FREE BITCHES SINCE FEB. 2010

Baby’s first skating competition!

thebadunkadunk — Sat, 16 Feb 2019 14:01:45 GMT

Hi I went to Four Continents at Honda Center in Anaheim last weekend and here are some logistical and skating!!! thoughts.

(FYI uploading pictures on mobile is a whole thing I am not good at sorry. I am also not going to bother with cuts because two people will read this)

I went for three events: Pairs, men’s, and dance free programs. For pairs I was in section 222 across from the judges. For men’s I was in section 218, which was the left of the K&C (if you’re looking directly at it) and where the skaters entered the rink and where the coaches stand during the program and where the skaters pass to go back backstage. You can’t see the skaters in the K&C at that angle. For dance I was at in section 213, which is to the right of the K&C but you can see the skaters in the K&C even though they are washed out by the camera lights.

Btw I thought they just had a camera in front of the K&C but literally a man in a camera runs every five minutes and just kneels in front of them super close. Seeing it close I don’t love it.

All the seats were great! My pairs ticket seats were the best, but for the men’s free that side of the rink was great because there was so much behind the scenes stuff happening and skaters would drop their jumps in the corner closest to us.

Pairs:I felt so badly for the Canadians Evelyn and Trennt, they had such presence and chemistry. I do not like MTM but I respect Kirsten’s hustle. Their skate was clean but like...just there. Michael’s face during lifts do not inspire confidence. This program is good but the music skated them.

I’ve always thought Haven was a better skater than Caydee but she needs to skate like she believes she is. Tarah’s hair is blotchy in person. Ashley and Tim were amazing, I’m very happy with the trajectory of their career (also her bodysuit sparkles like no other under the lights).

The Chinese are SO good. I remember Peng’s energy used to deflate after a mistake but now she just brushing it off and focuses on the next element. Watching Sui/Han live, I feel like the audience just melted into the program. Also they literally just breathed in the beginning of the program and the audience screamed and clapped.

Men’s: I bought the tickets just to see Junhwan’s ridiculous R&J live and it was glorious. I am pretty sure those UR calls were a personal attack on me and I reject it. The first two groups were a bit of a struggle but it passes by a lot faster when you’re sitting there as opposed to when you’re streaming. Also I am really fond of the Micahs, Julien manylastnames, and Donovan from Mexico. If Donovan ever trains in the US I hope it’s with Ashley Cain’s dad

Oh I also bought parking on Stubhub! Even with fees it was less than $10, half of the actual lparking amount. If you ever go there is event parking for $10 at a business park right down the street just over the river.

Worlds Wayback Machine: Kurt Browning, 1989 Free Skate

sasha_davidovna — Fri, 11 Mar 2016 17:44:51 GMT

When I was a kid, and people asked me which figure skater I wanted to grow up to be like, I knew what the answer was supposed to be. I was supposed to want to be Debi Thomas or Jill Trenary when I grew up. Katarina Witt might have been acceptable, although that answer would have pegged me as kind of a Communist. I chose Midori Ito and Surya Bonaly, because triple axels were cool, and I enjoyed it when adults looked at me sideways. They were the wrong answers, but they were wrong answers I could get away with.

It was all a lie. I wanted to be Kurt Browning. As cool as triple axels were, quadruple toe loops were even cooler. I wanted to wear a suave tux and make people laugh; I wanted to flash a confident smile and melt the judges' hearts when I took the ice for my freestyle tests. But I was old enough to know that I wasn't supposed to choose a men's skater as my idol, even one as terrific as Browning.

Decades later, Browning remains my gold standard for figure skating. I mentally rate skaters on a scale of one to Browning. (This doesn't always correlate with my favorites; I am quick to admit that of the current men, Javier Fernandez is by far the Browning-est.) He's why I emphasize showmanship and artistic versatility, and why I get so annoyed when skaters sacrifice performance quality to raise their technical difficulty. Browning was the only guy landing a quad in the late '80s, and he was also the men's skater most invested in interpreting his music and connecting with his audience. He wasn't just proof that an athlete could do both, but proof that if an athlete wasn't doing both, that athlete was fundamentally less accomplished in the sport.

Read the rest at Sarah Explains the Finer Sports

Black Swan!Mao

takarai_karin — Tue, 09 Feb 2016 15:33:14 GMT

So... I'm not really here to post anything of importance ^^;; For a brief recap: The GP Final was amazing, the figure skating world has a new GOAT (I mean, what is a pchan?), the Russians rule the ladies, and the Shibutanis are still the only people that can make Coldplay engaging.

All those things aside though, I'm actually just here to show you guys Mao being awesome in a CM (commercial) for a cold medicine. It sounds silly, but you'll appreciate the pretty, I think (or, I hope).

Here's the CM (2 versions, the 60 seconds and the 15 seconds one in 1 clip)

And here's the 'Making Of' clip:

I saw these on TV the first time around the new year, but never figured there'd be a clip online (I can be slow ^^;;)

THE KING RETURNS

thebadunkadunk — Sat, 31 Oct 2015 06:40:59 GMT

Dusting off his crown but honestly good considering he's been gone a year

#CHANFLATION #YOUKNOWYOUVEMISSEDIT #HANYUMORELIKEHANWHO

In other Skate Chanada news: Daisuke Murakami (JPN) leads the mens, Ashley Wagner (USA) is #1 for the ladies, and Canadians Meghan Duhamel/Eric Radford and Kaitlyn Weaver/Andrew Poje dominated pairs and ice dance respectively after the first day

You can find more info here byeeeeeeee: http://www.isuresults.com/results/season1516/gpcan2015/index.htm

S.O.S - Save Our Skating...Wiki

anonymoose_au — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 07:51:52 GMT

Not sure if any of the old guard are around to do something about this, but I went to look at ONTD_Skating's wiki today and discovered I couldn't because apparently they've decided to no longer offer wikispace for free.

However, they will let you save your pages and whatnot before they get deleted, so I was hoping a member of the wiki could rescue them before they go since they make for hilarious reading and I enjoyed them so much! :O) I did send a request to join the wiki so I could do it myself, but I'm not sure if any of the organisers are still around. :O(

I feel kind of bad I don't actually have any skating related stuff to post, 4CCs are on now, but sadly as an Australian with shitty internet I can't watch streams or anything, so I can't even comment about that.

But hey, here's a photo of me skating, LOL.

Venus-in-skates Carolina Kostner makes some music video

parcferme — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 20:11:42 GMT

gorgeous spirals and moves in the field galore! if you need a reason to fall back in love with skating...
(I wish the costume was just straight up faux-mesh instead of the weird shapes though)
ALL HAIL THE REAL QUEEN OF SOCHI!!!!!

Grand Prix Final, last week in Barcelona

elainetyger — Mon, 22 Dec 2014 02:00:57 GMT

I was at Barcelona for the GP final, staying across the street in the Hotel Barcelona Princess, where just about everyone at the event except, I think, Javier Fernandez also appeared to be staying. The 5 seconds they showed of Javi leaving the arena with the fans outside screaming? Well, they were out there for 2 hours after he got his medal, milling about and occasionally squealing or shouting until he came out and ran across the plaza by the arena, being followed at a respectable squealing distance by a few dozen Spanish teeny boppers.

Hongbo Zhao. I almost bumped into him and the female coach coming out of the mall next door to the hotel with shopping bags. Odd to think of gods going shopping.

Wenjing Sui & Cong Han

The muy caliente arena announcer. The woman next to him was a Spanish figure skater whose name I missed. While waiting for scores, he would ask her questions about the performers and about skating in general in English and Spanish, and she would respond in both languages. He also made some announcements in Catalan.

fans in the stands, some of them Canadians maybe?

The King

Sergei Voronov

Elena Ilinykh & Ruslan Zhiganshin

Gabriella Papakadis & Guillaume Cizeron

The King's tissue box, guarded by Canadian god Brian Orser, who was staying on the same floor as me at the hotel. My biggest starstruck moment was waiting for and riding the elevator alone with him. I think I might have managed to not act like a complete idiot, but I can't be sure.

Skate Canada and Yuletide

jedinic — Fri, 31 Oct 2014 18:47:01 GMT

1) Skate Canada practice sessions are being livestreamed here:

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x27xool_2014-skate-canada-international-practice_sport

2) If you are going to Skate Canada and want to meet up, drop me a note!

3) If you are doing Yuletide and want to chat more, friend me. (I want to meet the people who love W/P and Zhiganshina/Gazsi.)

http://yuletide_admin.livejournal.com/

A lot of people have requested figure skating fic this year - I hope a lot gets written!

Changing of the Guard at NBC

eaweek — Wed, 22 Oct 2014 15:34:17 GMT

I'm surprised this hasn't been posted here already. NBC (in the US) are officially putting Scott Hamilton and Sandra Bezic out to pasture. I posted about this on my own LJ, with a link to the New York Times article and some of my own biased/ rambling reaction.

http://eaweek.livejournal.com/102696.html

Thoughts?

Also: can we have a tag for Tara that doesn't involve her being a "moron"? And I don't see any Johnny/Tara tags, so maybe we could have one of those, too. Thanks! : )

Takahashi Daisuke Announced Retirement

takarai_karin — Sun, 19 Oct 2014 10:54:13 GMT

Nobody else have posted this yet, so I guess I should. The news is actually a few days old, you guys probably already know, but I was (am) pretty shaken up that I couldn't really process it. I recorded his retirement press con clips and left them in my HDD. I couldn't get myself to watch them.

But today I have, so I guess I'm sharing.

That's part one of the press con, the rest can be found here: http://skating.livedoor.biz/archives/51900146.html

The tag for Dai-chan is this one: http://skating.livedoor.biz/tag/%E9%AB%98%E6%A9%8B%E5%A4%A7%E8%BC%94 you can use it to access other posts with clips related to him.

The gist of it is that he made the decision in September, so it was pretty recent, and that the most important reason is that because he didn't felt that he did a satisfying performance at Sochi, both emotionally and in the results, too. But then when he asked himself if he could find it in him to try his best again to reach that point of complete satisfaction (before stopping), he didn't think that he could.

As for what he wants the most after retiring, he said he wants new dreams. He goal is to have new hopes and dreams.

This breaks my heart even more than I thought it would, but here's hoping he'll get everything he wants in life.

長年間の感動をありがとうございました
本当にお疲れ様です。

Michelle Kwan, Sarah Hughes opine on skating to lyrics

sasha_davidovna — Fri, 17 Oct 2014 19:55:01 GMT

Five-time World champion Michelle Kwan said she would have incorporated music with vocal lyrics into her programs had it been allowed during her competitive career.

“I often thought about that when I was skating,” Kwan said.

New ISU rules will allow singles and pairs skaters to perform to music with words this season. Ice dancers were already allowed to skate with lyrics.

In the spring, active U.S. Olympic skaters were mixed about adopting the change for this season. But recent U.S. singles champions Max Aaron, Jeremy Abbott and Gracie Gold have debuted programs with lyrics with the Grand Prix campaign starting next week.

Rest of the article here: http://olympictalk.nbcsports.com/2014/10/17/michelle-kwan-sarah-hughes-figure-skating-lyrics-winter-olympics/

High time, if you ask me. What combinations of singles skater/music with lyrics are you most looking forward to?

Jewbear On Danse Avec le Stars!

anonymoose_au — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 05:10:57 GMT

Well, this was from Monday, but I finally got around to watching it and what do you know, Brian knows how to move it! :OD

Alas, I remember approximately none of the French I took in High School and couldn't understand anything beyond "Bravo" and "Magnifique" but those are tres bon words are they not? ;O)

Here's the link!.

Although the nice people at the GoldenSkate forum had a translation on their Brian Joubert thread here.

Best of luck to Brian for this coming week - apparently he's doing ~~a waltz~~ the tango! Looking forward to it.

zebraswan time!

packsofreasons — Mon, 29 Sep 2014 16:48:45 GMT

YOU GUYS. Can we please talk about this video?

Johnny is trying so hard to win Stephane's affection. TOO CUTE.

Gasp! All Past Fan Hopes Are Coming True!

anonymoose_au — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 07:07:53 GMT

So it would seem! As I've previously mentioned I recently got into the whole skating thing (probably too late) so have been looking at lots of old posts from the comm and it's hilarious how many things that fans wished for way back in 2010 are coming true now!

The next on this list...Brian Joubert on the French version of Dancing With the Stars!

Not that I can actually read French... but when you Google Translate the article it's got him in the poll for "Who's your favourite candidate" and then in another article it would appear he's won the poll, LOL.

The show starts in September, although I'm not sure those of us outside France can see it...it might be streamed somewhere, but as an Australian streams don't really work well for me. :O(

But! Best of luck to Jewbear! Will he continue the success of Olympians on Dancing With the Stars shows? Fingers crossed!

ARTISTRY ON ICE I`m loving it

figureskateera — Wed, 23 Jul 2014 17:38:14 GMT

In Russia Skating Pairs YOU

anonymoose_au — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 08:27:25 GMT

Terrible joke, but I saw this today and was surprised as anything once I google translated it!

It seems Brian Joubert is serious about the pair skating thing and is even going to Russia to do it!

There's a video of the news report about it, but alas they dub Russian over Brian's words so I have no idea what he's saying. I noticed that he doesn't seem to be that much taller than his partner though, maybe he should have gone into Ice Dancing. On the other hand as his new partner, Katerina's Instagram pic shows, he seems to be up for the lifting!

Still it'll be interesting to see where this all goes! There's another article where Brian remarks that all his friends think he's nuts.

Being nuts seems to be a common theme to figure skaters though, so I say good luck to him!

Weir and Lambiel being hot on each other's instagram

naanie — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 01:19:33 GMT

NEWS AT ELEVEN

From Johnny's Instagram:

link: http://instagram.com/p/qGOi0zBheP/?modal=true

link: http://instagram.com/p/qA2DXnICSP/?modal=true

ALSO THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: http://instagram.com/p/pzD-gcoCfc/?modal=true

Grand Prix Assignments!

parcferme — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 23:39:10 GMT

We're back to 12 entries for Men and Ladies!

I see you Russia inviting some beatable low-ranked Americans as usual. (and a South Korean, how interesting!)
A+ to Japan Fed for inviting Anna Ovcharova!

Oops @ Phil Hersh

@olyphil Hi Phil, we ARE moving on! :) The road to #PyeongChang2018 has already begun! Hope your summer is going well.
— ShibSibs (@ShibSibs) June 27, 2014

Bittersweet news from Alissa Cziny

kerokerochu — Sat, 21 Jun 2014 06:33:48 GMT

Alissa decides to retire from competitive skating. :(

From Icenetwork:

More than six months have passed since Alissa Czisny, one of the most original American skaters of the last decade, made the difficult decision to give up her dream of making the U.S. Olympic team.

The elegant skater's career has been marked by impressive highs and painful lows. Despite these inconsistencies, the two-time U.S. champion and 2010 Grand Prix Final champion remains one of the most beloved personalities on show ice both in her own country and around the world.

The recipe for her wide appeal is multi-faceted. Among them is the sincere pleasure she brings to her performances each and every time she steps on the ice. She brings the highest level of artistry and a deep understanding of music to her skating. She showed all of these qualities in the Stars on Ice tour this year.

Czisny's coaches, Yuka Sato and Jason Dungjen, play an equally important role in the skater's life. Besides skating technique, they have worked a lot on her mental approach. As a result, Czisny has changed many of her previous views on the sport. In turn, she has influenced her coaches in many ways.

"It has been a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, from the fifth-place finish at worlds in Moscow (in 2011) to a rather unforgettable result in Nice (where Czisny finished 22nd at worlds in 2012) for the exact opposite reasons. The last few years have been spent helping Alissa return from two major surgeries in two years.

"The one thing that always stayed consistent was Alissa's determination to get better, and that still persists to today," Dungjen added.
Dungjen noted that his collaboration with Czisny was the first time he'd worked with someone at her level. It has been a learning experience for not just the skater but the coach as well.

"She helped me realize that if you and your student can work as a team, then anything is possible," Dungjen said. "I have also learned how to deal with adversity as a coach. I realized that no matter how bad something goes, if [the skater has] given all that I have asked from them, then I need to give my all back."

Sato, too, points out how the educational process with Czisny has been a two-way street.

"She is an athlete with true dedication, besides the fact that she is a beautiful skater. She taught us many things," Sato said. "Her dedication as a skater and an athlete made us reassure and reinforce discipline. It's never about just the talent but the work ethic that makes us better, [and] Alissa is the role model of [that]."

There is no doubt that Czisny and her coaches will be left with mostly pleasant memories from the time they spent together.

"She is a kind and loving person. It's been absolutely an honor to have worked with Alissa for the past few years," Sato concluded.

Please check this page for her sweet interview.

I wish her the best in her future! Stay smiling, you gorgeous skater!

ps. new poster here. squee.

OMG, NO WAI!

anonymoose_au — Tue, 10 Jun 2014 10:28:25 GMT

Right, this is my first post here...and on LJ since they changed the update page way back in 2012 or whenever(ugh this thing is gross).

But has anyone seen this?!

It's the Zebra on Twitter!

I've only recently got into skating and like the weird obsessive person I am have been going through all the old posts here, so I'm thoroughly amused by the fact this has happened because years and years ago people were wishing Stephane would join Twitter, but lamenting it would never happen.

So, yeah life is amusing! And hopefully this post is OK!

Team Nikita in Michigan

indiegirl91 — Fri, 23 May 2014 02:25:13 GMT

(x)

I thought Nikita and Victoria were training in NJ with Morozov, but they're hanging out with the Shibs and Fedor in Ann Arbor. Is Marina taking them on? Anyone heard anything?

JouPAIR

thebadunkadunk — Wed, 21 May 2014 20:35:31 GMT

I need to know more details

Pale > orange

thebadunkadunk — Wed, 21 May 2014 03:33:10 GMT

MERYL DAVIS WON DWTS (making Evan the only figure skater to not win. Charlie doesn't count because he's Charlie so hashtag deal with it)

SOURCE IS INTERNETS

GO FEELINGS

Meryl is the cutest

Canadian tragedy

jedinic — Wed, 30 Apr 2014 21:20:45 GMT

Moore-Towers and Moscovitch split

After reaching the pinnacle of their career with an Olympic silver medal, the pair team of Kirsten Moore-Towers and Dylan Moscovitch has decided to go in different directions. Moore-Towers, 21, of St. Catharines, Ont. and Moscovitch, 29, of Toronto, Ont. teamed up in 2009, and competed at their first Canadian championship together in 2010, earning a 5th place finish.

“I’m so proud of what Dylan and I achieved in our five years together, and I do want to thank him for everything we accomplished. We are just at different points in our lives right now,” said Kirsten Moore-Towers. “I feel that there is an opportunity for me to keep skating for at least one, maybe two, more Olympic cycles, so I want to pursue those options. My plan is to look for the partner who will share in that dream.”

“It was such an honour to represent Canada on the world and Olympic stage. Being a part of the silver-medal winning team in Sochi is the most memorable moment of my career to this point. And I’m glad that Kirsten and I accomplished that together. I wish her the best of luck going forward,” said Dylan Moscovitch. “My future includes embracing new opportunities within the sport that I love, finding a new partner and competing in the 2014-2015 season, and expanding my horizons for life after skating.

He added, “I also want to thank Kris and Kristy Wirtz for their continued support, expertise and love for over a decade.”

Source

So, bbs, what's the REAL story?

Gracie Gold inspires new Jedward single "Free Spirit," out May 17th

parcferme — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 00:37:04 GMT

Famed X Factor UK twins Jedward — John and Edward Grimes — are coming out with a new single and it was inspired by figure skater Gracie Gold!

The 22-year-old brothers recently appeared on TV3′s Late Lunch Live to chat up their new album and title single, “Free Spirit”, which was only inspired by their fans but also by Gracie, 18.

“It’s such an honor to have inspired @planetjedward’s new song, “Free Spirit”! You guys are amazing!” Gracie thanked them in a cute tweet.

Edward spoke about the new album, “Since October, we have been working on our album, we have had three albums to date, but this is the first album written and produced by us.”

“Each song reflects a different mood and emotion, which our fans can associate with. Over the last year we have gone through a transition as artists, we have had time to reflect about life and put those thoughts into our songs,” John added.

“Free Spirit” is out on May 17th.

Source

Gracie Gold’s positive outlook on life and the way she follows her dreams inspired us to write 'Free Spirit' @GraceEGold Thank You
— JEDWARD (@planetjedward) April 17, 2014