heavenly_pearl | Entries tagged with national championship

Some of this stuff I bought with the eBay gift cards I got for Christmas; others I bought before Christmas but didn't get the chance to squee about.

First off, a supercute wedding plush set from Korea! Got a great deal on them. Just a couple of weeks before I bought this set, another set sold for about $75. I ended up only paying $25!

( Lots of pics )

Current Mood: dorky

Oh, my, gosh! I just bought the most amazing thing yesterday on eBay!

(Just an example pic, check the link above for actual picture and the two other keychains (Super Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon) that I also got in the lot)

The ONE (to the best of my knowledge) piece of human!Helios merchandise that was released in the 90s! *screams*

It's super, super rare, so I never expected to be able to get my hands on one. It's like a dream come true! I did have to break my usual "only buy from U.S. sellers because international shipping is so expensive" rule to get him -- the seller is from the UK -- but, I mean, how could I possibly resist? And the price was great, too -- $59.99 for all three keychains (plus $14 shipping). Considering I read on this website that the Helios keychain usually goes for at least a $40 minimum if you can find him and that the only other listing I've ever seen for him is this one from a seller in Hong Kong that is trying to sell the set (the three keychains I bought, plus a Pegasus/Chibiusa keychain I also would love to get my hands on) for $250, it's a fantastic deal. Eek, I'm so excited!

In other news, anybody planning to attend one of the limited showings of the Sailor Moon R movie in selected theaters this month? There's a showing in a city fairly close to my sister's house, so not too far away (maybe about an hour from my house), but I can't make up my mind if I'm going or not. On one hand, the R movie is my favorite of the Sailor Moon movies, and it would be really cool to see it on the big screen, check out the new dub, and maybe score a free gift. Plus, it would be a fun excuse to wear one of my new Sailor Moon T-shirts and just be a huge dork with like-minded people. On the other hand, $15 a ticket is kind of expensive, especially when I own the movie (subtitled) and have already seen it probably at least ten times in my lifetime. Also, the ending ALWAYS makes me cry, and I hate crying in public. It's so embarrassing! The last nail in the coffin is that the showing takes place the same weekend as the United States Figure Skating Championships, which I really want to watch live and don't want to risk missing (although I could DVR it if I really had to). *sigh* I probably won't go, but hopefully they'll do it again for the other movies in the future.

Current Mood: jubilant

Three exciting pieces of news!

1. Fushigi Yugi Gets New Manga About Priestess of Byakko

Yay, so excited about this news! It was pretty inevitable that Yuu Watase would finish things off with the Byakko arc, but I wasn't expecting her to start on it so soon after Genbu. (She didn't start Genbu until about seven years after the original series.) I'm really looking forward to it. From the small amount we learned in the original series, the main couple's love story is tragic, but really sweet, and I liked the two elderly Byakko warriors that Miaka and the Suzaku warriors met in the original series. I'm curious to see what the rest of the group will be like!

EDIT: An article posted after this explains that it's not going to be a full-fledged series, just something called a yomikiri, which is a short story of a few chapters or less. *sigh* Too bad, although I guess it's possible that it could be expanded into a full series if it does well in the reader polls. At the very least, I hope it is long enough to fill out at least one volume of manga, because otherwise I don't think we'll get an official English translation of it. Something like that would usually only be included as a bonus story, and the only series of hers currently being published in the U.S. is Arata: The Legend, which is published in a different magazine (and is shonen, rather than shoujo), so I doubt that has any hope of happening.

2. 3rd Sailor Moon Stage Musical To Run This Year

I've loved the first two revival musicals, so I'm so happy that we're getting a third, especially since that means there's a good chance we'll get a possible fourth (a.k.a. based on the Dream arc). Really can't wait to see this!

3. Last, but not least, last weekend was the U.S. Figure Skating Nationals, and it was AWESOME. Such a great competition, and I'm thrilled that most of my favorites did really well, especially Ashley Wagner, who earned back her national title with one of the most amazing skates I've ever had the pleasure of watching. I doubt anybody reading this is really interested in this, but I'm going to post a link to a Youtube video of her free program, anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uTgLmLW4nQ

Serious chills.

If she skates like that at Worlds, she should definitely at least make the podium, if not outright win the gold.

Current Mood: ecstatic
Current Music: "Moulin Rouge" medley

I haven't said anything about the U.S. Nationals going on this weekend because I'm sure nobody reading this really cares, but man, what an afternoon! The men's competition was insane. Most of the men actually skated really well, but it led to this really weird situation where possible podium favorites Adam Rippon and Armin I'mnotevengoingtotrytospellhislastname, despite having really great free skates, ended up in fifth and sixth place respectively due to mistakes in the short program, while two-time champion Jeremy Abbott fell apart and ended up in fourth. The podium ended up with two relative newcomers to seniors, Richard Dornbush and Ross Miner, winning the silver and bronze, and popular veteran Ryan Bradley winning his first national title. I don't think anybody expected results like this. So happy for Ryan, who was just adorable when he realized he had won, and I think Richard and Ross have some definite potential for the future, but it'll be interesting to see who they decide to send to Worlds. I mean, Ross edged out Jeremy for the bronze by a very slim margin. It seems like it would be smarter to send Jeremy instead for a stronger chance of keeping the three spots the U.S. has for men, but it seems rather cruel to leave Ross or Richard off the team just because they're inexperienced on the international senior stage.

Current Mood: geeky

(Boy, it's been a while since I posted... Not much to talk about.)

So, this weekend was the U.S. Figure Skating Nationals. I was determined to watch it this year, so I hooked up the converter box and was pleased to get a rather good picture on Channel 2, our NBC affiliate which we've always had trouble getting on analog. I had to sit right in front of the TV in order to fiddle with the antenna when the picture started to get wonky, but the more I watched, the stronger the signal seemed to get. That was good.

What was not good was that I missed the first hour of the first broadcast yesterday, showcasing the pairs final (which I really wanted to see since Melting Ice deals with pairs skating). This was completely my fault, I admit. I could have sworn that it was supposed to start at three instead of two, but when I checked the icenetwork.com schedule, they had the correct times posted. I was disappointed, but, oh, well.

But then when they were supposed to show the ladies final later that night, Channel 2 decided to show some Patti LaBelle tribute show instead. This definitely annoyed me. I mean, you don't see them pre-empting the Super Bowl to show a concert, do you? In any case, they announced they would show the ladies' competition today at 2:30, and I was somewhat placated, although I thought the time was a little strange since the men's final was meant to start at three.

Well, I turn on the TV at 2:30. No skating, just a car show.

They meant 2:30 in the morning!

*throws a fit*

When you say 2:30 tomorrow, Channel 2, sane people assume you mean in the afternoon! When you mean 2:30 a.m., then freakin' say "a.m." or "in the morning"! Better yet, don't go pre-empting national competitions in the first place for stupid concerts! The ladies' final is the competition most casual skating fans care most about. (More serious fans, like me, know that the men's competition is really where it's at, but I like watching the ladies, too.) I bet you didn't get nearly as high ratings with Patti LaBelle as you might have if you had broadcast the ladies' at the proper time. Seriously!

Ugh!

*calms down*

There, I feel a little better now.

At least today's men's competition was quite exciting. It'll be interesting to see who they'll name to the world team with my fave Evan Lysacek (3rd) and Johnny Weir (5th) unfortunately not skating their best. Jeremy Abbott automatically gets a spot since he won, but now the committee has to decide whether to send Evan and Brandon Mroz, the surprise second place finisher, dump Evan for Johnny, or dump Brandon for Johnny. It'll be a difficult decision, especially since this year's rankings at Worlds will determine how many American men will get to compete in next year's Olympics. Do you send the proven winners (Jeremy, Evan, and Johnny) or take a chance on Brandon, who was pretty awesome today, I have to admit?

EDIT: Huh, they decided to send Brandon and Evan, naming Johnny as the first alternate over the fourth place finisher, Ryan Bradley. I'm rather surprised, I have to admit. With this year's Worlds determining how many American men can go to the Olympics, I thought they'd want to send the current World bronze medalist instead of a relative unknown in the senior ranks. They must have a lot of faith in Brandon. Hope he does well!

Current Mood: angry

Regular readers of this journal might remember how disappointed I was when I learned that most of the major figure skating events, including Nationals, were going to be televised on NBC instead of ABC like usual. For some reason, it is near impossible to get a good signal for our local NBC affiliate, so I had pretty much accepted the fact that the only competition I would be able to see this year was the World Championships, which are airing on ABC.

Well, today I decided I would at least try to get a signal for Channel 2 so I could watch tonights men's competition. I honestly did not expect to get anything, so imagine my surprise when I turned to Channel 2 and managed to get both a picture and audio (usually it's one or the other, if I can get anything at all)! Granted, the picture was fuzzy and colorless and the audio was static-y, but it wasn't so bad that I couldn't enjoy the competition.

And what a competition it was! My personal favorite, the reigning national champion Evan Lysacek won the title for the second year in a row (yay!), but he and Johnny Weir actually tied on their overall combined score, each earning a total of 244.77 points -- something that has never happened before under the new, very detailed scoring system. The odds of that happening... Well, it must have been astronomical. However, since Evan had a slightly higher score (162.72 to Johnny's 161.37) in the free skate, which is the tie-breaker, he won the title, Johnny settled for the silver, and 2007 Junior World champion Steven Carriere earned the bronze.

I only wish I had thought to check last night to see if I could have watched the ladies' competition. :( From what I've read online, it sounds like that was quite a shocking competition as well, what with three first time medallists and former World champion Kimmie Meissner ending up in a disappointing seventh place (although she was still named to the world team because Mirai Nagasu (1st), Rachael Flatt (2nd), and Caroline Zhang (4th) are too young to compete at Worlds and Katrina Hacker (6th) was judged to be too inexperienced on the international stage). *sigh* Oh, well. At least I got to see some of Nationals. (And hopefully once everything goes digital next year, I won't have this stupid problem anymore. *crosses fingers*)

Current Mood: ecstatic

So, the television schedule for this year's figure skating season was posted, and, for the first time in several years, there's actually going to be a lot of skating programs shown on network TV. I should be really happy, right?

Except they're all on NBC, the channel that we very rarely get a signal for.

*cries*

They even have Nationals, which have been an ABC mainstay for...pretty much the entire time they've been televised, if I'm remembering my figure skating history correctly. (And I do know my figure skating history.) The one competition that ABC is showing is a three-hour block of the World Championships, which does make me happy since I haven't been able to see Worlds for the past couple of years, but still...

Somebody, go whack Kimmie Meissner* on the knee or something. Please? Figure skating needs another juicy scandal to bring in the viewers.

*reminisces about the good ol' days after the Harding/Kerrigan scandal when there was at least one program on every week*

I really wish we had cable.

(* No, I don't actually want somebody to attack Kimmie, but you get the idea.)

Current Mood: disappointed

*dances*

Of course, there wasn't much of a chance of her actually losing with Michelle Kwan not there, but still, it's great that she's won her first national title -- and while recovering from the flu to boot. ^_^

Still no word yet if Michelle will be given the last berth. That'll be decided later tonight. I'm just happy that my two favorites -- Sasha and Kimmie Meissner, who finished second -- are pretty much set for the Olympics. If Michelle, for some strange reason, doesn't get the berth, the third spot will probably go to bronze medalist Emily Hughes.

Fourth place was the big surprise, though. It went to Katy Taylor, a skater from Houston. ^_^ She had a very good free skate, pulling up from seventh after the short program. Who knows, maybe by 2010, Houston can claim another Olympic gold medalist in ladies' figure skating. (The first being Tara Lipinski.)

In other skating news, they did end up showing Tanith and Ben's (fantastic) free dance, which made me happy, but I was annoyed that they didn't show any of the other ice dancers or pairs' teams. The entire first hour of the show which could have been spent showing the winning ice dance and pairs' programs was spent reviewing highlights from ladies' short programs, showing a tribute to Michelle Kwan (about which my mom said, and I quote, "It sounds as if she died"), and doing a profile on an eleven year old skater who wasn't even in the competition. If they weren't going to show some actual skating during that first hour, they should have just made it a two hour show.

*sigh*

I need cable. I hate what ABC's done to their figure skating coverage.

Current Mood: giddy

Wahoo! U.S. Figure Skating Nationals this weekend! I've been waiting for this for months, especially since it's the only real major competition I'll get to see. Worlds are again on ESPN this year (boo!), and I probably won't get to see the Olympics since they're on NBC, which is the channel we can never get a clear picture on. *sigh*

Anyway, I just finished watching the men's final. Johnny Weir defended his national title, Evan Lycacek got the silver, and Matt Savoie won the bronze with an absolutely wonderful free program. If only he hadn't had that one fall, he might have challenged Weir for the gold, but I'm happy that it looks like he'll be going to the Olympics. (They haven't announced the official team, but it's usually the top three.) He deserves it. Of course, that means fourth place finisher Michael Weiss, who's one of my favorites, most likely won't get an Olympic berth, but he's already been twice before, so that's okay.

My favorite part of the competition, though, was when they revealed State Farm had bought tickets for Rohene Ward's mother and nephew to come see him skate. Unfortunately, he ended up having a terrible free skate, but it was still really touching when they brought his family out. Major waterworks.

The women's final is tonight at seven, and the big shocker is that Michelle Kwan withdrew from the competition with a groin injury. She's still hoping for an Olympic berth, though, as injured skaters can petition for a spot on the team (like Nancy Kerrigan did in 1994, ironically knocking Michelle off the team). Boy, it's going to be strange not seeing her at the Nationals. She's been to every one since...1993, I believe. I've never watched a Nationals in which she wasn't there.

However, with Kwan absent, that means the title is (my favorite ^_^) Sasha Cohen's to lose. I don't think any of the other skaters can touch her as long as she skates well. She has a fairly good lead after the short program. It'll be interesting to see who the third will be, assuming that Sasha wins and Michelle is given the berth. I'm rooting for Kimmie Meissner, but she's currently in fourth after the short, so I don't know. Emily Hughes is second, and I have to admit she's pretty good. It would be kinda cool if she went to the Olympics and had a fantastic free skate like her sister did in 2002 to win the gold, but I don't think she's really at that level yet. It's only her first or second year on the senior level. Then there's Beatrisa Liang, who's currently in third and rather good as well... It's a shame that Jenny Kirk decided to turn pro and Angela Nikodinov is out of competition due to the hand injury she suffered in that terrible car wreck that killed her mother during the Nationals last year (or was it the year before?). I would have loved to see one of them (especially Angela) at the Olympics this year. Michelle and Sasha are strong, but none of the others at the competition have much international experience.

As for pairs and ice dance, I hope they at least show the winning skates during tonight's broadcast and not just ignore them to show the women. I especially want to see Tanith Belbin and Benjamin Agosto, who won the national ice dance title and are currently the world silver medalists. They're always fun to watch, and the good news is that Tanith finally got her citizenship, so they'll be able to skate at the Olympics. That's a relief. Americans have never been that strong in ice dance, but they have a really good chance of medalling, maybe even the gold.

One more hour! Can't wait, can't wait, can't wait!