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.