river

I think I’m about 15 years too old to be an Eteri girl.

Well, given that historically, the bonus questions haven’t been my strong point and there are 10 of them this time (and the fields are stronger and therefore less predictable) I’d say there’s a decent chance it’ll happen. At least we aren’t going back to Canada for the GPF. But if I have to take on the Canadian curse so that Yuzu can finally win, I’ll do it.

He mentioned the Jaybird Tarah Pro at FaOI Makuhari last offseason, and like the fanyu I am, I bought a pair. They aren't too expensive (around $160), and they are amazing. They aren't totally wireless, but they hold a charge for 14 hours (can charge 2 hours of battery life in 5 minutes if you're in a hurry) and don't budge when I wear them while running. The sound quality is great, as you would expect from a pair that an audiophile like Yuzu recommended.

I think you might have misunderstood your ingredients a little! Hot Tamales are a chewy cinnamon-flavored candy, not to be confused with a regular tamale. I highly recommend you try both at some point, but not at the same time, and certainly not in your hot chocolate.

Whipped cream, chocolate chips, and coconut flakes. That actually doesn't sound horrible. I might try it! Although Yuzu's sounds a bit much by that chart. He'd have Hershey kisses (would that be a violation of his contract with Lotte???), chocolate truffles, and chili powder. That sounds like a LOT... would he be drinking it or eating it?

NBC is not broadcasting any galas, they confirmed that with me via email prior to Skate America. That’s ridiculous that they’re copyright striking something they have no intention of airing. Yes, they technically have broadcast rights, but they aren’t going to use them, it doesn’t hurt them at all to allow galas on Youtube. The copyright enforcement has gotten so strict this season. I’ve always been a fairly vocal advocate of subscribing to their service to financially support FS in the USA rather than using a VPN, but that sort of bad behavior, combined with the fact that VPN+Youtube is a superior product, makes me seriously consider just using the free stream next season. The NBC interface is so unwieldy and freezes so often. (Have you ever tried to go back and rewatch an element? What an exercise in frustration.) The only thing you miss out on with that is US domestic comps, and I don’t care about those at all.

No, as long as Nathan finishes second (and I can't imagine it won't be either Yuzu/Nathan or Nathan/Yuzu), he'll have 4730 points to Yuzu's 4709.

Interesting time for a coaching change between Sectionals and Nationals. I wonder what's behind the mid-season shakeup?

Did they really make him wear three different versions of the old lady pajamas? Please tell me this is photoshopped. Yuzu deserves better... and Yuzu deserves a lot of money for having images of him in that... attire... published.

Ooh, these bonus questions are tricky. Q2 in particular is making me waffle back and forth about what I would recommend if I were on the TCC coaching team. And Q5... well, I was wrong about the gala at SCI, but given that I've never been happier to be wrong about something in my life (I still have not recovered from seeing PW live), my feelings won't be hurt if I get it wrong again. Also, @Sukigirl... I think I'm 1+2 now? See you in Italy!

Have you forgotten what Lotte had him wearing over the summer?

Congratulations Sasha!

Not Japan junior nationals related, I know, but this just popped up on my Instagram feed and I am impressed. How do these kids find the time to be so multitalented?

Well - he doesn't officially dislike anything, but he's made a whole new category for "really like." I suspect he just didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings by saying he didn't like a piece of music they were suggesting, especially if he gave the ratings back to them after he was done listening. So everything he didn't like probably got that same "ehhhhhh, it was okay........" that you give a friend when they've suggested a movie or a book that you didn't enjoy. Also, to lurker Yuzu: please, please no Chariots of Fire. But in the interest of not being a giant hypocrite, I will say that I think he's earned the right to skate to whatever he darn well pleases, and even if it's something I find unbearably cheesy, I'll still be there clapping until my hands hurt and cheering until I go hoarse to support him. Edit: @rockstaryuzu I just went back and looked. It is indeed Chariots of Fire, which is 炎のランナー in Japanese. I am deeply concerned that he gave it a single circle.

This weekend is Eastern Sectionals in the US. Gracie's there and she needs to place at least 4th (and make the total TES cap of 75) to get to Nationals. She was third at Regionals. I hope she does well - even if her season ends this weekend, I wish her the best personally and hope to see her back on the national stage again someday once she's ready.

I just realized I did my predictions on three hours of sleep and forgot to put in alternates in case someone withdraws. I've submitted them now, I hope it isn't too late.

So... I went from usually middle of the pack (with a Skate Canada disaster) to gold? Much like the real thing, our Cup of China was unpredictable, too.

The GP series started in 1995, so I've started looking then. At the very least, nobody else who has won a GP event (and is not making their senior debut this year, because that's just not enough data for a meaningful comparison) has managed to never finish off the podium. So far, I haven't found anyone other than Yuna. Plushy's consistency is a marvel to behold, though. In all of his competitive career, he finished off the senior podium five times: RusNats 95-96 and 96-97, Cup of Russia 96, Finlandia 96, and WC 2000. All of that in a career spanning (albeit not consecutively) almost twenty years.

It's been two weeks and we're losing it. Yuzu, please, the cacti need watering. Well, some poor social media intern at the ISU is going to have some explaning to do. It looks like they just uploaded a ton of their old (pre-editing) videos - the one of Javi going over one of his costumes is hilarious. But the 2017 GPF qualified men's video does put how much the field has changed into pretty sharp relief - out of Nathan, Shoma, Boyang, Adam, Misha, and Uncle Sergei, Nathan is the only one with a realistic chance of making the final. Everyone else is injured, retired, or had a rough go their first GP event this season.

I guessed based on if all of the men show up and skate as well as they can - we all know we won't get that lucky, but it's just as likely as anything else to happen, I suppose? This is probably the most unpredictable field of the entire GP series. (I can't guess based on what I want to happen. I have a solid track record of jinxing my men's silver medalist, so that's a guaranteed way to make sure it won't happen. So far that's been Boyang, Matteo, and Shoma.)

This is impossible. The men’s field is full of beautiful headcases who could be either first or twelfth. (Maybe not literally twelfth, but you get the idea.) Usually I have some idea how things are going to go, but I truly have no clue this time.

I love it. I'm terrible with names - it's a struggle for me to learn anyone's real name. I've met some of the people on here twice and I'm still not totally sure what everyone's name is! Although at ACI, I learned that I respond just as well to being called river as I do my own name. Not sure what that says about the amount of time I spend on here.

Looks like it. There are a lot of accounts that have reposted it, but the official OIP link is down. And it’s not posted on Jordan’s Patreon page either. I wonder what happened?

I somehow landed a flip last night... my half flips were feeling good so I gave it a try. I probably tried around 15-20 tries, most of which were two-footed landings. But there was one that was actually okay? It was fully rotated with a running edge out. Of course, none of my friends were looking. I probably won’t land another one for another month or so, though. It felt like such a fluke.

@Veveco barely beat me to posting. We've asked for On Ice Perspectives and Yuzu for so long... and we get PW in UA.