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Comments by: YACCS

 
In September, just after my 30th birthday, I remember marveling at how quickly the year had passed. And then in a heartbreaking Tuesday morning, I wanted the year to end. I just wanted the pain, anger and tears to go away. I remember how we waited for milennium and the naysayers predicted the end of the world. Every clock would stop and every computer would crash.

Now, over a year later, I'm sitting where I was before, watching the television and marvelling anew at human ability to go on despite everything that has happened. For some reason, I find myself remembering the milennium celebration, through this journal entry I wrote on January 1, 2000 at around 1 a.m. Those opening paragraphs could have been written on that September day:

There are milestones in every generation, moments when goosebumps run down one's spine and people will never forget how they felt.

"Where were you?" or "Do you remember...?" are the oft-heard questions.

Tonight was one of those rare occasions.

Every December 31st, we celebrate the coming of the New Year with fanfare and hoopla. But never have I felt so connected with the rest of the world. Throughout the day, I watched the news broadcasts showing the celebrations all over the world, from New Zealand to London, from Newfoundland to New York.

I initially thought ABC was crazy to devote an entire day of broadcasting to this milennium bash, but now I understand. This wasn't just a local event, it was global. And seeing the celebrations reminded me what a precious and diverse world Earth has become.

Fireworks were the order of the day. London celebrated with a river of flames along the Thames, lighting Tower Bridge with more firepower than last seen in the Blitz. Paris lit up the Eiffel Tower like a majestic rocket. Hard to believe at the beginning of the 20th century, the Tower was considered a monstrosity. Newfoundland and Greece greeted 2000 with song and Bethelhem and Rome with prayers. In New York, the ball dropped on Times Square with Dick Clark as our genial and ageless host, proving some traditions are timeless.

In my native Washington, D.C., thousands gathered on the Mall for the biggest New Year's Eve party. Filmmaker Stephen Speilberg reminded us of our roots, showing us clips of film where we had come from. And then the moment occurred. A fuse lit under the Reflecting Pool on the Mall until it reached the scaffolded Washington Monument. And the fireworks started, even here in Virginia, as the golf course shot off its local offering.

And so I offer my own silent wish to the world at large. Enjoy life and all its diverse pleasures. Stay safe and warm and just *believe*. Sometimes simple belief is enough. Happy New Year 2002.


posted by Julia at 12:06 AM

 
I went to see "Fellowship of the Ring" this afternoon at the local Multiplex. I have been trying rather unsuccessfully to plow through the books, but Tolkein's prose reads like my old Western Civ textbooks, complete with linguistic studies. So I was curious to see how easy it would be to follow the storyline.

Warning: Some of these comments may constitute spoilers. You've been appropriately warned. Spoiler space is kinda wasted on blogs.

First reactions: Oh wow. And wow again. Some of the sequences just took your breath away. The casting was completely on target. The ring-wraiths gave me the creepsies. Washington Irving's Headless Horseman had nothing on them. The hobbits looked a little too young sometimes, but Frodo had the right wide-eyed innocence and determination I might have expected. The costumes were gorgeous. I can see a whole rafter of wedding gowns fashioned on Galadriel's dress. The elves were fearsome and lilting. I'd want Legolas on my side, preferably with his lightning quick reflexes and inexhaustible supply of arrows. And I loved Strider/Aragorn. I'll have to wait and see on Arwen. Sometimes the breathy voice was a bit hard to follow.

Having Ian McKlellen in X-men already, my mother asked if he played any normal parts. I replied, "Does Richard III count?" She replied, "Definitely *not* normal." On the other hand, he *was* Gandalf. At one moment, he's just a leisurely friendly wizard with an affinity for fireworks. And then when he's facing Bilbo and Saruman, you really see the power behind the wizard. And perhaps why he fears taking the One ring for himself so much.


posted by Julia at 10:31 PM

 
Everything old can be redone and everything has just begun. Those seemed to be two of the overwhelming themes of this year's "Stars on Ice" show.

That seemed born out by the fact that we were returning to the Capital Centre in Landover, Maryland, for the performance. No, not the "USAirways Arena", the tickets and signs said very clearly Capital Centre. I don't know when they changed back, but it felt surprisingly reassuring.

The weather was absolutely freezing. I swore I saw the first visible snowflakes in the air in the Outback restaurant parking lot.

Dinner was at a brand new Outback steakhouse just minutes away from the arena. As it turned out, we timed our early departure quite nicely, because the wait was over an hour. In the freezing Maryland air, this did not sit too well with many would-be patrons who went next door to Jaspers.

For most of our visits to Landover, we have had notoriously bad seats, but I scored three center section seats about fifteen rows up with crystal clear view of the ice. We sorted out a misunderstanding with one couple who were actually in the same seats another section away. But we were left with a talkative group behind us, including one knowledgeable fan who had to regale her friends with each skaters' life story and gossip before, during and after the performance.

The first surprise was the arena itself. They had dismantled the hockey boards completely, so it was just a sheet of clean ice, leading right up to the ice-level seats. The Capital Centre has seen better days, testified during one of SOI's light shows which showed some missing ceiling tiles.

The second surprise was the audience. When I've attended SOI or Champions on Ice in the past, the arena has been filled to capacity. Tonight's performance commanded a paltry amount, maybe a thousand, if that. I couldn't tell if the show was badly timed with the holidays or whether the stories really are true about figure skating losing some of its punch.

In the audience-spotting category, Christine Brennan from the USA Today had center ice-level seats on the same side as my family. My father spotted her while we were getting settled and reading the program. Brennan barely made it back to her seat in time for the second act after the intermission.

The show began with Lucinda Ruh in what I've termed the "Lola the Showgirl" costume, very silvery and sparkly, doing one of her spin combinations to a snippet of "Superstar". Ruh provided a lot of the transitions between numbers. Her big solo to "No one in the World" included a *phenomenal* layback spin with half a dozen different positions. Lucinda also has a lovely spiral, not the over-extended type like Kwan or Hughes, but very nice and very effective. She did have a slight stumble during the finale. I do wish they had showcased her talents better. The showgirl costumes looked very cumbersome, especially to spin effectively.

Kristi Yamaguchi was having an off night, jump wise. She fell on two jumps, one in each solo. She fell on the triple lutz in the far corner for Linda Eder's "Gold". You heard an audible gasp and "Ohhh" from the crowd when this happened. She received a warm response though, including a lot of "We love you, Kristi" callouts from the crowd.

Her duet with Denis Petrov though was an absolute highlight of the show. Kristi showed what she might have accomplished if she had stuck with pairs skating. That death spiral was effortless. There was no bending into that position, like some skaters. Some commented on the lack of connection with Denis, but I think it worked in the context of the program.

Tara Lipinski had a so-so night. She flubbed one jump in "Color of Roses" which is a nice little song, but left me cold. Her "American Tribute" now includes a female rendition of Lee Greenwood's "God Bless the USA" and an American flag drops from the rafters to ram home the point. Tara skated "American Tribute" right after Kurt's second number, which pointed out something to me about their footwork. Tara still seemed stiff in the footwork, while Kurt just flowed from one bit to the next, running on his toes at will.

For all her gold medals and charisma, Katarina Witt seemed strangely under-utilized, used in a few ensemble numbers and the one solo. She hit the double axel in "The Case Continues" and performed with her usual gusto. My mother commented that the performance was one of the better ones that night so far.

If the girls were off tonight, the guys were in the house and having a *blast*. Ilia Kulik performed three solos, each with interesting choreography and lovely jumps and speed. I just wish he would take some time to work on his spins. He hit what looked like two triple axels during the Michael Jarre "Rendezvous" piece.

Kurt Browning performed that "Guitar" solo piece and a remix of U2's "Elevation". The footwork alone just made me sit there and watch amazed, especially one section where's he's doing all the turns and changes all on the toepick. His jumps were kinda iffy, stepping out of a double axel, but the performance itself was absolutely there!

Steven Cousins worked the crowd ala Philippe Candeloro or Evgeni Plushenko with his Tom Jones medley of "It's not unusual"/"What's new pussycat"/"Thunderball". Nice jumps and good performance, but you could see the differences between him and the other guys.

What really needs to be said about Krylova and Ovsiannikov's "Last of the Mohicans" program? The costume reminds me of what is currently fashionable in ice dancing -- fast, garish and ugly. I'd like to see them to get some of *those* lifts by the new ISU rules. In *all* fairness though, they did use the pole almost the entire time during the program, not like some prop-happy skaters who start with it and then lose it the minute they need to do some real choreography.

I was a little put off by the combination of "Moulin Rouge" and Karen Carpenter music. And portraying the ladies of SOI as prostitutes or showgirls was hardly a plus. The most hilarious moment came when the guys entered at the end of the rap "G-O-L-D" song dressed as "Lady Marmalade". As Scott Hamilton put it more once, "Sometimes a guy just wants to feel pretty." Or at least have fun in the process.

Speaking of Scott Hamilton, he was still introducing the cast and the warnings about not taking flash photography. The arena staff did check our bags and give me the standard "If you're caught with a flash, you have to take it back to the car." I didn't trust the settings to stay put on my digital camera to try more than a before shot.

Music wise, I decided that, all sweetness and schmaltzyness aside, I much preferred the original Karen Carpenter versions of her songs to the hip edgy versions. I barely recognized "Close to You" and "Top of the World". Until that moment, I hadn't realized the difference the delivery can make in a song, because Karen's voice is so distinctive.

The most depressing thing about SOI was the lack of skating. Everyone spent a lot of time talking to mirrors or microphones. There was a *lot* of working with the props and fun little lighting effects. Jenni Meno and Todd Sand performed a cute little tango with Jenni sitting on the chair the entire time, complete with the most unique death spiral. However, I felt strangely cheated. They had all these great skaters and I didn't feel like they were using them even close to their potential. I remember when they'd *perform* what they felt about the music rather than just talking it out. Kurt and Tara's "Rainy Days" was fun, but it would have been *more* fun to see the skating moves parallel or mimic the lines.

My mother commented on how much *smaller* the cast of SOI seemed, perhaps because they didn't have as many pairs or ice dance teams as they had in the past.

We left the arena appropriately enough to David Bowie's "Heroes" playing on the loudspeaker, which he performed at the Concert for New York. I couldn't help humming the lyrics -- "We could heroes for just one day."

All in all, an interesting if depressing foray into the world of professional ice shows. If the song is right, SOI has "just begun". When the Olympics are over they desperately need some new young blood both technically and artistically. The show needs new skaters, but I also think it needs a new pair of eyes choreographically to try some different things with cast. They need to return to the basics -- good skating and well choreographed ensembles. Leave the light shows and props to the rock concerts.


posted by Julia at 12:30 AM