Hallelujah, here she comes

By day, Jennifer Donovan works as an astronomer, listening for the faintest whispers from atoms in deep outer space, the tracings of movement in galaxies millions of light-years from Earth.

But it is nighttime.

And in an abandoned cigar factory on a deserted street in Astoria, Queens, Jennifer Donovan, the astronomer, has become Luna Impact, roller derby chick.

She hurtles down the floor, a blur of pursuit behind Hyper Lynx, a skater who has twice blocked her so hard that she flew out of bounds.

Now, Luna Impact — 125 muscular pounds packed into the lithe frame of Ms. Donovan — has a ferocious derby face on. As she passes Hyper, she drops into a crouch and shifts lanes directly in front of her. Then she abruptly uncoils, standing up and bashing into Hyper’s helmet.

When Their Alter Egos Come Out To Play (New York Times, 17 November 2007

Be very sure to read the entire article, if only for the noms de skate of the other roller derby athletes, which include Surly Temple, Beatrix Slaughter, and Auntie Christ.

Related: Gotham Girls Roller Derby

Also related:

I seen a girl on a one way corridor
stealing down a wrong way street
for all the world like an urban toreador
she had wheels on... on her feet
well the cars do the usual dances
same old cruise and the kerbside crawl
but the rollergirl she's taking chances
they just love to see her take them all

-- Skateaway, Mark Knopfler, from Dire Straits' Making Movies