TC Terrors - Boys like Roller Derby Too...

Now that Blogger seems to have calmed itself down and started accepting photos again (apparently it was a system wide problem, even popular blogs had to deal), here are those few shots I got from the Men's Derby last weekend:



In comparison to the two female leagues we've seen, I'd have to say it was different but quite fun. I loved the small venue (which happens to be the same roller rink I frequented as a child). It was our first time sitting track side, and though we didn't "catch a derby boy" (you still have to give them back) we definitely felt close to the action. And there was a lot of action - it was much less controlled than the ladies, with a constant air of chaos that was very exciting. Lots of pile ups:



Sadly, my camera battery died pretty early on, so I didn't get any great shots of the egregious fashion errors on the track. You'll have to take my word about the blue metallic hot pants and leopard print Lycra shorts - and let's just say neither were worn by gladiators.



This was the final bout of their season (black - the "Destruction Workers" won by a landslide over the blue "Skate Paulie Boys") but I'd definitely go back next season. And beer was only $3, as opposed to $6+ @ the bigger venues!



The crowd was comprised mostly of rollergirls, which also probably added to the atmosphere. At halftime a strange band of very skinny men dressed as ninjas played, but since their mouths were covered by their ninja suits, I couldn't make out a word they sang. They also had red laser pointers on their heads, like headlamps for spelunking but with red bulbs. I would think this counteracts any ninja stealth the rest of the outfit provided, but clearly I have not studied the (art? trade?)ninja rules.

It's the little things that keep you going...

My house is by no means clean, but I feel extremely accomplished heading back into the fray of things this week. It could be the gorgeous weather we're having, or the continued Roller Derby madness, but I'm definitely in a spring-y mood.

Small weekend triumphs:

Refilled the soap dispenser in the bathroom
We're eco-friendly like that. Sometimes.

Assembled 2 shoe racks for the porch
that have been sitting out there in their boxes for 6 months

Folded & put away 10 loads of laundry.
TEN. And I'm not caught up yet. And apparently I'm never been
even this close to caught up, because without half of my clothing
being in a queue for the washer, it doesn't all fit in my dresser
or closet. Luckily we're hitting 70 most of the week, so it seems
that I can pack away the sweaters and coats!

Charged my camera battery
After it died mid-derby. So you don't get to see the weird ninja band. So sad.

Finished a book
Not admitting what it was though.

Sorted and filed FOUR banker's boxes full of paperwork
I'd gotten pretty behind...and I miss my shredder

Watched SEVEN movies:
None of them good. Seriously. Skip ALL of these!
Jennifer's Body
Couples' Retreat
Post Grad
The Marc Pease Experience
500 Days of Summer
The Vampire's Assistant
Stepbrothers

Slept in TWO DAYS! WHOO HOO!

Unpacked my craft show suitcase,
and in the process finding many "missing" items

All in all it was a very tolerable weekend. Blogger is being a photo spaz right now, so I don't have any accompanying pics for you, but if it clears up stay tuned for a few men's derby shots - you'll want to see them just for the fashion disasters. Lycra is a privilege, not a right...

Excellent Events, coming soon!

This marks the first Saturday in months that I've been free, and I'd love to promise all sorts of cleaning and crafting, but it's much more likely that I'll stumble across some bad tv marathon and spend most of the day in my pj's. It's a recurring theme on my Sundays so far. And I won't be too terribly sad if that's how today goes, though I'd hope to a few things organized around the house.

And I do have a couple fun adventures planned, yay spring!

First off, this evening we're rounding out our derby tour by taking in the MEN'S bout @ Cheapskate:



This poster has no time (uh...duh?) but the website says it starts round 7, let's hope that's right. I'm quite interested to see how the men match up to the two women's leagues we've seen so far.

Then, a bit farther down the road, I'm looking forward to Krista's Goth Dinner Party. How awesome does that sound?!?!? There are far too few theme parties these days, or at least I never seem to get invited to any, so this is EPICALLY exciting in my book. I've also been a secret goth admirer, though much too perky to ever pull it off, so I'm very curious to finally try out a goth look, and already have a few ideas in mind. I'm terrible with makeup, but found this handy dandy little "map"



What do you think, can I pull something like that off? :)

Speaking of costumes, I also have to get moving on the 2nd (annual?) Coney Island Mermaid Parade ensemble for 2010! This time hubby is coming along, though I wouldn't expect a costume out of him, it'll definitely be easier to get photos with him there to snap them. I've got an idea (TBA) and a pattern, now I need to actually hit the fabric store (and then probably just ship all the pieces off to Ryan :) It would be awesome to get it started this weekend.

"Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society."
~Mark Twain

“CIRCUS, n. A place where horses, ponies and elephants are permitted to see men, women and children acting the fool.” - Ambrose Bierce

When performing a back hand spring on a trampoline, you need to land both feet together, or you send a huge shock wave through the first foot when you stick the second (and bounce the trampoline again).



Why didn't I know this? Hmmm, maybe because I've never done a back hand spring, let alone on a trampoline?!?!?! And I can't even do a back somersault? And when I launch into something physical I just hope and assume that my limbs are following along?

I got my first circus class "injury" last night, nothing serious, but I immediately felt a pain shooting through my thigh that I knew wasn't good. It's lingered, made sleeping a little difficult, and my hip aches now sitting at my desk. It will probably interfere with skating if it doesn't go away ASAP. Boo.

But on the bright side, I did a back hand spring :)

There were two spotters and I'm pretty sure one of them forced my legs go over my head (they don't seem to do that on their own) but I still consider it a triumph, as something I never thought I'd do.

All in all it was a tough night under the big top. I actually wavered on going as I'd been home sick all day. I drove halfway there, but the thought of spinning on a rope led me to declared it a no go. But later I reconsidered and decided to tough it out. I was rewarded with: conditioning. UGH! Station 1 was a full 20 mins of core work. If I enjoyed that kind of crap I'd have just joined a gym. But I don't enjoy it. I just want to play on fun circus equipment :) Now I certainly realize that having any amount of core muscles would make playing on the equipment easier and more fun, but it's not like 20 mins is going to change my body so that I can suddenly master the hoops. But I endured.

Next up was the silks. Remember Pink's performance at the Grammy's? That was silks:



I was optimistic, after my unexpected rope climbing success last week.

Climbing silks is not like climbing a rope. It's more like climbing a rubber band. You climb and climb and climb, and you've only gotten 6". Very defeating. But I did manage to do this (we're low on purpose, I actually did climb a bit higher than that the first time):



followed by this:



which would look pretty cool if I could extend my back leg :) D'oh...

...followed by an even less elegant dismount :) I was in a group with a woman who had taken the class for years and she could do some pretty awesome stuff, so it was fun to watch. I can't get a handle on the most basic things - like wrapping your foot in the silks and standing on it squishes your foot. Or sitting on the hard bar of the hoops or triple trap hurts your butt. I guess I'm soft, I just can't do these things without thinking everything hurts!

The tumbling trampoline was the 3rd and final station of the night, good thing because after my back handspring I was down for a while. No class next week for spring break (hopefully my hip/thigh works itself out by then), but otherwise I'm more than 1/2 way through! 3 classes to go, and I'm hoping we get to try unicycles at least one of those :)

Roller Derby, Arggggh!

After all the huffing and puffing about mermaid hair, I ended up going a totally different direction. Apparently I was feeling too dark & moody to pull off sea nymph, not to mention I hated the wig, and had about 12 minutes to get ready on Saturday, so I'm glad I had a back up plan. I decided to go for another high seas look with a little more attitude: PIRATE!!!



I'm really glad I went this route. It was fairly easy to pull together with stuff I had lying around, it was comfortable, and the few new pieces that I did pick up I love.

Here's what I used:

- pirate scarf (made into a hat), jeweled brooch, and eye patch were from an old costume years ago. They don't take up any room to store, and I love having a go-to box of props for last minute costumes.

- white cotton skirt from Target - $12. I got one in black too, but the contrast was more exciting

- giant jeweled necklace and matching earring are borrowed from Ryan, same set I wore for Halloween. The big rings are all from my jewelry box.

- red fishnets I had lying around, and the chunky mary janes are my usual dress shoe right now, they are actually really comfortable but still have a heel.

- the halter top was my biggest purchase, $32 @ hot topic. I had to be judged by all the alterna-teens while shopping, but I'll wear this often in daily life. It's got fun details and really shows off my ink in back, I love it! :) (I did cut the tag off before going out). The wristlettes and leg warmers are also hot topic, $12-14, but I can wear both again.



- the face jewels are left over from the Mermaid Parade last year, and I was liberal with the black eyeliner, and that was it! I was super disappointed that more people weren't dressed up - there were a few people in themed western attire, otherwise me, Carin, and a Narwhal were pretty much it:



Luckily Carin's costume was so awesome, it pretty much made up for the lack of effort by the rest of the crowd. She was mobbed with photo requests, like this dude (no idea who this is):



There were a lot of differences between the leagues, but to accentuate the positive I'll say that the North Star league had MIXED DRINKS! WOOT WOOT! That was fairly exciting. We have one more stop on our derby domination month with plans to see the TC Terrors MEN'S Derby in action next week.

iPod Case

I love it! This is the little padded pouch I just got for my iPod. It fits the cords and everything:




From Wiggletiggy via Etsy. They come in all different sizes, or a variety of other monsters too. This little guy matches my coat, and my iPod.

Look, look, an actual CRAFT!

That I made! All in one sitting!
It seems like it's been a while, but I swear I'm not done crafting. I just rarely sit still long enough to complete a project these days, what with all the working + laundry + flying trapeze... But occasionally I do squeeze it in, like on Sunday when I went to a Stampin' Up workshop and made some really cool things.

I've come to realize that I'm actually a really crappy stamper. It's annoying, but getting frustrated about it doesn't make it any better - it just makes me want to do it less often :) But I have a few friends who are really into stamping, and they persuade me to try again every few months. This past weekend we did some techniques that didn't actually involve stamping images, which was music to my ears! Check out the beautiful boxes we made - and pay close attention to the green marbled paper on top:



Not only did we make the boxes, but I MADE that paper too! Well, not the paper itself I guess, but the design on the paper - we used a technique called "polished stone" to mimic marble, and I love how mine turned out! It's two shades of green stamp re-inkers, gold, and rubbing alcohol on shiny paper. And a lot of luck. I'm so impressed with myself!



The flowers are just various punches like the place cards I made for Al's wedding. I think I'll use this for a small gift box. We also made cards using the same technique (and a couple stamps - but I had more success than usual, so I'll try to get a pic of them up eventually).