Friday, November 19, 2004

Boobs

Trial in Hooters suit against chain accused of stealing ideas


Hooters of America and a rival restaurant chain began arguing in federal court over who has rights to the concept of using scantily clad women to sell food and beer.

Atlanta-based Hooters of America accuses Ker's WingHouse of Kissimmee of poaching the idea coined when it opened its first sports bar in Clearwater in 1983, Hooters lawyer Steve Hill said in opening statements Wednesday in Orlando.

"The evidence will show WingHouse has copied the Hooter girl almost from head to toe," Hill said. "For want of a better expression, the Hooter girl is our Ronald McDonald."

But Crawford Ker said he based his chain on Knockers, a failing restaurant with an all-female staff in Largo that he took over after retiring from the NFL, according to pretrial deposition.

[snip]

Hooters said other ideas swiped by its rival include hula hoops for waitresses, Christmas lights and surfboards hanging from the ceiling and traffic-style signs on the walls warning "Double Curves" and "Caution: Blonde Thinking."

Hooters earns more than $750 million a year from nearly 400 restaurants and that success has inspired a host of copycats, Hooters Senior Vice President Michael McNeil said.


"We believe we are defending the integrity of our intellectual property rights," McNeil said outside the courtroom Wednesday.

friday elfgirl blogging


elfgirl Posted by Hello

Texas Rollergirls vs. Arizona


 Posted by Hello

Texas Rollergirls Red vs. Tucson Saddletramps

Saddletramps:
666 Jezze James – Team Captain
13 wyatt eeka – Team co-Captain
0 Clit Eastwood
6 Six Shooter Flo
14 Zoe Bowie
45 Juana Chisum
333 Doe Holliday
1881 O. Kay Corral
.30-.30 Bitch Cassidy
El Bombadora

Texas Rollergirls Red:
666 Devil Grrl - Team Captian
666 White Lightning Team co-Captian
5" Dagger Deb
6" The Blade
07 Lucky Strike
13 Cheap Trixie
13 Vendeta von Dutch
21 Buckshot Betsy
44 Derringer
51 Lady Stardust
69 Scarlot Harlot
74 Pussy Velour
111 Annie Social
187 Rosie Cheeks
XX Cat Tastrophe

Texas Rollergirls Blue vs. Arizona Tent City Terrors

Tent City Terrors:
9 Babe Ruthless
22 Ivanna S. Pankin
23 Denise Lightning
64 Kick Start
67 Helen Wheels
70 Lawna Moher
77 Bam Bam
99 Trish the Dish
138 Sick Girl
666 Dazy Duke
888 Brassy Knuckles
3? Ms. Tress Trouble
XXX Suzy Homewrecker

Texas Rollergirls Blue:
13 Anna Mosity Team Captian
19 Reyna Terror Team co-Captian
3 Crusher
5 Misty Meaner
10 Trouble
11 Melicious
23 Electra Blu
40 oz. Freakwood Smack
50 Tomcat
56 Lucille Brawl
68 Nasty Habit
99 Bunny Rabid
321 Dinah-Mite
420 Sedonya Face

Date: Sunday, November 21
Time: Doors @ 6:30 p.m.
Place: Playland Skate Center, 8822 McCann (183 & Burnet)
Bands: Opening is ATTACK FORMATION!
Rockin' us out at half time is Shinola

Join us at Beerland, Texas for the official after-party and to officially wrap up the 2004 season!

Thursday, November 18, 2004

Double Standard On Drugs


The Food and Drug Administration just issued a warning on RU-486 – the drug used to cause medical abortions – after two women died from secondary infections after taking the pill to end their pregnancies. But the FDA waited until about 27,000 people had died from heart attacks and strokes while taking arthritis drug Vioxx before pulling that drug. Why the discrepancy?

The FDA is not exactly known as a Johnny-on-the-spot agency. "Slow" and "careful" are its middle names – slow to approve generic drugs that might cut into the profits of large pharmaceutical companies, and careful not to do or say anything that could hurt the sales of those companies' hot sellers. The bodies have to really pile up before the FDA pulls the plug on a popular drug.

Which is what made the Nov. 15 FDA announcement so unusual. The death of one woman last January prompted the FDA to issue a warning notice on the so-called abortion pill, RU-486. The woman did not die as a direct cause of the medication, but rather a secondary infection that set in afterward. It was only the second such case reported after using RU-486.

Compare that FDA response to its handling of Merck's hot-selling arthritis pill, Vioxx. Warnings on that pill have been flooding in from around the world for more than two years – warnings the FDA ignored. The pill worked fine at alleviating pain – especially for the estimated 27,000 users it killed. It seems Vioxx had some nasty side affects: heart attacks and strokes.

Stunning

Report Says Use of Stun Guns Contributing to Human Rights Abuses


Amnesty International USA says it has studied the use of Taser weapons by police, concluding that the "rampant use" of such electroshock weapons is "contributing to widespread human rights abuses."

Amnesty International USA plans to release its 93-page report -- "Excessive and Lethal Force? Deaths and Ill-Treatment Involving Police Use of TASERs" -- next Tuesday.

The report finds that the growing use of Tasers "has dangerously expanded the boundaries of 'acceptable' levels of force." In other words, the report suggests that police are using Tasers even on suspects they might ordinarily subdue by hand.

Amnesty International wants the manufacturers of electroshock weapons to warn police departments not to use them on "vulnerable, nonviolent populations," including elderly people and those with pre-existing medical conditions such as heart disease.

Tasers are marketed as an alternative to lethal force, but Amnesty International said it has found that in the "overwhelming majority" of cases, police departments are using the Tasers in situations where they would never use a gun.


Republican Party actively promotes homosexual promiscuity.

Wednesday, November 17, 2004

say hello to

independent alternatives to the malestream media. feminist blogs

Iraq Burning

Riverbend on "American Heroes"

Mykeru has some photos of "insurgents"

Falluja in Pictures

Going around and around and around with Minnesota's RollerGirls

"Whose ass is that?"

Minnesota RollerGirls founder Mary Donnelly Silverstein (a.k.a. Head Trauma) asks the question with genuine confusion as we stand on the patio of Psycho Suzi's Motor Lodge, ogling the mess of bodies participating in the league's Twister fundraiser.

On the mat is a guy who paid five bucks to tangle with four of the rowdiest girls in the state. At the moment, he's barely visible, trapped in a cage woven of legs clad in fishnet stockings, striped knee socks, and little else. The RollerGirls play fast and loose with the rules, knocking each other over and arguing the caller's claims that they're out. Finally the only ones left are the guy and Michelle Powers (a.k.a. Holly Go-Fightly), a brunette in a crimson miniskirt and straw cowboy hat.

For a while it looks like a stalemate. Then Michelle Will (a.k.a. Led Debby) steps in with an assist. She's wearing huge '70s cop sunglasses, a fake moustache, red hot pants, shiny pantyhose, and rainbow striped socks. Picture a "Sabotage" Beastie Boy dressed for Jazzercise. Out of nowhere she tackles the hapless guy, making Powers the winner. Behind me, a girl shouts, "If one RollerGirl can't do it, two sure as hell can!"

Point taken. If you mess with one, you'd better be ready to take on all of them.

But as I watch, what I'm thinking is, This is what they do to an outsider who's not even wearing protective gear. The spectacle stirs fear in me for a particular reason: I've already committed to tying on some skates and joining the girls for practice next week.


Full story in the Minneapolis City Pages.

Gotham Girls in Village Voice

Gotham Girls Roller Derby exhibition bout in Fly Life.


A roller derby match is like a NASCAR race—it's only good when something bad happens. At the debut exhibition match of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby League Friday night at Skate Key Arena in the Bronx, during the first few rounds enough bad stuff happened to keep the large crowd entertained. Well, that, and how the players' short skirts revealed their colorful underpants.

But toward the end, after performances by rockers the SEX SLAVES and BLACK MOUSTACHE, something really bad happened on the rink. A real live chick fight broke out over a disputed call. By this point, the BROOKLYN BOMBSHELLS' lead over the MANHATTAN MAYHEM had slimmed to just one point. Then, Bombshell LIL' RED TERROR took a hit during the last "jam." As DIRTY MARTINI, who was one of the "jeerleaders," put it, "When she cracked her skull on the floor, you could hear it better than the PA system. I think she got the first black eye of the season."

I had been rooting for the Mayhem, mainly because they had better game names (SYBIL DISOBEDIENCE, ROXY BALBOA) and 'cause their uniforms—orange jump-dresses that made them all look like they'd just escaped prison—were more badass. Alas, the Bombshells beat them in a squeaker.

The crowd included the whole of the Lower East Side and Williamsburg's most heavily tattooed masses. So on the subway it was easy to spot who was heading to the game. (Hint: all the white people.) Since most of us were roller derby virgins, we needed some schooling. LADY ACE sat rink-side—"in harm's way," as the announcers gravely described it—near the cheerleaders, several of whom were her fellow burlesque girls (including LIL' BROOKLYN and Exotic World's LAURA HERBERT) and tried to figure out the rules. Basically, we concluded that if someone gets knocked down, points are scored. Apparently, though, roller derby devils are multi-talented—they don't just have a talent for beating other chicks up. One of the Bombshells, IRON MAIDENFORM, posed for Playboy, and Mayhem member MARGARET THRASHER is in the upcoming Neil LaBute play Fat Pig.

The game was just a warm-up for the year-old league's first season, due to start this spring. The Mayhem and the Bombshells are the only teams in the city, but there are an estimated 25 leagues in the country.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

MN Derby Demo

The Minnesota RollerGirls announce their first roller derby demo open to the public.

Saturday, November 20
10 AM at Cheap Skate
3075 Coon Rapids Boulevard
Coon Rapids, MN

support your local rollergirl

Holy Rollers win Calvello Cup

The banked track Lonestar Rollergirls skated their Campionship bout this past Sunday at the Thunderdome.

The Holy Rollers narrowly beat the Rhinestone Cowgirls 60 - 60 to win the Calvello Cup.

Monday, November 15, 2004

Sleeping Beauty Doll

Ugly Shyla has some new dolls up for auction on eBay. My favorite is the Sleeping Beauty doll.

The doll is life sized and EXTREMELY realistic looking so it's not for the faint of heart.It's made to resemble a Sleeping Beauty which if you do not know the term sleeping beauty refers to post mortem photos taken of deceased children in Victorian times. The doll is expertly painted to look like it has Rigor Mortis or body rot.It's costumed in a christening dress and bonnet made from vintage cotton and trimmed in vintage lace. It's eyes are closed and hands are at it's side to give the appearance of a real "sleeping Beauty". Doll comes with the coffin.The coffin is fully upholstered in white satin and has a crucifix accent in the lid.The outside of the coffin is black with silver toned accents.It latches closed on the sides and there is a metal coffin plate on the lid that says "Baby". The doll is 16 inches tall.The coffin is 17 inches tall and 8 1/2 across.It's made from vinyl and is poseable.


Other Ugly Shyla auctions on eBay.

Sunday, November 14, 2004

Friends Lost

For eleven years, we have met on the South Shores of Town Lake at the Homeless Memorial Plaque and Tree of Remembrance. We have sung, prayed, cried, and remembered the men and women who have died on our streets while we work to end homelessness.

Charles Lynch
Harold Hickey
Charles Reather
Lonnie Walter
Enrique Orta Zalazar
Robert Conklin
Steven Jess Simpson
John Anthony Volovar
Ernest Randolf
Frances Arispe
Clifton Washington
Ezequiel Salas
Arlene Burroghs
Shirley Estelle Jewell
Martin Finnin
James Shoaf
Ascension Veloz
Julian Jaimes
Dustin Justin Grey
Maxine Coon
Elizabeth Ann Saley
Linda Jeanette Spence
Timothy Parkin
Joseph Neal Jackson
Elroy Duvall McBride
Samuel Robinson
Olivar Garner
Daniel Chileab White
Eleanor Coleman
Arturo Cruz Miranda
Allen R. Alexander
Stanford Gibbs
Slan Daniel Marko
Robert Gonzales
Sandra Corks
Mike Montez
Bianca Hernandez
Roger M. Holmes
Claudia Aucutt
James M. Harris
Jerry Betts
Pedro Ramos
Mario Villarreal
Santos Liebas
Charles K. Davis
Paul Gonzalas
Eugene Sullivan
Jose Bocanegra
Raymond Frost
Joseph L'Herault
Mario Robiedo
Wilbert Adams
Alfreda Siomonowsky
Richard Joseph Predgo
Viola M. Humphries
John Wayn Baldwin
Daniel W. Ates
Ronald Ingram
Keyona Brock
Maria G. Hernandez
Robert Chavez
Donald Tennerd
Jesse Carr
Lisa Anderson
Hugh Long Flinn
Domingo Vallejo
Dennis K. True
William Cornish Kirley
"Big Rick" Stroud
Santo Alberto Perez
Velasquez
Margie La Prairie Millis
Gil Conner
Marlin Maxwell
Old Man Gene
Jimmy Frank
"Z"
Eric Wendler
Ron Korn
Charles Albert Webb
William Campbell
Cecil Parker
John Wilton
Robert Gonzales
Windy McKinney
Benjamin Martinez-Lopez
Stephen Sneed
Curtis Ray Wilson

Sunrise Homeless Memorial Service
Sunday, November 14th at 6:57am
First and Riverside Drs. on Auditorium Shores between the
Fanny Davis Gazebo and the Stevie Ray Vaughan Statue.