Geo1

Has anyone heard of Courtney Milan? Courtney Milan is the pseudonym of Heidi Bond and is a highly successful historical and contemporary romance novelist. However, she is much more than that. She is a very intelligent woman and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School. On graduation, she was a federal circuit court and later Supreme Court of the United States clerk. They only pick the top law graduates for these prestigious positions. They basically do all the research for the judges. She later transitioned into the position of a law professor at Seattle University School of Law for three years before becoming a full-time novelist. She is an advocate of inclusiveness, diversity and the Metoo Movement. Her allegations of sexual harassment by Federal Judge Alex Kozinski brought his retirement from his lifelong appointment and a review by the Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts of how sexual harassment reports are handled in the federal judiciary. She came to my attention because I received a Google Alert for Yuzuru Hanyu for the following article: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/exclusive-constance-wu-celeste-ng-prominent-asian-americans-endorse-elizabeth-n1120721 Constance Wu, Celeste Ng, prominent Asian Americans endorse Elizabeth Warren More than 100 Asian-American and Pacific Islander creatives, activists, and academics endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate on Thursday. I thought WTF has any of this to do with Yuzuru Hanyu? I looked at the list of prominent Asian Americans and came upon Courtney Milan: Courtney Milan (CO), New York Times best-selling author; Former SCOTUS Clerk Turned #metoo Agitator, #1 Yuzuru Hanyu Fan This is a very interesting person. Read the Wikipedia article about her. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Courtney_Milan Courtney Milan is listed in the 30 Romance Authors of Colour You Should Be Reading. http://twincitiesgeek.com/2019/12/30-romance-authors-of-color-you-should-be-reading/ Author, advocate, attorney, and dinosaur emoji connoisseur. Milan has written both contemporary and historical romance, including the recent Mr. Martin's Incomparable Adventure and The Countess Conspiracy. She also sews replica figure skating outfits for Pooh dolls to throw onto the ice for Yuzuru Hanyu. She was at the 2019 ACI in Oakville. Her Facebook post of September 14, 2019 about “some thoughts/feelings about the experience of seeing Yuzuru Hanyu in person this week.” facebook.com/courtneymilanauthor/posts/okay-some-thoughtsfeelings-about-the-experience-of-seeing-yuzuru-hanyu-in-person/2943886545625634/ OK, some thoughts/feelings about the experience of seeing Yuzuru Hanyu in person this week. 1. He is much more magnetic in person than I can describe. It was physically hard to look somewhere else. And it’s not just because I’m totally in the tank for him. I wanted to watch Junhwan’s run through and started doing so, but “bam” back to Yuzu. 2. He’s “really” cute, and I don’t mean his physical features (although that, too) – he has a sense of humor to his physical movements in practice, when he messes something up? It’s like his body expresses what he’s feeling. He tells jokes without words. 3. He’s probably the single most expressive person I have ever seen. His ability to communicate clear thoughts with facial expressions/line of his body/eyes is not paralleled. There was a point where he pushed right up against the hockey glass, back to it, and stared down at the ice, and just the way it...felt. I knew he was waiting for there to be a clear path so he could to his step sequence, and lo. I’m not sure “how” he communicated this, but he did. Yuzu came and leaned against the glass on this side of the arena and the entire audience leaned toward him. Courtney Milan's Tweet January 8, 2020: Courtney Milan dedicated her novel Mr. Martin's Incomparable Adventure to Yuzuru Hanyu. https://books.google.ca/books?id=UCuODwAAQBAJ&pg=PT3&lpg=PT3&dq=courtney+milan+Yuzuru+Hanyu&source=bl&ots=z68R3_wPOe&sig=ACfU3U2ZomhmsLRAUxdca17yfYMkfV7tgQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj5_9q-3JrnAhVOgp4KHWbLC7wQ6AEwEnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=courtney milan Yuzuru Hanyu&f=false For Yuzuru Hanyu – the eternal proof that not all men also a very good source of calming videos (again the sea of flags from Japan what can he produce lying in fifth place?)

Sacrilege!!! It’s like taking Michelangelo’s David and dressing it up with Miss Havisham’s tangerine loungewear.

We are running a little bit late today. We are in a hotel in Campbell River, British Columbia with our friend Jason (who some of you met at ACI and Kelowna) and we are leaving for his Dad’s shortly to open presents and have a big Christmas turkey dinner with all the trimmings. WISHING YUZU, TEAM BRIAN AND ALL THE SATELLITES A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

NBCSports.com looks back at the 2010s decade this week. Here are 10 Winter Olympic athletes who dominated the last 10 years. Yuzuru Hanyu, Japan Figure Skating 2014, 2018 Olympic champion First skater to score 100 points in a short program, 200 in a free skate, 300 overall Hanyu, then 14, was 12th at the 2009 World Junior Championships won by Adam Rippon. The next season, he was the world junior champion, setting the tone for a quadrennium in which he would rise to become the second teen to win the Olympic men's singles title. From there, Hanyu combined jumping and artistry like no other skater, winning two world titles, another Olympic title and, the last five years, never finishing worse than second in a competition. https://olympics.nbcsports.com/2019/12/17/mikaela-shiffrin-shaun-white-winter-olympians-2010s-decade/

Ghislain is back from Korea. He said that he is leaving tomorrow with Brian and Yuzu for the Japanese Nationals. That was the message on Saturday. So, if things have not changed, both Brian and Ghislain should be with Yuzu at the Japanese Nationals.

Russian article regarding the Grand Prix Final. This quotation is regarding the Gala exhibition programs of Yuzu and Nathan Chen (Google translate). “In the final show of the Grand Prix series, two indicative numbers performed by two prominent figure skaters did not leave anyone indifferent. “As in competitions, the audience was presented with two philosophies of figure skating – a vision of ice art from the god of figure skating Yuzuru Hanyu, as well as a show from a neighbor’s boy, Nathan Chen, fearlessly climbing the heights of Olympus.” https://www.sports.ru/tribuna/blogs/prostoprosport/2667221.html

Article regarding Google Search 2019: "First responders who have saved countless lives and public figures, including Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu and BTS are also featured in this video. To say that this video will leave you in tears is an understatement since it is basically just a collection of everything awesome and wholesome in 2019." https://www.scoopwhoop.com/news/this-tearjerker-video-of-google-year-in-recap-shows-we-were-all-in-search-of-heroes-in-2019/

More details of Hanyuconomy at work in Kelowna. https://globalnews.ca/news/6288882/kelowna-skate-canada-international-economic-activity-report/

When my wife and I were guests at the TCC on the Monday following the 2019 ACI, Yuzu came in for what Ghislain described as a "short practice" and skated for an hour. So it's probably true that he usually skates a couple of hours a day.

"...by universal custom, your enemy is never more polite than when he is planning or has planned your destruction." A character in James Clavell's novel, "Shogun"

Yuzu, I am a loss for words today. An unusual condition for a trial lawyer… Today you demonstrated everything that you are... Determination and perseverance in the face of adversity, gracious acceptance of bitter results, kindness to your rivals, appreciation for your fans, a positive outlook for the future… You are only 25 years old, but mature beyond your years. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Regarding the birthday song issue, I think it's a tempest in a teapot, but the best thing is to ask Yuzu what he thinks. Relying on cultural generalizations and the assumed opinion of Japanese fandom does not mean that Yuzu feels the same way. He is one-of-a-kind, after all. Edit: Speaking of Japanese cultural generalizations, there is that well-known phrase that you don't want to be the nail that sticks out, otherwise you get smacked. Well, Yuzu sticks out a mile especially with that long neck of his. As a another generalization, Japanese people tend to conform and avoid being the centre of attention. Well, being the centre of attention was the very reason why Yuzu loved figure skating.

My opinion as to why Yuzu brought back PW as his gala exhibition program is that he was taking this opportunity to exorcise all of his past Skate Canada International demons. Yuzu skated PW as his short program in the 2013 Skate Canada International and did a less-than-perfect quad toe, but the killer was the triple Lutz that he popped into a single although he managed to add the combo toe. Remember how Brian tried to talk to Yuzu in the Kiss and Cry and Yuzu was having none of it? He was totally inconsolable. He had this mega-kuyashi face and when Brian put his left arm behind his back, Yuzu looked back as if to say, "WTF are you doing with your arm behind my back?" He went so far as to jam his Winnie the Pooh tissue box between him and Brian. Here is the 2013 SP PW with British Eurosport commentary:

I don’t think that thrift and efficiency are the reasons for Yuzu recycling his programs. He is a multimillionaire and money is no object. I don’t think that efficiency even plays a part in his thinking. I believe that Yuzu is one of those very rare people who have the ability to envision his life long term and perhaps even his destiny and meticulously plan steps to accomplish that vision. I don’t think that he is influenced by fan comments or any other extraneous pressures. I believe that he sets goals for himself and any pressure that he feels is that which comes from within. He wants technical and artistic perfection and he wants to win. If he decides to continue to work on Otonal and Origin, he has clear, specific ideas as to what he wants to accomplish with them and when he does, he is going to blow everyone’s minds.

The reason I say that Yuzuru Hanyu is the Miyamoto Musashi of figure skating is not just because of his prowess in his art and his abilities as a tactician and strategist, but because of his absolute dedication to continually improving his art to the exclusion and sacrifice of everything else in his life. I quoted @Sombreuil because of her description of Yuzuru as “this figure skating hermit pursuing his skating goals and his degree to the exclusion of everything else.” Miyamoto Musashi was the same. He spent his entire life pursuing perfection as a swordsman forsaking everything else. He did not lead armies. His battles were one-to-one. As a swordsman, he is considered the greatest of all time – the GOAT. He was also a philosopher and has many famous sayings regarding overcoming obstacles and oneself similar to the intelligent thoughts and sayings of Yuzu. The book “Musashi” by Eiji Yoshikawa translated into English is entertaining, interesting and informative. Once you start reading it, you cannot put it down. I have both the hardcover and Kindle versions. Highly recommended. https://www.amazon.ca/Musashi-Epic-Novel-Samurai-Era/dp/156836427X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Miyamoto+Musashi&qid=1573111040&sr=8-1

As I've said before, Yuzuru Hanyu is the Miyamoto Musashi of figure skating.

They sure do. Without having to pay any endorsement fees. Very slick. They are definitely cute and Yuzu may or may not be delighted, but I’m not sure I can be as positive as @Old Cat Lady.

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In some scenes, Melanie Griffith looked like a pro NFL linebacker…

À la Melanie Griffith in “Working Girl”…

They raided Miss Havisham’s boudoir again!

@Henni147 didn't you mean to say: "I don't think that the ISU would ever make a rule change in favor of Yuzuru Hanyu. The 20% punishment of sequences and ridiculously low BV of the 4A just shows their deep love for Axels Yuzuru Hanyu...

They were in quiet awe of their Kitty Overlord.

Because Yuzu is the GOAT! SHIJO SAIKO! (I don’t know how to put the bars over the O’s in the Romaji.)

The head of the JSF, Seiko Hashimoto, hates Yuzu. I am not sure of the basis for this hatred. I don’t know whether this has anything to do with the fact that she is enamored with Daisuke Takahashi and hates Yuzu for surpassing him. It may also have something to do with the fact that Yuzu is an outlier and not associated with the main skating centers in Japan. There was a scandal in 2014 after the Sochi Olympics when she was accused of sexual harassment when she was seen forcing herself on Daisuke Takahashi and kissing him when it was obvious that he was trying to resist her advances. It really irked me when I saw Seiko Hashimoto sitting next to Yuzu when he received The People’s Honor Award. There was no reason for her to be there since this was a personal honour that was being bestowed upon Yuzu. The only reason for her being there was to try to take some reflective credit for Yuzu’s accomplishments. She didn’t take any part in the ceremonies and was completely ignored by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. You could see that Yuzu was not happy and I think this had everything to do with her being there. I definitely believe that these moves are deliberately directed against Yuzu.