Past posts repost

I am going to repost a couple of relevant posts from my other blog, in order to keep things nice and tidy:

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Sunday, June 17, 2007

Roller Derby Name Cloud

Okay, okay, it's Sunday night and I've been trying to think of cool roller derby names all day long and I promise I will work on my thesis tomorrow but right now I took all the roller derby names from the official master roster of names and created this tag cloud of the top 100 words used in roller derby names:

angel (16) anita (21) ann (20) anna (21) annie (24) ass (20) baby (25) bad (22) bang (19) barbie (17) bella (16) belle (18) betty (70) bitch (19) black (19) blonde (15) bomb (26) bones (19) boom (26) brawl (16) bruise (19) bunny (20) candy (29) cherry (36) crash (23) daisy (19) de (22) dead (16) death (19) dee (47) devil (15) dirty (37) dixie (19) dolly (28) donna (15) doom (22) dr (24) elle (17) eva (18) evil (24) fury (18) girl (36) hell (30) holly (20) honey (17) jane (24) johnny (20) kat (20) kill (31) killa (17) killer (28) kitty (47) knuckles (17) la (40) lady (46) lee (15) lethal (15) lil (31) lucky (15) lucy (17) mad (16) mae (17) mama (32) mary (44) mayhem (23) miss (94) molly (16) mr (15) ms (24) naughty (15) pain (60) princess (26) queen (28) rage (19) red (56) ref (19) rock (15) roller (25) rose (26) rotten (16) roxy (20) ruby (28) sally (24) scarlett (16) sin (26) sister (16) slam (16) slaughter (15) sue (22) sugar (18) suzy (27) sweet (30) terror (18) thunder (16) trixie (17) vicious (35) violet (24) vixen (27) von (35) wheels (15)

created at TagCrowd.com

I think I could pick two or three random words from this list and have a pretty cool name, actually, but I am hoping for something a little more unique. Cheers!


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Friday, June 15, 2007

Roller Derby Madness

So... it seems The Ant Room Maven is now one of the newest members of the Boston Derby Dames Roller Derby League. Holy Crap! It will be awhile before I am actually in a bout, but practices start soon. I am uncertain whether anyone reading this blog for ant-related content will be interested in this or any subsequent roller derby related news. Perhaps I should start another blog. Not sure. At any rate, I still have to come up with a fantastic roller derby name and am wondering if anyone out there has any ant-y or science-y suggestions. How do you come up with a derby name?

"There's an art to coming up with your roller derby name. In just a few words tops, it must convey toughness, wittiness and intelligence. The best names are plays on words, and many take their inspiration from a famous figure (usually female, but not necessarily) in history or pop culture." -- Roller Derby Diva

"The process of choosing a derby name is actually quite involved. According to roller derby legend, the yet-unnamed skater must prepare a hollowed-out gourd containing the following items: one roller skate wheel, three strands of hair, scrapings from a burnt piece of whole wheat toast, one tube of red lipstick (any brand will do), and one white sock. On the evening of the next full moon, the skater must place the gourd and its contents outside in clear view of the sky. The skater must sit cross-legged (in front of aforementioned gourd) for exactly nine minutes while looking up at the moon and thinking positive derby thoughts. That night, the perfect derby name will appear to the skater in a dream..... Just kidding" -- Emma Badapple, Gotham Girls Roller Derby

"The perfect derby name should not only be sassy, witty, and tough, but it should also have some personal significance to the skater. Favorite celebrity names, movie titles, and song lyrics can all serve as inspiration for a great derby name, as well as hobbies, interests, and personal obsessions." -- Emma Badapple, Gotham Girls Roller Derby

My favorite roller derby names tend to be hard-as-nails but also ironically-tongue-in-cheek. For example: Marie Fury, Lois Carmen Dominator, Ivana Clobber, Sheryl Crowbar, Claire D. Way, Sandra Day O-Clobber, Pina Collidah, Etta Maims, Rhoda Perdition, etc. Names have to be registered and no two girls can have the same name. Check out this massive roster of names.

Anybody have any thoughts?

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Thursday, May 17, 2007

Radial head fracture

The ant room maven has suffered a minor setback in her quest to become a roller derby girl. Last Saturday during the Boston Derby Dame skate clinic I fell and broke my arm. Fun fun fun. So I have been out of commission for a few days recovering. Today is my first day back at the office. Here is a list of things I now know are very difficult to do with only one hand:

• Drive
• Put contact lenses in
• Put my hair in a ponytail
• Put on a bra
• Floss
• Tie my shoelaces

It is also surprisingly difficult to ID an ant with a microscope. Fortunately, I can type pretty well, and I have just received species identifications from Jeffery Sosa Calvo and Stephanie Johnson for Azteca, Rogeria, Discothyrea, Strumigenys, and Pyramica, so I still have lots of work I can be doing.

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Monday, May 07, 2007

"Let's go Science!"

Saturday was roller derby day for The Ant Room Maven -- my new obsession. The season one championship bout between the Cosmonaughties and the Wicked Pissahs was a good time for all. By virtue of sitting on one side of the arena, we were handed blue pompoms and perforce became Cosmonaughties fans, a job which we took to with relish. Their schtick (you gotta have a schtick!) seems to be that they are evil soviet space scientists out to conquer the roller derby world. Some fans across the way had a giant sign that simply said "SCIENCE." At several points during the game the crowd went crazy with chants of "Let's Go, Science" or simply "Sci-ence, Sci-ence, Sci-ence." It's not often one gets to yell Science at the top of ones lungs over and over again. Very very cool.

I really really want to be a roller derby girl.