memae

I'm celebrating by having a cup of tea from my mug with StickFigureSkating's image of Yuzu picking up Poohs after 4CC Chopin.

I think he's not using the right choreographer(s) to bring out the best of him with his style, particularly in the free. His contemporary style has room for a lot of elegance and for creating mesmerising moments in simplicity. I find him quite musical but I don't see him play to that strength. I wish he would just hold his edges, do some moves other than a spread eagle, and take his time to hold positions and fill the music with his movements. I think Marie-France was a good fit for him. That Land of All program didn't have a whole lot to it but I think it had some very beautiful moments (and I just loved how quiet the music was while he was in the air on the first jump) that I think showed a glimpse of what he could do. Whether he could sustain such skating across an entire program the way Yuzu and Jason do and still land all those jumps is uncertain, but he certainly isn't skating to his particular PCS strengths at the moment and it's a pity not to see him reach his potential. Shae is good for his short programs (Nemesis and Caravan were pretty good). The Elton John last season was fun but the novelty has worn off now. He needs to stop trying to be so cool (makes me think of Evan Lysacek ugh) and aim for sophisticated contemporary minimalist kind of stuff. It seems like such a waste to see him skate the way he has been lately. His giant wins aren't exciting (overscoring aside) because his programs aren't captivating. I think it's especially frustrating because it just makes it so obvious that he's not showing the level of skill other top skaters are except in one area and he's outscoring them by miles because the judges and the system value the jumping so far beyond the ability to skate in a way that shows true mastery of technique and control of one's body.

I know he watched Yuzu and Shoma because they're his competitors but I also get the feeling that they all just really like watching each other skate because they love their sport.

In Australia you get a free pass to punch someone on the first day of the month by saying "Pinch and a punch for the first of the month" (so you also get to pinch them), but if the other person says "white rabbit" and crosses their fingers then you're not allowed. Rabbits are lucky - think of the symbolism of a rabbit's foot.

I was supposed to be in Jakarta to work on my thesis around this time but, obviously, can't travel due to Covid. While I'm glad to be healthy and safe, I wish I was in Jakarta eating mie Aceh with friends (one of my friends is from Aceh so I go by his recommendations of where is best in JKT). I hope it was wonderful! Hopefully the new year brings us all better things and a return to what we probably had taken for granted. The ability to see our friends near and far, to see our favourite skaters compete in person or at all. I hope to see what Yuzu can make his two new programs into - they are wonderful, of course, but we all know the kind of magic he can somehow breathe into programs once he's had some time with them even when it didn't seem like there was room for improvement before.

Because no other sport has Yuzu

I'm already tired of people calling Heaven and Earth boring because the music doesn't follow a western structure. I just mentioned it on a post of facebook and got replies back saying the music was mediocre background music or something and that the issue was that the music is boring, not that it's Japanese because they liked Seimei, so obviously the issue isn't cultural differences. But western music often builds and has climatic moments, just like western stories. I can speak more to stories than music because my academic fields lend more to that. But in western stories there's a clear beginning, build of tension, climax, and ending (if the climax isn't the end). We feel like stories are incomplete or not true stories if they're missing those parts of the structure. Traditional stories in Australia (where I'm from) tend to be very circular (rather than linear, as I suppose we can conceptualise western stories) and often don't have any tension or climax. When they're written into children's books, they're often westernised and those features are built into them so few people end up appreciating them as they truly are. I think that's something that happens with music choices in skating. People don't get it, they refuse to acknowledge their cultural bias, and they write off a program because they didn't think there was anything more to it for them to understand. One thing that really annoyed me was the flack Rika got for the green of her costume last year. I read in multiple places that the colour had a significance and symbolism in Japan that was entirely overlooked by western skating audiences. Yuzu's interview/comments about the music choice are very informative. About the sacrifice of battle rather than the battle itself. It's quite important then with that perspective that the music is introspective and doesn't build to a big moment because that's not what it's about. I saw someone's interpretation of the ending pose of him putting his sword back up. That interpretation is possible because the music seems to invite the listener to think about finding peace with/from their past. How could you convey that with music that has the chaos of a western-styled series of crescendos and build that so many people seem to think he should be skating to?

That could help explain her trip to Japan. Either desperate hope or issues with the show company and insurance or even a combination of the two. I think she's been mismanaged by people above her - agents, RusFed, etc. I'm sure she made some bad decisions herself but there were definitely professionals in management who were governing her choices who messed up too.

The clips Nam has been posting of his skating lately have been so beautiful. Has anyone else noticed how much he seems to have grown into himself? He's always been one of my favourites and I've always loved how fun he is while he skates but it's like he just flipped a switch and decided to leave his goofiness off the ice for a moment to reveal this breathtaking side of his skating self. I hestitate to use the word 'sensual' because of the connotations, but it really kind of is. I still love a fun Nam program but it is really nice to see him skate like this too. It surprised me in a way - like that he chose to skate like this, not that I didn't think he could. It'll be an interesting next season between the Canadian guys if they all get through this weird season okay and then flourish.

I bought a coffee cup with this printed onto it from the artist's store. It makes my mornings much better but it was especially nice to have a coffee in it on his birthday.

His fingers are so beautiful here. It reminds me of being 4 or 5 years old and trying to copy the way my ballet teacher held her hands.

I lowkey love that social media allows the two Brians to publicly interact in a friendly way decades after their rivalry. I think it sets a good example for current athletes - you're not always going to be competing, and one day you might be able to get along really well with someone if you don't let the competition you have with them interfere with your sportsmanship and values. It's the same values we see and hear about underpinning the way TCC fosters athletic progress - healthy mind, happy heart, hard work. Elite sport bolstered by kindness.

I agree about 4Lo, even though he really doesn't like it. I think Yuzu landing 5 quads, practising that 4A, and landing the 3A-3A in practice at GPF made him really realise that 5 quads isn't going to be enough. Of course, he knows better than anyone that a bad skate can happen but he also knows that those are not a strategy to bank on (as in, he will always train and compete as though everyone will have the skate of their life, rather than hoping to win because his opponent had a fall or pop or something). He knows that Yuzu has GOE and PCS over him. When Yuzu showed he could do 5 quads he showed that he can also match (and potentially better) him for TES. When Yuzu said he hoped to do all quads, including the axel, in a program in that press conference I think Nathan immediately realised he meant it and that if anyone can see such a thing through, it's Yuzu. It's a bit funny because he had just been talking about how much he hated 4Lo but as soon as Yuzu said that, Nathan probably knew he'd have to start training 4Lo again. I also think when there was that scoring change flip-flop and Lz dropped in value, that Nathan probably saw that the 4Lo increase was a way to even out the dip in points for the Lz. I'd say he'd probably hoped to have avoided 4Lo for the rest of his career but has realised he needs it. I'm certain we'll see it again. I think he just bludged on those spins. His spins have never been the best but these ones really struck me as a choice. I sure hope so.

This look is Boyfriend on Date Night. Not too formal for dancing after a fancy dinner.

TCC rink is a little under-sized!

I thought it was something about your weight needing to be over a blade if you're going to touch the ice with another part of your body. I watched Nathan's slide from his free last season again and again because his blades touch the ice but his weight didn't seem distributed on them so much as his hand. I couldn't find anything in the ISU rules about it and I definitely looked. I think so long as it's not specifically banned like a backflip and it's obviously choreographic, it's okay. Kind of like how Yuzu's delayed single axel doesn't count as a jump pass because it's noted and recognised as choreo.

It's a good PR move on Eteri's part. It brings the conversation back to her, away from Plushenko, and in a good way. If Zhenya skates well in her upcoming events, it'll look like Eteri got her there. Plus, being the one to offer help really makes Eteri look like the bigger person. It helps them both out (Zhenya needs the politicking to get through her events so she can go to nationals).

I hope it's just while she's in Russia. She seemed so happy and healthy and strong in Canada. I hope she gets these competitions out of the way and goes back.

I wonder if they're often not pure yuzu. I often add a bit of orange when I make lemon curd if I know kids are going to be eating it just to reduce the tartness. I have never used yuzu in cooking but when I make marmalade I often boil citrus fruit whole, then take of the peel and remove the pith (grapefruit I find needs a second soaking after removing some of the pith just because it's so thick). And then I segment the fruit, add the sugar, and let it macerate overnight before boiling it down the next day. Perhaps with yuzu macerating will draw the flavour into the sugar so then when the jam is made the fruit can be strained out to reduce the tartness. Honey is good too for cutting the tartness - I think it would go nicely with yuzu although my go-to with really sour citrus is always to add an orange (except with limes because their flavour is too different).

I find everyone is pretty fair here. I've barely seen criticism of other skaters that I would say was out of line or uncalled for. I'm not quiet about the fact that I am a fan of Nathan as well as Yuzu and no one here has ever jumped on me for it (I do, even as someone who quite likes his style, lament the boring transitions and all the crossovers). People here were upset with Nathan's GPF 19 scores but I think everyone was fair in how they justified their anger over the inflation. No one was just yelling and screaming over it because he won and Yuzu didn't. I can't say the same for every pocket of the internet that figure skating fans and Fanyus frequent. Disagreements here are usually productive and interesting. I'd say that here on PH we're in the healthy range for figure skating fans (our obsession aside, of course).

This was me too. It was a pretty surreal feeling. I felt very lucky to have been able to have everything come together so that I could get to see the GPF 19. Skaters' careers are short, the world is big. The season doesn't line up with the school calendar at all and I live in the worst place in the world if you want to travel easily to events. Plus, it can be hard to get tickets to see him. It did really feel like lots of things lined up for me. I remember seeing him and thinking about how it finally all came together and I wasn't going to miss out on the chance to see him compete. So it was like I was stunned to see him in person because one, it's Yuzuru Hanyu in the flesh and two, so many things had to work out for me to be able to be there. I was also stoked to get to see Nathan, P/C, Sui/Han, and all the ladies. It was like a multi-day out-of-body experience.

Yeah, I have found T-stops the easiest on inlines. It feels so clunky. Like skating in moonboots lol. But out of habit I keep trying to stop like I would on the ice and hurtling over. I am not game to try spins or jumps. It's just been nice to glide around when I haven't been able to get to the ice. But yes, everything seems harder than it does on ice. It's just a lot more effort to try and do anything (except mohawks for some reason).

I live quite far from the nearest rink so I've been doing some roller lessons the past couple of weeks and boy is it weird. I keep forgetting and trying to turn or stop like I would on the ice and scaring myself by tripping. I was also surprised by how wobbly I felt trying to stay on one foot for spirals - I thought the larger surface area of the wheels would make it easier, but I think I was missing the security of having edges. I did get to the ice again this weekend and it didn't feel right so I'm not sure I'll keep going inline skating. I was having a lot of trouble with spread eagles, which may have been from a big legs session at the gym on Friday (I went up another 20kgs for leg press - I'm still sore today lol) but I'm also wondering if it's because I got a bit too used to doing it in the inlines. Has anyone else had trouble going back and forth from wheels to ice?

That we know of. Our little secret squirrel quite possibly has landed it and has just decided to keep it to himself.

He's such a good egg.