Coach Mike, Give Em Hella, Axe, Ace, and all the girls I may have forgotten the names to write down at BRRG for having me out to practice. If you ever wanna visit Montreal, just let me know! Labels: roller derby, training, Travel
2007/11/20
TORD Championship results and Nia is going on the road
So Trash N Smash and Georgia W Tush along with Bon-Bon Scott of MTLRD were at the TORD Championship bout in Toronto this past weekend. Aside from the most important tale of a small, quiet Bon-Bon being a surprising tough-ass trooper with a massive hangover on the ride home - (and at Sunday practice!)... the tales told were of a bad start for the Chicks Ahoy, and then a better second two periods when they rallied to try and come back... but alas, Gore Gore ran away with this one and celebrate being the 2007 Champions of TORD. Congrats to Gore Gore! If you are an MTLRD fan, you'll remember in February 2007, Les Contrabanditas played their first at home bout against Gore Gore in exhibition play with a nail-biter of a close game that ended with the 'Ditas winning 91-89, and there is a rumour of a possible rematch coming this season There's some awesome photos posted on the TORD Championship game... In other, closer to my heart news, I'm headed on the road (or should I say I'm leaving on a jet plane?) tomorrow morning to head to North Carolina, my hometown, and a full schedule. No worries, Derby Luvvers, I'm sure Georgia will be posting, and I promise you tales from the airports and lots of updates on the way home after skating with the BRRG!. Labels: bouts, championships, news, Travel
2007/11/17
This weekend and Planning for US Thanksgiving Weekend!
I can't believe US Thanksgiving is just a week away - less than that actually... I'll be heading south for the event, but I'll go into that in a bit. First off, just let me say that Roller Derby seasons everywhere winding down, while others, like MTLRD have just recruited, are recruiting, and are in training for the start of next season. In the next two weeks, we have 3 championships, and that's just what I have in my inboxes on Facebook and Myspace on a quick scan. I don't catch all of them, and I feel terrible about that... Here goes: Saturday Nov 17th (that's tomorrow) TORD has a Championship game with the Gore Gore Rollergirls against the Chicks Ahoy. I think my teammate Trash 'N Smash and friends will be there - that means maybe Georgia W Tush if I know my captain and co-captain. Those carless of us are stuck with waiting to hear the scoop... If you're in or near TO or can get there... go see the TORD girls kick ass! It's at RINX at 65 Orfus Road in Toronto. Oh and check out the Roller Suicide fundraiser for TORD at Fable House in Toronto on Sunday. If you are already south of the US/Canada Border, you can also catch an eciting championship bout between the Queens of Pain and the Bronx Gridlock for the Gotham Girls Roller Derby on the same night. Next weekend, after stuffing yourself on Turkey on Thursday and shopping derby-style on Black Friday, you can catch The Holy Rolling Empire event with the Arch Rival Rollergirls M-80s and the Smashinistas fighting for the 2007 ARRG Championship Cup! That's on the 24th at the All-American Sports Mall in St Louis, MO. And there's some events I am too late to post, sorry everyone!, and more to post for early December. But for now, I'll let you know that on Wednesday, Nov 21, Nia Capps with gear in her suitcase will be headed from Montreal to North Carolina. And, The BlueRidge Rollergirls of Asheville, NC (really close to my hometown and where I will be) have been nice enough to have me at their Thanksgiving weekend practice on Saturday morning. Thanks, Shoot Her! I'll see how many BRRG girls I can introduce you to, and what info I can bring back... hopefully blogging in the airports and during my visit some too... In the meantime, I am nursing an injury from Tuesday's league practice and not doing a good job of it. RICE, NIA, RICE... I took a fall onto my left hip.. and continued skating and thought nothing of it. 3 full days later and tough no hematoma big blue bloody looking bruise is forming, my hip is still swollen up in a lump, achy, and it hurts to put all my weight onmy left leg at an angle out from my body, or to go up stairs with it. I think I know how old people break their hips now... gravity + slipping + falling hard = OW! But hey, it's all in a derby day's work, right?! I hope Santa brings me some new wheels for Christmas that are grippier and more stable on our wood practice floors. I think wearing my Blue Demons for miles and miles of asphalt all spring and summer have made them still good for outside, but maybe not too grippy anymore on wood... Don't forget, you can help out Derby Luv continue and grow by shopping our merch store or visiting our skate shop! And watch for a fresh meat blogger to be added to Derby Luv soon! Labels: bouts, championships, roller derby, skates, Travel, wound diary
2007/08/31
greetings from st paul, minnesota, US of A
How much of a loser am I? Well, yesterday I drove to Minnesota from Thunder Bay, Ontario, by myself to hang out with the Minnesota Rollergirls at their practice. It was great to skate with such an experienced league! They're about to start their fourth season, and it's really cool to see how much potential derby leagues can aim for. The MN gals have such a sweet venue as well! It's the Roy Wilkens Auditorium with a capacity of 5000 people, and TONS of floor space. If we had access to a place like that in Montreal, I could die and go to derby heaven. I do not wish a crappy venue on anyone. For example, MTLRD's first expo bout was in a small gym that just so happened to be a rock climbing room as well. What does that mean? Well, roller girls crashing into jagged fake rocks on the corners of the track. Sketchy? Yes. Dangerous? Yes. Hilarious? Kinda. Anyway, a big thanks to the MNRG for letting me tag along at your practice and also to Scootaloo who let me sleep on her couch. Also use her computer at 7am, but she doesn't know about that yet. xo, Georgia W Tush p.s. Have any of you ever had to explain roller derby to the border officials? Fuck the border! Labels: editorial, training, Travel
2007/08/16
Rollercon 2007 - Roller Derby on the Streets of Vegas
Since I was personally unable to attend Rollercon this year, I was curious to find out if the roller derby community was uploading videos of their Las Vegas roller derby experiences -- and I was not disappointed! 
More roller derby on the street:
  Labels: roller derby, Rollercon 2007, Travel, video
2007/06/07
Derby Luv on the road
So I am taking off tomorrow around midday to travel from Montreal, Quebec 8 hours over the 401 TransCanada Highway to Hamilton, Ontario. Also known as the Steel Town, and related by my Canadian friends that are US knowledgeable as the Pittsburgh of Canada. The Double header ROLL IN RAGE game of MTLRD and Hammer City Roller Girls is sure to well worth the purchase price, with two games to watch. I already posted about it, but if you're around, we'll be at the Market Street Arena in Dundas ON located at 35 Market St. S. Doors open at 3 PM, game at 4 PM. Personally thrilled that my husband has decided to come with, we'll be picking up a rental car and hitting the road together. I'll miss out on the antics of my derby girls in the vans convoying together, but it'll be a roller derby mini-vacation for me. Either way, a good time. What does this have to do with Derby Luv? Well, I hope to meet some new and interesting rollergirls from Hamilton, get lots of pictures and video to chronicle my first away game, and of course, unless the hotel I am at has internet service, I'll be offline until Monday. The 3rd of 5 ACRD Rollergirl Q & As, Athena Monster, is going live tonight, and then on Monday, we'll reconvene with the final two. I hope you are enjoying these sassy and entertaining Dallas derby queens. I'm on the hunt for new story ideas, new rollergirls who want to show off and talk about themselves and roller derby, roller derby music, products, and anything else to make this site more interesting. Send any ideas to info at derbyluv.com. Labels: Derby Luv, rollergirls, Travel
Apocolypse Pow Q&A Interview is up and other stuff
So Apocolypse Pow is the second in the line of 5 of the ACRD (Assassination City Roller Derby) girls that all volunteered to be Derby Luv Rollergirls. Another derby queen on the books, and things are shaping up around here! In other news, I have spent a few hours mapping my way from Montreal to Hamilton Ontario for the Roll In Rage bout with me and the MTLRD against the Hammer City Roller Girls on Saturday, June 9th. Les Contrabanditas (my team) go up against the Steel Town Tank Girls and the Les Filles du Roi fight it out with the Hamilton Harlots. By all reports Hamilton is tough to beat and a great derby league, so we'll see what comes of it. For more info, visit mtlrollerderby.com.Tickets are on sale at the MTLRD website for our Championship Bout in Montreal on June 16th. Thanks to everyone that's been interested in Derby Luv lately, and for all the suggestions, comments and luv sent derby luv's way. Remember, if you want to read about it, I'll write about it! Labels: Derby Luv, MTLRD, rollergirls, Travel
2007/06/05
I'm back and better than ever!
Ok, *shew!*, what a week or two it's been! You will notice the new layouts and colors on the site. the pages within are slowing being migrated to the new design. I hate to sound like a 1996 webpage, but "please pardon the mess while we are under construction" In big news, there are new rollergirls for you to get to know. Sour Cherry was interviewed weeks ago, but did you see her yet? Man, she will put fear into the heart of any rollergirl, and make men cry... love it! And the first of five of the ACRD ( Assassination City Roller Derby) players, Trigger Mortis, is live. FINALLY! I hope they all forgive my tardiness. Here's another girl after my derby luv. Next time I travel to Dallas, I think I may be able to go skate with Trigger and friends... I am SO psyched! And she doesn't know yet, but I've hung out at the DoubleWide in Dallas before. I have photos to prove it - very funny place. Check her out! 
In Nia Capps news, I am all booked in my hotel for my first ever away game with MTL Roller Derby. A big double header match in Hamilton Ontario on Saturday will put me and my "'ditas" up against the Steel Town Tank Girls, and our league sisters and rivals, Les Filles du Roi against the Hamilton Harlots. Doors open at 3 PM I think - I am confirming where I'll be and I'll let you know! OH, and a week later, we're playing our championship bout of this mini-first season for MTL Roller Derby, us ditas against the Les Filles, once again. Tickets will be on sale tomorrow from the website. June 30th, you can see me at the MTL Roller Derby all-stars game as a Cheerleader. That's right - you may remember me from when I was 12 in the burgundy and white uniform from Oakland Elementary's Baseball Cheerleading squad if you were in Asheville, NC in about 1986-87 or so. I was the curvy one that you threw pennies at one Saturday. I threw those back hard, eh? But I kept your quarters mwa ha ha ha Should be fun.. I'll be crushed when my little drunk squad mates all fall off the pyramid I'll be at the bottom of, but at least I'll have beer hahaha Ok... later! Labels: Derby Luv, MTLRD, rollergirls, Travel
2007/04/22
Leaving Las Vegas...
So I'm sitting in MCCarran Intl Airport in Las Vegas on a Sunday morning, looking back over my business trip early in the week and the vacation at the end of the week with my family. The best roller derby story I have is of walking between some slot machines and being surprised by a tall blond woman that seemed happy to see me though I didn't know her. Turns out, she had seen my CONTRABANDITAS team shirt and knew from the skates on it it was roller derby.. she saw banditas and asked if I was from Denver (so maybe she knew the Blazin' Banditas... ???" and I explained I was from MTL Roller Derby. She complimented me on the choice of roller derby and went on her way. It was only cool because my step-father then decided I could be a celebrity someday hahaha In the meantime, I won a few times, but only won when I was wearing my derby gear... so new skates are coming my way :) Labels: Travel
2007/03/24
GCRG vs Big Easy Rollergirls March 24
Tulsa World: "The Green Country Roller Girls are rolling out to New Orleans this weekend for one of its first official league bouts, said Lora Gambino, aka Malicious Mabel, spokeswoman for the roller derby organization. "After two interleague losses, the Green Country Roller Girls are more determined than ever to capture their first victory," Gambino said. " Tulsa World did a write up on the GCRG's upcoming bout with the Big Easy Rollergirls, and I found out about Hurt Reynolds of Have Derby Will Travel . Seems Hurt has changed his life to follow American Roller derby, travels, and blogs it. A new hero for me. I think I'll try to contact him to interview him. Wish me luck!
Labels: Derby Luv, rollergirls, Travel
2007/03/08
Rollercon 2007 or bust
So registration opened up for Rollercon 2007 ( http://www.rollercon.com) in Las Vegas, NV this week, filling my head with dreams of getting to spend 4 days going roller derby crazy with my league and every other league in North America in one of my favorite travel destinations.... and just in time for my birthday on August 28 - well early but still... I celebrate a long time for my inevitable aging LOL Hey, to get to do that I'll wash cars, dogs, and even people in bathing suits in kiddie pools, if that's what it takes to fund my trip into derby learndom to do all those workshops and learn my craft.. scrimmaging and honing my skills to be the best damn Rollergirl I can be ... hand me the squeegee baby, I'm all over this. The $145 registration full MVP package is very reasonable for all you get, and with a big group discount and piling up in rooms, the trip won' t be too expensive, either, as long as I can stay away from the sparkle-suit lounge acts with $6 beers and stick to my favorite penny slots and free coffee, or the free beer at the quarter poker machines, and not spend all my cash at the club-hopping pricey dance spots. And hey, if you'd like to donate to the cause of getting me down there so I can blog from my hotel room on my laptop and send you pictures and videos as derby-licious madness ensues, I'm open to donations! Or just keep coming back and tell all your friends and maybe they'll give me a press pass ;) Labels: fundraising, Rollercon 2007, Travel
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It's a good thing I decided to jump on the bus with the Thames Fatales this weekend for the trip to Ottawa, it's their last bus-required, long road trip of the 2009 season that is currently booked. My first derby trip on a bus full of my teammates, where last year, my first road trip to a training camp was to GMDD Vermont Training Camp with Big Tickets of HCRG.
