From The Times-Picayune by Angus Lind - Super-skater Ralph Darensbourg's fancy footwork keeps him on the right path
When Ralph Darensbourg skates, people watch ... with amazement. The 23-year-old self-taught roller skater not only mixes dance and speed with acrobatics, he performs with confidence and passion, a winning combination if ever there was one.
That big smile doesn't hurt, either.

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A Japanese band from 80's called Hikaru Genji. They used to be huge in Japan... They sang and danced on roller skates. Pay special attention to their costume!
If you want to see more, search youtube using a keyword "hikaru genji".

From Mail Online - Wanted to act in movie: Bald roller-skaters who know sign language
If you're a bald man or have a mohawk, know sign language and like to roller skate, you just may have a leg up on the competition to appear as an extra in a Hollywood movie that is being filmed locally.
Those are among the attributes the casting company, Real Style is looking for in extras it is hiring for Drew Barrymore's movie "Whip It." Flower Films - Barrymore's production company - has set up its offices in Saline.

read more at mlive.com>>

From Associated Press - Whoopi Goldberg skates into 'Xanadu'
Goldberg, a co-host on the ABC's "The View," announced on the air Monday that she will appear in the Tony-nominated roller-skating musical "Xanadu" as one of the show's evil sisters, Caliope.
Goldberg has been on Broadway with her own one-woman show as well as in revivals of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom."
She begins her six-week "Xanadu" run on July 29, taking over for actress Jackie Hoffman, who will return to the production on Sept. 9, said Karl Nilsson, spokesman for "The View."

From Mail Online - GET YOUR SKATES ON
Sport and fashion partnerships are all the rage and the Nokia Skate Almighty on Southbank is one of the coolest. A free roller disco with bands such as Hot Chip and Zero 7 kicks off on 11 July and is fronted by model Alice Dellal. To celebrate, design duo Preen has created five skate designs inspired by music acts.
Preen skates, £120, from the store at 5 Portobello Green, W11.

read more at dailymail.co.uk>>

From Skates.com blog - You always thought "i just cannot find roller skates I want." Well, here is a solution. You can buy a pair of shoes you like and send them to Skates.com to have custom skates built.
On their site, there are pictures of skates with Nike iD roller skates and Diesel roller skates.

more on Skates.com blog >>

From The Olathe News by Kristin Babcock - Hospice Offers 'Gift of a Day'
Jul. 1--George Schweigert had dreamed of getting back on his roller skates for the last 11 years.
Roller skating was seemingly impossible after doctors diagnosed Schweigert's Parkinson's disease nine years ago, and after he suffered a series of unrelated illnesses.
When Schweigert began hospice care last month, though, his care team began to plan his return to the rink...

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From after ellen by Dorothy Snarker - Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore find their sisters in skates
What could make a film about women's roller derby that stars Ellen Page and is directed by Drew Barrymore even cooler? Think hard. I'll give you a second.
OK, time's up. Have you guessed? The answer is, of course, a really cool supporting cast of actresses. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Ellen and Drew will be joined in their upcoming film Whip It! by Juliette Lewis, Kristen Wiig, Marcia Gay Harden and Zoe Bell...

read more at After Ellen >>

From The Beacon News by Rowena Vergara - The man behind the Blackhawks' music
It's just before 7:30 p.m. on Monday at Aurora Skate Center. The lights haven't dimmed yet, and a few regulars shuffle in.
Tall, slender women dress in sparkling bodysuits colored in pink, purple and blue. The men wear comfy jeans, shorts and sometimes black unitards, ready for an all-night affair.
Article added 6/30/08

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From London Town - Nokia Skate Almighty

Hot Chip, Zero 7 and DJ Norman Jay are confirmed to play at the 'Nokia Skate Almighty' events in London, Birmingham and Manchester. For the free London roller disco up to 1,000 people can skate their booty to the pop, rock, hip hop and electronica beats supplied by these hip, happening, big name musicians. Giant glitter-ball trees and statues add some glamour to the moving disco which temporarily sets up home on the South Bank. Free tickets, allocated for a one-hour skate time slot, can be secured by going to www.nokia.co.uk/musicalmighty from 30th June.

From Kare 11 - Hundreds are driving-in to Sonic in St. Paul
Talk about a long time coming. America's favorite drive in finally found it's way to Minnesota and ever since people have been heading there. Sonic Drive In opened up over a week ago in St. Paul on Suburban Avenue and business is booming. "It has not slowed down a bit it has been non stop since we opened,' Sonic manager Todd Dolan said Wednesday.
For nine days Sonic has been the destination spot for diners in St. Paul. Its been so busy that management has to have a satellite parking lot to monitor how many cars are coming in. "Over lunch it's like 20-40 minutes (wait) and then dinner up to an hour. The other day there were 180 cars in line and people waited 3 hours," Dolan said. Three hours for slushies and cheeseburgers brought to customers by car hops in roller skates.
... Read more at Kare 11

From New York Press - Dreaming of Dreamland
Roller skating is not dead, but Lola Staar’s Dreamland roller rink might be. Dreamland, located in the historic Child’s Building in Coney Island, was funded when Diane Carlin won a contest sponsored by Glamour magazine and Tommy Hilfiger, where she described her dream project in a video.
In one pink-and-orange-themed night at the end of March, over 1,000 people, from families to professionals, flocked to the roller rink. “People are so desperate for a roller rink in the city,” said Carlin.

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From LA Times by Susan King - Team responsible for Geico caveman ads takes on free checking for life, fantasy-style.
WaMu gets down tonight in the bank's retro 30-second disco commercial. Currently on TV, the spot features a young man catching dance fever on roller skates when he learns he'll get free checking for life at Washington Mutual.
The neon-lighted skate sequence flashes by in a blink during the commercial. But thankfully, the actual shoot took long enough for photographer David Strick to don his boogie shoes while capturing the action on a 20th Century Fox sound stage in February. Kristian Pasion, a young San Francisco-based dancer, auditioned and won the role of the young man who dreams of roller disco stardom... Read more at Los Angels Times

From The Eureka Reporter - Roller Derby makes its debut

#42 Guts & Gloria, in the “jammer” position, scores a point for her team The Cold Hearts during the first Humboldt Roller Derby bout at Redwood Acres Saturday night in Eureka.
On the opening night match between The Hot Tempers versus The Cold Hearts a sold out crowd of 600 plus were treated to the re-birth of Roller Derby, an all women sport which began in Chicago 73 years ago...
For more information, visit www.humboldtrollerderby.com.

From TC Palm by Melissa E. Holsman - Women’s roller derby picking up speed on Treasure Coast
Roller derby fever has hit the Treasure Coast.
Not the cheesy hair-pulling, catfighting action typical of the 1990’s TV series “RollerGames.”...

Article added 5/21/08

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From Tucson Citizen by Sandra Valdez Gerdes - How I Did It: Student mixes in-line skating with weight training
Name: Brandon Bankert
Age: 21
Occupation: Pima Community College student
Height: 5 feet 11 inches
Main accomplishment: In-line skating for cardiovascular exercise. Gained about 10 pounds of muscle with...

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From The San Francisco Inline Marathon - SUCCESS!!! We are pleased to report the 2nd Annual San Francisco Inline Marathon was a success with skaters from all over North America competing for cash and raffle prizes! Given our success, we now turn our attention to making 2009 an even more exciting race...

Article added 5/19/08

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This is not a news article, but we thought it is appropriate to have this info here.
From about.com - Early 1700s in Holland, an unknown Dutchman decided to go ice skating in the summer, ice skating was the widespread method used in the Netherlands to travel the numerous frozen canals in winter. The unknown inventor accomplished dry land skating by nailing wooden spools to strips of wood and attaching them to his shoes...

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From DETnews.com by Liz Hill - For a sport that involves so much trash talk, so many violent crashes and a ton of broken bones and blood, Detroit's rough-and-tumble all-female roller derby league is surprisingly family friendly. Maybe that's because most of the participants -- despite nicknames like Lady McDeath, Juicy Contusion and Summer's Evil -- have families of their own.

Christy Schoonover, 33, is called Cat's Meow when she's whizzing...

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