I injured my butt when I felt down hard on the "pink line" of the track a while back. Right now, walking is difficult and skating is out of the question. Nonetheless, I'm so addicted to roller derby that my husband and I went to Fresh Meat practice anyway. He is preparing to take some kick ass photos at the upcoming tournament on June 28 and 29. You can come to the track and join with other Fresh Meat on Tuesday and Sunday nights. You'll learn derby skills and meet some really cool people who will challenge you, yell at you to do better and believe in you when you don't believe in yourself. If you're interested, e-mail freshmeat [at] derbydolls.com That's what I did over a year ago and I've hung around ever since. Although I couldn't skate in this particular practice, that didn't stop me from cheering on the Fresh Meat, yelling things like: "use that ass" and "wooo hooo". Meanwhile Rinkrat toyed with the lighting in preparation for the next public event. Here are the results of the test photo shoot. If you've seen Rinkrat's previous photos, you will immediately notice the difference this new lighting technique makes. I can't wait to see it put to use at a live bout. While Tara Armov tortures Freshies in the next room with her insane version of Russian-inspired plyometrics (aka Tarametrics), I stand on the track so Rinkrat can figure out the best place to position his flashes. For a moment, I feel like a star. Here is Tough Cookie, Axles of Evil practicing shoulder blocks with Thomas Referson. At one point, she almost knocked him down. Tara Armov yells, "I know Axels went easy on him" right before her mouth breaks out into a devilish, pirate-style grin. Tilda Whirl gets up close and personal with the camera and shows us her grin from behind the mouthgaurd. Roller Derby just brings a smile to all of our faces. Fresh Meat have fun beating each other up. I'm so happy to see Zoe (soon to be Buckingham Malice) back on the track. She was out for 4 months with a knee injury. Her number will probably be the British Pound sign. You know, that fancy L looking thing with two lines through it. I am so glad Kitten (middle person in the back) made it to Fresh Meat practice. I haven't seen her in forever. As soon as we made eye contact, I had to hug her. She is in graduate school and working very hard. (Freshies, I forgot what subject she's studying, can you remind me?) Remember, you can come to Fresh Meat practice too. Sundays 6-8 and Tuesdays 7:30-9:30 at the Doll Factory, 1910 Temple St., Los Angeles 90026. e-mail freshmeat [at] derbydolls.com for details.