tangodancer208 wrote:

Late to the party as usual!

I just wanted to check in.   Life has been unbelievably hectic.  But all is well.  But I wanted to comment on the Olympics, our boys, and a couple of other things that I only feel comfortable doing here with you all.

Hubby and I watched a lot of the Olympics.   He's French and has grown up around and occasionally playing pétanque.   When he discovered the curling was pretty much pétanque on ice with brooms, he was hooked.  So we watched a lot of that.   I enjoyed the snowboarding, cross country skiing, everything.   Short track speed skating is my least favorite.   The skating was ok.   It was dismaying to see fall after fall after fall by the Americans.   

I loved watching the "Germans" win pairs.   Their programs were breathtaking and their joy palpable, esp. his for her winning a gold.   It was great to see the Shibs win bronze in dance, but it was a shame the others had errors.   I really wanted P+C to win, and they would have, I think, were it not for that costume malfunction in the short program.   I just don't care for V&M AT ALL.   And it's only partly to do with things they said about other couples in the past.      

It was interesting that the French press really played up the costume malfunction.   The designer even went so far as to say it wasn't her fault.   I don't know if it's true or not, but they kept talking about "pressions" which is snaps in French.   There's no way a skating (or dance) costume should have snaps.   Hooks are crucial, IMHO.   Multiple ones.   I know on my dance costumes, I have 2 or 3 hooks at the top of the zipper, even when there's nothing per se to hook.   You never know when a zipper will split.   A hook won't keep that from happening, but it will prevent your dress from falling down!   When the fastener is what's holding your top up, there's no excuse for it to be done with snaps.   Esp. handmade garments.   When you have snaps affixed industrially, like with mass produced clothes, jeans, etc., that's one thing, but they are never as surely attached when it's done manually.   And as you use the costume, snap and unsnap it, they get progressively looser. 

It was nice to see Nathan skate a good free program.   Too bad he was just a little to far behind.   And I would have preferred to see Medvedeva win.   It was interesting that it was hardly mentioned that a 15 year old (the youngest skater that year) "stole" the gold from the reigning ice queen when Tara took gold over Michelle Kwan who was supposed to win.   Of course, they wouldn't do that with her commentating.

I MUCH MUCH preferred Tanith and Scott's commentary to Tara and Johnny.   Tanith was truly exceptional and helped you understand the vaguaries of ice dance scoring.

Didn't watch the gala or the closing ceremonies.   We were in the midst of intense rain, and the satellite kept going off because of the heavy rain.

I'm waiting for my phone call from Val.   He had a deal for VALentine's Day that if you pre-ordered his book, he would call you.   So I had procrastinated and hurried to order the book.   There turned out to be lots more orders than they thought and it's supposed to take him through the 28th to call everyone.   Keeping my fingers crossed.

I was in NYC for a conference earlier this month.   I went for lessons at Soho and Midtown.   One of my favorite teachers, Ivan, just left this morning for LA.  He's going to be on the tour with Maks & Val.   Hubby & I have front row seats for Mar. 20 in Evansville, IN which is closest to us.   I can't wait.

I also scored tickets and got to see Hamilton when I was there.   It was truly amazing, and the time just flew by even though it was 2h45 long and even though I already knew the show very well.

Wish I could get to Vegas to see Tony, but it just won't happen.    

I miss checking in with you all and will try to be more regular about it.

Great to hear from you, Tango!   Agree with you 100% on the costume situation.  She also has what looks like a substantial row of fringes across the chest which would have put extra centrifugal force on the collar as they spin and twizzle.  If what Scott said is true and they had problems with the costume all week and the coach had to 'sew' her in right before the routine, you have to scratch your head that it had to come to this.  

I only caught up on the 2014 olympic skating way after the event and so I'm not in depth familiar what was said by whom about other skaters.  Without that in the back of my mind, I found that Virtue/Moir drew me in the most and they were the ones I wanted to re-watch after the event.  Maybe it is to do with Papadakis/Cizeron having done something similar for three seasons now.  I hope they will expand their range now that the pressure of the olympics is off.  They are magnificent in what they are doing and in how they influenced trends, but I'm greedy and want to see more from them.  *lol*

EDIT:
The audience in the arena reacted much more to Virtue/Moir, too.  Looks like in person, the impression/response can be vastly different.  

Last edited by gabriele (2/25/2018 8:42 pm)

gabriele wrote:

tangodancer208 wrote:

Late to the party as usual!

I just wanted to check in.   Life has been unbelievably hectic.  But all is well.  But I wanted to comment on the Olympics, our boys, and a couple of other things that I only feel comfortable doing here with you all.

Hubby and I watched a lot of the Olympics.   He's French and has grown up around and occasionally playing pétanque.   When he discovered the curling was pretty much pétanque on ice with brooms, he was hooked.  So we watched a lot of that.   I enjoyed the snowboarding, cross country skiing, everything.   Short track speed skating is my least favorite.   The skating was ok.   It was dismaying to see fall after fall after fall by the Americans.   

I loved watching the "Germans" win pairs.   Their programs were breathtaking and their joy palpable, esp. his for her winning a gold.   It was great to see the Shibs win bronze in dance, but it was a shame the others had errors.   I really wanted P+C to win, and they would have, I think, were it not for that costume malfunction in the short program.   I just don't care for V&M AT ALL.   And it's only partly to do with things they said about other couples in the past.      

It was interesting that the French press really played up the costume malfunction.   The designer even went so far as to say it wasn't her fault.   I don't know if it's true or not, but they kept talking about "pressions" which is snaps in French.   There's no way a skating (or dance) costume should have snaps.   Hooks are crucial, IMHO.   Multiple ones.   I know on my dance costumes, I have 2 or 3 hooks at the top of the zipper, even when there's nothing per se to hook.   You never know when a zipper will split.   A hook won't keep that from happening, but it will prevent your dress from falling down!   When the fastener is what's holding your top up, there's no excuse for it to be done with snaps.   Esp. handmade garments.   When you have snaps affixed industrially, like with mass produced clothes, jeans, etc., that's one thing, but they are never as surely attached when it's done manually.   And as you use the costume, snap and unsnap it, they get progressively looser. 

It was nice to see Nathan skate a good free program.   Too bad he was just a little to far behind.   And I would have preferred to see Medvedeva win.   It was interesting that it was hardly mentioned that a 15 year old (the youngest skater that year) "stole" the gold from the reigning ice queen when Tara took gold over Michelle Kwan who was supposed to win.   Of course, they wouldn't do that with her commentating.

I MUCH MUCH preferred Tanith and Scott's commentary to Tara and Johnny.   Tanith was truly exceptional and helped you understand the vaguaries of ice dance scoring.

Didn't watch the gala or the closing ceremonies.   We were in the midst of intense rain, and the satellite kept going off because of the heavy rain.

I'm waiting for my phone call from Val.   He had a deal for VALentine's Day that if you pre-ordered his book, he would call you.   So I had procrastinated and hurried to order the book.   There turned out to be lots more orders than they thought and it's supposed to take him through the 28th to call everyone.   Keeping my fingers crossed.

I was in NYC for a conference earlier this month.   I went for lessons at Soho and Midtown.   One of my favorite teachers, Ivan, just left this morning for LA.  He's going to be on the tour with Maks & Val.   Hubby & I have front row seats for Mar. 20 in Evansville, IN which is closest to us.   I can't wait.

I also scored tickets and got to see Hamilton when I was there.   It was truly amazing, and the time just flew by even though it was 2h45 long and even though I already knew the show very well.

Wish I could get to Vegas to see Tony, but it just won't happen.    

I miss checking in with you all and will try to be more regular about it.

Great to hear from you, Tango!   Agree with you 100% on the costume situation.  She also has what looks like a substantial row of fringes across the chest which would have put extra centrifugal force on the collar as they spin and twizzle.  If what Scott said is true and they had problems with the costume all week and the coach had to 'sew' her in right before the routine, you have to scratch your head that it had to come to this.  

I only caught up on the 2014 olympic skating way after the event and so I'm not in depth familiar what was said by whom about other skaters.  Without that in the back of my mind, I found that Virtue/Moir drew me in the most and they were the ones I wanted to re-watch after the event.  Maybe it is to do with Papadakis/Cizeron having done something similar for three seasons now.  I hope they will expand their range now that the pressure of the olympics is off.  They are magnificent in what they are doing and in how they influenced trends, but I'm greedy and want to see more from them.  *lol*

EDIT:
The audience in the arena reacted much more to Virtue/Moir, too.  Looks like in person, the impression/response can be vastly different.  

HI TANGO!!!!!  I have missed seeing you post (((hugs)))   and I love both of you and Gabriele's thoughts of the Olympics....I am kind of out of the loop with what happened the last week of the competition but I agree with what you both said about the costumes....what were the final medal counts????   and Tango, I am going to the the Orlando stop of the MVP tour too...its on March 30th....can't wait!!!!!  didn't know about the Val calling people who bought his book thing....that one kind of got passed me, or I probably would have gotten his book then....LOL....but oh well....I do think it will be an interesting read though....I wonder if he will do a book signing tour eventually .....hmmmmmm

Last edited by april6263 (2/26/2018 3:13 pm)

CEK40 wrote:

Tony Dovolani‏=@TonyDovolani  Feb 22 So excited to invite you on my “Dancing with Tony Dovolani” cruise on the Caribbean Princess July 14-21, 2018. http://bit.ly/2xgNRN1=0px 


Cruise link...
http://dancingwithtonyd.com/

Awwwww.....Tony is going to be busy.....that's awesome.....I miss seeing him dance

Ok gotta run for a bit....need to get some things done around here....talk to you all soon (((hugs)))