Notes about Figure-skating

Notes about Figure skating Competitions of the Winter Olympics in 2010

I was very apprehensive about over-scores in recent figure skating competitions, and the strong political tendency in this area. Sometimes judgement used to be not recognizable at all, even disgusting. This time, however, the results were roughly understandable, at least within podium skaters, though there’s a little unreasonableness in some cases. Judgement and results at most competitions--Pairs, Ice-dancing, and Men’s/Ladies’ Singles, were plausible/acceptable, working good.

It’s marvellous that my anticipation/expectation was realised. I’m glad that Shen Xue & Zhao Hongbo at Pair skating, Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir at Ice-dancing, our Yu-Na at Ladies’ single separately won their gold medal as I wished. Evan Lysacek’s victory at Men’s single, though I’ve liked the skater for years, was a little bit surprise, but he just deserved to be the champ. He showed clean and impressive performance, adding some charismatic touch with his tallness. I think all the champions at figure skating competitions of 2010 Olympics were absolutely right persons.

My other favourite pair Aliona Savchenko & Robin Szolkowy earned the bronze medal, but it was uncontroversial. While they made mistakes, Pang Qing & Tong Jian performed clean and nice free programme. Above all, Ice-dancing medallists all showed fantastic performances. The original dance of Charlie White & Meryl Davis were so lovely, and they showed their best. Scott & Tessa were a little more fascinating. They always make spectators happy. What a sweet couple they are! Oksana Domnina & Maxim Shabalin were also captivating, but their performance needed something more to win the gold or silver medal, though I’ve adored this veteran Ice-dancing couple for a long time.

At Men’s single, frankly speaking, I wanted Stephane Lambiel, the absolutely artistic skater, to stand the top, for I’ve loved his skating for years. Though he made some mistakes, he gave us the most beautiful performance. Takahashi Daisuke fell down at quadruple jump, but played good. My heart inclined to Stephane, however. During Stephane’s two seasons’ retirement my most favourite male skater has been Tomas Verner, but to my sorry, he did not exert his own genius at all. Tomas and Jeremy Abbott collapsed too early at both short and long programmes. If Tomas, Jeremy, and Stephane would play their full capacity clean and perfectly, they might be on the podium. I think their programmes were better than others’.

Figure skating is a sport, but it is not a sport only, that is, it is an artistic sport, not a jump competition. In this sense, Zhenya’s performance lacked choreographic virtue and dynamic steps and has no flowing transition. Even most of his jumps are shaky. Evgeni Plushenko was one of my favourites, and he was excellent in Torino, but not this time. The sad thing is that I was disappointed at Zhenya, not with not-previous-like performance, but with his reaction after the competition. The attitude he showed us was not pride but arrogance. He must have celebrated the new champ without complaining. In fact, he did not skated well enough to deserve to complain about the result. I was sorry that he might be not the very person I thought I knew. I think Zhenya was not only defeated by Evan in the competition, but also fell inferior to Stephane in personality.

Ladies’ single competitions were much better than Men’s. What could we need more? Most of the potentialities showed their best, and Joanne Rochette made emotional/tearful moment because of her deceased mother who died of heart attack two days ago before the short programme. Our Yu-Na was absolutely, breathlessly, enchantingly and dominatingly superb. How can I express the phenomenal performances of Yu-Na? Nobody could/can do it better. She’ll be a legend. I am glad that Yu-Na could be a happy skater. Long live the Queen!

Brit...

An Affair

On writing to Terri, I recalled a long-time-ago-event between JE and me. Terri is suffering from some emotional despair, which part is similar to my oldies. I told her it’s desirable to forget bad things as soon as possible, but I didn’t have overcome mine for a long time. Whenever I confronted with JE in my campus years, I assumed natural countenance, yet my heart was in a terrible whirl. Even now, I remember the feeling of being betrayed or abused in those days.

I loved YC. He was/is the first and only one whom I’ve loved among those who have lived in my reality. I’ve never loved a man such purely, earnestly, and poignantly like I loved him. He possessed the half of my campus years. With him, the woman in me woke up and the innocence passed away. When JE seduced him, if I had not confessed my emotion for him to her before that, my feeling of betrayed would not have been so great. She was one of my best friends and already had a boy friend then. I was felt my emotion been totally abused by her.

JE married sooner than I, and her husband was another man, not her boy friend of then as well as YC. My YC has left for good, and we’ve never met since those years. So to speak, I was ridiculed by JE, so I could not have cleared bitter sediment in mind caused by her for a long time. The beater can easily forget, the beaten cannot. JE, who was from rich family and married to a rich man, has lived affluent life, but I don’t. She would/could never imagine my life and never understand my mind.

Now I don’t hate her, and don’t have any bad feeling on her. She has been no more my friend, for I have erased her from my friends’ list. I, however, could not send YC away from my heart, he remained in the corner of my inside and has lived there, even though I don’t love him now.

Brit…

Dissertation at the beginning

Time flies so fast that it’s like meeting another day in every blink of eyes!

My diss. work is at a standstill, since continual reading requires incessantly new reading, it looks like running on the spot. ‘Where’ and ‘how’ can I formulate something in my mind and reveal them? So distressed, I used to be dropped down to despair now and then. furthermore, my physical condition, its limits—weakened physical strength which I’m sensing often disturb me mentally and physically, that is, weakening-sighted [more and more], chronic backache and chronic problem in my nervous system, several symptoms due to stress, and so on. I absolutely need some reasonably designed exercise and have to spare time for it, but even it’s not easy.

I must not die writing my dissertation as Prof. Kang joked. I don’t think the burden is that much, and I‘m just psychologically oppressed, so in some senses he is right, I must have in mind what is first and what next. I think that years is not more than numbers, but sometimes it—being old makes me down. I cannot devote myself in studying with similar amount of time like my young colleagues. For example, sitting up [at night] is nothing for me in my earlier years, but now I cannot do that. Anyway, there’s long way to go for achieving my Ph. D. and I must have patience. I have to struggle against my emotion which sometimes haunts my mind like manic-depressive psychosis, too.

Brit…