So, the other night, I drove all the way out to San Jose so that I could suspend myself on two sets of four wheels and do my best not to break a limb.
I haven't been rollerskating in over 20 years. Mind, I used to be a fairly decent skater... back when I was like 8. I figured, it's got to be like riding a bike, right?
Well, sorta.
Anyway, I took myself to San Jose to rollerskate. And why did I do this crazy thing?
Why, for Wumpskate SF Bay's Star Wars Skate, of course!
Overall Analysis: Music was decent, but the sound system wasn't. Skating was fun, staff was pleasant, and the rink floor was nicer than many of the ones I remember from my youth. Crowd was very sparse, though (and had some douchebags in attendance). Ultimately, though, it may just be too far away, though.
Venue: San Jose Skate
The venue itself was decent, but felt lacking
The Good: The rink-surface was fairly smooth. The place wasn't dirty (believe me, that's a plus for roller rinks these days). The staff was very nice.
The Bad: The sound system did not sound very good. About a quarter of the light bulbs on the wall-fixtures were burnt out. It's all the way out in San (fucking) Jose.
The Meh: The food was passable, but seemed a bit expensive.
The Crowd: Well, for starters, there probably wasn't more than about three dozen people there at the height of the evening.
About 1/3 of the people were in Star Wars costumes (though few showed much thought or skill). Another 1/3 were in goth wear. And the other 1/3 were in regular streetwear (this is where the assholes were hiding, BTW; see below). And there was the one guy that still thinks showing up to Star Wars shindigs in a Star Trek uniform is somehow original and hilarious.
Dude. Seriously. That's been unfunny for 20 years at least. It's not hipster. It's just hackneyed.
Anyway, the 2/3 of the crowd in attire were all fairly nice and pleasant to skate with. The 1/3 in street clothes spent the whole night cutting people off, pushing themselves between people skating together, speedskating past people entirely too closely and too fast, and, in one case, taking out one of the nicer attendees by knocking her legs out from under her from the side when the asshole lost control while skating too fast. You know, general dickhead behavior.
So, consider knee-pads and wrist-guards for anti-douche protection.
Music: The music was decent, but seemed kind of down-beat most of the night. The DJ(s) spun a lot of old-school early '80s Goth and New Wave. None of it was awful, of course, but it did feel like I had slipped into 1983, what with the roller-rink and all. I admit that I was hoping to hear a bit more harder music than we got; perhaps more "club-ish"? I know DJ Bryan Hawk (from Asylum) can do it, so maybe it was just an off night?
I haven't been rollerskating in over 20 years. Mind, I used to be a fairly decent skater... back when I was like 8. I figured, it's got to be like riding a bike, right?
Well, sorta.
Anyway, I took myself to San Jose to rollerskate. And why did I do this crazy thing?
Why, for Wumpskate SF Bay's Star Wars Skate, of course!
Overall Analysis: Music was decent, but the sound system wasn't. Skating was fun, staff was pleasant, and the rink floor was nicer than many of the ones I remember from my youth. Crowd was very sparse, though (and had some douchebags in attendance). Ultimately, though, it may just be too far away, though.
Venue: San Jose Skate
The venue itself was decent, but felt lacking
The Good: The rink-surface was fairly smooth. The place wasn't dirty (believe me, that's a plus for roller rinks these days). The staff was very nice.
The Bad: The sound system did not sound very good. About a quarter of the light bulbs on the wall-fixtures were burnt out. It's all the way out in San (fucking) Jose.
The Meh: The food was passable, but seemed a bit expensive.
The Crowd: Well, for starters, there probably wasn't more than about three dozen people there at the height of the evening.
About 1/3 of the people were in Star Wars costumes (though few showed much thought or skill). Another 1/3 were in goth wear. And the other 1/3 were in regular streetwear (this is where the assholes were hiding, BTW; see below). And there was the one guy that still thinks showing up to Star Wars shindigs in a Star Trek uniform is somehow original and hilarious.
Dude. Seriously. That's been unfunny for 20 years at least. It's not hipster. It's just hackneyed.
Anyway, the 2/3 of the crowd in attire were all fairly nice and pleasant to skate with. The 1/3 in street clothes spent the whole night cutting people off, pushing themselves between people skating together, speedskating past people entirely too closely and too fast, and, in one case, taking out one of the nicer attendees by knocking her legs out from under her from the side when the asshole lost control while skating too fast. You know, general dickhead behavior.
So, consider knee-pads and wrist-guards for anti-douche protection.
Music: The music was decent, but seemed kind of down-beat most of the night. The DJ(s) spun a lot of old-school early '80s Goth and New Wave. None of it was awful, of course, but it did feel like I had slipped into 1983, what with the roller-rink and all. I admit that I was hoping to hear a bit more harder music than we got; perhaps more "club-ish"? I know DJ Bryan Hawk (from Asylum) can do it, so maybe it was just an off night?
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