the agony of defeat

Today's Best October 23, 2007 Red-headed rollergirl in green skate dress hugs her knees after a loss. This one reflected the way I was feeling, though not over a loss because I'm happy every time I get to skate. I just had a bad day, and this is how I felt. As any rollergirl or derby widower knows, you'd have to be in a really bad mood to put your nose that close to your pads! Zazzle made me feel better by choosing it as one of the day's best.

Shown on a classic heavyweight t-shirt. Tagless design for ultimate comfort. Pre-shrunk, 6.1 ounce 100% cotton. Double-needle stitched bottom and sleeve hems. Loose, classic fit, wears well on anyone. Starting at $14.95, as shown $14.95.

roller derby pin up diva t-shirts, greeting card and postage stamp

Vintage inspired pin up posed roller derby diva in a 5 color palette with roller derby girl on a 50's style geometric pattern.

Shown (left) on a vintage-style melange ringer with a simple retro look. 70/30 cotton-poly blend. Baby rib contrasting collar. Durable double-stitched bottom hem and sleeves. Tailored fit. Starting at $23.95, as shown $23.95.


Today's Best October 19, 2007 Shown (right - without the geometric pattern background) on a classic pink and white raglan, cut just for women. 100% super soft ring-spun cotton. Solid body with contrasting collar and sleeves. Double-needle stitched sleeve and bottom hems. Side-seamed with custom contoured fit. Made by Bella. NOTE: Sizes run extremely small. Order 1 to 2 sizes larger than normal. Starting at $19.95, as shown $19.95. The text on this is in black, but you can change it with the design tool if you choose a dark shirt.


The background color of this card can be changed, I chose teal because it adds to the 50's feel. The inside is blank so you can customize your message. Choose from greeting cards ($2.99) or postcards ($2.49).

• No minimum quantity.
• Free boxed sets with orders of 10 or more.
• Save 12% or more when you buy in bulk.

You can even get matching postage! First class 1oz. stamps ($.41) are available on a 20 stamp sheet:

• small (1.8" x 1.3") $14.95
• medium (2.1" x 1.3") $16.95
• large (2.5" x 1.5") $18.95

Other postage rate classes are available, just choose the one that you need from the drop down list for complete price breakdown.

Texas Rollergirl all star Derringer .44 featured inventer on Statesman.com

Manda Claire Jost, aka 'Benderella,' 35, lecturer of evolution at the University of Texas, Texas Rollergirl aka Derringer .44

Circuit bending

(Jost will provide a free workshop at Maker Faire)

www.myspace.com/benderella

Homebound during last winter's ice storm, Jost started dismantling a baby's electronic alphabet toy she happened to have lying around, crossing wires and changing the circuit board with alligator clips, switches and a soldering iron to create new sounds. She keeps musical toys because she has a small music studio at home and likes to create new sounds.

"When I had the thing apart and wires strewn all over the table, the toy's voicebox said 'play with me,' " she says.

She did, and joined the art form of short-circuiting low-voltage, battery-operated children's toys to create new sounds. She became a circuit bender.

"The goal is not to accept a toy for what it is but to crack it open and change it," she says. "Anyone can do it. You don't need to know a thing about what you're doing."

At Maker Faire, she will have a table of used electronic toys, and a variety of tools to tinker with the circuit boards. "It is playful, creative and on the fly," she said. "These things start at an exploratory stage and evolve to a project. And once you're finished, you decorate it."

She's also bringing a synthesizer that is modulated by a vintage heart monitor and heart defibrillator. She will look for a volunteer to be smeared in EKG conductive gel. The effect? It will change sounds that the keyboard makes.

Maker Faire

When: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday

Where: Travis County Exposition Center, 7311 Decker Lane

Cost: $25 adults; $15 students 13 to 21 with student ID; $10 ages 4-12; 3 and younger free. (You can buy tickets in advance and for a $5 discount at the Austin Children's Museum through Friday.)

Details: www.makerfaire.com

read the full article at the Austin American Statesman

2007 WFTDA Texas Shootout videos

Footage from the 2007 Texas Shootout WFTDA National Championship in Austin, TX is available online:
main page
First Semi-Final: Texas Rollergirls Texecutioners vs. Rat City Rollergirls
Second Semi-Final: Kansas City Roller Warriors vs. Carolina
Consolation: Texecutioners vs. Carolina
Championship: Rat City Rollergirls vs. Kansas City Roller Warriors

Skate or die tie

Skull and skates skate or die tie in white on black background. Any DARK background can be used; part of this image is white.

• Made of silky 100% polyester fabric
• 55" long, 4" wide (at widest point)

$29.95

Rollergirl patterned text tees

New patterned text rollergirl t-shirts. Don't forget - you can choose the color and type of t-shirt you like. If you're feeling creative you can even add your own graphics and/or text.

blue chipped flint:
crystalized:opalescent:
red stripe:
hammered metal:

orange earthscape:

whip the jammer t-shirt

A rookie rollergirl was told to try to whip the jammer so she brought a whip to the track. Her teammate said, "It's not that kind of whip!"

Shown on a colorful fitted cap-sleeve raglan is a team favorite. 100% baby rib cotton, combed for softness and comfort. Raglan cap sleeves with contrast color. Form fitting. NOTE: Sizes run small. Order 1 to 2 sizes larger for looser fit. Made in the USA by American Apparel. Starting at $21.95; as shown $21.95.

Close up:

eat skate sleep t-shirt

Road sign style banner (as in food-gas-lodging) for rollergirls. We eat, skate, sleep and try to do our paid jobs as fast as possible so we can get back to the other three.

Shown on a white 100% super-soft ring-spun cotton classic baby doll tee. Double-needle stitched bottom hem, capped sleeves, tapered side-seamed body with custom contoured fit. Made by Bella. NOTE: Sizes run extremely small. Order 1 to 2 sizes larger than normal. Starting at $16.95, as shown in white $16.95, black t-shirt is $21.95.

October is National Roller Skating Month

Roller skating is not just for derby, though you may get that impression from reading my blog! According to the National Roller Skating Association many athletes known for other sports skated early in life and were able to adapt roller skating strengths and skills to the sport that made them famous.

NBA 2004 Slam Dunk Champion, Fred Jones, credits roller skating with strengthening his leg muscles, which helped result in a successful college career at Oregon and a position with the Indiana Pacers. Olympic gold medal speed skater Chad Hedrick started his career on roller skates before switching to ice skates to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games. Olympic speed skater Apollo Ono also began competing in speed skating with inline skates before switching to ice blades to compete in the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

And it's not just athletes, celebrities like roller skating, too.

Grammy winner and pop music star Beyonce Knowles hosted her 21st birthday party at a rink in Atlanta. Bow Wow, Mike Epps and Jurnee Smollett, all avid roller skaters, recently starred in the roller skating-themed movie, “Roll Bounce.” Janet Jackson and Kim Bassinger both host star-studded birthday parties at a skating center in California. Singers Missy Elliot and Ciara each featured roller skating in recent music videos. The musicians from Matchbox 20 shot one of their videos in a roller rink where they skated on quad skates.

On a personal note, I started skating when I was five and continued through high school. I was lucky to live near a 5 mile paved hike and trail and went to Galveston to skate on the seawall almost every weekend. I made the unfortunate mistake of leaving my skates when I went to college and my mom sold them in a garage sale. I never asked what she got for them; I was too upset. When I decided I could afford a new pair I couldn't find quads (before the internet) and got a cheap pair of inlines just to see if I liked them. I have to admit I never really did, but I wanted to skate so I bought a better pair and gave the others to a little girl who wanted them. I gave her my pads, too because I wanted her to be comfortable and develop a passion for skating. I moved, so I can only hope.

Anyway, I rolled around on the inlines for seven or eight years and got more confident, but never stopped thinking about my old skates. Once again, lucky for me the Texas Rollergirls got started here in Austin so there's been a brewing roller derby undercurrent for a few years now.

Earlier this year I stated thinking about my life and a quote "you'll regret the things you didn't do far more than those you did" (sorry, I have no idea who said it or where I heard it). Well, I'll be 40 in December and thought if I didn't at least try roller derby it would turn out to be one of the things I looked back and regretted never doing. Now I 'm trying to figure out what took me so long!

So I am celebrating October as National Roller Skating Month, but for me it's really every month and always has been.

Rat City leg whip

Ariel Pena got this great shot at Nationals and put together real-time animation and slow motion animation of the Rat City Rollergirls leg whip on his website Arienbium. I didn't get to see it and everyone's been talking about it so here it is.

Photos and animation by Ariel Pena

Jules a.k.a. Axle Adams at type2bphoto.com made this awesome 11 frame photo sequence taken at Bumberbout during the Rat City - Texas Rollergirls bout. Click on the image to start the animation sequence.

Photos and animation sequence by Jules Doyle a.k.a. Axle Adams.

You can see more of Axle Adams leg whip photos here, here, here, and here. And another still sequence from Bumberbout: http://www.type2bphoto.com/misc/bombfatale.jpg

About the Bumberbout (from Rat City Rollergirls website):
On Saturday, September 2, 2006, the door counters at the Key Arena in Seattle Center officially tallied 20,205 entries to the first ever Flat Track Derby Invitational, The Bumberbout, held at Bumbershoot, Seattle's premier Music & Arts festival! Eight of the top leagues in the United States skated their way into the hearts of new derby fans from across the Pacific Northwest, the United States, and the world. Rat City is proud and honored to have been able team up with One Reel Productions to hostess and showcase these premier athletes!

Skate or die stickers and a keychain

Need stickers for your helmet? Here's one! Rollergirl jammer star helmet cover on a skull and crossbones with roller derby skates holding the laces by the teeth. And don't forget the design tool allows you to change the background color and/or add your own text.

Sticker Sheets $4.95

Two sticker sizes to choose from:
Small, 1½ inch (sheet of 20)
Large, 3 inch (sheet of 20)

• No minimum order - save when you buy in bulk.
• Vibrant colors printed on scratch-resistant paper
• Easy to peel-and-stick anywhere

Keychain $2.95

• No minimum order - save when you buy in bulk
• Vibrant colors covered with scratch- and UV-resistant Mylar
• Tight-fitting clasp keeps your keys together
• 2¼" round - fits nicely in your pocket or purse

Skate or die light t-shirt

Rollergirl jammer star helmet cover on a skull and crossbones with roller derby skates holding the laces by the teeth with a black amorphous cloud background. ** Please note: this design is for light shirts; the one for the DARK shirt is here. **

Shown on a classic heavyweight t-shirt. Tagless design for ultimate comfort. Pre-shrunk, 6.1 ounce 100% cotton. Double-needle stitched bottom and sleeve hems. Loose, classic fit, wears well on anyone. Starting at $14.95; as shown $14.95.