Well, derby luvvers, I apologize. After the GMDD clinic, I worked for two days, and stared at my arm bruises from Bully Julie's Blocking Drills (Did you see San Diego Derby Dolls in this article?) , then I was off to my hometown in North Carolina for US Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to all my US rollergirls, and derby luvvers! I was evacuated from the local Wal-Mart (in Marion, NC) due to a bomb threat, and was flabbergasted of news about the Wal-Mart greeter trampled to death in NY, and the person shot at a Toys-R-US on Black Friday. I think from now on, I'm sticking to Canadian Boxing Day and Black Monday E-Commerce shopping.

Labels: Blackberry and PC WallPaper, blood and thunder, Derby Luv, GMDD, Rollercon 2009, San Diego Derby Dolls, training, Twitter

I found the missing blog....



Boy, am I ever exhausted!

I just got back from San Diego on Monday, and I am still trying to get back to my normal self. Derby overload! Derby overload!!!

Alright, so it all started Tuesday, Feb 19th on Jess Bandit, Ashley Thudd, and my trek to California, while sadly leaving a snowstorm behind. hah! We travelled the whole day an eventually reached San Diego that night. We were greeted by ACDG's Diesel and Estro Jen, where they were nice enough to drive us all the way to Long Beach to crash at Estro's place. Thanks again ladies, you're great!

Wednesday involved some touristy goodness involving Jess Bandit and myself checking out the wax museum, Chuck Norris' star, and getting stranded in Beverly Hills. I even managed to spill some Vitamin Water on some dude's fancy shoes in BV, and thank goodness he was a good sport about it. Luckily, Diesel and Estro came to our rescue and brought the getaway vehicle outta BH, heading to their practice.

ACDG let us tag along at their practice. I enjoyed how the importance or reason why we were doing the exercise was explained to us throughout their practice. That is always important, and should be done all of them time. The gals were great, and the night ended with the art of drinking PBR's at a cute little bar in LA. Thanks ladies! So for a good time, call ACDG.

SAN DIEGO!!

After an early evening of drinking a beer or two, we still had to trek over to San Diego bright an early for the Blood and Thunder Training Camp at the San Diego Derby Dolls' Dollhouse. But that's what derby stamina is all about my friends.

First, I'd like to acknowledge what a great space SDDD has found. They have room for a stretching space, banked track, flat track, and office space. So jealous!

I am too lazy to go into detail about all of the workshop details, but I certainly learned a lot from trainers like AZRD's Coach Pauly, Tampa's Shirley Insane, SDDD's Bonnie D.Stroir, TXRD's Cherry Chainsaw, LADD's Tara Armov, B&T's Black Dahlia, Renegade's Mayhemily, and SDDD's Bully Julie. The first day I overdid myself, and did amost every workshop from 10am to 10pm, including B&T allstar team tryouts at night. By early evening I was exhausted, and if my feet could talk, they'd be screaming bloody murder. I forgot about the fact that I was still breaking in my new skaters, so my feet were blister-tastic. Putting my health aside, attending all of the workshops was such a great learning experience, and helped me realize that there is still SO much I need to learn in a sport that is constantly changing and evolving. ..And there were still three more days!

Thursday night ended with allstar team tryouts, when everyone was exhausted from a long-filled derby day. The skaters came from rookie backgrounds, to some of the most experienced gals around. It was fun to skate with everybody, and see all of the different levels working together.

Chosen by Coach Pauly, the Allstar team was:

Miss Fortune
Georgia W. Tush
Miss Mel Mangles
Demanda Riot
Miss E Vil
Muffin
Viagra Falls
Goodie Two Skates
So Sue Mi
Crazy Train
Ivanna Spankin
Trish the Dish
Switchblade Siouxie
Killbox
Jane Ire
Juju

Estro Jen, Diesel, Lulu Cthulu, and Chrissy Cruiser were also chosen to play on the SDDD team.

Ya! I made the team! It was exciting to be on a team with so much talent, experience, and such great ladies. Although at this point, not only did I realize that I had to participate in all of the workshops and bring back the information to my league. But also, focus and prepare to play a bout the Saturday night. Ahhh!

The next day, I was done. Everything was sore, and I was exhausted. I took the day much easier by participating in fewer workshops, and trying to re-cap everything I had learned the day before. One of the only camp issues also began Friday (maybe the day before as well, I just didn't notice), was that some workshops were getting canceled, or changed. However, I think B&T did a great job replacing workshops, and filling up the gaps. That night, I had an all-star practice and it was a lot of fun preparing a team to play against a team that works well together, and that has been playing together for a long time. One point that was really stressed, was the fact that a good derby player should be able to play with anyone at anytime. So very true!

Saturday was a write off for me. At this point during the camp, I was so tired and I don't think my brain could take anymore workshop info. I mostly chilled, and prepared for the big game. The classes shrunk a lot by the end of the day, and most people were resting or heading over to the game.

[I just found this blog..and I'm going to end it short and sweet, because I'm lazy]

I was nervous, because I didn't want to feel like the dud of the team. I also hadn't been in a bout in front of so many people since last summer! My body felt like crud, but we did a warm up with Mayhemily that made me feel like a million bucks. San Diego's Hard Corps and Diego Rollers started off the double head with DR coming out victorious after a close game.

You want to know what is amazing? Having the most stacked team EVER! That my friends, is amazing. The bout began, and the San Diego Allstars started off with a strong fight. Team Blood and Thunder did win the game, but SD did certainly not make it easy for the BT's. I can't remember the final score, i feel like it was 80 somethin to 130ish?

The next day, my gals and I had to leave early because of a crummy flight change. We got to the airport, and our flight was overbooked by 16 people. What the shit? How does that even happen? Nonetheless, being the opportunist that I am, I went to go find out what kind of deals they were offering. Jess Bandit and I agreed to fly out the next morning and in return we received a free round trip plane ticket, that night's hotel and meals paid for, and FIRST CLASS seats the next morning. A let me tell you, once you fly first class, it is hard to go back. They offered us drinks before we even lifted, omelettes with fruit and croissants, and a hot towel. We were stuck in Burlington overnight waiting for the bus back to Montreal, but it was all for the greater good.

In the end, B&T was a blast. The first year is always a trial and error run, but overall I took home some much from the trainers and other skaters. It was nice to have so much information in a small environment and small numbers in the classes, compared to all the vices and distractions in Fabulous Las Vegas. I would highly recommend the Blood and Thunder Training camp if they decide to run it next year. Props go out to Blood and Thunder and the San Diego Derby Dolls for organizing and hosting such a great event!

Next stop, Las Vegas!

Georgia W Tush

p.s. i refused to spell check and grammar check this extremely long entry.

Labels: ACDG, blood and thunder, San Diego Derby Dolls, training

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