Happy 2016!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday!

Do you have any juicy resolutions for 2016?

I've given up on most diet/exercise-themed punishments goals long ago, but this year I resolved to eat more eggs, and with that, less meat.  Since we are the proud owners of six backyard chickens, four of whom are already laying, this shouldn't be too hard.

Writing goals?  Now that's different.  I'm determined to get the sequel to Ice Charades out THIS year.  It's close, it's pretty shined-up, but it's not quite ready yet.  THIS year, I promise.  Some of you, dear readers, have been asking and waiting patiently and some of you have probably forgot.

THIS year, I promise.  It takes place in Atami, Japan in 1989.  Good times.  We still didn't have credit cards or internet yet.  No TV in English, no decent bagels, unless one made a trip into Tokyo.  But we stayed in a Japanese resort town on the Pacific ocean with natural hot springs and lots of time on our hands.

If you want to read more about it, you won't have to wait any longer than 2016.

For Judy

Everyone I talk to that's read Ice Charades has told me how much they love Judy.  His character (yes, it is a "he") is the most fun to write.  FYI, Judy is all over the sequel too.

But the real person Judy is modeled after, my dear friend, just lost his sister to cancer.  I'm so sad for my friend, his niece and the whole family.

My thoughts are with you now.

Save HOI

For those of you skaters or skating fans who haven't noticed the controversy in the Facebook group "Save HOI" - I'm about to wade in.

The controversy stems from a few posters who feel the latest versions of Holiday On Ice have lost the glamour and spectacle of the past. They point to a kick line of only eleven skaters, in the latest show Believe, and think the show can't be any good.

It's true that the days of 28 chorus girls wearing hats or wigs with gloves and jewelry in every number are gone and not coming back. Too expensive. There's a lot of concern there aren't enough skaters on the ice. Indeed, I called the decision to add dancers to the show "Speed" a bad idea, because I felt the skaters could the dancing if necessary, but be on the ice most of the time. But I didn't realize at the time, that dancers are cheaper, so the idea to add them may have been right for the time.

The reality is HOI, which used to play five divisions, almost year round is down to one division (and the addition of Ice Age for the kids). Up through the 90s, the shows would stay in towns like Paris for four weeks, Rio for six, but now the show run is three or four months in total staying four days in most cities. There are too many other entertainment options competing with ticket sales.

Having seen two of the most recent HOI productions, Speed and Platinum, I can tell you what they don't have in the number of bodies on the ice, they make up for in skating. As in they skated their a$$es off. The lights, props and special effects added a depth and "wow" the older shows couldn't.

So what it comes down to is this is not your grandmother's show anymore. It's a sign of the times of a leaner show that looks like a park show in a big arena. But as one poster on "Save HOI" said "I for one am grateful there are still shows." Me too.

What was most troubling for me looking, around at the venue of the Platinum show, was the majority of grey hair in the audience. That's the part of "Save HOI" I think we need to work on.
Any thoughts out there?

It's a sad day for ice skating

... normally, this is the time when everyone thinks of ice skating.  It goes along with December like penguins and candy canes.

But today, December 1, is World AIDS Day and a day to remember all of the skaters we lost.

And there is another skater we just lost.  By now you've heard the news and seen many news reports on the shooting at the Planned Parenthood Clinic in Colorado Springs, Colorado, where police officer and former Junior National Ice Dance Champion,  Garrett Swasey, was killed.  By every single account, he was a wonderful person.

A very sad day.

 

 

Life On The Road, Skating With Ice Capades

I saw this in my facebook feed today and thought it was a great thing to post (especially since Ice Charades didn't skate in Ice Capades ... she just thought the name was so cool.)

Here's Tim Estiloz chatting with WBZ's Jordan Rich about life on the road for four years.  That's a long time to stay with one show.

Tim really knows his stuff and he's well spoken ... so have a listen, you won't regret it!

Head Ewok ... that's something to tell the grandkids.

I'll ask again ... does a roller coaster have groupies?

The answer is probably yes.

But that's not the point.  The point is Ice Charades is going to trout out another rant about the lack of ice shows in commercials.  I saw a commercial for Royal Caribbean this weekend and didn't see any hint of ice.  Not a blade, not a toe pick.  Nothing.

Yes, in past years, 2013, 2010, and 2008  I was so frustrated.  It seems the agencies that whip up these commercials didn't get my memo.

So I'll post it here.  Yup, I'm posting a repost within a post of a repost.  Or something like that.  You're welcome.

Way back in June, 2008, I railed on the theme parks for not showing their own ice shows in their advertisements. Whether it was in print or television ads, there was no skating to be seen.

Here's my short rant in short:

Calling the PR Department of

King's/SixFlag's/Busch'/sSeaWorld's/Knott's/GreatAmerica's Theme Park

Why is it that there is rarely any press/commercial screen time/endorsements of the ice shows inside your park? Are you hiding it?

When I skated for King's Dominion and Williamsburg Busch Gardens, both times the ice shows were the #1 live attraction. Now don't get me wrong, people, I know nothing beats the latest/tallest/fastest rollercoaster for these theme parks, but the ice shows were packing them in -- if nothing else, so people could sit down and cool off -- Virginia in August anyone?

When I was at Busch Gardens, the park orginally scheduled two shows daily. Then the wizards working the numbers and crowd control realized the park would make more money if they canceled the early show and made people who wanted to see the show (a.k.a. the groupies) wait until 9 pm, meaning they would have to eat at the park, rather than catch the early show and head to town for dinner afterward.

Can a rollercoaster do that? Do they have groupies?

Okay, yeah, they probably do.

So today I'm calling out Royal Caribbean Cruises for doing the same thing. Last night I caught a commercial (I'm excited that I now get some American tv stations in Panama) for the cruise ship that never showed one clip of skating. Not the show, not even a passenger on a public session.




I don't get it. Skating is the number one, most popular Winter Olympic sport, in part, because it's so well suited for television. Why? It's got beautiful costumes (usually) on beautiful skaters (usually - which reminds me of another post I'm about to do) and the fast motion of jumping, spinning or plain old stroking. To me, it's more zippy than most anything dancing can do ... yet, they show a clip of one of the musicals (people singing, rather than dancing) in that commercial.

I just don't get it. RC is the only cruise line to have an ice rink and you would think they might want to highlight that aspect more. And I can't imagine that someone in the ad biz can truthfully say that "We tested for audience reaction to skating and they didn't like it" because they've never put the skating in there.

Happy Dia de los Muertos

 

Miss Ice Charades only lived in Mexico for two years, but that's enough to feel like I can celebrate Dia de los Muertos with the rest of them.

For those not so familiar with the Mexican holiday, which was me before going to Mexico, some describe it as "a loving tribute to a family member or friend who has died" but others seem to choose to honor a famous person who has died in the year.

It's only fitting then that my Dia de los Muertos ofrenda, or altar, is for Toller Cranston.

You have to look close to see the two photos of him, one as a skater and one as an artist.  There's lots of red in there because I know he liked that color.  There are also a few snacks and some red wine in addition to the water, since you are supposed to include these to "refresh the spirit after his journey" and candles.

What is missing is the Pan de muerto and the calaveras (sugar skulls) because there are hard to find in Princeton, New Jersey.

When we lived in Mexico City, we had an ofreda for Michael Jackson with a few more appropriate components on the table.

I wish I could have seen the bigger celebration at the Gala for the Ice Theatre of New York, but I'm honoring the most artistic figure skater ever, in my own small way.