annzeepark914

Loved your post, MINNEAPPLE!! I, too, have saved Bollywood and still consider it one of THE best ice dance programs ever. Davis & White really did their research into this (even hiring an Indian dance instructor). Well, it's been nice knowin' ya now that you're going down the ol' YouTube rabbit hole of wonderful skating programs (yup, been there, done that). I even have that Weaver/Poje SD in which they looked almost like Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire in their formal wear gliding across the ice. And little Michelle skating Salome? I better stop now or I'll go to YT & be there all night!

Ashley didn't shove Mirai out of the way in 2014. That was the US Skating federation that made that decision and it was based on Mirai's recent skating history at that time vs Ashley's. People seem to forget that Mirai went through some rough years with her skating (along with her feelings about skating) so they were understandably leery of her.

Lots of good comments here re: the team event. And thanks to the person who provided the link to that article on Natalia. I was a big Natalia/Artur fan back in the day (well, of their skating, not Artur's treatment of Natalia). Speaking of pairs, I have to admit that I find it hard to watch Duhamel/Radford. I guess to me they epitomize what pairs skating has become (and why I no longer love this discipline). She's about half his height and, IMO, there's no connection between them (as some commentators have said, she's always counting off the pts as they're skating--I think that shows) so to me, they are definitely not "two skating as one" as pairs was meant to be. I know it's a sport and skaters need to keep pushing the boundaries, but it would be nice if there were some parts of pairs skating where the two really skate as one (remember Tai & Randi's gorgeous Ina Bauer that went from one end of the rink to the other?) It's the same in singles skating (w/ the exception of a few skaters who manage to include some beautiful skating between the jumps). So, yeah! Where were Hubbell & Donohue during the team event?

I can't imagine Davis & White making critical remarks about other teams because I've never seen any quotes, ever. Whereas, 4-5 years ago Scott was quite busy making his snarky remarks whenever he felt their scores weren't as high as they should be (remember when he said that they were better than any of the other competitors?). Now, as far as I know, he's been better behaved since returning to the competitive ice. Maybe training with the French has humbled him? (hah!)

My daughter drinks LaCroix and two years ago, when her family visited us, I bought THE CASE (sheesh) of lime, which she said she likes. Ugh. She only drank a few of them and I was left with the about 8 cans of this disgusting drink. Last fall she was here and I got the lemon (at her request) and it wasn't as awful (I still had a bunch of leftovers but just finished them). If you squirt a little fresh lime into the lemon LaCroix, add lots of ice...it's not the end of the world.

Watching 3 disciplines in one evening was almost too much for this skate fan! Well, Adam better have his game on and fuhgeddabout having any anxiety (like he had at Nationals). Counting on him to be focused on his LP and nothing else going on at the O's. Even though the Italian pair team beat K/K, I really liked their LP. I can't remember who he skated with before his current partner but that former pairing was never as sharp looking as this one (can't remember their names now...egads, it's almost 1:30 AM).

Thank you, CHICKSDIGSCARS! I'm really weary of the sex on ice style to ice dancing, face clutching angst, and whatever else these OTT drama queens and kings like to throw out there while competing. Some romance, some humor, some this and some that would be fine but it's always over the frickin' top with some of these ice dancers. Hey - it's time for the Team Event.

I just tried the 6" pizzas at Mod Pizza yesterday and they were really good. They have a very thin crust (but w/o having that awful cracker texture--it's a real pizza crust texture); the sauce is good and so were the toppings. I got pepperoni for myself and veggie for Mr. P914. Thank goodness I got there just before the next crowd lined up so I was in and out in no time. Being a pizza fussbudget from NY, I have to say these are tasty/edible and it's good to know where to get a decent little pizza real fast, real easy (haven't ordered from Domino's or any local pizza deliveries in years thanks to the spongy faux mozzarella, sour sauce, & bready texture to their crusts).

Something tells me Olympic Ice is not going to be anything like the original OI back in '06 Torino (which was always laid back and hilarious).

I have Olympic Ice on NBCSN but it's on at different times depending on the night. Some nights it's on at 7 PM; other nights it's on at 5 PM. I love OI and will be keeping a beady eye on the diff schedules I've found!!

The IOC crack down on anything? If they couldn't outright ban Russia from the 2016 and this year's O's for doping, they're not gonna crack down on anybody. I had to skip the opening ceremony as I can't take that bombastic Olympic theme music any more, nor the sweet cultural lessons. (think I've seen too many O's) I'm ready for more team skating!

In her later cookbooks, she lists the products she prefers like Hellmann's mayo, Olio Santo extra virgin olive oil, Maille mustard, DeCecco pasta, Diamond Crystal kosher salt. I use Trader Joe's California Estate e.v.o.o. but at xmastime I treat myself to Olio Santo ($29/bottle!!!). I don't have any of the later cookbooks and just looked in my BC cookbooks. One of them has a page of photos (Olio Santo, of course and Hellmann's, but also Grey Poupon, Nielsen-Massy Vanilla extract).

I was surprised to see Mrs. Knierem looking depressed as soon as they slipped to 3rd place (and the Russians still hadn't skated). Did she really think they had a chance skating against those 3 top teams? At least K & K skated a near flawless program and got through their s/b/s jump w/o a hitch for once. Poor Nathan. The O's got to him. Hopefully he's gotten the jitters out of his system and will be fine for the individual competition.

I had a friend over for lunch yesterday and served Ina's chicken salad (the one with walnuts and grapes). That is so darn good!! This morning I picked out the grapes and put it on toasted sourdough for breakfast. Yum.

Yup. I thought Lance and his crew did the best that they could but that is a very steep grade, complete with very broad steps. Not a good property (but maybe a deal financially for their parents back in the early 60's). Your NK prison camp theory made me laugh out loud. Thanks!!

Last night's summer camp was not my favorite nor was the younger sis (I wonder how embarrassed she is about that, especially after her older sister got choked up about her finally coming home to enjoy the camp w/ family?) I was glad to see that the property would be worked on prior to the Morrill folks arriving. I've been to Maine lake summer camps where you park up on top, then work your way down to the house on the lake--not good! But I identified with the little house for some reason...maybe because my family built a summer cottage on a lake in the late 50's, around the same time as their grandparents. I wonder how much they had to spend for the work done before the Morrills got there--must've been quite a bit. The Morrills did a great job on that place and turned it into a real summer house (er...camp).

Red bean & sausage soup and it was good on a rainy night. One thing I'm not going to buy any more is chicken broth with no salt added. I find I need to keep adding seasonings upon seasonings and who knows how much sodium I end up putting in the soup?? Even the low sodium broth seems to require lots of extra seasonings. I may return to regular chicken broth.

@herbz: Thanks for your thoughts on this.

What was wrong, in your opinion, with the 2014 SD?

Meryl did a great job showing how hard it was for so many women to enter a room filled with men and try to take/make her place. But that's the way it was back then, a real man's world (still much that way today but women are making progress). Wasn't it a shock to see a room filled with just men, in their dark suits? Oh geez..I love Tom Hanks but he was so wrong for the role of Ben Bradlee. I thought, even before I saw the movie, that John Slattery (I think that's his name...the one who played, interestingly, Ben Bradlee, Jr. in Spotlight) would have been able to convey that particular jauntiness and especially, the look, of Ben Bradlee. Tom Hanks is too much the All American Boy for this kind of debonair role. But, I enjoyed this movie (although I did find it not as exciting as All the President's Men, but that's understandable!) They did try to add some menace to the movie but it still wasn't ATPM. I lived in Washington at that time and it was nothing like the menace felt right after the Watergate "burglary". Loved the final scene.

A few days ago I was reading something online (maybe one of the NYC newspapers? magazines?) about a cool restaurant in Manhattan and learned that they offer a special dessert: vanilla ice cream with granola sprinkled around it. Well, that's what I've been doing for the past 2 years--who knew I was so creative? It was desperation (nothing to go with or on my No Sugar Added vanilla bean ice cream, so I grabbed a box of almond granola cereal and poured it all over the ice cream. It's been a favorite ever since. I bet that restaurant's chef was desperate one night and did the same thing with his ice cream!

Someone needs to speak up for Sale/Pelletier so let it be me (now I'll have that song running through my head all day!) Even Natalia Mishkutenok thought S/P deserved the gold and she's more of an expert on pairs skating than I. In a way I'm glad they changed the scoring system but then they've turned so many skaters into counting machines and backloaders.

I got this schedule at the SkateFans forum. Before printing, I deleted all the re-runs in the wee hours as I don't plan to watch then. But who knows if this schedule is the best? At least it has Olympic Ice included (have no idea who will be on the panel for Olympic Ice but fondly remember Dick Button from the Torino OI). https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/SkateFans/conversations/messages/214400

Hmmmm...you've just inspired me to make Red Bean Sausage & Pasta Soup (adapted from Jersey Girl blog's recipe) this weekend when the weather is going to be, possibly, dicey (they keep calling for snow, we keep getting nervous about ice, and then--nada!) I was going to make Ina's Italian Wedding Soup but I dearly love that bean and sausage soup. I like to use the "rings" for pasta so that I don't end up with lots of soggy macaroni, and the soup needs seasoning so I just taste test and add. Thanks for the good idea, JTMACC99.

I must say, watching last night's new episode, that I sure was nervous at the sight of all those aunt, uncles, grandmas, etc, helping to rebuild that little summer annex. Hopefully, most of what we saw of them were just photo-ops. Still drives me nuts that no one wears work gloves. Glad no one stepped on a nail while wearing their sneakers (I worked for a state worker's comp agency for several years a while back). Chase's kids are cute and nice. Really love this show.