Avaleigh

This is what I'm hoping for. I want Joe to be taken down by the women who managed to survive getting entangled with him. His rebound from the first season. (I can't remember her name but she knew that something was off with Joe wrt Candace.) Jenna Ortega's character. The woman who was one half of the Caged Crazy Couple. Phoebe. Marienne and Nadia. I want them all to team up and make Joe pay. Initially I wanted someone to keep him in a cage, but then I realized he'd probably be okay with that. He just needs to go to prison. Death is too quick for him. Prison is the one thing he seems desperate to avoid, so it's probably the most appropriate punishment. I definitely want someone to rescue Nadia but I'm still upset with her character for not calling the damn police when she had multiple opportunities. More people are probably going to die because Marienne and Nadia decided they shouldn't call the police.

I just came on to see if there were multiple people who were annoyed that they didn't call the police. It completely took me out of the story more so than any other plot development where I've had to suspend disbelief for this show. Once Marienne said that she didn't want to call the police and Nadia actually went along with it(?!) I was pretty much done with both characters. I can cut Marienne a tiny amount of slack for not being in her right mind after being locked up for so long but what the hell is wrong with Nadia? She has to be one of the dumbest smart characters I've ever seen on a show.

For one thing it isn't just about college sports. Figure skating as an example only has one collegiate level competition. It's not the sport you get into if you're looking for a scholarship where you can skate on behalf of a university. (However, it can be helpful for things like college applications and essays--a lot of skaters get into great schools particularly if they've competed in high profile competitions.) The second problematic thing here is your belief that any non Olympic competition is of little importance or doesn't matter at all. I can promise you that they matter very much to the athletes. Also, who are we to say what "the most" is that these athletes "should" be able to get out of college sports? There are all sorts of reasons why an athlete might want to compete. Furthermore, the Olympics aren't the only thing that gain an athlete endorsements. Starr Andrews has yet to win a national title, compete in worlds or the Olympics, but she still has multiple endorsements. Winning a medal on the Grand Prix circuit was a huge breakthrough for her--an example of a non Olympic competition meaning quite a lot to an athlete. As someone who follows figure skating and I can tell you that small competitions in the Grand Prix series, or larger competitions like nationals and worlds--they all matter very much to the skaters. Also, skaters who don't make it to the Olympics can still make a nice living coaching among other things. In general, being a national or international competitor is a great thing to have on the resume.

The athletes don't feel that the Olympics are the only competition that matters. I can definitely understand the concern that they aren't on a level playing field especially since people can't seem to agree on what prerequisites should be met before allowing trans athletes to compete in the gender division with which they identify. Finally, I think that trans athletes *should* be able to compete in the Olympics and that should be a goal for the next Olympic cycle. What I'm confused about is the pushback against the idea of creating a trans division to ensure fairness. Not only would it give athletes more medal opportunities, but it would shutdown any discussion of a person somehow not being deserving of their placement. In addition to that, there would be a new group of trans athletes who will gain exposure and serve as role models for trans and cis people to look up to. Seems like a win/win to me.

Glad about Camille and Denise being back as friends. Kim coming back is so *not* a good idea... If Kim is back as a friend I'm curious if Kathy will be.

I was out of town for a week so I haven't had the chance to watch everything. Caught the men and the women. So happy for Shoma! Two in a row. He definitely earned it. A clean program from Kevin! I wouldn't have predicted that he'd place over Adam at worlds if you'd asked me earlier in the season. Jason was fabulous. I wish he'd been given the bronze. Either Jason or Kevin getting the bronze would have been more satisfying to me. Ilia still had a lot of work to do. I preferred Haein Lee's long program overall, but I'm happy for Kaori. She definitely fought for it. How exciting for Japan to win three out of four disciplines. I hope Isabeau puts together better programs next season. She's had so much criticism (both fair and unfair) I really hope that she'll prove her critics wrong. I feel like Loena didn't have the fire she usually has. Fingers crossed for a more exciting long next season. Most of my favorites didn't deliver unfortunately. Loena, Kurakova, Yelim, Rinka and Amber were all disappointing. Looking forward to checking out the dance and pairs. Very happy for Chock and Bates. It's long overdue as far as I'm concerned. I feel like they should have won with the snakecharmer program in the 2020 worlds that never were.

I guess we have different ideas for what an appropriate response to violence is in this situation. A ten year ban from an awards ceremony seems like a very mild punishment from my perspective. (A non celebrity who just ran on stage and did what Will did would have faced charges at a minimum.) I'm not arguing that Will should lose his Oscar or anything like that. It isn't an award for best human being. I do though think that the message from the Academy should have been firm. You don't hit a host or a presenter or anybody else who says something you don't like during the ceremony. (Or backstage or otherwise.) Violence isn't an appropriate response. The participants in the ceremony should be protected. Chris including his take on it and even ranting about it in this special, makes more sense to me than physically striking back in the moment. Which brings me to another point he mentioned in the special--there were lots of people who wondered why Chris didn't fight back after Will hit him. Chris didn't descend to Will's level and acknowledges here that he was raised better than that. I did too. I kind of went back and forth though on whether or not he was right to not include his ex wife in the decision. Thankfully it seems like he did the right thing since it was a great attitude adjuster for Lola. One line I liked was Chris talking about the reality of being rich, but in terms of mindset identifying as poor. It kind of made me think of Julius on Everybody Hates Chris.

I feel like it's hard for me to judge because I'm not a comedian. In terms of just being an average person who doesn't make a living doing stand up comedy, yeah, I personally wouldn't go down the road of engaging in a beef with anyone, certainly not a long term one. Life is too short and it's better to engage in positivity. For a comedian though, when a lot of the act is bringing up current and past life experience--I don't think it's unreasonable of Chris to have comments about topics related to the slap. If it's a question of 'do I think Chris is punching down by being critical of Jada?' then my answer is 'not really'. It's possible I might feel different if I had a better impression of Jada or if I thought he was being unfair to her, but I don't really see it that way. I'm also trying to put myself in his position as far as how I would feel if someone was happy to watch me get slapped and bullied on a national stage and I'm not sure that I would necessarily feel sympathetic to a person who thought I'd earned a violent response like that because I'd made a joke. The other area where I probably disagree with the people who think that Chris is being too hard on Jada is that I don't think he seems more angry with Jada than with Will. I think he's (rightfully) annoyed with both of them and is using his platform to express that because his interaction with them is part of his lived experience. I don't think Chris's comments about Jada are an indication that there's some sort of misogynoir at play. JMO.

I think Chris has done a great job of giving exposure to the difficulties Black people have when it comes to hair and hair perception. The film Good Hair doesn't address *everything*, but it does do a good job of at least exploring the topic and getting a wider audience to understand how difficult it is to go through life where hair standards are completely different for us. I'm Black and biracial and don't feel that Chris's comments about Jada are an indication that he despises all Black women. I guess the main area where we disagree is that I don't think Chris was out of line by making the joke in the first place.

Just to clarify, I am not and have not ever blamed Jada for Will's actions. I was just saying that I don't have sympathy for her over the Oscars situation because she seemed 100% on board with what Will did and that very much indicated to me what kind of person she is. It wasn't until later that their tunes began to change. As for the hair issue, we all know that Chris very much understands the challenges of having Black hair. (Nor is this a subject that is exclusive to Black women in terms of navigating the difficulty of it.) If Chris thinks that Jada isn't a nice person, I don't think there's anything wrong with him saying whatever it is he has to say for the most part. (Obviously I would object if he were to wish violence upon Jada or something like that.) I don't hate Will. I just don't feel sorry for him. He got violent on camera (no debate about whether or not he did it) and didn't have to deal with any real consequences. I'm not sure why I'm supposed to feel sorry for him like he's the real victim in this situation.

I've yet to meet anyone who thinks what Will did is more objectionable than what Polanski did. If people really think that what Will did is worse than Polanski being a child rapist then they need to seek help. I'm glad Chris was able to give his take about what happened and feel for him given his past experience with being bullied. Will was out of line and there haven't been any real consequences for him. A ten year ban is a slap on the wrist compared to what would have happened to a non celebrity if they'd done the same. It shouldn't be okay to attack people at an awards show (or any other venue) and a year later there's still excuse after excuse for why Will was justified and/or why he shouldn't be punished. (Basically, because there's a long list of shitbags who've been honored by the Academy, Will should get a pass for his behavior.) I definitely understood Chris's point about Will's "selective outrage". I also have zero sympathy for Jada as she didn't think Will did anything wrong while it was happening. I was surprised that Chris included his thoughts about where he feels Jada's feud with him originally started. He basically thinks that Jada was still holding a grudge because Chris didn't want to turn down a hosting job over Will not being nominated for an award that year. The audacity to even think Chris would is pretty breathtaking IMO. I loved the bit about Chris talking about how his mom grew up in a time where black people weren't allowed to be treated by white dentists and now she's in a position where she is able to travel regularly to Paris to visit her granddaughter. Also liked Chris confessing that he was the one who made sure his daughter was kicked out of school. I do wonder though if he should have given his ex and daughter a heads up that he'd be including this in his show.

Is anyone old enough to remember when they had a competition in Sun Valley that was televised for a couple of years back in the 90s? It was the most nonsensical thing. I don't anyone had a great skate because of the altitude issue. They just liked to have the competition because it looked cool to see skaters in an outdoor rink. But just ruthless for the skaters and they all looked past being out of breath. I think the last time it was televised was 1996 or so.

Wondering the same thing. Very happy for Haein Lee. Wish Yelim had been clean. A few of Bradie's jumps looked suspect. Amber was disappointing. A fall on the salchow--that's like her easiest jump. At least three of the ladies skated to Phantom of the Opera, so nothing new there. Looking forward to seeing where Rinka is in two years.

I think out of all of them Nynaeve misses the village the most. I think they all love Emond's Field more now that they've been parted from it. IIRC Mat was the one who was most interested in seeing a big city and doing some sight seeing. Even after he thinks he has this opportunity where he might go home IIRC he delays and hesitates because he feels like even if he took over the farm of a Cauthon or whoever that it might still feel like a come down. It's awhile since I read the first book but wasn't Mat being super poor a show invention? This reminds me of one other Mat related thing. He's now so skilled with a staff that even one of the Aiel comments on it to him. Doesn't it feel like this wasn't the original plan for the character? I don't remember this coming up in the first or second book. It's almost like the author belatedly decided that he needed Mat to be good at something so that he doesn't feel like dead weight. Everyone from the core Emond's Field group is special in some way. Now, Mat has military strategy courtesy of the memories of others and is so skilled with his staff that he can easily take on both of Elayne's brothers at the same time.

Isabeau was very good. Hopefully she stays strong. Annoyed that Amber wasn't clean. Her overall program is my favorite, but it seems like she always has at least one mistake. Yelim brought her A game. Fingers crossed she's perfect in the long. I thought Bradie's program here was even stronger than at nationals. I like that this is a very close competition. The top six are all within striking distance.

My DH and I are reading the series together, but he's a slow reader so I held off on reading for awhile so that he could catch up. I'm a little over 80% finished on book 4. Love the development of Elaida's hostile takeover. It was obvious that something was up with her, but I wasn't expecting her to become a usurper. One thing I keep wondering about the Black Ajah, how do we know that among the 13 who left--how do we know they all left willingly? Siuan and Leane being stilled was chilling. I think I physically cringed when Min took a minute to recognize them because stilling changed their appearance. (I wonder how they'll do this on the show?) I felt bad too that she lost her warder. Mat still has issues with women. I can't tell if Jordan is trying to make it humorous or if Mat just has misogynistic tendencies. I get why Rand is suspicious with Moiraine. He needs to keep his cards close to the vest. Mat's distrust of the Aes Sedai is a little more OTT. They saved his life, healed him, now he has a freaky (but kind of awesome if used wisely) power where he only wins at gambling, but he still thinks they're the worst thing ever? I really like Aviendha. Min, Aviendha and Elayne are probably my favorite characters. Faile is...not my favorite. Annoying AF if I'm being honest. I hope she improves. I just finished the part where Cold Rocks hold is attacked. The Aiel are the best bit of world building. I admit though I'm a little confused about the difference between the splinter groups. I wish I could read a separate thing where it's broken down for me. I think it's partially because there are so many new words to learn. Egwene being forced to wear her hair in two braids was a hilarious attitude adjuster. Lol, these people have an interesting sense of humor.

I'm watching Peacock's live feed of the ladies short. No joke, immediately as I got on a girl was skating to Hallelujah. *sigh* This piece has 100% replaced any warhorse I previously had issue with. I welcome the others in comparison. I like to watch the earlier groups to see if anyone has a spark. Sometimes even if a person doesn't have all of the jumps, or maybe the speed or skating skills aren't quite there, you still see that they have certain presence. The it factor, superior edge quality, gorgeous spins, etc even at a young age. So far it's been disappointment after disappointment. Of the current group, Sofia didn't have a good skate, but at least she didn't seem miserable out there. She looked like she was having fun. Both of the Canadians were average. Everyone else was pretty forgettable.

My heart broke for Loena. She was so disappointed in her skate. That moment where she put the stuff animal in front of her face so that the camera wouldn't see how upset she was really got to me. Is it ironic that a Russian won the ladies event even with the ban? Gubanova is strong and there's an elegance to her in a way, but I can't overlook those terrible spins. I really wish Loena had won because she's the complete package. Kimmy's jumps are so tiny. Her skating overall is okay, but her excitement at winning a medal was infectious. I'm happy for her even though I wish it had been Kurakova on the podium. I think she was even more excited than Gubanova.

Even Amber? She has the goods. The jumps aren't suspect, no UR issues, the technique is perfect. We know she can do the triple axel. Yes, she needs to be a little more reliable in terms of delivering a clean program, but she has the potential to be competitive internationally.

Whoa, what happened with Olga? 18th in the long?

This is an area where I really want to see a change. They have more music options than ever, yet a lot of people choose boring, sad, generic stuff. Where is the excitement? It doesn’t even necessarily have to be up tempo but at least choose something with passion. Amber was a chief offender in this regard for the last two seasons, but this year I feel like she made great choices. I'm really looking forward to seeing her hit everything at Worlds.

Too bad about Starr. She had such an opportunity here. Amber wasn't perfect but I really liked her program. Her jumps are by far the best out of the US ladies. People are so critical of Isabeau but her programs are clean and she's beautiful to watch. Can't wait to see where she'll be in one or two years. I think both of Bradie's programs are winners.

Alexa gets nice height on her jumps. She definitely needs to work on her overall skating skills and music interpretation, but at least under rotations aren't her problem. Hanna withdrew. Too bad, I was hoping to see her have a great long. Nice comeback from Gabriella Izzo! She definitely skated with fire. Why must every step sequence include sliding around on the ice? Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, so it shouldn't be meant for every program. Some people like Kevin Aymoz and Jason can do it so it feels like it makes sense with the choreography, but with other people it just seems like a robotic and messy way to score points.

I have to admit that I giggled when Yaroslav gave that massive yawn before his program started. Ilia was great. Love the program. Funny that Ilia skated to I Put Spell on You but Jason was the one who seemed to cast a spell over the audience with that program. Definitely glad that he isn't retiring just yet. I won't call this a complete splat fest, but yeah, a lot of unfortunate skates today. Watching Camden in particular was a bummer. Love him.

Poor Deniss. I felt bad listening to how disappointed he was in his skate. I wish Adam and Kevin had been clean. They have my favorite step sequences this season. Adam's programs in particular I love. I think Kevin has the edge artistically, but they're both wonderful. Very happy that Adam won his first major title. How exciting for Matteo and Lukas! I didn't predict either of them for the podium.