Author: Sara

Whip It! Jucket!

Sara 1 Comment

Junket is my new word for the week. I had never even heard of the word (amazingly) until yesterday when I actually went to one in LA for the movie, Whip It! starring Ellen Page and directed by Drew Barrymore.

Yesterday’s junket for Whip It! was a larger-than-life event that took place in the LA Derby Dolls’ Doll Factory in Historic Phillipino Town.

The excitement started out with Har Mar Superstar, aka Sean Tillman, performing the national anthem. I really didn’t pay much attention at the time so I didn’t realize that he was one of the actors in the movie (playing the coach to Juliette Lewis’s team) and that he has a song on the soundtrack called “Never My Love”.

Then the LA Derby Dolls Tough Cookies took the track against the Varsity Brawlers in the most publicized, over-the-top production for a practice bout ever. It was a thrilling bout that included a leg whip by Crissy Crassy and Leguna Beyatch, and at least one skater, Jacq Pot, flying over the rail. They will be playing again this Saturday for their regular season. The Tough Cookies won over Varsity Brawlers, one hundred and something to something less than that. Tough Cookies are currently undefeated, as are The Swarm (San Diego team).

Singer and actor, Landon Pigg, who plays Ellen Page’s boyfriend in the movie, performed the song “Hightimes” from the movie during half time. Again, I really didn’t pay much attention here, I was taking a look at the production booth, watching the emails fly in with questions for Drew.

At the end of the bout, the cast of the movie and Shauna Cross (aka the real Maggie Mayhem), skater and author of the book “Derby Girl” of which the movie is based, came out into the middle of the track for a Q&A session moderated by Axils of Evil, a popular KPCC radio host.

Here is the best photo I could get of the Q&A session with my camera phone right before it ran out of batteries.

Director and actor, Drew Barrymore plus Eve, Alia Shawkat, Landon Pigg, Zoe Bell, Har Mar Superstar, Juliette Lewis, Shauna Cross, Ellen Page along with LA Derby Dolls’ Rachel Piplica (aka the real Iron Maivon) and Kristen Adolfi (aka Crissy Crash) all shared the mic for an inspirational Q&A session. My favorite moment was when Juliette Lewis shared that she really just wants to work on her form (getting low and her starts to be specific).

Over 2,000 people watched the event online at http://www.derbydolls.tv. You can watch the entire event (in two parts) on Justin.tv. Check out some photos from the event HERE.

I managed to walk away from the event with a a prize pack from Fox Searchlight that included promotional items including the soundtrack, the book (renamed to “Whip It!), pins, sweatbands, a cup and a t-shirt. Definitely a sweet package, but no celeb meetings. That’s fine, I would rather see them on the track.

I did find out that the reason that celebs don’t skate is that the insurance with the movie studios doesn’t allow or cover it. I guess Patricia Arquette tried to join LA Derby Dolls in the past.

The Whip It! soundtrack comes out today via Rhino Records and the movie also officially premieres today at the Grauman’s Historic Chinese Theatre.

Writing Like Crazy But You Wouldn’t Know It

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The last few weeks I have started writing just for writing sake. I entered two short stories competitions: Fiction 101 with City Beat and 24 Hour Contest with Writer’s Weekly. City Beat should be publishing the finalists in the next couple weeks and Writer’s Weekly won’t publish their results until almost Halloween. Win or lose, I will post the stories once the results have come in.

Deadlines seem to help drive my imagination, as do word limits. College was great for that. How can I say a sentence the most eloquently or creatively in the least amount of words? I guess that is another reason that I like Twitter. Sometimes it feels like a puzzle, re-arranging words and using the thesaurus to get the right phrase to give the right feeling.

I have always wanted to write a book, but I am a bit of a procrastinator. It is also hard to imagine writing on one subject for 100 plus pages. That is where blogging and short story writing comes in.

Ray Bradbury is my favorite author of all time. Well known for his novels “Fahrenheit 451” and the “Martin Chronicles”, Bradbury composed most of his stories as chapters or short stories to be published in journals (he could make more money that way too). His short stories are descriptive and captivating. The endings are never what you imagine.

He also wrote a book on writing called “Zen and the Art of Writing”. Inspiring, yet simple. He talks about why he writes and where he gets his inspiration from. You can see common threads that run through each of his stories that allow you to see pictures of the whole from only reading pieces.

If you have never read anything of Ray Bradbury’s except for “Fahrenheit 451,” try something new for a change. Here are my favorite novels and short story compilations:

“Dandelion Wine” My favorite novel of all time about a boy and one summer of his life. Horrible description on my part, amazing story from a child’s mind.

“Something Wicked This Way Comes” The carnival comes to town and the dark things that come with it. Again, from a child’s view.

“The Veldt” Short story published in “Illustrator Man” and “The Vintage Bradbury”

“The Small Assassin” Short story published in “Dark Carnival” (Ray Bradbury’s first published book of short stories, now out of print and pricey), “October Country”, “The Vintage Bradbury” and “A Memory of Murder”

“Skeleton” Short story published in “Dark Carnival”, “October Country”, and “The Vintage Bradbury”

“The Gift” Short story published in “A Medicine for Melancholy” and “R is for Rocket”

“The Anthem Sprinters” Short story published in “The Machineries of Joy” and “The Vintage Bradbury”

“Yestermorrow” A collection of essays from Bradbury on projects that he worked on including Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln at Disneyland and the design of Horton Plaza mall. This one is hard to find since it is out of print.

Don’t Let Concerts Pass You By: Tips for Concert Going with Your Baby

Sara 6 Comments

After going to this weekend’s Flaming Lips concert at the Del Mar Fairgrounds and being complemented on our parent planning skills and concert preparation, I thought I would share a few tips about getting out to see shows with a small one.

Research the Venue
First off… is the venue all ages. This will help answer the first question of whether you should take him or leave him. There are lots of all ages venues in San Diego: the Marquee, Lestats, SOMA, Epicentre, Java Joe’s at Café Libertalia, Club 8Teen (formerly Avalon, now called something else) and ChannelTwelve25. The Del Mar Fairgrounds holds concerts throughout the summer as do a number of communities (Bird Park Concerts, Trolley Barn Concerts, etc.)… Plus there are many street fairs and festivals that are open to everyone.

Take in consideration that you will need a place to change the baby that is inoffensive (sorry, no changing on dinner tables). The ground always a place as long as you have a quiet corner and the proper changing tools mainly a blanket or pad.

Make sure there is a place you can step away from the action for fussiness. This could be outside, another room, or just distancing yourself from the action. This is important in smaller venues where cries could potentially disturb the show.

Ear Protection
If you think the music isn’t loud, you’re wrong. You want your child to grow up with his or her full capacity to hear even the softest of noises. I have been to so many concerts and bouts where parents think that if they are sleeping or if they aren’t reacting, that the noise must not be bad for them. I don’t personally have a link to the research on this, but I know that theory is wrong.

There are options for protecting your child’s hearing even as early as 2-3 months (before that you should really avoid taking you kids to places with loud music/noises… get a sitter). We use the Peltor Kid Ear Muffs. They cost less than $20, they last until your child is about 7 years old, and they come in three colors (pink, blue and black). If you start your kid young in these, they would be bothered wearing them. They can still hear the music but it takes the edge off. Thomas has enjoyed listening to Roger’s band practice and has even fallen asleep while wearing them.

Pack Your Bags
Just like going out for the day, you need to be sure to pack food, milk or formula, diapers, wipes, clothes, a bib, a burp cloth and toys. Make sure that you think about the food temperature. In many concert situations you won’t have access to heat a bottle. My child is not picky about temperature, so leaving milk or food out at room temperature is good enough.

Also don’t forget about your needs. Often when I am packing for Thomas, I forget that I need a jacket or food. It will happen, but here is another reminder to take care of yourself too.

Your Arms Can Only Hold So Much
It really does suck if you have to hold a sleeping baby for hours. Consider the venue again. Think about whether a sling or stroller is more appropriate. If you are standing room only, a stroller is better towards the back of the room while a sling allows you to get closer to the action.

Bonus/luxury items include having a backpack style carrier or a wagon. We are lucky to own both (as gifts). The backpack we have yet to use but believe it will come in useful during street fairs. It will be great place to feed him on the go too.

The wagon we have is a portable, fold up wagon called Fold-It & Go Portable Wagon. It folds up like a PacknPlay to load in and out of your car. The wheels are large making it easy to go over rough terrain (like sand). It claims to hold up to 150 lbs. We use it as a playpen (for now) and a portable crib. The only thing it is lacking is brakes so supervision is heavily needed.

At the Flaming Lips concert we loaded up our wagon with a small cooler, a couple of chairs, and a bags of our stuff. On the way out, we hauled Thomas, passed out in the wagon with the earmuffs still on, back to the car while carrying the rest of the gear. It was perfect for this occasion. It should be also be useful for the Bird Park Concerts.

The biggest takeaway for me is all of the preplanning. It is no longer possible to just leave the house on a whim. Before I would preplanning for comfort, now it is a necessity.

If you have any additional tips on concert going with kids/babies, feel free to comment.

Alex’s Lemonade Stand @ The Miller’s House

Sara 2 Comments

Yesterday was the 4th annual FM94/9 live broadcast of Alex’s Lemonade Stand at the Miller Family home on the corner of Redwood and Thorn. Roger and I have wanted to make it out for this event pretty much every year since it started. Now that we live five blocks from the Miller Family, it will become an annual tradition for us too. That is, if they able to keep it there.

Of the four years they have been doing this event, this is the biggest yet. The stands take over three of the four corners of the intersection, selling lemonade (both pink and yellow varieties) to passers by for donations to pediatric cancer. They also had a silent auction, live local music and guests from the local Star Wars Society, all part of the event.

Their fundraising goal was $10,000 which they had raised the previous year. By 11am, only one hour after they started, when our family stopped by, they had already raised $2,000. One of the big draws was the family four pack of Legoland tickets that they were giving away if you donated $80 to the cause. By 11:30am, the tickets they had on hand where gone and they had to start taking IOU’s. As FM94/9’s DJ, Hilary put it best “It is so California of us,” referring to the the state tax returns.

According to Amy Miller, the event had much more press than in previous years including on-air segments on both KUSI and NBC 7/39. It was overheard Amy saying that she doesn’t want this event to get any bigger. And neither do the neighbors. The cops came by at least twice in the hour that we were there, responding to neighbor complaints regarding music volume and crowds in the street and sidewalks. If it does get much bigger, they would have to look at a different venue, which would be a sad prospect to both the Miller Family and the community as a whole.

Our family hopes they continue this successful fundraiser at their home for years to come. Not just because it is within walking distance, but because it shows the collective power of good in our community.


–Thomas playing with his lemonade cup–

So much for being backblogged…

Sara Leave a comment

I have been out living life. Those shows I said I would get around to writing about… sorry. Not gonna happen. Not the kid’s fault. Just been too busy with life’s happenings to take the time to write thing down. Here are some of the things that have kept me from writing over the last few weeks:

1) Work: Yeah, I know it is a lame excuse but I am in a transition phase at work that doesn’t give me time to even check my personal email let alone blog.
2) Shows and other fun events: These include… Get Back Loretta CD Release @ the Casbah, FM94/9 Beer for Breakfast event @ Stone Brewery, Death Cab for Cutie Secret Show @ the Belly Up, Smart Brothers & The Wrong Trousers @ Lestats, Alex’s Lemonade Stand broadcast.
3) Personal stuff: My grandfather was in the hospital for two weeks, my iTouch was stolen, famliy BBQ’s

So yeah, busy. What that mean is that I will get to what I feel like getting to instead of putting expectations on myself to type up everything. I guess this is a personal release of thoughts since I know that my blog is low on readers. It feels good to get it out none the less.