As December rears its ugly head, some people diligently prepare for their upcoming exams. Others, resigned to their inevitable fate of  abysmal grades,  procrastinate instead. I unfortunately count myself among the latter camp, having whittled much of my time away by watching figure skating. After all, it is an Olympic year: the one time every four years in which the mainstream media gives an indication that figure skating does indeed exist.

My opinion on figure skating is rather mixed. On one hand, I love the sport sincerely–at best, it is a sport that blends athleticism with artistry, the triumph of the human will over the constraints of gravity. On the other hand,  the idiosyncrasies and the sheer ridiculousness of figure skating brings forth a steady stream of snark on my part. Today, it is the latter half of figure skating I focus on, a part of figure skating that lends itself to a substantial amount of (perhaps not completely unwarranted) ridicule and dismissal: the costumes.

Costumes are a fundamental part of figure skating. Most figure skaters regard themselves as artistes, wringing out their souls on the ice in the form of angsty expressions, overly-dramatic gestures and costumes that appropriately reflect the character of the arty masterpiece they are attempting to pull off.  However, as in life,  good taste is more often than not a rare commodity in the figure skating world.  Which, of course, spurs me to pass judgment on a bunch of hard-working athletes not by the content of their character but by their choice of attire and my completely subjective sense of aesthetics. Ah, internet, my never-ending outlet for catharsis.

And so, without further ado–the best and worst dressed figure skatings of this season (so far):

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After going to Homesense Skate Canada International 2009 this weekend, I figured I should write something about the competition. However being a Grand Prix event in which most of the skaters are barely known, I thought that it would be more helpful if I wrote about the athletes most people would cheer for by default – in other words, the athletes from Canada. Being in Canada, the competition featured the country’s best figure skaters in all 4 disciplines: men, ladies, pairs and ice dance; as a result Skate Canada is perfect for seeing how each skater does against the international competition, as well as taking a glimpse of the results of the backstage politicking that, unfortunately, goes on in this subjective sport. As subjectivity is fundamental to figure skating, I cannot promise a completely objective post; instead, what I can offer is a less nationalistic alternative to the blind pro-Canada garbage that CBC tends to spout. (more…)

I shall begin my new blog entry sounding like an old grandma.

When I was a little girl, I used to watch figure skating with my mum quite a bit. Although I didn’t know too much about figure skating, but I still remember being completely enchanted by skaters such as Kristine Yamaguchi, Michelle Kwan, Elvis Stojko, Scott Hamilton, those Russian rival skaters, whatever their names were… Yet, once the pressures of school came in, figure skating on TV went straight out of my life and into the depths of childhood memory, never to appear in my conscious thought - until now that is. After literally a decade, two ice dancers have awed me to silence with their skills and this blog entry is just a little show of support for two very talented – and Canadian – skaters. (more…)