I’m still looking for America
– it’s just as hard to find as England
these days.
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| The Panther City Princess |
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| Autograph & tickets |
In that quest,
I heard during the week that Ann Calvello, “queen” of roller derby, most
famously with the San Francisco Bay Bombers, died recently at the age of 76 (http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-calvello17mar17,1,1727199.story?coll=la-news-obituaries).
It seems that roller derby is making something of a comeback, and since it is
most definitely American, I tracked down a local event. Next Sunday evening, at
the Arlington Skatium, the High Seas Hotties take on the Suicide Shifters, and
the Slaughterers hope to do just that to the Wrecking Crew. I stopped by the
Dallas Cigar Shop yesterday to pick up a ticket, and was served by a young lady
who turned out to be the “Panther City Princess” (in team colours, no less),
who skates for the Suicide Shifters (Panther
City, by the way, is an old nickname for Fort Worth that predates the
current Cow Town). It was early
morning, and there were no customers, so I asked for her autograph, and also
requested that she describe the finer points of the game to me. It rather seems
that there are no finer points, but …
well, you’ll have to wait until next week when I’ve seen it for myself. If
you’re not familiar with roller derby, you can find out something about it at http://dallasderbydevils.com/ (but
please don’t go there if you are easily offended, and remember that my exploits
are driven only by curiosity).
Today, I went to my usual flea market in Fort Worth. While examining some black flower
vases, the vendor explained to me that some were black amethyst, while some
were simply black. When I asked what the difference was, he explained that, if
you hold black amethyst up to the light, you can see a purplish tinge. When I
told him I was colour-blind, he laughed and told me that everything was black
amethyst! We struck a deal on one of each.
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| Cool |
There was a dog show opposite at the Will Rogers
Center, but I’m not
paying $6 to look at dogs – so I headed west on I-20, passing through “Cool”
(which, I have to say again, doesn’t qualify as a city to me).
I have no idea
if Cool is actually cool, and, given the small population, there wasn’t exactly
anybody around to ask. But I might consider joining the local church – that
would be cool!
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| A cool church ... |
At Mineral Wells, after stopping at Braum’s for a hamburger
and milkshake (I know these are not good for me, but almost anything is ok in
moderation, and Braum’s are renowned for their milkshakes and ice cream), I
turned around and headed back along virtually the same route. Too late for me
to stop (I was in the centre lane), I passed a hitchhiker on the highway. He
was walking along the shoulder with a huge back pack, and it was only as I
passed that I could tell from the shape and colour of the hand, thumb extended,
that hung loosely at his side as he walked, obviously not expecting anyone to
stop, that he was Mexican. I don’t know why these images haunt me – I couldn’t
have stopped, I didn’t know anything about him, and there are too many in need
of help anyway. Somehow the reasons just sound more like excuses.
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| A newly completed church |
By way of
update, a few weeks ago I included a picture of a church under construction in Fort Worth. Here’s a
picture of the same church, now completed. Whether something constructed with
such urgency will stand the test of time as did the churches and cathedrals of
old – well, only time will tell. I imagine the same construction skills go into
raising new Walmart’s, and Target’s, and MacDonald’s – and the sooner they fall
down, the better.
