Two Great Men Meet!

February 7, 2009 - a day Ken will never forget!
After changing our minds several times about what movie to go see, we decided on the early evening show of "SlumdogMillionaire" at the local theatre close to us. I was holding our seats while Ken went to get the first round of refreshments, when I noticed a woman help an older man shuffle in and sit down directly behind us. OMG!!!

When Ken came back in, I told him to look who is sitting behind us! He glanced quickly and said "hi" to the woman and she replied back the same. We sat back down, and I said "what are you doing?" "Aren't you going to say anything to him?" "Who is it?" Ken said. "It's Muhammed Ali!!!" (The person Ken admires most in the whole world!).

So I got up to get more refreshments, and as I turned around I could see Ken leaning over talking to the Greatest. He said he said "hi, and how're you doing, Champ?" MAli reached up his straight weak left hand to shake Ken's. Ken was in seventh heaven.

It was so weird to sit through the movie knowing he was right behind us. On several occasions, he kind of choked on phlegm, and his wife got that all worked out as she coached him on the coughing. He ate a lot of popcorn, and we heard that too. But what was the most eery, was that we could hear him breathing in and out the whole time, not too loudly, just audible enough that you could tell he was struggling to breathe. Ken says that it was one of those moments when you thought about the cycle of life - here was a man, at his prime was to many the greatest athlete in the world ( and to many still is), now an elderly man in the grips of a serious disease that has taken its toll on him.

Well, as we all know by now, the movie was wonderful, and of course, we stuck around until all of the theater was cleared except for us and them. Again, I walked up the aisle and turned around to see Ken leaning over his idol, talking once more. When I asked him what he said, Ken said, "This is great night - I got to see a great movie and meet the greatest man in the world!" MAli's wife said, "Oh, you're so sweet." And the two men shook hands again.

A moment where I watched two great men meet.

29th Birthday- Gladiator Jousting Party

So in effort to keep my youth I invited everyone to take a shot at my face. Maybe not the smartest idea. Actually, I threw a jousting tournament, which turned out to be a great idea. It gave everyone the chance to meet new people and really try to do their best in effort to move on to the next round. It was probably the best party I've ever thrown and a really good time.

Tough Cookies win in OT!

Saturday was the first game of our leagues season - and the Tough Cookies played opening day. We took on a newly energized Fight Crew - they had both new members and new leadership. The Tough Cookies also had new members as three Cookies retired at the end of the year, and we lost blocker Titty Titty Bang Bang to a job move right before the game.

Photo by Rinkrat

It was a crazy evenly matched game - the lead went back and forth several times, and ended in a first ever tie for our league. 2 OT jams later, we scored points to break the tie and win in sudden death OT.

There is a great write up on Derby News Network. I am so proud of my team - we really pulled together at the end.

And here is a video of myself and Gori Spelling doing a chest bump on skates.



It is all about the showmanship!

Look Out Your Window

A plane floats on water and everyone survives. A Black man becomes President of the United States. The Chicago/St. Louis/Arizona Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl.
Look out your window and watch the pigs fly by!

Beer Transfer Successful

Well after two weeks of fermenting it was time for us to transfer the beer from one carboy to the next. As Connie calls it the refining process. Let's just say we got most of it in the container. She took a swig and said it tasted like flat beer- so she got really excited that it might not turn out that bad. Two more weeks till the bottling stage.

Cold in Lake Bluff

In Chicago we also have a version of roller derby. We call it black ice. It's played on bridges and exit ramps with automobiles.

Live from the set of Kath and Kim...

So Roller Derby has definitely opened up some opportunities for me - I have been in a national magazine and filmed a few segments for some cable shows. But last week I got my biggest gig yet - I was cast as a background skater for an upcoming episode of "Kath and Kim". K&K is a Thursday night show on NBC starring Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. I was a skater on Kim's (Selma Blair) team, and we spent four days last week shooting at the track and on their set. I definitely got used to getting my hair and makeup done every day, but I could never get used to constant 5:30 AM call times. So stay tuned for the roller derby episode of Kath and Kim sometime in February and the debut of my very bad wooden background acting!

Recreating my trading card picture which was part of a banner for the set.



Blending in with the "extras" (you don't have to pay or feed blow up mannequins!)



We had a trailer! It was very small and there were seven of us in there but hey!

Axis of Evil

Last Saturday was Connie's derby prom. The theme was Heroes and Villains so we chose Heroes obviously -ha. Here is a photo of Connie as Osama- Danica as Saddam and me as that cute little North Korean Kim Jong-il.

Mummer's Parade

I partook of many a Mummer's festivity this year with Eleanor, Eleanor's visiting friend Jackie and Sarah. For those of you that don't know what a Mummer is, there's really no way to explain it other than to come to Philly for New Years. This year I did my first visit to 2nd Street where Mummer's return to their clubhouses after hours of partying, parading and heavy drinking. This basically puts Mardi Gras in New Orleans to shame (minus the boobs because it's January and absolutely freezing). Enjoy my flickr album of the best of the Mummer's Day Parade for a taste of Philly. 

Beer Brewing - First Attempt

Here is Connie attempting to hone her craft as a master brewer. Well we'll see if this turns out and then decide if we want to pursue this endeavor again. It took a long time and a lot of precision. In four weeks we'll bottle it and in another two we'll get to try it. I'll keep you posted. Connie's Diva Jammer IPA- coming to a shelf near me.