Posted 5 Years Ago: One of my favorite posts of all times

Reposted from 8/19/15 

Here's to the Chorus!

Here's to the Chorus - 

We'll never get our own TV special or Olympic commentating gig.  We'll never make a hairstyle famous or get our face on a box of Cheerios.

BUT, we will give the A-list skaters time to rest and change costumes.  We will be budget friendly and usually less demanding.  And most importantly, no single skater, no matter how good, can do a kick line like this ...
 

Ice Charades is going on vacation for a bit and won't be posting until some time in September.  Yes, Ice Charades is in there, but it doesn't matter where.

Have a great end of the summer.  Come back for fall!

It's Been A While ...

I haven't posted since March 6th, when I offered my review of Adam Rippon's wonderful book.

Anything been happening since the beginning of March?

OMG.

Years from now, people who are old enough to remember this pandemic, will talk about events as pre-Covid and post-Covid, much like we do of events before and after 9-11.

But as for the protests and Black Lives Matter - I can't add anything witty or profound that hasn't already been said.  I think of myself as an ally.  In my first novel, the best skater in the whole damn show is a black gal in the chorus.  And in the second, the star of the show is (again by far the best skater in the show) is black.  They are both modeled after real skaters, so it's true.  But I also wanted to point it out.

I'd much rather write fiction than put my own beliefs down on paper.  So, I'll leave it with this ... a design my daughter and I thought out and she put down on paper, so to speak.

Beautiful On the Outside by Adam Rippon

Just finished reading his book, Beautiful On the Outside, and fans of figure skating won't be disappointed.  It's fascinating to read about his path to the Olympics and I don't want to spoil it here, but SPOILER ALERT!! he goes to the Olympics.

The 3rd one he had planned on.

As you might expect, there are lots of juice details about his fellow skaters, judging, and his trials as an openly gay athlete sprinkled throughout the book.

One thing that surprised me was how poor he was at a time when he was already an elite skater.  Toward the beginning of his time training with Rafael, there were times when he could barely afford to eat.  How does one train at an Olympian level when one has so little to eat?

Shouldn't someone at the USFS be checking in on their skaters?  Shouldn't there be loans or an Olympian Food Bank at least?

That really bugs me.  It's hard enough to compete at the top of the world, and Adam had worrying about basic necessities to add to the list?  I admire his discipline.  That's some next-level, grown-ass  discipline, I must say.

But, back to the book.  It's delightful and at times, funny as hell. If at any moment you rooted for him or enjoyed his skating, you will enjoy this book.

I do hope there is more writing in his future.

Time for a new look!

Spinning Out

Let's hope the show is not down and "out" yet. 

There is a petition on change.org to save Spinning Out and it's already got 18,000+ signatures. Click on the link below, if you want to add yours.

Save Spinning Out

And in the meantime, if any of you thought I want all that skating drama, but I'm missing some penguins .... well, I've got you covered.

Ice Charades: Penguins Behaving Badly and Other Follies From the Road

Happy National Penguin Day!

In my opinion, Martin Luther King Jr Day is more important, but this year they will have to share the day, I guess.

I am a big fan of penguins and a big fan of Penguins of Madagascar (more accurately the German version - Die Pinguine aus Madagascar) television series.  It was very helpful for me and my daughter to learn German.  And snarky af.

Which is precisely how the penguins in Ice Charades usually behaved.

So, in honor of National Penguin Awareness Day, I'm sending anyone in the contiguous 48 states (the U.S. that is) a free copy of Ice Charades: Penguins Behaving Badly and Other Follies From the Road.

Send an email by January 25, 2020 to icecharadestheblog@gmail.com and I'll get a book in the mail to you.

Happy Halloween!

Okay, okay I'm a few days late.  But I'm reposting a goodie!  And BTW, the HOI website selling these costumes doesn't link anymore. 

So tell me, did you wear anything as great as these gems below?

October 19, 2010

Halloween Costumes

Buckle up kids and help me pick the silliest Holiday On Ice costume that may be the "best" Halloween costume at your local bar, neighborhood bash, or after-show cast party. Now, there are lots of beautiful costumes also for sale on the Holiday On Ice site, but that wouldn't be as fun to show you, now would it.

Up first: Some kind of "Eye" in the Bugs Bunny show.



Not to be outdone by the female version is the male eye from the same show:



This one features both male and female costumes and I can't figure out which one is creepier:



Could work out with the slate of zombie movies and tv shows coming out.

Okay, next is this guy is trying to look Mexican, but I don't know:



That poncho looks more like a navajo toga. And don't get me started on the mustache.

Which also makes me wonder how authentic this guys is:



Next up what I call the office peacock look:



This one is suppose to be a costume from the Caribbean:



And finally:

Hope to see you in Lake Placid this April!

I just got tickets and I'm so excited!!!

It's time to start thinking of outdoor ice rinks!

I live about an hour away from New York City.  Last Wednesday, I broke down and turned on the AC.  It was 93 degrees.  Two days later, it was 45 degrees in the morning and warmed up to a brisk 55.

Boom.  Made me think of winter.  Then I saw this great article: 45 Best Ice Skating Rinks by Randy Joyceln at the blog Vigourskate and it got me thinking about ice rinks I'd like to skate on this upcoming winter season.

This is my bucket list - hope to get to while I can still skate - skate ... the Reideau Canal in Ottowa.  I probably won't make it this year, but maybe next year.

Russia seems to have some of the most beautiful rinks, but no plans to go. 

Anyone out there planning to skate at any of the rinks on this list?  It's international, so there are rinks on almost every continent to consider.

'Tis the season (almost ...)

Ten Years Ago

don't you like how his collar is messed up a little?  very endearing

It was ten years (and one week) ago ... 9/14/2009 that Patrick Swayze passed away.  He was an incredible talent and not many knew he was also a figure skater.  Skater you say?  Yes, after actor, dancer, singer, football player and producer.

When he passed, I channeled my inner journalist (having had only one college course in it ... I knew nothing, but hey) and scoured the internet for corroboration of a friend's recollection.  And yes, I determined that he skated for a short time with Ice Charades, but it was never mentioned in any biographies at the time of his passing.

Here is the posting I did back in 2009:  

... RIP

A lot of the blogs are associating his role in "Disney On Parade" with Disney On Ice, which is not true. He was the Prince with Disney On Parade, yes, but that was a dance show.

Believe me, I've been knee-deep in Google (pages 8 and 9!) to get to the bottom of it. But good news, Wikipedia - Patrick Swayze has that part right.

What is surprising is I can't find anything on the internet about his time with Ice Capades.

But that is a minor point - what is true about him is that he was clearly one talented guy: actor, dancer, skater, singer and football player to name a few. I love to remember him from the SNL sketch with Chris Farley auditioning to become a Chippendales dancer.

My thoughts are with his wife, Lisa Niemi, of thirty-five years.

I am very sad that I missed the documentary about him that aired on September 18th on Paramount Network.  I would have liked to have seen that.

By the way, my original post about Patrick Swayze on 9/15/19 received more hits than any other post on this blog.  People were far more interested in searching for Patrick Swayze than Ice Charades.  FAR MORE.  And that's the way it should be!

Ohhh, these are so tempting!

It's that time of year in southern Germany!  Oktoberfest!  And I've got dirndl fever.  That's right - they're called dirndles.

The old showgirl in me really wants to get one of these and find some any excuse to wear one!

Why, you ask?

First of all, they have beautiful colors and they're oh, so shiny.

AND

They flatter an old showgirl's more mature (ahem, curvy) figure.  No need to suck in your stomach on these costumes.  Phew!

Tell me, which one would you get?

I think I'd like the dark blue, but ...

This is how we traveled - Ice Capades edition

Before I start, I need to mention, I skated in Holiday On Ice and several small productions.  I never skated in Ice Capades, nor Disney On Ice.  But, we ice skaters, are a big, sometimes happy family, and we work we each other in all sorts of shows. So you hear or you see what the other shows were/are all about.

So, let me explain ...

In the early days of ice shows, being on the road meant carrying everything with you ... on the road.  That meant your suitcase was probably stuffed to almost exploding levels, you were never really sure what was clean and you may not have seen the bottom of your suitcase for weeks.

Luckily, someone came up with the idea to let the skaters use trunks, that traveled with sets and costumes, so we could store additional clothing and whatever crazy items we brought with us.  One girl had a coffee maker in her trunk, another stashed a guitar in there.  And one girl in my division filled hers entirely with yarn.  Lots of yarn.  So much yarn, she knit everyone a vest for Christmas.  Yeah, lots of yarn.

In another post, I'll explain what was the weekly schedule of Holiday On Ice, and fold in the saga of getting, storing and using a trunk.  It deserves its own post.  It felt like a saga back in the day.

For now, I'll show you photos that someone had recently posted about the Ice Capades trunks.  I've got to say, I'm jealous because HOI trunks were big metal boxes, nothing fancy.  These are like works of art.

But wait a minute, Ice Charades, that trunk says Holiday On Ice on it.  

Why, yes.  Yes it does.  By the time I skated in HOI, these older steamer trunks had fallen out of fashion.  

I wish they hadn't, because this style is so much more useful than a big metal box.  Ice Capades still used these.  Look how cool that is!  It has drawers!  Our trunks never had drawers.

And the best thing about Ice Capades trunks is that they got delivered to your hotel door.  How convenient.  It's a moving closet (which, most importantly, you never had to move yourself.)

An entire hotel hallway lined with Ice Capades trunks.  I sure hope the front desk didn't stick any hotel guests wanting to get, you know, some sleep near these rooms.  

Ice Capades Kicks The Bucket - Reposted from 11 Years Ago

Lots of people love to joke about Ice Capades.  It was (and still is) an easy target (anyone see the new Geico commercial with Flo On Ice?)

ahem, excuse me, Ice Charades, but it's Progressive on Ice

Why, yes.  Yes it is.  But doesn't Flo On Ice have a better ring to it?

Anyway, you don't need to read the entire post, or the Slate article to remind you that Ice Capades is still dead.  Although there were some signs of a comeback even weeks after I posted this.  Stay tuned for more of this trip down memory lane.

But for now, I'm doing my best to keep the name out there.  For obvious reasons.  hehehe

Reposted from July 21, 2008

Ice Capades kicks the Bucket

This article in Slate states Ice Capades is dead.

Okay, no secret there. 

"The Ice Capades is dead. America's most glorious ice carnival, which barnstormed civic centers for nearly six decades, vanished about five years ago. That its death has gone largely unreported is puzzling."

First off, two things ... 1) Five years ago? It was more like ten years ago, buddy - nice investigative work - he obviously doesn't know there have already been two reunions in 2000 and 2005 and 2) why is this covered in Slate? Don't they have some campaigns to write about?

But back to the article - it's not puzzling to me. I'm willing to proclaim that Stars on Ice and Tour of Champions shoved the sword in the belly (nice and flat and sucked in - thank you very much) but the "Stars" didn't want to shout about it.

As the article points out all of those skating champions decided they didn't want to play second fiddle to Goofy or Big Bird, and I can't blame them.

But here's my prediction - Ice Capades will make a comeback (limited time only).

I think the television audience is getting tired of seeing those champions rework the same old signature jumps and spins into new show programs presented with yet another singer who has slid down the charts a ways.

Don't get me wrong, they are great skaters, but they can't do a kickline, eggbeater or pinwheel in their programs by themselves (and they can't do one together either.) Sorry Brian, not your specialty, you're the triple axel man, and we love you for it.

So for the sake of variety (and time for costume changes) I think a new ice show with a couple of well-choreographed chorus number would be a big hit on TV. (Are you listening Karen Kresge? Paul Guerrero? Chris Nolan? You guys could do it!)

Any predictions out there if and when Ice Capades returns?

500 Posts!

I didn't realize until this post at #501, but Ice Charades has now posted 500 posts!  And at least a dozen have talked about skating!!! hehehe


But in all seriousness, I'm trying to get back to writing - putting more time into blogging and less into Facebook.

The question is - is there anyone out there reading blogs anymore?  I hope to find you and engage.  Stay tuned.

It's almost that time of year again ....

You could say that for many events.  For me, I'll be excited for my annual obsession with Le Tour de France.  This year we bought an internet package, so I may get to see every stage!!!

For some, this time of year could mean some fabulous summer vacation.  Do you have one of those coming in July?  I hope so.

But for this post, I'm talking about Sun Valley, Idaho!  It's the place to skate in the summer.  Someday, someday, someday I'll make it there to skate.  Really, someday, I hope.

That's right, on July 21, 2019, the ProSkaters organization will be hosting a live competition.  As they say on the website:

Held on the outdoor rink on Sunday, July 21, 2019, beginning at 8:00 pm,  this exciting annual event will be a theatrical and competitive experience.  Skaters in Singles, Pairs, Dance, Adagio, Comedy, Show Acts, and Groups who will compete against each other. Winner take all!  A panel of judges PLUS a panel of audience members will determine the winner.  

I will try to update this blog with the results.  I sure wish I could see it live though.  Someday.

Then on July 22- 23, 2019, there are seminars for skaters who want to learn about life as a professional, or as they say, "the tricks of the trade."

If anyone reading this goes to this session OR has gone at any time, please let me know.  I would love to hear some first hand accounts.

Life In Synchro

This one is near and dear to my heart.

Life In Synchro

I can't wait to see how this develops and I hope to be at the Tribeca Film Festival when it plays there.  How about you?

As the title states, this is a documentary in the making, highlighting three synchro teams.  There is beautiful cinematography, the challenges of competition, and my favorite, the cast of skaters.  I can't wait to hear more of their insights.

If you go to the Indiegogo website for this documentary, click on the video and you get a little taste of what it's like.  It's still under constructtion.  Let's help them out!

Ice Capades 75 Reunion Video

Happy Spring everyone!

Here's a video highlighting the history of Ice Capades.  Sure looks glamorous doesn't it?

Ice Capades 75th Reunion

Have a great weekend! 

p.s. Did you catch any of Worlds?

Mini Ice Capades Reunion in Ottawa!

I hope anyone in the greater Ottawa area already knows about this reunion.  I hope it's a lot of fun for those that attend!

Life On Tour With Holiday On Ice

Haven't posted in a long time.  That's the thing about blogs these days.  Yet, I'm back to give you a look of life on tour with Holiday On Ice.

You're welcome. 

Oh and Happy Thanksgiving, 2018!

Every Little Step

...by the way, if you're a big fan of Chorus Line or Broadway or dancing in general, I highly recommend watching the documentary

Every Little Step

the documentary about the origin of the play and the casting of the 2008 revision.  The dancing is phenomenal!