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

[invisiblespiral]

A new warhorse mashup!

 

[skatingfan4ever]

In a thread about personal season awards for 2022/2023, I made a category called "Skaters I am newly a fan of" and listed one of them as "the Taschlers from Finland" and went on my way. This happened four months ago, right after Worlds. Well, yesterday I was looking back at the start list for the Worlds FD and realized I had made a mistake. Maybe you've already caught it. I intended to highlight Juulia Turkkila and Matthias Versluis in that post, who are, in fact, from Finland. Natalie Taschlerova and Filip Taschler, on the other hand, are from the Czech Republic. I am sure the Czech siblings have their own nice qualities, but I found T&V's FD particularly mesmerizing last season. I rewatched it just now to make sure it's the program I was thinking of, and I found the experience just as mesmerizing as it was the first time I saw it.

This belongs in this thread because (1) I knew both dance teams existed, despite both of them representing small feds; (2) I knew enough to get their names and countries mixed up; (3) I remembered what I'd written in a GS post from four months ago; (4) I discovered my error through looking at the Worlds FD start list; and (5) I felt the need to correct this error I made four months ago.

So, I want to say thank you to JUULIA TURKILA AND MATTHIAS VERSLUIS from Finland for sharing that incredible FD with us! I look forward to seeing what programs they bring us next season!

After making a big deal that I meant Turkkila and Versluis and not the Taschlers (see above), I watched the Taschlers' Worlds FD. Confession: This was the first time I'd watched this program. With 4 disciplines, each with SP and FS/FD, and so many skaters per discipline, I need to make choices about how much to watch or real-life stuff wouldn't get done. For dance and pairs I often don't watch the lower-ranked couples, even at big competitions. Don't we all wish there were more hours in the day just to watch skating?

Well...drumroll...I LOVED IT! It's very different than T&V's FD but equally amazing. In this case, I really like what the voiceover adds to the program. It has an important message. The lifts and slides are nicely chosen. I felt like they showed commitment to the choreography, and of course the Japanese camerawork and audience didn't hurt. I enjoyed watching it very much.

So, in the final analysis, T&V and T&T BOTH have my admiration for their 2022/2023 FDs!

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

...when you watch an episode of "Pointless", and there are two things in it that make you think of figure skating.

First of all, one of the players was called Tonya. Needless to say who that made me think of. Before you ask, she was not named after the skater, because I would reckon they are both around the same age. Which is interesting in itself. Because they are the only Tonyas I have ever come across. And Cornwall and Oregon are rather far apart...

From what I have read, "Tonya" is normally a shortened form of "Antonia". But, most Antonias shorten their name to "Toni". So, was there something that happened in the late 60's / early 70's that led to "Tonya" becoming the more attractive diminutive than "Toni" for a short time?

The second is to do with one of the questions. After getting knocked out in the head-to-head in their first show, Tonya and her partner got through to the Pointless Final in this, their second show. And they were given three questions with the theme of "Small" Things:

• Hits of Small Faces or the Faces
• People credited in the "Small Axe" series of films
• Cities where Gladstone Small played international cricket

I had never heard tell of the "Small Axe" series, or Gladstone Small. And my mind had gone blank over songs by the Faces or Small Faces.

Although I know practically nothing about cricket, I decided to concentrate on the Gladstone Small question while playing along. Because, at the end of the day, you just have to guess cities.

Given how massive cricket is in India and Pakistan, I reckoned that cities in those countries should be avoided completely as they are unlikely to be pointless. I figured the people being asked were also likely to go for cities in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. So, I decided to guess cities in other British Commonwealth countries. And the first place that came into my mind was... Toronto.

Canada is not a country that you would normally associate with cricket. So I wonder why I thought of that particular city when a question involving cricket came up...?

Unfortunately, Toronto was not a pointless answer. And because they only ever go through the pointless answers in the final round, I don't even know if it was correct or, if it was, how many people said it!

As for the answers given by Tonya and her partner, Melbourne scored 8; Cape Town was incorrect; and Adelaide was pointless. So, they won the jackpot! However, because the jackpot had also been won in the previous show, it was a relatively small amount this time. That said, their opponents in the Head-To-Head round (which included an English girl that lived in Northern Ireland when she was a youngster) did find a pointless answer, so it was boosted to £1,500.

By the way, this was the first show where Stephen Mangan was in Richard Osman's chair. And he was actually very good. Much better than his predecessor Sally Lindsay, who was very wooden (she was never like that when acting in "Cornation Street"!) So, if the co-presenters that follow are in a similar vein to Stephen (Lauren Laverne is next, followed by Konnie Huq, and then Alex Brooker), then I won't give up on the show.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[TallyT]

The Faces were a 70s rock group, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Lane (later Rolling Stone) were in it. I think the Small faces were an earlier version of the group. I wonder, has anyone skated to a Rod or Rolling Stones program?

(Oh, and I love Stephen Mangan!)

 

[Diana Delafield]

...when you watch an episode of "Pointless", and there are two things in it that make you think of figure skating.

First of all, one of the players was called Tonya. Needless to say who that made me think of. Before you ask, she was not named after the skater, because I would reckon they are both around the same age. Which is interesting in itself. Because they are the only Tonyas I have ever come across. And Cornwall and Oregon are rather far apart...

There was also Tonia Kwiatkowski. Born 1971, according to her bio in Wikipedia. The -y- spelling for The Other Skater would probably be a mingling, deliberate or subconscious, of the names Tonia and Tanya.

Cornwall? Two of my great-grandparents were born in Cardinham, a hop down the road from Bodmin. Twelve of their thirteen kids lived to grow up and have large families of their own, which was amazing for the 19th century. The only child who died young was 4 years old, and she drowned when she fell through ice while skating on a pond on Bodmin moor. She'd been given strap-on skates for her birthday and was forbidden try them out until a grown-up was with her. But she was so eager to skate she sneaked off on her own, with tragic results. A family legend that didn't deter me from following in her tracings.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

The Faces were a 70s rock group, Rod Stewart and Ronnie Lane (later Rolling Stone) were in it. I think the Small faces were an earlier version of the group.

Partly correct. There were two Ronnies in the Faces. Basist Ronnie Lane was in both versions of the band. Guitarist Ronnie Wood joined when they became the Faces, and was the one that became a Rolling Stone.

Rod Stewart was the reason I was having problems with that question. Because whenever a song came into my head, I would then realise "no, that was Rod on his own".

As it turned out, I didn't know any of the pointless answers anyway. Which is probably why they were pointless - nobody else knew those songs either!

I wonder, has anyone skated to a Rod or Rolling Stones program?

There are plenty of "Paint It Black" programmes every season, but the vast majority of them use covers rather than the Rolling Stones' original.

Can't think of any Rod Stewart programmes off the top of my head. But, there is bound to have been.

(Oh, and I love Stephen Mangan!)

Towards the end of Sally Lindsay's stint, my Mum asked me who was next, and I told her Stephen Mangan. And she replied "Oh, I think he will be good". And I am ashamed to admit that, although I have seen things he has been in, I couldn't place who he was. But, I am notorious at remembering names when it comes to actors and, in particular, comedians. (That said, if there is a comedian that I really don't like, I will remember who they are!)

So, when he appeared, I thought "Oh, yes. I know you now". And I agreed in thinking he would be good. And he is!

There was also Tonia Kwiatkowski. Born 1971, according to her bio in Wikipedia. The -y- spelling for The Other Skater would probably be a mingling, deliberate or subconscious, of the names Tonia and Tanya.

How did I forget about her?!

Cornwall? Two of my great-grandparents were born in Cardinham, a hop down the road from Bodmin. Twelve of their thirteen kids lived to grow up and have large families of their own, which was amazing for the 19th century. The only child who died young was 4 years old, and she drowned when she fell through ice while skating on a pond on Bodmin moor. She'd been given strap-on skates for her birthday and was forbidden try them out until a grown-up was with her. But she was so eager to skate she sneaked off on her own, with tragic results. A family legend that didn't deter me from following in her tracings.

Wow. The poor wee girl! But, as you said, it was quite an achievement in that day and age for all of the other children in a large family to make it to adulthood and have their own families.

Can I just say, I love your stories. And I love the way you write. Whenever I see your name listed as the last poster of a thread, I tend to be drawn into that thread to see what you are talking about, even if it is a thread that I wouldn't normally be interested in.

Please, don't ever change!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[TallyT]

Partly correct. There were two Ronnies in the Faces. Basist Ronnie Lane was in both versions of the band. Guitarist Ronnie Wood joined when they became the Faces, and was the one that became a Rolling Stone.

Rod Stewart was the reason I was having problems with that question. Because whenever a song came into my head, I would then realise "no, that was Rod on his own".

As it turned out, I didn't know any of the pointless answers anyway. Which is probably why they were pointless - nobody else knew those songs either!



There are plenty of "Paint It Black" programmes every season, but the vast majority of them use covers rather than the Rolling Stones' original.

Can't think of any Rod Stewart programmes off the top of my head. But, there is bound to have been.



Towards the end of Sally Lindsay's stint, my Mum asked me who was next, and I told her Stephen Mangan. And she replied "Oh, I think he will be good". And I am ashamed to admit that, although I have seen things he has been in, I couldn't place who he was. But, I am notorious at remembering names when it comes to actors and, in particular, comedians. (That said, if there is a comedian that I really don't like, I will remember who they are!)

So, when he appeared, I thought "Oh, yes. I know you now". And I agreed in thinking he would be good. And he is!





How did I forget about her?!



Wow. The poor wee girl! But, as you said, it was quite an achievement in that day and age for all of the other children in a large family to make it to adulthood and have their own families.

Can I just say, I love your stories. And I love the way you write. Whenever I see your name listed as the last poster of a thread, I tend to be drawn into that thread to see what you are talking about, even if it is a thread that I wouldn't normally be interested in.

Please, don't ever change!

CaroLiza_fan

Ooops you are absolutely right about the Ronnie's, thanks. I typed the wrong name unthinkingly.

 

[moonvine]

When you see an expensive personalized Emotional Support Otter plushie and seriously consider buying a couple for favorite skaters. https://www.callie.com/personalized...BfGw8Bpt4CoILu63cP0V0dCi9wtxzy2_6sSQwSqq3Y1BA

 

[moonvine]

There was also Tonia Kwiatkowski. Born 1971, according to her bio in Wikipedia. The -y- spelling for The Other Skater would probably be a mingling, deliberate or subconscious, of the names Tonia and Tanya.

Cornwall? Two of my great-grandparents were born in Cardinham, a hop down the road from Bodmin. Twelve of their thirteen kids lived to grow up and have large families of their own, which was amazing for the 19th century. The only child who died young was 4 years old, and she drowned when she fell through ice while skating on a pond on Bodmin moor. She'd been given strap-on skates for her birthday and was forbidden try them out until a grown-up was with her. But she was so eager to skate she sneaked off on her own, with tragic results. A family legend that didn't deter me from following in her tracings.

I appreciated both Tonias skating and her lovely commentary for Icenetwork.

 

[NanaPat]

When you see an expensive personalized Emotional Support Otter plushie and seriously consider buying a couple for favorite skaters. https://www.callie.com/personalized...BfGw8Bpt4CoILu63cP0V0dCi9wtxzy2_6sSQwSqq3Y1BA

I understand the appeal but think the animal would be more huggable (and therefore more supportive) without the vest.

 

[labgoat]

I appreciated both Tonias skating and her lovely commentary for Icenetwork.

There was a third girl Tanja Szewczenko of Germany who competed in Olympics with Katarina Witt in 1994, famous for her collision with Oksana Baiul. She was known for being a clockwise skater who had a huge triple lutz. She won the bronze medal at worlds that same year. I just loved her dress.

Tanja Szewczenko (GER) - 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate

Chiba-Makuhari, JAPAN - 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate - Tanja Szewczenko of Germany placed 3rd in the Free Skate and ended movi...

youtu.be

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

There was a third girl Tanja Szewczenko of Germany who competed in Olympics with Katarina Witt in 1994, famous for her collision with Oksana Baiul. She was known for being a clockwise skater who had a huge triple lutz. She won the bronze medal at worlds that same year. I just loved her dress.

Tanja Szewczenko (GER) - 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate

Chiba-Makuhari, JAPAN - 1994 World Figure Skating Championships, Ladies' Free Skate - Tanja Szewczenko of Germany placed 3rd in the Free Skate and ended movi...

youtu.be

And after she retired, Tanja became famous for doing a few photoshoots for a well-known magazine where she forgot to wear her dress...

Come to think of it, I'm nearly sure that all three of the skaters that are mentioned in your post have done shoots for that particular magazine.

Seriously, Tanja is probably best known nowadays as an actress. And the funny bit is that in a soap that she did a stint in, she was playing a character called... Kati!

I wonder if giving her character that name was a deliberate bit of mischief from the producers...

CaroLiza_fan

 

[CrazyKittenLady]

Seriously, Tanja is probably best known nowadays as an actress. And the funny bit is that in a soap that she did a stint in, she was playing a character called... Kati!

She also played the main character in a German soap opera (Alles was zählt) about a poor but naturally gifted skater training at the same rink as her posh and manipulative rival and the drama that ensues. I admit I religiously watched the first few seasons when figure skating was still a part of the primary plot line.

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

She also played the main character in a German soap opera (Alles was zählt) about a poor but naturally gifted skater training at the same rink as her posh and manipulative rival and the drama that ensues. I admit I religiously watched the first few seasons when figure skating was still a part of the primary plot line.

Ah, I've seen the name of that programme before, but I never read any further and so didn't realise that it was actually about figure skating.

Right, I'm going to have to investigate it more.

That is so cool, a drama series about figure skating. I wish somebody would make one in English. (Come to think of it, there aren't many drama series that revolve around sport. The only one I can think of is children's series "Jamie Johnson").

My mind is going into overdrive trying to imagine the sort of storylines there could be. And there are so many themes that would work. You wouldn't even need something extreme like the Tonya-Nancy incident to make it interesting.

Thank you for bringing this up.

CaroLiza_fan

 

[Diana Delafield]

Partly correct. There were two Ronnies in the Faces. Basist Ronnie Lane was in both versions of the band. Guitarist Ronnie Wood joined when they became the Faces, and was the one that became a Rolling Stone.

Rod Stewart was the reason I was having problems with that question. Because whenever a song came into my head, I would then realise "no, that was Rod on his own".

As it turned out, I didn't know any of the pointless answers anyway. Which is probably why they were pointless - nobody else knew those songs either!



There are plenty of "Paint It Black" programmes every season, but the vast majority of them use covers rather than the Rolling Stones' original.

Can't think of any Rod Stewart programmes off the top of my head. But, there is bound to have been.



Towards the end of Sally Lindsay's stint, my Mum asked me who was next, and I told her Stephen Mangan. And she replied "Oh, I think he will be good". And I am ashamed to admit that, although I have seen things he has been in, I couldn't place who he was. But, I am notorious at remembering names when it comes to actors and, in particular, comedians. (That said, if there is a comedian that I really don't like, I will remember who they are!)

So, when he appeared, I thought "Oh, yes. I know you now". And I agreed in thinking he would be good. And he is!





How did I forget about her?!



Wow. The poor wee girl! But, as you said, it was quite an achievement in that day and age for all of the other children in a large family to make it to adulthood and have their own families.

Can I just say, I love your stories. And I love the way you write. Whenever I see your name listed as the last poster of a thread, I tend to be drawn into that thread to see what you are talking about, even if it is a thread that I wouldn't normally be interested in.

Please, don't ever change!

CaroLiza_fan

I think, considering the age I am now, it's safe to assume I'm pretty much set as I am, but thanks for the compliment. My mother and grandmother were insatiable family-story-tellers and were delighted when I was a very early convert. Or, as my mother put it in my baby book on the page for Milestones Reached, for Began to Talk: "At 9 months, and hasn't shut up since".

Try googling "John Kenneth Galbraith quotes" or possibly finding a library copy of his The Scotch about his early life in southern Ontario. He and my mother were same-age cousins. The whole Galbraith family wrote like that, he was just the one who got to be famous.

 

[TallyT]

You are sort of tempted to try and read a phd dissertation encouragingly titled 'Expansion microscopy of C. elegans : nanoscale imaging of biomolecules throughout an entire organism' (or at least the abstract... which hurt my poor little brain enough, it's biological engineering) because a skater is thanked on the acknowledgement page.

​

 

[Ladskater]

You drive by an ice rink in the summer thinking about getting back into skating in the fall

 

[cheerknithanson]

You hear Sinnerman in the other room while your husband and his friends are watching "Scrubs" on Hulu (Or idk what streaming service it's on) and you walk in and ask "Is that Sinnerman?"

 

[CaroLiza_fan]

...when you read a story on the Guernsey pages of the BBC's teletext service, and when you see the surname of the person the story is about, you automatically think "is she related to Elvis?"

I have to be honest, it was actually over a week ago that this happened. However, I didn't get the chance to write this post when the story was fresh, and since the BBC News website was re-designed a few years ago, it has been nigh-on impossible to find stories if they are more than a day old. So, I had to wait until there was a follow-up to get the link to the original story.

Guernsey cancer survivor to climb Kilimanjaro for charity:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-66609659

Cancer survivor reaches Mount Kilimanjaro summit:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crg3mj1npgpo

Well done Oksana!

CaroLiza_fan

 

[labgoat]

You spend hours making your Skate Picks and stay up until 2 am updating and formating charts for the rewatches on your day off. I suspect I am not alone in this on this board. Thank you fellow GSers for the hours you spend (probably more than me) doing similar things.