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winnipegfreepress:

Sarah Cummings (left) and Denise Douglas ham it up during the Winnipeg Roller Derby League open house at The Forks this afternoon. Photo by Mike Deal.

Oh look, this is right in front of the store! <3

fuckyeahrollergirls:

(via Jennifer M Ramos)

Part TWO of our RollerCon Survival Guide

See part one here

I hadn’t actually thought about the fact that some people might not know what to expect. RollerCon is such an important part of my derby life, I forgot that new people would have no idea what really happens there!

Here are some more thoughts:

1. There are literally thousands of derby people there. I don’t even know what the attendance will be like this year. Four thousand? Five thousand people? A massive number of derby people: skaters, refs, photographers, non-skating officials, emergency medical technicians, announcers, skate manufacturers, promoters, coaches… it’s actually really nuts!

So your individual experience of RollerCon might be completely different than mine or your friends’. You will meet different people with different opinions and approaches. Keep an open mind.

I can honestly say that I have never had a truly negative experience with people in the community during my derby travels. But, I haven’t met all 5000 people that will be there, so I can’t guarantee that you won’t meet some true assholes. That’s okay - just move on to the rest of the super cool that are there.

2. Vegas is an incredible place. Their city marketing is well known: what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Did you know, though, that not everything goes in Vegas? Casino licenses are like a license to print money. The companies that run those casinos will do whatever they need to do to protect that license, and if they think you are breaking laws or are somehow threatening that license, they will remove you from the hotel, or call the cops.

This means you can’t run topless through the casino, you can’t smoke drugs on the front steps, you can’t do anything illegal. So don’t do stupid things in public. Do your stupid things in private, and I won’t judge you. I promise.

I am going to write a whole post later on about safety in Vegas, as that is how I volunteer my time for RC: by helping to raise awareness about safety for attendees. But I’ll address it briefly here: stay safe, help your fellow con-goers to stay safe. Be aware, don’t trust strangers with your drinks (derby strangers are still strangers), make sure you stay hydrated.

3. Most RC on-skate events are co-ed. I am saying “most” because I am not completely sure, but I would say that 90% of the skating is co-ed. So get comfortable with the idea of skating derby with dudes.

I actually have learned some of the most amazing stuff from guys skating in classes. They don’t necessarily hit harder, they don’t necessarily skate faster, they don’t always know the rules as well as you (but some of them are the most insane skaters ever). They are just other people that love the sport and want to learn.

I don’t think many people I know will have any issues with this, but I was so amazed that some newbies last year were just floored that men and women were skating together. They weren’t even mad, just SHOCKED. hahaha it was kind of adorable.

Currently it seems to me that men’s derby has it’s own culture and last year there were a lot more dude skaters there than previous years. MRDA (Men’s Roller Derby Association) is really taking off right now, so I expect that there will be even more male skaters this year. I’m looking forward to it! They bring a whole new flavour to the game. Co-ed games are wicked fun to play and to watch.

4. In Winnipeg, a “black and blue ball” is a fetish party. Imagine my surprise when my first year it turned out at RC to merely be a party where people wear the colours blue and black.

Fetish gear is cool too, just colour coordinate.

I am a bit difficult (I know, it’s a big surprise to my friends that I would be “difficult”), so I don’t really care about “dressing to impress” at this particular party. I spend every B&B ball in the pool (“the pool” is a recurring theme in my personal RC experiences). I just happen to have a blue bathing suit, but I promise I did not do that on purpose.

Last year I was really floored by how many people I did not know at the party (again, thousands of attendees - I can’t know them all), and it seemed like many people were competing to be the most EXTREEEEM DERBY SKATERZ™ in the world, and there were a lot of really crazy outfits and people partying really hard. I dunno. I felt like a lot of people needed to be patted on the head and told “yes, you are the most unique and special derby skater here. It’s okay you can calm down now”. But then again, I am a bit of a jerk?

There was a weird rainstorm (in the desert) last year, it was cold and I bailed fairly early into the night. The next day the pool was closed for “extensive cleaning” from that party and I will let you imagine what had to happen in the pool for it to be shut down for a day afterwards.

Its fun and I still go to the party. I am just saying - I think a fetish Black and Blue ball might actually be a more chilled out place that the RC Black and Blue ball.

Stay tuned for more info as we run up to the event this July!

Frosty’s RollerCon Survival Guide - part one

I started this post with a picture of my favourite part of RC - the pool. That might sound like blasphemy, because you’re (hopefully) not on your skates in the pool, and isn’t skating the point of RollerCon?

Yes, it’s true. Skating is the reason that we are all there. But to me, RollerCon is my yearly family reunion. My favourite night is Tuesday - the night before it all starts. The night before I have any guilt about missing sessions I wanted to attend (there are about 5-7 events happening at any moment, so its impossible to attend them all. That doesn’t stop me from feeling bad about missing them though). Tuesday is when I can’t go 10 steps in the hotel without running into someone fabulous, squealing and hugging, followed by exchanging phone and hotel room numbers. After that it’s drinks and swimming, terrible karaoke, and (for me, not so much the people hanging out with me), listening to amazing stories and ideas from people that I love and look up to.

This year will be my 4th RollerCon, so while I haven’t been there since the beginning, I have been to quite a few of them. These thoughts and ideas I have are just my opinions. I could probably write many pages about all the things I have learned and loved about RollerCon. I’ll be posting blogs about it and survival tips over the next few months. There are lots of skaters going from my home league (Winnipeg Roller Derby League) for the first time this year, so I hope that maybe a few of them will get something out of this.

Things to think about:

1. Subscribe to the updates of the RC twitter: @rollercon. I get them sent directly to my phone. They will update all sorts of things in the months leading up to the event, and then while you are there, it serves as a kind of bulletin system for important announcements.

2. If you are coming from Canada (or another country) please check with your cell phone provider for a “travel pack” before you go. The first time I went I used my cell and came back to a $900 bill. It was reduced after a tearful phone call, but I made sure that didn’t happen again. For not very much money (from like $10 and up), depending on how much you plan on using your phone, you can save yourself a lot of grief.

I tend to use texting there more than anything, and I know I can get unlimited texts received for free (with these packages), which is actually quite useful.

3. RC is run mostly by volunteer labour. Stay tuned to the RC webpage for when they are putting calls out for volunteers. It’s a great way to meet new people, give back to your community, and if you volunteer 5 hours (double check that number for this year) then you get a super rad shirt. More than 10 hours (this year) you get a discount on the next year’s pass.

4. Scrimmages generally happen towards the later evening, and get more advanced later into the night. Try going at the beginning and see where your comfort level is. Bring both a black and a white scrimmage t-shirt. Generally the line up for white team is a bit shorter (although lots of people get that advice so you never know).

5. Challenge teams are hard to get onto. Many of them are advanced (and when I say advanced I mean like, Team USA advanced), and lots of them fill up very fast. So don’t be heartbroken if you don’t get onto Team Star Wars (do you know how long the list is to get on that team? ultra long). Lots of teams get put together, but not all of them will get chosen to play. RC looks for more “fun” type teams, so if you put Team Winnipeg/Brandon vs. Team Regina together, it is much less accessible than say… the Vagine Ragime (queer skaters) vs. the Caulk Suckers (straight skaters).

I will post more thoughts over the next while. Keep checking the RollerCon website for info. Be respectful and open to new experiences and ideas. So you didn’t get into that class you really wanted to be in? That’s cool - go make friends with that amazing girl from Australia you saw dancing at the bar last night. You might actually learn more.

Everyone has days where they feel like crap about their skating. Some of us have more of those days than others.

My home league took December off as a hiatus, and even though I have gone skating at the local rink a few times, I mostly feel like I am a big blob that has forgotten how to skate and play derby. A month is too long for me, personally.

I also come from a background of having to learn how to skate, just to play derby. I came with no skating skills at all. In fact, I couldn’t even stand up on skates when I came to my first practice. So that means that every time I have come to practice, I have had to work through frustration that I am not able to do everything that I want to do. Every time.

I also find that I can be needy for validation. I have always had my struggle for skills hanging over my head, and I need. Tell me I am a good skater. Tell me I am improving.

In fact, I often jokingly make this reference, although I don’t know if anyone ever gets it:

Bill Murray in What about Bob

So what is my point here?

My dad is a psychologist and sometimes talks to me about how to foster good relationships and community. He speaks about how optimism and kindness are things we can give to each other. To me, the distinction that we give those things as gifts to each other, rather than just letting those things “wash over us”, is what is really key there. We can choose to give each other understanding and support, and not just hope that it happens.

Last year in Los Angeles at LADD’s March Radness, I was lucky enough to train with Bonnie Thunders (among other trainers) and sat in a roundtable she held about dealing with performance anxiety and other mental game aspects. She mentioned several things that have stuck with me, but the one that applies here is that she said that each skater should really have another person in their life that makes them feel good about their own skating. Hopefully each of us have a few, but you need at least one.

It could be your derby wife, your teammate, a ref, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, or someone more random, but all need someone we can turn to and know that they will make us good about our skating.

Think about who that might be for you? Do you have that person yet? Or perhaps a more key question: who can you do this for? Do you have a person that can turn to you and you give them support and encouragement? If the answer is no, then maybe you need to look the gifts we can give each other, optimism and kindness, and how you can use them to help a fellow skater.

My dad and Bonnie Thunders - both inspiring to me.

And on a personal note, I would like to thank my team, the Valkyries Wrath for being such amazing supporters of each other. In particular, thank you to my derby wife, Killendula, and fellow Valk, Ella Hitzgerald for always finding a way to make me feel better after a particularly difficult session.

(Source: wontretiremightretread)

Swoon!

(via pussy-whipped)

(Source: oatmealareyoucrazy, via nikkisavage)

totallyretro:

Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe.

When I see vintage pictures of movie stars roller skating…. it just astounds me for some reason. Actually anyone skating without wearing full protective gear freak me right out! hahaha

(Source: mostlymarilynmonroe, via mystockingseams)

fuckyeahrollergirls:

(by evocateur)

fuckyeahrollergirls:

(by rdunnell)

I love, that for all their slickness, Oly still writes their numbers on their arms with sharpies.

rollerballs:

He’s reffy and he knows it!!!  A quote from Johnny Marr’d