Figure skating!

[elwen]

So, I am no where near finished reading Ginban Kaleidoscope. There is yet a small chance I will finish it before the womens' singles, but who am I kidding? Especially since I haven't even been trying -- too busy reading Tamora Pierce's Trickster's Queen. (I like how in her notes at the end she thanks J.K. Rowling for demonstrating that kids will read long books, so she doesn't need quartets anymore.)

Anyways. I haven't followed figure skating since, well, the last winter Olympics. And apparently I fell off the face of the earth around that time, LJ-wise, so I don't even remember what happened then. Was that when the two Russian boys faced off? Or was that 8 years ago? All I remember is that I wanted to post about how one of the medal contenders -- some Canadian guy, I think -- was also a ChemE. I had that article open in my browser for months and never got around to posting it. And now I can't even remember the name of the Russian guy I liked better. (No one forgets Evgeni Plushenko's name, however. That freak. :P)

So I Googled myself some previews of the mens singles, and I have to say, I am excited now. So excited I started writing this post before even finishing reading the articles.

I love pretty boys on ice. Only, they seem less pretty than they used to.

But honestly, I don't really remember any of these people. (Except Plushenko.) When I stare at some of their pictures and think really hard, I seem to remember disliking some of them, like Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek. (Sorry, I have no national spirit.) But still, I think it will be fun.

Now, what I have to know is, is Johnny Weir doing "Poker Face" at the Olympics? Because if not, I need to go find a video of this.

Comments

[solidark.livejournal.com]

I'm so sad that I won't be able to see the figure skating parts on TV, at least not live (thankfully there will be a re-run the next day at a time that normal people in Europe will be awake, too, so I'll just have to avoid looking at any spoilers on the internet. However, German news sites don't cover figure skating because they prefer running-and-shooting aka biathlon and boring stuff like that even though they've got really good people in pair skating.)

You're probably talking about Alexei Yagudin who was Plushenko's big rival in Russia. Now I'm really excited about this year's contest because, well, Plushenko, like him or not, makes everything more interesting. I feel somewhat sorry for Joubert because whenenver Plushenko appears, he's only second. Always. And if it's Olympics or World Championships he's even worse. Poor guy (now that he even lost the European throne to Plushenko AND Lambiel.) The European way of skating is so different from the American/Canadian way and particularly the Chinese, so I'm really looking forward to seeing this year's games.

(haha, sorry for babbling but there's NO ONE else on my f-list who is even remotely interested in figure skating ;_;)

[ctrl-a.livejournal.com]

Babble away. :D I always get busy between Olympics and stop keeping up with figure skating, but I really enjoy it when I do watch, and after watching (half of) the pairs' short today, I'm resolving once again to keep following the sport from now on. Or at least until I cancel my cable subscription. ^^;;

Yeah, it was Alexei Yagudin I was thinking of. I loved how he was so earnest and passionate -- which was actually a bit of a change for me, since I usually like the more effeminate and graceful skaters. I'm sure anyone who saw my obsession with Ilya Kulik would have thought I would like Plushenko, too. Maybe it's that smug look on his face that the first article I linked talks about.

If pairs is an example, I guess I'll be relying on the short programs to re-meet all the skaters, and then I'll know who to cheer for in the free program. Two more days!

Oh, and I had the time zone program last Olympics, so I guess it's only fair. :P Both Vancouver now and Salt Lake City before tug at me, because they feel close enough that I could have gone . . . if I had the time, and the money. At least I got to see a Stars on Ice once (back when I was obsessed with Ilya, obviously). I think I'll have to settle for that for a while yet.