guitarist

Hahahaha that last comment doesn't help, but I gotta admit I enjoy the irony

You guys are making me paranoid, I can't hurt my wrists, I'd be 100% screwed for guitar and piano... Honestly, the first time I hurt my wrists/hands will be the last day I skate, sadly... It's just not worth the risk Sometimes I wish I didn't care about music, I also gave up on rock climbing so it wouldn't kill my fingers... Ah, well. Hopefully I can avoid injury...

The new theme is beautiful!!! I've been admiring the banner every time I check my phone

After several so-so sessions, I had a great one today, I learned backward crossovers! I find them much easier than forward, for some reason... Also, I talked to this guy who's a pretty good skater (he's been skating for a year, but he can do a hydroblade and most single jumps). He says he's not gay, but if Yuzuru asked him to marry him, he'd say yes Wouldn't we all... All in all a good day at the rink

Well, I think the problem with Nate in the clip Floria posted is that he hasn't quite learned that "less is more." I don't think he's incapable of gliding more effortlessly, I think he's trying to look intense because that's what the song is asking for, but he's overdoing it. This translates into skating that looks laboured and rough around the edges. This is a problem common to younger skaters, or any discipline that involves artistry, really. I see this with young classical musicians all the time, for example. In fact, I used to do it too, by accident, which made my poor teacher go . I have high hopes for Nathan becoming a much more complete skater, but I don't really expect that to happen anytime soon. I don't see him as an arrogant skater at all, so I think it's a matter of his team pointing out he has to improve on those skills. Now, whether that will actually happen, when his team is clearly all about making excuses, is a completely different matter...

Also at 8pm for me (assuming I did the math right). I think I'm working from home on Friday in case I have to break out the alcohol for the short

I'm going to need something a liiiiittle bit stronger than wine... Time to bring out the vodka...

Same...

Ugh, had to get one in section 108. Row 11's not that bad, though...

I'm trying to buy the $375 one, but I can't find any

Sorta OT, but I just had my end-of-year compensation meeting and found out what my bonus was. It's decided, I'm going to the GPF this year!

Shoma actually got lv2 at Nationals, and Javi got lv3 at Europeans yesterday In Shoma's case it was entirely justified, he really messed it up. I don't know why, though. Shoma's not exactly known for his footwork, but that day it was especially bad. In Javi's case it's a harder to tell, but it did look a bit sloppier than usual.

Well, to be fair he was, 10-11 when he said that Tbh I'd rather he didn't try, that way he won't completely ruin his knees and he'll skate longer

That's true In any case, I would gladly take these comments from skaters with good SS if it meant I don't have to watch splat fests with UR quads.

The comment about him being the last artistic + technical skater was classic Patrick (in the sense that I felt like punching him on the nose), but the rest of the article was pretty decent. He is a magnificent skater and a joy to watch on the ice, though, so I'll cut him some slack. At the very least he's not going around claiming his quads were fully rotated when they were not.

Yeeeaaaah, gotta get those vodka bottles ready...

Oh, no I hope the treatment goes well.

Omg thanks for reminding me! Hopefully it'll help with the non-stop pain brought by this season...

There was also a fb post about how he was spending New Year's in -20ish degrees, iirc. Or maybe it was Christmas. Either way it doesn't really tell us much, and his answer sounded too vague. I'm not really sure what to think...

Well, he seems to know basically nothing about his competitors (and he admitted as much in the interview), but presumably that comment comes from seeing Yuzu in practice? I hope?

Looks like it, yeah. Well, it's probably a good decision, it's a lot more polished than the Planets. I wonder what he's doing for the SP.

I think that was today?

Ah, Japanese television always makes me think the world sucks just a little bit less. On an unrelated note, this is a long shot, but did anyone happen to read anything in Japanese articles about one of the juniors, Koshiro Shimada? He's training under Lambiel now, and I heard stuff about injuries. He withdrew from junior Nationals, and I don't know why. I'm assuming injury, but I'm wondering whether they even announced the reason. He's currently not a great technical skater, but his step sequences were the only ones I found worth watching during this year's JGP (presumably Lambiel's influence, good job!), so I just hope to see him skating again...

crazykuroneko got the gist of it. Not much else is new. Apparently he plays videogames to relax, and he says he'll play for a while when he's stressed out and that helps him. He says he keeps his daily life separate from the ice. He also thinks the quad race is dangerous because it leads to more falls and more injuries, and that young skaters are doing it without thinking of the consequences. He said "Maybe we're not quite ready for it yet." And that he'd rather skate a clean program. (Javi, I agree 100%...) As for the games, he's aiming to be at 70% for Europeans so he can peak at the Olympics. He said he'd love to medal, as it'd be a great gift for his career (ahhhh, in a tone that implies it's near the end ahhhh), like a "cake with a cherry on top, but there's great cakes without cherries." He once again said that he thinks he's unlikely to make the next Olympics. I can translate the rest, if anyone's interested. I don't want Javi to retire... I hope he'll stay for at least another season, I was really hoping to go see him and Yuzu next year Also he's ridiculously photogenic, how is life fair.

Happy New Year Yuzu and everyone in the planet! Of course this is the first website I check after midnight.