This weekend I didn't do a whole heck of a lot other than cook (chili 5 way on Wednesday, shrimp & pineapple fried rice on Thursday, chicken curry masala on Thursday), but I totally made up for it on Saturday. Saturday I spent a good 5 hours at roller derby watching the River Valley Roller Girls from Ft. Smith, AR play the Lone Star Assassins from Dallas' own Assassination City Roller Derby (ASS City for short) and the other teams from Assassination City, the Deadly Kennedys play the Bombshell Brigade. I gotta confess, just based on the white shirts and black ties, I'm partial to the Deadly Kennedys. The Jello Biafra reference in their name only plays into my preference of them a little bit. It's kinda like how when I can finally see Austin's league, the #4 ranked Texas Rollergirls, I'm pretty much already going to be partial to the Hell Maries because of their Catholic schoolgirl plaid skirts that are part of their uniform. Hey, at least I'm admitting to it.
Overall, it was a great time. I was sitting next to the mom of the captain of the Lone Star Assassins. That was fine until the awkward moment when (almost) out of the blue she started talking to me about how the Freemasons were a cult that didn't believe that Jesus Christ was our Lord and Savior and began insisting pretty hard that I praise Jay-sus. Fortunately, being raised Catholic and having a degree in religious studies allowed me to sort of deflect it by quoting Scripture at her (namely Matthew 6:5-6 where Jesus lambastes the hypocrites who make their religion a public spectacle and praises those who are faithful but don't brag about it).
Anyway, after derby let out, I actually tamped down the social awkwardness (I know, shock of shocks) and went to the afterparty at Lee Harvey's. My co-worker Frank was right. The place IS a real dive. That said, it was still fun nonetheless. Despite the partially hipster crowd (the place is known for its PBR, after all, and that shit's like pheromones for hipsters), the place was really laid back. Just like as I said with derby, Lee Harvey's is a place where rednecks, punks, bikers and hipsters can get along despite starting from totally different places. Personally, I think it's the tattoos that bring them together, as all those groups are pretty well known for having them.
After downing a few reasonably priced Shiners, I made the quick jaunt to the 24hr Café Brazil to kill the buzz before driving home. However, looking at the reviews on Yelp, I probably should have had some of the food there. Like I said, busy night for me.
But wait! There's more! Next week I'm getting started in a Werewolf: the Apocalypse game. I'm getting into the game through my friend Ange, and while I've not met the storyteller, he is anti-power gamer, which is good. I don't know his gaming style yet, but he seems very SRS BSNS. That's not so good. That said, he's flexible regarding my schedule, which is a first for normal people that have normal jobs. I'll just have to see how things are once we actually play.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Down and Out in the Emerald City
So, since the last time I made an entry, I've gone to Seattle and come back, had the community I helped administer returned to its original owners, and been interviewed by the police.
First things first. Seattle. Holy crap for crap I had a splendid time. I got to hang out with friends, I got to see a macabre circus show, I got to see roller derby up close and personal, I got to try a $5 milkshake (licorice flavor!), and I had sushi for the first time in well over a year (hooray conveyor belt sushi!)
The macabre circus of which I speak is called Circus Contraption, and it's very difficult to describe. I'm going to go with equal parts circus, burlesque, and musical. It had its very funny moments, and the second act showed a seedy underbelly and became significantly more dark than the first act (while still maintaining its sense of humor when needed).
The next night we drove to Olympia to watch the Cosa Nostra Donnas take on the Pikes Peak Derby Dames road team. I had so much fun, I want to go watch some of Texas' local teams, namely the Dallas Derby Devils, Assassination City Roller Derby (both out of Dallas/Ft. Worth), and the Texas Rollergirls out of Austin. I was supposed to go to the Austin game last weekend, but I couldn't get my oil changed until the same Saturday their match was and it took so long getting the oil changed that I fell asleep and couldn't wake up in time. I WILL make it to the Assassination City bout on the 20th, you can count on that. Anyone in the Dallas area is more than willing to join me. $12 for a night out is cheap.
The thing I really loved about derby is that its attitude is like a combination of punk and minor league baseball. The people involved on it are completely unpaid and do it only for the love of the sport, and there's a big DIY attitude among the people involved. Oh, and the original names they come up with are clever and occasionally geeky, and sometimes cheeky (That skater's name is Fanny Fister). Also, with the way the seating is set up, it's entirely possible that you could find yourself with a lap full of roller girl if you sit up close.
This is what a $5 milkshake looks like:
Licorice milkshake. Before you shun it for its flavor, it wasn't an overpowering kind of licorice like Uozo. Rather, it goes together surprisingly well with the creaminess. You can take a gander at the burger that accompanied it here. I'd link to the Lunchbox Laboratory's website, but while it looks all kinds of pretty, someone who loves Flash ENTIRELY TOO MUCH designed it. Looking at the site, they didn't offer it the day I was there, but apparently they will also make a bacon & brown sugar milkshake. That's just downright madness.
LJ Abuse finally got around to our complaints about the community mod account getting compromised. They wielded the banhammer about and returned the community to the original creators. Since then, we've lost one of the first demi-mods (who went certifiable in the community while it was being administered by the revolutionary mods), and now the community mods include both the mods-in-exile (like me) and the revolutionary mods and things are actually surprisingly calm. Funny how things like that work out.
Oh, and as for the police. Apparently, someone at work got his panties in a twist and started sabotaging things at work, like pouring some sort of solution on one of the laboratory meters and tossing a computer monitor in the basin a few months ago. I honestly have no idea who did it, though it could have theoretically been anybody. It all happened in a building that people rarely go to and there are a lot of disgruntled people. I'm more annoyed at what the results were. Not counting the having to be questioned by the police, they've been implementing some absolutely idiotic policies as a result that do nothing to curb the behavior. All they are doing is making everyone else even more disgruntled. Oh well. this too will pass. They'll get bored with their little inquisition and then things will eventually go back to the way they were. I just have to wait them out.
First things first. Seattle. Holy crap for crap I had a splendid time. I got to hang out with friends, I got to see a macabre circus show, I got to see roller derby up close and personal, I got to try a $5 milkshake (licorice flavor!), and I had sushi for the first time in well over a year (hooray conveyor belt sushi!)
The macabre circus of which I speak is called Circus Contraption, and it's very difficult to describe. I'm going to go with equal parts circus, burlesque, and musical. It had its very funny moments, and the second act showed a seedy underbelly and became significantly more dark than the first act (while still maintaining its sense of humor when needed).
The next night we drove to Olympia to watch the Cosa Nostra Donnas take on the Pikes Peak Derby Dames road team. I had so much fun, I want to go watch some of Texas' local teams, namely the Dallas Derby Devils, Assassination City Roller Derby (both out of Dallas/Ft. Worth), and the Texas Rollergirls out of Austin. I was supposed to go to the Austin game last weekend, but I couldn't get my oil changed until the same Saturday their match was and it took so long getting the oil changed that I fell asleep and couldn't wake up in time. I WILL make it to the Assassination City bout on the 20th, you can count on that. Anyone in the Dallas area is more than willing to join me. $12 for a night out is cheap.
The thing I really loved about derby is that its attitude is like a combination of punk and minor league baseball. The people involved on it are completely unpaid and do it only for the love of the sport, and there's a big DIY attitude among the people involved. Oh, and the original names they come up with are clever and occasionally geeky, and sometimes cheeky (That skater's name is Fanny Fister). Also, with the way the seating is set up, it's entirely possible that you could find yourself with a lap full of roller girl if you sit up close.
This is what a $5 milkshake looks like:
Licorice milkshake. Before you shun it for its flavor, it wasn't an overpowering kind of licorice like Uozo. Rather, it goes together surprisingly well with the creaminess. You can take a gander at the burger that accompanied it here. I'd link to the Lunchbox Laboratory's website, but while it looks all kinds of pretty, someone who loves Flash ENTIRELY TOO MUCH designed it. Looking at the site, they didn't offer it the day I was there, but apparently they will also make a bacon & brown sugar milkshake. That's just downright madness.
LJ Abuse finally got around to our complaints about the community mod account getting compromised. They wielded the banhammer about and returned the community to the original creators. Since then, we've lost one of the first demi-mods (who went certifiable in the community while it was being administered by the revolutionary mods), and now the community mods include both the mods-in-exile (like me) and the revolutionary mods and things are actually surprisingly calm. Funny how things like that work out.
Oh, and as for the police. Apparently, someone at work got his panties in a twist and started sabotaging things at work, like pouring some sort of solution on one of the laboratory meters and tossing a computer monitor in the basin a few months ago. I honestly have no idea who did it, though it could have theoretically been anybody. It all happened in a building that people rarely go to and there are a lot of disgruntled people. I'm more annoyed at what the results were. Not counting the having to be questioned by the police, they've been implementing some absolutely idiotic policies as a result that do nothing to curb the behavior. All they are doing is making everyone else even more disgruntled. Oh well. this too will pass. They'll get bored with their little inquisition and then things will eventually go back to the way they were. I just have to wait them out.
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