Suzy Hotrod, What's the Hype?

      Suzy Hotrod, skater for Gotham Girls Roller Derby out of New York City, muscle woman extraordinaire, tattooed bad ass, and known taker of candy for children is the object of my obsession. Please don't take obsession lightly, I spill tears over her DAILY.
       Hotrod is one of the most well known players in the sport. Today is her 8 year anniversary since she started playing, truly making her one of the original pioneers of the sport of roller derby. In 2011 she made team USA in the roller derby world cup, which was not a small feat. It was a team composed of the best roller girls in America (the birth place of the sport.) Every time she skates, every time she talks, moves, or breathes I honestly think it's so amazing it could bring me to tears. Nothing but pure inspiration. 

Why Atom... WHY

Yesterday I went to a skate shop to pick up new knee pads, while I was there I tried on about 4 or 5 different kinds, I decided on the Atom Elite 2.0 knee pads. There was a girl on my team who said that she really liked her 1.0's minus the fact that they were missing a plastic cap for sliding. So the 2.0's have a plastic cap and all is well... wrong. I really wanted these knee pads to work, they're a sleeve like knee pad with contoured foam allowing you to flex and the knee pads to not move, AWESOME! SAFETY! MOVEMENT! ... also wrong, the first hit I took causing my knee to hit the ground the plastic cap my brand new $70 need pad snapped in half... WHY?! I really loved the idea of these too bad they're not made of quality.

A list of non sincere thank you's

-Thank you to the Northeast derby convention for being scum of the earth and not refunding my mother fucking 200 dollar ticket.

-Thank you for Blocky Balboa for telling me you would buy said ticket from me because I can't get a refund since february and JUST telling me today, after everyone already has theirs, that you will no longer buy it.

- Big thanks to Q for making me call black mamba and not just taking my money to pick up the knee pads simply because she knows I HATE talking on the phone.

- Thank you mom AND gramma for making me go to prom when I said I didn't want to go and didn't have the money to go for making be feel like an asshole for asking you for money to go to prom.

- The biggest thanks to all to fucking roller derby for making me feel completely worthless.

Swag. Duces.

Yeah, I just fucking blogged about it.

Five Reasons Why You Should Come Watch Derby:

Cortland's one and only roller derby team (Did you even know we had one?) has their season opening this weekend 4/28, are you debating on wether or not you should go? Well, you should, here is why:

1. It's the fastest growing sport in the world, don't you want to be a part of that? Since the rebirth of the sport in 2001 in Austin, Texas there are now over 1,200 leagues around the world gaining more legitimacy everyday. 

2. 10% of the money we earn from the bout is going to go to the American Cancer Society Relay For Life. The Crown City Rollers operate as a nonprofit and give back as much as we possibly can, we think it's important! The more people we get in the door the more money we can donate!

3. The Black Mamba Junior Derby team is going to be there! Roller derby is BAD ASS, want to know what is more bad ass? Kids 7-17 playing it! It's cuter than a kitten and might even bring a tear to your eye. 

4. The girl from the poster WILL be there. Helluva Mess #777, team co-captaion, look for her, she's the next Suzy Hotrod. 

5. You're going to be getting your money's worth. What were you going to do this Saturday? Go see The Lucky One? Man up, come watch girls on roller skates hit each other.

Bottom line you're going to have a good time! Hope to see you there, JM Mcdonald Sports Complex, doors at 6PM whistle at 7!

Get in the Van

           For my outside reading I read Get in the Van by Henry Rollins. It is a raw and uncensored look at the rise and fall of the band Black Flag from 1981when Henry joined the band to 1986 when the band broke up told through his daily journal. Get in the Van opens up in the spring of 1981, Henry had yet to start writing a journal but recaps his few months before joining Black Flag with vivid detail. He was "a slave to the man" working at Haagen-Dazs 50-60 hours week and wanted a change. Henry and his friends drove from Washington DC to New York City for a Black Flag show, before leaving Henry asked the at the time lead singer to play a song for him because he had to leave for work. He said "This song is for Henry, he has to go to work, this is 'Clocked In'." He handed the mic to Henry, who got up on stage, sang the song and left for work. He had a taste of what it was like to be on stage and wanted more. It was all he though about. He went to see Black Flag play again a few weeks later in DC and hung out with the band. A week later they called him up and asked him if he wanted to sing for the band. Henry quit his job, sold his car and went out to follow this dream. After

practicing with the band for a few weeks they moved to LA and started to tour. The rest of the book is filled with his experiences on the road, people he meets, and thoughts in his head as he grows more distant from members in the band and even the human race. The pages are littered with pictures from performances, candids and flyers from their many shows making this 300 page behemoth seem like a short read.

I'm honestly not sure what I would identify as the theme is of this book, it's non fiction and it's a journal that he wrote. There is no real ending, just 300 pages of captivating day by day struggles of the everyday life for the lead singer of a hardcore punk band in the 1980's. One thing that I thought was special about this formatting is the imagery that is portrayed. As henry writes his memories down he is capturing them with vivid detail that can only come from experiencing these events in his life. His ability to put simple situations into mental pictures develops his story through out the years. When you read page after page you feel his lack of sleep from on the road in the van. "Last night I slept on the hump of the wheel well in the van. I stared at the plywood of the upper level if the shelf. A guy on either side of me. A guy in Sac Trust blowing his beet breath on me all night. No room, no sleep and eighteen more shows to go." The images you have in your head of these shows, dressing rooms, sleeping situations, and people are backed up by the black and white photographs strewn across the pages of the book. You can put a face with Henry and the other band members, when he speaks of a sketch show promoter there is a picture on the next page buried somewhere in the text so you can see him. Not only is his imagery in the novel stunning but his tellings of his take on everyday experiences and thoughts on the human race give a candid insight to how his brain works. You get an inside look at the passion that he has for playing shows and what really motivates him. He is faced with an over active brain. "With each breath, I think. My thoughts are like moths around a street lamp at night. 
They flit and hover around the glow but never land." His want to tour and constantly move is exhausting. He is always moving on to the next, wether it is city to city on tour thought after thought sitting in the shed he lives in between tours. "I think about killing myself sometimes. Blowing my head all over the place. Laughing, getting up, picking my head up and patching it onto place. Wiping my hands off on my pants, relieved, saying 'OK, what's next?'" He sees no limit, he sees no end, he only sees progression, and constant movement. "OK, what's next?" is right.

I think that this book being published exactly how it was written down is a huge part of its success. The diary format of the book makes reading it seem quick and simple as you follow years of one mans life and hours fly by in yours with out you even realizing. The first say I picked up with book I read 125 pages of it is a few hours and it only left me wanting more. Henry's sick sense of humor mixed with brutal honesty is incredibly interesting to read. His writings have such an attention commanding way of hurdling emotion at you that the book is hard to put down. In a few entries it is had to tell the difference in where he is talking about real life and merging into random thoughts and day dreams, but those times just support the raw, unabridged format of "Get in the Van." I loved this book, I was reluctant to finish it knowing I would have to return it to it's owner and not be able to pour through the pages when I'm bored. (Luckily the person I borrowed it from bought me my own copy as a gift, not to mention he is the same person who took me to go see him live.) It's rare for me to read a book and actually want to finish it, let alone read it again. I felt a drive to read this book, and when I wasn't reading it I was thinking about the pages I had read previously. Henry Rollins is one of the most captivating people I have ever come upon. His thoughts, drive for work, and hate for a conventional life style push you to think about where you are in your own life

and where you want to end up. Where he has taken his life since he sold his car and moved to LA on a whim to where he is now inspires awe. He has broken the mold, definitely not a "slave to the man." I would recommend this book to anyone who has any interest in the American Hardcore revolution that was short lived in the early 1980's. Also to anyone who enjoys real life insight on someones life. You find this book shocking at times but also relatable and heart felt. You will laugh, tear up, and think twice about the life style you want to take part of. "Get in the Van" will encourage you to break the mold in your own daily life.

Weekend Review

As I promised I would recap the weekend and measure expected awesome to actual awesome, which let me tell you, the expected awesome was much less than the actual awesome that this weekend beheld.

Friday: 3/16

Q and myself in party city.

School was a drag but it wasn't totally awful, I was still really glad to get out. Danica and myself drove to syracuse, found Q's house, loaded in about a weeks worth of things, and decided we should go get some last minutes St. Patrick's day things before dinner. A trip to party city is something that is not taken lightly. Aisle after aisle of morph suits, sparkly things and costumes. We couldn't decided if we wanted beer hats, shamrock headbands or tiaras. We ended up with headbands and tiara's after storming around the store like we owned the place. 

Fajita madness

No one was really all that impressed with
us. Having three derby girls running, yelling, and hip checking each other around your store is no one's dream.. well maybe ours.

So we leave party city and move on the The House of Mexicans (AKA Azteca Mexican Grill) There we met up with Doogie, her sister Becca, Ema and her boyfriend Justin. I'm quite the lover of Mexican food so I went for the Fajitas. Before the food came out we destroyed some sausage queso dip, when Q said it was life changing she wasn't

Hold that pose!

Danica/Rick James/Old Gregg and myself

messing around. We ate, it was hella good, we went to five below, then returned to Q's apartment to wait for midnight so we could go to Tipp hill. Every year at 12AM on ST Patrick's day on Tipp hill in Syracuse a very drunk man reads all the names of the deceased members of the Irish community, paints a shamrock with a mop and everyone drinks heavily. It was a cool thing to watch, the weather was nice, and I would definitely go back next year, cool shit. We went back to Gerri's went to bed, day over.






Saturday: 3/17

Commemorating our journey to the dunk. 

Woke up, drank a lot of coffee and ate some of Q's finest coffee cake, got ready and mobbed out on our way to Albany. We straight shotted it minus a trip to dons, then we arrived in the city of Albany... who was hosting a parade, which means that the entire main road to the city was shut down and parking didnt exist. So before we go to the tattoo shop we decided to stop at a Dunkin Dounts to pee, we go in, we go out, we head towards the tattoo then get stuck in traffic, soon enough Q

I see your fountain and raise you one human

realized she had left her cell phone in the bathroom at the Dunk. We got as close to


 the shop as possible, dropped Danica off
about a block away, then me and Gerri were off to go back to the Dunkin Donuts and retrieve the phone. It took an hour to get these then by the time we parked and whatever the tattoo was done, kind of a bum deal. We decided to go look for food but with all the St. Patrick's day "Celebrators" everywhere was packed. We went to come park, climbed a fountain then got in the car and drove around. We got father and farther out looking for some Irish place to eat, the GPS's failed us (three phones and one GPS) We found some Irish pub type thing that I couldn't even get into because I wasn't 21... but they were serving food so I guess I don't get it. We went to a sweet antique shop, I met a new fur friend and we then continued our adventure to find food. We came along a pub where they weren't IDing and I ate a high quality cheeseburger, then BOOM off to Troy for the bout. Hellions of Troy

Vomit can't dance / EAT THE BABY / Troy <3 <3 <3 

v. Assault City Roller Derby's Assult Squad. The bout was beyond amazing. It was a close game from the first jam. I yelled "EAT THE BABY" to the point where the announcer acknowledged it, Vomit, the ref, almost fell in the least graceful way, making it look like a dance, and when it was all said and done the score was 160 to 154 and ACRD took it, unfortunately. Once that was over it was off to Cortland to rest up for the next day. We got home around 1, not to bad.









Sunday: 3/18

This captures the car ride.

Slept til 11:30ish and still woke up tired. Keefe came over so I could see him before he left back to Albany then I got ready to go see Hank. As if I didn't do all the worlds activities already. Danica and myself drove to Kat and Scott's house then off to Buffalo it was. We went to TGI Fridays once we got into the city where I ate another high quality cheeseburger then waited in line to see Henry.

The anticipation was insane. He is someone I look up to and I am just so inspired by and I was about to sit in a room and get to listen to him talk, which is something I really enjoy doing. He has a take on life that is like no other, in his book "Get in the Van" he says a lot of intense shit that just leaves you in disbelief, it's a really good read. Doors at 7, show at 8, longest hour of my life waiting for him to walk on stage and when he finally did it was just amazing. He walked on

HANK

wearing black on black, wrapped the mic cord around his hand and it was game time. The intensity of his stories and performance was just captivating, he talked for nearly three hours and I didn't look away once. I wanted to soak in every word that man had to say and when he was done I wanted him to talk more. Unfortunately he talked to 11PM so we couldn't stick around to talk to him after. I'm going to write him though, he is such a cool person. We got in the car and drove home, we finally reached Cortland around 2:30AM and then it was time for bed.

To be framed.

It was the last three days of my birthday celebration of "Feb 18th to March 18th for my 18th" and I wouldn't have wanted them to go by any other way. Epic. Weekend.

Weekend Preview

Busy busy weekend for me, I'm going to throw down a preview for it here, then write about it Monday(ish) to compare expected awesome to actual awesome.

Myself and Dadanica

Friday:
-School (booo)
- Driving to Syracuse to Q's house (Girl from my team whole name, Sexxxicutioner #53X AKA Gerri) with Danica (Also from my team, derby name: Danicacatstrophe AKA Trophy AKA Dadanica AKA That Bitch).
- Q Danica and myself along with Emya KillYa (Also from team: real life name Emily) and Doogie Plowzer (Ref on team real life Amy) are going to eat at some Mexican restaurant Q and Doogie call it "The house of Mexicans" I'm not sure on the name, I'll get back to it. I've heard good things about the sausage queso dip.
-Going back to Q's to talk derby, meet her cats, yell MERICA real loud, listen to music and at some point sleep I believe





Saturday:
-SAINT PATRICKS DAY
-Q Trophy and myself are going to haul to Albany where they are getting tattoos and Lark tattoo studio.
-Waste some time
-Then we are going to a bout at skate-a-rama in Schenectady. Hellions of Troy v. ACRD's Assult Squad. ACRD is probably going to wreck shit.
-Then what I believe to be a trip all the way back to Cortland.

Hank

Sunday:
-Sleep (I'm going to try for lots of it)
-Wake up and try to watch the Layover marathon. (Anthony Bourdain is on my people to marry list. He is just amazing. Don't judge, the man is nothing but amazing)
-Then hauling off to Buffalo to watch Henry Rollins (Also on my to marry list, but I would prefer 1984 Rollins to 2012 Rollins... believe me they're two different people. ***Will also be referred to as Hank) with my coach (Kataklysm #21), her husband Scott (Space Frehley) and Dadanica do a spoken word performance at the Town Ball Room. This is something I'm really excited for, I'm so intrigued by him.
-Meet Hank
-Die
-Drive home
-Sleep forever


Someone once told me that I do more in a day than he does in a week but that is how I like it, why not fill all of your time with AWESOME?