womens' shorts (no, not panties)

At this 25th Winter Olympics in Milan, there were 29 women competing in the Shorts Program, all hoping for Figure Skating medals.

I was able to see watch an even dozen perform in the segment aired here in the United States today.

As good fortune would have it, that meant I was treated to 8 of the top 10!

That was just the luck of the draw for the skating order with the Americans... but it meant I saw the top three contenders!

One of those in the lead - Alysa Liu - was even on the USA team!

She placed third with her Short program, scoring 76.59 points.

I absolutely loved all the fringe on her outfit, flowing in the breeze of her incredibly fast skating!!!

Her score was less than 0.7 lower than that of Kaori Sakamoto of Japan.

Her outfit was quite stunning, with the blue fade and the long gloves!

She definitely earned that 2nd place for the Short program!

But the most impressive of the three was the not-quite 18-year-old skater who skated in the 18th place in the line-up.

Does it seem that I'm attempting to draw some correlation between age and skate order?

Well, I do enjoy playing with numbers!

This young woman resembled one of the many school girls in Okinawa, riding the bus with me over in Kadena Circle - such a good memory!

Ami Nakai of Japan will be 18 tomorrow... and tonight, with 78.71, she placed first in the Short program!

Right place, right time, for her and for me!

What a way to start my two hours of Olympics!

I wouldn't see any more of the top skates for well over an hour.

Alysa Liu was 24th in the order and Kaori Sakamoto was 27th.

The woman who placed 4th in the Short program was the very last skater.

She was Mone Chiba, of Japan, and I am absolutely sure her song choice was meant as an inside joke.

Why else would she use Donna Summer's "Last Dance"??? 

Then again, maybe that was another right place, right time gibe from the Universe for me!

A little something to make up for all the falls out there, starting with the second skater I saw.

Madeline Schizas, of Canada, wore a perfect costume for her dance to "The Lion King"... but then she fell, and fell again.

She ended up with a score of 55.38, in 25th place.

She will not go on for the Free Skate in this competition.

The 19-year-old from Kazakhstan will be, as her score of 68.47 netted her the 12th place in this Short program.

That means Sofiia Samodelkina will be getting a shot at an Olympic medal.

So will Belgium's Nina Pinzarrone, who scored 68.97, skating to "Send In The Clowns" and doing admirably at it.

She's one place higher than Sofia.

However, Amber Glenn of the USA is one place lower than Sofia and only scored 67.39 on the ice.

Not even Madonna's "Like A Prayer" could save her after missed jumps and two falls.

It's truly a wonder she didn't place farther down than 13.

The other skater for the USA, and the other one part of that trio of Blade Angels, is Isabeau Levito.

She made it to 8th place after her Short program, with 70.04 points.

That's still almost two points less than Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia scored.

And it's less than the Belgium skater, Leona Hendrickx, by almost one point.

What it all comes down to is this: only those women who dare to throw some triples into their routine - and to successfully land them - are making it to the podium.

I'll be sure to tune in on Thursday!

(smile!)

getting some culture: part 5

This event for expansion of my world was also part of the Savannah Black Heritage Festival (SBHF37), just as part 2 and part 4 had been.

The Annual Future Of Jazz concert is one that I've attended for almost two decades, after my good friend Deborah Ray first turned me on to them.

(She's been living her best life in Costa Rica ever since she retired from working on the garbage trucks for the City of Savannah.)

This one, like last year's, featured the same instruments, with the saxophone man being the only repeat performer.

He's the one in the middle, in case it's hard to tell in the photo.

The male trombone player and the female bass player, both on the right, were both students of Donald Anderson School of Arts.

Sadly, I don't know their names, as there was no program, nor does the website say.

The show, dedicated to the memory of Ben Tucker as always, began with two of his songs, the same as last year - very nice!

Then we had a brand-new one from Teddy Adams!

Titled "The Patron", it was in honor of Bob Faircloth, notable not only for supporting jazz in Savannah, but also the Savannah Music Festival and Savannah VOICE Festival.

Thanks, Bob, for helping to keep all that culture alive!

Altogether, there were three more tunes that Adams had written: "Hutch Is Much", for 85-year-old Laurence Hutchins, his friend since the first grade; "A Piece For Reese", for another friend; and "Calypso Kelly", a really swinging number that led with a drum solo.

That Caribbean-flavored beat really rocked the Savannah JEA!

The song that stood out above it all, though, was "Georgia On My Mind", performed by the talented young woman who was one of the vocalists last year, and the only one this time around.

For SBHF37, she was the only vocalist!!!

Such great phrasing, such fine breath control, and a voice smooth as silk - oh, I wish I knew what her name was!

Perhaps Tina Tyus-Shaw will have her on the 5:45 "Wind Down" segment of WSAV's news broadcast.

I'm so glad I was there for the entire show this year!

All told, it went into overtime from its scheduled 90-minutes.

The last song was another Tucker tune, "Comin' Home Baby", which has been recorded by Michael Buble, along with Boyz II Men.

I wonder if Ben's widow, Gloria, still gets royalties for that tune?

I'm sure she does!

What a nice bit of music culture for me!

(smile!)

japan takes the gold! georgia takes the silver!

The hour's worth of Free Skate aired this afternoon revealed a big upset in the Pairs Figure Skating and was a very truncated show.

The first teams that were on at 4 PM were China (Sui Wenjing/Han Cong) and one of the USA teams (Ellie Kam/Danny O'Shea), but it was just a couple of highlights of their turns on the ice.

China scored 135.98 on the Free Skate and that USA team had 122.71.

Basically, both were in line with their standings from the Shorts program.

However, everything got taken up a notch when Japan came up.

Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihana took their mistake yesterday to heart and were absolutely, positively, perfect for this free skate!!!

The music, from "Gladiator", crafted specifically for this place and this program, was obviously one they felt strongly about and they were completely rapt...

as was I, watching them...

that had to be a Gold Medal performance, right?

The judges certainly agreed that it was.
The couple came off the ice with the highest score yet: 158.13 - wow!

The closest competitor - the team from China, whose skate wasn't shown this afternoon - was still 23 points lower than them for the free skate.

They were 23 points lower for the Figure Skating total, too.

That's a lot of points for some team to try to best at this juncture. 

Totally incredible!

Four more teams to skate; could Japan hold that spot? 

For the first time ever, it was possible that Japan could get a medal if the next two teams scored lower.

Hungary's pair, Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko, were next.

They had ended yesterday in 4th place... would this Free Skate advance them?

Their score was 141.39!

That wasn't enough to knock Japan off the pedestal yet.

What about the team from Canada?

Oh, my... Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud were skating to "Gladiator", the exact same music that the Japanese team had used.

Nice costumes, that's for sure... but then they had a fall, and one of their required jumps was under-rotated... and they knew when they came off the ice that their position was in peril.

Yesterday, they had been in third place. 

Now they had a 125.06 for their Free Skate, giving them 199.66 overall.

They were totally out of the top five.

But that was good news for Japan - they were definitely getting a medal!

Now to determine if it would be Gold, Silver, or Bronze.

Georgia's team was hungry for a medal, too, as the country had never won.

Would "Keeping Me Alive" be enough for Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava to pull into a space closer to, or above, Japan?

Oh, it was good, and they skated their hearts out, too!

And they succeeded in scoring 146.29 for their Free Skate!!!

That gave them a total of 221.75, ensuring they were going home with an Olympic medal, just as Japan would be.

One team left: Germany's Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin.

Would their "Memoryhouse" program grant them an Olympic podium position, or just a memory of what might have been?

Would it be them or Hungary's team up there for a medal???

They met the challenge, scoring two points below Hungary for the Free Skate, but that was offset by the 7 points higher yesterday.

That gave them the Bronze medal!!!

That meant Japan took the Gold and Georgia won the Silver!!!

I do love fairy tale endings!!!

I also love that I get to watch this again for Prime time!

(smile!) 

pairs' shorts: no, not ice dancing

I had once thought that Ice Dancing and Figure Skating were synonymous.

They are not.

Both are done with pairs of skaters on ice, but the technical bits differ. 

In Ice Dance, at least one member of the pair must be in contact with the ice at all times, so there are no jumps of any kind.

The emphasis is on synchronicity, with twizzles and choreographed step sequences, as well as lifts, used to supply dramatic tension. 

In Figure Skating, the technical aspects of axels and toe loops and fancy jumps returns, as well as throws of one partner by the other.

There's also a requirement for hand-holding at certain times.

I really like that one.

(smile!) 

Here's the German team of Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin, executing a perfect lift and spin.

I really love that overhead shot on this one!

They were dancing to "El Abrazo", a song written just for them... wow!!!

They amply deserved their first place standing at the end of this program!

This time, I have the couple from Georgia - the country, not this state.

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava were skating at high speed to "Bolero" as they performed this fabulous lift.

Just look how blurry the sidelines are as they whiz on by!!!

This clearly shows his strength, too, as well as hers as she holds that stance.

Second place they secured, though almost five points below the Germans.

Third place belonged to this pair from Canada, Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud.

Such a lovely display of hand-holding by this couple, as well as highly synchronized movements of their arms and legs, as shown here.

That merits the high points for sure!

This is the team from Hungary, making fourth place with their short program.

Here, I captured the moment when Alexei Sviatchenko was in process of lifting Maria Pavlova to his shoulders.

Their performance used Michael Jackson's "Earth Song", which I don't know that I've ever hear before.

Nice to associate it with this skate in Italy!

Time for the pair from Japan, Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, who gained fifth place!

I don't know why "Paint It Black" was their choice, but that seems to be a popular one this year.

I guess it's those Euro-Asian-Indian accents that Mick Jagger and Keith Richards imbued into it that makes it so appealing across the globe.

I like that their outfits remind me of "Star Trek" uniforms!

As for Sui Wenjing and Han Cong of China, their Short program wasn't included in the blocks aired for the USA tonight.

All I have for that 6th place team are their names and standings.

Maybe I'll get to see their Free Skate!

I did, of course, get to watch the 7th place performers - they represent the US!

They are the 35-year-old Danny O'Shea and 22-year-old Ellie Kam, as disparate in age as they are in height and appearance - but both big smilers!

Their song choice?

"Hallelujah", a song of praise and gladness!

Good choice... and perhaps an inside joke?

(smile!) 

Behind them by less than two-tenths of a point was this Italian team of Sara Conti and Niccolo Macii.

What fun they were having with "The Wild Bull"!!!

That was some definitely fancy footwork they had going on!

The home crowd truly loved them... and so did I!

Before I leave, special mention must be made for the Canadian team who skated to an operatic bit, "Carmen Burara", placing tenth.

Maxime Deschamps and his partner truly classed up the joint. 

Deanna Stellato-Dudek wore an Oscar de la Renta skatesuit of gold that caught every bit of light in that arena.

Here's the highlight for me: she's the same age as my first niece.

Good for her for still chasing that Olympic dream!

They may not have made the top 9 on this leader board, but they'll have another chance in just a day or so.

I'll be watching... and hoping... that their dreams come true!

(smile!)

getting some culture: part 4

Nothing like a bit of history to make me feel like I've been schooled!

Especially on a rainy Sunday afternoon - lol!

"Say Her Name: Susie King Taylor" was a Savannah Black Heritage Festival event, held over at Savannah State University, in a place I knew well: the Kennedy Building, home of so many plays and musicals from Collective FACE in its prime.

The drawing card for me was the screening of the documentary, "The Making Of Taylor Square", about the transition of Calhoun Square into this new one that served two goals: the first named for a woman and the first named for an African American.

The woman was Susie King Taylor, who had been 13 years old when she found herself serving as a nurse for the Union Army in South Carolina.

That was in 1861, when the American Civil War caused her mom to send her and her siblings to that state to stay safe.

Taylor could read, write, and count, so she made sure to teach that to others over there, both children and adults.

She served in the position of nurse and teacher for three years, but never received any financial benefits from those jobs.

Five years ago, a grass-roots movement began to gain recognition for her.

The woman who started that movement, Patt Gunn, was a tour guide who always shared Taylor's story on her tours.

That's her, second from the left, beside the college student asking the questions during the post-film Q&A.

The documentary's director, Caroline Josey Karoki, is on the far right.

I didn't catch the names of the other two women, but they were part of the group that was instrumental in getting the square renamed.

Some folks may think all the squares downtown have the same names given to them by James Oglethorpe when he laid them out, but that's incorrect.

For instance, Telfair Square, home of two museums I love, was originally called St. James Square. 

Upper New Square was renamed Oglethorpe Square in honor of our city's founder.

Then there are squares lost to road construction - like Liberty Square and Elbert Square - and new squares added in the 21st century, like Yamacraw Square and Washington Square, where a park and a garden once stood..

In other words, Taylor Square follows a long history of changes with our walkable green spaces downtown, squares that have long welcomed peoples from other lands to our fair seaport.

I know the folks involved with this five-year project hope others will follow the blueprint for change which is modeled quite well in the documentary.

Who knows what structure, or road, or park, may be renamed in the future?

getting some culture: part 3

For those keeping track, I've explored fashion art (at the Jepson) and the world of books.

Now, time to get my science groove on!

One Hundred Miles' Savannah office had a Naturalist 101 lecture and, although tonight's air was too chilly for my warm heart, I attended on fb.

Hooray for that option!!!

They named it differently on social media, but I knew it from the OHM website as "Seabirds & Shorebirds On The Georgia Coast".

That made me suspect it would be a lot like a lecture from last year.

Yep, that's Allie Hayser presenting the talk, just as before!

This time, though, she was solo, and was very excited to be talking about birds!

So brisk and lively she kept the topic!

It was obvious that she is accustomed to sharing this information with children at various schools and at the Tybee Marine Science Center.

Most excellent!

I waited for an opening and shot her a question from the fb audience.

"So horseshoe crabs aren't endangered?"

She was talking about their blood being used to check for drug purity, as well as talking about horseshoe crab roe being a favored food for Red Knots.

Red Knots are quite easily her favorite shore bird!!!

Here, she was talking of using the band information on a bird's leg to track where it was last seen.

This page covered the bird's movements from 2015 to the present!

That was truly amazing!!!

She finished the talk with a preview of the 2nd Annual Shorebird Festival coming up next week at Tybee.

I do hope the forecast will allow me to take part this time around!

Thursday will be out, as I already have other events then.

However, all the fun activities next Saturday may even encourage some of my great-nieces and great-nephews to join me!

That will be wonderful!!!

... and the 2026 ice dance winners are...

After the Rhythm Dance component, the standings for the top five pairs were as shown in the photo above. 

That's less than a point separating the French team from the American team, with an Olympic medal of any kind being their first.

In fact, there's less than six points between first and fifth place.

Very tight competition! 

I'm so glad I was able to tape these final competitions this afternoon!

Not that the segments aired had all 20 pairs, so I only got to watch the last eight pairs in the Free Skate portion.

Perhaps Peacock will offer all of them for me?

Meanwhile, here's what I danced along with on my loveseat.

First up was the USA pair with Christina Carreira, skating along to music from "Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer".

Although it was beautiful, it was also a bit creepy.

The red on her outfit are shaped, and colored, like drops of blood... yeah, creepy... but also beautiful... (shiver). 

10. Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko (United States): 119.47 free dance

Next were the pair from Spain with Olivia Smart, and she sported a design by the American, Madison Chock.

Their music was from the movie "Dune Part Two" and was quite enchanting!

They scored several places higher for the Free Skate than the other pair. 

6.  Olivia Smart and Tim Dieck (Spain): 122.96 free dance 

Another USA pair, with Emilea Zingas, followed them, performing to "Romeo and Juliet" - the one with segments used in "Sing 2"!!!

I kept picturing 'Johnny' being repeatedly humiliated by 'Klaus Kickenklober'!

Rather distracting, for me, from the romantic moment they were having - lol!

That put them into fifth place, ahead of Spain, by just 0.23 points. 

5.  Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik (United States): 123.19 free dance

The local rink stars, from just a few miles away in Italy, took the ice next.

Such a lovely flowing dress Charlene wore as they whirled and twirled to songs from Italian composer Diamante.

The moves put them a solid two points ahead of the USA pair ahead of them!

 4.  Charlene Guignard and Marco Fabbri (Italy): 125.30 free dance

Pretty exciting as those teams moved in their standings!

The team from Great Britian came with bagpipe music to celebrate their heritage.

I just loved the Scottish plaids reflected in both of their outfits!!!

Such a bit of liveliness out there for the judges and audience!!!

I'm so glad they were there to have some fun, and bring fun to us.

12.  Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson (Great Britain): 118.85 free dance

That left only three teams in the competition, not only in the Free Dance, but also for the Ice Dance medals.

The first of those was from Canada, skating to "Starry Starry Night"...

and Piper Gilles wore a gorgeous blue dress bedecked with sunflowers.

That was a 'wow' moment for me!

They took the lead by a whole 6 points above their nearest competitor.

3. Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier (Canada): 131.56 free dance

Time for the bullfighting married couple from the USA!

That would be Madison Chock and Evan Bates, of course, and they repeated the grand performance that helped Skate Team USA take Silver earlier.

What an incredible design for her outfit!!!

The skate this time was a full 3 points ahead of Canada's pair!

2. Madison Chock and Evan Bates (United States): 134.67 free dance

That left only the French team with Guillame Cizeron to take the ice.

 "The Whale" provided the inspiration for these two friends with their incredible lifts and precision twirls - amazing for a pair only skating together for a year!

Their Free Dance was a full point higher than anyone else's score.

1. Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron (France): 135.64 free dance

Good for them!!!

When all was said and done, the three teams that took the top three spots in the Rhythm Dance on Monday were the same ones that took the top three spots in the Free Skate today, as well as the top three spots in the total Ice Dance score.

That means France's Beaudry & Cizerone won the Gold, the USA's Chock & Bates took the Silver, and Canada's Giles & Porier got the Bronze.

Congratulations to those amazing skaters for their Olympic medals!!!

Congratulations to all twenty pairs of competitors for having advanced to this pinnacle of their ice dancing careers!!!

I have so enjoyed all of these beautifully choreographed dances on ice!!!