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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 30, 1997)
Roller disco, trick skates for thieves create popular displays in museum By Julie Abrahamson Staff Reporter Think “Xanadu,” circa 1980. The movie, starring Olivia Newton-John, is a classic portrayal of the ensuing decade: It’s about roller skating. Like the movie, most people think of the sport as another fad of the era. Yet, after visiting the National Museum of Roller Skating, 4730 South St., patrons may realize roller skating didn’t run the course of macrame, but rather, constitutes a substantial part of pop culture history. The museum features an impres sive collection of roller skates, a hall of fame containing photographs of coaches and athletes and various roller skating memorabilia. Among them are postcards, award medal lions, stickers, costumes and paint ings of roller skaters. Moreover, the museum holds the largest collection of roller skate prod ucts in the world, said director and curator Michael Zaidman. The museum’s founders estab lished the United States Amateur Confederation of Roller Skating in Detroit. However, after numerous vis its to Lincoln for the National Roller Skating Championships, they moved the association here, changing the group’s name to the Roller Skating Association. In 1980, they founded the National Museum of Roller Skating. The museum is currently the only one of its kind, Zaidman said. Normally, 15 to 20 people visit the museum weekly, but every summer during the Regional Roller Skating Championships, the museum draws 1,500 to 2,000 visitors. Also, local elementary schools occasionally visit the museum. With all the different styles of rouer SKares displayed, me museum may seem like a creative extension of a roller rink such as Lincoln’s Holiday Skateworld. One very popular booth features roller disco, Zaidman said. This dis play features a pair of white roller skates with enormous pompoms attached to the toes. Next to the roller skates hangs a 1970s-style red and yellow T-shirt with a sparkly roller skating iron-on logo. A button on the booth - that when pressed - plays a clip of the Village People song “YMCA,” which is still a popular song at roller rinks. Due to the popularity of the exhib it and the song, the recording has been warped because of constant play. Antique and modern skates fill other display cases, featuring items such as a 1760s photograph of Joseph Merlin. Merlin took a pair of ice skates and replaced the blade with five in line wheels, therefore inventing the first in-line skates. Featured in another exhibit are the first pair of in-lines skates to receive a patent. The skates date back to France, 1819. Furthermore, the booth contains a photograph and description of James L. Plimpton, the “father of roller skating.” In 1863, Plimpton invented the quad skate, the typical four-wheel model of roller skate. Zaidman said people preferred Plimpton’s skates because they pro vided more stability than in-line skates. Interesting exhibits lace the entire museum. For instance, one booth con tains the museum’s most unusual skates, including a motorized skate, which rolls along at speeds up to 30 mph. International skating is the theme for yet another booth. Skates from Germany, Great Britain and Israel auorn me uispiay case, wmcii leaiures a sleek pair of red platform sandals with wheels built into the soles of the shoes, and a lever attached to the sandal acting as a wheel release. The trick skates were used by a roller-skating jewelry thief in an episode of the television series, “CHIPs” which enjoyed success during the peak of roller skating popularity. Various sports displays contain speed and roller hockey skates, some of which were donated by athletes or skating companies. Photos of a 1920s roller basketball team occupy a booth as well. Sarah Webber, assistant curator, said her work at the muse um cata loging pieces and orga nizing displays made her feel like a part of roller skating’s rich heritage. “Most of what I do involves histo ry,” Webber said. Currently, Webber is working on an exhibit about movies featuring roller skating. Zaidman said the display would include a focus on the film “Xanadu” and feature a floor plan, set design Q O' 32 02 —4 w O w E—• CO c 02 5 and crrint o 1, „ ♦ ~ o a iv u i t 3 were meant to roll, and current ly Webber and Zaidman are planning a trip for many of the museum’s pieces.The two have started packing 278 items from the museum to be placed in a six-month exhibit at San Francisco International Airport. The exhibit will run from Dec. 1, 1997 through June 1, 1998. Meanwhile, for those left in Lincoln, free tours are offered th$ first Friday of every month at 12:15 p.m. “The museum has an incredible history,” Webber said. “Even if you don’t know a lot about roller skating, you should go. It’s very interesting.” Regular museum hours are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and admission is free. lechmcal tricks can t save movie By Gerry Beltz Film Critic Ah, that old trick! The “globetrot ting-nuclear-weapon-on-American soil-by-remorseful-music-teacher” for mula strikes again - this time in “The Peacemaker.” Director Mimi Leder takes a break from directing TV movies and episodes of “ER” to take the helm of the first fea ture film from Dream Works - a pro duction conglomerate of Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Kateenberg - and is fortunate enough to have some talented people to work with, like Nicole Kidman and current co worker, George Clooney. Still, formula is formula, and pretty much everything is by the book, with a few surprises. Nuclear expert Julia Kelly (Kidman) is thrust into a situation headfirst and can barely keep up, while ultra-realist Colonel Thomas Davoe (Clooney) gives her lessons on how things are dohe in the “real world” of wheeling and dealing in order to get the information. Together, along with some neat technical heely-hooter thingamabobs, the two fnust learn to cope with each other to find and stop the detonation of a nuclear bomb. A major problem with “The Peacemaker” is the beginning. Here’s a hint: Consume caffeine. The beginning of this film makes the O.J. trial look like swift justice. Either bring a pillow or stab yourself in the arm or leg periodi cally to stay awake. Good thing: no romantic involve ment here. These two feed off of each other in an intellectual manner, each fighting their own personal battles as the film progresses. “The Peacemaker” is more drama and suspense than out-and-out action. The car chase provides possibly the best action sequence of the film and is better than the average chase scene due to unexpected realism (actual reasons for cars exploding, intelligent tactics and so forth). . ^. , It was also nice to see the snipers of a film screw-up for once, and not be Please see NUCLEAR on 10 Darwin awards honor odd deaths By Sean McCarthy Internet Critic Whether you call it natural selection or the thinning of the gene pool, life-threatening faux pas bring to light morons who make Gerald Ford look like Fred Astaire. And no one celebrates these duffers better than the annual Darwin Awards. By far, the awards’ official World Wide Web site is one of the funniest sites you will find. Located at http://officialdar winawards.com/, the site includes tales of people meeting their untimely fates in funny and often undignified ways. Last year’s recipient went to a Toronto lawyer who died while demonstrating the safetv of win Please see DARWIN on 10
