Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Introducing Team Bond Girl TV

A little late blog, but here it is with some updates: 

What did you do this Thanksgiving weekend?

Instead of braving Black Friday sales and stuffing faces with leftover turkey, a couple of Bond Girls found themselves in the mid-west jimmy-rigging webcams with tape surrounded by Fireball crazed curlers. It was not your typical bonspiel weekend...

It was a very "warm" curling season according to the locals.  There was lots of curling, fun, and FIREBALL! Most importantly, we debuted Team Bond Girls Curling TV with their first webstream test from the Fireball 500 Bonspiel in St. Paul, Minnesota. With 2 Bond Girls present, Jennifer Gamboa and Donna Umali Mendoza, we figured this event would be a great opportunity to practice setting up the new webstream in an unfamiliar venue.  For previous matches, we streamed our games through a site called ustream. You can see some of our old games recorded here: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/team-bond-girls-curling-club-nationals

This year we signed up as an affiliate of The Twelfth End Network through Justin TV to offer a more sophisticated stream.  Using the The Twelfth End scoring program, we are able to update the scores for each end, and we are experimenting with a wireless 2nd camera set-up through an iphone.  We also have the capability to give our sponsors more advertising options. With this new system, we can now raise more funds for our curling endeavors which is now going international since we've received our invitation to Scotland at the Glynhill Ladies International Tournament.

Our test stream wasn't perfect, but we'll try to get it together before the next stream. 


You can visit our new stream site here: http://www.justin.tv/tesn_bondgirls

We have confirmation that Team Bond Girls will stream their MoPAC Playdown games: Salt Lake, Utah (January 13-15th)

See you on the ice!

- Domino

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

MoPAC Dinner

Tonight was a break from competition in lieu of the shift switch. Starting tomorrow, the men's teams will play later games, and the women's teams will play earlier games. Our first game is against Team Washington, a tough team, at 8 am Central. We hope to get some early rest tonight (after the blog) to get up painfully early. We're going to be blanketed with a little bit of snow fall tonight in preparation for the doozy of a snowstorm, we'll be getting later on tomorrow.

To celebrate the mid-point, MoPAC (Team Bond Girls, Team Oregon Women, and Team OC Men) at dinner together at Charley's, a steak house. The food was good and the company was great. There were a few awesome stories that included pushing an old lady off the ice with a broom and "3 inches." There's not much time to go into detail; so I'll leave it to your imaginations. We probably spent more time laughing than eating. Of course, we took a bunch of silly pictures. All around, it was a good dinner with our fellow region representatives.

So it's nice to be back blogging. I had to take a break and make sure I get enough rest. Time gets limited between games, interacting with the teams, and preparation for whatever is coming next. Everything's A-Okay.

Until tomorrow, this is Domino signing out.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Wisconsin Recording on Ustream

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13146358

Sorry it is not complete. Enjoy.

Tomorrow's schedule: 12 pm Central Time against North Dakota.

In All It's Pink Glory

11 am (Central) we had our opening ceremony. It's basically the most formal part of the entire tournament. All the teams dress in their uniform best, get "piped" out with a real bagpipe player, and are escorted by a bunch of cute kids carrying their respective state flags. Our California flag bearer was named Cole, and he did a great job. The opening ceremony pictures were taken by a native Minnesotan named Erica who also did a great job. What had drawn us to her and made her a target to ask her take some photos for us was that she wore pink. We are grateful of our pink connection. Thank you, Erica, for your kind heart, fast fingers, and good eye. Here are a few photos from today:



As you can see, we are the only pink team this year. And our pinks are brighter than ever!








We definitely stand out against the white snow which had started today, and amongst the crowd. Well, it has always been our motto: "...at least we look good."










The Ustream test was a success. If you missed the opening ceremony, that's okay. We've figured out how to record all of our media and you can access it anytime. Here's the link:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/13137835

We are currently resting up for our first game against Wisconsin at 8 pm (Central). Wish us luck!

- Domino

Opening Ceremony Live!

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/team-bond-girls-curling-club-nationals

Check it out!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Schedule of Ustream Shows

For all those curling fans, you can find a schedule of all our streamed games here:

http://www.ustream.tv/user/teambondgirls/shows

Don't miss any of it!

Day 1: The Arrival

After faring a red eye, 3 members: Marissa, Jennifer, and Donna arrived at the Minneapolis Airport and met up with Cindy who arrived earlier that morning via Florida. We all made it, safe and sound with all our luggage. It was a good start to a week long adventure.

Weary-eyed, we got into our red minivan rental and met up with, Jomar, a St. Paul curler, at a cafe called the Bread and Chocolate where we ate delicious cinnamon swirls with dangerous frosting and warmed up with some steamed milk. Jomar offered to take us to the St. Paul club where we got to see an almost 100 year-old club (founded in 1912) complete with a window built in the 2nd floor men's bathroom where you can still watch curling below as you wash your hands. Brilliant!

We made a quick trip to Mickey's Diner (where they filmed "Mighty Ducks") to snap a quick picture for Cindy's dad.

Finally, we made our way south to the Mankato Curling Club. All is a blur since, I fell asleep, but not without first taking in the snow covered landscapes, iced over rivers, and real Christmas trees. Lucky for us, we brought the California sunshine, but don't let that deceive you. It's COLD over here, especially when the wind blows. I learned that you have to cover every exposed skin, or else it'll freeze off. At least, that's what it seemed like to this thin-blooded Hawaiian.

We spotted a familiar sight, Target, and bought some necessities, water, snacks, and joint juice. We ate some lunch. We took a quick refreshing nap after checking into the hotel. Last minute, a traditional, we quickly sewed our patches on our new fancy jackets embroidered by our Utica Mom, Liz. After a few hundred blood offerings to the curling gods, we were finally ready.

Practice started at 8 pm. We saw a ton of familiar faces. It felt so good to see them all again, kind of like a family reunion. There were some new faces as well. Don't worry we'll get to know all of them really soon. We tried out our new practice routine on all the sheets. We get 10 minutes starting on Sheet 2 to throw everything we needed to throw to figure out the stones, run of the ice, weird observations, and to dial in on our weight. It was a very good practice on such nice dedicated ice. It's good to be back again!

We ate dinner at Baker's Square and brought home some pie.

We ended the night with some funny photos and videos. You can see them posted on our facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bondgirlscurling

Not bad for our first day back in tournament mode.

Tomorrow's Schedule (Central Time):

11 am - Club Nationals Team Meeting

1 pm - Opening Ceremony (We're going to test out our live streaming equipment)

8 pm - 1st Team Bond Girl Game with Team Wisconsin

Here's the link to our webstream:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/team-bond-girls-curling-club-nationals

We might have a treat for you guys. Jomar and Travis from the St. Paul Curling Club might be our guest commentators for the game for all you curling fans out there. YAY!

Bond Girls are Back! Stay Tuned.

- Domino
Our practice went pretty good tonight. We had 10 minutes per sheet. It was slower than we were expecting, usually we throw all of our first rocks through the house. This was not the case, it was running around 22 seconds.
Every year we make a mixed cd to rock out to in the van before games. We each pick 4 songs that pump us up right now. This year we have 2 team songs as well. Check out the list below and see if you can guess which song belongs to whom.

Firework by Katy Perry
Moment 4 Life (feat. Drake) by Nicki Minaj
Dog Days Are Over by Florence & The Machine
You re Gonna Go Far, Kid by The Offspring
Eye of the Tiger by Survivor
this is how we do it by Montell Jordan
Jai Ho by The Pussycat Dolls
feel good inc by Gorillaz
Theme From Mortal Kombat by Utah Saints
Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
Gloryland by Daryl Hall and The Sound Of Blackness
The Time by Black eyed peas
Trouble by Pink
The Fixer by Pearl Jam
Keep Holding On by Avril Lavigne
Burn It To The Ground by Nickelback
Don't Rain On My Parade by Glee Cast
California Gurls by Katy Perry

Answers will be posted later on this week!

Miranda Frost

Friday, March 4, 2011

5-4-3-2-1 MANKATO!

So tonight, we leave slightly warm Los Angeles to freezing Mankato (HIGHS of 27 LOWS of 19), BUT there's still a few last minute things we still need to do before lift-off.

5 - Pack! We've got a handful of uniforms including some top secret stuff to be unveiled on opening ceremony. Plus, we can't forget all the girly stuff like a couple of hair dryers so we don't have to take turns, bobby pins, and pink make-up. Plus, we're going to live stream our games and document our adventures. We got a whole collect of equipment, still cameras, video cameras, computers, etc. We'll be bright, chic, and technologically equipped for Mankato.

4 - Plan! There's going to be a few familiar faces as well as some new faces we'll be meeting up with while we are at the tournament. We're coordinating a visit to the St. Paul curling club as well as maybe a quick drive to the Spam Museum. We're also looking forward to Coach Joel from Wisconsin, guiding us for a few days, as well as a few family and friends that will try to come out and watch. Maybe our devoted fans will cheer Team Bond Girls into doing really well at the tournament. Hopefully, we'll see a few of our Pink, Black, and Grey T-shirts out in the stands.

3 - Prepare! Team Bond Girls always have a few extra things they do to prepare for the Club Nationals. We try to update an exercise spreadsheet to track all our activity. Cindy burns us a mix cd which we play on replay in the van, and that sets the mood as well as theme for the year. Our highlight song is "Firework" by Katy Perry, but I can't give you the entire playlist. We'll have another post with our song selections, and you can guess which Bond Girl chose it. We've held fundraisers and various sales, and thanks to all our supporters because you've made this event possible.

2 - Life! Things are still going on while we are away for one week. I feel kind of bad that I'm leaving the hubby with the task of preparing the baby's room while I am gone. I was supposed to pack up all my stuff so that it would clean for him to scrape the popcorn off the ceiling, paint the walls, and assemble the furniture. We'll see if I get to that errand tonight after work and shopping for some last minute items. I'm sure that while I am away, my husband is going play...at his "nerd party." Yep that's right! It's mainly a bunch of males rolling dice, and moving tiny figurines across a board, and blasting each other with fantasy powers. The girls and I will just have to have fun without them throwing heavy rocks on a very slippery board, yelling "hard" at the top of our lungs.

1 - Remember! The number one thing that I want to remind myself and others is that we are there to have fun. Sure we don't get a lot of quality ice time at our club, and we don't get to work on things we'd like. Just traveling to Mankato is a once in a lifetime opportunity. Team Bond Girls gets to spend one week with some amazing curlers on perfectly preened ice. We could get our butts kicked, but who cares since we most importantly want our passion for curling to match the brightness of our pink uniforms. We are proud to be curlers and to represent women who curl, the growing MOPAC region, and of course, Hollywood curling.

Are you ready for this blast off of pink? Mankato, here we come.

-Domino

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Dare To Wear...Pink

2011 Team Bond Girl T-shirts are now IN!

Now available in Black or Dark Grey, various sizes including youth all for $15 each.

We decided that for our 3rd time around, we needed a fresh look. So to accompany the new uniforms, we also made a new logo and had some new shirts printed. We, of course, kept some of the elements that make it Team Bond Girls with our hotter pink accents and cool "License to Curl" slogan.




On the front, you'll see a fancy curling rock bullet through the bullseye of a curling house "O" that makes "Team Bond Girls."








We've graced the back with a cool martini glass complete with a curling house shaped olive.
















Cindy designed the graphic, and we think the new logo turned out perfectly.

So fans, show your Team Bond Girl pride, and get an updated "License to Curl" shirt for only $15. You can send us a note or pay online via:

www.bondgirlscurling.com

Click on the pink fundraising bubble, and it will take you to the paypal link with various photos of our prize pack that is also available. Click on "donate" to make your payment, and don't forget to specify design, color, size, and delivery address. If you have any questions, feel free to contact your favorite bond girl.

All proceeds will help our team offset costs to compete in the Club Nationals in Mankato, Minnesota starting this Saturday, March 5th.

-----
If you are fond of the 2010 Logo, we made a fresh new batch in various sizes (Black/Dk. Grey). for $15 as well.



www.bondgirlscurling.com

Monday, February 28, 2011

FUN FUN FUN-drasier

On Saturday, we held our Casino Royale Fundraiser. Despite, record cold weather and spurts of rain, slushy snow, and YES! hail (it's a novelty here in Burbank), many Team Bond Girl supporters still showed up and had a great time. Here's a quick summary:

Brent's Deli supplied the delicious assortment of sandwiches, chips, and other snack items. Delicious!

We had a total of 19 poker participants, all who played their heart out. We started the actual tournament at around 6:00 PM, a slight delay because of the weather.

Karl and Kate Preusser was celebrating their anniversary with us so we baked them a special cake.

Poker Tourney consisted of Texas Hold 'Em with increasing blinds every 20 min. We were also introducing another element to the game called "Headhunter" where a prize would be given to the poker player who "takes out" the most poker players.

WINNERS:

1st Place - Matt C.
Blu-Ray Player Prize Pack

2nd Place - Sean

3rd Place - TJ

4th Place - Joey

5th Place - Karl

Consolation Prize - Andrea (taken out by a Team Preusser Sandwich.)

Headhunter - (Most Poker Play "kills") - Matt C.

(Pictures to come soon)

Congratulations to all our winners and participants. We couldn't have done it without you.

- Domino

Sunday, February 27, 2011

2011 Club Nationals Information At-A-Glance

This is just some information at-a-glance for all those interested in following along our journey to the 2011 Club Nationals.

Team Bond Girls Arrival:
March 5 at 7 am (Yes, we are taking the red eye)

Dates of Tournament:
March 5 - March 12

Schedule of Events:
Saturday March 5th

5:00 p.m. Welcome Reception- Mankato Curling Club
6:30 p.m. Practice Session 1 AK, MI, NJ, CO, CA
8:00 p.m. Practice Session 2 NJ, CA, MI, CO, OR

Sunday March 6th

8:30 a.m. Practice Session 3 IL, MN, WI, ND, WA
10:00 a.m. Practice Session 4 IL, ND, WI, MN, WA
11:00 a.m. Team Meeting
1:00 p.m. Opening Ceremonies

Saturday March 12th

5:00 p.m. Closing Ceremonies- Mankato Curling Club
6:00 p.m. Social Hour- Best Western Garden Inn
7:00 p.m. Banquet & Awards- Best Western Garden Inn. - Entertainment to follow

Location of Tournament:
Mankato Curling Club
600 Hope Street
Mankato, MN 56001-4321
(507) 388-3335

Public Admission to watch games:
$3/draw
$5/day
$20/week

Saturday Banquet (2/12) for dinner and entertainment: $25

Schedule:
To Download Draw Schedule

Team Bond Girls Updates:
Webstream: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/team-bond-girls-curling-club-nationals

Twitter: http://twitter.com/teambondgirls

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bondgirlscurling

Blog: www.bondgirlscurling.blogspot.com

Website: www.bondgirlscurling.com

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Brent's the Best

Team Bond Girls eat at:


http://www.brentsdeli.com/

For the 3rd year in a row, food for our poker tournament participants will be generously provided by Brent's Delicatessen & Restaurant...delicious.

If you haven't been to Brent's, you're missing out because it's amazing. The portions are generous, and the flavor is....Well, it's no wonder people's mouth start to water at the mention of Brent's. They've been serving Southern Californians since 1967, and they're still going strong. Their food has been featured on the Food Network's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." If this doesn't convince you, then maybe you should give it a try in person.

There are two locations:

WESTLAKE VILLAGE
2799 Townsgate Road
Westlake Village CA 91361
(805) 557-1882
Open daily 7am to 9pm

NORTHRIDGE
19565 Parthenia Street
Northridge CA 91324
(818) 886-5679
Open daily 6am to 9pm

Stop by for a real deli treat, and let them know that Team Bond Girls sent you!

Thank you, Brent's, for your help and great food. We love it!

**Check out their fancy website at: http://www.brentsdeli.com/

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Sew What

Team Bond Girls would like to introduce:



http://www.sewwhatnow.com

Ever since the "adoption" went through 2 years ago at the 2009 Utica Club Nationals, Team Bond Girl's uniforms have undergone a transformation, doubling maybe tripling in size in fact. It's all because of their Utica Mom, Liz, who along with Joe adopted us that year as our New York host family. We were very spoiled because she just happens to run her own embroidery business, Sew What Embroidery by Liz. You may have seen some of her work in our numerous photos: cute customized bags, sweatshirts, pants, shirts, hats, etc.

Fact is: You can't have enough pink or black!

This year is no different. When we decided to give our uniforms a fresh look, we turned to Liz to help us with our embroidery needs. You can see her awesome work on our new on-ice and off-ice jackets and pants.

Check them out as we try to curl Team Bond Girl style at the Mankato Curling Club March 5th - March 12th.

Pictures coming soon.

Thank you, Liz!

Team Bond Girls love everything you do for us!

**Check out Liz's website: http://www.sewwhatnow.com to see what she can do for your customized embroidery needs.

Hello, ALO

We are very proud to announce our sponsor:



www.alosport.com

This year at the Club Nationals pay very close attention to Team Bond Girl's really cute, slate and white off-ice warm up jackets. They have been generously provided by ALO Sportswear. We have done a lot of research on a few different companies, but this one stood out above the rest. We are very proud to have them as a sponsor. Here's why:

1) LA Based - We have to represent something from our neck of the woods, of course!

2) Great Philisophy - ALO stands for Air, Land, and Ocean

This is high performance clothing made out of minimal impact and recycled materials such as modal, bamboo, organic cotton, and recycled polyester. Also the company within does all it can to reuse, reduce, and recycle.

In short, Alo is made for active people with a great message to all who wear it and see it.

3) VERY CHIC!

Men's or Women's wear doesn't matter. They are all very fashionable. Who says you need to sacrifice style to be environmental? You can see for yourself.

All these elements screamed Team Bond Girls. We feel that this new jacket will fit nicely with our uniforms especially now since this year's T-shirts can be purchased in a new dark gray color.

Thank you ALO!

Team Bond Girls will wear your jackets with curling pride.



*Check out what's new and cool on www.alosport.com and feel free to let them know The Bond Girls sent you.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Curl Power

A lot of good things happen when curlers come together and "bond." One of our readers, Kevin, has a blog that promotes women curling. He just recently added an article about Team Bond Girl's fundraising efforts. You can find this article here:

ENTER: Curl Power

The Bond Girls are very honored that you chose to highlight our team in your blog. Hopefully, this will help open doors for more curling support and sponsorship.

Thank you, Kevin!

Please visit Curl Power regularly for more updates.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Casino Royale

Preparations for the 3rd Annual Casino Royale Poker Tournament are underway. There are still about 6 more slots open; so make your reservations as soon as possible.

If you can't make it to the tournament, but want to still participate, you can get a proxy to play for you. Plus, of course there are options to donate online

Fundraiser Link

Just follow the instructions...

and/or buy a new Team Bond Girls T-shirt (available in black or gray). We just sent the designs to the printers; so we'll have a new and improved logo as well as access to buy T-shirts of the very popular old logo by this Friday.

Will keep you updated with photos and instructions.

Go Team Bond Girls!

- Domino

Monday, February 14, 2011

"Maxie-mized" Training

Team Bond Girls have been pretty lucky to encounter a few guardian angels all across America who have taken them under their curling wings. One of which is Fred Maxie from Arizona. He has been one of our coaches following and advising us from the very beginning. We were honored with his presence in California last weekend as we spent some time practicing and drilling at the Orange County Curling Club. We took some extensive notes of curling strategies and training methods. I'd like to share a couple of our cool experiences here with you.

1) Between the Stones

Not sure what Fred calls it, but I'm giving it a quick and easy title. Fred lined up two stones parallel to each other with a space in between that was slightly bigger than a stone. It was located about a couple of feet away from the hack. Fred gave us a stationary broom to aim at that was either slightly right or left of the center line. He expected us to do a full delivery with a stone between the two stones without touching them. At first, it seemed like a really daunting task. The space is really, really small. And you have things like a broom sticking out, legs extended, etc. BUT if you do it right, you will perfectly deliver the stone without touching anything, and it's feels really great. This teaches you to draw back the stone without giving it a sideways motion. It helps focus you on your line. It keeps all the weight in the hack with shoulders square, and it makes you tweak your delivery until everything (rock, hips, leg) is one straight line. It's an awesome drill that all curlers should try.

2) The Short Game

At the end of our 1 1/2 hour practice, we played a short game. We split the team into groups of 2 (back end vs. front end, or random). We put all the stones right behind the hog line using only end of the sheet, and we "played" a game using different scenarios. For example: yellow team is down by 1, with the hammer in the 9th end. We could slide stones from anywhere behind the hogline as long as our foot doesn't cross the hogline. We had some really good lessons with strategy and working together as a team deliberating on the best shots. Fred would guide us with what the "normal" strategy would be at this point, and other options we could take depending on the situation. One important lesson we learned was that we have to know how to miss. Sometimes being too short or too long or hitting hard or too soft could affect the outcome of the game. This is something we have to keep in mind when making our shots. Overall The Short Game lesson was fast, easy, and fun.

So even though ice time is very limited for our "on-ice" training, Team Bond Girls had used each second to it's "Maxie-mum." We are so grateful for this experience, and it'll bring us one step closer to doing Hollywood Curling and Fred proud. See you on the ice!

Good curling!

-Domino

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Search For Sponsors

In the past, Team Bond Girls have had a few "sponsors" who have kindly donated items and money during our fundraising period. These people include our ever faithful family and friends who have always been our constant supporters buying T-shirts, stickers, or a baked good here or there, no matter how extensive the pink may be.

This helps offset costs of traveling to Club Nationals which usually is held at a very far and very cold place for about one week. Without this support we wouldn't have been able to afford to participate otherwise.

This year is no different. Planning is well underway to another fun whirlwind of fundraising. Here are our plans:

1) NEW T-shirts - New T-shirt designs are being developed by our own Cindy. She's working double time to get them in time for printing. Also, we will probably be ordering a batch of some of our old shirts since we have received requests for them. We'll update you all as soon as things are finalized.

2) Internet Sponsors - Gotta love technology! We are trying to set up a section on our website that enables people to choose different levels of sponsorship and send in their donation. All sponsors will get a special Team Bond Girl gift basket according to their sponsor level.

3) Poker Tournament - We're trying to host an event on Feb. 26th. There will be be prizes, raffles, and lots of fun. Let us know if you are interested. We're sending invites with the information this Saturday.

4) Online Program - We are collecting ad messages from family, friends and businesses who would like to send their good luck messages to the team. We're putting it together online so that every can see it and have access to it at any time. It can be as simple as a couple sentences/your name, "business card" sized, or if you really want to get crazy, a "full page" all to yourself. For more info., send us a message.

5) Other Team Bond Girl swag, like stickers, bags, clothing, etc.

6) Lastly, the never fail, good 'ole bake sale. You'll find us at league games with a whole bunch of treats. Don't forget to look out for us.

So we're hoping that with all these efforts, Team Bond Girls will be all set to go. If you are interested in participating in any one of these fundraising events, either as a sponsor, a donor, or just a cheerleader, please let us know.

Wish us luck! Good Curling!

- Domino

Monday, February 7, 2011

The Hunt for Pink & Black Tartan

For the past 2 years, Team Bond Girls have worn their signature pink and black kilts, designed and sewed by our own Vice-Skip, Cindy. They have served their purpose well during our competitions. This year, we are on the hunt for a new tartan, and our first stop is Downtown LA's Fashion District. This is THE place to go for your fashion needs. There's everything from silks to cottons, fleece, lace, spandex, upholstery...you name it, they've got it and for a very good price.

FASHION DISTRICT INFORMATION

Our first lesson in fabric shopping is never use the term "tartan." No one in this area has any roots in the Scottish culture. "Plaid" is the best way to get results. Otherwise, people will just stare at you blankly.

The second lesson we learned is that there's not ton of plaid out there. On top of that, pink and black plaid is extremely rare, even for the Fashion District.

Lesson Number Three: You always find the right fabric in the first store you go into. Amazingly, we saw some plaid fabric on display by the doorway of store called Natalie's. Hidden under yards and yards of fabric, we found a more black than pink plaid. It was of good kilt-making material. We had really good luck to find something so rare on our first try. Although, we did want to find something a little pinker; so we visited a whole bunch of stores nearby with a swatch of the original plaid material to show the vendors what we were looking for.

We walked up and down the block in the rain. Sometimes it was easy. Plaid wasn't really something everyone carried; so in and out we went. Some stores weren't as organized as others; so we had to squeeze through fabric pathways and dig under rolls and rolls of cloth. We found some patterns that were really close...a few pink and black tartans tottered on the edge of being purple. It wasn't exactly what we were looking for; so we hesitantly put them back. It was a futile search because the fabric back at Natalie's was waiting for us to take it home.

There was a bonus as well. The cost for the material to make all our new kilts ended up equaling the cost of what it would have been for 1 kilt at another fabric store. We came home with a steal. Thank you, Fashion District!

The hunt for pink and black tartan is now over. Team Bond Girls are very excited about their new and improved uniforms. We will send updates on our progress.

- Domino

Monday, January 31, 2011

Episode 23 - Case of the Hitchhikers

So this Sunday, January 30th, Team Bond Girls had a field trip to take their team photos at the Lake Hollywood Dog Park. Here's some information to all those making a trip to Hollywood sometime in the near future.

LAKE HOLLYWOOD INFORMATION

This is one of the best places to get a photo of the famous Hollywood sign. We thought that since we were representatives of the Hollywood Curling Club, we should at least have it featured somewhere in our team photo. I don't think it could get any better than this.

Well, it was a very cloudy day. There was actually rain drizzling on this sleepy Sunday morning. The Bond Girls coerced Matt, husband of Jen (2nd) and member of Team Zissou, (not to mention, this day was also his birthday...yes, we made him get up really early in the rain to work on his 29th birthday) to be our photographer. Thank you, Matt, for a spectacular job!

After about 30 photos, negotiating the best route around dog poop, and trying different poses and facial expressions, we finally got it! We had in our hands the perfect photo or photos...There were a few good ones. I'll have to post some of the good ones that didn't make it to the finals. We only had one faux pas. Matt, our ever-focused artist, took a misstep and found himself some smushy dog poop...all for the love of capturing Bond Girl smiles. BUT it was all worth it. Right, Matt?

We were all packed up into our cars ready to caravan to the fabric district to pick out some new kilt material, when Matt was flagged down by a couple, a man with a walking stick and a woman with blond short hair. I was in the back seat; so I couldn't hear the entire conversation. All I know is that the doors flew open, they hopped into the back seat with me, and Matt started driving in the opposite direction. Marissa, in another car behind us, also watched the action. She was probably wondering if we got carjacked.

Apparently, this couple lived "around the corner," and asked if we could give them a ride. Usually, they walked this path everyday, but today wasn't a good day to walk in the rain. So Matt very kind-heartedly drove around the corner, up a slight hill, around another corner, down a small hill...So it was slightly longer than around the corner, but time passed quickly. We chit chatted. We were dressed in our jackets, so they were wondering what we were involved in. Finally, a mansion appeared and it took my breath away. It was an old Spanish style house with a beautiful pool and new, expensive cars in the driveway. It was gorgeous. I wish we could have stayed longer to see more of the house and maybe drop a hint or two about needed sponsors for our curling team. Regardless, it was really cool to have met them and get a rare glimpse inside a Hollywood home. In the end, I'm sure Matt just got a shot of good karma for this good deed, and maybe it'll rub off on the team.

We wonder who was this mysterious couple, and maybe we'll never know. We never had time to delve into personal details; so for now, this will be known as Team Bond Girls' "Case of the Hitchhikers," another unexpected Bond Girls adventure into the back hills of Hollywood. I guess you never know who you'll run into on a rainy day.

- Domino

Information From the Inside...

So we got an agent in Minnesota feeding us some inside scoop.

Here's the latest report for your eyes only.

Apparently, we have confirmation that it could be "pretty darn" cold in March. We've got a recommended list as far as some of the essential items we're going to need for this mission:

Warm gloves for outside and on the sheet
Long johns
Fleece
Bring your ski jacket!
Bring a decent pair of boots, however hikers will do
Bring a scarf and you will be fine

These will all be on the Bond Girl's checklist. And off course, we can't forget our fancy, important kilt.

Here's a bonus list...FOOD. We can't go to a new place without any recommendations on where to eat. Looks like we're going to have more choices than time to try them all. We'll see how many of them we can get to in Mankato.

Patricks in St, Peter (Tons of good beer, best burgers around)
Olives - Greek food, great lunch buffet
New Ulm - Schells Brewery tour and very Authentic German food in New Ulm town (where New in Town was filmed)
Westwood Marina on Lake Washington - Out on the lake check out some ice
fisherman! Great atmosphere, OK food.
Dinos Pizza - Great Italian
Mazatlan - Mexican
Buffalo Wild Wings - Good wings and beer

I think we got a good head start as far as preparing for this week. If you have any more suggestions, feel free to leave a comment or more.

We want to extend a very warm Team Bond Girls thank you to our "Agent" Scott who sent us all this information. We can't wait to meet you in person and to curl at your club. That's all for now!

- Domino

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

The Competition

The pictures are posted for the Club Nationals participants. You can get a glimpse of a Team Bond Girl pose at The Granite Club during playdowns.

PHOTOS

Click on
"2011 Club National Championships"

Tentative Draw Schedule - 2011 Club Nationals



This is off the www.usacurl.org website.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Where Oh Where is Mankato?

The one thing unique about curling and curling competitively is that sometimes, you end up in places you've never heard of or would have never thought of visiting. In 2009, we traveled to Utica, NY (I've never been even been to New York, New York). In 2010, we competed in Madison, WI (Well, at least we have some relatives that are kind of close by.) This year, the 2011 Club Nationals will be hosted by the Mankato Curling Club in Mankato, MN. I can't say that it's been on my top 10 list of places to visit, but it looks like I'll be going there before I visit Japan or again New York City.



I've been keeping an eye on the daily weather forecast in Mankato. Last Thursday, it had a high of 0 degrees F and a low of -26 degrees F. Looks like this born and breed Hawaiian child is going to freeze her fancy kilt covered butt off. It is a small city located in the Southern part of Minnesota. Population is about 35,000. According to Wikipedia, there's a ton of Indian history associated with this city. And you've probably heard of Mankato from "Little House on the Prairie" which is where it was referred to as "the big town" where everyone journeys to for shopping. I don't think I'm going to do much shopping there. I just found out after talking to the woman trying to make hotel reservations that the sales tax is around 10.375%. That's even more than our crazy California tax at 9.75%, not by much though.

After visiting Utica which is pretty far North and Wisconsin which is generally in the same mid-west region, I think Mankato would be about the same, a bit chilly, flat spaces, cute houses, lots of trees. I'm hoping to hear some really cool, genuine "Minnesoota" accents. I think we're going to see a bunch of Vikings and Wilds fans. Maybe I should leave my Green Bay Packers and King's hockey colors at home. I'm also trying to figure out what kind of food is associated with this area. We ate a lot of pasta when we were in Utica and toured a brewery. Wisconsin seemed to have a lot of German influences. Plus, we found a mustard museum there. What adventures are we going to have this year?

So Mankato, The Bond Girls are getting ready for you. Are you going to be ready for us?

See YOU on the ice.

- Domino

Thursday, January 20, 2011

NoHo Curling

Our friend Matt wrote a fun blog about us and our cosmic connection to Katy Perry.

Check it out and like NoHo Curling on Facebook!

NoHo Curling: California Curls

California Curls

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Playdown Summary

And now...the end of the first half of "Team Bond Girls: License to Curl Renewed"

So this playdown didn't go exactly how I had written it. Like all good stories, real life is always so much more dramatic. "Team Bond Girls: License to Curl Renewed" already has a very Hollywood feel to it. Most of it was a blur, but here are the highlights.



GAME 1
GAME 1:
Team Bond Girls vs. Team Oregon


Thievery would be the one word to describe this game against Oregon. Team Bond Girls steal their way without the hammer throughout the first five ends gaining an 8 point lead. Eventually, Team Oregon finally gets into the game and on the scoring board with 1 point in the 6th and 3 points in the 7th. Unfortunately, it was a little to much of a deficit for Team Oregon to fight their way out of. Team Bond Girls has a great start to the competition. Final score: 8-4


GAME 2
GAME 2:
Team Bond Girls vs. "Shot Rock Girls" (aka Team San Diego)


It was a rough start with Team Bond Girls losing 3 in the first end and another 1 in the 2nd. Finally, Team Bond Girls got their stride gaining 3 in the 3rd end, and they tied things up in the 4th end. The girls in pink pull away in the 5th and 6th ends leading the score by 3. Team San Diego finds curling magic by completing 2 difficult shots, an angle take out 2 times in a row, to oust Team Bond Girls from shot rock position. They tie things up in the 8th end. Now, the ladies must play an extra end to determine the winner. After a grueling match, the Shot Rock Girls pull away with winning point. This game was a heartbreaking loss for the Bond Girls. Final Score: 7-8


GAME 3
GAME 3:
Team Bond Girls vs. Team Arizona (aka "flashy pants")

Team Arizona returns again to challenge Team Bond Girls for a playoff spot. In last year's Playdowns, they were the only team that threatened Team Bond Girls chances to move on to Club Nationals. After 3 matches, Bond Girls proved their curling skills, and beat Arizona, 3-0. This year, Arizona came prepared. Team Norwegian inspired "Shagadelic" pants clashed with pink and black kilts. It was war. Unfortunately, Team Bond Girls put on their fashion blinders and took the lead by scorning 2 in the first end and 1 point in the second end. Team Arizona comes back into the game scoring 1 point in the 3rd end. Team Bond Girls responds to their attempts with a 4 pointer in the 4th end. Team Arizona squeaks in a point in the 5th end. In the 6th end, Team Bond Girls secures their win with 2 more points. Despite the potential "fancy pants" distraction, the Bond Girls shook off the shock and curled a great game. At the end, both teams took a colorful picture together. Final Score: 9-2


GAME 4
GAME 4:
Team Bond Girls vs. Team San Francisco


This game was crucial for Team Bond Girls. If they win, they secure a spot to go to Nationals. If they lose, they must reschedule their flight home and play tie breaker games, including a back to back game with Team San Francisco. They did not want to even think about the possibility of losing. The Bond Girls start off well playing a cautious game and scores 1 point in the first end and jumps 3 more points in the 2nd end. San Francisco scores 3 points in the 3rd end to cut down the Bond Girls lead within 1 point. Bond Girls score 2 points in the 4th trying to pull as far away as they could. It was frustrating in the 5th and 6th ends where San Francisco kept scoring points again cutting the lead within reach. Team Bond Girls breaks free with 3 points scored in the 7th. It was a nerve wracking end as blue stones stacked in the house in the eight. At one point, San Francisco had enough rocks to maybe tie Team Bond Girls' score. 2nd to the last rock, Team Bond Girls miss their take out. It was up to the last and final rock to determine Team Bond Girls' fate. Marissa calls for another take out. If successful, Team San Francisco would run out of rocks. Marissa executes her shot beautifully. She takes out 2 of San Francisco's rocks and cuts down their shot rock count to 1. Final Score: 9-6


Team Bond Girls ends the playdowns with a 3-1 record, defending their title (Co-Champions with Oregon 3-1) for the 3rd time in a row. Both they and Oregon will move forward to the Club Nationals in Mankato, Minnesota which will be held from March 5-12, 2011. Good curling!

-Domino

4 Women and a Little Plum

This year, Team Bond Girls has the pleasure to introduce an honorary 5th team member during the Regional Playdowns. Though you might not have seen this new participant, s/he been present throughout the entire competition. (Maybe this presence could have been a major factor in our team's performance.) No, we weren't cheating. This new member just came along for the ride. S/he is only as big as a plum right now, but just watch it grow...maybe we'll find ourselves with a new junior curler one day.

Here's all you need to know about Baby Mendoza:

Mom: Donna Umali Mendoza (Team Bond Girls - Hollywood Curling) aka "Domino Vitali"

Dad: Paul Matthew Mendoza (Team Zissou - Hollywood Curling)

Age at time of Playdowns: 13 weeks

Features: Big head, "balloon," currently has eyelids and forming organs, strong heartbeat

Sex: Unknown until age 20 weeks

Favorite food: Bananas and french fries

Favorite song: "Fireworks" by Katy Perry

Hopes to learn:
Theater trivia from Auntie Marissa
Pastry and crafts techniques from Auntie Jennifer
Antique cars and sewing from Auntie Cindy
Piano from Mommy
Hockey from Daddy
Curling from Everyone

Favorite thing to do: play with his/her hands

Expected Birth Date: July 25, 2011

Thank you for letting Baby Mendoza curl, slide, and sweep along in the tournament. It was so much fun!

- Domino

Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Competitive Curling Life

It's a typical overcast day in Seattle, no snow...yet. Temperature is 53 degrees F with lows of 40. Granite Curling Club looks great as usual. Ice is clear, fast, and curling. Company is friendly. It's like a mini reunion with our favorite people. Plus, there's some new faces in the playdown circle. Excitement is high. Colors are COLORFUL. It's another great, fun-filled, sore-muscled curling weekend.

(All this was very hard to type on an ipad with no keyboard. So I gave up. I apologize for posting the blogs late.)

I was talking to a friend about this competition and what it's like when you move on to Club Nationals, and I told him it's like a self imposed torture. You have to push yourself mentally and physically. You have to deal with all sorts of pressure situations. Sometimes it comes down to the last rock in the last end, which actually did happen in our game against Team San Diego...a heartbreaking loss.

It's kind of hard to explain why anyone would put themselves through this process. Maybe it's the bragging rights. Maybe it's the feeling of victory after overcoming so many obstacles. For some, it could be the satisfaction of doing something new, something that you never thought you could do before. That's how I felt when I did my first take out and later on, a double take-out. I'm looking forward to the one day I get to do a triple. I'm not usually in the position to do take-outs. As a Lead, I throw the guards and the draws. Take-outs are usually reserved for everyone else. So when called upon to do those crucial moves, I get really nervous. I miss more often then I'd like to admit. When I actually do hit it and hit it exactly the way it was called, I feel extreme pride and gratification. It's the best feeling in the world. Of course, when I miss, it's the worst...we are always the hardest on ourselves. Thank goodness there's 4 people on a team; so when someone is feeling down, there's always someone else to pick them up.

In curling, it's not really what you did during your one shot or two shots in the game. For example, the skip wouldn't have to make a miracle shot at the end, if things were going smoothly from the beginning. The game has to be perceived in it's entirety: communication, sweeping, watching line, thinking ahead, setting up, capitalizing, psychological aspects, preventing mistakes, etc. The sum of all this and more determines what the playing field is like (which seems to be constantly changing), and we just have to work best we can with what we've got. Curling is an extremely complicated puzzle, and we, crazy competitors, are all addicted to solving it.

So here we are again, the third time in the MoPAC Club Regional Tournament. It gets better and more competitive every year. There's a lot more at stake and maybe a little more reward. So what is it that attracts all these curlers, sucks them in and traps them in a world of cold temperatures, heavy rocks, and a lot of HARD work? I'll speak for everyone participating in the Regionals, and I hope they all agree. Despite aching muscles, bruised bums, highs and lows, the competitive curling life is the kind of life to lead.

-Domino

We made it!

We are here in Seattle and ready to get on the curling ice!

Made a quick stop at the Granite Club last night to say hi to "M" and wish him luck in his league game... Then we checked into the hotel and got our beauty rest.

First game today at 2:00pm against the Evergreen Team from Oregon! We are looking forward to it. Now we are off to eat and go scout the other teams at the club!

Follow the action at - http://www.curlingseattle.org/competitions/event.php?event=2011ClubState&disp=teams

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Bond Girls 3: License to Curl Renewed

So it's that time again. Team Bond Girls are gearing up for some Club National action starting first with the Playdowns January 15-17 in Seattle, WA at our favorite Granite Curling Club. We anticipate playing against 4 other women teams that we must defeat in order to qualify for the Club Nationals which will be held in Mankato, MN from March 5th to March 12th. Let's recap.

2009 - our first year as a team, we qualified automatically to compete in the Club Nationals which were held in Utica, NY. (This is where we were adopted by Liz and Joe. We miss you guys!) After 9 grueling games, we placed 7th...not bad for our first major competition.

2010 - Team Bond Girls beat Team Arizona to become the MoPAC Regional Champs and move on to Madison, WI where we placed 8th under heavier competition. Not to mention a lot of snow driving by the short, Hawaiian, thin-blooded Filipino girl.

This year there might be a little pressure on our team to perform well and to renew the title we've held 2 years in a row. I think, there's just more excitement to be curling on dedicated ice again and to have a higher level of competition. Plus, we get to visit our friends at the Granite Club, and maybe we'll see a little snow.

Over the course of this year, especially during the Wisconsin Club National experience, Team Bond Girls have grown leaps and bounds. We also had a special treat when a group of charming Scottish men, clad in those familiar kilts, came down to LA to participate in Hollywood Curling's Summer Blockbuster Bonspiel. We were lucky to engage in some friendly curling, a touch of scotch, and bonding together with both Scottish teams. We kicked butt and as well as had our butts kicked. In true Hollywood curling fashion, it was a lot of fun. 2010 ended sweetly, as Team Bond Girls were able to play in both championship games during the last league of the season coming away with 2 medals (1st place-League, 2nd place-Club).

"Bond Girls 3: License to Curl Renewed" has had a great beginning, and if I were to keep the story going, this is how it would go.

Team Bond Girls arrive in Seattle ready for action. They are faced with 4 adversaries all with special skills and abilities. Team Bond Girls must fight each one using all the skills and experience honed by their previous curling masters. Coach Joel, observes and tracks their progress from afar using advanced video technology. Mysterious "M" also watches on the sidelines. Team Bond Girl Fans don their T-shirts and powerfully pink kilts. Team 1 goes down with a little resistance. Team 2 uses a slightly different strategy, and makes Team Bond Girls nervous. Team Bond Girls channel their inner Bond and pulls out a strategy that overcomes Team 2's advances. Team 3 pulls various trick shots trying to throw Team Bond Girls off their game, but in the end, no trick is tricky enough to fool them. Team 4, the hardest and most challenging team, brings on their best players and curling. Team Bond Girls must follow each move with a better move of their own in order to win. They are neck and neck, and it comes down to the last 2 rocks. The 2nd to the last rock didn't go far enough....oh no! Now, it's up to the last and final rock to draw behind multiple guards, past the opponents shot rock in the house and settle nicely into scoring position. The skip is very nervous, but she takes a deep breath. She slides. She lets go of the rock. The sweepers sweep...HARD! The rock glides over the hog line. Will it squeeze through the port between all the guards? Will the sweepers sweep hard enough to drag the rock to scoring position? Will the skip yell loud enough? Will Team Bond Girls win Regionals and qualify for Club Nationals? Will the Filipino drive in the snow?

Sorry, guys, I have to make things dramatic...

Tune in next weekend, January 15th-17th.

Same Team Bond Girl Place, Same Team Bond Girl Channel.

Check back for more updates.

--Domino

Hollywood Tri-Color & Silver

These are the colors of the 2010 Hollywood Curling 1st Place Winter League Championship and 2nd place Winter Club Championship medals which starts Team Bond Girl's medal collection. Here are some highlights for this season:

- Marissa: Making it to the semi-finals in Vacaville and going champagne tasting with the team... And us all meeting Debbie McCormick and finding out she had heard all about the Bond Girls!

- Cindy: Had a blast at the Crush bonspiel, this having been the first bonspiel away with the girls. This season I vowed to be more involved at the HCC, becoming Vice president, and part of various committees. Found out I'm going to be an aunt.......and crossing my fingers to hopefully get another curler in the family!

- Jennifer Gamboa: Sometimes life gets in the way of curling, and a number of times this past league we found ourselves playing with only 2 players! It was a mental and physical workout, as we were thrust into new positions, we lost some and won some, including a big win against the boys in the finals!"

- Donna: I had my first beautifully executed "crotch and squirt." This is when the stone I throw hits "the crotch" right between two stones that are parallel to each other with a little bit of space between them. They get hit out of the house. My stone "squirts" out behind them.

Two major battles were waged between the "husband" team, Team Zissou. Even though Team Bond Girls gave them a good whooping in the league championships, they got their revenge to win the club championship title in the end. No matter...medals are medals, and we'll hopefully add more colors to the collection. We got our eyes set on GOLD.

Curling season is well underway, and Team Bond Girls are gearing up for the upcoming Curling Club Nationals Playdowns and Spring League. Wish us luck!