Also a photo from last Tuesday morning, when the power was out:

This week’s headlines:

Carolina Kostner to stay

Cynthia Phaneuf injured

Club competitions in Los Angeles, Vail, Milwaukee, & Texas

Multiple skaters announce music

Interviews with Rukavitsin group in Latvia

All That Skate & The Ice head show announcements

Michelle Kwan carried Olympic torch

This week’s headlines:

ISU Congress announces key decisions

Shilband settles in new rink, two old teams declare for him

Morozov gets back Takahashi, but loses Ando

Medal Winners & Japan Open announce more entries

Samuel Contesti retires

Slovakia announces JGP entries

Shen & Zhao conclude on-ice career

Yu-Na drops lawsuit against professor

A few more music announcements, including one from Pechelat & Bourzat

Skate for Hope held in Columbus

Navka & Kerr carry Olympics torch

Somewhat sad to see the end of Evora & Ladwig, but at their ages, we knew it might happen.  And at least we get to keep him, provided he finds a partner(he better find one quick, though; he doesn’t this summer and there’s a huge danger he’ll stop looking).  More sad to hear Lauri Bonacorsi & Travis Mager split.

CD just hit Stars’ “Calender Girl.”  I now want to make a montage of Alissa to this song.  Though I suppose then I’d have to watch her programs from Nice, which I don’t want to do.  The life of the artist…as I said in my Worlds entry, she might very well be back at Worlds next year with a chance at redemption, and I kind of really hope it happens.  She and Ashley can do it right next year and then Gracie Gold can join them in Sochi.

I have, on the other hand, now seen both Patrick Chan & Daisuke Takahashi’s long programs, courtesy NBC’s recap show.    And I will say this: I absolutely understand why the former won.  I’m  a little more uncertain as to whether it was absolutely right, or maybe just not caring enough to feel whether it was or wasn’t, but noone should be ranting about Chanadian politics or taking the judges out and shooting them: this is not nearly that bad.  As offenses against justice go?  This one’s barely a tap against the head.  Then again, I still haven’t bothered with their shorts, so…

Missed the first hour of said show, so missed the ice dance, for which I’m kind of sorry, but also Jeremy’s skate, for which I’m not; I fear I might find that more painful to watch than even Alissa might be.  On reading he plans to keep one program last year, I hope it’s the long; he’s done the short justice, but he hasn’t skated that long clean yet and unless he final does at the World Team Trophy it would be tragic to lose the program without getting at least one flawless 2010 Nationals-style skate out of it.

Find I’m in no hurry to seek out the top free dances, anyway, simply because, well, I’ve seen them already.  Tessa and Scott and Meryl and Charlie were wonderful all year; there’s not much further up they can go.  Though one program I have enjoyed seeing performed for the first time is Nathalie & Fabian’s Ex:

I suppose also I ought to be indignant on behalf of Daisuke Takahashi.  But when I still haven’t seen either his or Patrick Chan’s performance since I was too mad to watch at the time, still don’t particularly feel like seeking them out, and therefore have only tweets to go on which seemed to argue both sides of the debate, I find I don’t really give a *censored.*  I’m more interested in the question of what happens now, if the ISU decides the booing crowd is bad enough for publicity to do something.  I’ve the sinking feeling they’ll do the wrong thing, whatever they do.  Hopefully it won’t be to puff up Plushenko more; that’ll just make the problem worse.

An even more interesting question, I suppose, relates to everyone now writing Alissa Czisny off completely.  The problem is, it’s one thing the men, with both Evan and Johnny looking serious in their comebacks(though I suspect without the third spot, Johnny won’t make it back to Worlds).  But while people have even been making comments about how Kimmie could come back if she wanted to, there’s noone intending to come back, and while for a moment on Twitter people started fretting if we’d even have two spots next year, thanks to Ashley that was taken care of, and even assuming her for one of them(and remember, Alissa was looking equally good this time last year), who gets the other one?  Mirai’s a dicey prospect at best.  Gracie Gold is young and untested.  Christina Gao’s yet to prove she can go the distance.  None of the other junior prospects has done well enough to be relied on.  Even if Rachael continues skating for the fun of it, those days are obviously over for her.  The most obvious choice would be Agnes Zawadzki, but there’s no denying she still has major consistency issues, or Caroline Zhang, but will the judges ever fully embrace her again?  And you can’t see either of them making top five at Worlds, not really; with Alissa or Mirai or maybe Gracie that’s at least a possibility. We’ve got one more year to fix this before the next Olympics; the right person must be sent to Worlds next year, but when there probably wasn’t a right person this year anyway, then, well, who?

No real reaction to pairs or ice dance, oddly; maybe because I’ve been at work for almost all of both.  Maybe later.

Men:  Or, who gets the bronze?  I’ve decided to go with what I want to happen there, my predictions for the podium: Patrick Chan, Daisuke Takahashi, Jeremy Abbott.  Also looking forward to: holding up hope Adam lands the quad lutz.  Though I’ll settle for them getting that third spot back.

Ladies: So having predicted Jeremy to make the podium, do I dare predict Ashley?  But actually, I’m going to be daring and predict Carolina drives everyone crazy by winning more or less fair and square, but I don’t dare put Mao any lower than 2nd, so who does that leave for bronze?  After Challenge Cup I’m wary of predicting Alissa, so it’s Ashley, Leonova, or one of the two Japanese girls.  Murakami might not be ready just yet, and Leonova’s still a mite unpredictable, but the kind of year Suzuki’s having, I think she’ll take the edge, so: Carolina Kostner, Mao Asada, Akiko Suzuki.  If Ashley gets stuck in 4th, hopefully Alissa will make the top 9.  Also looking forward to: is there even a slight chance Ksenia proves everyone wrong?  It’s probably her last chance…

Pairs:  And the questions for both the couples competitions are which order the top two finish in, and then who wins the bronze.  I suspect Volosozhar & Trankov are more likely to finally pass Savchenko & Szolkowy next year than this one, and the Germans have such a glorious free skate this year this ought to be their fourth title.  Bronze is a thorny question indeed, but Duhamel & Radford’s jumps, sadly, are too unreliable, and for some reason I suspect neither Pang & Tong or Kavaguti & Smirnov will be up to it, so it’s Sui & Han by default: Savchenko & Szolkowy, Volosozhar & Trankov, Sui & Han.  Also looking forward to: hope Duhamel & Radford skate that long program well, though.

Ice Dance: And even if they make it, Nathalie Pechelat & Fabian Bourzat may be vulnerable, but it would be too depressing to predict a second disappointment in a row for them.  As for those two above them, after Four Continents, I have the general feeling Meryl & Charlie have had their Worlds on top, and cede it now.  Hey, they had it, and that’s the important part, right?  Virtue-Moir, Davis-White, Pechelat-Bourzat.  Also looking forward to: the other two Canadian teams!  I suppose if Weaver & Poje did take the bronze, I wouldn’t mind that much.