Roller Derby

The Goulden Argument – Pankhurst and the Window Pane

The argument of the broken window pane is the most valuable argument in modern politics. – Emmiline (Goulden) Pankhurst 1858-1928 Arizona vs Minnesota Gallery Depending on the source, Emmeline Pankhurst was born 160 years ago today (or the 15th.). Emmeline and her husband were active British suffragists. Arizona v Atlanta Gallery During this year’s Golden Bowl in […]


Roller Derby – Palace of Fine Arts

The 2018 Bay Area Derby roller derby season started this Spring with two bouts at San Francisco’s  Palace of Fine Arts. I photographed a bout in March and another in April. This is the first season that Bay Area Derby has skated at the Palace of Fine Arts. BAD changed their teams, uniforms, and regular […]


Bay Area Derby “New Home – Old Building”

Bay Area Derby opened their regular season at the Old West Oakland Train Station ten days ago. The roller derby bout was held outside the abandoned train station on Saturday, March 18, 2017. Here is the photo gallery from the season opener. I have also photographed an event inside the 16th Street Station. On November […]


2016 BAD Roller Derby Champions

“If the Good Lord had intended us to walk, he wouldn’t have invented roller skates.” (from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) On Saturday, two teams skated in circles and one team would be able to hold a trophy at the end of the bout. Last year the Berkeley Resistance won. This year they won again. Rocket Dog Rescue also […]


Bay Area Derby Pride Double Header

I almost did not photograph last weekend’s Bay Area Derby Pride double header. I would have missed something special. My derby photographs were not special, although I took a few decent action pictures somehow. There are two slideshows below the next two photographs. In the second bout, Richmond Wrecking Belles defeated the San Francisco ShEvil Dead.   […]


BAD United Derby Double Header

I am a roller derby photographer and my 2016 season started last Saturday. I usually photograph at The Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California where light imitates art … or art imitates cupcakes. I forget. I posted one gallery of the two evening bouts here. Bay Area Derby created two “united teams” to compete against Sacramento’s Sacred City Derby Girls and the Santa Cruz Derby […]


2015 BAD Derby Champs

Last week I met sports journalist Justine Gubar. She wrote the book “Fanaticus, Mischief and Madness in the Modern Sports Fan.” The book is about crazy fans. Last night I watched the Major League Baseball playoffs. Toronto fans threw beer cans and other debris onto to the field after being upset with an umpire’s call (but mostly the fans hit […]


2015 D1 WFTDA Roller Derby Playoffs – Tucson

I would do anything for love (but I won’t do that) – Meat Loaf (1993) Links to photo galleries included at the end I almost did not attend the 2015 D1 WFTDA International Roller Derby Tournament in Tucson, Arizona last weekend. Even though I love roller derby, I was scared. At the beginning of September I […]


Derby, Dads, Dodgers and Demons

This post might turn out like my dinner tonight. I grilled a cheese sandwich with turkey, garden tomatoes and avocado. The sprouted bread fell apart, the crust became hard and the inside became mushy and cheesy. It tasted good, but I would not serve it to friends. While I rushed my dinner, I have spent several days trying to write this blog post. I have […]


BAD International Pi Day

The Bay Area Derby Girls opened the 2015 regular season on International Pi Day. Berkeley won the first bout against San Francisco (photo gallery here), and Oakland defeated Richmond in the second bout. (photos here.) Four people competed in a pie eating contest, which the audience won. The derby and sunset were grand, as was the marching band. […]


Costume Roller Derby

October 11, 2014 Santa Cruz, California Photo Gallery Last weekend I photographed the Santa Cruz Bombshells’ final bout of the season. Santa Cruz hosted the New York Bad Apples at the Kaiser Permanente Arena. Because the bout was held in October, there was a costume theme. Because this was roller derby, a costume theme seemed a […]


Bay Area Derby Girls 2014 Championship

Last Saturday, the B.A.D. Girls held their 2014 women’s flat track roller derby regular season championship. Roller derby has become a popular sport throughout the world. B.A.D. is one of the top leagues in the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, or WFTDA.  The WFTDA lists leagues on their website. I am an official photographer for […]


The Evolution Will Not Be Instagrammed

So, today is the 10 year anniversary of the day my father committed suicide. I was going to write a very dramatic blog post about how tragedy has visited my life too often and my life was unfair, but a funny thing happened on the way to this ten year anniversary. I started to see my […]


It is Official – The Derby Double

I first published this blog post on Saturday July 19, 2014, one week after the Bay Area Derby Girls regular season double header at The Craneway Pavilion in Richmond, California. The bouts decided which teams will skate for the regular season title on August 23, 2014. You can see the entire photo gallery here. I chose photos that […]


Golden Bowl Derby Story

Ten Days.  That’s how long it takes for me to recover from photographing roller derby on Father’s Day weekend. (I don’t know how long it takes for the skaters.)  Photo Gallery When the schedule for the 2014 Golden Bowl roller derby tournament was released, I was excited. Four top WFTDA teams would compete at a Bay […]


Bout Saturday Night – Wrecking Belles v San Francisco ShEvil Dead

Today, April 29, is my childhood friend Steve’s birthday. We met in second grade. Today is also Uma Thurman’s birthday. If you read my post about Bout 1, you realized that I quoted Mia Wallace, Uma Thurman’s Pulp Fiction character. I am not sure if I am old or if I have a good memory. Pulp Fiction was […]


BADG Double Header Bout 1 – Oakland v Berkeley at The Armory

The B.ay A.rea D.erby G.irls held their second Double Header of the 2014 home season in San Francisco at The Armory on Saturday, April 26, 2014. I posted a few photos on my Facebook page already, but the images look better on my derby photography website. I almost always upload galleries at www.AFlatTrackMind.com after a bout. […]


Keep Calm and March On – Season Openers

On Saturday March 1, I attended two season openers. One was a campaign and the other was a sporting event. There is probably a cheap joke here, but neither event felt cheap. In the morning, I attended Libby Schaaf’s “Libby for Mayor Oakland Campaign Kickoff.” (I took a few hundred pictures; here is the edited […]


Epic Gold – Best BAD Photos from 2013 Derby Season

When I review my photos at the end of each year, I am always surprised. How did I get so lucky? Yesterday I recalled meeting track legend Tommie Smith. Today I am overwhelmed that I photograph women’s flat track roller derby for the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls. HERE IS THE 2013 GALLERY. The league has […]


A Flat Track Mind – The 2013 BAD Championships

Saturday night I photographed the 2013 Bay Area Derby Girls Roller Derby Championships. I am almost a regular. I will probably always feel awkward referring to a grown woman as a “girl,” but derby is a place where awkwardness is normal. I might never live up to my derby photographer name either. I may never […]


Geek on Light and Fiona Apple Sauce – Derby Photography Recipe

A Bay Area teacher friend drove to Brooks Institute this week for The Teachers’ Workshop. When I worked for Brooks, veteran high school photography teachers often shared stories about Brooks’ summer workshops in Santa Barbara. Teachers enjoyed meeting other high school teachers and the Brooks instructors. A few teachers recalled sailing with the founder Ernie Brooks off […]


Dog Day at Roller Derby

I went to photograph women’s flat track roller derby … and an animal adoption fair broke out. The four regular season teams of the B.ay A.rea D.erby Girls skated in a doubleheader and, though I can’t be sure of the final score, I think the all-volunteer non-profit Rocket Dog Rescue won. (To See more photos from the […]


A Tale of Two Mayors and a Shadow Photographer

Earlier this month, the Bay Area Derby Girls All-Star team hosted the roller derby club from Montreal. The Golden Girls defeated The New Skids on the Block 217-122 at the Oakland Convention Center. During half-time, Oakland’s Mayor Jean Quan proclaimed May 11, 2013 as “Bay Area Derby Girls Day” for the entire city. I have known […]


Talking to Derby Girls about Joan Jett

Last weekend, I took my new derby persona, P Giddy, on the road to Santa Cruz. I also took my family. We live about 2 hours from Santa Cruz, and my persona did not adjust until I walked into the new Kaiser Permanente without the kids … and Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation played. If P […]