So much for the Truce.

They're at it again. Just when we thought the boys had become men and faced their differences and gotten over that hurdle and were basically ignoring each other... the media shows up, asks for a few soundbites, and they're back at it again.

That's right Johnny Weir and Evan Lysacek's in the press rivalry is back in action. Weir started it by answering a few questions about the Olympic Champion in several articles in the last month. It's actually pretty shocking that he's reverted back to the needless jabs after he seemed to praise Evan - however underhandedly - during the whirlwind of drama surrounding Lysacek's controversial win. Weir didn't side with either Lysacek or Plushenko in that debate, but he didn't dispute the outcome either.

It's no secret that Johnny Weir is miffed over, what he considers, a snub SOI gave him by not adding him to the cast line up. I have my own feelings on that one - SOI traditionally has a certain number of male performers to female. SOI also likes skaters who 'toe the line' when it comes to PR moments. SOI likes skaters to get along. SOI wanted an Olympic Champion. Evan gets the bill, Johnny can't play nice so he stays home. - but that's beside the point. Johnny has started the debate on if SOI is 'homophobic'/'bigotted' because of his 'appeared sexuality'. Well, Johnny, it's only 'appeared' to those of us not in the 'inner circle', but if you don't want people to assume you are one way, maybe you shouldn't hit every stereotype in the book.

Johnny's jabs also extended to particular skaters, not just the tour management. Scott Hamilton and Evan Lysacek have - apparently - fallen into his sights and there's no stopping his blasting them.

Evan followed suit over the last week and blasted back at Johnny saying his skating wasn't up to par. He has since retracted his earlier quotes, but the damage is done, and I'm sure Johnny is sitting at home in his bubble bath with his boy toy smirking away. That Evan would allow the media and Johnny to get under his skin, is not overly suprising, but it is disheartening. Though I can't totally BLAME him for speaking out, at the same time he needs to stick with facts and not just try to insult his insulter. It doesn't work that way especially when we all know (including, I'm sure, Evan) that Johnny's SKATING or even his PROGRAMS are not what keeps him from SOI.


I'm disappointed in the boys this week. I'm not surprised at Johnny showing his true colors once again, but I'm still bummed and annoyed. so much for maturity.

Oh those... pants...

The other night a close friend and I were reliving my childhood ;) (sorry, girl, I had to give ya a hard time on that one hee hee!) and thinking back to some of the great moments skating brought in teh 'early stages' of our friendship. That's right, one of my closest friends I have never met face to face but I love and adore her like a sister (maybe more so because I'm a rotten sibling lol). She is a joy and a blessing and I guess, in a way, we have figure skating (or maybe just Kurt?) to thank for that.

I got back into skating fandom in 1999 after Scott Hamilton and Katarina Witt got together and brought a skating show to Anchorage Alaska. I got online, looked up all I could on the sport... and found a great friendship with several people on a little skating board called Skate Forum (one of the original skating centric boards that is now gone. I miss it.)

Anyway in a round about way I'm getting to the main topic of this rambling. I met "Binky" on skate forum on my first day, and she was so sweet and it wasn't long before we were IMing each other, emailing, and sharing random inside jokes on the board. One of our main topics that we had MANY inside jokes about was none other than Kurt Browning. Yes, I'm going to talk about him again. If you're shocked, well, I don't know how you could be.

Last night while I was converting old tapes to DVD I came across a competition where Evgeny Plushenko (you know, that Russian skater who's still P.O.ed that he wasn't just handed the gold medal in Torino.) skated to Nyah from the Mission Impossible soundtrack (you know, that movie with another stuck up celebrity as it's main character - ie Tom Cruise, he knows medicine better than Matt Lauer, cuz he reads books).

That got Binky all fired up as the ONLY skater allowed to skate to that music is, of course, Kurt Browning - who has a signature piece with that very music. It was choreographed by a dancer who is in the same Ballet Company as Browning's wife... and it's quite possibly the closest a skating routine will ever come to actual DANCE on the ice.


Thank you, Sonia Rodreguez-Browning for making your husband go to the gym and bulk up. In the words of my 'sister': Mmmmm. Shoulders. ;)


But this program is NOT the one I want to gush about... at least not tonight. No, tonight I do not want to talk about the Artist Browning... but the Playboy Browning. In his 'role' in SOI Kurt normally found himself as 'the playa' or playboy of the troupe. Most women (and some men) didn't complain, we'd take all we could get. One of Kurt's 'big break' numbers was to the song "Brickhouse". The show's costume designer, Jef Billings, went all Saturday Night Fever for the number putting Kurt in a flowing cut down to there polyester white shirt... with midnight blue SKIN TIGHT pleather pants. All the girls swooned and a professional star was born.


My brother used to know all of the choreography by heart and would 'skate it' on the kitchen floor in his socks. Duane absolutely ADORED Kurt growning up, and still considers him a sports hero (doesn't hurt that Kurt sent him a gift for his birthday in 2006 - no one is more genuine than Kurt).

But, still, that is not my most swoon worthy. No. A few years after the Brickhouse sensation (and a score of memorable numbers such as Serenade to Sonia, Summertime, and Antares... to name a few) came "Brickhouse 2" which was skated to "Play That Funky Music (White Boy)". It's teh first program I can remember drooling to. I was 13 or 14 at the time and had just - apparently - discovered what made all of the ladies on TV start screaming and swooning the minute Kurt took the ice.

There were those midnight blue pleather pants (but with a brown cut down to there polyester shirt). Oh. my. word. It's probably the most swoon worthy - for me - of all of his pieces (ok, swoon is not the word. Let's face it, when I watch this program I am in full out lust mode. Especially when the butt wiggle happens lol). He can play sweet, sassy, masculine... he can do it all... but he took it to a whole new level with Funky Music.


Oh... those... pants.