On a totally different note: The Regionals are here! The Regionals are here!

[icarus]

The Regionals are here! The Regionals are here!

Yes, Out Of Bounds fans, I'm going to watch boys in tight costumes compete Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. No top-ranked skaters, alack and alas, but there are Intermediate Men skaters which should be fun.

The boyfriend has seen fit to remind me that 15-year-old skater boys are not legal. *g*

I sent perfica my updated Out of Bounds outline. She said, "I'm lucky to be reading this without having to write it." She seems well pleased with the direction of the story.

A (small) Out of Bounds update is coming this week.

To get you in the mood, here's Evan Lysacek and a and a really brutal fall. And a very Sheppard-esque look in program to Forever Young (he skates with such power and passion here, a lot better than John). Here he skates in jeans. And talk about a hot starting pose. Muh.

The Regionals, as an FYI, are the first tier that skaters have to win in order to work their way up to the National Championships. The top four skaters from that region move on the to their Sectional in November (the West Coast sectional is being hosted by San Diego this year). Then in January... the Nationals. *eyes agleam*

The schedule this week:

Thursday
12:30 - 1:20 - Intermediate Men's Short Program ... Here the boys have 2:50 minutes to squeeze in a number of tough moves.

Friday - the boys' day
11:25 - Intermediate Ladies Short Program

1:30 - Junior Men's Short Program
1:45 - Intermediate Men's Freeskate ... Here's the finish line, the long program. Medals awarded at 3:45pm.
2:35 - Pre Pre Boys Freeskate
2:50 - Pre Boys Freeskate
3:05 - Pre Juvenile Boys Freeskate

3:35 - Juvenile Girls Freeskate
4:55 - Pre Juvenile Girls Group A Freeskate

5:55 - Novice Ladies Short Program
7:10 - Pre Juvenile Girls Group B Freeskate

8:10 - Junior Ladies Short Program
9:15 - Senior Ladies Short Program

Saturday
12:20 - Open Juvenile Girls Group A Freeskate
12:35 - Junior Men's Freeskate. Medals awarded at 2:30pm.
1:10 - Juvenile Boys Freeskate
1:40 - Open Juvenile Girls Group B Freeskate

2:40 - Intermediate Ladies Freeskate
4:00 - Pre Juvenile Girls Group C Freeskate

I may take wildernessguru to see these Saturday, though he'd really be interested in the Intermediate Men's competition and above. Sadly, he'll be unavailable Thursday afternoon. Still, the juvenile girls are not to be missed. They look like kittens! They're so good, and have such spring, and they're in sparkly dresses! Five on the rink at a time is the best.

I remember a Chinese woman who'd never seen figure skating before walked into the rink this summer. She saw the little girls and stopped. "Ooooh, cuuuuuute!" she said.

Lucky me, my Chinese History class is cancelled for Thursday afternoon. So I get to go. And wildernessguru is making noises about going to the Men's Freeskate at the Nationals. He's a Johnny Weir fan (he loves flamers).


Translation ETA: Thanks to lavvyan's translation mojo, we now know why Lysacek had that brutal fall:

"Oooh, the quadruple [insert skating term I don't know][Icarus guesses toe loop], I think he even hit his head there! I don't understand why he's taken such a big risk here during the qualification in the first place." And then something about him just needing to qualify because he won't get to keep the points, and the commentator wondering if Evan's going to make it through the rest of his program. Then the second fall, "Yeah, I was afraid that would happen. That was a bad fall he took with the quadruple [something][probably toe loop], he's visibly battered. Now it's fingers crossed for Evan Lysacek that he can at least make it through this."

Icarus checks out vid: roaringmice can correct me if I'm wrong, but that looks like a quad toe loop he tried. (It's easier to guess than you'd think. The quad comes in only two flavors so far, the salchow and toe loop. The salchow makes the skater look like he's doing an antelope jump, and the toe loop looks like Najinsky.) Turns out that the fall knocked the wind out of him and his leg went numb for two minutes. He pulled into third by improvising and tacking on extra jumps later in his program.

Comments

[monanotlisa.livejournal.com]

Back from the appointment, and I had to chill out a little. Ice-skating perfect for that, right?

And a very Sheppard-esque look in program to Forever Young (he skates with such power and passion here, a lot better than John).

I watched half of that. Wow, I sez.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ice-skating perfect for that, right?

Ice skating is ideal for chilling, on many levels. I'm going to have to make sure I dress warmly for this week's Regionals.

Icarus

[bramble-rose.livejournal.com]

I really liked that skate to Forever Young--and by squinting a little could totally see John skating that piece, it was pretty straight-forward, not a lot of floofy arm movements, and really showed off EL's rubber-band limbs and spinning. I see John hving tighter jumps but this was an exhibition piece, right? Couldn't finish the first vid, where he kept falling *sob*. After I get the kids to school I'll come back and watch the other two.

Thanks for the links, and MORE Out of BOUNDS coming up, YAAAAYYYY!!!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I see John hving tighter jumps but this was an exhibition piece, right?

John has tighter jumps, with more height.

I think he skates a shade faster than Lysacek.

John doesn't finish his gestures the way EL does, and is tighter in general, tighter through the shoulders, tighter through the arms: he does not have the rubber band thing at all.

EL looks the most like John in his spins, especially the camel. John can't quite get down into that ultra-tight sit spin. But no one I know does a sit spin like EL.

Couldn't finish the first vid, where he kept falling *sob*.

I watched that fall over and over again, trying to figure out what happened. Turns out (thanks to the translation mojo of lavvyan) he was trying a quad and went too big. Then he was hurting bad enough through the rest of the program that he could barely make it through.

Thanks for the links, and MORE Out of BOUNDS coming up, YAAAAYYYY!!!

Yep. Just a small piece to prime the pump.

Icarus

[roaringmice.livejournal.com]

I love Johnny Weir. He walks around the rink with a purse. What's not to love? He's completely comfortable in his own skin, which is rare for someone of his age.

On a similar subject, I may be going to day one of Skate America later in October. I'm trying to see if I can get the time. I can't do the entire event, but that one day? Maybe. Two of my friends from the rink are skating, and it'd be a heck of a thing to see them skate, in real life, at an event of that stature. *And* my coach is going to be the technical controller, so I can stare at him and giggle.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

He's so determined to be himself, regardless of marketing pressure to "package" himself in a certain way.

I love Johnny Weir. He walks around the rink with a purse. What's not to love? He's completely comfortable in his own skin, which is rare for someone of his age.

You know, I think that says something for his mom.

On a similar subject, I may be going to day one of Skate America later in October. I'm trying to see if I can get the time. I can't do the entire event, but that one day? Maybe. Two of my friends from the rink are skating, and it'd be a heck of a thing to see them skate, in real life, at an event of that stature. *And* my coach is going to be the technical controller, so I can stare at him and giggle.

You are? Oh my God! That would be great. *crosses fingers for you* You'd tell me everything about it, wouldn't you? Where is Skate America being held this year?

Icarus

[roaringmice.livejournal.com]

I *would* tell you everything about it. I'd get to go to the PRACTICE SESSIONS! Oy.

It's in Reading, PA, which is maybe a 3 hour drive from my house. I'd drive there crack of dawn, then drive back, same day, in the middle of the night, but I think it'd be worth it.

[libitina]

How does one get to go to such a thing? *whistles innocently*

And if you needed to make it an overnight, Reading is about an hour from me, but not much further back to you.

[roaringmice.livejournal.com]

A person I know has two tickets available. They'd normally be $77, but she's selling at $50 per ticket. Wanna go? It's for the Friday.

Or you can just buy tickets. There are cheaper tickets available, but hers are very cheap for being that close to the ice. In addition, you normally need to buy all-event tickets to see the practice sessions. Because hers are all-event tix, but she simply can't be there on the Friday, I get to see her practice sessions!

I'll link to where you can buy tickets through the official site:
http://www.2007skateamerica.com/

The event runs Oct 26-28, Friday through Sunday. You can see the actual schedule here:
http://www.2007skateamerica.com/schedule.htm

And the people competing are here:
http://www.2007skateamerica.com/skaters.htm

[libitina]

Ummm... YES!

You have my email? It's libitina at livejournal dot com. I can send her money.

And do you want crash space? If not, I might look for crash space myself in Reading since I'm going to a wedding the next day in Pottstown, and driving to Pottstown is, oddly, always hellish, so being closer would be awesome. But if you do want crash space, the wedding isn't until 4pm, so there's plenty of time to drive from home. And my parents' home is even closer than my philly home.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

*dances* This is so cool!

All event tickets, too. Man...

I can pump your brain for intel afterward, right?

Icarus

[libitina]

This will be my first time seeing ice skating live. It's always been on TV before.

[roaringmice.livejournal.com]

It's completely different in person. While some things are harder to see, if you're not right down front, suddenly you can really see why, say, Inoue and Baldwin, who on tv kind of suck, really did win that National championship. It's power and flow and speed speed speed, and that sort of thing often doesn't come across on tv.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Tell me about it. When I saw Todd Eldredge in person, I was very surprised at how his presence just filled the ice. And Ilia Kulik. He has this child-like spirit that, when he jumps, he just... it's like, "Look, ma, look! No hands!" And he almost stops in midair, his jumps are so high.

I've based Kyle Fletcher a little bit on Kulik.

Icarus

[roaringmice.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow! Yes! Let me confirm that I can go, then email her, then email you back. Hold, please. I'll get in touch after dinner tonight, probably around 9pm, with an email to you letting you know that this is a go.

I don't know about the crash space. I want to be back in the morning so I can see my daughter when she wakes up, and take a bit of that off my husband's hands, so I may not crash in PA. I may do the late night drive. I'll talk to him about that, too, at dinner.

[libitina]

I shall await your email.

[roaringmice.livejournal.com]

I've confirmed with her that we'll take those tickets. I'm waiting for her response.

If you don't get an email from me tonight, that's only because either she didn't confirm with me yet, or I couldn't send an email! I sometimes can't access my Yahoo email now that I did Yahoo Beta. I'm on dial up at home, and the new Yahoo email doesn't always work. So if I don't email you tonight, you'll hear from me in the morning, when I'm at work and have highspeed.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm green. Absolutely, positively green with envy. You lucky duck. And all event tickets. Oh, man, that's fantastic. You get to go to the practices.

*expires from joy* <--- note

*announces from beyond the grave*

I want details. Lots and lots of lush, gorgeous details -- especially about the practices. Think of it as priming the pump for more Out Of Bounds.

Icarus

[roaringmice.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes. In fact, I get to see practices for the men. :wiggles eyebrows:

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, now I have entirely selfish reasons to want you to go. I'm very happy to go to the regionals, but it works out that I'm going to miss all the warm-ups. Can't cut Sanskrit.

Icarus

[rabidfan.livejournal.com]

My cousin wanted to be a figure skater...but his father was aghast. He still skates, like twenty years later, but I always feel a little pang for him whenever I watch skating on the tv. He still pines for the life he didn't get. ::fatherscanbesuchbutts::

Are we getting close to more "Out of Bounds"? I live in hope.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

My cousin wanted to be a figure skater...but his father was aghast. He still skates, like twenty years later, but I always feel a little pang for him whenever I watch skating on the tv. He still pines for the life he didn't get. ::fatherscanbesuchbutts::

Ugh, I'm agonizing for him. And I understand. It's not quite the same, but I wanted to take ballet when I was little. I begged and pleaded but my mom said, "I'm not going to be stuck giving you rides." *sighs* Years later my dance (a different form of dance) teacher said I had a natural grace. I knew, even when I was seven, that I'd be good at it.

There's some unwritten back story to Out Of Bounds. John's father, frustrated with John's lack of discipline, wanted him to play sports. He took it as a personal affront that John refused the team sports (football, baseball) he meant and took up figure skating. (There's a pattern to the sports John chose: figure skating, skate boarding, inline skating. They're all things he can do alone.)

There's a scene where John's father pestered the teenage John about his application to the Air Force while John was playing handball off the garage door. He actually had to intercept the ball and take it away from John before John stopped using it to ignore him. John shrugged off the the Air Force application with a "I don't think so."

His father stormed inside and argued with his wife about John's lack of discipline. She pointed out that John did pick a sport, and she didn't think it was entirely rebellion -- his coach said he was pretty good.

Are we getting close to more "Out of Bounds"?

Yes, we are. :D

[rabidfan.livejournal.com]

See, I very much see my father in John's. He rails against the lack of "direction" in our lives. He was chaplin in the military, and is a retired Bishop...he's all about the discipline and direction. The thought of his nephew doing anything as fey as figure skating would have caused him to have hives.

I love the ballet...and it's a shame that your mom saw it's beauty as a trap...binding her to endless car rides instead of the open joy of seeing you live your sweet dream. I hope to do so much better with my own, yet I fear that the past is always repeated even when we don't wish it to be.

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

You really can find everything on YouTube, can't you?

And with commentary in German. ♥

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, yes, you would appreciate the German. I can't really follow, meine worteschaft ist zehr klein. What are they saying when he hits the ice?

Ow, that's a bad fall. I wonder if that's when he screwed up his hip, or if it's a result of screwing up his hip.

Icarus

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

The first time? "Oooh, the quadruple [insert skating term I don't know], I think he even hit his head there! I don't understand why he's taken such a big risk here during the qualification in the first place." And then something about him just needing to qualify because he won't get to keep the points, and the commentator wondering if Evan's going to make it through the rest of his program. Then the second fall, "Yeah, I was afraid that would happen. That was a bad fall he took with the quadruple [something], he's visibly battered. Now it's fingers crossed for Evan Lysacek that he can at least make it through this."

Loosely translated. And yeah, I could barely watch.

Also, you broke my brain. I keep watching these vids and thinking, "Wow, John must be really bendy. And have a great sense of balance." And then my mind inevitably lands somewhere just short of the gutter.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'll add it to the post. That clarifies a lot. I knew he did a quad at that point in the 2007 Nationals, but I didn't realize that he fell because he was attempting a quad there.

Also, you broke my brain. I keep watching these vids and thinking, "Wow, John must be really bendy. And have a great sense of balance." And then my mind inevitably lands somewhere just short of the gutter.

Oh yeah. He's, um, *cough* bendy. *Goes to those places, with the excuse of "writing."*

Icarus

[lavvyan.livejournal.com]

Oh, you're welcome! And actually, toe loop sounds right. I mean, German sports commentators are notorious for pronouncing just about everything that's not German hilariously wrong, but the skating term does end with "loop", at least. :)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

What makes it double cool is that the quad toe loop is tougher than the salchow. (And it's a quad toe loop John does as well.)

Icarus

[libitina]

I can totally see what you are talking avour with the Forever Young program - he's doing all of this athletic amazing stuff, and he's just slouching into the moves.

I followed the link from the 2007 Mashalls (OMG the INXS routine was awesome!) to the 2006 ones (which were cute and had him skating to Johnny Cash), but he has *aged* in a year. WOW!

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Exactly. John has that slouchiness throughout.

But what Evan does here is he finishes all his gestures, he's very conscious about how he moves. John lets gestures drop, like he forgets about them while he's concentrating on his jumps or doesn't think they're important.

And, Evan is riveting. You keep watching him. You can't look away through his whole program. Each move is part of the whole flow of it.

John... your eyes slide off him as he goes through the motions of his program. Until he hits a jump. And it's hard to describe why you're not paying attention. He's just... doesn't grab you. Once he catches your attention he doesn't hold it.

And then he jumps. And grabs your attention again.

I think it's a few things. One: John isn't "into" his programs. He's not living the music, he's not dancing. So he does it, and does it right, but each move is doled out piecemeal. The other reason is that he's in his own head. When he skates all his energy is directed inward, he's skating for himself. So he loves it, but he's not sharing that. Until he jumps -- at which point there's a spike of glory, Ha! Did you see that? that communicates across the ice.

Icarus

[libitina]

And John has the bit in his head where he's really the one being more true to the art to skate for the joy of it than to sex up the crowd - that's salesmanship and a bit sleazy and it's like "networking" to get a job. If they don't like him on his own terms, then he'll just have to be better technically.

Only at least he's smart enough not to tell Rodney this because Rodney would think he was stupid for that... only he's not quite sure why, since Rodney doesn't really like the other people all that much, either.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

And John has the bit in his head where he's really the one being more true to the art to skate for the joy of it than to sex up the crowd - that's salesmanship and a bit sleazy and it's like "networking" to get a job. If they don't like him on his own terms, then he'll just have to be better technically.

Ooo! Great insight. Yes, you're right. John unconsciously considers himself a purist.

Only at least he's smart enough not to tell Rodney this because Rodney would think he was stupid for that... only he's not quite sure why, since Rodney doesn't really like the other people all that much, either.

But while Rodney doesn't like people, he does love attention and praise. If he doesn't play for the crowd the attention does not flow forth. Which is part of why Rodney quit competing when the heat was on. The reason he skated was the acclaim. When it turned ugly, he didn't have a percentage in performing anymore.

He doesn't recognize this, of course. For him, he feels the world of professional skating was at fault, and he's teaching in order to "fix" that and demonstrate his own superior expertise. (He will never admit to liking teaching, of course.)

Icarus

[plsteward.livejournal.com]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irxS_UK4Mjc - it's Lysacek in 2001. He's all arms and legs, so cuuute. Not hot cute, but like omg!puppies cute. I just saw it and thought of you.

[moojja.livejournal.com]

Oh wow, I just watched that. So small and cute. And can someone please feed him.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

He's grown up so much, especially in the last year.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

He's so... rubber-band-y. And yes, someone feed that puppy.

[moojja.livejournal.com]

That fall is just painfull looking. I'm suprised he can still get up and skate. Ouch.

PS, I saw you request on the other board, if you still want the Forever Young download. I uploaded it, the link is on my journal.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Amazingly, he was still third after the short program. He tossed in a number of jumps to bring himself up to speed after that. Still, I remember last winter he was plagued with a hip injury, and I wonder if this is when he got it.

I see you around the boards and in comments on YouTube skating videos. It makes me smile every time. *g*

I actually have the Forever Young download now, but jmtorres probably needs it. I've been gathering downloads for her "all those wacky SGA AUs" vid.

Icarus

[moojja.livejournal.com]

You're welcome to forward the link to her.
If it wasn't for out of bound, I don't think I would be interested in figure skating again. I'm looking forward to the new bits.