Moves and changes

Big changes in my life mean big changes in my roller derby life.  Mr. Mayhem got a job in Washington DC, so that means we have moved to our national's capitol.  And what is the first thing I did?  You guessed it!  I got in touch with the DC Rollergirls and was at a practice 2 days after arriving.  Yeehaw!  Can I just say how awesome derby is?  I've been in town only a couple of weeks and I already have a bunch of new friends.  The DCRG girls have been super awesomely welcoming and I can't wait to get on a team and start kicking ass!

Just thinking out loud....

I'm not sure about the fashion merits of this Jean Paul Gaultier ensemble but it looks like it would be mighty useful on the track.

East Coast Derby Extravaganza 2009

Last year I tore my PCL just before ECE and wasn't even sure I was going to go. I went anyway, and had a great time watching, but of course I wished I could have skated. This year I wasn't going to let anything stop me. Luckily, I ended up on 3 challenge bouts. Unluckily, all three were scheduled back to back to back. First up: Superheroes vs. Villains. My name is probably more suited to the villains, but I always try to use my Mayhem Mojo for good, so I skated for the superheroes. Sadly, evil won over good, but we gave them a run for their money. Next up was Rice vs. Beans, which was definitely my favorite bout. Everyone on this team was super awesome and I had a great time skating with them. And, of course, Rice kicked ass (see score in photo). Last up was Babes in Skateland vs. Bruisejolais Nouveau. I was a Babe and was super psyched to rock my new baby blue ruffle butt panties for this bout. Babes won. Good times.

Oh, yeah, there were some WFTDA bouts, too. Sadly I was not able to watch the Boston v Carolina game (which happened at the same time as my challenge bouts), but I was there for all of the Boston v Windy City bout which was amazing. Also, there was a girl from Windy City who had a spectacularly sparkly shiny glittery silver helmet, which I covet.

Can't wait for next year!

Boston Derby Dames at the Boston Pride Parade 2009

The Boston Pride Parade was wicked awesome fun. It's nice having everyone yell and cheer for you. It was also nice when the rugby players in front of us gave us a lift up Beacon Hill (Thank you!).

More photos here.

Keeping all your derby crap clean

Promise of Derby has a nice post on how one keeps all of one's roller derby pads and gear clean and fresh-smelling. Or at least how to minimize the nastiness as much as possible.

Here are some other hopefully helpful links:

• Derby Laundry (Promise of Derby)
• Roller Girls Yahoo Group discussion on Derby Laundry
• Why your pads smell like Doritos -- here
• advice from brawlinbettys here
  
• advice from hip domestics here
• advice from Derby Nation here
• advice from the Gotham Girls board here
• WIN high performance sport detergent
• Penguin Sport Wash

Roller Derby Injury Reporting Form

Awhile ago I created an injury report form for my league, to help us keep track of our injuries, and hopefully help prevent them in the future. It is a form created with Google Docs which can be submitted online (which people seem to find easier to do). I thought I would post a generic version here in case anyone else is interested in using it as a template for their own league.

Generic Roller Derby Injury Report Form:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=rG6K629ny2yXoCicZGydZ_A&hl=en

If you are not familiar with Google forms, you should follow the link above, and then create a copy. Once you have your copy you can edit the form for your own particular needs. If anyone has any questions, I would be happy to help.

Sweet DIY Roller Skates from CRAFT Magazine

I'll never forget being in Chicago years ago, scoping someone rolling by in some awesome platform roller skates, and wondering where she had found such a rare score. Well, we all know the best way to originality and customization is DIY! Enter CRAFT Volume 07, our Shoeware issue. What issue on shoes would be complete without DIY Roller Skates? This how-to is written by none other than the fine folks over at skates.com, retailers of roller skates and skateboards since 1975. The step-by-step build was done by Richard Humphreys, who has been a professional skater since 1978 and is the creator of rollerdance.com. Needless to say, the man has mad skills!

Check out the full article from CRAFT here along with a video podcast demo below.