2006 Dust Devil Invitational

Less than 100 tickets are available.

The Texas Rollergirls, Arizona Roller Derby, Tucson Roller Derby and Minnesota Rollergirls claim the top seeds in the 2006 Dust Devil Invitational to be held in Tucson, AZ February 24-26.

Pool 1
Texas Rollergirls
Gotham Girls Roller Derby
Kansas City Roller Warriors
Atlanta Rollergirls
Duke City Roller Girls

Pool 2
Arizona Roller Derby
Mad Rollin' Dolls
WIndy City Rollers
Dallas Derby Devils
Bay Area Derby (B.A.D.) Girls

Pool 3
Tucson Roller Derby
Rat City Roller Girls
Providence Roller Derby
Rocky Mountain Roller Girls
Rose City Rollergirls

Pool 4
Minnesota Roller Girls
Carolina Roller Derby
Sin City Roller Girls
Assassination City Roller Derby
Houston Roller Derby

Tournament Schedule (pdf)

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, Dust Devil, Tucson

friday random ten

Photo by Ryan McManus

Soundtrack of our lives edition

"Helium Bar" - The Weirdos
"Blindsided" - Go Like Hell
"Country Lane" - Wendy Carlos
"Candy Rider" - Ghostland Observatory
"Rebel Girl" - Bikini Kill
"Youngblood (Livin' in the Streets)" - War
"Many Rivers to Cross" - Jimmy Cliff
"I Have Learned to Do Without You" - Mavis Staples
"It's Not My Place (In This 9 to 5 World)" - The Ramones
"Lady Liberty" - Okkervil River

WTF

Time for Atrios to convene another blogger ethics panel

Journalists like to think of themselves as presenting as accurate a picture as they can of the real world.

The American Association of Petroleum Geologists takes a broader view. It is presenting its annual journalism award this year to Michael Crichton, the science fiction writer whose latest book, "State of Fear," dismisses global warming as a largely imaginary threat embraced by malignant scientists for their own ends.

"It is fiction," conceded Larry Nation, communications director for the association. "But it has the absolute ring of truth."

That is not the way leading climate scientists see it. When the book was published in 2004, climate experts condemned it as dangerously divorced from reality. Most of these scientists believe human activity, chiefly the burning of fossil fuels, is changing the atmosphere's chemistry in ways that threaten unpredictable, potentially damaging effects.

The book is "demonstrably garbage," Stephen H. Schneider, a Stanford climatologist, said in an interview yesterday. Petroleum geologists may like it, he said, but only because "they are ideologically connected to their product, which fills up the gas tanks of Hummers."

Daniel P. Schrag, a geochemist who directs the Harvard University Center for the Environment, called the award "a total embarrassment" that he said "reflects the politics of the oil industry and a lack of professionalism" on the association's part.

As for the book, he added, "I think it is unfortunate when somebody who has the audience that Crichton has shows such profound ignorance."

JotD

One day, two rednecks named Bubba and Earl were driving down the road, drinking a couple of Buds.

The passenger, Bubba, said “Lookey thar up ahead Earl, it’s a po-leece roadblock! We’re gonna get busted fer drinkin’ these here beers!”

“Don’t worry Bubba,” Earl said. “We’ll just pull over and finish drinkin’ these beers, peel off the label and stick it on our foreheads, then throw the bottles under the seat.”

“What fer?” asked Bubba.

“Just let me do the talkin’, okay?” said Earl.

They finished their beers, threw the empty bottles under the seat and slapped the labels on their foreheads.

When they reached the roadblock, the sheriff said, “Have you boys been drinking?”

“No sir,” said Earl, “we’re on the patch.”

derby briefs

ABC News Chicago - Windy City women bring back roller derby. (Windy City Rollers)

Contra Costa Times - Derby Girls don skates, skirts, snarls. (B.A.D. Girls)

Portland State University Vanguard - Portland's roller derby queens. (Rose City Rollers)

roller derby, rollergirls

Hellcats vs. Cowgirls

The banked track Lonestar Rollergirls will skate their third bout of the season this Sunday, February 12^th.

The Hellcats take on the Rhinestone Cowgirls.

Sunday, February 12, 2006.

At the new Thunderdome (map)

Tickets are $15.

Doors open at 6pm.

Please visit the Lonestar Rollergirls website for more info.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls,Lonestar, Rhinestone Cowgirls, Hellcats, Austin

wednesday morning reads

Songbird, the "open source iTunes killer," flies today.

Senator Russ Feingold - "Congress has lost its way"

Molly Ivins - Republican Jokers

The Onion interviews Dan Savage

Imagine that. They're just like anybody else --

except with torn fishnet stockings and lethal elbows.

Forget about a good nickel cigar. What this country needs is more wholesome family entertainment like Roller Derby.

I attended my first Roller Derby event last week and loved it. Loved the action. Loved the girls (yeah, they call themselves "girls"). Loved the crowd. Loved the fact that Roller Derby manages to be simultaneously a serious competition and a huge goof.

But what I loved most is that it was a valuable reminder to not clutch too tightly to your stereotypes.

You may remember Roller Derby from another era. Back then, it was stagey and theatrical, sort of like professional wrestling. Some skill and athleticism were on display, but that was subsumed by the choreographed violence and made-up feuds. Let me be blunt about its appeal: It was chicks fighting.

That was then. This is now. In the new version of Roller Derby, there's no fighting, no choreography and no preordained victor. There's plenty of violence, but it's of the type you see in football rather than in a bar brawl. Better yet, there's no flavor of exploitation to it. The local two-team league, Carolina Rollergirls, is run by the skaters, for the skaters.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls

Philly Roller Girls Exhibition Bout

The flat track Philly Roller Girls will skate an ehxibition bout on Sunday, February 12^th.

Black Death vs. Scarlet Fever

Sunday, February 12, 2006.

Millenium Skate World, 1900 Carman St., Camden, NJ.

Tickets are $10 in advance, $12 at the door.

Doors open at 5:30pm, bout at 6:30pm.

Please visit the Philly Roller Girls website for more info.

tags: roller derby, rollergirls, Philly Roller Girls