Hogwarts Derby Cup 2016 hosted by Santa Cruz Derby Groms

This is a Hogwarts Derby Cup, a Hogwarts themed derby tournament.

This is a map of Hogwarts:



The tournament features four teams.

the Ravenclaws



the Glycerins



the Puffinstuffs



and the Gryffindoors



The game is played in the normal way, but every once in a while a wizard jam occurs, which is played by special wizard rules. The choice of which wizard rule to play by is determined by the sorting hat.



A list of the wizard rules.

1. clockwise jam.  A jam is played by the normal WFTDA rules, but clockwise instead of counter clockwise.
2. overtime jam.  A jam is played by using the overtime jam rules of the WFTDA.  The jam goes the full two minutes. There is no lead jammer. Both jammers score on the first pass instead of the second pass.
3. +2 super blockers.  The weekend prior to the Hogwarts Cup, I traveled to see the WFTDA championship tournament.  There were many instances during that tournament where all the blockers on both teams were playing defense and no offense. And I wished more than once that there were some blockers available that could play offense. This wizard rule partially addresses that wish.  Both teams field skaters as usual, plus two "super blockers" that wear sideways pivot helmet covers.  The super blockers obey the usual rules for derby except they are exempt from the WFTDA pack definition rules. They can play offense or defense or harass the opposing jammer without having to pay attention to where the pack is. And since I shoot with shorter focal length lenses than what is typical for roller derby, these jams tended to produce photos with more skaters filling the frame than most.
4. blockers freeze.  The refs yell "freeze" every thirty seconds and they have to freeze (and let the opposing jammers go by) for ten seconds.
5. broom flight class.  This is an old fashioned match race.  Jammer vs jammer (no blockers).  Whoever finished three laps before the other wins the jam and scores five points.  And they have to do it while carrying pool-noodle brooms between their legs.

 some photo highlights!

this is what wizards eat: levitating cupcakes that you have to snatch out of the air.



these are the broomsticks



some broomstick flight school!







Lord Moldemort



 some clockwise skating



also the jam timers and some of the refs used their "wizard sticks" for officiating.







more highlights!


















 








If your name is Evil Alice, the sorting hat will probably place you on the Slytherin team.




















all the photos can be found on flickr here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/collections/72157660805121068/

and on zenfolio (for prints) here: http://nocklebeast.zenfolio.com/f713076964

Monterey Bay Derby Dames vs Pacific Coast Recycled Rollers

some photo highlights!


















































the full flickr set is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/albums/72157676794016326

prints at zenfolio:  http://nocklebeast.zenfolio.com/mbdd_vs_recycled

SCDG championship 2016: Steamer Janes vs Redwood Rebels

photo highlights!

































the full flickr set is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/nocklebeast/albums/72157674604194541

prints at zenfolio: http://nocklebeast.zenfolio.com/scdg_champs2016_steamerjanes_vs_redwoodrebels

We find what we find.

I came home from champs’ weekend today with 26 photos (If I had a photo credential, I would have about 6000 photos).  Sunday morning, I took a break from being a derby fan and took the light rail to downtown Portland.  I walked around in a mostly vain attempt to find a stray shopping cart to photo. 

I walked to Powell’s mostly as a tourist of nostalgia.  The room where the physics books used to live is an all kid’s room now.  The place where the Dungeons and Dragons books used to live is now a fantasy gaming novelization place.  Which is kind of the same thing….  I guess.

I left and walked down a few blocks to find the Powell’s Technical Books store where Fup used to live.  That store doesn’t exist anymore. 

I walked through the park blocks and the pearl district.  A tall gentleman asked me for 65 cents.  I gave him a buck.  He told me I must be a man of means, because of my red jacket and my cobalt blue shoes. There was one block, where I looked across the street to see someone with a cute little black camera poised a little higher than his waist.  Now, I don’t have a very strong tribal affiliation with the street togs. But I recognize a tribe member when I see one.  I flash a half-Mona Lisa smile at him and then look to where he’s looking.  I don’t see it.  Not only do I not see any stray shopping carts that I’m looking for, I don’t see what he’s seeing or what he’s searching for. Puzzled I look at him again. He’s wearing black shoes, a black jacket and dark wraparound sunglasses.  Sunglasses on a Sunday November morning in Portland!  Clearly I’m doing it wrong with my red jacket and cobalt blue shoes! 

I eventually make it down to the to the river walk. As I’m crossing the street, I find a man walking a shopping cart across the crosswalk.  On the other side, he picks up a slim red five by seven inch notebook off the ground.  I imagine it’s the kind of notebook a very hip Ernest Hemmingway would have taken notes in…. about the bullfights… about the fishing trips in the Caribbean… or about Franco. As I walk past him, because I’m not quite bold enough to take his photo, he exclaims, “I wonder if someone left a 100 dollar bill in here.”  I push on, and about thirty feet later I hear him cursing. He has not found a 100 dollar bill. He has only found fucking Earnest Hemingway’s fucking notes about fucking Franco. 

That’s the thing. We don’t always find what we’re searching for.

We find what we find.