Figure skating! and other stuff, but mostly figure skating.
I am SO not denyeverything1, but I think she's still in the wilderness, so I'm going to attempt an ice skating recap. (Keep in mind I know very little about the edges and can't really tell a lutz from a flip, but I'll do what I can. Also, it's punctuated by my random thoughts and includes other sports and whatever happened to be going on here in my little dark space room.)
(Watched live-on-tape Tuesday night.)
Turkish Girl: Like her outfit. Nice 3-toe/2-toe with the Boitano hand-twirl on the last one… Obviously could use some choreography. Nice 2-axel. Hey, she's standing up and landing nicely on everything; good for her!
Kimmie Meisner: Nice outfit too. Does her 3-lutz/3-toe - apparently the hardest combo in the competition. Wow, didn't know this was her world debut. She's looking very polished, holding her spirals for a long time like Michelle Kwan only not quite as high. A bit off on a spin, just traveled and wobbled a little teensy bit. Looks like she's enjoying her step sequence. Nice job, Kimmie! Her coach: "How'd it feel?" Kimmie: "Unbelievable." Very sweet.
Susanny Poykio, Finland: Don't mind this outfit either, though upon closer inspection I like the bottom better than the top.. Dramatic music. Okay 3-lutz/2-toe. Whew, the music has changed to some nice cocktail music -- is this from "Down With Love??" Lands her 3-flip but dips. Does that holding-the-toe thing that annoys Dick Button so. Step sequence is pretty slow; it's taking her forever to get across the ice! Grabs her toe yet again. Cute. Needs 59.41 to pass Kimmie; she gets 53.74.
Andrea Joyce interviews Kimmie: "It just felt awesome to skate in the Olympics."
Canadian Joannie Rochette: 3-toe/2-toe loop, nice. Her music's a bit boring so far: Hmm, now I realize it's "Like a Prayer." Hand down on the 3-flip. She looks slow because the music's slow, if you ask me. I like the step sequence, goes well w/ the music. However, at the end she skates past the music. I wish that version of "Like a Prayer" had been just a little more exciting. 55.85.
Emily Hughes is riding an exercise bike and listening to music while she waits her turn. Stay warm but don't wear yourself out, Emily!
Where are my dark chocolate m&m's? Why are they hiding from me? I've just had pasta and want my sugar, dangit! Ahhh, found them under a Pottery Barn catalogue. *Whew.* Sadly I'm out of bottled water to wash them down. I will try to survive somehow.
Chevy Olympic Moment: Vonetta Flowers, bobsledder. Her son Jordan is deaf, unlike his twin Jaden. The whole family learned to sign together. Only one doctor in the world -- in Italy -- was willing to operate on Jordan at his age, and 3 weeks ago he responded to sound for the first time. Vonetta's so cute talking about how he's getting more vocal and babbling now. Kleenex surprised her by sending her boys (back) to Italy for the Olympics, because she's never been without them and missed them terribly. So sweet.
Bobsled competition: So is it just me, or does everyone in the bobsled besides the driver just help them start then miss the whole thing ducked down? Wouldn't it make you dizzy to do that without seeing where you're going? It sounds like a bad hangover to me. … OMG, that must be what it's like for the Canadian who was up all night with the stomach flu before today's heats. Glurghhhh. I wonder if the bobsled feels like the Matterhorn, all jerky and sickmaking.
Here's the speed skating thingy with the 4 medalists all going up against each other, blah blah blah… I love Joey Cheek's name. It reminds me of Joey Pants, which cracks me up every time I hear it. Silly Joe Pantoliano. Joey Cheek faded in his race; I'm betting those cheeks of his are mighty sore. Mine would be, but then again I spend most of my time sitting on my cheeks rather than racing around an ice rink.
I need to buy groceries, especially bottled water. My huge Brita thingy in the fridge has ice water in it. Like, it's so icy it won't come out of its little spigot. Perhaps I should turn the temp in my fridge up a smidge. But I like everything else cold. Why hasn't this happened before, Brita? Whassup, exactly? It's not like I changed the temp in the past year.
I watched "Somewhere In Time" today. So wonderfully cheesy and fabulous. I've put the DVD and CD on my Amazon wishlist. Hee. I wish there was *stuff* on the DVD, though. Can't Jane Seymour do a commentary? What about Hottie Old Guy Christopher Plummer?
I slept from noon-thirty to six today. I might take a sleeping pill tonight, if I remember, and just knock myself the hell out and sleep at night for once.
Here comes Shani Davis. If he wins, I hope he can be happy about it. Ahhh, the Italians are loud and happy; their guy won. Davis is second & Hedrick got he bronze. Davis actually looks happier now than when he won his gold. Shani's probably just happy he didn't get beaten by one of the other Americans who don't like him.
Honestly, I could go to sleep again right now. I've only been awake for 3 1/2 hours … but I only slept 5 1/2 earlier. But there's so much more figure skating! Though when I'll actually get to see it, I have no idea. I'm afraid to look anything up about times in case I get spoiled for the results.
(The next bit was written at 3am Wednesday morning.)
Okay, so I did go to bed and watched the rest of the skating from there while I taped it so I could see it later if need be. Then I fell asleep for a couple of hours and now it's 3am. ::rolls eyes:: … and now "The X-Files" is on TNT and even though I have S1-8 on DVD I end up watching it anyway. "Redux II" is just starting, but I'm going to watch the skating again so I can report on it for you kids.
Yelena Sokolova, Russia: First kinda-scary dress of the night. Mostly it's just the color; hot pink. Biffs her 3-lutz and now her combo won't count. Pops her 3-loop into a single. Very sad. Smiles anyway, through her spiral sequence which isn't very exciting. Finally lands a jump, a nice enough double axel. Dick Button: "And that's a layback that certainly is not top rate at all." She doesn't have much chorography to speak of. Yeah, no good.
Elene Gedevanishvili, Georgia: Looks like she's gonna be doing a Spanish thing from her outfit which is black/red and only slightly too busy. The skirt is made from … the same kind of tasselly things that they didn't like on "Project Runway" because they didn't know how they'd look on the ice. Yeah, they look fine, dorks. She's 16 and this is only her 2nd senior competition. Scott Hamilton loves her: "She's this little firecracker." 3-lutz was good. Combo 3-flip/3-toe, not bad. She's pretty limber, too; ankle up by her head. Very cute footwork. Aww, she's adorable.
Miki Ando, Japan: Yeah, those black tights don't do her any favors. The dress is very dark too, but not in a good way. Opens with a spin. (Dick Button says spins take more energy than jumps. Didn't know that.) Her combo: 3-lutz is okay, 3-loop is no good. Okay 3-flip. Looks a little wild on a camel spin. Footwork's kinda boring; 2-axel's fine. Dick says her spiral's "really second-rate" and then … she touched the boards with her hand. "No excuse for that," says Sandra Bezic, whose voice I often confuse with Peggy Fleming's. Yeah, I don't think a medal's in Miki's future this year.
Here comes cute little Emily Hughes! She maybe could've done a little something more with her hair, but whatever, this looks fresh and natural, I guess. Sister Sarah's in the stands cheering. Okay, here we go. Footwork's not that special, but very nice 3-flip. I do like it when they land and make it look like they meant it. Makes her combo, 3-lutz/2-toe, but not in a fantastic way. Bobbles a little on circular footwork, but not so much you'd really notice. Nice 2-axel with a big smile 'cause it's her last jump. Spiral sequence is nice. Bielmann spin's a little slow. Oh, here's another one in her final spin and it's better. Good for her! She's selling her bows and curtseys with great gusto. Her coach is apparently into the pin-trading; she's got a billion of them around her neck with her credentials. Marks: she doesn't pass Meissner, but she's currently in 3rd and her marks are a personal best by 6 points.
Sarah Meier, Switzerland: Her outfit's yellow, which I'm not so sure is a good color with her skin, but she's pretty. At least it's not covered in schmutz. Nice combo, 3-lutz/2-toe. 3-flip is good. Her back could be straighter in one of these spins. Spiral sequence, eh, not very exciting. Okay double axel with a bobbly landing. Here comes her steps: she's smiling and it's not very hard but looks sweet. And then the music just sorta ends and it's over. She's in 6th.
Emily Hughes interview: Saying the usual stuff, blah blah, "happy with the program, can't wait to go out there again."
I like the music on this commercial for … what? I have no idea yet. Something to do with cars. Oh, GM. I think this is "AM Radio," but this isn't Everclear. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Okay, back to the skating.
Irina Slutskaya, Russia: This jumpsuit's got fireworks all over it and one is placed, unfortunately, on her ass. But wearing pants is smart for Irina because you can't see how bowlegged she is and that's a good thing. If she wins gold at age 27, she'd be the oldest since 1908. Nutty. Sandra: "There is not even an attempt to be artistic," with hyper music so she can just jump a lot. 3-loop/2-toe is good. 3-flip good too. Ooh, nice double axel with an entrance where she just … goes into it without skating backward first. Nutty! Not a great edge on her spirals. "She has a wildness about her skating which is appealing," says Sandra. I'm not so sure about that. Nice spins at the end, though again I don't know much and I'm sure denyeverything1 will say I'm wrong. *g* Yeah, she's in first place by quite a bit.
The girls are mostly doing very well so far, staying up on their feet and successfully completing all the elements in the short program. It's nice to see. I hope it goes on like this in the long program and that someone wins it rather than losing it, you know?
Ooh, an Italian, Silvia something. She retired in 2002 but came back so she could skate here. She's married to John Zimmerman. Doubles her 3-toe, poor thing, and pops her 2-axel. Manages her 3-toe. I like her groovy bluesy piano music. Her dress would look cute in a club somewhere late at night. Slowish footwork, but at least the music's slow too. Nothing worse than the fast music/slow footwork thing. Poor Silvia, she's very pretty and it's a shame she didn't do better.
Backstage, Sasha's on the exercise bike singing along to her iPod.
Shizuka Arakawa, Japan: Don't much like her dress. It'd be okay without that lameass white thing. Planned a 3-lutz/3-toe but doubles the latter. Nice 3-flip. Kinda boring outside camel. What the hell IS that white thing, anyway? Oh, nice thing on her spiral. She was holding her leg up near her head and LET GO and her leg stayed there! Okay footwork, nothing special…. Final combo spin is okay. Not a bad job; probably would've done better without being choked to death by The White Thing. She's in second behind Slutskaya, bumping Kimmie into 3rd. After every skater, they show Kimmie up in the stands, getting more and more bummed as she goes down in the standings…
Here in the space room it's now 6:46 am --
-- and I've showered and also went to the grocery store. There was ICE on my WINDSHIELD. This has never happened before because I live in Los Angeles, and it honestly took me about five minutes to figure out what that stuff was and why my wipers were only making it worse. Anyway, I'm now eating a healthy breakfast of Baked Lays and Diet Coke, and I did get water. Along with a large amount of Everything Else, because I spent over $100. But Vons is having a 10 for $10 sale and that means lots of soup and stuff for Ropo. (Oh, and jade_okelani, if you're reading this, I got us some Kissables! Yay!)
Time to start the tape again. Oh, a featurette on Sasha Cohen. Nothing too exciting … they show her working out a lot, and basically saying it's up to her to step up. Lots of talk about all her coach-switching. Former coach Robin Wagner doesn't seem to like Sasha much. *g* But Sasha seem to have her head on fairly straight now, if you ask me. She said "in the end I'm the only one out there on the ice" and hey, it's true.
Yelena Liashenko, Ukraine: She's 29 years old so go her. 3-lutz/2-toe was okay, might have two-footed her 3-flip. Her outfit is quite orange and mostly backless, with a halter top. Might be better w/out the gloves. Her music's more dramatic than her skating, unfortunately. Dang but I'm eating way too many Baked Lays. I just had a banana to offset it, but it didn't so much work and I'm still shoveling them down. Sandra: To keep skating for 11 years you have to love going to the rink to train every day." Dick: "The problem is that … her skating hasn't changed that much. Maybe it'd be more helpful if she went to the rink and trained but thought about it too. ….I hope that's not being unkind." (Me: "Dick's worried about being unkind? Is he feeling okay?" ::feels Dick's forehead::) That landing Sandra & I thought might be 2-footed was clean in the replay. Go Instant Replay.
Fumie Suguri, Japan: She's looking determined. I like her outfit, except this little peek-a-boo bit in the back that seems unnecessary. Okay 3-lutz/2-toe. Her music's slow and sounds Spanish and is filled with violins and guitars. Nice 3-flip. Dick says her edges are very steady in her spiral. Lands RIGHT on the music on her double axel. Now happily spinning because she's done all the hard stuff. On to footwork: Oh, she's cute and smiley; I like this even though it might not be so hard. It's nice anyway. Oh, Dick agrees: "Lori Nichol's done a wonderful job on the choreography." Very nice, Fumie, even if your name reminds me of cigarettes. Heehee, someone In the stands threw a stuffed animal and she caught it! She moves into 3rd and now Kimmie's down to 4th.
Irina's not even staying to watch the last two skaters; she's heading out already. I'm fairly sure someone'll tell her what happened… Sasha's off the bike now, at least.
Carolina Kostner, Italy: I like the idea of her outfit but the bustier bit has like… zebra stripes? Awww, fell badly on the first jump of her combo and that was that. The home crowd's picking her up, though, and she comes back w/ a nice 3-loop. Wobbly on the spirals. Nice 2-axel, though Dick's complaining that it was low. Some vaguely unusual spin positions, though not great spins. Very pretty girl, though. Poor thing, slapped herself in the forehead at the end like she shoulda had a V-8. Maybe just too much pressure! She's in 10th.
Sasha Cohen: Her outfit's busy. And there's this scarfy thing around her hips which doesn't so much match the rest of it. The dress is a dark aqua blue with a bit of yellow on her one sleeve (there is only one and it's barely a sleeve anyway); the scarf is a darker cobalt blue. With stuff on it. She's posed and ready…. 3-lutz-2-toe was *nice.* 3-flip also perfect. Here comes the crazy screaming bit of the music; Sasha spins nicely to it. Her arm positions are all very crisp and nice. I hope she keeps it up! 2-axel and she makes it and must be happy the hard bit's over. More screaming. Super-nice spirals 'cause she's super-bendy, though I'm sure de1 would have something to say about the edges, which look just fine to me. "No one can touch her," says Sandra about Sasha's spirals. She's very animated and happy to be doing her footwork. Final spin, I think: All done and FINALLY Sasha puts together a program when it counts! She's rightly pleased with herself. Kimmie doesn't look nearly as pleased in the stands. Big "USA" chant. Which is odd since they're NOT IN the USA. Damn snotty Ameri… oh, wait, that would be me. Sasha's in FIRST! By .03, but still. *g* She's obviously thrilled and very relieved.
Sasha's interview: "It was great." She loved it. Says for the free skate, she has to rest up, stay positive and believe in herself. They did their random draw and Sasha skates 2nd out of the final 6 in the long program while Irina is last. Doesn't bode well for Sasha because last is a good position to be in for Irina, but who knows. Kimmie's second-to-last, so at least we won't have to see her in the stands again. I'll be glued to the TV Thursday night, that's for sure.
(Watched live-on-tape Tuesday night.)
Turkish Girl: Like her outfit. Nice 3-toe/2-toe with the Boitano hand-twirl on the last one… Obviously could use some choreography. Nice 2-axel. Hey, she's standing up and landing nicely on everything; good for her!
Kimmie Meisner: Nice outfit too. Does her 3-lutz/3-toe - apparently the hardest combo in the competition. Wow, didn't know this was her world debut. She's looking very polished, holding her spirals for a long time like Michelle Kwan only not quite as high. A bit off on a spin, just traveled and wobbled a little teensy bit. Looks like she's enjoying her step sequence. Nice job, Kimmie! Her coach: "How'd it feel?" Kimmie: "Unbelievable." Very sweet.
Susanny Poykio, Finland: Don't mind this outfit either, though upon closer inspection I like the bottom better than the top.. Dramatic music. Okay 3-lutz/2-toe. Whew, the music has changed to some nice cocktail music -- is this from "Down With Love??" Lands her 3-flip but dips. Does that holding-the-toe thing that annoys Dick Button so. Step sequence is pretty slow; it's taking her forever to get across the ice! Grabs her toe yet again. Cute. Needs 59.41 to pass Kimmie; she gets 53.74.
Andrea Joyce interviews Kimmie: "It just felt awesome to skate in the Olympics."
Canadian Joannie Rochette: 3-toe/2-toe loop, nice. Her music's a bit boring so far: Hmm, now I realize it's "Like a Prayer." Hand down on the 3-flip. She looks slow because the music's slow, if you ask me. I like the step sequence, goes well w/ the music. However, at the end she skates past the music. I wish that version of "Like a Prayer" had been just a little more exciting. 55.85.
Emily Hughes is riding an exercise bike and listening to music while she waits her turn. Stay warm but don't wear yourself out, Emily!
Where are my dark chocolate m&m's? Why are they hiding from me? I've just had pasta and want my sugar, dangit! Ahhh, found them under a Pottery Barn catalogue. *Whew.* Sadly I'm out of bottled water to wash them down. I will try to survive somehow.
Chevy Olympic Moment: Vonetta Flowers, bobsledder. Her son Jordan is deaf, unlike his twin Jaden. The whole family learned to sign together. Only one doctor in the world -- in Italy -- was willing to operate on Jordan at his age, and 3 weeks ago he responded to sound for the first time. Vonetta's so cute talking about how he's getting more vocal and babbling now. Kleenex surprised her by sending her boys (back) to Italy for the Olympics, because she's never been without them and missed them terribly. So sweet.
Bobsled competition: So is it just me, or does everyone in the bobsled besides the driver just help them start then miss the whole thing ducked down? Wouldn't it make you dizzy to do that without seeing where you're going? It sounds like a bad hangover to me. … OMG, that must be what it's like for the Canadian who was up all night with the stomach flu before today's heats. Glurghhhh. I wonder if the bobsled feels like the Matterhorn, all jerky and sickmaking.
Here's the speed skating thingy with the 4 medalists all going up against each other, blah blah blah… I love Joey Cheek's name. It reminds me of Joey Pants, which cracks me up every time I hear it. Silly Joe Pantoliano. Joey Cheek faded in his race; I'm betting those cheeks of his are mighty sore. Mine would be, but then again I spend most of my time sitting on my cheeks rather than racing around an ice rink.
I need to buy groceries, especially bottled water. My huge Brita thingy in the fridge has ice water in it. Like, it's so icy it won't come out of its little spigot. Perhaps I should turn the temp in my fridge up a smidge. But I like everything else cold. Why hasn't this happened before, Brita? Whassup, exactly? It's not like I changed the temp in the past year.
I watched "Somewhere In Time" today. So wonderfully cheesy and fabulous. I've put the DVD and CD on my Amazon wishlist. Hee. I wish there was *stuff* on the DVD, though. Can't Jane Seymour do a commentary? What about Hottie Old Guy Christopher Plummer?
I slept from noon-thirty to six today. I might take a sleeping pill tonight, if I remember, and just knock myself the hell out and sleep at night for once.
Here comes Shani Davis. If he wins, I hope he can be happy about it. Ahhh, the Italians are loud and happy; their guy won. Davis is second & Hedrick got he bronze. Davis actually looks happier now than when he won his gold. Shani's probably just happy he didn't get beaten by one of the other Americans who don't like him.
Honestly, I could go to sleep again right now. I've only been awake for 3 1/2 hours … but I only slept 5 1/2 earlier. But there's so much more figure skating! Though when I'll actually get to see it, I have no idea. I'm afraid to look anything up about times in case I get spoiled for the results.
(The next bit was written at 3am Wednesday morning.)
Okay, so I did go to bed and watched the rest of the skating from there while I taped it so I could see it later if need be. Then I fell asleep for a couple of hours and now it's 3am. ::rolls eyes:: … and now "The X-Files" is on TNT and even though I have S1-8 on DVD I end up watching it anyway. "Redux II" is just starting, but I'm going to watch the skating again so I can report on it for you kids.
Yelena Sokolova, Russia: First kinda-scary dress of the night. Mostly it's just the color; hot pink. Biffs her 3-lutz and now her combo won't count. Pops her 3-loop into a single. Very sad. Smiles anyway, through her spiral sequence which isn't very exciting. Finally lands a jump, a nice enough double axel. Dick Button: "And that's a layback that certainly is not top rate at all." She doesn't have much chorography to speak of. Yeah, no good.
Elene Gedevanishvili, Georgia: Looks like she's gonna be doing a Spanish thing from her outfit which is black/red and only slightly too busy. The skirt is made from … the same kind of tasselly things that they didn't like on "Project Runway" because they didn't know how they'd look on the ice. Yeah, they look fine, dorks. She's 16 and this is only her 2nd senior competition. Scott Hamilton loves her: "She's this little firecracker." 3-lutz was good. Combo 3-flip/3-toe, not bad. She's pretty limber, too; ankle up by her head. Very cute footwork. Aww, she's adorable.
Miki Ando, Japan: Yeah, those black tights don't do her any favors. The dress is very dark too, but not in a good way. Opens with a spin. (Dick Button says spins take more energy than jumps. Didn't know that.) Her combo: 3-lutz is okay, 3-loop is no good. Okay 3-flip. Looks a little wild on a camel spin. Footwork's kinda boring; 2-axel's fine. Dick says her spiral's "really second-rate" and then … she touched the boards with her hand. "No excuse for that," says Sandra Bezic, whose voice I often confuse with Peggy Fleming's. Yeah, I don't think a medal's in Miki's future this year.
Here comes cute little Emily Hughes! She maybe could've done a little something more with her hair, but whatever, this looks fresh and natural, I guess. Sister Sarah's in the stands cheering. Okay, here we go. Footwork's not that special, but very nice 3-flip. I do like it when they land and make it look like they meant it. Makes her combo, 3-lutz/2-toe, but not in a fantastic way. Bobbles a little on circular footwork, but not so much you'd really notice. Nice 2-axel with a big smile 'cause it's her last jump. Spiral sequence is nice. Bielmann spin's a little slow. Oh, here's another one in her final spin and it's better. Good for her! She's selling her bows and curtseys with great gusto. Her coach is apparently into the pin-trading; she's got a billion of them around her neck with her credentials. Marks: she doesn't pass Meissner, but she's currently in 3rd and her marks are a personal best by 6 points.
Sarah Meier, Switzerland: Her outfit's yellow, which I'm not so sure is a good color with her skin, but she's pretty. At least it's not covered in schmutz. Nice combo, 3-lutz/2-toe. 3-flip is good. Her back could be straighter in one of these spins. Spiral sequence, eh, not very exciting. Okay double axel with a bobbly landing. Here comes her steps: she's smiling and it's not very hard but looks sweet. And then the music just sorta ends and it's over. She's in 6th.
Emily Hughes interview: Saying the usual stuff, blah blah, "happy with the program, can't wait to go out there again."
I like the music on this commercial for … what? I have no idea yet. Something to do with cars. Oh, GM. I think this is "AM Radio," but this isn't Everclear. Anyone know what I'm talking about?
Okay, back to the skating.
Irina Slutskaya, Russia: This jumpsuit's got fireworks all over it and one is placed, unfortunately, on her ass. But wearing pants is smart for Irina because you can't see how bowlegged she is and that's a good thing. If she wins gold at age 27, she'd be the oldest since 1908. Nutty. Sandra: "There is not even an attempt to be artistic," with hyper music so she can just jump a lot. 3-loop/2-toe is good. 3-flip good too. Ooh, nice double axel with an entrance where she just … goes into it without skating backward first. Nutty! Not a great edge on her spirals. "She has a wildness about her skating which is appealing," says Sandra. I'm not so sure about that. Nice spins at the end, though again I don't know much and I'm sure denyeverything1 will say I'm wrong. *g* Yeah, she's in first place by quite a bit.
The girls are mostly doing very well so far, staying up on their feet and successfully completing all the elements in the short program. It's nice to see. I hope it goes on like this in the long program and that someone wins it rather than losing it, you know?
Ooh, an Italian, Silvia something. She retired in 2002 but came back so she could skate here. She's married to John Zimmerman. Doubles her 3-toe, poor thing, and pops her 2-axel. Manages her 3-toe. I like her groovy bluesy piano music. Her dress would look cute in a club somewhere late at night. Slowish footwork, but at least the music's slow too. Nothing worse than the fast music/slow footwork thing. Poor Silvia, she's very pretty and it's a shame she didn't do better.
Backstage, Sasha's on the exercise bike singing along to her iPod.
Shizuka Arakawa, Japan: Don't much like her dress. It'd be okay without that lameass white thing. Planned a 3-lutz/3-toe but doubles the latter. Nice 3-flip. Kinda boring outside camel. What the hell IS that white thing, anyway? Oh, nice thing on her spiral. She was holding her leg up near her head and LET GO and her leg stayed there! Okay footwork, nothing special…. Final combo spin is okay. Not a bad job; probably would've done better without being choked to death by The White Thing. She's in second behind Slutskaya, bumping Kimmie into 3rd. After every skater, they show Kimmie up in the stands, getting more and more bummed as she goes down in the standings…
Here in the space room it's now 6:46 am --
-- and I've showered and also went to the grocery store. There was ICE on my WINDSHIELD. This has never happened before because I live in Los Angeles, and it honestly took me about five minutes to figure out what that stuff was and why my wipers were only making it worse. Anyway, I'm now eating a healthy breakfast of Baked Lays and Diet Coke, and I did get water. Along with a large amount of Everything Else, because I spent over $100. But Vons is having a 10 for $10 sale and that means lots of soup and stuff for Ropo. (Oh, and jade_okelani, if you're reading this, I got us some Kissables! Yay!)
Time to start the tape again. Oh, a featurette on Sasha Cohen. Nothing too exciting … they show her working out a lot, and basically saying it's up to her to step up. Lots of talk about all her coach-switching. Former coach Robin Wagner doesn't seem to like Sasha much. *g* But Sasha seem to have her head on fairly straight now, if you ask me. She said "in the end I'm the only one out there on the ice" and hey, it's true.
Yelena Liashenko, Ukraine: She's 29 years old so go her. 3-lutz/2-toe was okay, might have two-footed her 3-flip. Her outfit is quite orange and mostly backless, with a halter top. Might be better w/out the gloves. Her music's more dramatic than her skating, unfortunately. Dang but I'm eating way too many Baked Lays. I just had a banana to offset it, but it didn't so much work and I'm still shoveling them down. Sandra: To keep skating for 11 years you have to love going to the rink to train every day." Dick: "The problem is that … her skating hasn't changed that much. Maybe it'd be more helpful if she went to the rink and trained but thought about it too. ….I hope that's not being unkind." (Me: "Dick's worried about being unkind? Is he feeling okay?" ::feels Dick's forehead::) That landing Sandra & I thought might be 2-footed was clean in the replay. Go Instant Replay.
Fumie Suguri, Japan: She's looking determined. I like her outfit, except this little peek-a-boo bit in the back that seems unnecessary. Okay 3-lutz/2-toe. Her music's slow and sounds Spanish and is filled with violins and guitars. Nice 3-flip. Dick says her edges are very steady in her spiral. Lands RIGHT on the music on her double axel. Now happily spinning because she's done all the hard stuff. On to footwork: Oh, she's cute and smiley; I like this even though it might not be so hard. It's nice anyway. Oh, Dick agrees: "Lori Nichol's done a wonderful job on the choreography." Very nice, Fumie, even if your name reminds me of cigarettes. Heehee, someone In the stands threw a stuffed animal and she caught it! She moves into 3rd and now Kimmie's down to 4th.
Irina's not even staying to watch the last two skaters; she's heading out already. I'm fairly sure someone'll tell her what happened… Sasha's off the bike now, at least.
Carolina Kostner, Italy: I like the idea of her outfit but the bustier bit has like… zebra stripes? Awww, fell badly on the first jump of her combo and that was that. The home crowd's picking her up, though, and she comes back w/ a nice 3-loop. Wobbly on the spirals. Nice 2-axel, though Dick's complaining that it was low. Some vaguely unusual spin positions, though not great spins. Very pretty girl, though. Poor thing, slapped herself in the forehead at the end like she shoulda had a V-8. Maybe just too much pressure! She's in 10th.
Sasha Cohen: Her outfit's busy. And there's this scarfy thing around her hips which doesn't so much match the rest of it. The dress is a dark aqua blue with a bit of yellow on her one sleeve (there is only one and it's barely a sleeve anyway); the scarf is a darker cobalt blue. With stuff on it. She's posed and ready…. 3-lutz-2-toe was *nice.* 3-flip also perfect. Here comes the crazy screaming bit of the music; Sasha spins nicely to it. Her arm positions are all very crisp and nice. I hope she keeps it up! 2-axel and she makes it and must be happy the hard bit's over. More screaming. Super-nice spirals 'cause she's super-bendy, though I'm sure de1 would have something to say about the edges, which look just fine to me. "No one can touch her," says Sandra about Sasha's spirals. She's very animated and happy to be doing her footwork. Final spin, I think: All done and FINALLY Sasha puts together a program when it counts! She's rightly pleased with herself. Kimmie doesn't look nearly as pleased in the stands. Big "USA" chant. Which is odd since they're NOT IN the USA. Damn snotty Ameri… oh, wait, that would be me. Sasha's in FIRST! By .03, but still. *g* She's obviously thrilled and very relieved.
Sasha's interview: "It was great." She loved it. Says for the free skate, she has to rest up, stay positive and believe in herself. They did their random draw and Sasha skates 2nd out of the final 6 in the long program while Irina is last. Doesn't bode well for Sasha because last is a good position to be in for Irina, but who knows. Kimmie's second-to-last, so at least we won't have to see her in the stands again. I'll be glued to the TV Thursday night, that's for sure.