The Atlanta Rollergirls round the halfway point of the season this weekend with “Armed and Dangerous,” a doubleheader of bouts at the Shrine Center on Ponce. And with Atlanta’s all-star battling for rankings across the country, they’ll be happy to begin the second half of the season on their own turf.

The first bout pits the Atlanta all-stars, known as the Dirty South Derby Girls, against the Dominion Derby Girls of Norfolk, Va. After putting up a good fight against Houston Roller Derby and the Texas Rollergirls earlier this month, the DSDG return home in fifth place in the South Central Division of the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association. The Dominion girls will be out for an upset, however, in hopes of advancing in the East Division rankings.

The second bout features the Apocalypstix and the Sake Tuyas, two local teams still looking for their first home victories of the season. A win here for either team could definitely help determine who goes on to compete for the league championship in August since there really is no clear candidate to dethrone the defending Toxic Shocks as of yet.

Join the Atlanta Rollergirls for their third double-header of the 2009 Season, “Prepare For Pain,” on April 18th at the Yaarab Shrine Center in Midtown. In Bout 1 at 5PM, the Dirty South Derby Girls (Atlanta’s All-Stars) take on the visiting Memphis All-Stars in a battle to determine who really rules the South. Then in Bout 2 at 7:30PM, home teams, the Toxic Shocks and the Denim Demons, face off in their first game since last season’s heart-pounding Championship.

Tickets are on sale now and we recommend buying your tickets asap as they sell out very fast! They’re $12 per bout and children under 4 get in free.

The Atlanta Rollergirls are hosting the Scattered, Smothered & Southern Scrimmage-A-Thon tomorrow at the Yaarab Shrine Center on Ponce De Leon. They have invited flat-track rollergirls and leagues from all over the Southeast to come participate for the largest roller derby event Atlanta has ever seen.

Tickets include admission to the flat-track roller derby open scrimmage event as well as the end of day WFTDA (Womens Flat Track Derby Association) bout, as Atlanta’s all-star team (Dirty South Derby Girls) battles Nashville! A limited number of tickets are available on Etix.

The Atlanta Rollergirls all-star team, the Dirty South Derby Girls are hosting a Talent Show benefit at The Earl on May 3rd at 5pm to help them get to Philadelphia for their first tournament of 2008!

The Talent Show is open to one and all, as long as they’re over 21. People can also enter by themselves or part of a group. There will be more than $1,000 in prizes from – 13 Roses, Adult Swim, Brewhouse Cafe, BTB Fitness, Criminal Records, East Atlanta Tattoo, Holy Mother Tattoo, Interscope Records, Memorial Tattoo, Outback Bikes, Spoiled Rotten Pets, Sports Chiropractic and Massage, Sweet Grass, and Workhorse Printery.

And following, there will be an afterparty starting at 9:30pm, with bands:
Light Pupil Dilate
Foxfire
Tiger!Tiger!

Registration Deadline is April 26th!
So come and sign up!

You can register online or here’s your chance to sign up the easy way…

Tonight! Thursday, April 24th.

The James Joyce Irish Pub will be donating 10% of the daily proceeds to the Atlanta Rollergirls all-star team. The fundraiser takes place all day so have dinner, or drinks this Thursday, which is also their Trivia Night. And from 7-9pm, there will be a table to sign up for the Talent Show. Also on this night only, groups get a 2 for 1 sign up deal. That means two people can sign up for the price of one!

JAMES JOYCE IRISH PUB
22 N Avondale Road
Avondale Estates GA 30002
404.296.5097

- Currently, the Atlanta Rollergirls do not recruit year-round.
- They hold workshops in the summer and two phases of tryouts in the fall for skaters who will play the next year.
- They are looking for experienced skaters with solid footwork, form, balance, and speed.
- Recruitment is open to all interested ladies ages 21+.
- Please e-mail ARGrecruitment(@)gmail.com to get more information and add your name to the list of Fresh Meat hopefuls.

Schedule of upcoming workshops:
Sat., May 17: Meet & Greet (10:00AM – 12:00PM)
Sat., July 26: Workshop 1 (10:00AM – 12:00PM)
Wed., August 20: Workshop 2 (6:00PM – 10:00PM)

Also, check out the Atlanta Rollergirls recruitment page for the latest information.

More Info:
- It takes 3-6 months to train a decent skater to be a roller derby skater.
- If you are interested in getting involved with roller derby, you should volunteer, get to know the girls on the league, and see the commitment that is really involved: time (we run the league ourselves), training (3 or 4 practices per week) and the level of physical activity.

You should also work seriously on your skating skills… starting NOW.
Just going to open skates at local rinks to work on your balance, speed, and footwork will help. Also, if you get to know some of the girls in the league, they might want to go skating with you and share some tips.

Be sure to join the Atlanta Rollergirls e-mail list for the latest info on the league and recruitment.

——
If any of you have ever met me, you know, you do not need to be tough, big or even a killer skater to be a rollergirl. You just need the dedication, drive and will. One of the best experiences of my life. Highly recommended for anyone.

TOO SLOW!

The Atlanta Rollergirls have finally moved to an indoor venue after spending all of their earlier seasons hosting their games out at All American Skating Center in Stone Mountain! Games this season will all be hosted in the Auditorium at the Yaarab Shrine Center on Ponce De Leon (across from Taco Bell & Krispy Kreme). They still won’t have any food or beverages for sale, so tailgating is highly encouraged though at your own risk.

This is going to be a bit of a sad game for me this weekend. After skating with the Atlanta Rollergirls for three years, I retired after the 2007 Season to finally start college. (Ha.) I couldn’t remain committed to leaving however and will be a referee for the league throughout the 2008 Season. The Atlanta Rollergirls are just too much fun to leave. This isn’t something to miss.

From the Atlanta Rollergirls:

The biggest news is our brand-new midtown location! That’s right, this year all your favorite Atlanta Rollergirl bouts will be held in the Yaraab Shrine Center auditorium, located on Ponce de Leon Avenue. It doesn’t get more IN TOWN than that!

PLUS, we’re giving you DOUBLE HEADERS on the second SATURDAY of every month!

Double-headers mean more hard-hitting action between your favorite teams AND the opportunity to see our all-star team battle their interstate rivals from across the country. We also have STADIUM SEATING to provide a more comfortable view.

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL! Just in case you think you might get antsy between bouts during these double-headers, the new Midtown venue will feature a Bizarre Bazaar midway complete with street performers, face painting and games for kids, as well as catering, VIP upgrades (21+ only), a rollergirl autograph table and more!

LOCATION
All 2008 Atlanta Rollergirls bouts will be held at the Yaarab Shrine Center auditorium in Midtown
(400 Ponce De Leon Avenue, plenty of free, gated parking)

LIMITED NUMBER OF TICKETS AVAILABLE:
$13 in advance; $15 at the door; $6 age 10 and under
Buy Advance Tickets TODAY: www.Etix.com

Tickets will also be available from your favorite rollergirls and our two retail outlets (Criminal Records and Le Petit Mort beginning February 1st.

SCHEDULE
Atlanta Rollergirls double-header events will be held on the 2nd Saturday of each month, from March through August 2008, with the championship bout on September 20, 2008. Doors open at 4pm; the first bout starts at 5pm, and the second bout starts at 7pm.

And yes, you’re favorite Viva Hate (aka me) is going to be a referee this season!

The latest from Cumulus: They are running a looped commercial (I’m guessing it will last all weekend) on 100.5FM that asks listeners to call (404) 497-4847 and vote for what format you would like the new station to be. It is obviously a promotional stunt with options such as “the all silent channel”, thrash metal, soft rock classics (with musicals playing in the background), etc.

My prediction: Another 96Rock-like station. If the Regular Guys come back on the air, it would make a lot of sense. Plus, if you haven’t noticed, we are in the South. What will we do without some classic rock on the airwaves??? As long as it’s not another Country, Gospel or Top 40 station – Drive A Faster Car can cope.

In other news, tonight is the kickoff party for the Atlanta Rollergirls 2008 Season at The Brewhouse Cafe in Little Five Points.

Atlanta Rollergirls Roller Derby League (a founding league of the WFTDA organization), will be featured on CNN Headline News TODAY (Saturday, Nov. 10th, 2007), every half hour during the Headline News Sports segment.

This two-minute feature story will feature background information on the resurgence of a historical full-contact extreme sports for women with an introduction to Flat-Track Roller Derby, as well as a profile of skater Queen Loseyateefa, ARG’s outgoing League President, recently voted “Rollergirl of the Year” by her peers.

BROADCAST SCHEDULE*
1:10 and 1:40
2:10 and 2:40
3:10 and 3:40
4:10 and 4:40
(*Please note that this schedule reflects Eastern Time; airtimes are 10am-2pm on the West Coast.)

For more information about the national governing body of flat-track roller derby: wftda.com

To join the Atlanta Rollergirls E-mail newsletter for announcements about the 4th season (Spring 2008): atlantarollergirls.com/newsletter/

We collect flyers for anything lookin’ hip or fun around town in one place for you so you can stop digging them out of your back pocket.

I’ve been doing this for awhile now and promise I will continue to do better and attempt to cover all areas of town in the process. Thus, if you have a flyer, give it to me (Tessa) when you see me out and about or email it over to me at tessa at drive a faster car dot com.

Like this one…

The Historic Edgewood Day – Annual Sidewalk Sale featuring P. Valentine, Laced Up and more over in Edgewood this weekend.