CeeBeeGee

Actually IIRC, was Anna melting down? As I recall it, poor gold medalist Anna was sitting frozen in her seat wondering if anyone remembered her while Noodlehead berated Kamila. Until finally Kaori graciously hugged her and congratulated her like the class act that she is. Because of course Noodlehead didn't remember that's your effing job. UGH. The audience did--not--like--her. People were quietly booing under their breath. *Cough* including me *cough* Also, looking at Jason's performance in these most recent Worlds. He finished fourth on the free skate. Fourth, without a quad, because his component scores were that good. Imagine if he'd skated perfectly in the short (but still without a quad). He would've ended up 6 or 7th--if one or two people above him mess up in the LP, he has a shot at a medal. Sure, it depends on him skating both programs perfectly and someone above him really tanking--but isn't that was Andrew and, to a lesser degree, Yama, did?

Much like Bolero, you almost have to earn the right to skate to Hallelujah. I thought Kamila, as lovely a (doped) skater as she was, was far too young and frankly callow to skate to Bolero. It's a complex piece and you need to build it, piece by piece. Why saddle her with that warhorse? Give her something fun and light--her Wednesday program was adorable and very imaginative. Similarly Hallelujah--I thought Mariah did a lovely job because she feels like an old soul to me. But not everyone can take you on that journey.

It was a BLAST. One pairs team did this gender-swapped program--the guy dressed in a tutu and skated a bit to Swan Lake and the woman (who had on a padded muscle suit) actually carried him! And then they switched from Swan Lake to (I think) a song by Beyonce about it being a woman's world. The whole thing was a blast. Isabeau was adorable in her braids, skating to Fever. And Amber looked soooooo relaxed--she too was wearing (messy, adorable) braids and a sequined football jersey. Oh, and Niina Petrokina did a fantastic rendition of Cell Block Tango--I think I was the only person who recognized the song for at least a few blocks! He had it comin'/He had it comin'/He only had himself to bla-ame... I was so excited once I realized what Jason was about to skate. I taped a little of it then forced myself just to enjoy it. God, that man is a treasure. I think this spring I'm going to sign up for the really expensive SOI package so I can meet him :)

I'll recycle an old joke: Was Dune on sale or something? (I said the same thing about Bolero three years ago.) It is undeniably great music to skate to.

God, if we got Team gold next Games and Jason finally got his Olympic gold, I would be so happy, I would be crying ugly tears.

That's it! Yes, it made me sad because we liked Egadze. There was a kid nearby who was hanging over the barrier, trying to personally give him a stuffed animal. Egadze finally noticed and skated over to take it and there was a muted "awwww..." from us. Then when we saw Noodlehead there was a different reaction ;)

I would attend Nationals if they ever decide to have it somewhere in the Northeast. It always seems to be some place in the Midwest, or small city in the South. I don't want to travel to those places. I'm sorry, I don't. (I would probably travel to Chicago though.) Have Nationals in a place that's already a tourist attraction and more people will come. I remember that. Disgusting behavior. At the Olympics, no less. I'm sure I've mentioned this already but the three Japanese skaters who at that point were waiting to see if they'd still be on the podium at the Grand Prix Final, who executed that incredible gesture of respect for Amber (they imitated her closing pose, with the left arm extended)--that is decency, that is respect, that is incredible sportsmanship. One of them had just been knocked off the podium and she still joined in! Such a breath of fresh air after "Starved, drugged, lied-to teenager* has a meltdown backstage because 'everyone's got a gold medal but me.'" The Russian skaters and the Russian audiences leave something to be desired in terms of good sportsmanship. Believe me, I'd love to be wrong--I actually admire much of Russian culture and speak the language a bit. But I can't stand that kind of pettiness, refusing to clap for anyone but their own countrymen. She's such a California girl and I love it. *Also believe it or not, I don't really blame Sasha for her meltdown--I blame her coaches. I blame Eteri. Sasha was starved and almost certainly drugged. Eteri was there yesterday--she's the coach of one of the top men--Daniel Grassl, maybe? When we saw her picture on the Jumbotron, there was a murmur. Lovedlovedloved Ekaterina Kurakova's Cats freeskate! So much fun, she's such an artist and sells her program so well! Love me some gimmicks like the changing the costume midskate--just a blast! Thrilled for Alysa. Amber put up a valiant fight, I hope she's not too disappointed. Same with Isabeau. Kaori had a hell of a free skate. All three top skates were excellent.

It's SO much fun. I love the camaraderie of FS fans. Wednesday I was between two older ladies (the audience tends to skew older and female--which, I am, I just look a lot younger ;). As the ladies' SP went on we started chatting and my two neighbors were pumping me for information. (And I realized I know a lot more about the sport than I thought!) I was explaining to Lady on the Left how to tell an axel from the other jumps--you approach facing forward. (I can tell some of the other jumps--I'm better at toe jumps. Honestly I used to know the jumps better, when I was actually taking lessons. Not that I ever got to jumps--I'm too old to jump--but I did study them.) Lady on the Right asked me about Kaori's program--she'd popped a triple but it was still relatively clean. I said "Regardless of how clean it was [and I honestly don't know if a double instead of a triple in the SP means NO POINTS FOR YOU!] they still have to ding her for the GOE because when your leg flies out like that, it looks sloppy." Her: "GOE?" Me: "Grade of execution." (And then I explained what that was.) Free day tomorrow--I did not get tickets for the ladies' FS (I didn't want to overwhelm myself). But I will be there Saturday for the men's FS!

When the announcer was interviewing Ilia after his SP, she said something like "what does it feel to have the first standing ovation from this crowd?" and a bunch of us were calling that out. I said "not only did Jason and Andrew get them, it wasn't even just the Americans! We stood for Kevin as well!" (And then after Ilia's program, we stood for Yuma. I think Donovan Carrillo might've also gotten a SO, he was wildly popular.) Ilia was just in the zone, feeling his oats--I had an insanely good seat at one end of the arena (3 rows back!) and a couple of times as he zoomed past he pumped his fist at us or urged us to cheer. He didn't do the 4A (not sure if he's allowed to in the short) but we all cheered wildly at the Raspberry Twist. I can't remember who skated before Shun Sato but someone threw out a couple of flowers that hasn't been wrapped (as a bouquet). One of the petals came off and when Sato started to take position a bunch of us were trying to alert the powers that be that hey, there's an obstacle on the ice. No one took notice of it and he went through his program, at one point coming very near the petal. Luckily he was fine and after his program we were able to alert one of the "sweepers" (the little girls--mostly--who fan out after to program to collect the stuffed animals people throw out for the skaters. When she picked up the petal and skated off, we all cheered for her).

I was there today and I had a feeling as soon as the final group came on for their warmup--Amer had a deer in the headlights look. She didn't look relaxed and ready to go--that said, she rallied beautifully after the first jump. The crowd was cheering wildly for her and the other two Americans. Isabeau was gorgeous out there. And I just love that dress.

Her heartfelt tears with Cromwell and that embrace with Henry--Henry loved his children (as long as they toed the line) and until the split started emerging between Henry and Catherine, Henry was a very loving, indulgent father who was very proud of Mary. I'm not crazy about the fairly recent Marian revisionism I see (burning to death hundreds of people for their religious principles is absolutely cruel, no matter how many people want to say "well, this person killed more!" Burning is one of the cruelest ways to kill people--I'd much rather be beheaded) but it can't be denied that Henry did a number on Mary. I can't imagine experiencing her incredibly privileged childhood--she was the acknowledged Princess of Wales, the heiress apparent at one point--and then processing the betrayal she experienced during her teens. He didn't even allow her to see Catherine when she was dying. Loved Mary's talking about her (full) brothers and sisters--she had a bunch of them, she was the only one who survived.

That's been my impression as well, that the Virtue/Voir contingent have such a massively overdeveloped sense of entitlement that they simply cannot accept that they lost to David and White and are trying to spread the "everyone now thinks they were overrated..." No. We don't. I still can't stand Virtue and Moir and all the face grabbing and histrionic crap. I can't give you technical reasons for that because I don't really study ice dancing but I know what I don't like.

One of my absolute least favorite tropes is the serial killer. They always, always want to romanticize him and make him out to be handsome, super intelligent, charismatic. I absolutely detest that. It's statistically dishonest and it's insulting to victims of serial killers. I love watching Blue Bloods and SVU but as soon as I realize the story is about a serial killer, I change the channel.

I love the imaginary scenarios! They're always so funny. I really don't think the show is going there--yes, that would be devastating for Ava. I thought she looked different!

That was *fans self* really effing hottt. I really hope so. I love this show.