Sombreuil

Very unpleasant- responded to what I could as requested. Can’t help feeling that Chukyo sweeping the board in the men’s category was a bad sign, but I’m feeling end of year pessimistic. I feel for the likes of Shun Sato who isn’t from an accepted skating tradition and imo getting penalised in scoring as a result. Depressing. At least no one can dispute sales figures for Repray.

Uno - I have no words and not in a good way. Martina Frammartino’s slow motion captures say it all for me. Lambiel as an apologist- not a good look. Disappointing. Kaori Sakamoto is a force of nature-my tastes are quite diverse, I can appreciate and enjoy Mai Mihara and at the same time enjoy the sheer athleticism and joie de vivre of Kaori - and her smile lights up the stadium. It’s athleticism of a very particular sort - there’s no strain or struggle or awkward movement when she’s really on song. She may not do the quads or the 3A but she’s strong, smooth and delightful to watch - infinitely preferable to the flailing telegraphed movements of others. So pleased to see Mone Chiba doing well too. Really pleased to see new ice dance teams doing well and particularly pleased to see Utashin thriving with their new partners. Hoping very much that upcoming teams can take on the progress made by R&R - Ryuichi won’t skate forever and they could do with getting some new teams up to the point of qualifying for international competition.

Cultural minefield - we should all tread carefully

It’s a cultural minefield and as a European all I can do is express my sorrow at the situation they have found themselves in, and my hope that they can navigate their way out of it with as little damage to themselves as possible. If Yuzuru were to feel that withdrawal from the whole s******w was the answer I would support him wholeheartedly - equally if he chooses to carry on I will continue to buy tickets to watch him. I am perfectly willing to boycott whatever agency / agencies have been behind what sounds like a concerted, targeted and vicious campaign if anyone has the evidence to show us who to target.

I have no words…

I missed Skate America last weekend- away with no Wi-Fi + this weekend away again - got Wi-Fi but v busy. Delighted by Sota doing so well - really like all the top 3 - and pleased with the ladies too. Hope to actually watch it once I get home. Away again next weekend- quite relaxing being interested but not obsessed with catching every practice etc. In the past I remember painting the kitchen with one eye on the iPad and one on what I was doing - v dangerous, nearly fell off a ladder. Now I can wait til I get home on Tuesday and catch up at my leisure. Obviously I’d prefer to watch live and should be able to after next weekend. Hope they all do themselves justice in the free, and really hope Roman gets better soon.

https://x.com/sadovskies/status/1697758784314081281?s=61&t=LPBQhZsM7i_sLGPshDEfRw

Zero chance of seeing any of these but fervently hoping for an accessible live streaming of it - and reasonably hopeful of getting it after last time.

https://x.com/kattwts/status/1691427225453625344?s=61&t=LPBQhZsM7i_sLGPshDEfRw

I was totally surprised, but when I thought about it, it made perfect sense. Somewhere - it might have been in one of the Canadian interviews or possibly the show on Spanish TV about Fernandez - he spoke in English (which we know is not his preferred method of communication) and said that when he went to Canada it was difficult because he was used to being in Japan, speaking Japanese with his family and friends. We know it’s an extremely difficult language interface between western languages and Far Eastern ones, plus a cultural divide, add in a killer workload (athletic and university distance learning) and with hindsight it’s not extraordinary that even if he was inclined to socialise, which he doesn’t seem to have been, he wouldn’t be able to make much more than a fairly shallow connection with someone who wasn’t Japanese, because for all his gifts, facility with foreign languages is definitely not one of them, and he had very little free time. He went back to Japan when most of the world locked down and has been there ever since; he finished his degree, there were no competitions to work for, so he has had time to reconnect or make new connections with people who have a similar cultural background and with whom he is reliably able to follow all the nuances of conversation because they are all Japanese. It must have been like bursting out of a straight jacket, and again with hindsight, that feeling of freedom might have influenced his decision after Beijing, because being part of JSF and under ISU - he was wearing two straight jackets for years. Having shed both of them it’s not astonishing if he made a connection with an existing or new contact, and given the way he and his family have handled his career so far a low key announcement seems perfectly in character, and totally understandable.

I think the reaction of certain parts of the fandom comes partly from those who came to the sport from the ‘idol’ perspective, which I don’t fully understand but believe carries with it a sense of almost ownership of performers and something akin to hysteria when they change tack or show signs of maturing, like getting married, and partly from the Peter Pan lobby who became infatuated with baby Romeo and never quite came to terms with the tough character behind that performance who was already growing up and preparing to travel thousands of miles away from the comfort of home to dedicate years to honing his athletic and artistic abilities in the environment he thought would be best for it. All that perfection on ice didn't magically appear - he said himself it took hard work and sacrifice of normal teenage/ 20s pursuits to achieve. And several times he has told tv presenters and film crews on advertising shoots that he’s an athlete not an idol. As such he has a private life and a right to keep it so. He’s not a reality tv star or a member of a royal family who give up/ never have the privacy the rest of us enjoy. He’s very sensible to draw that line in the sand, he did it from the start and would be mad to stop now. We should all respect that - I think most of us do.

I go away for the weekend and come back to more news! I’m so pleased for him, and wish them both every happiness.

I am away with very spotty Wi-Fi but I LOVE the cover with the jump - I now have a new screensaver.

My dear husband, who has been living with a fanyu since 2015, but I now realise has never actually noticed the lengths I have gone to to see competitions and in the off seasons shows, asked tonight when I was going to watch the FAOI show - the naïveté - I started to try to explain the inexplicable reluctance of Japanese broadcasters to cash in on a certain moneymaker if they would only set up pay per view, but lost him early on. He’s a football fan and a lifelong acquaintance with and loathing of the workings of FIFA make it hard for him to understand a set up where the powers that be for arcane reasons might choose not to wring the last penny out of a moneymaking opportunity.

FAOI has a …..style all its own and has to be seen from that pov. The opening number - meh we’ve seen better we’ve seen worse. The person who likened it to a party bag was spot on - same glittery materials and boxy shape. The finale - someone in the costume set up knows how to cut around a torso and we should all be profoundly grateful to them.