Wasted Continuum

So you haven’t been to a Rollerderby game before. You have friends that keep telling you that you’re missing out. The “cool” intern at your office is always talking about it the Monday after the bout, going on about the hits and how these girls kicked ass. You watched an awkward Ellen Page become a rollergirl in Whip It. Well, I’m going to tell you why you should finally get to a game. I’m going to keep it simple.

First off, it’s action packed. There are heavy hits and fast skating. This is not to say it’s all about the action. There is a lot of strategy that goes into the game if you want to win. And of course, staying out of the penalty box is certainly advantageous.

Second, it is fun for all. When I say all, I’m saying your little kids will love it and so will the grandparents. The kids can get a bruised eye painted on them. Everyone will enjoy the pre-game shows that range from juggling to martial arts demonstrations to dancing. During the half time, you can head onto the floor and listen to the live band play or if you’re feeling it, dance your heart out.

Lastly, Rollerderby is a sport that is really centered around the love of the game and having fun. Watch one bout and you can see clearly that every girl on the track is there because they love it. I guarantee you that watching them play, cheering for them, you will feel it too. I’ve introduced a good lot of people to Rollerderby since I’ve been attending for several years now. I can tell you for a fact that everyone who has attended a game, loves it by the end of the night. Saturday night, January 22nd, is the Minnesota RollerGirls Season Championship game. There are no excuses left not to go. The energy will be high, the crowd will be roaring, and the girls will be bringing their A-game. So head on over to the MN Rollergirls website to get details on the game. I will be there wearing red. That’s just me. If you’re on twitter, tweet me and say hi.

One last note: I know I’m writing about the Minnesota Rollergirls here, but practically everything I said applies to the Rollerderby in general. For all of you who aren’t living in the currently arctic Minnesota, do yourself a favor and find a league around your city. Heck, if the closest bout is a couple hours drive away, round up a few friends for a road trip and make a night of it. It’ll be fun, I promise.

MN Rollergirls Flickr set

Last month, when Red Giant Software had a sale on their software, I decided to pick up one of their products that I have been eyeing for a while now, Magic Bullet Looks. I have been searching for something to help me do some post processing on the 5D footage that I shoot. Anyway, I have seen a lot of examples of what people have been getting using Looks and today I finally got some time to play with it. I shot some test footage with my 5D and dove into all the options. There are a lot of them. The photo to the right is a before and after still of what I achieved in about half hour of tweaking. As with most software, the more I use it, the more I will know what it is capable of. As of this moment, I can say without a doubt that I am loving the software and I have a ton of ideas for what I can do with videos I have shot in the past and have not edited yet. The content of my test footage from tonight is horrid and embarrassing so I am not going to show it here, but I do intend on posting an example video soon.

I really want to get my blog out of this rut. I have been blogging fairly consistently this last month but not nearly as much as I used to. The blogs that I love most are all about sharing the knowledge, paying it forward (as cheesy as that phrase is). I know I’m not a fountain of knowledge by any means, but I do know a lot about certain topics like photography, gadgets, design, programming, music, etc. I want to know if there are any topics you’d like me to blog about. I am going to make an effort to write up a post about the good ones. Leave me a comment here or hit me up on twitter. I have some ideas of my own, but it’s always good to hear from you guys.

Happy new year! There goes another one. Another artificial milestone for us to reevaluate our lives. For me, there has been a lot of ups and a lot of downs. Sadly, if I were to count them up, I think the downs outweigh the ups. However, I’m not going to dwell on this since I have learned over the years, life sucks sometimes. That’s just how it is. But on the other hand, life is amazing sometimes and I think we tend to forget that when things are rough. I never do. This year, I’m only making one resolution, be better. That’s it. I made a lot of mistakes last year and I know I’ll make a lot more. But along with last year’s mistakes came a lot of regret and those are a lot harder to shake off and get over. I need to work on that. All other things are not as important. I just need to focus on being better in 2011. I know it’s a weird resolution because it’s extremely vague, but I know all the things I’ve done wrong and the best way to describe what I need to do to gain from those mistakes is to be better. There are no specifics and those of you in the same position will probably get what I’m saying. Whatever the case may be, I hope you all keep your resolutions and I hope your year is full of good food, good drinks and good people to enjoy it with.