Going to WET 2014

Today I travel to Copenhagen to hang out with OMG and Krazy Kris for a night before the WET tournament begins. 10 European teams of great caliber face off during three days in Malmö, my old hometown. I am looking forward to see this, I am looking forward to be a part of this.

I am  part of an European Allstar team that is going to bout against Team Finland on Sunday and on Saturday, Team Sweden has practice, at 07.30 AM... I am looking forward to both occations.

I miss NYC, especially a certain person that I grown very fond of, a person that makes my heart skip and jump, but I m also happy to be back in Sweden where it all began four years ago. Sometimes it's hard to feel so torn between two different places. 

Rocky Mountain Camp post-party

Well, I blame the Germans... even if we are in UK

It's never to late to do a plank... 3 am at the hotel

Who knew derbygirls were so talented at making pyramids on rotating podiums... it is almost like as if we were cheerleaders

Deranged and Loony bonded by 3 hours non-stop dancing

Me and AJ sharing a moment with a rose

So what do you do with people you haven't seen for a long time and you find yourself in Birmingham... yeah, you go and find an almost empty bar that plays 80's music and drink a few jägerbombs, dance, build a pyramid, dance some more, take random pictures, get harassed by ugly Brittish dudes, plot how to get an american citizenship, talk about skating, dance, drink a few jägerbombs, dance... try to remember that I am wearing a skirt (AJ's) and not pants... skirt starts to act like it thinks it's a belt.. .dance some more... and BAM bar closes down... we stroll in fountains, get chased out by the officers (without funny hats) and then did lots and lots of planks while drinking beer!

Off to London...

Dear world...
I am off to London of all places... and Birmingham... I got myself an ACTUAL derby vacation, that meaning that I am going somewhere - NOT coaching BUT skating... yeppers...
yeah... over and out....

(and yes, it is derby related)

I am meeting Krazy Kris at the airport in about 45 min, so I better run of now... hasta la vista babes... see you another day!

There is a Derby Street in Copenhagen

35 km skate did happen (that's 21 miles)

Kris is inspecting the lack of tan

We sat by the airport and watched the flights land

Copenhagen is a great city to skate in, today started with a beach skate and we ended up by the airport watching flights land... it was quite cool.... we all got a nice knee-pad tan... and we are EXHAUSTED. Maybe not the best thing to do before a two hour practice! Yayaaa....
Krazy Kris and Mad Maloony is really INSANE company to take on the streets with...

Rollergirls in the Nature

Exploring the world without the skates.... Me, Krazy Kris, Jazz Ass and Malooney went on an adventure in the nature.... We almost got eaten by a sheep and we fed a horse som grass, and some mosquitos totally fed on us... we felt VERY accomplished...

Derby wedding... HussInsane and Krazy Kris

finally married

Finally it is offical, Husse and Kris are now real derby wives, it is the second derby marrige I have had the honor to administer, the first one was Fenix and Bea....

The sauna re-visited

Two Danes and parts of Team Sweden

So yesterday was my annual Midsummer non Midsummer party - and as it always tend to happen, everyone ended up in the sauna with beer, rosé, gin&tonic and me and my wineschorle... the up and downs of the drunk... we had a beer relay where Jazz crashed into the grass and we did semi-nude jumping into the lake... Krazy Kris and Enoc were our play-leaders and made us play merrily in the sun... we even had a game of soccer going for a while...

For some reason I volonteered to get all the meat for the the party, I don't think why I thought I was qualified to do that, considering I was vegetarian for 10 years and Loony still is... so we walked around the supermarket aimlessly and just picked up some random meat... and of course I ended up being the BBQ girl too... yeah... I don't know why people want to get food poison so badly that they let me be in charge of those things...

Berlin Bombshells vs. Copenhagen Rollin Heartbreakers in Berlin

Photo by Michael Witting

I am always delighted to watch bouts, I do like playing them more, but I must say that it is fun to get to play. European Derby is still so new and everything is sort of unknown - and coming to a bout is always interesting, since you never know what to expect.
Teams that win with 200 points, get beaten by 200 points, and since there is no real ranking system in Europe, it is hard to know what levels the teams that are playing on, and you don't know if you are in for a nailbiter or a blow-out.

So me and Malooney and some Crime City girls just leaned back to watch this bout...

I was quite certain that Berlin was going to win, but I did not know with how much, and Copenhagen probably have one of the fastest jammers of Europe in Martattack. The first two jams made the game look like it would be more towards the nailbiting side, but after that Berlin took control and never looked back... Berlin has really good packawareness, trackawareness and strong blocking... Bones from Berlin had an amazing hit and so did MasterBlaster, and Heavy Rotation did what I apriciate most among blockers, kept a jammer behind her, lap... after lap...
Krazy Kris from Copenhagen had one amazing apex jump, but most of the time Copenhagen seemed to have a problem getting thru any other jammer but Martattack and Kris, and they really could not contain any of the Berlin jammers, Zany Zunders and Master Blaster both blasted (no pun intended) through the pack, and kept on evening out the few points that the Copenhagen jammers managed to pick up.
Oh, oh, oh... and it was fun to watch... and Copenhagens gold outfits are truly creative and fun. But I cannot forget to mention that the AFTERPARTY had a pool by the river, and once again a rollergirl misstook the river for the pool... but swimming in a pool in Berlin and drinking WeinSchorle with amazing derbygirls... cannot COMPLAIN at all...


  It is awesome to see all the ambition there are in European derby, I love to be a part of all this, even if I do miss US play, but life is what it is, and I am happy to be where I am, in very exciting times of rollerderby in Europe. I truly love rollerderby - there is nothign that is as amazing as playing roller derby!

I forgot my bag at Husses

Double trouble outside the church

I guess that checking that you have everything in your fanny-pack does not mean that you have the computerbag. I checked my fannypack, made sure my money and the phone was in there and then I dropped Husses keys into the apartment. I turn around walks outsidejust to realize that my computerbag still was IN Husses apartment.
Husse was not coming home to Stockholm for another 12 hours - so I ended up taking Kris and Loony out to Ekerö, to my mothers house again. (at least I had the car keys)
Sadly enough the little chicken had died, so Loony got the time to have time to make a little box for it and bury it with a little help from my nephew. I must admit it did make me sad, this chicken truly had character.
Afterwards we had my mother drive us to a place we could skate towards her house, and we spent about an hour skating back 12 km, and that was amazing. We skated as close as we could towards my mother on biking-lanes, and ended up outside a medevial church, just chilling and waiting for her to be so sweet and pick us up.
  Easter this year has been sooo sunny and full of great family time and skating. My blister is actually feeling quite amazing after the ''Loony treatment''.  I really have the best friends, girlfriend and family!

Loony has a terrible allergic reaction to the spring, and she cannot breath, and it makes me really worried, I don't know what to do to make her feel better.

Leaving home to go home

the barn next to the barn

Me, Kris and Loony are all sitting at Husses floor eating breakfast and drinking coffee... Soon we are taking off to head back south to Malmö. It has been a great vacation and it has been so nice to be at Stockholm Rollerderbys practice and not having to coach all the time.  Stockholm is just a leauge with so much heart and focus, and I love being up here, but I also have a great connection with lots of girls in the team, some of them were even my friends before I started derby.
Jazz just joined Stockholm a few month ago, and we been friends for quite a while, and I am happy to see her on skates. Yesterday she invited me, Loony and Kris over for dinner, and she made the most amazing meal EVER... like no kidding!

It has also been great haning out with my family, my mothers house is truly amazing, and my family is totally welcoming and loving. It is so calm and nice, and my stepdad cooks the most amazing meals!

Animals and no skating

Petting the 2 day old lamb

Today we left the city of Stockholm early to go hang out at my mothers place again, it's really really awesome here. We petted the new lambs and Loony got to see her little chicken... it is really sad because the little chicken has a foot that is not functioning and Loony wants to bring it home with us to make sure that it's not killed after we leave. Because the chicken can't be put back with the other chicknens, since they would kill her, picking her to death.

Everyone in Stockholm seem to be out skating today, understandable, since the weather is just AMAZING. Today is not a skating day for us, I have a blister under my foot, and we had a great practice with Stockholm Rollerderby yesterday. Scrimmage was fun, and I got to play on the same team as Loony and Kris, and that was mucho, mucho fun. One day I hope all three of us will end up on the same team... and hoooly gooolly, the floors here in Sweden are slick.

Stockholm is the new Montreal

Hanging with friends in the sun - with skates on side

Spreading gears and girls in sun

I went outdoor skating (again) on my new purple Pure wheels together with, SpeedSlut, Twisted, Jazz, Crazy Kris and my beloved Mad Maloony and we only skated for about 30 minutes before we found a piece of grass in the sun and chilled. It is nice to take it chill once in a while - so we sat around - snacked and had a tiny bit of sparkling pink wine. Yayaaa...
After working on our tans for about an hour we got up and skated back to the city where me and Loony picked up CallaVera and my future wife to be Smashed and hauled them to Ekerö (where my mother lives) so we could just chill and look out over the water.
Stockholm is so different to outdoor skate in compared to Malmö, in Stockholm there are hills everywhere, while Malmö is flat like a pancake. I am still getting used to being outdoors again and hills make me a tiny bit nervous - while Loony and Kris just bolts right down them, her and Kris are both crazy, I guess that is why they have Mad and Crazy in their derbynames....

Oh, oh, oh, and there was a bunch of older people singing/interpetating Fjäril Vingad syns på Haga right behind our little picnic spot... it was odd, but for SURE entertaining.

I love Stockholm - it's something special about the place you grew up...

Bout in Copenhagen

Beers in the line to the bout with STRD - they have gotten GANGJACKETS!! - (Smashed, CallaVera, Husse me and HyperNova)

So yesterday was the first bout ever in Denmark, GoGo Gent vs. Copenhagen... Copenhagen is Loony old league so of course we went over to support them, but also because we love to watch derby and I was really curious to see what the level on Gent was on. Copenhagen got beat with over 200 points a couple of weeks ago by Royal Windsor but I heard the loss was not because of the lack of skating ability, but major penalty trouble. I also knew that GoGo Gent lost to Berlin a few weeks ago, so I really did not know what to expect. So we put on out best outfits and grabbed our skates to go over the looong bridge to Copenhagen.
It seemed like Copenhagen really worked on their penaltys, while it was GoGo Gent who kept on going to the box. Both teams put up a good game, but it was finally that Copenhagen had two outstanding jammers that made them seal the deal and claim the win.

I got lured into drinking neon yellow shots at some bar - and after that it was all downhill. I think dying your hair with the same sort of color as you did when you where in middle school - probably makes you drink like a 14-year old too... yeah... Apperently I put Husse on a train back to Stockholm and took a bus to another island, when I was trying to go back to Krazy Kris house...

Me and Kris, me wearing Vix shirt for unknown reason

In the morning Kris and Loony baked bread and then Hyper and Fluke came by and we all went on a 15km skate and I kid you not, I think I was still drunk (don't try this at home kids)... But it was awesome as ever to go outdoorskating out by the sea in the springsun that is slowly turning into summer... I will have a tan in no time if this keep up! And after our 15 km skate (was crazy, they took a road with COBBLESTONE) we met up with CallaVera and Smashed and had sushi...

Naked girls in a sauna

Hm, I wonder how many hits that header will give my blog... Maybe I should throw in some words like: lesbian, girls, xxx, fun-loving and so on too... Or maybe not... Oooooops I guess I just did... My bad...

Well, actually what this blog was gonna be about is that all my new friends are obsessed with saunas, and it is really weird to me - maybe it just is me who been gone from Scandinavia too long... But when in Copenhagen Krazy Kris and Loony would drag me to the sauna in Christiania (yes it is a unisex sauna and people rub each other in mud and sit on a sweaty floor) . And we had not lived here in Malmö more than a week when Smärta and da Fist dragged us to the local sauna and made us sweat. Did I mention I'm oversensitive to heat??
I do have an annual midsummer party at my mothers place - where we always end up in the sauna, but at that point I'm always really intoxicated and totally in it for the showers... But all this sauna talk made me talk my mother into finally deciding on building a sauna into my grandparents old house (where me, Loony, Kris, Husse and the gang spent new years)... So next year we will have a sauna!! Yayaaaaa...

Sauna power!! But what I really was gonna say was that Friday we had an amazing and great time with CCR sauna time!! I am starting to think this whole sauna thing is great - as long as it is not humid heat - I can deal with it - if not just for the amazing company!!

Yesterday was my birthday

(this is NOT from yesterday, but it is Krazy Kris and Mad Maloony)

My birthday was amazing, my wonderful girl took me to a SPA and we just chilled out in different bodies of water, saunas and massage chairs. And then Krazy Kris came over to our place and we made pancakes and watched Inception. I was delighted!

Right now I'm thinking about rollerderby 24/7, and it is getting a little over my head, I just wish I could get something else into my head, but all I think about is: How can I find a place for Team Sweden to practice, how can I find a space for Stockholm to practice, how can I find a better place for us all to bout. What drills are best to run for who, what does this person need to practice, why does some people don't get things that are clear as water to others.... coaching is not easy... but it is really REALLY fun!

Superheros on skates

Yesterday I worked an event with Aarhus Derby Danes and Copenhagen Rollergirls, it was good times. We greeted guests at a party with 18,000 people in the middle of nowhere. It was quite an adventure, not to talk about the trip there... All I will say about the trip there is that we were in a rental van that would not do more than 108km/h... I named the van "Big Blue" it was orange on the inside and blue on the outside... there was water dripping from the internal lamp and the glove compartment was filled with a blackish oily liquid... but in the end it did the job and we got our job down.

The actual work was just to skate around and greet the guests, smile and greet, the floor was polished concrete, so it was very pleasant to skate on...

Today me, Loony and Kris are going to the Sauna and then hitting up a all-you-can-eat sushi. I figured if the food that you can eat is mainly healthy, you can't really feel bad about eating all-you-can of it...

In Copenhagen with love

So I got to Copenhagen... I got to see my girl, it is all good! Yesterday we went to the gym!! Finally, back on the work-out track. Krazy Kris and Loony snuck me in, and I felt awkward, but it was sort of funny.
I realized at the gym that I need to make myself a work-out plan, Kris and Loony has some sort of machine hopping routine, and that doesn't work for me, I am really nerdy, and want to go and do upper-body, lower-body and core, preferably on three different days, and add in running on a fourth day. Yeah, I am a little boring like that, but for me, that's what gives result. But for the day being yesterday I enjoyed some machine hopping and 6min on the treadmill...

In the night time Copenhagen Roller Derby had a logo-release party and calender release party, and we were all wearing gold, since it is their bouting colors. Loony made us fantastic outfits, and I did make-up and hair. So all together it was a real nice day, even if I will never drink mojitios again, waaaay to much sugar, I think I am still on a sugar high... and the beer selection is this country does leave a lot to wish for... sigh... Yes I am a beer snob...