rockstaryuzu

No, I meant number of pages. There's already 5000 satellites and counting. If everyone did a page with that template, we're into encyclopedia territory.

I have to say Origin is my favorite of this season, although I'm pretty sure it hasn't been skated to it's full potential ...yet. (because who knows- maybe we'll see it again.) I like it because it puts away the cute boy he was and brings forth the very passionate man that he is clearly becoming. To me it represents everything that Yuzu is as a competitor - all the fierceness, all the strength - and puts it together in a fresh way. I like that you can see a story in the music and you can see the music in his movements. I know Yuzu didn't really intend for this program to be a tribute to Nijinsky, but I'd wager good money that if Nijinsky were alive to see it, he'd recognize himself in it. (Aside: It would be interesting to hear male lead ballet dancers assess men's figure skating from a ballet perspective. I wonder what they'd think of the performances.) Otonal I admire objectively, but it isn't my cup of tea generally speaking. What I love about Otonal is that you can so clearly see that Yuzu loves skating it, especially that step sequence. And the hydroblade leap is to die for. All in all, H&L at WC17 is still tops for me of all Yuzu's performances, and Olys Seimei and all the LGC's are still my faves of his competition programs. Now, HYK I very much like. It's the nicest of his recent exes, IMO. It's delicate and lovely and has just the right amount of content to hold your interest, without being too much for an ex. I hope it sticks around for a while.

Yeah, he made it completely obvious at the WC gala. Ice-chan must be pleased.

I think ACI is only a weekend earlier than it was last year...I guess that's a lot at the beginning of the season, though.

In reality I'm literally old enough to be his mom, so these posts are purely for the sake of the laughs...

I like it, but if you do a page like this for everyone, how big is the book going to be?

I think if you wrote Yuzu's story as fiction, no one would ever believe it. Especially all the misfortune.

Yes, I think height and strength and a willingness to lift him will definitely be a requirement for any bride of his . . . Have I mentioned that I'm tall for a woman and can deadlift 120lbs with ease?

I think I might go for a hotel this time, even though they're further away... I liked my AirBnB last year but I felt really weird about staying in someone's house like that.

Must have been, because Keegan and Nam were also there.

Yes. However I noticed last year that Gabby went to an even smaller competition in Scarborough or Yorkville (which are both even closer to TCC than Oakville)... can't remember where exactly. So there are other competitions they could use for the purposes of first pancakery.

But the reality is that in Canada and the US, the current system for skater development is something that grew organically over the past 50 - 100 years, with periodic investment from various levels of government. And in Russia, the Soviet system of training athletes the way one might recruit and train an army has shaped the system they have today. And even then, the only one of those three that reliably produces top athletes is the Russian one. And all three countries are winter countries to begin with, where most of the people go out and do things like skating for relaxation and enjoyment every day, and there's a large base of athletes to choose from. If JSF is trying to do it from scratch according to some artificial template of success, they have their work cut out for them and no mistake.

Honestly, who knows? Brian's strategy is to get his skaters out early so they have time to work out the problems with their new programs before hitting big international competitions but it doesn't necessarily have to be at ACI.

Arrgghh. Oakville again? That place is a hotel room desert! Although I am glad they've moved it up a weekend. I notice Cup of China is back. I guess they and the Chinese fed have sorted out their differences. I would have thought they'd stick with Helsinki though.

It's not lost on me that they don't even mention Hanyu's name there, just say 'current era'....just a touch of microaggression there, hmm?

Wow. Do they not understand that a)megastars aren't made, they just happen, and b ) you have to have one first (Yuzu) in order for there to be more? That explains why Shoma's suddenly being pushed forward more... they're hoping for magic lightning to strike a second time. My fear is that they start thinking they can manufacture skating stars like pop idols, Johnny's-style.

There was someone at ACI who gifted him a stained glass feather she had made ( it went in the box for him, not on the ice!). She showed it to me and it was lovely.

Just add the Planet Hanyu logo somewhere and we're done!

He's so excited he got Shuzo all wound up too. Why on earth are we worrying? AS long as the boy can get his ankle back it'll be fine.

Look at us all. 12 hours ago we were all wringing our hands and crying (cue New Jersey accent) "No, Yuzu baby, don't do it! You'll break your legs! Don't 4F, I'm tellin' ya!" ...and now we giving him... Ideas. Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, Acceptance -- we just blew threw them all like an Indy car at a stoplight, didn't we?

Just goes to show, there's always a silver golden lining...