annzeepark914

@HartofDixie: you and me both! ABC's camera work was excellent (even when overseas...maybe they had real control over the "locals" camera work?) But it is nice to turn on NBCSN or the Olympic channel and catch a lot of skating that's ignored by regular NBC during its two hour recap (which is basically mens' & ladies' top skaters' performances--forget pairs and ice dance). But in the later days of ABC coverage, they did broadcast skating also on ESPN, and during the O's on TBS (I think).

I watched a rerun tonight of the young couple who bought a red brick "Tudor" house that had the front porch closed in. While I was glad they kept all the arched doors, built in bookshelves and trim, I wondered why they didn't do something with a large breakfront/big cabinet (not sure what it was and it was completely ignored!) in the kitchen in which the doors on top were of stained glass. I also watched maybe 20 minutes of the new show afterward that showed behind the scenes of this rerun and once again, a half bath that looked really attractive was ignored during the regular showing of the house. Maybe if they'd cut out all Skip's goofiness/fooling around, and the kid's baseball game, they'd have time to show some of the extra rooms created.

Grilled pork tenderloin (marinated with olive oil, lemon juice, Greek and Turkish seasoning, heh heh); potato salad, and steamed asparagus with a sort-a homemade Russian dressing (you know that old favorite...mayo, ketchup, a little cayenne, chili sauce and lemon juice). Maybe decent grilling weather has finally arrived (fingers crossed).

@Herbz: Do you think that if Davis & White returned to competition (this is just an example), that their unique style of ice dancing could compete with (& beat) P/C and H/D today? I'm not liking this new trend in ice dance with the steamy sexuality and/or face clutching angst. But this seems to be the winning style (or is it because P/C and H/D are that fantastic technically and beating other skaters only because of that?)

What happened to Paul and Islam? I just hope H/B don't end up skating all those OTT dramatic and/or sexy programs that the Montreal group seems to specialize in.

I'll take Tanith over T & J any day! She's professional in her presentation (and that includes her actual appearance) so that she doesn't distract from the skating. I thought Tanith did a great job at the O's (didn't see the need for Scott, but he IS beloved by a lot of folks). Wish they'd used Ben Agosto with Tanith. Now that would be a dynamic duo in commentating!

@SunnyBeBe: The episode you watched was about the father (who does some kind of work that Joanne uses in her designs) giving his son a place of his own on their farm or ranch. The Gaines stripped an old rundown barn or some type of outbuilding and created a contemporary house for the son. Yup, lots of blacks and grays (I guess to be macho). Hope they installed powerful AC units to keep the place cool!! The episode I found strange was about a couple buying a barn-like building (maybe it was once a barn but it had a kitchen upstairs). It was the strangest design and the couple seemed thrilled when the Gainses turned it into a very attractive but unusual "house" with the kitchen upstairs and the big dining room downstairs along with the bedrooms. I didn't know they immediately marketed it for an AirBnB or for sale.

Well, shut mah mouth! Weren't they the two phonies, so in love with the kitchen and the little boy's room, and that long dining room on the main level. So they were designing it for a business purpose, not to live in. I wonder how the Gaines felt about that (maybe they didn't care but I sure would).

I just saw a rerun featuring the Barndominium, a barn-like structure that they stripped and rebuilt into an attractive but odd house. The dining room with a very long table is on the ground level, in a narrow hall-like room, close to the front door. But the kitchen is on the second floor with a smaller dining table. All the bedrooms are on the ground level. They'll get their exercise going up and down the staircase.

We reheated leftover Kima, and added some leftover raita to our plates. Key lime pie for dessert. Tasty, and quick, supper.

Uh-oh. Looks like some ice dancers, who are moving to Canada to train alongside H/D and our new world champions, are going to use Love Story for their FD. I never liked that song until I saw S/P skate to it (great choreography & costumes). I think this is another one of those musical pieces that should be retired, though. IMO, they just became too identified with the original skater(s) who used it (e.g., Michelle Kwan's East of Eden, Torville & Dean's Bolero, etc).

Amen!

Oh no...Season two is over. Monday nights won't be the same (until Season 3 starts!) These are such nice people and the success of the show sure hasn't gone to their heads. I watched a video of them celebrating the last episode. Ashley said she's older than any of the guys and watched them grow up. It's amazing to see such good-hearted people on TV today.

@halopub: Wow! That was perfect. Thank you so much. I'm saving it in my youtube "library of gorgeous figure skating". I mean...who the heck skates like that today? In any of the 4 disciplines? There are so many exquisite moves throughout the program. Each skater did a spread eagle while the other skated around him/her. Natalia's splits and incredible flexibility. That pairs spin at the end--geez laweeze. You never felt as though they were counting off each element. The Best!!

Ohhh...pizza (yum!) I just sat down for a break after preparing Potato Gratin, Spicy Papaya Salad, and a ham steak. The gratin and ham steak are in the oven. It's just the two of us. It will be very good but, ohhhh...pizza :>)

The person who said "ging-ale" was my dad's sister-in-law whose family name was Bailey--I think they were from a little town called Bailey, not far from Richmond. Her great uncle was John Mosby. She had a very soft, southern accent, spoke slowly. We New Yorkers loved listening to her. When we visited her (in CT where they lived) she always served baked Virginia ham. Back to the soda/pop/whatever topic: in New York State they still argue about where the "line" is that divides downstate from upstate and some say it's where New Yorkers say soda and some say pop. I think this debate has been going on for decades (probably similar to NC's debate over eastern bbq and western bbq--I love eastern!!) My pet peeve of the day: all these hackers. I happened to have had the volume turned up today and all of a sudden this voice came on yelling about a virus I probably had & how I had to call Windows, provided me an 800 number, went on and on. We have Norton so I wasn't too nervous...but still! Wish I could track down these creeps and have them thrown in prison.

What the heck is going on w/ WF seafood counter? Their shrimp used to be delicious.

Wow! I just watched that old video of Natalia and Artur at '92 Worlds. And while I was glued to my screen, watching pairs perfection, I kept thinking, "This is why I loved pairs back in the day". I rarely watch it today as pairs is so empty of beauty and all those gorgeous in-betweens. That final death spiral was just breathtaking. It's too bad there isn't a really good video of this LP. I didn't watch the gala at Worlds last week. But the camera work sounds just like it was during competition--wretched. I really think it was the worst camera work covering competitive skating that I've ever seen (close-ups of faces, close-ups of skates, and across the length of the rink coverage of intricate lifts or jumps when I felt like I needed binoculars). ABC always had great camera work no matter where the competition was held (at least what I remember of those programs).

You're right! Maybe I forgot because she didn't win the gold medal at Worlds on top of her Olympic gold. Back in the day of Kristi and before her, it seemed so natural for O winners to repeat at Worlds.

Just like V/M and many others (and previously, like Tara Lipinski, et al). I think the last Ladies OGM who went on to Worlds was Kristi Yamaguchi. Was 1992 the last time all the Olympic Gold Medalists went on to Worlds?

Hah! Rotisserie chicken from Harris Teeter tonight + doctored up Stove Top Stuffing + doctored up Roasted Turkey Gravy out of a jar ;>) + some green peas. The Loyola/Michigan game started early (for my kitchen!) so that's what was served. I say...Go Loyola (as a small college grad) but Mr. P914 is a MI grad. Hope the nun prayed really hard today, heh heh.

I remember when I first moved to NC and mentioned going to the soda machine to get a drink, one of the southerners in the room said, "We call it the coke machine". And she didn't mean "Coca Cola". Just coke machine as an overall term for soda machine. I loved how southerners would say, "co-cola" and "ging-ale" (the latter up in Richmond!).

My mother was the director of volunteers in a large city hospital back in the 60's and 70's so she saw a lot of this OTT visiting in the patients' rooms. The patients were worn out as they felt obligated to be a part of the socializing when they should've been resting and recuperating. The cookies are samoas (but I do love somosas!). Confession: I once microwaved leftover grilled fish at work (had no idea that was a bad thing to do--never did it before). I ate the fish & then left to run some errands. When I returned--oy vey! My co-workers never let me forget what I did (even though I apologized profusely). They actually were nice and fun people. I think they enjoyed teasing me about my big mistake (they especially loved reminding me that I left the office after committing such a crime!!)

@ParadoxLost: Be careful about posting bad reviews about a company. A woman in Northern Virginia was sued by her contractor (he says because he lost business thanks to her bad review on, I think, Yelp). I didn't follow the case (there wasn't much in the papers about it anyway) but I think they settled and she had to pay him something. Whatever the result, it made me careful about posting reviews. She must've really slammed him for doing a bad job.

No more Lance-scaping. What a piece of work he is. I always laugh when they show him throwing an ax through that window (at least I think it's an ax).