justmehere

Nathan is a great skater. His artistry has improved significantly, and I'm never going to dispute him as technically superior due to his jumps. But he earned 47.99 on PCS to Jason's 47.29. This is part of my issue. How is Nathan's artistry score in La Boheme higher than Jason's in Sinnerman? Jason should have had well over 48 if Nathan's was 47.99. Sinnerman is simply incomparable, in a class by itself and performed impeccably. Everyone raves - yet there it is.

Yay! So happy for him! I could have sworn he earned 100 in the short one time this season -- yet this was listed as a season's best.

OK. I'm watching on Peacock, so I didn't hear that. Strange.

He kept checking the ice on his way off. That's sad, if so. Also -- as much as I love Shoma Uno, the judges apparently ignored him touching the ice after his combination jump. It was very plain to see, and he even looked surprised by his score, perhaps thinking it should be lower given the mistake. Did no one else see it? Would they go back later and change the score if someone brought it up? It definitely wasn't part of the program.

Going back a bit - here's a video on Donovan Carrillo and his training: https://olympics.com/en/original-series/episode/the-first-mexican-olympic-figure-skater-in-30-years-i-winter-tracks

Yay for Kevin Aymoz back on form!

Hard to watch, for sure.

Donovan Carrillo is the guy who trains at a shopping mall rink because that's all that's available. It's a really big deal for him to be competing. Hope he qualifies for the free skate.

I admit to not knowing a great deal about the technical side of skating, but I can see when someone matches their music and when music is played over whatever a skater happens to be doing. Yet there seems to be little mention of or attention paid to the latter. Music changes tempo or mood, yet the skater continues at the same pace and with the same level of expression. Also, some skaters might need more time to set up jumps (or some jumps require more setup?), but it's a drag watching someone skate half the length of the ice to get to one jump, let alone most of them, while the music is ignored. The same with simply flailing arms at any time or doing very little in between jumps. Add to that, some with very mechanical looking "artistic" movements - looking more like an afterthought than something to perform. If the scoring of jumps and GOE need adjusting - as many have pointed out - then the scoring of artistic elements needs adjusting too to make it of equal importance. If some skaters suffer much lower scores for not being able to do the most difficult jumps, then others should suffer much lower scores for lacking artistry or executing it poorly. Real artistry certainly appears to be as difficult to master as the most difficult jumps, but it doesn't seem to be rewarded at the same level, or why isn't more effort made? I know they are scored separately now, but the numbers don't necessarily accurately reflect separation nor equal weight. It sometimes seems like a skater who has lovely artistry is penalized in that score for mistakes or lower quality in jumping while someone with great jumps gets extra points for overall artistry when they haven't earned it. I recognize that artistry influences jumps - e.g. transitions into and out of them and GOE scores - but it's more than that. Maybe Music Interpretation, at least, needs to be given more weight and/or be judged more rigorously, and perhaps other features too. Composition and Performance? If not separate disciplines - and while recognizing the influence artistry has on jumps - then maybe somehow more separation in scoring - or something. I'm not sure how to say it. It just appears that technical and artistic elements are not truly weighted equally or judged equally. Why else so much emphasis on jumps at artistry's expense? I've only been watching full seasons of skating since the end of the 2018 Olympics. Before that, I mainly watched during the Olympics and maybe caught another competition here or there. I remember liking Ice Dance more than anything, and I remember noticing this one skater, Jason Brown, with his long ponytail, and looking for him each time. He just seemed different from the others and appealed to me more. I had no idea what appealed to me then, but now I do. Jumps can be absolute things of beauty, and I'm not minimizing their importance, but jump, land OK, skate a little bit, jump, land OK, ignore the music except for a perfunctory move here or there... or even just a burst at the end... yet get rewarded at a higher level than artistry throughout, doesn't seem right and doesn't interest me. (OK, maybe exaggerating a bit to make the point, but there is a point.)

Oops - OK. Thanks.

Surprised to see Vincent not skating to Vincent.

I LOVE Sui/Han and am glad they ended up first in the short. Do not care for the ROC pair or their program at all. Knierem and Frazier did really well - wish they had been in second.

I'm all for Team USA, but sorry - I just don't really care for Nathan's La Boheme program, and I thought he looked pretty nervous before starting - visibly breathing hard. Don't blame him after last Olympics. Getting the nerves out here will probably help with the individual skates. He looked a little rough to me, but obviously the judges didn't think so. Shoma's was my favorite performance. Re: the scorebox - not showing the breakdown of base and GOE scores is annoying. (ETA: This is on Peacock - no breakdown and no identification of elements. Just caught a repeat on NBC, and their scorebox has much more info.) Not having a crowd watching definitely lowers the energy.

Question: (Not sure if specific details need spoilers but adding just in case) Did not care for the "sudden villain" and didn't really buy it either. I liked the soldier whose mother was a healer and was more interested in him than the rest of that particular plot point. Young Ian remains one of my favorite characters. I enjoyed his story a great deal and always appreciated when he showed up. I would also like to see more of Bree and William, which seems possible. Kind of curious about Claire "coming into her power." As much as I enjoy immersing in these books - I do hope she ends it with the next one. Also that she consolidates a bit to bring everything to some central resolution.

There were many moments of "Oh look!" but I loved seeing them again. I watched on HBO Max. First impression: I really enjoyed it. -Loved the early sequence to White Rabbit. -Thought both Neo and Trinity were great - and also -"Liked" the Analyst's con. -Laughed at Neo testing if he could still fly. -Genuinely disturbed by the "bot bombs." -Didn't really need to see the Merovingian again. -Niobe delivered a lot of exposition, but I still didn't feel like I knew much about the workings of, or life in, Io. That may be on me - will check it again. So, some really good, some maybe not quite as good. That said, I feel like... everything is so surreal now in the world, such division, so many things that are jaw-dropping and outrageous, deliberate gaslighting by people we should be able to trust (not mentioning sides here, just saying), and this felt like... it fit. Some people want to avoid change at any cost - even of the truth. Some will go along to get along. Some will fight for change or try to lift "out" and create a different way. So that it was about making the choice of what matters, of determining what's true, of - well, love as having fundamental worth, being worth all the risks... it fit. YMMV Anyway, I enjoyed it and will definitely watch again.

I had hoped with a 3rd place finish in the short program that Mariah Bell would make the podium. A couple of issues prevented that, but I think both her programs are lovely, and she's still my favorite of the women. (If you're going to repeat a program, her Hallelujah is a good one.) I loved Hawayek and Baker's self-choreographed free skate last season. And I love their new one, too. It was soft and flowy without being the least bit saccharin or fake looking. Just beautiful, and I do not understand why they don't get higher scores. I guess they haven't really competed this season, so hopefully they will improve, but it seems to be a pattern. Are they really not that good technically?

On the same page as the practice tent article that AZChristian linked to, there was a link to an article about Jurgen: Jürgen overcome with emotion as he admits he was ‘relieved’ not to make final There's a short video clip as well. (Wasn't sure where to put this - relates to the episode but also is Media and Extra Slice. Please move if necessary.)

I was glad that they showed Prue saying that if she gave out handshakes, she would have given one to Jurgen in the signature. The handshakes probably should stop altogether. (Edit to add below: sorry, I couldn't get the quote thing to work on an edit) festivus said: I do think it makes it seem as if her input isn't as important as Paul's and I'd not be happy if I was her. This, too.

I thought Giuseppe was going to be eliminated. Pretty plain looking showstopper, and they said there was no flavor other than the center cherry, including missing the flavor of the pine nuts. He did get a handshake in the signature, but Jurgen was first in the technical. Jurgen's final design and execution were much more elaborate, and I believe they liked his flavors. The color on his entremets was a little pale, but they didn't look out of place to me. --I like Giuseppe a lot. I just thought that they criticized his final bake more than Jurgen's, and so he would go. Chigs' poor technical and his very simple tree decoration made me wonder about him, too. The centerpiece requirement as a whole bothered me. They barely commented on them (which could have been editing) and didn't taste them (in which case, I'd think rice treats would have lost points). They've had other challenges where they had to make a variety of entremets... just let them do two or three different types rather than wasting time and resources on a centerpiece. I am surprised that they haven't called out Chrystelle for using the same flavors repeatedly - miso, sesame, and coconut seem to show up a lot. I like all of them. Any elimination this time was going to be rough. I wish we'd seen some of the discussion going into the decision.

Re: Editing: The fact that they've shown other instances of bakers reporting dropping things doesn't mean that it will always be shown. The mention above about Freya not reporting it (or at least them not showing it) is also true. Hearing that Prue didn't know about Jurgen's mishap is a little concerning, but the crew knew, the producers and director knew, and honestly, sometimes they don't seem terribly concerned about hygiene. Hair hanging loose and the bakers touching their faces and then going back to the bakes have been called out many times. Not saying it's OK, just that they seem less concerned about certain things. I took Jurgen's shrug to mean that it happened and he couldn't change the fact. There certainly wasn't time to re-bake everything. He's so precise and controlled, I can't see him not having any concern about it. Maybe he asked the crew or producers what to do, and they said don't worry about it. Maybe they told him to brush them off and put them back in the oven. We don't actually know. Mainly, the guy is not some monster trying to cheat or to endanger the judges. If anyone, blame the producers who oversee everything and decide what happens and what gets shown. As for Lizzie - it was hard to watch her leave after such a triumphant bake, especially one that was so personal. I agree with those saying that things were so close that they had to look back at the overall performances. It's not the first time they've done so, and it may well happen in the remaining challenges. Lizzie stood up for herself and made a big impression. She got farther than anyone expected. But while her flavors carried her for a time, lack of finesse overall was an issue. George went out on a high-note, too. One bake isn't always enough to save them. And then there's Paul... I want to shake him when he tells one of the bakers he expected better from them. They already know they didn't do well. He's already called out the specific issues. There's no need to dig at them so personally. They're human. Sometimes they make mistakes. Sometimes things go wrong. Such comments are not needed.

I didn't see this posted before - from July. Lovely:

Tucci was diagnosed w/cancer a few years ago and had to use a feeding tube for 6 months. Must have made his Italy food tour that much more special after recovery. https://deadline.com/2021/09/stanley-tucci-cancer-struggle-interview-vera-magazine-feeding-tube-1234827536/

Sorry about that! I think they must allow a few articles per month or something, because I do not subscribe and I didn't have to pay anything to see it - nor use Private/Incognito mode. (Used my laptop and not my phone - don't know if that matters.) Maybe try a different browser that hasn't registered cookies for the site?

Writer and director discuss the episode and airing it in August. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2021-08-13/ted-lasso-christmas-episode-apple-tv

The writing was uneven and sometimes stilted or contradictory. They compressed a lot and told rather than showed. But, they were under a ton of restrictions due to COVID and no doubt did the best they could under highly abnormal circumstances. There were some great episodes this season: in particular, I liked seeing where a few of the characters came from. There was also a fair amount of wish fulfilment, but I don't mind too much. I cared so much about these characters, and after a year-plus of difficulty for everyone in real life, I'm glad for the happy endings and can forgive some of it being unrealistic. It would have been too depressing to leave them struggling or worse. (I'm still haunted by that image in S1 of Elektra in front of the mirror, having lost everything, so for her to be on top and be so generous toward everyone, pulling others up with her - whatever mob craziness aside - makes me happy.) For all that they did do, for all that they accomplished... I'm grateful for this amazing show that moved me, taught me, and entertained me.