The Vixen:

My, oh my. Did I NOT know what I was getting myself into. Gay Underwear Rollerskating, huh? (Psssst! What constitutes as gay underwear?) Well, I didn't know but I thought to myself, "What could be gayer and more cliche than undies with a cartoon piggy on them?"
Hmm... how about SHINY SPANDEX HERO SUITS!?

*note to self: invest in spandex*

I decided that even if I failed at the theme (in the car on the way to SF, I desperately communicated to Ben that I was "feeling self-conscious because I don't look like a gay man"), I wasn't going to let anyone know that I'd never skated in a roller rink before. It was intimidating though, observing the HUGE group of non-players waiting alongside us for Chicken John's party bus. They all looked so spectacularly gay! But that's ok, us sf0'ers were ready and bursting at the seams with anticipation.


Once inside the bus, I felt as if I'd been sucked into a Technicolor happy-van full of gay underwear craziness. There were pixiesticks to go around, supermario theme music cascading over our shoulders and people flinging off clothes like wrappers on a lollipop. All this while we sped down the freeway in a gigantamous bus (which has just recovered from a flat tire) decked out all camper style with couches and pillows!

After much egging and despite my apparently very un-gay underwear idea, I decided to suck it up and pulled down my pants when we were almost to the rink. But before doing so all the way, Bex begged me for a photo. Someone asked her what the photo was for and she responded "These underwear are infamous..."


Funny enough, I didn't sustain a single injury from skating. I didn't even fall! But...maybe it was because I decided that I wanted to compensate for not looking gay enough and opted for roller blades instead of skates. Me and the blades iz cool 8~] So where and when did my injury occur? Well, sometime during the massive pillow/wrestling match in the bus on the way back. And I wasn't even participating in it!

(Note Ben tied up to a bunk with the belt of Zemulco's bathrobe)

And the injury? A massive bruise on the side of me leg. I imagine it was the result of being squashed by Bex as bodies were flying every which way in a huge underwear wrestling mess. It was glorious.

But it's ok Bex, I still love you :)
Lara Black:

Can anyone believe how fun rollerskating is? Last night was severely awesome. I haven't seen so many capes in one place since comicon 06! I viewed a lot of good underwear, drank a lot of good gin, met a lot of sfzero comrades for the first time ever, and did a hell of a lot of falling down. Turns out skating is a lot harder when you've had a few. Life lessons...

Regardless, good times were had by all. I got to wear a captain's hat (to which I embroidered a lifesaver and an anchor the night before) and even a white blazer (which is a pretty fun thing to wear, though wearing a shirt underneath is recommended if you don't want to constantly monitor your decency level). I got to talk about accordions, drink several types of juice, and got my arm tied to my body with the belt of a white terry cloth robe. And who even knows what other great things might have happened in the later, hazier hours of the evening?!

In summary, drunken group rollerskating is so much fun that the sustained injuries almost seem worth it. I don't have a camera, so i have no photos from the night itself, but the trusty macbook photobooth application makes snapping shots of bloody knees after the fact a breeze! The list of injuries:

1. sprained wrist and associated bruising

2. scraped knee and associated bruising

3. damaged liver and associated bruising (of pride)

A very special thanks to ben and zemaluco for getting me back to Oakland in one (very busted up) piece!
بن:

An evening of roller skating with Chicken John and the SF0'ists. I only took one spill! But I did almost take poor Vixen down with me.

The real fun seemed to be happening in my shoes. Wow, those blisters were massive. I won't go into detail on the...recovery process involved.


The less visual injuries resulted in me walking around like I had just gotten off a horse at work the next day. Which made for some interesting speculations by my co-workers.

"What'd you do last night?"
"Went roller skating with Chicken John."
-limp-limp-limp-
"??"

And my left arm hurting for some reason. For which I have no explanation.

Thank you Bex, for your photographic contributions!