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”
2007 Sk8-A-Thon
Having looked forward to the trip for most of the year, I can say that this year's Sk8-A-Thon lived up to my expectations. I was only able to attend the Friday night session at Buster's Fun Factory, but I was rewarded with a sweet purple T-shirt and some good skating.
The drive down to Atlanta from Toronto was a long one, passing through much of middle America and some big name colleges. Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan to name a few.
On arrival we found Atlanta traffic to be a bottle neck. It seemed like every car in the world was passing through this city, but the traffic died down by Saturday morning.
On Friday night I was fortunate enough to attend the session at Buster's Fun Factory in south Atlanta. The Dj for the night was Dj Spin out of California and he kept the crowd rolling with a mix of old school, hip hop, house and r&b. Buster's has a nice floor, which made for good skating.
Skaters from around the USA strutted their stuff to the beat. Unfortunately I was not able to make the main event on Saturday night, but what I did see, I enjoyed.
Atlanta is definitely off the hook and the music on the radio reflected that. They love their hometown singers and Usher, TLC and an assortment of Atlanta area entertainers were always on the radio.
Thanks Joi, I'll definitely be back for more in the ATL.
Steve
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Ms K & friend |
Ms K & friend |
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Ms K & Zay |
Now hold on a minute! |
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Ms K & Smooth |
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Dogg Pound CEO |