Death Eaters or Order of the Phoenix: 25-31 July 2005

[Mrs Redboots]

In honour of the latest Harry Potter!

Death Eaters: Quite thought Husband wasn't going to get out of bed this morning, but eventually he did. Then I wasted time chatting in the loo before I got on the ice, so we only had about half an hour together before he had to go to work. We tried to walk through the European waltz, as an exercise to practice our 3-turns rather than as a dance, if that makes sense, but we kept going wrong. Not that it mattered! Then we did a Prelim waltz together at 3 times the speed! We also did a Swing Dance and a Fiesta Tango, and our Free Dance, but ran out of time before we could practice the Canadian Cha-cha, which we may want for a recreational match next weekend. Also worked on doing forward progressive runs in "two-handed" hold, where I'm ahead of him, as a posture exercise. Could do the runs, all right - but where, oh where, was my extension? I didn't want to hit him, and my leg wouldn't extend.....

Then after he had gone, I made myself work on things I find difficult, like back cross-cuts and stepping to forward without scraping my toe-rakes.... And ran through the Swing Dance solo, taking up about 1/4 of the ice. Sigh! :frus:

Order of the Phoenix: Did manage a pattern of the Willow Waltz solo, again very small, but at least I did it! And my FO swing rolls were a lot better today, I noticed. Other than that, although I had fun and good exercise, it was a bit disheartening - maybe I should have done the things I like, but so much better for me doing things I find hard..... so I feel virtuous! :lol:

[Isk8NYC]

Great starter topic for this HP fan! Now, I'll have to get to the rink this week.

[jenlyon60]

Death Eaten: (Already done in by the death eaters...) Oh where oh where did my LFO3 go? It sure wasn't at the rink this morning. I wanted to work on intro 3's before my lesson, and almost every time I tried the dang turn, even off of a plain vanilla RFO, LFO3 set up, something wonky would go on. I found my toe picks (a feat with dance blades), or I would drop my free side something fierce, or you name it... and I was doing it today.

Then in lesson coach had me working on the turns and they were a bit better, but far from where they were before I got my new boots. Near the end he wanted me to do bits of the American Waltz solo and that was a total fu-bar.

Order of the Phoenix: In my wildest dreams.... based on today's skating.

[Figureskates]

DEATH EATERS: Coach was on vacation so she couldn't witness the fact that I have a pretty good forward power pull. Of course next week when she returns I will look like I have never been in skates before.

ORDER OF THE PHOENIX: I actually could do some pretty good forward power pulls. I was able to keep the momentum going and get a pretty decent lean.

[skippyjoy_207]

Death Eaters: Backward inside edges. And I'm gonna be tested on them next week! :evil:

Order of the Phoenix: 1 foot spins have gotten up to 4 revolutions. :)

[Skate@Delaware]

Death Eaters: I've got 44 more days to ice at my home rink! Almost there! I will be sending in my fall registration forms on Saturday!!!

Order of the Phoenix: Delaware State Fair in full swing (boy is it HOT outside) and I think I've gained 10 pounds from eating everything! Plus, no off-ice exercise because it's held on the fairgrounds at the rink which is used for exhibits. I'm spreading....................and melting..............

[Michigansk8er]

Death Eaters: Forward clockwise progressives. I'm totally clockwise challenged. I'm also dance posture challenged. I may not be jumping anymore, but I've found something just as challenging..........dance.

Order of the Phoenix: I really like the Willow (I just learned it during my last lesson). I'm even getting a crunch on my edges throughout the dance. :D Love my new dance coach. :D :D

[Terri C]

Today was Death Eaters, period!
To start, I got a e-mail from my primary coach, cancelling all lessons for today, because of a sick daughter.
Decide to go to the rink (only 5-6 weeks till Peach, doh!) and the ice was awful. Not only was it not cut since 2pm, but there were condensation bumps everywhere.

Now for the Ultimate Death Eater:
Was runnning through a segment of my freeskate, when after I pulled in for a scratch spin, hit one of the many bumps mentioned above and hit the ice, with my knees, elbows and stomach taking the hit. :oops: :cry: Both elbows are scraped and sore as my knees (I did ice both knees before leaving the rink), but my right shoulder is achy as well. There will be Ben- Gay and Tylenol PM for this girl tonight!

Alsp, tried to express concerns about the lousy ice to the skating director, but she had a lesson with a student and couldn't be bothered! :roll: :evil:

[sk8pics]

Now for the Ultimate Death Eater:
Was runnning through a segment of my freeskate, when after I pulled in for a scratch spin, hit one of the many bumps mentioned above and hit the ice, with my knees, elbows and stomach taking the hit. :oops: :cry: Both elbows are scraped and sore as my knees (I did ice both knees before leaving the rink), but my right shoulder is achy as well. There will be Ben- Gay and Tylenol PM for this girl tonight!

Terri, I feel your pain! I think you are brave for really going for your elements on such bad ice. We had bad ice, too, yesterday, because they had hockey all day and the ice had really deteriorated, and one cut just didn't do it. :evil: I won't go into more details, but I was really mad and did a really good run through as a result --minus the spiral and the crossovers into it, since I had visions of going splat much as you did! My coach was laughing about me being mad, only because I always skate well when I'm mad! He was full of empathy about the ice, though, which was a good thing! At least you have some time until your competition, mine is on Saturday, so this certainly didn't help things!

Pat

[*JennaD*]

Death Eaters:

My skills still stink...no further explanation required... :giveup:

Order of the Phoenix:

My axels were all 2 footed ( not so good) but I got the full rotation on all of them that I tried!

[Debbie S]

Yikes, Terri, I hope you are OK!

Good luck on Saturday (and Friday, too), sk8pics! I'll be cheering from afar. I know you'll be fine, lousy practice ice and all! :D

[luna_skater]

Order of Phoenix: New entrance to the toe-loop today makes the picking much more solid. Also worked on getting more height on sal and toe-loop. Reviewed one-foot sculling, and improved forwards and backwards with some reminders and tips. Tried a forward spin variation, with my free leg in a lay-back type position. I'm mostly losing speed when I change position, but by the end of the session I had hit a few that weren't too bad! Also got a couple of good backspins going. I need to really think of lifting my knee and hip to keep from falling to an inside edge. It's getting there!

Death Eaters: New entrance to the lutz isn't so hot. Lutz is my most inconsistent jump ATM, which is fine with me since it's supposed to be the most difficult single! Just haven't gotten the timing of it quite right yet, but I know it will come since the others have. Flip timing has improved a lot, but is not as consistent as I'd like yet. Loops felt like they regressed a bit today, so I gave them a break pretty quickly and will get back to them tomorrow.

[Mrs Redboots]

Oh where oh where did my LFO3 go? It sure wasn't at the rink this morning. I think you must have packed it up and sent it to me by mistake, because I had a fantastic one this morning!

Order of the Phoenix: Having had a faintly disheartening day yesterday, today was terrific! I had a super lesson - we started working on the Level 4 Moves, which I've not worked on before with this coach (I've done them in the classes at Alexandra Palace, and practiced them privately, but it's the first time I've done them in a lesson). Needless to say, they were appallingly bad, but I was surprised at how relatively un-bad they were, for me. The first move is none other than our old friend the Consecutive FO 3, but with a back crossover in between each 3-turn ("Will you please push" said my coach - what does he think I am, nuts?), and the 2nd move is FO Mohawks (I kept doing Choctaws!), step to forward on the same side, forward crossover, then push into the FO Mohawk on the other side.

We also worked on Level 3 moves (back cross-cuts & cross-rolls) - the back cross-rolls are still awful, but improve; the cross-cuts come under Death Eaters, and on forward and backward outside & inside edges, which are improving. And back crossovers in both directions - my anti-clockwise ones aren't too bad, my clockwise ones..... well, let's not go there!

But the best of all was after my lesson when I made myself do a Prelim waltz (this is basically 2 chasses & a turn, either a step to forwards or a LFO3, depending on which way you are going), and the first time ever managed to do it very steadily without holding back on the 3s! (Obviously got Jen's by mistake!) Okay, so it wasn't very fast, but it was flowy, and the best I've ever done it solo!

Death Eaters: Cross-cuts. How on earth are you supposed to put your weight on your foot when it crosses in front of you while at the same time leaning backwards? My body does not understand what it is meant to do! Clockwise back crossovers - I ought to practice them occasionally, then I might be able to do them.

Husband and I were taking the Canadian Cha-cha to pieces in our practice; it's really disheartening how many errors you find when you do that, even such basic ones as leaning forwards too far! We ended up doing laps of 2-footed slaloms, of "double whammy" edges and of inside chassés, but we still found we were sticking our bottoms in the air.... at least we match!

[jenlyon60]

well, the LFO3 sort of found it's way back home today...

Nothing really falls in either category ... coach #2 liked my forward progressives (we've been re-building them for the past few months because I had an issue with "collapsing my ankle into the circle" on the underpush). She said that now she didn't need to look so much at my lower body and could look at what the upper body was doing.

in the CW direction, she poked and prodded and realigned things such that it felt more better (but painful and strange as I discovered muscles that I'd forgotten existed).

Then in lesson with coach #1, he liked my forward cross-rolls today, beat me up on my back cross-rolls (posture mostly) and then worked with me on the first corner of the American Waltz (LFO3, RBO Swing, LBO swing roll, etc) to reshape the pattern and get more body line. Needless to say, what check I can achieve on an American waltz-style LFO3 is totally insufficiant for what we are aiming for...

[sk8pics]

The first move is none other than our old friend the Consecutive FO 3, but with a back crossover in between each 3-turn ("Will you please push" said my coach - what does he think I am, nuts?),

Sounds like the Power 3-turns on the bronze moves test here. Note the use of the word "Power" :roll: which I have none of yet on this move. Good luck with it!

Pat

[NCSkater02]

Death Orders: One should really check the schedule the night before one skates. Other wise, one goes to the wrong rink at the wrong time. :roll:

Order of the Phoenix: My coach was impressed with the progress I've made on both my mohawks (they're still sloppy at speed) and my landing postion.

[Debbie S]

Order of the Phoenix: Had a semi-breakthrough tonight on the backspin! (I say "semi" b/c who knows if it will be there tomorrow.) I actually did a couple of revs in position (meaning my free foot was crossed over in scratch position) and exited on my spinning foot. Another skater/coach who happened to be skating by remarked that it was a good position - woohoo! And after a few 2-rev ones, I managed a few ones with 3 revs! Of course, the 3rd rev was with my free leg out to the side - got to work on holding the position longer. But hey, at least I could spin in position without falling to the right. :)

I also did a few good loop jumps. Another skater asked me how I could jump from a standstill (well, that's the only way I can do the jump) - lol. He suggested that I had too much weight on my front foot before takeoff. I concentrated on leaning back more and really bending down and jumping off the edge/toepick, and lo and behold, I felt myself getting better height and more flow on the landing. Of course, I have no idea if the jump actually looked better, but it did seem that way.

Maybe Bronze FS isn't so far off for me, who knows?

Also got to watch Flo and a friend working on a pairs interp for HC - looks great so far.

Death Eaters: Spins still travel about a mile across the ice, and my sit spin is on vacation to a faraway place....

[Andie]

Order of the Phoenix: Yesterday, I did some decent sit spins. They were more like "squat" spins :lol: but I managed to get about 5-6 revs a few times. For some reason, being lower like that almost made it easier than doing a scratch spin! And easier than shoot-the-ducks... I guess because of the momentum of the spin? :??
The rink was very uncrowded. :D

I don't really have any Death Eater incidents. Except a few minor falls, if those count.

This doesn't exactly fit in either category: I fell trying a sit spin right at the end of Toby Keith's "I Love This Bar" (which was playing in the rink) just after he said "I love this bar..." My mom was watching me and when I stepped off ice, she said that seemed funny to her - that I fell after that part in the song. :lol: :roll:

[flo]

Phoenix-finally got to skate last night! It was a nice session and, like Debbie said I had the chance to play around with some ideas for a pair interpretive. It was lots of fun. A friend just bought the hinged boots so we're all curious to se how they work out. Debbie really had some nice backspins - mine didn't look like that for a while!

[jazzpants]

Order of the Phoenix
Primary coach says I'm pretty much ready for Bronze Moves for Sept. now (i.e. "flow and strength of edge" vs. "power.")

Well, I realize now that I REALLY need to warm up well on backward crossovers before doing the test... As soon as I did, my back crossovers on the ends were better... :mrgreen:

Edited to add:
I tried a few backspins today... had one bad attempt where I tried to pull in quickly and almost fell off the edge (which is what primary coach wanted me to do :roll: ) The others were pretty much 3 revs... but towards the end I "almost always end up falling on the inside edge again", he says... But overall, he thinks I should have no problem with the backspins for the Bronze FS test. YIPPEE!!!

Death Eaters
I STILL think he's NUTS!!! I had so much problems with my alt. back crossovers this morning. I don't know if my skates were on right on something. I still had some problems with FI mohawks but nothing too bad... or at least nothing as bad as Monday nights'. Whether it's up to snuff with the judges... well, I'm not too confident yet... but I got a month to work on this... ;) It did help with this one imagery that primary coach gave me a couple of months ago where I have to pretend my feet are tied together in a way where I could NOT wide step, but have just enough room on the rope to push onto an edge.

Forward crossovers... well, primary coach is happy with it! But I'm not!!! B/c I KNOW I didn't do the stuff that I was supposed to do yesterday that secondary coach taught me...and she's watching!!! :twisted:

And for an interesting note...

Secondary coach (who was standing next to primary coach on the boards today) got a good laugh b/c as she and primary coach talked about my test date, she realizes that I'm intentionally waiting for the Sept. test session NOT b/c I have a hard time signing up for the test sessions (b/c of the kids to qualify for regionals), but b/c the new adult moves requirement rules would take effect and I would have a better chance at passing the darn thing. :twisted: (Hey! My primary coach's idea... not mine!!! :halo: )

[flying~camel]

Order of the Phoenix:

Test program run through went well again, so I'll be more than ready whenever I can get on a test session.

I figured out the trick to get my flying camel going with some good speed and did some GREAT ones last night :)

Death Eaters:

Axel attempts were so-so. I have a problem bringing my right leg through all the way, so I'm not getting enough height to match the rotation :??

I only landed 1 lutz last night, but I only attempted 3 and 2 of them involved squeezing my set up in between 2 people who were skating in the lutz corner.

[kiwibabe]

Death eaters: My blades are really blunt in the inside edges and I have had trouble skating the last couple of weeks. I took them in on Monday to get sharpened (they usually sharpen on Wednesdays and Sundays) and I had my lesson yesterday so I went to pick them up but they had not been sharpened yet so I had to try and make a program up but ended up slipping and sliding all over the rink. Also after my fall I am chickening out of doing anything to hard but I'm working on it.

Order of the phoenix My program has been sorted out even though it looks bad when I do it. Any suggestions on how to try and remember a program?

[TwirlGirl10]

Order Of The Phoenix: I landed a double salchow today and landed all my axels from back crossovers. Spirals in my field moves test were better.

Death Eaters: I fell on all but one of my double salchows :cry:

[jazzpants]

Any suggestions on how to try and remember a program?No way around it! Practice, practice, practice....more practice... (Did I say practice?) :P

You could also try remembering it in smaller chunks and then put the chunks together too... That's how I had to remember hip hop dance routines (WAAAAY back when I did hip hop dance...)

Then again, I have my brain hiccups on my (1:40) program before... so... :oops:

[Skate@Delaware]

Order of the Phoenix: plan to skate on Sunday as my fatigue is passing from recent illness; AND only 40-some days until home ice....and I get a coach for jumps!

Death Eaters: Oh No! Daughter just informed me today that she wants to try doing an axel on Sunday 8O ! I suggested that she wait until she gets back into the swing of things mid-September (we are only maintaining our skills) and has a coach of her own and has all her singles consistently landed .... but she is a hard-headed teen and I'm afraid she might attempt it while I'm not looking .... :evil: I'm tempted to hide her skates ....

[Terri C]

Death Eater:
By the time secondary coach gets to me in the afternoon, she has given lessons to two hyper children, a lesson with one of the hyper children by herself, a cranky moody teenager, and a spacey little girl.
So by lesson time she had the whip out!
Skated the entire Bronze Moves test, with some patterns skated twice, then onto spins ("pull your arms in sooner, you'll spin faster" I was told on the scratch spin) then all of my jumps, then at the end of my lesson, my freeskate program! There is no emoticon for tired and sweaty !

Order of the Phoenix:
While today's lesson was a death eater, or it seemed to be, it gave me the confidence I needed after Tuesday's fall (see my post earlier in this thread for that one).
It was the major Order of the Phoenix that my power threes still exist! :D

[Debbie S]

While today's lesson was a death eater, or it seemed to be, it gave me the confidence I needed after Tuesday's fall (see my post earlier in this thread for that one).

Glad to hear you're OK after that nasty fall!

As for me, my backspin still existed today! Could it be that it's now officially part of my repertoire, after 3 years of trying? No, wait - I don't want to jinx myself! We'll see if it's still around next week. :)

[blue111moon]

Well, since according to my coach, I had The Best Lesson Ever last night, I guess the whole thing qualifies as a Phoenix. :D Which is totally amazing since I'm only skating once a week - split between my lesson time and about a half-hour of practice.

I know the spins were good; even the camel felt solid and I don't think I missed one attempt. Coach reflected that when she started with me (in 1989!) I couldn't spin at all and now it's almost the best thing I do. Some skills just take time, I guess. :lol:

Edge jumps were good, too. I'm getting the flex off the takeoff foot so that there's a lot of spring. I just have to remember to go UP and not OOOOUUUUTTT. I'm still two-footing the flip landing but they were better last night - just tiny taps - than they've been in a while. I decided that my problem is that Once I'm in the air, I have no awareness at all of where my free foot is until I feel my toe tap the ice. If I try to focus on the free foot, I screw up something else and end up on my butt. :giveup:

Straightline footwork is now diagonal. I have the first half down pat but the second half looks "unsure" mainly because I'm trying to remember it so hard I can't think about anything else, like posture or arms. Now all I need to do is find some music to fit it. 8-)

So no death Eaters for me for a change.

[*JennaD*]

Order of the Phoenix:

I landed a couple ok axels, and I really improved my back sit spin!!

Death eaters:

Yesterday was my last day skating this summer :cry: I have to survive without skating for a month!! 8O lol

[LoopLoop]

Order of the Phoenix: First full runthrough (with music) of the new pairs program today, and we were only about 2 seconds late on the ending.

Death Eaters: Dodging the kids on summer ice!

[flo]

Debbie, and other backspinners,
Don't worry if it goes away from time to time. I saw a senior lady (with some of the most beautiful edges I've ever seen) having "one of those backspin days".
The excecution of the skill may wander, but once you get that "feeling of the element", like on Wednesday night, you can draw on that and know when your spin is good.

[Debbie S]

The excecution of the skill may wander, but once you get that "feeling of the element", like on Wednesday night, you can draw on that and know when your spin is good.

Thanks, flo! That's good to know. :)

[Mrs Redboots]

Death Eaters: We couldn't skate this morning, so Husband rushed off to work at the crack of dawn, saying that he'd come to the rink for 17.00 (Friday teatime teaching ice finishes at 18.00). So I got there at 16.30, when the patch starts, and did my warm-up, but he didn't come and didn't come, and when I rang him up to find out where he was, he said he couldn't get away. I might have done things differently had I known that earlier.... grrrrr.... plus I had to cart his skates home as well as my own!

Didn't really have a "great skate day", alas. Back edges were flat, back cross-rolls scratchy, back cross-strokes didn't happen (I do think they are physically impossible!), 3-turns slow and tentative - although I realised that on Wednesday, when I had been able to do the British Waltz with no hesitation, I had worked on the Level 4 dance moves first, so did them and then did the British Waltz rather better!

Order of the Phoenix: I'm discovering I'm enough of a level 4 dancer to be able to realise what I'm doing wrong on the level 4 dances. That's something....

Death Eaters: But not yet enough of a level 4 dancer to be able to correct my mistakes!

Phoenix, again: Nevertheless, "It's the first step!" said my coach. Managed a Fiesta Tango solo, to the music, without slowing down, so was rather pleased with myself, especially as I could feel where things needed to be corrected.

Also did a Canasta Tango and Dutch Waltz solo - think my edges are improving, slowly. Both of those to the music. Without the music, tried to do a Willow solo - huh - also Swing Dance (far too small, but otherwise okay), Canadian Cha-cha (ditto, but I don't make the same mistakes in it that I do when skating with Husband), and Hickory Hoedown (sigh!).

[luna_skater]

Order of the Phoenix: After a horrible lutz-day on Wednesday, I re-grouped and got my jump back on Thursday. With the new entry, I had been leaning to the left, and pre-rotating my shoulders before getting up in the air. I worked on thinking of being on more of a flat heading into the jump, keeping my shoulders still, and keeping my upper body upright. Problem solved! Worked on lutz-loops for a while, too.

Improved height on my waltz, toe, sal, and flip on Thurs. Loop out of cross-overs is also more consistent.

I have a camel spin! It's just getting about 2-3 rotations at best, but that's 2-3 more than I was getting a week ago! Worked on a tighter entry edge and increasing momentum before going up on the toe-pick. Also remembering to keep my free leg back as long as possible, and not swing it around to get momentum. Did one really good attitude spin also!

Also very happy with one-foot change-edge rockers around the perimeter.

Death Eaters: Backspins. :evil: I have a very difficult time staying backwards. I'm always flipping to a forward inside edge, and haven't found the sweet spot yet. It's very frustrating, because everything is improving except this one element!

[jazzpants]

Death Eaters:

Was driving to the gas station earlier to put more oil into my car before heading to my weekend rink. Drove halfway to the weekend rink and I started smelling gas. I pulled over and ACK!!! My oil cap is gone and oil is spraying all over the engine!!! I called up my Honda shop to find out if they has gas cap for my old car. Thankfully, they did!!! But, the station is at least 5 miles!!! I can't have more oil spraying out of my oil tank!!! I need a stop gap oil cap until I get there!

No problem!!! I used the towel that I usually wipe my skating blades with as a stop gap oil cap and drove to the Honda shop. Bought the cap and put the thing on! All is resolved! :mrgreen:

My one frustration: I still need my ice time, DAMMIT!!! :frus: (I was planning to go to my pilates session and had dinner plans afterwards. I guess I'll have to skip this one and go there tomorrow morning. *sigh* :roll: )

Order of the Phoenix:

Went to dinner at a restaurant and spotted the "Fire & Ice (http://www.skateout.org/)" show banner at the restaurant I was at. I pointed it out to my dinner guest and said "I'm in that!" Waiter seating us overheard me and said "Oh, REALLY!!?!?!?" I proudly pointed my name on the banner!!! :mrgreen:

[The Ice Demon]

Death Eaters
Tuesday - didn't really achieve anything.

Friday - Had jelly legs and was really tired after a weeks work. Couldn't camel spin to save my life.

Order of the Phoenix (I'm a HP fan too!)

Coach of course decided we'd better fix camel spin, so of course, murphy's law i did 3 perfect ones in a row!!

Think I have finally clicked on the elusive salchow technique which has eluded me for years.... but will it be there next time i skate????

Axels were ok for a change.

[Mrs Redboots]

Death Eaters: Don't you hate the month before a competition when everything is coming apart, or being taken apart for serious work, and you are terrified it won't come back together again in time? Got to that stage today - competition in 4 weeks, hockey school in 3..... yeah, like perfect timing, NOT!

Crashed into husband's coach during his lesson (I was going backwards & didn't see her, and she didn't see me coming!) and landed on the ice on my bum. Hit my tailbone slightly (not badly) and it is still a bit sore.

Got to go to the 2nd day of this competition in a minute, doing the announcing again.

Order of the Phoenix: Got our skates sharpened yesterday, and they are really lovely today!

[stardust skies]

Death Eaters:

No problem!!! I used the towel that I usually wipe my skating blades with as a stop gap oil cap and drove to the Honda shop.



Couldn't the cloth have caught on fire?!?! 8O

[slusher]

Hit my tailbone slightly (not badly) and it is still a bit sore.


I wish we had an emoticon for injury.

Death eaters: I think I only have my bum left. I was taking inventory of the old bod the other day, I've got maybe two places left that I could fall on that haven't been injured in the past six months. Right now both my wrists are on the disabled list (typing one finger here) and I need to learn to stop putting my hand out. Maybe I'll just use this one :
:giveup:

Order of the Phoenix: Everyone at the rink has finally read the latest Harry Potter so we can discuss it openly, or that's my excuse for standing around and chatting. I must give the coach the book so she can be in on it too, and quit giving us the evil eye for talking.

Skating wise: I did dance today, first time in about four months. Mostly stroking in Killian position and reversed Killian and then a few of those fiesta mohawks. Wasn't bad, no, not bad at all!

[Melzorina]

Get well soon, Annabel!

I had a lot of fun yesterday, I started working on parallel spins and sit spins. One thing aggravates me though, I can do my spiral better on my left leg, raising my right, but I spin on my right leg, so it's my weaker spiral that is used to a parallel. :( Not good. I'm thinking of trying to teach myself to spin the right way... but a back parralel would be must more comfortable. :)

[jazzpants]

Couldn't the cloth have caught on fire?!?! 8OYeah, it's possible 8O ... but it's a smaller chance compared to the oil that was spilling all over the engine of the car. In any case, I'm thankful that I made it thru w/o further problems...

[stardust skies]

Yeah, it's possible 8O ... but it's a smaller chance compared to the oil that was spilling all over the engine of the car. In any case, I'm thankful that I made it thru w/o further problems...

Yikes, I'm thankful for you too! Once, I got an oil change and they forgot to put the cap back on- it was laying in my engine the entire time...it wasn't until I saw dried-up oil chunks on MY FRONT BUMPER that I realized anything was wrong. Sears wouldn't even give me the name of the guy who did my oil change, and refused to pay for my car to get cleaned.

They lost my bussiness. Why wasn't too substantial anyways, since I always get my oil changes done wayyyyy after I'm due. ;)

[Casey]

Yikes, I'm thankful for you too! Once, I got an oil change and they forgot to put the cap back on- it was laying in my engine the entire time...it wasn't until I saw dried-up oil chunks on MY FRONT BUMPER that I realized anything was wrong. Sears wouldn't even give me the name of the guy who did my oil change, and refused to pay for my car to get cleaned.
One time not long ago I got an oil change, and was driving down the freeway in the fast lane when some guy in an Audi who had been following pulls up beside me real fast, then starts making gestures at me with a nasty look on his face. I was like "oooookay buddy", guessing he was pissed off I was not going as fast as he wanted to go in the fast lane. So he gets back behind me, and then I pull over out of his way. He follows and stays in the same lane. Well my exit onto another freeway is coming up, so I change the like 4 lanes required and he stays right behind me. I'm getting a bit creeped out at this weird guy following me, so I slow down and he doesn't pass. Right. Creep. I get off at the next exit and pull into a gas station where there are plenty of people around. He pulls in too and parks beside me. I'm locking my doors and preparing to dial the police on my cell phone, when I notice some strange black streaks on my fender, and the smell of oil. Plus the guy I was worried about wasn't getting out of his car either, and looked rather unmenacing in business attire. So I pop my hood, and discover the entire engine and underside of the hood covered in nasty solid black ickyness (in a diesel engine, oil turns black right away, not just when it's old). Turns out the shop had not put the cap back on all the way,and it came off, fell onto the road, and then hit the car behind me, putting a hole in his grill and two big dents in the hood. So my insurance went up, and I had to spend hours with degreaser in a carwash cleaning my engine. I went to the oil change place and told them what happened and they just kind of shrugged at me - they couldn't care in the slightest. So yeah, check the oil cap when you get an oil change. :giveup:

[stardust skies]

One time not long ago I got an oil change, and was driving down the freeway in the fast lane when some guy in an Audi who had been following pulls up beside me real fast, then starts making gestures at me with a nasty look on his face. I was like "oooookay buddy", guessing he was pissed off I was not going as fast as he wanted to go in the fast lane. So he gets back behind me, and then I pull over out of his way. He follows and stays in the same lane. Well my exit onto another freeway is coming up, so I change the like 4 lanes required and he stays right behind me. I'm getting a bit creeped out at this weird guy following me, so I slow down and he doesn't pass. Right. Creep. I get off at the next exit and pull into a gas station where there are plenty of people around. He pulls in too and parks beside me. I'm locking my doors and preparing to dial the police on my cell phone, when I notice some strange black streaks on my fender, and the smell of oil. Plus the guy I was worried about wasn't getting out of his car either, and looked rather unmenacing in business attire. So I pop my hood, and discover the entire engine and underside of the hood covered in nasty solid black ickyness (in a diesel engine, oil turns black right away, not just when it's old). Turns out the shop had not put the cap back on all the way,and it came off, fell onto the road, and then hit the car behind me, putting a hole in his grill and two big dents in the hood. So my insurance went up, and I had to spend hours with degreaser in a carwash cleaning my engine. I went to the oil change place and told them what happened and they just kind of shrugged at me - they couldn't care in the slightest. So yeah, check the oil cap when you get an oil change. :giveup:

And here I thought this was going to be an amazing, feel good story about this super concerned, super dedicated guy who just HAD to let you know your oil was leaking. :roll: No one would go through that much trouble lest there was money involved, hah. On his side though, I'll say that he was nice to follow you- he could've gotten your license plate number and report it as hit and run, which it wasn't, really, cause you didn't know, but still. Mechanics need to learn how to do their jobs.

[jazzpants]

Order of the Phoenix:
No car problems!!! :mrgreen:

WOW!!! The Bronze MITF is pretty good today!!! Went thru two runthroughs of all the moves and except for the occasional dodging other skaters and the back crossovers on the ends (and NOT all the time either), I went thru the moves pretty smoothly!!! 8O

In fact, a fellow skater came up to me and said that she "walked in the rink to see this one gal doing forward power 3's at a pretty good clip and thought 'Who is that gal skating so fast?'... only to realized that it's ME!!! 8O (Yes, I care that I get the edges and the flow right, but I really want to push on the power too... just in case a judge goes and falls back to the old method rulebook emphasis on power. (And if the judges all do the new method, I'll get bonus points instead!!!) :mrgreen:

Scratch, sit and backspins were pretty good!!!

More PURPLE skates comments!!! :mrgreen: And maybe if I'm REALLY lucky, I might find a number where I can wear a bright purple shirt and have my boots match the shirt too!!! ;)

Land one stinkin' wimpy LUTZ today!!! :P

Death Eaters:

Chinese spirals aren't high enough yet... I'm just too much of a chicken to try to raise it higher to where I was when I do them near the wall... :frus:

Loops, flips, lutz, all two footed landings except for maybe the first ones!!!

Camels... :roll:

My feet!!! I was skating for 2.5 hours at the weekend rink, then about an hour's rehearsal for the Fire & Ice (http://www.skateout.org/) show tonight!!!

Update on show...
I just heard that the 9:30pm off ice seats are SOLD OUT!!! 16 off ice seats left on the 6:30pm show. NO MORE $15 CHEAP SEATS!!!

If you're in the SF Bay Area (or plan to be on August 27th) and want to watch this show, you can get discounted tickets thru me (since I'm a member of the cast!) Just PM me!!! "Live To Skate" Burton Powley will be doing a solo number too!!! (Probably could also go thru him too...) :)

If that's not enough... four words:

Rudy Galindo
Caryn Kadavy :twisted:

Oh, I should also mention that this show will have a bar table too!!! ;)

[Mrs Redboots]

I see from the website that there are loads of other adult skaters, most of whom are well known to the Adult skating community, in Jazzpants' show. Wish I could see it...

Thanks for the good wishes - my tailbone stiffened up during the course of the day, and today I ache all over. Not so much from the fall (although that does still hurt), but my arms are stiff.... has anybody else who has spent two days announcing at a competition ever found their arms hurt next day??? I'm exhausted, too... thank goodness today's Monday and day-off day!

[flo]

Mrs. Redboots - have a nice soak in the tub with one of your wonderful soaps.

[jenlyon60]

a FUN day....today (lesson on Monday since Wednesday I'll be in Lake Placid watching the competition...)

with Coach #2, worked on RFO-LFO Circle 8's and Waltz-8 Figures. Learned a lot in that 30 minutes. My RFO-LFO Circle 8's are pretty good (I can consistently find my center) except the 2nd side bulges a bit. Considering I've self-taught myself the figure until now, with no scribe and just plain eye-balling, if that's the worst part of that figure....

Then Waltz 8. And I remembered why I hate this as a MIF or a figure. And remembered that when I fix the 3-turns and the check, my American Waltz 3s will be much improved also. By the end of the lesson, though, the figure was showing some improvements.

With Coach #1, worked on bits of the end pattern of the American Waltz, mostly solo. Turns were improved but the check isn't yet where we both want it to be. When I did skate it with coach, the whole sequence was easier, so the figures work and the solo work on improving the check is helping, albeit slowly.

Tomorrow is Tango day followed by several hours in a car to drive up to Lake Placid...

--jsl

[Skate@Delaware]

Order of the Phoenix: Finally made it AND got to go onto the olympic side of the rink (I felt so special) AND got to play my CD's (yes, the soundtrack to Ice Princess)! Worked on moves with hubby (hey, ice moves) which he did well at and he even managed CCW crossovers! Then we worked on LFO 3-turns, which he ended up at the boards to work on....
The ice was nice (you were right Pat!), not crowded, no obnoxious hockey kids.... I skated well! Even my waltz jumps rocked !! !! Got gutsy enough for some combo jumps: waltz-waltz and then some waltz-waltz! (ha-ha-ha) and not once did I hit my toe-pick on landing! I also skated several laps around BACKWARDS!! I had never done that before! Ditched the sweater and skated in short sleeves! For once I didn't freeze! Yay!

Death Eaters: my spins are still on summer vacation. One of my skate buddies noticed a few things: I'm looking down (I was?), my foot was not turned out enough when I enter the spin (really?), my shoulders are hunched (yeah, that I know).... and I'm not bent enough in the knee (that's an ongoing battle with me). So, I worked on them for a while and then gave up...I also think there is the difference in the ice-their ice is harder than my home rink, but the season is almost over so I will be re-adjusting when we go back "home" again. Only about 35 days.....

[jazzpants]

Mrs. Redboots - have a nice soak in the tub with one of your wonderful soaps.Yes, yes!!! (And it sure smells citrus-y!!! AHHHHH!!!!) :-D

I recommend a HOT tub for you!!! Those jets will help the muscles and give a gentle massage. Also, get a "donut" for your chair. Your tailbone will thank you!!! And lots of arnica gel/spray too!!!

Take it easy, okay? :)

I don't know if there are any plans to videotape the show and sell the tapes, but it sure would be nice... then again, I'll be in a few annoying (but necessary) skating dresses so... *sigh*

[Mrs Redboots]

Yes, yes!!! (And it sure smells citrus-y!!! AHHHHH!!!!) :-D

I recommend a HOT tub for you!!! Those jets will help the muscles and give a gentle massage. Also, get a "donut" for your chair. Your tailbone will thank you!!! And lots of arnica gel/spray too!!!

Take it easy, okay? :)Yeah, right.... just read about today's practice in this week's thread! Yuck!!!! Actually, a hot-tub is rather a good idea - we don't have one (they are not common, domestically, here) but I do have a gizmo that goes over the side of the bath and bubbles it up. Nice! As for the soap, I've been asked for a few bars so will have to wrap some, but haven't any citrus at the moment, only goats' milk. And I hate wrapping soap, it's a very boring job!

I don't know if there are any plans to videotape the show and sell the tapes, but it sure would be nice... then again, I'll be in a few annoying (but necessary) skating dresses so... *sigh*Ah, but there are enough other people I'd like to see that I'd be prepared to overlook that! Hope it's DVDs, not videotapes, though, because of the different systems in the USA for the latter, whereas I have a multi-region DVD player!