66 sleeps, 12 hours, 38 minutes and 9 seconds....

until Christmas!!

Our good friends at RollerBug and Cardinal Skate shop are going to make this the sweetest Christmas yet!
They are brining us the “All I Want For Christmas” Draw!
For every 50 dollars spent you will get one entry in the draw.  This is available for instore, phone orders or online orders! How much easier can it get?
The only tough part about this is holding yourself back from buying it all!
The list of prizes is pretty incredible as well!
They will do one draw per day starting on Dec 13th.


Dates and Prizes

December 13th, 2010: 1 Pair of Criss Cross Skate laces. (your choice of colour from what is in stock) Retail Value $5.99 CAD

December 14th, 2010: 1 ½ fl oz bottle of Bones Speed Cream Retail Value $7.99 CAD

December 15th, 2010: 1 Winter 2010 Issue of FiveonFive magazine Retail Value $7.00 CAD

December 16th, 2010: 1 Powerdyne bearing tool Retail Value $15.99 CAD

December 17th, 2010: 1 set of Super cushions by Sure Grip (duormeter appropriate). Retail Value $10.00 CAD

December 18th, 2010: 1 pair of RollerBug booty/practice shorts Retail Value $19.99 CAD

December 19th, 2010: 1 set of 16 Bones Mini Logo bearings Retail Value $29.99 CAD

December 20th, 2010: 1 Lucky 13 “Give Blood” Women’s T-shirt Retail Value $22.99 CAD

December 21st, 2010: 1 Cardinal Skate Co. T-Shirt. Retail Value $19.99 CAD

December 22nd, 2010: 1 set of 8 Atom Poison wheels Retail Value $65.98 CAD

December 23rd, 2010: 1 set of 8 Atom Stinger Slim wheels Retail Value $109.00 CAD

December 24th, 2010: 1 pair of Riedell 1065 Siren roller skates including 1(one colour change) Retail Value $761.00 CAD

Over $1075.00 worth of prizes to be won!!!

Head on over to their website for full contest details and to check out the latest inventory. 
Plus you should really like these kids on facebook, they have a lot of great deals that you dont wanna miss out on!

And if you are at a loss of what to buy to get an entry feel free to contact anya face cause she has a bit of a wheel fetish and has a list that needs to be taken care of!

lotsa love Anya Face






photo by joe mac
 at midnight matinee



The good people over at Frozen Coldbase made us, what looks like is going to be an exciting roller derby video game for the nintedo wii.
Just from the little clip alone it's a fast paced game full of whips and hits, a kick ass soundtrack and the voice of roller derby's beloved Dumptruck

You get to pick from real current Wftda roller derby players and you can play regular tracks or if you would rather, a more racetrack type track with ramps, oil spills etc.

Plus you dont have to go to the store and track this game down. It is brought to your home through the internet with nintendos WiiWare option. 

I can not wait for this to come out! 
for more information click here for a review and game clips by nintendolife.

Anya

New Products - The Scarf!

With so many bouts and games and derby stuff going on, Sufferjet and myself, pulled an all nighter right before our game against the Hamilton Harlots and made some cool scarves for our refs and visiting refs.  We are now offering them on Hot Across Buns.  We can take your league acronym and print it on a super long jersey scarf.  Also for a little extra fun we  throw on a cute little mustache.

We can print the mustache and the acronym on the scarf in neon pink, neon green, blue, red, white and very shortly yellow!  All for a mere 20 dollars! 
So jump on over to Hot Across Buns and check out the new gear!

Love Anya Face

Whip Me Into Wednesday!

I was just stuck in a you tube vortex. You know, when you type something in and just start clicking on the suggested videos on the side panel. It usually leads me into bizarre half human half fish videos or men with tails, that amaze and disgust me. This time it brought me to an amazing whip done by Anya Heels to her team mate Wile E of the Rat City Roller Girls Check out the awesomeness at about 8 seconds in!!! I want Anya Heels to whip me anytime


 
 love Anya Face

Pop out Roller skates!??!?!

I seriously love these roller skates! They are available from fashion house vintage,
I really really really really love them!! ha ha!
Check em out!!

Pivotstar! yes please!!

I just noticed it had been a month since posting.. So very bad of me. I do apologize, we are coming into our last few games of the season all at once so I have been super busy!


So to kick start my butt back in the blog I have interviewed Luludemon of the Terminal City Roller Girls and the designer of PIVOTSTAR clothing.  Pivotstar is clothing designed for real roller derby women. Its alternative, athletic and helps you do what you do best - kick ass! 




  I was lucky enough to pick up one of her amazing purple zip up hoodies at the Beast of the East in Montreal.  It fits amazingly and I love it! Unfortunately so does my daughter Syd.  The minute I had it in the house I haven't had it on since, she only takes it off when I wrestle it off of her to wash it, then she immediately puts it back on before I have a chance to claim it back.

Derby Name: luludemon #44
Real Name: Lucy Croysdill




 Team and League: Riot Girls, TCRG All Stars (Terminal City Rollergirls, Vancouver, Canada)


Business: Pivot Star Designs
Twitter: http://twitter.com/pivotstar
Fan Page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pivotstar/314564967135 
Websites: www.pivotstar.com

How did your business come about?:

 I was working at Rollergirl.ca and realised that there was a lack of clothing created specifically for roller derby.  

 There was lots of fun, sparkly stuff out there that was great for bouting in, but nothing that I wanted to wear for those 9 hours of practice a week and then to the bar afterwards.  So I decided to start a clothing line for real roller girls and 6 months later I am sending clothes to Switzerland, the North Pole and Hawaii! 

 

Sports before roller derby: Snowboarding, Rollerblading (yup I was a fruit  booter!) and Roller Hockey


When/how you first got involved with roller derby: I moved to Vancouver after I finished school in Edinburgh, Scotland and didn't know a lot of people in the city.  I saw the TCRG on local TV and thought "that looks like a good way to meet some cool people" and joined up a month later.  Now I have a whole new derby family that have seen me through a lot of changes over the past 4 years.


Best team derby moment: The first year I was captain for our All Star Team and a week before our big Derby Night in Canada Tournament I got appendicitis :-(  I pleaded with the doctors to let me play, but when they mentioned "colostomy bag" I gave in.  I ended up bench coaching the team and we won!  It was great to see the team bring their A game, despite losing a player and I was so proud of them.  I may have shed a tear ;-)


Best personal derby moment: Last year the All Stars played Bremerton.  They have this amazing jammer called On da Sligh.  We were jamming against each other and came out of the pack at exactly the same time, but she got lead jammer. I was skating right behind her and started bouncing around behind her trying to distract her and get her to focus on me rather than scoring points.  It worked! She got mad, and threw on the breaks, trying to hit me.  But I saw it coming and managed to jump around her and skate like crazy for the pack.  She called it off, but she didn't score any points and it made me feel like a super hero! hahaa

What you do when you're not skating: Thinking about skating! It drives my boyfriend nuts.  Oh and also dreaming up new Pivotstar products that derby girls wont be able to live without.

Favorite place in the world!  Hoedspruit, South Africa.  It's the small town where my sister and her husband live in a shipping container on a farm surrounded by giraffe, zebra and rhinos.  It's a magical and serene place.

Guilty pleasures: I am addicted to bagels - especially at midnight snack time!

Tell us something you probably shouldn't: my mum still calls it "darby" like I am riding ponies or something.

 Give us some advice: Jam smarter not harder. Remember you are the only one that can score points out there, so conserve your energy til you really need it, work with your blockers to progress in stages through the pack and avoid those hits.  Also focus on the basic mechanics of skating as much as the strategy, it's amazing the difference learning to skate efficiently makes.




Who is your roller derby hero: oh god that's a really hard one, I have SO many!  I would have to say at the moment it is Ginger Snap from Gotham.  I took her pack work classes at the Blood and Thunder Boot camp and she was great.  No b*shit, work hard, think on your feet and push yourself.  This one drill we did called "Biggest Threat" left me covered in bruises, but it was so worth it.


Anything else you would like to say? I am constantly inspired by the stories of the roller girls around me.  Everyone has their own mountains to climb and derby seems to attract some of the toughest, unyielding, fun loving climbers out there.

If you want to look cool on and off the track and feel awesome in yer skin at practice make sure you check out Lulu's website and pick up her super sweet shorts or tees.  Support Derby Owned Businesses!  Thanks Luludemon!

Love Anya Face

Roller Derby Products Quickie

This is just a cool shirt brought to you by Moodswings Inc.  It is available on Amazon, or you can check out their website here

How to get Butts in the Seats! Part two.

This is part two of how to get people at your games. Part one explained the benefits of Word of Mouth and how important it is to go outside your circles and talk to everyone you meet about your great product you want to sell aka Roller Derby. Seriously, it is the best thing around so it shouldn't be a hard sell.  

Email Bulletin 

We started adding everyone we talk to on an email list. We also put out fan sign up lists at the merch booth and at the food/bar area at our bouts and  fundraisers and such. We send out an event reminder to the list a month before the event and then re email it a week before. We only use this list to promote our fundraisers, which we only have one a year, and our bouts. We also email this group as soon as we have our season schedule. You don't want to over use this option, people will get angry if you spam them.  Any other updates we do with our facebook pages, twitter and on our website.
This makes it easy for your fans to pass on the information in their email lists.

Your Signatures Are Worth Something 

Let your email market your event.
Add a paragraph to your email signature to let people know about an upcoming event.

Mine is

Anya Face
Forest City Derby Girls
www.forestcityderbygirls.com
www.hotacrossbuns.etsy.com
Check out Roller Derby at the Western Fair Grounds on May 29th.
Doors open at 7, wheels roll at 8pm, tickets 15 dollars, 10 and under free
email me for more details.

This way even when your just emailing friends and family, it's just a little reminder after your initial email without being all spammy.

With all these tips, if you do them alone you will get the word out, but if you implement that all of your players, refs and volunteers do the same you will reach a huge number of people!

Love Anya Face

Featured Skater Mirambo #69 of the Forest City Derby Girls

Todays featured skater is none other then Forest City Derby Girls own Mirambo.  If you were lucky enough to get a FCDG calendar she is also Miss August.

Mirambo is a big part of our league. She keeps the team together and does crazy things to keep the game light and to make sure everyone is having a good time.  She is a hard hitter and a team player for sure.  I sent her a bunch of questions and then asked her to pick a few.. she did them all! Lots of Mirambo to go around.



Derby Name MIRAMBO
Real Name Miranda Abbott
Team and League Forest City Derby Girls/Thames Fatales


Fan Page: Mirambo's Ass/Facebook
Websites: www.forestcityderbygirls.com



Sports before roller derby: wrestling team in High School.

When/how you first got involved with roller derby: 
Like a lot of girls, I was reintroduced to derby when A&E aired Rollergirls The Series. I was sitting with a close friend and made an off hand remark that if they ever had derby in my home town I wouldn't hesitate to join. Well she saw a flyer for a practice a couple months later and basically told me to put my money where my mouth. Going on 5 years later I think I've proved I belong here.
                                                                                       Best team derby moment: 

Photo by Joe Mac 

There really has been so many, I am blessed to have some of the best teammates ever. But I'd have to say one of our more recent games. We were playing The Derby Debutantes from GTARD. It was G20 weekend and we were under the assumption that traffic heading into the city was going to be crazy so we all left way early. Got to the venue 5 hours before the hosting team was even scheduled to arrive at the arena. This left us with a lot of free time. I found a vending machine that had mustaches inside. Got enough for everyone on the team and we all picked one out. We laughed and joked around for hours, by game time we were just so relaxed from all the laughs and funny pictures all day long we played one of the best games ever as a team. I'd do anything for those girls xoxox
 




Best personal derby moment: 
It was the last jam of our game against the Nickle City Knockouts. I knocked their jammer B.J. HARMstrong out of play, and forced her to cut in front of me back on the track. She was originally awarded the point for passing, giving them a one point lead for the win. Thank the derby god's I made eye contact with a ref during the infraction and the score was adjusted but only after the Knockouts had taken a winning lap. After some very heated discussion with the captains and the refs the score showed a tie game with the clock run out. Forcing an overtime jam. In the end we ended up winning the game. It was incredible.

Joe Mac Midnight Matinee

What do you do when your not skating?
Well recently I've tried on a few different roles but still within the realm on derby. Reporting at games with Derby Spotlight. Roger Foley asked me to join his team and I just couldn't resist. And I also tried my hand at refereeing recently, that was very different for me. Making the calls instead of instigating them, was a lot tougher than I thought it was going to. 


Favorite place in the world: In front of a mirror.

Guilty pleasures: Poutine, seriously I can't get enough. Just thinking about it now makes me salivate for it...

Give us some advice: Shit or get off the pot! You are your own worst enemy at practice, don't ever sit down not for anything. Get to know your skates, you are responsible for your own equipment. Without it you wouldn't be here so at least have enough mind to take care of it. And don't be a douchbag on the track, learn the rules ladies. 

Who is your roller derby hero: There are so many really...Jess Bandit, they best pivot I've seen on the track yet. Crackerjack, really do I have to explain why she's on my list? Because she is AMAZEBALLS! And don't forget D-Bomb, that girl has got the most powerful legs I've ever seen. 

beating bitches with stitches

Tell us something you probably shouldn't:
I have totally played games when I shouldn't have due to injury's. And I'll probably do it again.
(Mirambo just recently played a game with seven stitches in the bottom of her foot.)

Anything else you would like to say: 
Just that I owe a lot of my skills to my amazing trainers Anya Face and Sufferjet. If it wasn't for those two ladies I wouldn't be half as good as I am. I love you both so much.


Mirambo is such a suck up! But we love her anyways!

love Anya Face

How to get Butts in the Seats! Part one.

So you've trained really hard, and planned the bout and the bands and the after party is all set. All this work is wasted if you cant get people in the seats to see it.

My roller derby team does not like to spend money on anything. We want to keep money to put on more bouts. So I'm going to post some ways to get your fans at your event for as cheap as possible.  The key to getting people to the bouts is that every derby girl in the league should be working their butts off to get the word out. Even if you have a person in charge of promotions, she should only be responsible for contacting media to set up interviews etc. Everyone in the league should be working in their own circles and as a group to get the information out to all ages and walks of life.

Roller Derby really is a sport for everyone so don't stay in your comfort zones, branch out and meet lots of people and promote your event and your sport.

Word Of Mouth 

The first place to start is with your members, supporters and current fan base. Use your meetings, regular communications and newsletters to let them know about your event and encourage them to tell their friends and friends of friends. Word of mouth is still one of the most powerful selling tools because it also comes with a reliable, credible endorsement.

Past that you can talk to people on the street, people in line at the grocery store. Make sure you have hand bills or business cards with your website listed on you at all time. Get your friends and family excited about the event as well and they will tell their friends.

Tell people at your work, at the daycare, at the doctors appointments, your kids school, your nephews school, get your family and friends to do the same.  Pretty much where ever you go you should find someone you can talk a little derby to.

Make a goal for yourself and get all the girls in the league to do the same.  Whether you have a bout or not you should tell 5 people a week, or even a day if you can, about what your league is doing, or just getting your website out there for people to get some information and see what your league is all about.

In my experience, in roller derby, people always have questions about the sport and if you know the information and are excited about it they will be interested.  If you can get them interested, give them the information, they will pass it on for you.  

Love Anya

Designer and Kick Ass Derby Girl Erica Voges!

Erica Voges has two amazing shops on Etsy. She also plays for one of my favourite roller derby teams, Duke City.  I check out her stores all the time to see what she is up to and what incredible things she has crafted.  I sent her a big questionnaire and she was gracious to take the time to answer a few questions.  I hope you enjoy and I hope you are able to check out her shops.

Derby Name  

Doom Dee Doom. I hate to say it out loud and always get squeamish when people ask me what my derby name is. I even almost changed it  after I had my baby to the first name I thought of , Sultry Confinement.  For my very first bout I was Whip Lass because it fit the theme of the team I was on for our leagues exhibition season, then when we reformed our teams I changed it to Agent Orange Crush, but didn't check the roller girl roster first and it got spit back. I had about a week to come up with a new name, so Doom Dee Doom it is. 

AcrylicAndSteel.etsy.com

AcrylicAndSteel.etsy.com

Real Name

Erica Hazel Voges.

Team and League

I have been playing for Duke City Derby since 2005, but took a short hiatus to have a baby, and upon starting derby again I skated for a few months for Rose City before moving back to Albuquerque.  I am on the Dooms Dames at home and also on the Munecas Mueartas, our travel team. 

Business

 www.causticthreads.etsy.com  and www.acrylicandsteel.etsy.com

Twitter

www.twitter.com/acrylicandsteel

Websites

www.acrylicandsteel.blogspot.com

Sports before roller derby

I was always the kid that got hit in the head with a basketball before roller derby, I thought I was uncoordinated and not very athletic. After starting roller derby I realized maybe I was just trying the wrong sports, after all some one who is 5'2" with massive muscular quads isn't really built for basketball, but I would have probably done well at soccer and I was made for derby.

When/how you first got involved with roller derby:

I started playing derby in 2005. Remember back when people used myspace instead of facebook? Well I reconnected with my best friend from elementary school that way. Her myspace name was Dahmernatrix, which I thought was funny and awesome so I asked her about it. She told me it was her roller derby name. Since I love roller skating I went to my leagues first bout of our exhibition season (we had an exhibition season before our first real season). By the time the next exhibition game came around I was on the "Dead Mans Curves". Roller derby has changed my life in unimaginable ways.

CausticThreads.etsy.com

What you do when you're not skating

I have reached the point that I have more hobbies than I have time for. I am Married (to a ref) and have a sweet baby girl. I also have two etsy stores. I have a degree in fashion design and have been working on developing more sewn products for Caustic Threads. I also paint, screen print, draw, block print, needle felt, rock climb, hike, bike, and various other crafts.

Favorite place in the world!

So far, my favorite place that I have ever been is my home town. I have been to almost every state in the US and lived in Portland, LA and Savannah, Ga but something always brings me back home. I think it is the sunshine. I have never been off the continent. I would love to visit Paris, London, most of Italy, parts of Germany, the Netherlands... (list goes on forever)

Guilty pleasures:

I like cake. A LOT.

Tell us something you probably shouldn't:

I cry when I have to speak publicly.

Give us some advice

Throw away your TV, marry the man of your dreams, bike to work, and play roller derby. Doing  these things have made me very happy.

CausticThreads.etsy.com

CausticThreads.etsy.com

Anything else you would like to say?

I will probably be retiring at the end of this season, as much as I love roller derby, I want to have another baby, and it was really hard to go back so much fatter and slower after I had my first baby, I do not think I can do it again.

Hot Across Buns loves to support derby owned business's if you have a business and you would like to be featured on Hot Across Buns, just drop us a line at hotacrossbuns@gmail.com

A little love Anya Face!