Saturday, January 15, 2005

Helen Wheels in Arizona Republic

Linda Hesler from the Arizona Republic writes a nice little story on Janet Clarke aka "Helen Wheels" who skates for the Bruisers of the flat track Arizona Roller Derby league.


Mikey Dancziger won't be pushing his teacher's buttons anytime soon.

It'll be nothing but his best behavior after he watched his language arts instructor at Deer Valley Middle School block and jam and duke it out with other all-female roller derby skaters at a recent bout at Castle Sports Club, on 19th Avenue north of Peoria Avenue in Phoenix.

"She was awesome," the 13-year-old said, referring to teacher Janet Clarke, who goes by the rink name of "Helen Wheels" when she skates for the Bruisers.
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"In the classroom, she's a really cool teacher and she really never gets mad," Mikey said. "But after watching her (skate), I'm hoping she doesn't."

Not only is roller derby back on the scene with a vengeance, so is Clarke, who would just as soon bop her opponents as make a legal block.

Andrew Cleland, 13, saw Clarke, too, just to see whether she was "just talk or actually good."

He has decided upon the latter.

The comeback of the once obscure sport - there are five female roller derby teams in the Valley - has allowed Clarke to fulfill a lifelong dream.

Raised on skates, Clarke can't remember when she first started rolling around a rink.

"But I have pictures of me on skates when I was 18 months old," she said.

read more here.

support your local rollergirl

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Friday, January 14, 2005

friday elfgirl blogging


 Posted by Hello

friday random 10

From Roxanne :

Fire up that IPOD, MP3 or other digital media player
Set it to random play
List the first 10 songs

"Been A Long Time" - Texas Eastside Kings
"Somebody Put Something In My Drink" - Ramones
"The Band Played Waltzing Matilda" - The Pogues
"Erotica" - Sixteen Deluxe
"I Wanna Live" - Ramones
"Stupid Girl" - Sue Foley
"We Want The Airwaves" - Ramones
"Ready?" - Barbara K
"Texas" - Boss Hog
"I Spent My Last $10 (On Birth Control and Beer)" - Two Nice Girls

Bu$hCo. ready to slash poor people anti-poverty programs.


The White House will seek to drastically shrink the Department of Housing and Urban Development's $8 billion community branch, purging dozens of economic development projects, scrapping a rural housing program and folding high-profile anti-poverty efforts into the Labor and Commerce departments, administration officials said yesterday.

The proposal in the upcoming 2006 budget would make good on President Bush's vow to eliminate or consolidate what he sees as duplicative or ineffective programs. Officials said yesterday that economic development programs are scattered too widely in the government and have proved particularly ineffectual at HUD.

Advocates for the poor, however, contended that the White House is trying to gut federal programs for the poorest Americans to make way for tax cuts, a mission to Mars and other presidential priorities. Administration officials would not say how much the consolidation would save, but it could lead to steep funding cuts. That is because the HUD programs would have to compete for resources in Commerce and Labor budgets that are not likely to expand to accommodate the shuffle.

"I'm always willing to look at consolidation, but clearly they're using consolidation as a shield for substantial budget reductions," said Rep. Barney Frank (Mass.), the ranking Democrat on the Financial Services Committee, which has jurisdiction over housing and community development programs.

The plan was detailed in a December memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget to HUD. The document provides one of the first concrete examples of the types of cuts in the works as the administration comes to grips with a soaring deficit.

[snip]

Congressional housing aides say the $4.7 billion Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program -- the bulk of the community planning budget -- could be cut as much as 50 percent. Cities have become dependent on HUD's development programs, especially the CDBG, which has existed for 30 years, city officials said. Stanley Jackson, director of the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, said the city has used CDBG grants of $21 million to $22 million a year for clinics, recreation centers, day-care facilities, literacy programs and housing development.

With housing and property values skyrocketing, the need for such programs for low-income families has never been higher, he said.

"If this is a backdoor way of eliminating a program like CDBG, it would have a profoundly negative impact on cities," said Jim Hunt, a vice president of the National League of Cities and a city council member in Clarksburg, W.Va.

Under the plan, the CDBG program -- which provides multipurpose development grants to state and local governments -- would be sent to the Commerce Department. The Urban Empowerment Zones and the Renewal Community programs -- both of which offer tax incentives for development in urban or other troubled areas -- would also go to Commerce, as would the Brownfields Economic Development Initiative, designed to revitalize abandoned industrial sites.


Thursday, January 13, 2005

Minnesota Rollergirls to debut four teams

The Minnesota Rollergirls will debut their four teams with a demonstration roller derby bout on January 16, 2005.

  • When: Jan. 16, 2005
  • Where: First Ave (Downtown Minneapolis)
  • Time: 9pm Doors Open-- Show starts @ 9:30 PM
  • Who will be there: The Minnesota RollerGirls, 3 Bands
  • What Else: 21+ Party (or must have legal guardian with), Bring your ID, and All of your Friends!


happy birthday crusher and misty meaner !!!

No Need to Click Here - I'm just claiming my feed at Feedster

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

Texas Rollergirls "Crowd Favorite Award"


Bloody Mary Posted by Hello



The Texas Rollergirls will hold their Second Annual Whammy Awards on Saturday, February 12th. One of the awards given is the "Crowd Favorite Award" . This award is nominated by and chosen by the public. The rollergirls that made the final ballot are:


Vendetta von Dutch
Rolletta Lynn
Dinah Mite
The Crusher
Sedonya Face
Pixie
Reyna Terror
Voodoo Doll
Scarlot Harlot
White Lightnin

vote here (The ballot is in the left frame of the page.)

support your local rollergirl

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

this would make a nice gift ; )

The fight Crew of the L.A. Derby Dolls are trying to raise some funds on eBay. Items up for bid include jackets, t-shirts, some dresses and skirts. (I've got my eye on this). Check out the Fight Crew's auction here.

support your local rollergirl

King George II coronation more important than protecting nation from terrorists

D.C. officials said yesterday that the Bush administration is refusing to reimburse the District for most of the costs associated with next week's inauguration, breaking with precedent and forcing the city to divert $11.9 million from homeland security projects.

Federal officials have told the District that it should cover the expenses by using some of the $240 million in federal homeland security grants it has received in the past three years -- money awarded to the city because it is among the places at highest risk of a terrorist attack.

But that grant money is earmarked for other security needs, Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) said in a Dec. 27 letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua B. Bolten and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Williams's office released the letter yesterday.

Williams estimated that the city's costs for the inauguration will total $17.3 million, most of it related to security. City officials said they can use an unspent $5.4 million from an annual federal fund that reimburses the District for costs incurred because of its status as the capital. But that leaves $11.9 million not covered, they said.

[snip]

A spokesman for Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (R-Va.), chairman of the House Government Reform Committee, which oversees the District, agreed with the mayor's stance. He called the Bush administration's position "simply not acceptable."

"It's an unfunded mandate of the most odious kind. How can the District be asked to take funds from important homeland security projects to pay for this instead?" said Davis spokesman David Marin.

more in WaPo

Sunday, January 09, 2005

Feministe Anti-Awards

Maybe I should be nominated for the:
"My Mom Doesn’t Know About My Drag Blog" Award
or
"Sheep in Women's Wolf’s Clothing" Award
The Feministe Anti-Awards

"Real" World

302 San Jacinto