MY FAVORITE "THINGS" (& stuff) #2

So, Suzie (ever so carefully and timidly) told me her sister Kay is coming to stay with us for a week or so... or so. Nice. Actually, it will be fun to see her. Kay and Ray live in Georgia and they don't come home to Utah very often and it has been several years since we have seen them. The problem with people coming to visit is that there is always a list of 'things and stuff' that has needed to be done for ages that now has to be done immediately! Touch up the paint, clean the pantry, get the guest bathroom ready. The problem with getting the guest bath ready? It is really not a guest bath. It is Erin's bathroom. Sami's bathroom has a nice big clawfoot soaking tub but Erin's bathroom has a shower. Do they use the tub? No. Does the shower get gross? Yes. I hate scrapping out the old caulk. It is hard to get out. It is messy. It is hot, sweaty and tiring. It never really all comes out and it takes forever!!


Finally, this brings me to my new favorite thing (for this week anyway!).

This funny looking thing is the '3-in-1 CAULK TOOL' from Husky Tools. It is distributed by Home Depot and it works like magic! Seriously! To remove the old caulk you simply push or pull the metal blade (left side above) along the seams and it cuts the caulk right out.It makes it easy to get clear into the corners and get out all of the old stuff. It also works like a scraper to remove any old discolored caulk.

The right side works as a squeegee. To replace the caulk, lay down a bead of caulk using a caulking gun or a tube. Before the caulk sets up, use the triangular rubber blade with a pulling motion to smooth it into place. The silicone rubber blade can be rotated to any of three different positions giving you a choice of a narrow, medium or wide caulk bead.

I was totally amazed. What used to take hours every time we have house guests took me less than an hour from start to finish! It gave me some much needed time to just kick back and relax and wait for our guests to arrive. Oh, just kidding. I could actually get back to touching up the paint, washing some towels. You know, 'things and stuff'....

ANYONE FOR A LITTLE ROLLER DERBY?

Looking for something different and fun? Check out Roller Derby. Seriously.

How can it not be interesting with team names like The Bomber Babes, Death Dealers, Sisters of No Mercy and the Leave It to Cleavers? How about player names like Phatal Pheromone, Delicate Flower, Dirty Pirate Hooker, Smack and DeckHer, Princess of Wails, Sally Terry Confinement, M.C. RamHer and NOS? My favorite Derby name belongs to my daughter, Deni. #599 Grandslam Brakefast. Get it? Clever, huh? (Not Cleaver... Bomber Babe!). They just call her Slam. Her husband, Nick, is known as Mr. Slam. I guess that makes me Slam Daddy.

GRANDSLAM BRAKEFAST #599 (a.k.a. Deni Draper Page)

Oh Yeah? Left to right: Scarlicious, Delicate Flower,Contessa Danger, Trixen Kixer and Slam. Skaters in red are Cleavers. (Photos: Liquor 'n Shooter)

A game of Roller Derby is called a bout.

To say the first time at a bout was shocking would be an understatement. I mean I thought it was clever when the Monsignor came out to bless the Sisters of No Mercy before the start of the bout. Then I saw that he was accompanied by an altar boy on a leash… Wow. What can you say about that? Oh, and the National Anthem? The Jimmy Hendrix electric guitar version of the Star Spangled Banner from Woodstock.

Anyway, once the bout got underway it was really exciting. In the olden days banked track Roller Derby was all about theatrics much like the WWF with exaggerated punches, throwing girls over the railing, and massive pile-ups on the track. Today’s Flat Track Derby is still just as serious but it is totally real! Skaters wear old school quad skates, mouth and wrist guards and pads on the knees and elbows for safety. But even all that gear doesn’t always protect the skaters from injury. Deni skated for six weeks with what turned out to be a broken leg rather than just a sprain.

There are also rules! All hits must be made with body parts above mid-thigh, excluding forearms, hands and head. No throwing elbows and elbows cannot be swung or linked to create a barricade. Also, no cutting the track, no tripping, no back blocking, and no fighting. Any of these violations can result in a visit to the penalty box; one minute for one major violation or a combination of four minor violations. Those calls are at the discretion of the officials—guys like Stu Pidasso, Dwight Chocolate, Wyatt Girth, Doc Homicide and Busty O’Azz. Yeah.

Slam (as a Shaker) taking out the Jammer from the FOCO Girls Gone Derby from Fort Collins. (Photo: Liquor 'n Shooter)

How does Derby work?

A bout consists of two thirty minute periods. Those periods are broken down into two minute increments called a ‘Jam’. There is a 30 second break between each jam when each team must field a new group of skaters. At the start of the jam there are ten skaters on the track, five from each team. Six ‘Blockers’ do just what their name implies—Block. Two ‘Pivots’ are identified by a stripe on their helmet and they are like the quarterback and direct the other skaters on the track. The two skaters with stars on their helmets are known as the 'Jammers'.

Slam as a Jam(mer) during a scrimmage (practice bout). (Photo: Liquor 'n Shooter)

The Jammers are the skaters that score the points. The first Jammer to get through the pack of skaters without a penalty (remember the rules?) becomes the Lead Jammer. She is in control of the jam and can end play by repeatedly tapping her hands on her hips. This signals the official of her intent to end the jam and it prevents the opposing team from scoring any additional points. This confused me at first, but the Lead Jammer has already scored four points (one point for each opposing skater she passes) when she has broken through the pack. If the other Jammer is a tough skater the Lead can call off the jam before the other team can score. However, if one of the Jammers gets sent to the penalty box or is otherwise detained, the other jammer can keep lapping the track racking up points until the jam ends. NOS, who is one of the Jammers for the Bomber Babes, once scored 23 points in a single jam. Her record is 90 points in a bout. It is the job of the Blockers to allow their jammer through but to stop the opposing jammer from passing. One trick I love that the jammers use to pass is to grab the jersey of one of their blockers and catapult themselves through the pack. Awesome (oops… that word again) move!

Me and Suzie track side... In our camo glasses as an homage to the Bomber Babes.

We like to sit track side on turn one just past the pivot line. It is close to the action but still somewhat safe. If you want to risk your life, or at least risk having a derby girl or two land in your lap, sit track side in turn two or four. The momentum of the pack usually sends them out of bounds and into the crowd in those turns. Stadium seats are great for back support and a blanket keeps you off the floor.

Oh, and if you are hungry, the food at the Derby is great! They have a Nacho wagon that serves great Mexican fare and the French Fries at the snack bar rival the fries at the Foundry Grill in Dallas.

The All-Star team for the Salt City Derby Girls is the Salt City Shakers made up of skaters from all four SCDG teams. Slam talks strategy with Smack and DeckHer. (Photo: Liquor 'n Shooter)

The next bout is a double header at the Salt Palace on July 10^th. First bout will be the Salt City Shakers (Deni will be playing) vs. the Arizona Roller Dolls from Phoenix followed by the Leave It to Cleavers vs. The Death Dealers. This is also the preview game for the Championship!

You can check out bouts at Comcast on Demand, Utah Extreme Sports.

Thanks again to Liquor 'n Shooter for the use of his great photos! Check out more of his work at the following links:

http://www.facebook.com/liquornshOOter or http://www.flikr.com/liquornshooter

Visit the Salt City Derby Girls at www.slcderby.com and the Women's Flat Track Derby Association at www.wftda.com

SERIOUSLY......

Sami and the Tranni.....

You know, it takes all kinds of 'things and stuff' to make the world go around-- and a lot of that stuff hangs out at the Roller Derby! We got this picture on Saturday night at the Salt City double header. Deni (#599, Grand-Slam Brake-fast) plays for the Bomber Babes most of the time, but she also skates for the Salt City Shakers which is like the All-Star team. The Shakers creamed the visiting team from Fort Collins. However, in the second game, the 'Bombers' got creamed by the 'Leave it to Cleavers'. Even with the loss it was a great game. I have some awesome (oops, I used that word...) photos that I am going to post in the next day or so. Check back...

If you haven't seen Roller Derby you are really missing out on one of the more diverse things you can do in Salt Lake. Occasionally some diversity is good...

"MUM"-orial DAY 2010

Life is full of things and stuff that keep us busy and running. In 2002 Scott and Erin were both heavily involved in the Salt Lake Winter Olympic ceremonies. Life was exciting and fun. Then we had a reality check. 2002 became a tough year. We lost my brother in February, Suzie’s Mother in April and her Father in August. A huge void was left in our lives and after eight years we still think of them daily, we miss them a great deal and we will have great memories of them always.

Memorial Day always makes you a little sentimental, but this year we all seemed to be more sentimental than usual… Suzie and I were walking our yard on Saturday and the flowers were so beautiful! Our snowball tree was popping. Across the street Pat’s lilacs and bridal veil were in perfect bloom. We started reminiscing about Memorial Day when we were young and how much Suzie’s mom would have loved the flowers this year. Since everything was so spectacular Suzie decided we should do old fashion flowers for her Mom’s grave…

The late spring made Memorial Day weather more like the “olden” days. The weather was cool and the spring flowers were still in bloom. Do you remember when we used to cut all of the flowers for the graves from the yard (or the neighbor’s yard)? Peonies, iris, snow balls, lilac, bridal veil? As you cut the flowers you had to put them in big buckets of water because you couldn’t arrange them until you got to the cemetery. Once you got to the cemetery you couldn't use a

real vase (how extravagant!) so we saved five pound cans or large Mason or mayonnaise jars to use as vases. If we were using a can we usually covered the outside with tin foil so the arrangement looked more presentable. Then we always used two pieces of wire coat hanger to stake the can to the ground so it wouldn’t tip over. Suzie and I both remember going with our parents to cut flowers early in the morning on Memorial Day so we could get them to the cemetery while they were fresh. Most of the flowers came from our own yards but we would go to my Grandma Drapers to cut iris. Suzie’s Grandma Rogers had rows of the most spectacular burgundy peonies growing along her back fence. The Rogers arrangements always started with peonies and then filled in with whatever else was in bloom. Grandchildren still live in the family home so there were peonies from the yard on Suzie’s grandparent’s grave this year. There were irises on my Grandpa Drapers grave.

The last few years it seems that we are well into summer by the time Memorial Day comes along so the spring flowers are long gone. Maybe it is the weather or the fact that green house cultivated chrysanthemums have gotten so reasonable that Memorial Day has turned into “MUM”-orial day… Maybe it is just easier to run to Dan’s and pick up six plants and be finished… The cemeteries are a beautiful sea of color with all of the brightly hued mums so I guess it is not as important what goes on the grave as it is important that those who have passed before us are remembered.

We have a ritual every year when we make the trek to the graves. It is always after church the Sunday before Memorial Day so we can drive into the cemetery and not park two or three blocks away. We always go to Provo first and park near the Rogers/Brown plots under the trees on Center Street just south of Main. We leave flowers there and then we walk past the graves of many family members and old friends as we work our way to the north-west corner to place flowers on my Grandpa Draper’s grave. We reminisce as we walk, sharing old memories, stories and experiences. The kids roll their eyes sometimes because they hear the same stories every year but I think it is important to remember those who have gone before. There are always certain markers that must be visited along the way (the crying woman, the tree of life, the Ream rock). Tradition, you know. When we get back to the car we drive over to the new part of the cemetery to visit Suzie’s grandparents (with the peonies) and her other uncles and aunts. Then we drive to Springville to visit my brother and my Grandpa Johnson. We don’t coordinate times, but sometimes we run into my parents or the “cousins” or other relatives. Sometimes it is just us, but it is always a nice experience to share with the kids.

As Sally Baskey said, “who we are today is the result of our past. Our upbringing, experiences, education, friends, etc” all shape who we are. We need to remember where we came from to know who we are or who we can become. Sharing that past with our families is important, if we only do it one day a year on Decoration Day.

MEMORIAL DAY TRIVIA…..Originally a day to honor only those who had died in the war now it has become a day to remember all who have died… The first “Decoration Day” was recorded in 1865 when flowers were placed on the graves of those who had died in the Civil War. In 1968 General John A. Logan proclaimed that “Decoration Day” be observed nation-wide. The name “Memorial Day” was first used in 1882 but it wasn’t declared Federal law until 1967. In 1968 Congress passed the Uniform Holiday Bill to make a three day weekend for Federal employees so Memorial Day became the last Monday in May. The law was effective in 1971.

Lots of town's claim to have been the first to celebrate Memorial Day. But, "it is not important who was the first. What is important is that Memorial Day was established. Memorial Day is not about division. It is about reconciliation; it is about coming together to honor those who gave their all". (General Logan) and remembering those who have gone before.