NEVER MISS THE WATER, TILL YOUR WELL RUNS DRY…
November 19, 2008
When Chaka Khan sang these words more than a decade ago, I never thought that they would be more than just lyrics to me. For the past two years, my passion of roller skating has been starved and forced to feed itself only in moderation and small portions.
I moved from Detroit, MI (A skater’s paradise) to Chandler, AZ (A skater’s hell) for a number of reasons. At first it didn’t bother me not being able to enjoy R & B music at an adult session several times a week. I was new to the area, and there was so much to do like familiarize myself with the area and get to know people. However, as the months went by, I started to long for some Patrice Rushen cuts or the occasional Gap Band song when I did visit the rinks here. I was soon forced to put my IPod into overdrive and load up as much music possible and turn it up as loud as I could to drown out the wails of children and undecipherable lyrics that were un-skate able.
I begin to envy what I had so easily taken for granted before and started wishing for a miracle. No longer being able to “leave it on the wood”, now I had to “leave it on the epoxy-glide” (The blue stuff). That doesn’t even sound right. Now, instead of checking into a mental hospital, I travel five hours to California once a month or to the occasional out of town skate party just to get my roll on.
Some may ask, “Is it worth it?” Real skaters already know, “Of course it is!” But I’ll do whatever I have to do to get my roll on.
So when your rolling during the week get a slide, a split, a one-stop, a jack-leg or whatever you style calls for in for me! J
KP “DETROIT STYLE ALL DAY”
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Skater of the Week 1. What city do you represent and how
long have you been skating? I'm from and
represent New York, New York. I have been skating for about 6 years.
Toronto roller disco classes have started. To register contact info@rollerfunk.com
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New Artist feature: Rap heavyweight in the making. When I spoke to Bronx's Popbelli-I in early January he was preparing for a big year in 2008. In the works were new videos to push himself further into the limelight. After the birth of his daughter in late 2007, Popbelli-I seemed even more determined to make 2008 his year. Not just your average rapper, he is one who's name signifies a tradition of heavyweight rappers; Heavy D, Notorius Bigto name a few. Popbelli-I's name is imbued with weight. Read more about Popbelli-I at www.myspace.com/popbelli _________________ Buy Your Roller Rocker T-Shirt and Support the Blue Guerrillas Documentary film
Our Rink I could write 2,000 paragraphs about skating. Our local rink here in Schenectady, NY is Rollerama. We've been skating there for over 30 years. My parents took my brother and I when we were only 4 years old, with little wooden wheels on our skates. We've skated ever since. My husband and I make great skate partners. We skate at least twice a week. The rink floor is awesome, larger than most floors around here. Our pet peeves.. hmmm. The biggest is the music. We just cannot skate to hard rap or hard rock. It isn't really that I don't like some of it, but not to skate to. Chris and I rent the rink, literally for 2 hours at $250 a pop, after hours, just so we can make our own play list and invite people we want. No hard rap, no rock, no bubble gum music, no games, just 2 hours of GET YOUR SKATE ON jam music. We're dead by the end of the night, but it's worth it. I could tell many stories, but need more than 2 paragraphs. SKATE HARD OR GO HOME. Jeannie Schenectadaty, New York |
