You Know You're a Figure Skating Fan When...

[CaroLiza_fan]

..when you look at the TV magazine, and you spot that Channel 4 is showing a Polish film tonight, "Sweat" (2020). And the main character is played by an actress called Magdalena Koleśnik. And, obviously, your first thought is "Hey, I wonder if she is related to Vadym".

I doubt if she is, though. Although Magda is from the east of Poland, Białystok is in the north-east of the country near the Belorussian border, rather than in the south-east near the Ukrainian border. And anyway, Vadym's home city is in eastern Ukraine rather than western Ukraine.

But, hey, you never know!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

...when you go to bed but can't get to sleep because your mind is in overdrive formulating a structure for a slightly different type of Fan Fest that you are planning. Even though it will be a while until you get to doing it.

There's no need to worry. The posts themselves will essentially look the same to what you are used to.

That said, I do plan to change the layout used for the Programmes section in all my Fan Fests. Because I am finding that the current layout doesn't really work well any more, now that most programmes use more than one piece of music.

And it especially doesn't work for Ice Dance programmes. I didn't have any Ice Dance Fan Fests when I started using that layout. Now I have quite a few.

But, I haven't actually worked out a new layout for the Programmes section yet. Perhaps that will keep me awake some other night!

And on that note, goodnight everybody!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[labgoat]

With all the news and pics and videos of Yuzu's visit to TCC this week after 3 years(!!) and people waxing emotional about the 11 years since he first went there, I acted on a whim and went looking in the 2011-12 archive to see what people thought when he first went there. It's the first thread that comes up and oh boy, opinions were really mixed and quite a lot negative/critical (someone thought he would never have another program with the same emotional impact ) Hindsight is a wonderful thing, isn't it?

Ironically, the very first thread on the 2010-11 archive was Chock and Bates teaming up, a short and startlingly unenthused discussion. Could they but see where this couple would end up...

that thread is very interesting. Chock/ Hubbell? Hubbell/ Bates ? you can find it here

https://www.goldenskate.com/forum/threads/chock-bates-to-team-up.34578/

i feel bad for Emily as she was such a lovely skater

 

[TallyT]

Your youtube account knows you so well (skating, history) that it throws up a tiny clip from the World Championships in 1937 (!!!) and another from the British the same year...





(ps - 10000 spectators for the latter? even taking no streaming and TV into account... wow)

 

[TallyT]

You cannot make baked beans on toast without drama, but you see this picture and seriously (!!!) think... "I could do that..."

(by Kurousagi on twitter)

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

...when you watch this morning's episode of "Mrs. G. Goes To College" (Episode 17: "The Mother Affair"), and one of the guest characters was played by an actor called Robert Brubaker. And your first thought was "I wonder if he is maybe Rockne's Granda, or even just related in some other kind of way".

Hope Rockne and Stefania are keeping well.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[purplecat]

...when you watch this morning's episode of "Mrs. G. Goes To College" (Episode 17: "The Mother Affair"), and one of the guest characters was played by an actor called Robert Brubaker. And your first thought was "I wonder if he is maybe Rockne's Granda, or even just related in some other kind of way".

Hope Rockne and Stefania are keeping well.

CaroLiza_fan

This is funny because I was just looking at some TV listings and noticed a movie titled "Brubaker" and thought of Rockne as well!

 

[cheerknithanson]

When you like a song and see if it fits in the time requirements for a SP or FP...

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

[Disclaimer: I actually watched this before Christmas, but didn't have a chance to write a post at the time. And it took me ages to find the right episode again on the BBC iPlayer].

...when you watch an episode of "Pointless" and the theme for one of the rounds is "Countries that have hosted both the Olympic Games and the football World Cup". They were looking Summer or Winter Olympics, and Men's or Women's World Cups.

And these are your responses when each of the players gives an answer:

Japan - "Had the Olympics in Sapporo and Nagano; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
Russia - "Had the Olympics in Sochi; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
Germany - "Had the Olympics in Garmisch and Oberstdorf; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
South Korea - "Had the Olympics in Pyeongchang; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
Austria - "Had the Olympics in Innsbruck; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
America - "Had the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Lake Placid and Squaw Valley; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"

Bit of a stuck record, aren't I?!

Checking the list of host cities afterwards, it turns out that Germany has only hosted the Olympics once - Garmisch in 1936. I would have sworn that Garmisch and Oberstdorf had both hosted it twice! Two places that did host it twice were Innsbruck and Lake Placid. I knew Innsbruck had hosted twice, but I didn't realise that Lake Placid did too.

My mistakes about Germany and Austria are all down to following ski jumping. I had a feeling that Bischofshofen hadn't hosted an Olympics, but I was convinced that all the other venues used in the 4 Hills had been used in 2 Olympics.

I always struggle with Olympics questions, because my brain only thinks in terms of the Winter Games. For the Summer Games, the only hosts I can ever remember are Barcelona in 1992 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. And that is only because of motorsports connections. The Circuit de Catalunya was used for the cycling in 1992; and the Jacarepaguá circuit was destroyed to make way for the Olympic Village in 2016.

As for the World Cup I don't think I could name ANY hosts, be it Men's or Women's. I have no interest in Men's football, so I have a good excuse there. But, I watched a few Women's World Cups in their entirity (that was before the sport became popular, and got spoiled). Yet, I can't remember now where they were!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[TallyT]

When you like a song and see if it fits in the time requirements for a SP or FP...

And when it doesn't, you start thinking up the cuts....

Also, when a sports doctor writes that being protective of your idols/skaters is good for your health (especially if you are older, it releases certain healthy chemicals apparently) you immediately think "does that mean all the online squabbles are actually going to make people live longer? Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!"

 

[cheerknithanson]

And when it doesn't, you start thinking up the cuts....

Also, when a sports doctor writes that being protective of your idols/skaters is good for your health (especially if you are older, it releases certain healthy chemicals apparently) you immediately think "does that mean all the online squabbles are actually going to make people live longer? Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more!"

Oh, I've done that for some songs. In that I try to see how many seconds would be cut out if I cut out one of the times the chorus is used, if some little parts of silence/not much action in the song can be cut out.

 

[labgoat]

When you watch the Eurovision song contest and think Dadi Freyer looks so much like Deniss Vasiiliev and you wonder if Deniss will skate to Whole Again. You also wonder who will be skating to Poe and Cha Cha Cha.

 

[cheerknithanson]

When you watch the Eurovision song contest and think Dadi Freyer looks so much like Deniss Vasiiliev and you wonder if Deniss will skate to Whole Again. You also wonder who will be skating to Poe and Cha Cha Cha.

Ahem...Italy's song this year is definitely worthy for skating too!

 

[Weathergal]

[Disclaimer: I actually watched this before Christmas, but didn't have a chance to write a post at the time. And it took me ages to find the right episode again on the BBC iPlayer].

...when you watch an episode of "Pointless" and the theme for one of the rounds is "Countries that have hosted both the Olympic Games and the football World Cup". They were looking Summer or Winter Olympics, and Men's or Women's World Cups.

And these are your responses when each of the players gives an answer:

Japan - "Had the Olympics in Sapporo and Nagano; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
Russia - "Had the Olympics in Sochi; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
Germany - "Had the Olympics in Garmisch and Oberstdorf; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
South Korea - "Had the Olympics in Pyeongchang; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
Austria - "Had the Olympics in Innsbruck; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"
America - "Had the Olympics in Salt Lake City, Lake Placid and Squaw Valley; don't know if they hosted a World Cup"

Bit of a stuck record, aren't I?!

Checking the list of host cities afterwards, it turns out that Germany has only hosted the Olympics once - Garmisch in 1936. I would have sworn that Garmisch and Oberstdorf had both hosted it twice! Two places that did host it twice were Innsbruck and Lake Placid. I knew Innsbruck had hosted twice, but I didn't realise that Lake Placid did too.

My mistakes about Germany and Austria are all down to following ski jumping. I had a feeling that Bischofshofen hadn't hosted an Olympics, but I was convinced that all the other venues used in the 4 Hills had been used in 2 Olympics.

I always struggle with Olympics questions, because my brain only thinks in terms of the Winter Games. For the Summer Games, the only hosts I can ever remember are Barcelona in 1992 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016. And that is only because of motorsports connections. The Circuit de Catalunya was used for the cycling in 1992; and the Jacarepaguá circuit was destroyed to make way for the Olympic Village in 2016.

As for the World Cup I don't think I could name ANY hosts, be it Men's or Women's. I have no interest in Men's football, so I have a good excuse there. But, I watched a few Women's World Cups in their entirity (that was before the sport became popular, and got spoiled). Yet, I can't remember now where they were!

CaroLiza_fan

Also hosted:
Japan - Tokyo Summer 1964, Summer 2020 (2021)
Russia - Moscow Summer 1980
Germany - Berlin Summer 1936, Munich Summer 1972
South Korea - Seoul Summer 1988
US - St. Louis Summer 1904, Los Angeles Summer 1932, 1984, Atlanta Summer 1996

I don't know about World Cups though...

 

[iluvtodd]

You're shopping @ BJ's and you smile & sing along when the song "Home" is playing (Keegan's free skate music)! That happened yesterday.

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

You also wonder who will be skating to Poe and Cha Cha Cha.

Preparations for the new season are already under way.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

Also hosted:
Japan - Tokyo Summer 1964, Summer 2020 (2021)
Russia - Moscow Summer 1980
Germany - Berlin Summer 1936, Munich Summer 1972
South Korea - Seoul Summer 1988
US - St. Louis Summer 1904, Los Angeles Summer 1932, 1984, Atlanta Summer 1996

I don't know about World Cups though...

That's my point. Whenever I hear the word "Olympics", I automatically assume they mean the Winter Games. The Summer Games don't register with me.

You know, it's fun whenever somebody mentions the 1936 Olympics, and I start talking about Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It completely flummoxes them!

Ah, Munich 1972. The Summer Games that everybody here knows about because that was the year that Mary Peters became the first person from Northern Ireland to win an Olympic Gold Medal.

Except she wasn't. She was the fourth. The first two are forgotten about because they were so long ago and the athletes were representing other countries (Bobby Kerr won our first at London 1908 representing Canada; Ken McArthur won our second at Stockholm 1912 representing South Africa); and the third (Robin Dixon at Innsbruck 1964) is ignored because, although he was representing Team GB, nobody is interested in winter sports.

Anyway, I probably should have mentioned how the countries scored. First of all, there were no pointless answers. So, no opportunities to add money to the pot.

Here are the scores for all the countries that have hosted both the Olympics and the World Cup (countries given by the contestants in bold):

Brazil - 53
France - 50
America - 49
Germany - 45
Japan - 44
Italy - 41
Spain - 31
Russia - 27
China - 19
Mexico - 16
South Korea - 7
Switzerland - 7
Canada - 6
Sweden - 6

The other country given as an answer, Austria, was incorrect, so it scored 100. I take it that means Austria hasn't hosted a World Cup, because they have certainly hosted the Olympics!

I was amazed that Canada had the joint lowest score. After all, they had hosted both types of event (2010 Winter Olympics and 2015 Women's World Cup) within the past 12 years. *

Perhaps that is the perfect demonstration of just how little attention the British general public pay to the Winter Olympics and the Women's World Cup...

CaroLiza_fan

* = This episode was filmed in either August or September 2021, and broadcast in May 2022.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

You're shopping @ BJ's and you smile & sing along when the song "Home" is playing (Keegan's free skate music)! That happened yesterday.

That just reminded me of something that happened with me a few days ago.

...when you hear some music and your first thought is "that would be just perfect for Keegan", and you get all excited. And then you remember that he has retired.

Unfortunately, I can't remember what the music was now!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

That just reminded me of something that happened with me a few days ago.

...when you hear some music and your first thought is "that would be just perfect for Keegan", and you get all excited. And then you remember that he has retired.

Unfortunately, I can't remember what the music was now!

CaroLiza_fan

As soon as I switched off the computer straight after posting this, I remembered what the music was! (Isn't that always the way!)

Sheppard - "Geronimo"

I have always loved that song, so I am ashamed that it took me until I heard it a few days ago in "Norm Of The North" to realise that it would be good for skating to!

(I'm also ashamed to admit that I never realised that it was by an Aussie band. For goodness sake, the girl shouting "bombs away" sounds as Australian as you can get! )

As I said, "Geronimo" would have been perfect for Keegan. But, now that he is retired, I'm trying to work out who else would suit it...

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

I am currently in a dilemma over flags.

There are a couple of flags that I have been looking for on a well known auction website for years, and they are so obscure that I have never seen them for sale on there before. But there is finally somebody selling both of them. And they are at a relatively reasonable price too!

The problem is that I am very fussy about the quality of the material. And I have found from past experience that you can't judge from the price. For example, one of the cheapest flags I have bought had the best quality material. Meanwhile, you could spit through by far the most expensive flag I have ever bought! When you are buying online, you just don't know what you are getting. That is why I prefer to buy flags from an actual shop, where you can inspect them before you buy. But, it has been so long since I was in a shop that sold a wide variety of flags. The last one I was in was in Edinburgh, and that was about 15 years ago. I don't know of any in Northern Ireland.

The added complication is that I know that the two flags I am looking at are in the ratio 1:2. But, the sizes in the drop down menu seem to be in the more common ratio of 2:3. So that is also adding doubts to my head.

For that matter, I am dithering over which size to buy. 5ft wide (which is what I have bought in the past), or 3ft wide (which is a better size for holding up).

The seller is in China, and the predicted time for delivery is 2 to 3 months. So, if they are not exactly what I want, it will take ages for me to find out.

I have been thinking over this for a few weeks now, and I am still no-where nearer making a decision over whether to buy them and, if so, which size to buy.

Why am I like this?!

CaroLiza_fan

Just to let you know, I decided to buy the two flags in the smaller 3ft size, so that I could see what the quality was like without expending too much money.

I ordered them on 5th May, and was amazed when they arrived today, just 21 days later!

Nothing like the 10 weeks that delivery was estimated to take.

But, here's the best bit:

THEY ARE GOOD QUALITY!!!



My only complaint is that the bag they were posted in was too small, meaning that they now have an extra fold in them. But, that is only a minor issue. The extra fold can (hopefully) be ironed out.

Now the problem is stopping myself from going overboard buying lots of flags!

CaroLiza_fan