Panther City Princess

I’m still looking for America – it’s just as hard to find as England these days.

The Panther City Princess

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.

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!

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.

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.