Come watch the Jackie O'Nasties and the Red Menace duke it out in the showdown of the season!

Sunday, September 9th
Doors at 6pm - Bout at 7pm
Treo Roller Rink
721 Gagel Ave
Louisville, KY
$10 in advance/$15 at the door

This should make for one of the most exciting bouts so far for a variety of reasons: the normally dominating Jackies are saddled with injuries and a short bench due to retirement and baby-makin but are still chock full of undeniably talented and determined team players. Meanwhile the FORMER would-be underdogs, the Red Menace are bringing a nearly full squad, ALL of which show immense improvement everytime they take the floor, not to mention a new and noticeable swagger of confidence that should be making some Jackies nervous.

The Menace are motivated for this win. The Jackies will have to make incredibly strategic moves on the floor and in their lineups with all the "walking wounded" plus keep out of the penalty box to stop the onsluaght of the depth and motivation of the Menace. Both teams will beneft from the return of some key players that have been out: Maul St. Matthews and Da 'Ville-Ann come back to the Jackies while the MaMalicious (Co-captain) and Olivia Hurtin (I think) are back on the Red Menace roster.

Last I heard, the bout is schedule for 3, 15 min periods on this card. Expect to see some big hits and keep your ears open for some shit-talking in this game as there's rivalry, revenge, and bragging rights tied into this bout. I predict this bout to be a low-scoring defensive battle that will be within 10 points until the last 7 minutes of the last period...but the win could go to either team.

Pre-bout tickets ($10) are available at: Carmichael's on Bardstown Road and Frankfort Ave, WHY Louisville, Ultra Pop, Atomic Saucer, and Derby City Espresso.

Online tickets can be purchased at www.derbycityrollergirls.com

Notes from the Church of Dave

I spent the last 2 days at Wellspring hermitage, just south of the Abbey of Gethsemani. I am not Catholic, nor a Christian in the traditional sense, but I do practice an occasional sample of the ascetic life. So for me, that means that a few times a year I do 'Zen Rounds' of sitting and walking in and around a cabin in the middle of nowhere, take a temporary vow of silence, fast, read, dream, and observe nature (highlights include: 2 deer, 1 giant blue heron, shitloads of ducks, treefrogs, loud bullfrogs, swampy algae, 5 shooting stars).

In this particular visit, I inadvertently "studied" Bokononism (thanks to the late Kurt Vonnegut and his novel Cat's Cradle) and then brushed up on my Computer Mediated Communication textbook, for my upcoming professorial debut.

This is the last weekend before I jump back into the working world again. I have been out of work for 10 months. I have been nocturnal for at least 8 of those months. I hung-up my roller-derby coach whistle last week and I'm going work-clothes shopping this weekend. My son started High School this week. I am generally nervous about the fact that I am not specifically nervous yet. And so another chapter comes to a decent close. I'll title it, The Rest, Roller-Derby, and Relaxation Days. But the air seems thick and dreadfully still. The next chapter seems to have a very heavy first page. I know from hindsight and my gut (which I trust implicitly nowadays), that times like these tend to have serious future implications.

What Would Bokonon Do?

The Road Up and the Road Down are One and the Same

...said Hericlitus.

It scares the shit out of me that so many American's are blissfully unaware of the awesome size and depth of the neo-Crusader brainwashing movement sweeping the nation. For whatever reason, I've personally noticed an increasingly persistent media presence of this movement in the last few weeks. Most noticeable are the recent top-news hits espousing www.godtube.com ....and yeah, that's what you think it is (see 'Battle Cry' clip below) and a number of back-to-school stadum rallies (with the same 'Battle Cry' theme) broadcast all over cable. It's Billy Graham Revivals on Texas trailer-made crank.

Using the the truncated bible verse (quoting Jesus), "I did not come to bring peace, but a sword," they are holding stadium rallies with sheeple literally screaming 'battle cries' to the heavens while holding real swords. Now, of course, the first defense of their behavior is that the movement is one directed against "evil" and "principalities" and not against the flesh. But it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that a child taught to carry a real sword and yell battle cries is well, violent, and in the flesh, and warped to boot. They fail to see the verse in context, which is that Jesus' message of peace was so radical, that it would split families and set country against country...which is true. I don't see how so many people see this as a charge to engage in "spiritual warfare" (their term). It can and should be read like any other parable, Zen koan, or verse from the Tao Te Ching. Its juxtaposition with his overwhelming message of peace and tolerance, should make you think deeper, not act in rage, and achieve spiritual enlightenment. In this case Jesus is saying, my message (all that other Red Letter stuff) is gonna fuck things up, even in your own familes - the love-your-neighbor-forgiveness train is bumpy, be prepared for a rough ride. It's also important to note that Jesus is carrying the sword, implying justice and vengeance is left to the divine and NOT man. It seems that modern pop-church interpretation is to just take up the sword...and yell alot apparently.

Here's the verse in better context:

"Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be the members of his household. He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it." Matthew 10:34-39


And it's also unfortunate that these fundies don't realize that angry fundamentalists are angry fundamentalists are angry fundamentalists. Whether you call them Jihaddists or Crusaders, they all think they speak and act as the sole agents of Allah/God on Earth. I think we have more than enough of those kinds of people in world right now as is.

So here's a clip of battle cries from godtube and then a clip from the phenomenally heartbreaking documentary Jesus Camp.

Not Exactly the River Jordan

O sinner let’s go down,
let’s go down
Come on down,
O sinner let’s go down,
down in the river to pray

This is probably some family member(s) getting dunked in a North Texas cattle tank circa 1920-30ish...I'm guessing from the cars and horse drawn carriages. Since Granny Dee was a devout member of the Church of Christ (and went nuts when her oldest daughter wore pants *gasp* and started the local women's softball league in the 1950s), I'm thinking this was a C of C baptism, who like Baptists, practice baptism by immersion exclusively.

Oh Yeah - I'm Gainfully Employed Again Yay!

It's official. I passed the background check and Operation Golden Flow - so after 7, that's SEVEN interviews, I now have a start date as the H.R. Manager for a reputable medical supplies logistics facility. I am also an official member of the adjunt teaching staff at Spalding University. Coincidentally, my first day on the job is August 20th...that's for both jobs. That's gonna be one helluva Monday. All day at the new HR job, all evening teaching my first college course. Wish me luck!