Our All-Star team have a bout tomorrow against the Rainy City Rollergirls. It’s going to be epic. Come!

GOREonation Street

Pinterest

The internet fills me with such joy. Only on the internet can you find the amazing mix of ridiculous opinions, serious words, naked people and animals in one handy place. Just a glance at my Google Reader shows more information than I ever thought myself capable of taking in a year ago. It has changed the way we view the world, the way we process information, the way we engage with and digest culture and so much more. I have a giant lady crush on the internet.

Here are my internet loves:

- MTLRD’s New Skids on the Block.

- Cuteroulette: like Chatroulette, but with cute animals.

- Omnomnom.com

-  Nic Cage As Everyone.

-  Lesbians who look like Justin Bieber

- Kim Jong Il looking at things

Bus reward, at Power Ballad Cafe

An actual body type

Montreal Roller Derby: Derby Heroes.

And if you’d prefer pictures taken by a grown up, you can go here!

I spent the majority of my weekend either on a bus or in a windowless sweaty warehouse. Surprisingly, it was also one of the best weekends of my life.

I went to see Anarchy in the UK, the first ever Eurpoean WFTDA sanctioned roller derby tournament. It was ridiculously good, and I spent the weekend cheering for Montreal, my new derby heroes.
Here is their promo video for the 2011 season. It says everything you need to know about why they rule.

 Image via Pinterest

Quick post today, as I am super busy getting ready to head to London tonight!

For Follow Friday, I’d like to shout out to all the lovely people doing Blog Every Day April with me!

They are as follows!

Amy: Just Me
Andrea: Annie, I think
Autumn: Autumn has fallen
Becky: Life in Denim and Flip Flops
Blake Winters: Reptiles of the Mind
Carrie: Eo rus
Christina: The Library, the Universe and Everything
Emily: Emily’s Blog
Gretchen: This Viking Speaks Spanish
Katie: Dynamite with a Laser Beam
Laura: The Usherette
leanneef: Lose Pounds, Save Pennies
Lisa: Adventures in College
Manda: Life Through the View of a Curly Queue
Michael: Apples and Oranges
Nate: genius is the fire that lights itself
Nicola: Nicola/ @robotnic
Richard S: Clutterbuck
SEJL: SEJL
Terry: MN Daily Queer
Tianna: AccioPencil

I hope you are looking forward to the weekend.  I will be photoblogging  from Anarchy in the UK! What are you up to?

These are the things that made me love Thursday:

1. Walking to work today. It was such an adventure! The weather was lovely, my favourite song came on and Princes Street Gardens was full of creatures…
2. …including…a ridiculously cute dog. I don’t what breed she was but she looked like a stumpy Golden Retriever/Spaniel cross and her owner very kindly let me say hi. The other creature was…
3. …the most random squirrel ever. Now, I am aware that some people regularly hate on squirrels, but I think they are HILARIOUS. I was crossing the bridge by the Ross Fountain this morning, and I was concentrating on walking really slowly while not looking like a stalker in order to befriend the above dog, so I wasn’t really looking where I was going. When I did look up right at the edge of the bridge, this squirrel was peering round the corner looking extremely suspicious. When he saw I had seen him, he did this ninja roll through the air and sped off. It jolted me right out of my own head and made me laugh out loud.
4. THEN, when I was almost at work, I had the best almost comedy moment ever. I was running to catch a colleague who was holding the door for me, and the banana I was carrying in my pocket (yes, I know – I was protecting it from the bashing it had gotten in my bag) slipped out and I stepped right on it. It felt so weird that I didn’t really know what was going on, and when I looked up I realised I had ACTUALLY stepped on a banana peel, and NOT TRIPPED (I am feeling really caps-locks-y today). I took a picture! Check out that clear footprint!

Bananarama

5. One of our colleagues, Amy, who has recently moved to London (sadness), gave us this gorgeous teapot as a leaving gift:

Tea?

6. I went to the Science Festival launch this evening, and it was fantastic. They had the BRILLIANT idea of, instead of having a launch where the central focus is the bar, letting everyone they invited loose on the amazing Science Play Magic Centre at the City Art Centre (I can’t find its official title, but it kindof makes dreams come true). It meant that everyone got a taste of the events on offer, had a lot of fun and really let loose. I made a GIANT bubble, and this photogram. I am basically Man Ray.

So those are the things that made me smile today. What made you smile today?

This is a big deal for several reasons.

1.       The Auld Reekie Roller Girls are currently a WFTDA (Womens Flat Track Derby Association) Apprentice League. In order to graduate to full member league status, we have to play number of sanctioned bouts, that tick all the boxes and do all the things the WFTDA expect from a bout. This could well be one of these bouts.

2.       Montreal are, according to the Derby News Network, currently listed as #14 in the WORLD. As derby is largely played in the US, this means that many of the best teams are North American and that UK leagues don’t often get the chance to play them. Montreal are in town for Anarchy in the UK, a weekend long WFTDA sanctioned tournament hosted by the British derby champions, the London Rollergirls. The London All-Stars don’t generally play against any UK leagues, as they are just too good, and it makes for a boring game. This weekend will see them take on three of the top ranking teams in the world, Baltimore’s Charm City Roller Girls (#9), Pittsburgh’s Steel City Derby Demons(#18) and Montreal.  If you’re in London this weekend, you should go! I’ll be there!

3.       It’s our birthday! Three years ago today, the first ARRG practice took place in a church hall. To have us take on such a huge team on the anniversary of that day seems quite fitting.

To celebrate this, I bring you *another* ….multimedia breakdown!

Here, for your viewing pleasure (we are multi-sensory here!) is a quick jam from tonight’s bout:

Have you ever been to a roller derby bout? Did you find it entertaining?

PS – No idea what’s going on? Check out my Introduction to Roller Derby post!

Image via Pinterest

Hi!

Today’s post is all about what we’d do if we won the lottery. This is one, as a generally impoverished human, that I’ve thought about a lot!

My plans would be:

- Pay all of my debts off

- Buy my Mom’s house in Ireland, so she wouldn’t have to worry about it anymore, and keep her well.

- Buy myself a flat in Edinburgh

- Travel the world

- Go back to university

- Buy myself some very fancy roller skates.

What would you do if you won the lottery?

*MULTIMEDIA BONUS*

In the spirit of the internet, I thought I would treat you to some multimedia madness! The question ‘What would you do if you won the lottery?’ also reminds me of the Barenaked Ladies’song ‘If I had $1,000,000’, which I loved when I was younger. I realise that a million won’t get you far these days, but it’s definitely a start!

And so, I give you the first verse, courtesy of me and my ukulele. I haven’t sung in bloody ages and can barely play and sing at the same time, so please forgive the croaking and stumbling! It’s my first attempt with Audioboo, a platform I think I will be making far more use of in the months to come.

If I Had a Million Dollars..

Also, I take requests. Got a song you’d like to hear me butcher? Ask, and if it features the chords G, D and C, I’ll give it a bash!



Image via Pinterest.

Gonna keep this short and sweet, as last night’s late night blogging fever has left me a shell of a woman. I really have to get used to putting aside a part of every day for writing.

Nicola of Robotnic, Twitter friend and BEDA buddy, blogged today that the best piece of advice she’d ever received was:

You want to be a writer? Write.

This is a saying I have heard times over and the advice never gets any less good. Also, It’s something I actively don’t follow. I hide from writing whenever possible. I make excuses. I take up hobbies, or watch the entire back catalogue of America’s Next Top Model. I make excuses for my writing and spend time doing other things.

The problem is that I suffer from crippling writing fear. I am completely aware that I am avoiding the topic, that the only way to progress as a writer is to WRITE! And yet…I wuss out.

That’s why I am excited about BEDA. I am generally not the sort to put all my cards on the table, in case I cock something up, but this is a tangible goal that I can deliver on, and it involves writing!

So, if there’s a type of writing you think I should be practising, or trying my hand at, let me know! Leave me a comment. What do you want to read? I’ll do my best to deliver.

(PS- I also don’t generally ask open questions on the blog, as I am convinced no one will reply. Help a girl out).

For reference, I have background experience in writing:

-reviews (book, film, event)

- features writing – lifestyle journalism

- features writing – entertainment journalism

- sarcastic film reviews

- travel writing (about Edinburgh)

- short story

- poetry

- academic writing

Leave me a comment, it’ll make my day!

Roller derby is an all-female, full contact sport played on roller skates. Players skate counter-clockwise around a track, in a pack (all together, like wolves!) where the objective is to get one player (the Jammer) past players of the opposing team (called Blockers) while also stopping the opposing team’s Jammer from getting past. For every player a Jammer passes, she scores a point.

It’s a highly tactical game with a lot of rules, and one that serious sports fans love getting into, as it lends itself very well to nerding out about rules and statistics.

Important things to know about roller derby are:

• A game of roller derby is called a bout. It is played in two halves, each lasting half an hour. These are broken down into two minute periods called jams.
• There are four Blockers on track from each team, and one Jammer from each team.
• One of the team’s Blockers is called the Pivot. The Pivot calls the shot and directs her skaters to do her bidding.
• Jammers wear a star on their helmets. Pivots have a stripe on theirs.
• A Jammer does not score points on the first pass she makes through the pack. Scoring begins on the second go round.
• Instead, the Jammer to get past the pack first on the first pass becomes Lead Jammer. Lead Jammers have the tactical ability to ‘call off the jam’. This means that a good Jammer could become Lead Jammer, skate super fast round the track, score four points and then call off the jam quickly, all before the other Jammer catches up.
• Oh, and for Whip It enthusiasts, roller derby in the UK (and much of the USA) is played on a flat track, rather than a banked one. It is governed quite strictly by the Womens’ Flat Track Derby Association (the Wfff-ta) and you aren’t allowed to punch anyone in the head.

The Hammer City Rollergirls have made a handy video breaking this down a bit. It’s very basic but covers all the main points.

When I first heard about roller derby, it was mostly third hand and in reference to some very scary ladies that I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep up with. As someone who is not very badass by nature, it didn’t seem very me. However, after a couple of months of hearing my boss going on about it (Maul Flanders, number 12), I decided to give it a go.

I thought I would probably go to Fresh Meat, try it out for one session and then never come back, as the gear is quite expensive and the time commitment is huge. It didn’t look likely that I’d be going back. Instead, I figured out that I loved this new strange sport and was willing to spend quite a lot of money and reorganise my entire life in order to make time for it. I don’t know what it was for sure that did it, but the thing that kept me coming back was that derby is HARD. It’s not like you can walk in and be amazing after one session (we do have a couple of exceptions to this, but I think they might secretly be robots) It takes work. Learning to skate is hard enough, but learning how to skate with a team is a whole different ball game. You have to learn how to skate fast, skate in a pack, skate without elbowing anyone or knocking them down untintentionally. You have to learn how to be aware of other skaters and not trip them up, how to hit other players and how to take a hit and not fall. Every week since I started derby I have learned something new and chosen another skill to work on for next week. The first time I hit someone and they actually fell down, it was one of the best feelings in the world.

I am also so grateful to derby because it has given my body a function.  I, like a lot of people, spend much of my time on the internet, or behind a desk at work, so I spend a huge portion of my week sitting and not using my limbs.  It is an amazing feeling to have my body become more than just something to be insecure about. For the first time in years, my body is something strong, and I use it every week. I have terrifying quads, and my calves are basically comedy hams at this point, but it’s okay, because my tree legs are going to make me a better skater.

Tree legs in action

These days, I play with Auld Reekie’s Cannon Belles and I fight for my place on the team every time we have a bout. I am so excited about progressing as a skater, being a better player and being there for my team as time goes on. I started skating in August 2010 and still have a LOT to learn, but it’s more exciting than it is daunting. It’s building on skills in a tangible way. After practising really hard, I come away being able to do something I couldn’t do before, and that is a rewarding feeling.

Here’s a short video of the Belle’s taking on Perth’s Fair City Rollers back in September (way before I was on the team, so don’t try and keep an eye out!)

If you’re interested in seeing what all the fuss is about, our A-team, the Twisted Thistles, will be taking on Manchester’s Rainy City Roller Girls on April 16^th in ‘Gore’onation Street’.  You can find details here , and buy tickets here.

It’s the princely sum of five pounds and promises to be an afternoon of top notch derby! Come along and say hi!

GOREonation Street