It's on, baby!

In case you didn't know what you were doing January 10th here's a hint. What a sopisticated poster!

I'm back from the holiday mayhem and familial good cheer. Now that some of my sibs are married and one even has chickadees my immediate family has an informal tradition of meeting every other year at our parents' house for Christmas. This was an off year, but I still got to see Oldest Sis and Older Younger Brother with Sister In-Law-1 and their brood. I got to spend a lot of time with my niece and nephew aged five and two respectively. I played the role of "horsey" and I shared the joy of throwing stuffed animals down grammy and popop's laundry chute. I checked myself before I taught them how to "sled" down the stair case in a sleeping bag. That's for another time. Anyhow Sister-In-Law-1 used to be in the Israeli army, and while she claims she couldn't I'm sure she could give me the ass whooping of a lifetime. My favorite part of being an aunt is never having to put the kids to bed. Whew. They are a handfull.

Friday night we had the Naptown Roller Girls 2009 Season Launch and Warning Belles Coming Out Party at Birdy's. It was a blast complete with live bands, skating derby girls, and musical chairs. If you haven't seen derby musical chairs then you're missing out. Let me set this up for you. We had seven derby girls in full battle array with skates, pads and helmets. We took four very brave volunteers from the crowd. Add ten chairs and musical guests from Hero and you have the start of what I would find totally horrifying musical chairs if I wasn't in my full pads. Tom K, not just a pretty photographer, gave me fits, but I managed. Yours truly was encouraged to play a little dirty so as to ruthlessly exploit "derby rules". I think derby rules permits all but the most egregious advantage theiving by say brandishing a weapon or using brass knuckles. Surely those are right out, but pulling a chair out from someone is perfectly legit. Which I did. And a part of me felt really good about it. The gal I yanked the chair from was a great sport about it. Clearly a woman who is in touch with derby.

The Naptown Roller Girls first home bout for 2009 goes off on January 10! I'm so excited and I'm pimping it a little here:

Saturday, Jan. 10th, 2009 7:30 pm IN State Fair Grounds - Toyota Blue Ribbon Pavilion

It's the first bout of Season 3! Watch your Tornado Sirens take on 38th ranked Steel City Derby Demons from Pittsburgh, PA!

Tickets are $11 in advance and $16 at the door. http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/50099

Season tickets are now available! $75 gets you a ticket to each bout, an autographed 2009 calendar, a Naptown Seat Cushion as well as assorted stickers all inside your very own NRG canvas tote! http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/45193

And.....paper tickets are availabe at Indy CD & Vinyl (Broadripple), Out Word Bound (Downtown) and Strange Brew (Greenwood)!

All bouts are general admission. Seats are on a first come first serve basis. Tickets are CASH only at the door. Doors at 6:30pm, bout at7:30pm. Schedule subject to change.

Our bouts are family friendly but it is VERY loud! Our fans are excited! If your child is scared easily by loud noise, a roller derby bout may not be a good place to be.

Directions to the Fair Grounds: http://www.state.in.us/statefair/fairgrounds/maps/driving.html

Rock Pedal

If you are an imaginary rock 'n' roller of the drumming persuasion then you probably have repaired or replaced your pedal. Perhaps you know someone who likes to beat on plastic drum heads in time to bright lights and music on a TV screen. If so then I strongly urge you to check out the RockPedal. This is the real deal, folks. It's an actual drum pedal with a sturdy chain drive, retractable floor pegs, velcro bottom, and a proximity sensor to trigger when you've hit the drum. It comes with all that you need, and since it's an actual drum pedal you can change the action through tension, height and drop. If you want to fashion a bass drum out of a practice pad or whathaveyou It comes with a beater stick.

I knew this was the way I wanted to go, and much has been said about this product elsewhere, and I don't need to add to that. What I would like to add is what an exceptionally delightful service process the guys at RockPedal have. I abused my pedal in bad ways that would probably void a warranty (yanked the sensor off). I told 'em what happened, they apologized for my inconvenience, they shipped me a new pedal, and they're sending me a shipping label to ship back the old one. All of this was accomplished with very responsive e-mails. I experienced super prompt, very polite, I could even say kind e-mail interaction with someone on the other end.

Bottom line is that this product is high end, indestructible through normal use, backed by a strong warranty, and the guys who make and sell it are super cool. Go buy one. If in 30 days you decide you don't like it you can send it back to 'em for free. Full refund. Such a deal.

Dismember in December

This past weekend the Warning Belles of the Naptown Roller Girls traveled to Evansville for our first couple bouts. The Demolition City Roller Dolls hosted a four team tournament with a two game guarantee called Dismembered in December held at the Evansville Memorial Coliseum. The building was constructed in 1916 and made out of brick and limestone. It has a great theater vibe to it and seats around 2500 with a large balcony ringing the floor facing the stage. We had an actual dressing room for our dressing room with home made couches. Very comfy.

Our first bout ever was against DCRD, and I am so glad this bout was away from home. I was sent in to block on the opening two jams to knock people down. After two jams I was to come back to the bench and go back to jam. I managed to knock one skater down. Too bad. The penalties were flying and they were not the fun kind either. My first recorded trip to the penalty box was for a false start from the jamming line. During my next jam I went in for cutting the track. Silly. But I got it together and I scored some points. I hit some skaters and I got one girl to chase me around and keep trying to knock me down. We spent a lot of time in the penalty box. There were some legitimate calls and there were some questionable calls. It doesn't matter. The refs are a part of the game. I don't think the scoring defecit would be so high if not for the many penalties we got, but I also don't think the outcome would necessarily be different. We lost the bout, but we gained invaluable experience.

The next bout pitted the Slay Belles against the highly experienced Quad State Terrors. Both teams came together for the tournament, but the similarties ended there. The Quad State Terrors were the dominant force of the whole tournament, and they showed their skills early against the Slay Belles. QST has some great skaters, and even though that was the first bout they played together (I think?) they moved really well together keeping control of the pack and jamming right on through. QST owned that bout.

We went to the consolation match against the Slay Belles. Joan of Dark came in to ensure we didn't go home with a loss and she proceeded to host a clinic on how to achieve multiple grand slams in a single jam. Her first jam out she officially scored 18 (it was 19, but no one was going to quibble). Blue Messiah also netted an 18 point jam. Everyone who jammed, Ivanna B. Naughty, myself, Ana Slaysya, heavy hitting Joanie Gouge grand slammed. The final score was 177 - 6. We won.

I was pretty wiped out after two bouts, and I probably would have been more comfortable at the hotel than at the after party, but I couldn't miss my first post bout bash. It was held in a bar called Hammerheads around the corner from the venue. They had a deafening juke box cranking out nu-metal, grunge, and miscellaneous with an 80s dance party going on in the basement. If Broadripple was distilled into a single bar you would end up with Hammerheads. Everyone was having a good time, and it was great to get loose with my teammates and our opponents. I have a hard time with loud noise though. I think I'll bring some discreet ear plugs to the next after party. I'll risk being lame to be able to party down.

Six more days to go

Only six more days until I get a chance to compete in my first Roller Derby bout, and it's a tournament with a two game guarantee no less! I'm so excited I can barely stand it, and it's only Monday. I have been pumped up for this bout for the past couple weeks to the point where the hair on my arm stands on end when I think about the pre-game warm-up. I'll need to bring a paper bag to breathe into by Thursday.

In the wake of all this excitement are great moments from this weekend. Namely, the NRG calendar launch party. This was another event for which I was excited to the point of having the squirmies up until I arrived. The place, Christoper West's new gallery, was packed the entire time the event was going on. A couple of friends dropped in, including Fitness Nerd and Athena, to see the new calendar and give support. Even a co-worker showed up. The finished product looks amazing, and covers fifteen months. Such a value! If you're interested in purchasing one then shoot me a comment, and I'll hook you up. Nay from the [un]official Fan Club lead the crowd in some rousing cheers. I stood back and warmed up to the glow from all the support, volunteerism, and down right creativity that was put into all this. NRG is blessed with the best fans and support staff ever.

It's a human rights thing

So maybe you can't call in next Wednesday, but you like millions of others support the choices of consenting adults and would like to know how to help? Post this message. Donate time or money to a GLBTA cause. The website is full of useful ideas for those who can't take off work, but want to offer support.

I don't know where I changed up. Up until now I've been patient. I've told myself all kinds of stories that have kept me on the sidelines: All out groups experience a time of struggle. I'm not even a fan of marriage. Gay marriage will never happen in Indiana in my life time so why bother. It will happen in more progressive states. That's good enough.

Well it's not good enough. It has nothing to do with my personal views of marriage. And there's no time like the present to get involved in the struggle to perhaps pave the way for gay marriage to be accepted in Indiana whether that be now or later.

But what was it that got me really mad? A group of people took away the rights of another group of people and used a state constitution to do it. I am a strong believer of majority rules with minority rights, and when the gravity of the situation sunk in - that hard won rights were revoked by a simple majority vote I got angry and a little scared. It's not just my freedom we're talking about here. It's everyone's freedom.

Under threat of expulsion

What a juicy title for a standard update post. I read in Fitness Nerd's blog that if those of us on his Blog Roll didn't update our blogs then we'd be cut, and I just can't afford the traffic loss...

Seriously though, I have plenty going on, but I go back and forth as to what I'd actually publish in a blog. My most recent news is Thanksgiving and the lovely time I had with Maestro, Persephone, and Gentle Giant. We played a lot of Rock Band 2, the modest changes of which make it even more enjoyable for group play of varying skill levels. Persephone got to rock out in front of her younger brother when he dropped by. That must have been a highlight. Persephone singing Blitzkrieg Bop was a bit of an image departure, I'm sure.

I continue to work on the sport and art of roller derby. Last night I broke out the new bout only wheels. For the gear heads, these are the grippiest Radar Tuners, which I don't think is saying all that much. The durometer reading on them is still somewhere in the low 90s. I haven't skated indoors on anything other than Radar Tuners so I'm getting a good feel for what the line has to offer. When I started out in them they were slippery almost as if they were coated in something. After I skated on them for about 10 minutes they felt better and eventually they felt softer than my blue tuners (tite). I don't know if there was something on the wheels or if the slip feeling was from my bearings being brand new as well (Kwik ABEC-9). I think the next set of wheels will have to be these Answers my teammates are going crazy for. Grippy without slowing down? We'll see.

I had a strong practice. I learned a new skill and received some kudos. I'm really excited about our calendar launch party this Friday (1647 English Ave. Indianapolis, 6 - 9 pm. Be there!) And I'm practically humming with excitement when I think about our upcoming bout in Evansville. A mixed team of Vets and Rookies will be going to Evansville for a small tournament against some stiff competition. When it's talked about at practice I can feel my skin electrify and I start pacing in anticipation. I have been thinking about how to handle strategies and tactics that I have never seen before in oponents. I am visualizing successful jams. I believe I am stoked.