Wednesday, October 29, 2014

ETA - want to show the following, accomplished with freeware that lacks photoshop's content aware and also lacked gimp's resynthesizer tool - tools that lets you select a piece of the background and replace part of the image (including parts of a person) with the tool's smart synthesis of the selected background.This is just liquifying and painting out, then altering aspect ratio so the image is horizontally compressed. Here's the original image:



Manipulation, below. Obviously, I've manipulated the hell out of the image, using the same sloppy paint job used on the Tessa/Ice Cream Co. picture bricks and background, but the proportions look more or less normal, even if the scale of the wall and window are a little dubious:


That's not good enough for Tessa, though. She does this:


Where it starts looking not that the woman actually is tall, but that she's a proportionately very long-limbed member of the Lollipop Guild. I could have pulled in the woman's waistline more, but I lack Tessa's perfectionism. When Tessa uses aspect ratio, not only are her vertical proportions distorted, but her horizontal proportions distort to where she loses her wide shoulder line, and her shoulders become narrow. I guess she could have had that simple leg extension procedure, plus a boob job and a head shrinking, but it's really difficult to narrow your scapula, clavicle and humerus surgically.

BTW, the resolution and saturation differences between the original and the manipulated versions are down to working on a smaller size copy of the original without realizing it, and having to enlarge it to match the original when posting it here. It didn't lose resolution/saturation via photoshopping it (actually, freeware).

The video linked in the comments section below, showing Scott and Tessa doing Post-Skate, obviously uses aspect ratio lens on Tessa's piece of it. Don't look at her, look at the what's on the sides and background.

******

Scott and Tessa gave a speech to the Ivey Business School the other day, and this tumblr:

Ivey Report

has a report. The report is regarded with stink-eye by some, because of stuff about how super duper teensy Tessa is, AND because, if Tessa and Scott said what they're reported to have said, they must certainly be confident everybody just loves them (even though part of their song and dance is nobody loves them but them), and must also be confident that nobody who counts will ever be inclined to rip off strips of their ass in public, even though, lord knows, they've set themselves up on the spit, lit the fire, and handed out forks. All some people are waiting for is an opening.

Oh, they'd probably love it. Have there ever been two people so cossetted, so coddled, so enabled, who simultanously love to posture as martyrs? Are they nailed to separate crosses, or do they share?

I'm not done reading, so the post on what they said will wait, and I'm pushing back another post to read this stuff. In the meantime, here's Tinkerbell Tessa and Barbie (same proportions, which proves Ice Cream Factory Co. Tessa wasn't manipulated) to host a new comments section, and in the meantime, this remark: boy, it's interesting when "being right" is the most important thing in someone's life. Even when they're wrong (meaning, even when the truth is they ARE lying). That's right,Tessa and Scott. You stake the next x number of decades on showing a bunch of figure skating fans, for whom every move you make reveals nothing but contempt - that you're right and nobody can make you whatever. You'll be the winners!

For reference, Barbie:

 
 

P.S. - read below that Lubova and Dylan got an international, and I'm delighted!

P.P.S. The below is unsurprising but still instructive and helps explain fsu, some figure skating fans, some Virtue and Moir fans, and some people in general.

When Dumb Feels Like Smart

198 comments:

  1. Not specifically V/M related (though good God that speech was awful. I guess the old saying is right, give people enough rope and they'll hang themselves), but here's another person playing martyr by nailing himself to a cross. A couple of good updates on the Jian Ghomeshi situation:

    http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/10/27/why_the_star_chose_to_publish_jian_ghomeshi_allegations.html

    "The reason The Star did not publish a story at that time was because there was no proof the women’s allegations of non-consensual abusive sex were true or false. They were so explosive that to print them would have been irresponsible, and would have fallen far short of the Star’s standards of accuracy and fairness.

    In view of Mr. Ghomeshi’s extraordinary statement on Facebook on Sunday evening, and his high public profile in Canada, we now believe it is in the public interest to detail those allegations, which appear to have led directly to his sudden firing from the CBC."

    http://business.financialpost.com/2014/10/28/jian-ghomseshi-lawsuit-cbc/

    "Ghomeshi has no right to sue his former employer, and yet here he is proceeding with filing his $55-milliion lawsuit. It looks bizarre until you realize that what the lawsuit is really about isn’t winning in court: It’s about Ghomeshi being able to say whatever he wants in legal documents with total protection from being sued for libel himself, while intimidating women from going public with allegations of assault at Ghomeshi’s hands."

    And now the number of women accusing Ghomeshi is up to eight, including one woman willing to come out and reveal her identity.

    http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/10/29/jian_ghomeshi_8_women_accuse_former_cbc_host_of_violence_sexual_abuse_or_harassment.html

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    1. I thought the Star's logic was dubious - Ghomeshi's overdone fb message didn't change the fact that "there was no proof the women’s allegations of non-consensual abusive sex were true or false. They were so explosive that to print them would have been irresponsible, and would have fallen far short of the Star’s standards of accuracy and fairness."

      I guess now their perspective is - he put a spotlight on it, so they're presenting the other side outside the parameters of what's required for a news report, simply to let the public know what he's reacting to.

      Delete
    2. And yes, the legal system has been used that way before. It's not supposed to be used frivolously, as a platform for you to get on your soapbox or as a p.r. move, but lord knows that's happened many times in the past.

      Delete
    3. "So, what needs to change in Canadian journalism?
      I think that there’s a sense in the press that they don’t want to start something. They want to respond to something. I think that’s a misunderstanding of what the world of the press should be. I think the Toronto Star is the exception to the rule I’m about to describe, but I think, generally speaking, the Canadian press has strayed from its basic connection to its audience. We should be running toward things that have not broken yet. News should be what people don’t know about yet. Everybody is just sort of chewing on the same bone. To be in a completely responsive mode is not responsible journalism."

      http://www.torontolife.com/informer/people/2014/10/30/qa-jesse-brown-crowdfunded-journalist-exposed-jian-ghomeshis-secrets/

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    4. "I think that there’s a sense in the press that they don’t want to start something. They want to respond to something." This is a general press issue in the U.S. AND Canada. They want to report on what someone else is saying about something. What Jesse Brown describes is how it is.

      News should be what people don't know about yet. Everything else is publicity (not my own). Just look at how much "news" is actually promotional. Most of it. I said it before about the Ferguson shooting - almost all of the good reporting was actually covering the reporting. There wasn't a whole lot of solid reporting on the actual event - the shooting of Michael Brown. There was a lot of just passing on heresay and buzz. It was a giant game of telephone.

      I know a lot of this is lack of resources, but the end of the day it's also lazy and shows a lack of critical thinking.

      Delete
  2. I'm interested to see what your take is on the tumblr report. My first inclination was to think that it was VM BSing it up. Now, there are a few things in that report that make me think it could be a fan fabrication.

    On a skating-related note, there is a great new article about Hubbell and Donohue on ice-dance.com, written by the always terrific Jacquelyn Thayer.

    http://ice-dance.com/main/news/general-articles/1978-hubbell-donohue-ready-for-reinvention

    I love the concept they have for their FD, showing more than one dance style and trying to translate hip hop to work on ice with the glide of skates.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. 7:32
      Thank you for the link to another article by Jacquelyn Thayer. She's one of the few skating journalists out there whose skating articles I respect.

      On second and third reading of that tumbler report, I'm having doubts. It seems too coincidental so much of the Q&A section lines up so perfectly with fan narratives about Canton, the coaching situation, fan wishes that VM would go to D/L, the relationship with DW, etc.

      Delete
    2. "fan narratives about Canton", true but has this blog also not taken their stabs at Marina as well and stated these same things?

      I mean we can never truly know if the person who was at the Speech fabricated some truths to fit their personal narrative of T/S and Marina but that's no different in claiming that T/S were robbed of the Gold metal and putting blame on Marina for it.

      Delete
    3. This blog blindly worships Marina and everybody who dares to criticise her gets shut down immediately.

      Delete
    4. I'm also dubious about the bullshit level in that report. There's a history of fans making up reports, such as the fake summer camp report, and numerous fake "sightings". The report sounds much more like what a fan wants or thinks Tessa and Scott would say about Marina, DW, and then throw in the irresistable "I saw her in the ladies room" that she apparently said, and it reeks.

      Delete
    5. "I mean we can never truly know if the person who was at the Speech fabricated some truths to fit their personal narrative of T/S and Marina but that's no different in claiming that T/S were robbed of the Gold metal and putting blame on Marina for it. "

      The first part is true - T/S were robbed of the gold medal because we can see that for ourselves from the actual skating.

      Delete
  3. Tessa says, “Now I don’t have children [but I’d imagine…]”Scott interrupts: “Are you SURE?”
    toddler moir here you are!!!

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    1. God, that is sick. That poor child. Denied more often than Jesus himself.

      Delete
    2. I'm totally on the fence about this. The tumblr report is way too one-stop shopping, but Scott and Tessa have shown increasing willingness to get into the gutter, see the reality show. But still

      In their speech, they threw diplomacy to the wind and claimed they forbade Marina to walk with them?

      They disparaged Meryl and Charlie's off-ice relationship?

      They claimed Tessa was the only healthy female skater at the rink?

      Tessa made a specific reference to not having kids and to seal it in, Scott made a joke, it was obvious she'd lost weight AND she was seen in the ladies, where these sorts of secrets cannot be hidden.

      A lot of the fan pushback post-Sochi is like the fan pushback post-Vancouver. The only thing we haven't gotten is the fans who are "personally acquainted with the Moirs" who can report that Scott and Tessa are absolutely not married and his girlfriends were completely authentic.

      Scott and Tessa have been nasty in the past, but that's a lot of bridge burning, particularly regarding other skaters.

      Delete
    3. And what precisely did Scott apologize to Tessa about? Not believing her when she told him Marina wasn't "on their side"?

      This gal didn't have a camera or phone with her, or has she uploaded images of Tessa?

      Delete
    4. the first post has pictures of T/S, one of Tessa standing in her view line.

      Delete
    5. And lastly, a number of comments sections ago, there was some discussion about how to get information without coming across like a fan. One person's suggestion, IMO, came across glaringly like a fan, more the way someone who imagines athletes and "insiders" talk about skating and other skaters than how they actually do. From what I've seen about this report, it has a little of that aspect to it - a fan not realizing how much bridge burning is involved in what Scott and Tessa were purported to have said, not just Marina, but Davis White, and the other skaters at Canton. Not only would that set them up to get their own dirty laundry aired when the time is right, but if they want to come back to the sport, it's extremely alienating, considering all the lies they've told, to start ratting out what they think of other skaters. It also sets them up to look like assholes on the athlete appearance circuit they're currently on. Ask Scott and Tessa somewhere, and they'll start trashing people, including people you might want to maintain a good relationship with - the people themselves, or their management and other connections.

      Delete
    6. Some fans imagine the mindset of a 'celebrity' but only consider it from the perspective a fan fantasy about being a celebrity, failing to research exactly what's involved in being a celebrity - to wit: it's a business, with the same relationship maintenance/preservation/professionalism standards as any other business. Strip the antics of many celebrities away, that's what it is. This fan has Scott and Tessa going straight to the core of their relationship network and blowing it up.

      It's not unlike the fans who believe that Scott and Tessa would have no reason to conceal their marriage and child since by whoring it out they could make a fortune. Setting that assumption itself aside, that misses most non-reality stars by miles.

      I kind of see Tessa and Scott ultimately becoming reality stars. Just dropping all pretense and becoming the Life with Tori of the 2020's. All they were ever taught was that their relationship was a commodity - their primary commodity. The first act was faking it. The second reality show would be a version of the "real" Scott and Tessa talking about "fake" Scott and Tessa and how this time it's scarier because it's the real them.

      Delete
    7. How were Scott and Tessa billed for this appearance? Come and Get The Dirt?

      Delete
    8. Yeah, that stood out as well. Hey, let's slam everyone at the rink that knows the truth about us and willingly participated in our reality show of bullshit lies! That won't backfire on us in any way!

      Sketch.

      Delete
    9. "This gal didn't have a camera or phone with her, or has she uploaded images of Tessa ? "

      She said on her blog that she did record it but that only half of it was of good enough quality, the rest was useless. No odea if this is true though.

      Either way, she took the post down yesterday. It's probably still availabe through reblogs tho.

      Delete
  4. You'd think IP addresses didn't exist.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. that goes both ways.

      Delete
    2. What does that even mean it goes both ways? They DON'T exist?

      No, you can't track IP addresses on this blog.

      Delete
    3. what? if they don't exist how did they post their post?

      Delete
    4. I'm saying you'd think people who come in here and pretend/lie would be aware that their previous posting patterns and behavior are visible, and that the blog knows their IP from past behavior.

      Delete
  5. I took some posts off because this isn't a comments section for fan fiction or role playing, and because some people who have "read" that they can't comment due to past behavior choose to ignore it.

    ReplyDelete
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    1. If you're in a reply string of a post that is taken off, your post goes with - blogger has no mechanism to keep the post in. At the same time, and as I've said before, there are people who show up and make a statement, declare their statement fully logical and demand and answer when it's not logical, so then only way to engage is to first dispute the logic, which is difficult to do when there are particular comments that don't know what logic is. Some of these people have read neither the blog nor the comments section and think it's just easier to keep asking the same question that's been answered a million times. When those posts go off, that's the way it is. If someone cares enough to know why the blog did something, the actual answer can be found on the blog, repeatedly. That's if they really want to know.

      Delete
    2. The other thing I find interesting is anyone who comes to the blog has a print screen or screen capture feature on their keyboard, every single person on this blog is free to navigate anywhere else on the web to talk about the topics here, to duplicate the posts and discussions here, and otherwise do whatever they want. The blog is not the only place to talk about what's on the blog - the whole damn thing can be cut and paste and chatted about in the great internet beyond, a place where everyone else who has ever come to the blog is also free to visit. Everybody who comes to the blog has the ability to go anywhere else on the web.

      Some comments come in here and behave as if the comments section is a captive audience receiving an exclusive diet of blog propaganda, and that comments are deleted because the blogger doesn't want the narrative challenged. That attitude displays "logic" that is ... just typical, and a continuing reason why these comments are removed. Troll + idiot = deleted/spammed.

      Delete
  6. This pretty much explains how Tessa and Scott hide their marriage and kid from the "public" and internet at large: http://www.nothinginwinnipeg.com/2014/10/do-you-know-about-jian/

    I am disgusted with the human race today

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    1. Well just look what we have here. We have what appear to be a substantial number of women - far more than the current nine presently connected to this situation. We have a couple of twitter accounts - pseudoanonymous - created to tell or imply their story about Ghomeshi on twitter, accounts that appeared long before this story happened. Ghomeshi's behavior was apparently ye old "open secret" in Toronto media circles. What happens? NOTHING. Nobody says anything. Nobody goes first. What allowed his behavior to finally come to light in PUBLIC was a major institution fired him. With the authority of a member of Big Media turning against Ghomeshi, more women are coming out of the woodwork. They were always there, they were just silent.

      This is how it works, not just in criminal investigations or abusive behavior. The public thinks the media goes first. The public - some of them - thinks the media reports stuff. NO IT DOES NOT. That is why a lot of stuff only comes out when it intersects with the legal system. The legal system is the MEDIA's protection, the entity it hides behind, its rationale. The media doesn't want to alienate.

      The only time this doesn't hold, in my observation, is in politics. And even then, the coverage is 99% horse race. That's safe. Where policy is discussed, it's superficial, and usually part of the competing political tabloid and op ed wars only. This is what journalism is.

      Delete
    2. 6:16.
      Yes, it is disgusting. I'm so glad the truth about this creep is finally coming out. I hope he never gets another media gig in Canada.

      You have to wonder, if VM had not found such eager complicity maybe instead of the gross social-media storyboarding (Scott and all his "dating" activities) VM would have been forced to actually manage their public personas with some dignity and integrity. But eh - no one in Canadian media has the guts to out them. Of course this is not at all on the same level as Jian's "secret" life. But the parallels of protecting someone's "public persona" are interesting.

      Delete
    3. Yep, EVERYBODY knew, nobody said a thing. This is about a man who, as the article said "is not safe." Not to draw all that many parallels, but the worlds function the same way. This woman in that link was, when she first "knew" about Jian, finally making professional headway, finally at events, finally networking in her profession. These people talk to EACH OTHER. They clue EACH OTHER in. They share stories with EACH OTHER. They don't go on line and tell a bunch of fans/the public.

      Delete
    4. It's also disturbing how many women, how many people, KNEW about Jian Ghomeshi, to the point where I think I've now read about five articles from people who already KNEW his behavior. All of these articles were pounded out in a matter of no time from when this story first broke. How come they're only writing about it now? Where were they before?

      Someone else went first. In this case, CBC. That's how it's always going to be. Always. I don't believe those who fired Jian Ghomeshi at CBC had no idea he had a reputation as "unsafe" with women. He was fired because it was becoming politically and legally unsafe for them - IOW, self interest.

      Delete
    5. I'd like to now what all these people involved were thinking If it was such an open secret. An anonymous call at the next police station could have been enough to get things rolling. Instead everybody just kept quiet and talked about the alleged victims behind their back.
      I also have no sympathy for the woman who wrote the blind item. She had the chance to end it ( and wasn't too traumatized to speak about it ) but she chose possible career opportunities over the safety of other women . I can't feel sorry for a person that acted so selfishly . Same goes for all the bystanders who are now crawling out of their corners to tell the world that they have always known about it.

      Delete
    6. It's selfish but she was a minnow in the same profession as Ghomeshi, who was a star, and, and IMO she seemed tempermentally unlikely to want to rock the boat, going along with him and allowing him to drive her home. He appeared to be able to sniff out that sort of woman. Then there's the woman (whom he didn't know) he did a reach around on and groped in public and she turned around and slugged him in the face. He slunk away like a worm. Bet she got no "Totes different vibe from yesterday" tweets.

      What is someone who "knows" about Jian, but isn't a victim herself, supposed to tell the police. "Hey, it's common knowledge in my social/professional circles that this guy is a predator and switches into abuse mode once things get going." "Have the woman call us please, at this number."

      I do see some value, though, in what you say. In the comments section of one of these articles, one woman described her experience of not telling the police about some on campus creep, because she was familiar with the law, and because there was nothing the law could do. When she finally told the police, the police were upset with her and said she ought to have told them anyway, so they could have it in their info bank. It also makes things better for the next woman. Yes, these experiences are common, and you can end up he said she said. BUT, you can go to the police and say, this is what happened to me with this guy. Tell them what happened. They make a report, the report is filed, and some day that report, and others like it, may help put the guy away.

      OTOH, some of these women aren't going to do that, because they ARE in the same profession, because the police might question someone like Jian, and even though the police file a report that may help down the line, in the immediate present Jian may use his connections to thoroughly trash the woman in question and cause job opportunity doors to slam in her face. The industry he's in is very much about relationships and connections and doing favors and recommending.

      Delete
    7. ^"VM would have been forced to actually manage their public personas with some dignity and integrity."

      Not if they have neither. I'm not sure they know what either of those things actually mean. Of all the things they are and aren't, to me the absence of a baseline sensitivity chip is the most striking. Stuff other skaters - even private skaters whose lives might not be exactly as spun in the media either - have an instinctual way of interacting in public where there's a baseline decency/empathy that smooths the way. Scott and Tessa interact as if they'd read about interaction with others somewhere, or heard about that empathy/decency thing, and try to imitate it, but don't really get it. It's not there.

      Delete
    8. "I can't feel sorry for a person that acted so selfishly . Same goes for all the bystanders who are now crawling out of their corners to tell the world that they have always known about it."

      It's easy to call these women cowardly but I have great sympathy. They're not only victims of society's tendency to treat the sexual victim like a criminal suspect, they're also victims of the media culture that would turn on them and attempt to destroy their career opportunities and their characters. OC has repeatedly talked about that culture and how it protects VM. Now it's also being talked about re. Jian and why no one spoke up before this.

      Thank God something finally did happen to help these women feel their stories will be believed. I hope many more will find the courage to talk.

      Delete
    9. Just read that Navigator (the company you hire when your image takes a hit) - dropped Ghomeshi as a client.

      Delete
    10. "I also have no sympathy for the woman who wrote the blind item. She had the chance to end it ( and wasn't too traumatized to speak about it ) but she chose possible career opportunities over the safety of other women . I can't feel sorry for a person that acted so selfishly . Same goes for all the bystanders who are now crawling out of their corners to tell the world that they have always known about it."

      If only it worked that way in the real world. But it doesn't. Think about all of the women who have come out and accused public figures and celebrities of rape. How many of them have found justice? How many of them weren't immediately suspected and accused of going public as a bid to "get attention and their fifteen minutes of fame?" How many of them had not just their careers, but their character, their personal lives, their families, dragged through the mud and destroyed? How many of them were given the benefit of the doubt by the general public?

      It is hell on earth to be a rape victim or a victim of some other kind of sexual violence.

      HELL
      ON
      EARTH

      As for going to the police, women who do are often suspected as having brought the attacks on themselves (asking for it) and not believed, or left to make the decision to call for an investigation themselves (something that would not happen in the case of any other crime - officers would immediately open an investigation into a robbery, or a non-sexual assault instantly. But not for cases of sexual violence. They usually put that pressure on the victim. "Do you want us to actually investigate this? If you do, think long and hard about who you are accusing and why. Think about what this will do their life. Think about what this will do to YOUR reputation. Are you SURE?")

      And a lot of those women are actually convinced by the police, through those kinds of scare tactics (sometimes even after rape tests have been given), not to pursue an investigation.

      Again, I want to repeat:

      HELL
      ON
      EARTH

      False rape accusations make up less than 2% of all rape accusations, yet the general public almost always goes straight to "well, she could be lying" when stories like this break open.

      Why? There's a 98% chance she's not lying. In other crimes, a 98% chance of validity is almost a slam dunk an accuser is telling the truth and people rarely question the character of the person making the accusation. Except in cases of women accusing a man of rape. Then it's "well there's a good chance she's lying and doing it to get attention or destroy that guy's life!

      No there's not. There's really not.

      Delete
    11. Thank you. A good article to read on the subject: huff.to/1tiokwX

      Delete
    12. ^Amen. I always read the comments sections of these things. You'd think false accusations of rape were more prevalent than actual instances of rape, by how knee-jerk so many people are to challenge what a woman says, or to diminish it, wonder what her problem was, think she's doing it for attention. Because this is the sort of attention every woman wants. There's lots of injustice in this world, lots of people end up in the legal system, possibly unfairly, but this comparatively infrequent occurrence of false rape accusations (compared to the actual occurrence of rape or sexual assault) is treated in public discussion as probably the biggest threat of injustice in existence. Better to disbelieve every woman, challenge every woman, than have one guy or group of guys deal with somebody out to get him. It's so easy to prove rape, there's thousands of falsely accused guys in jail for it. Hardly any rapists running around, repeat offenders, who get away with it despite charges being brought (and the ratio of accusations to actual rapes is depressingly small). No wonder some of these guys in these comments sections lie awake at night. It could happen to them!

      When fame is involved, the case is just about hopeless. If the guy is even moderately attractive, why would he need to rape someone? As if rape is about getting laid. The woman wants attention and money, of course she does. No more proven route to fame and riches than accusing a famous, influential, attractive man of sexual assault. No wonder a woman who does so is regarded with instant suspicion. She's after that fake rape accusation payday. Or she wanted a pay day, is resentful she was rejected, so she's making a tire fire out of her life to pay him back. That's how you do it.

      This is the stuff women who speak up have to contend with. As the Do you KNOW about Jian?" writer said, what was she supposed to tell the police? "I hear stories?" "All the women in my circle know somebody who had this experience with him or have heard stories too?" "I've seen him and while I can't put my finger on it, he's handsy, ignores resistant body language, and seems to have boundary issues." Sure. She can wait right there while the police go and arrest the guy. Even if the police are game, the legal system commonly fails the victims in cases with far more compelling evidence than those who "knew about Jian" knew about Jian. It seems to me everybody did speak up - to each other. When Jian was circling, it appeared that if someone else observed this, they'd give the woman the scoop. Going by some of these stories, it also appeared that Jian Ghomeshi knew the type of woman to target - not often the type of woman who'd call him out to his face, or slug him. A woman who'd squirm, hope he'd get the message without her having to say it directly, a woman who'd apologize while attempting to set boundaries, a woman who had issues with confrontation.

      I don't know any guys who've been falsely accused of rape, not that it never happens. I do know two people who were raped, one of them I know very well (in one, it was stranger rape. The vast majority of women who are raped are raped by someone they know). I know someone where the guy refused to let her leave his apartment for over an hour - he was pissed he wasn't going to get laid (she had slept with people he knew, so he figured she was a sure thing, and when she rejected him, he was pissed, like why did everyone else get something and not him)? She didn't do anything. Just never went out with him again.

      Delete
    13. It's amazing, yet also so typical. If someone is walking in a neighborhood with a higher crime rate and is mugged or shot in the process of being mugged, their decision to walk in that neighborhood does not change the reality they've had a crime committed against them, and it wouldn't result in the police NOT opening an investigation. It's a crime whether the victim willingly or unwillingly put him/herself in a more vulnerable position or not. If the person who mugged the victim is caught, that mugger is not going to get away with the mugging based on the defense of "that victim was just asking for something to happen, weren't they?" or "that so-called victim probably just wants attention." It's absurd to even imagine it.

      Except for in the case of rape or sexual violence accusations. Then it's par for the course.

      Delete
    14. "Just read that Navigator (the company you hire when your image takes a hit) - dropped Ghomeshi as a client."

      That's telling.

      EVERYBODY OFF THE SHIP! IT'S GOING DOWN!

      Delete
    15. Interesting tweet from Strombo :

      "Much love, respect and support for the named and unnamed women who came forward. Whatever you may be feeling tonight, we're here for you. "

      I don't think that doubting the women who accuse Jian Ghomeshi means people are blaming the victim or believe that they're lying ( at least not everybody who is doubtful at the moment, obviously there will always be some people who will accuse the victims of lying ). I think it has more to do with the fact that people rather believe that somebody that they liked or respected is innocent until proven guilty. And that's how it should be imo because everybody has the right to receive a fair court trial.
      It's just unfortunate that not immediately joining the witch hunt often ends in victim blaming. Society needs to find a middle path were both victim and alleged offender can be treated fairly until a judge or the jury ( not sure how it works in Canada ) came to a verdict.

      Delete
    16. An estimated 2% of sexual abuse cases are fabrications. Which means 98% of cases are true. Idk why people are so quick to believe fabricating abuse is so prevalent and also can't understand why women don't report sexual abuse. Yes people were quick to condemn him but even more were just as quick to defend him.

      As many as 8 women have come forward now. Writer and lawyer Reva Smith has come forward now. Many reports share specific details that would only be known by those present. There isn't an active investigation at this time and there may never be a trial. In general very few sexual abuse cases even make it to trial. I guess you have to decide if 8+ women would lie about being sexually abused.

      And if you are doubtful but don't believe the women are lying... then what DO you think??? What is the a middle ground? Oh, he did abuse them but maybe not to the degree they claim?? And that's any better?

      Delete
    17. I'd be careful to throw around statistics because there are quite a few and they all seem to come to a different conclusion. Some say it's 2%, others claim it's between 8-10% and there also have been studies were allegedly 44% were false. Obviously party is going to use the study that suits their argument best that's why I'm vary when people start citing statistics.

      The middle ground is not to join a public witch hunt. That never helped anybody, especially not the victims.

      Delete
    18. Excuse me this isn't a public witch hunt.

      Please point me to the legitimate studies that report 44% were false.

      Delete
    19. Also, when it comes to Ghomeshi, please understand that it's obvious many people knew about him and kept their mouths shut as long as the women didn't come forward. I don't know if Strombo knew personally, but as he's in the same industry, it's likely he did know. These allegations appear to have surprised exactly nobody who knows Jian. Look at that guy who wrote that Jian is his friend, and Jian beats women. He says he's decided to believe the three (at the time) women who came forward. I don't necessarily believe this guy. If Jian is his "friend" than he knew what everybody else knew, and did what everybody else did, didn't report to the police (what was there to report if the women had no protection and no proof and were unwilling at the time) but gave a word to the wise to women who crossed his path.

      Delete
    20. I think in cases like this talking about "the middle ground" sounds reasonable but actually isn't reasonable. We have to decide if we believe the women or don't believe them. What happened happened in private and only two people at a time were there. We are perfectly entitled to believe one side over the other side, and we are perfectly entitled to say so.

      Delete
    21. I'm personally suspicious of CBC. As I said, I don't think this stuff is news to them. Up above "Everybody off the ship; it's going down!" sounds like it's about right. What I'm reading is at least one CBC employee made a complaint years ago and it wasn't addressed.

      As that one tweet said, if we think CBC fired him just because he likes BDSM, think again.

      All of these women came out AFTER CBC fired him and after Ghomeshi wrote his facebook post. As one woman said, it was after that that it was as if they had permission/protection to speak. So what one wants to know is, if CBC fired him before all of these previously silent, non-CBC women came out (who aren't suing him), what made CBC fire him? They made that move before the other women spoke.

      I wouldn't be surprised if this is crisis management for CBC. That they didn't act/take something seriously when they ought to have done, that it either escalated internally or the issue didn't go away, they realized it was credible and they'd look like enablers and that's when they dumped him. If his reputation is that sketchy, his employers and colleagues weren't in the dark. But only now do they fire him. And THEN the other women came forward. Something happened at CBC with this, separate from the now nine women who have spoken up, and they're covering their ass.

      Delete
    22. CBC is definitely partially responsible for not reporting him. An employee attempted to file a complaint and was told, "what can YOU do to make this a less toxic workplace?" Um, not have a vagina??? CBC is covering its ass; they knew about this years ago and they should have fired him then. Only when they knew there would be consequences for them did they act.

      Jian was definitely using his power and position in his field to take advantage of much younger women. Just look at the attacks women face online when they come forward (in this case, the woman of the xojane article). It isn't a coincidence that a lot of his victims share similar qualities- young and wanting to break into the industry. He had the power to get away with it and knew it.

      And yes, you're allowed to feel/express one way or the other, but think about what not believing the women means. I get that the guy is talented and has fans, is that more important than women's health and safety? What would be the tipping point for you? How many more women need to talk? Why wasn't one abused woman enough to convince you?

      Delete
    23. 1:41
      In general yes - innocent till proven guilty and let the courts decide. However, what happens if the courts/legal system don't find him guilty of a crime? What if some fancy lawyer manages to convince a jury/judge (or the law as it's written in Canada) that it was all consensual, there's no crime involved? What would you suggest in that case - that this should all be forgotten and Jian be reinstated in some high-profile media position?

      It's not a witch hunt when there are stories going back years. When there are clear patterns of abusive, predatory behaviours. These women have a right to tell their stories and to be taken seriously. I don't care what the courts decide. I believe these women (and there will probably be many more). Jian deserves to be censured, even if the courts end up not doing that.

      Delete
    24. This article does some time lining of CBC's involvement, although the timeline of CBC's awareness about Ghomeshi's behavior isn't clear.

      http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/behind-the-cbcs-decision-to-fire-ghomeshi/article21396998/

      The events leading to Ghomeshi's firing apparently had their origin in CBC's concerns that a free lance journalist was about to do an expose. They spoke to Ghomeshi, who brought them emails and texts that he said proved consent. Apparently he and CBC differ on the meaning of consent, because the article says CBC was taken aback by Ghomeshi's OWN EVIDENCE that Ghomeshi claimed proved consent. CBC didn't see it that way, and saw evidence that his behavior had been way more aggressive and physical than they'd been lead to believe "after months of discussions." and that Ghomeshi knew all was not well in the spring.

      I'm not clear exactly when - how long ago - CBC got the idea the journalist was going to run an expose. I'm not clear what "CBC long knew" means. Compounding this is that the "Do you know about Jian" culture also existed at CBC, and staffers had a code word for when they booked a guest they suspected had slept with him.

      There's this:

      "Most of the original producers who founded the show are no longer with Q. Going up against Mr. Ghomeshi was a difficult battle, the staffers said. That power imbalance was compounded by the fact that some of the junior staffers were not full-time, but worked on contracts, one former producer said.

      “Can you really stand up to a guy whose 20-foot-tall portrait is on the side of the building when you’re not guaranteed work beyond next week or month?”

      ^The above isn't insignificant, but it's also - go up against him with WHAT? Other people's stories? The number of women he dates? His apparent boundary problems?

      You know, it's not up to Jian to decide if it was consensual. He's the guy who brought the emails and texts to CBC when they required him to do so - the emails and texts CBC felt were troublesome and did not demonstrate consent. Jian seems to be trying to spin this as CBC not "getting" BDSM behavior. I don't think CBC and its legal team are that clueless, and I also believe that a woman knows whether she's consented or not, and not going to the police with it doesn't prove consent. That may be Jian's definition.

      Delete

    25. He may have chosen women who weren't confrontational, whose internal cost/benefit analysis led them to put it behind them and not pursue it, but that also doesn't mean consent. One anon on a comments section went through quite an experience with Ghomeshi, as she described it, and then went on to say that she still thinks abuse is wrong, and even something as inconsequential as a slap across the face is wrong (a slap that she did not expect and had not consented to receive). Because she's got the perspective that a limited amount of abuse (like a slap) is something she should suck up, and only now thinks maybe not, that makes it not abuse?

      There's no such thing as a "perfect victim" - someone for whom there's no down side to reporting it. Women have their own self-interests to protect as well. This is also something that can be exploited and we all know it is exploited.

      I admire the actress who came forward and put her name to her own story. One of her reasons was she said she might be one of the few women who had no down side - her career wasn't in that area of media, and it wouldn't harm her current relationship. It's not fair to tell a woman, who goes out with a guy she thinks is charming, and who hits her, chokes her and smacks her, that she ought to file a he said/she said assault charge, that, if dismissed or not won (and the odds are she won't prevail), could damage her life and her career. That's an extremely unfair burden to put on the woman. If you're abused on a date, and there's no "proof" and it's unlikely you will be able to penalize the guy, go ahead and torch your career anyway, because it's the right thing to do. Let that one evening dictate the next five years of your life, and bury the years you've put into your life so far. We really expect women to do that - for Ghomeshi's behavior to burden THEIR career?

      About innocent until proven guilty - public opinion and the media isn't a court of law. I also don't think having an opinion, based on the available information, constitutes a "witch hunt" because a court has yet to weigh in. The only legal action we're aware of at the moment is Ghomeshi's own against CBC, so we may not GET a verdict. I am still a thinking human being capable of looking at the information out there so far and forming an opinion. This is exactly what a judge would do, exactly what a jury would do, per legal definitions by which I'm not bound. That doesn't mean my brain and judgment, experience and awareness doesn't function and I have to pretend not to use them until some sort of legal ruling. There are plenty of legal rulings I think suck, from a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Hobby Lobby to O.J. Simpson's acquittal to the legality of Stand Your Ground in Florida.

      I do NOT think public opinion and media opinion constitute "witch hunting" if they don't wait on a courtroom. What generally happens is public conversation and synthesis, repeat, repeat and things work themselves through the "court of public opinion" just as they do the legal system. One is not tied to the other and doesn't have to be.

      Delete
    26. "About innocent until proven guilty - public opinion and the media isn't a court of law. "

      This is a really great point. Innocent until proven guilty is for when it comes to locking people up for what they did. That high standard doesn't have to apply to what someone thinks of someone or what they believe about a situation.

      Delete
    27. It's like freedom of speech. The law protects you from the government taking legal action, but it doesn't protect you from public opinion and backlash. Fortunately, in this case, the law can take action too. Even if he was taken to trial and found not guilty, I would still believe the women.

      Delete
    28. As one comments section said, it's not he said/she said, it's he said/they said. These reports go back as far as 2003 to very recently. Unless they all got together beforehand on a conference call and orchestrated this, we believe they're all individually lying or we believe them.

      Delete
    29. I like this article:

      http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2014/11/01/in_praise_of_the_court_of_public_opinion_menon.html

      I don't have a problem with the court of public opinion.

      Delete
  7. Aldrige/Eaton's Jennifer Swan choreographed "Carmen"...pathetic:


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGJi4VHuO2k

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did Swan really choreograph this or are they just paying her to use her name ?

      Delete
    2. What were we expecting from Swan? The brilliance of Carmen was the choreography was SKATED, and the entire program was choreography, including every part of every element. There was never one of those - we pause here to stalk our lift entrance. It was Marina and Scott and Tessa who married the skating to the choreography, it was Swan who helped solve the challenges of what does this look like on skates. Useless if the skaters aren't Scott and Tessa.

      Delete
    3. She just retweeted Meryl advertising her and Maks' dance show. I want to cry. You can't trust anyone in skating's circle.

      Delete
    4. Why? Swan is a dance instructor, you think she wouldn't want to tweet about an upcoming dance show if she thinks it's going to get more people interested in dance, some of whom might walk into her studio? Swan is a business woman. Figure skating is a business. Dance is a business. There's nothing wrong with that. There's also nothing wrong with her working with other skaters other than V/M, IMO. I don't get the feelings of hurt or despair this brings out in some people.

      Delete
    5. I don't see how tweeting about a ballroom dance show in NY is going get anyone to walk into her studio. I think it's more likely that she has to kiss DSC butt now that she's working with one of Marina's teams, and this is "dance" related and a way to prop Meryl. She's a business woman, so fine. Personally I think what Meryl does is so far from dancing that if I were a pro dancer like Swan or Sonia Rodriguez I would not want to advertise Meryl's dancing on my twitter, but that's only my opinion.

      Delete
    6. shame to see such great dancers like swan and rodriguez sell out.i hope they're proud of themselves

      Delete
    7. For the Carmen-themed short-dance, I see some of VM's Carmen transitions repurposed - a lift entrance, a backwards drop and step-over. The problem is, is stops there. The actual lift is ordinary, the skating is very rough, the elements are very rough. The characterization is knees up because the skating isn't there. This looks to me like a skating problem, not a Swan problem. They're also not working with the modern choreographic movement style - shifting their centers of gravity down. I can't tell much about Swan's choreo from this, just that the skaters' abilities can't execute it with any authority.

      Delete
  8. "But eh - no one in Canadian media has the guts to out them. Of course this is not at all on the same level as Jian's "secret" life. But the parallels of protecting someone's "public persona" are interesting.""

    But this isn't news. "Everybody" - most people who take an interest in media matters - know this is how it works because it's worked this way for decades now.

    Scott and Tessa's thing has morphed so much at this point. Originally it seemed of a piece with the incredible excitement, anticipation and expectation about Vancouver and the need to protect the skaters psychologically. (Remember the whole "personal stories" selling point Skate Canada's directors used to claim was the way to make these skaters stars? Those comments that go back to 2008?)

    Now we have a couple of skating "stars" (Virtue Moir) whoring themselves out in a reality show, Scott making out with another woman on a couch, in the name of "protecting" those they love.

    Sure.

    In the minor celebrity world they're in now, Scott and Tessa are "talent", most "talent" wants to be presented a certain way, theirs is we're not married and she's not pregnant. In that world, it's like giving your order to the wait staff in a restaurant. Will do, any other preferences?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Of course it's getting panned by FSU because they know nothing about ice dance, but this is amazing:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwy16evSXTg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That looks like it will be a brilliant program, can't wait to see the whole thing.

      Of course. Poor FSU. They're just.... dancing. And skating. And dancing while skating. And skating while dancing. How can they tell a story without a lot of gesturing while standing around and dragging each other over the ice? How can it be a real drama with such a non-graspy upside down lift? How is anyone supposed to make sense of it when the dance styles just flow logically one into the other? DOES NOT COMPUTE!!!!

      Delete
    2. i like it better than some other fds this season but they still skate way too far apart

      Delete
    3. C/L's freedance...I don't love it, but I don't hate it either. Their footwork sequences are much improved. Is it must me, but does their first lift like the entrance to V/M's opening lift in U of C?

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dx82UZ65UA

      Delete
    4. W/P also have a lift similar to VM's first lift in Seasons. The entrance is different and Andrew is in a different position/doesn't change positions. I think they're doing an easier version of it but I also think they're trying to say they are just as talented as VM ane can do the same things they can.

      Delete
    5. Yeah I'm thinking "we can do [bastardized versions of] everything VM can do" will be a big theme this year. Ugh. That's another reason why I can't with ice dance, considering the real thing didn't even get rewarded.

      Delete
    6. In the case of WP's lift, they also did their lift last season. It's not a bastardization of VM's.

      VM are the greatest team of all time. They are going to be emulated. No one can execute the way they could, but do would we prefer for more teams than already are to be emulating DW instead?

      I didn't think so.

      Delete
    7. Oops didn't know that about the lift. I've seen their FD from last year too but must have forgot.

      And true. Better more teams like WP than CB or AE.

      Delete
    8. I do like it a lot (Hubbell Donohue) - I love their natural power and their choreography. They do skate too far apart, and the maintain an inconsistent distance between them. Still they're far better than the predestined 2015 US Ice Dance champs.

      Delete
  10. Tessa looks pretty pregnant here to me: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B1ObmsJCUAA4tPL.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Very. But don't try to persuade that frequent poster otherwise, s/he's rolling and apparently thinks those posts are going to matter, too. It's amusing.

      I DEMAND AN ANSWER OC! I DEMAND AN ANSWER OC! I DEMAND AN ANSWER OC!

      LULZ.

      Delete
    2. I'm not OC. I especially find it hilarious you think that constantly bombarding this blog with the same question and accusing everyone of being OC doesn't make YOU look like a fruit loop.

      But keep going. Like I said, you're rolling.

      Delete
    3. That photo is as obvious as painting a target on her gut and giving her a sign that says "I'm pregnant!"

      All this "but she's SO TINY!" bullshit is getting tiresome.

      Delete
    4. Well at least we know in what light to view the rest of that tumblr's report from The Ivey. Those were great business school lessons she reported. Here's how to be businesslike. Act out. Talk behind people's backs in public. Trash everyone but yourselves. Dish on the irrelevant components of people's relationships that are none of your business (Meryl and Charlie). Cast aspersions on the health and habits of other people, such as Maia Shibutani (only healthy girl at Canton is Tessa). Good job, Ivey Tumblr report.

      Delete
    5. 11:02 AM - some of the "that blog is so ridiculous!" and comments that it's crazy to think Tessa is pregnant, despite the obvious, IS fan willful obliviousness. They don't want to believe there's anything calculated about what Scott and Tessa do in public, nor do they want to believe that Scott and Tessa are as aware of the fan mentality and chatter and the fans are about what Scott and Tessa do in public, and that the two are obviously linked. Fans want to believe it's like being at a zoo - when Scott and Tessa are in public, fans aren't even on their radar, so what fans observe is the real deal.

      So that's one reason the resistance is what it is.

      Another is from the fans who consider themselves insiders, consider themselves part of the community, and even though this is a SPORT (i.e., entertainment for the public, wouldn't exist without the public, and is funded by the public), and even though this is PUBLIC RELATIONS (i.e., aimed at the public) - people who aren't considered part of the community, people who aren't "insiders" aren't entitled to this information. This information is only for community members. And that's why THEY push back and lie. It's a club they think they belong to, that's exclusive.

      But it's not.

      oc

      Delete
    6. the tumblr report only got deleted because dw fans threw a shit fit

      Delete
  11. Assuming that's suppose to be sarcasm, 8:08 and 8:13 - Gimme a break. If that photo is not photo-shopped then Tessa is definitely NOT the only healthy girl at Canton. Are you serious? So she dropped 20 lbs since the Ivey talk? Open your eyes!

    ReplyDelete
  12. It's 8:54 again... before the back lash from certain parties, I need to say: I don't think Tessa looks fat in the photos from the Ivey talk, but I think the photo she posted on Instagram is ridiculous - she's made herself look so tiny. The photos of Tessa lately, whether you think she looks pregnant or not, have been so inconsistent - are we suppose to believe that her weight fluctuates this much from day to day? These inconsistencies have me convinced they are hiding something.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I'm sorry, but are people blind or just stupid? How can anybody look at this pic of Tessa https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B1ObmsJCUAA4tPL.jpg and not see the freaking baby bump?! It's right there people. Or let me guess it was just taken at a bad angle? Look how bloated her face looks as well. Then we have this pic Tessa herself posted http://photos-d.ak.instagram.com/hphotos-ak-xfa1/10724654_1543479875864267_227696511_n.jpg. Can somebody give me a good explanation why her head is so disproportionate to the rest of her body? Yet her boobs are huge. And you can still see a bump in this pic. Another pic https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B1P5KNvCcAAMd_K.jpg we have Tessa's huge boobs again and there's that little elevation in her tummy. Look, I was the biggest skeptic, but how anybody can look at these pics and not come to the same conclusion is beyond me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. People aren't blind, just controlling. Also, they don't have anything to do. If you saw what I can see, the people you're talking about spend more time at this blog than anybody else spends at this blog.

      Delete
    2. If you look at the gold dress picture, the door behind Tessa has the same bizarre proportions. They're going heavy on aspect ratio but the problem is it does the same strangeness to the background as liquify/warp if you go too far. They're also erasing.

      Delete
    3. It's amazing how in the first picture her head is a completely different size relative to the rest of her body than in the pictures she herself posts (normal ratio), where in the ones she posts, she's both skinnier and bustier than she is even when not pregnant, and whatever she's standing in front of, bizarre things happen to the background. In the Ice Cream Company photo, she's super long and skinny, but the proportions of the building behind her have altered bizarrely, so she looks like a long-legged resident of Munchkin Land.

      Delete
    4. I'll hold my hands up and admit that the Ivey photos threw me - but then I saw the photos from Gold Plate and I'm right back again. The one thing that is consistent, is the inconsistency and that tells me what I need to know. How on earth can people with two working eyes in their heads not see the difference in her day to day, event to event, photo to photo? I don't know anything about Photoshop, I just know Tessa's doesn't usually have legs up to her armpits and boobs out to there.

      Delete
    5. Listen, people see it. They just don't want US to see it. They want to talk us out of what we see.

      Delete
    6. I saw this played out today on tumblr. An ANON wrote into a fan page and said her mother saw SM kiss TV at Skate Canada this weekend and said for sure they're a couple. The tumblr blogger asked that no one put it on Instagram or Twitter because of negative reactions and VM are so awesome as to be on social media. FWIW I really love that specific tumblr ;)

      Delete
    7. lmao at not putting it on twitter or instagram. I don't know if that report is true (I know they're married), but Tessa and Scott kiss and hug all the time, in public, so how is that proprietary news that needs to be hidden away?

      Delete
    8. What the hell is the "don't put it on twitter or tumblr" reasoning process about? Scott and Tessa will be scared off social media if people don't pretend to believe all their lying? What was the excuse when neither one had an official social media account?

      Delete
  14. From the GMPVictoria twitter- "This is the best place to be for a retired Olympic athlete – I think we hit each table about 10 times!" —@tessavirtue #GMP2014

    hmmm...future plans decided and they are just stringing people along with this taking a year off bit? or she's just talking about eating a lot?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Looks like the tumblr has been deleted but cache is available.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't that what always happens. Oops, that instagram isn't there anymore! Oh darn, the album has been made private!

      oc

      Delete
    2. And the Twitter accounts that only follow 20 people, most of them Skate Canada or Olympians and tweet once every two years. Their social media game ain't all that. But then again, they don't really care, do they?

      Delete
    3. The tumblr is still there, the post has just been deleted from the blog. It's still available in reblogs though.

      Delete
    4. the tumblr report only got deleted because dw fans threw a shit fit

      Delete
  16. G/P are once again SC's chosen ones. Tracy's commentary on them was absolutely revolting, reminicent of Tanith's finest. G/P kept going off script by getting worse and worse, and she kept insisting they were still incredible. They beat Hubbell/Donohue in PCS even despite it being an absolute disaster, only behind them because of L1 twizzles.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HD is to US figure skating as PI is to Canadian skating. It's sad.

      Delete
    2. I guess that means if GP manage to stay on their feet at nationals they'll finish second. Or maybe they'll have a go at WP now to prob Paul Poirier and GP win gold.
      How many teams can Canada send to Boston ?

      Ice dance is a sad field. God knows if we'll ever see another team like VM again.
      But it doesn't matter because according to the commentators mediocre teams like WP, CB and CL are already on their way to become the next VM.

      WP are among the best right now but I'd be disappointed to see them win any big titles because it would mean Skate Canada would get rewarded despite throwing VM under the bus. That's why I'm also glad Chan didn't win gold ( I still believe he's the best male singles skater in the world but he didn't deserve gold with a skate like this ).

      Delete
    3. Canada has 3 spots for Worlds in dance.

      I agree with you. Nothing against WP. I respect them. On TSN they kept repeating how it was "their time" and how they were just .02 away from being world champs (true, but they were just 0.04 from bronze and 1.03 away from being off the podium).

      WP really seemed to work for their scores, rather than just expect to be handed them because VM are out. I don't like WP, but they did a good job. I was pleased that they didn't average any 9s in PC or break 70. Made it feel like there was room for VM had they skated there. It's not about VM per se, just that I don't think it's right that the current teams should get 75 just because 75 was last year's benchmark and they're the best team in that competition. There should be something to strive for. VM hit a stride in their skating that really did deserve 10s and will be difficult to duplicate. If the other teams are just handed those scores, there is no impetus to improve.

      I don't know what WP's plans are but it would serve SC right if WP retire after this season, then they will be stuck with inconsistent GP and PI.

      Delete
  17. For all of you looking for the baby bump, here it is: http://www.tsn.ca/video/skate-canada-the-post-skate-1.121763

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ???^^^^^ seriously

      Delete
    2. Good lord, that video is terrible. Tessa sounds so phoney and fake. Ick.

      Delete
    3. So Tessa isn't pregnant but she's wearing a huge blue coat in all the photos while everyone around her is in significantly less layers. Uh huh, sure. I guess those are the photos they didn't have time to edit?

      Delete
    4. 8:58, lmao she sounds nervous. They both did in all of the taped segments. This type of stuff isn't as natural to them but they weren't horrible and they can improve if they want to go in this direction.

      Delete
    5. The reason why so many people doubt Tessa's pregnancy is because these speculations started in March after she appeared on Strombo with noticably fuller boobs and cheeks. Ever since then folks were convinced that she's pregnant.
      Before you can see a change she must have been pregnant for at least 2 months, maybe even more since Tessa apparently doesn't carry like most other women. That means she'd be 11 months pregnant now.
      It doesn't help that OC, despite having no information about Tessa's current state, keeps deleting every single post that questions the time line issue.

      The photoshopped pics and big coats are odd but if I'd be criticised for every pound I gain I'd be self-concious too. Tessa has been called too fat for years, I doubt she took that lightly.
      Retired athletes usually gain weight rather rapidly ( just look at Scott, he put on a lot of weight as well but I doubt that he's pregnant ).

      Delete
    6. I don't believe there's been any clear or sure timeline provided on this blog. It's all been speculation, nobody knows for sure. No one has come out saying anything was fact. And I think that the comments deleted did a lot more than question the timeline issue. EVERYONE is questioning the timeline issue. That's not why those comments were deleted.

      Delete
    7. Whoever is coming in with the timeline assertions (I haven't checked but I'm guessing it's the usual) - stop it. There have been timeline speculations on the blog in the comments, from people wondering and guessing and floating timeline hypothesis. No hard and fast timeline has been declared in the blog itself, so any post that comes in and pretends the timeline has been asserted here hasn't read the blog and is simply making shit up, as usual. So don't do it again.

      Delete
    8. 8:58 - Tessa sounds phony when she's lying. IMO she sounds phony here because in addition to being what it is (a post-skate video) she's lying in how she's presenting herself physically. She's done plenty of previous taped sections when she's not pregnant when she sounds fine, most notably when she was promoting London's The Bungalow restaurant. I doubt she's going to be that nervous doing something as short as this without any other factors influencing how relaxed and convincing she is. She's had years of practice for spots like this.

      Delete
    9. "Retired athletes usually gain weight rather rapidly ( just look at Scott, he put on a lot of weight as well but I doubt that he's pregnant )."

      Not true. This is a "fact" you made up to rationalize Tessa's weight gain. Tessa has never ever displayed weight problems, why would she start now? The only other time Tessa visibly showed weight gain was the second half of 2010 when she was pregnant.

      Right after Sochi VM still had SOI and then the China tour in the summer. No way in hell Tessa was going to become undisciplined and careless.

      Tessa's twitter persona that indulges in pastries and wine is a lie. It's a lie that athletes gain weight quickly when they retire. It's a lie that Tessa has weight problems.

      Delete
    10. "Before you can see a change she must have been pregnant for at least 2 months"

      Do you have anything to back this up?

      Delete
    11. It appears every pregnancy is different:
      https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20071119151433AA1qZ6U

      Delete
    12. I think it's funny that some people are saying she has weight problems or "normal" post season weight gain, while the pictures she keeps putting up of herself show her to be thinner than she's ever been. So, which is it? The fact that there's a discrepancy is the tip off that something is being altered. Since the recent pictures and video show her looking larger than normal (not fat), and in the few pictures we've seen of her over the past couple of months she's gotten progressively bigger, it's a lot more likely they're photoshopping her to look thin, rather than adding weight on to her to explain her constantly changing shape and size.
      12:34 is right, every pregnancy is different. Some women's chest gets larger immediately, and bloating is also common in the first trimester. But then don't show the pregnancy belly until much later. They can even appear to get thinner in between.
      While I agree that Tessa showed some changes early on (back in March), she has continued to show changes in all areas of her body beyond how she looked then; chest, face, butt, abdomen. I do not think she has gained weight because she is not skating (and why aren't they skating anyways... why do they have to wait until Dec to put programs together?), and all the sudden after years of discipline has suddenly lost all control. I think she has gained normal pregnancy weight, maybe even less than the average pregnant woman. I also think she is showing more than she did in 2010 judging from this weekend.

      Delete
    13. I'm waiting for somebody to link to Tessa's "normal post-season weight gain" in the summer after Funny Face and in the summer after Carmen.

      Delete
    14. 11:55 AM "Not true. This is a "fact" you made up to rationalize Tessa's weight gain. Tessa has never ever displayed weight problems, why would she start now? The only other time Tessa visibly showed weight gain was the second half of 2010 when she was pregnant."

      11:55 AM - you're correct, and making up "facts" is typical of comments that are removed or deleted. Comments that make up facts - either about pregnancy, media or something along those lines - or make up what the blog has said. Or make up stuff such as "This is Tessa's normal summer weight gain" and then ignore the request to point to a summer weight gain example in the off-seasons she wasn't pregnant.

      Then the comments demand the blog address what the comment just made up.

      It's happened so often that most of the time this is not going to be pointed out to the person doing it. The comment is just going to be removed. They don't listen anyway, so an explanation is a waste of time, and telling anyone that they just made up their "facts" is also a waste of time. These are the sorts of people who believe the facts they make up are as valid as actual facts. That's not an issue the blog is interested in addressing on an individual basis. And that's the kindest interpretation. The most likely interpretation is they're trolling and can't stand having the comments section not pivot around what they're doing and saying.

      Delete
  18. Great job by WP tonight.
    HD need more time, but I think that FD is going to be great in the end.

    And what a heaping helping of homecooking for GP.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. G/P's FD is crap. No way they should have placed ahead of H/D. And Tracy's enthusiasm over their program was nauseating.

      I'm calling it now at Nationals: W/P, G/P over P/I, no matter how well P/I skate. Blech.

      Delete
    2. HD were robbed tonight. They were not perfect and they still need time. They're coming back from a major injury and it's their first competition of the year. However, a subpar HD is still better than a 100% GP.

      GP's base value tonight is the highest of the GP season so far. It's higher than even what CB were given last week at SA. Hubbell/Donohue had the second highest base value, so congrats to them for having the highest fd base value actually-earned-on-the-ice so far this GP season.

      Delete
    3. North American ice dance is far far FAR more corrupt than Russia ever dreamed of being. Lovely, when when contemplates the sanctimony North American ice dance affected when discussing Russian ice dance dominance. Never has there blatantly been no connection between execution/scores and the rules, nor a pretense of same. The protocols have replaced the skating. The protocols prove the skating, not vice versa. I think if 2009 Worlds happened again, nobody would blink. Nobody would utter a peep. Just like now, nobody is even anonymously saying anything to the media. Of course, in 2009, the Russians won, so it was okay to point out maybe it wasn't deserved.

      Delete
    4. The difference in GP and HD's FD scores was 6.31 points. HD lost a point to an extended lift and a point to a fall. Even with those lost points, even with HD needing more time, GP should not have placed ahead of them in that FD, especially by 6.31.

      People can really watch this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MASj8PtQvJ8 and say it's inferior to this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EHSl_Vz-PM?

      They can look at these two skates and say that GP have better skating skills than HD when GP have weak to non-existent edges and lack soft knees? HD are not VM, but their edges are a thing of beauty and they both have these gorgeously soft, rhythmic knees.

      For curved step sequences, HD do a circular and GP do a serpentine. They both received level 3 and the same GOE for a total of 8.36 for the element. HD's sequence starts at about 1:11 in their program. GP's was at 2:25 in theirs. With a straight face, someone can say that those two step sequences were equivalent?

      The program construction and content is also completely different. HD skate and dance every bit of that program. There is no filler. There is more one-foot skating, more multi-directional skating, and a lot more real content. There is no pulling, pushing, or hopping. GP use a lot of the same types of filler used by DW and a lot of crossovers to fill the time. GP come out with higher PCS in every single category.

      It's sickening.

      It's 100% truth that North American ice dance is far more corrupt than Russian or any other country has ever dreamed of being. Adding insult to injury, the corruption seems to work by denying superior North American teams in favor of far inferior ones. CB over Shibs. CB over WP in the FD at Nebelhorn. GP over HD at SC. Of course, the granddaddy of them all, DW over VM time and time again. Even in the absence of VM, there are North American teams with the skills to legitimately win major titles, even the OGM in 2018. These teams will not get the opportunity to do so.

      The entitlement on display from GP this weekend was worse in ways than what we've seen from DW in the past.

      Delete
    5. I'd almost rather see the GP version of naked entitlement than the sanctimony we continually got from Davis White, which had the affect that they were the best in the world for years and never complained, and finally they were rewarded, when they were the best all along. Fuck that.

      "For curved step sequences, HD do a circular and GP do a serpentine. They both received level 3 and the same GOE for a total of 8.36 for the element. HD's sequence starts at about 1:11 in their program. GP's was at 2:25 in theirs. With a straight face, someone can say that those two step sequences were equivalent?"

      No, just as nobody could ever look at DW's lifts and with a straight face say they deserved the same level or difficulty as anything VM ever did. For that matter, as anything anybody ever did.

      There is no answer to this because the corruption in this sport is only verifiable by those who have bothered to learn anything about figure skating and ice dance, and those people include neither sportswriters nor those in charge at the OOC. For the latter, it's a closed loop reinforcing ignorance, since the sportswriters get their information about the skating from people inside skating, who don't instruct them in technique and the rules, but rather reinforce the pageant aspects and the idea that each team is compared to themselves, not each other, like it's Dancing with the Stars.

      Delete
    6. BTW, I looked at Moore-Towers/Marinaro's practice on youtube

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqYjSRUY_Lw

      He's very graceful, but doesn't seem steady or fast on his feet. The twist barely gets up there, and they bail out of one when Kirsten can't hit the position. That missed position looks like a timing/speed issue. The throws look good. It's hard to assess how strong a basic skater he is. I recall when Jessica Dube paired with Sebastien Wolfe, the uncertainty showed most in the lifts, while their basic skating with both pairs of skates on the ice seemed okay enough. At the moment, Marinaro appears as if he's the one being led; he doesn't appear confident.

      Delete
    7. Any thoughts on how KMT will fare with this new dude against Dylan and his new partner? I'm starting to think that Dylan might come out ahead here...

      Delete
    8. 7:50 PM - it's early days and I remember that Dube Wolfe were almost laughable early on, but a large part of that appeared to be Dube's lack of trust, and characteristic unwillingness to commit herself on ice. She was on the world team that year in part because MTM V1 had a complete meltdown and, despite the performance looking like VERY hard work, she showed up for Canadians, as is her custom.

      I think Lubova/Dylan looked better in that one video of them we saw than MTM V.2 looked at Skate Canada, largely because Dylan at this point has stronger skating skills, and despite skating with a very experienced new partner, is on equal terms with her on ice, which is not apparent with MTM V.2. Marinaro seemed less than sure footed in linking moves. Lubova and Dylan had wonderful basic timing together, no hesitations. Where there were issues it seemed more about mileage on whatever it was, waiting for their individual muscle memories to process the move. But as skaters, they skated very close together, with a strong connection (again, connection means timing, adjustments, exchange of weight, physical communication) currently missing with MTM V2. So yeah, at the moment it appears that Dylan did come out ahead.

      It's not a technical issue, but Kirsten Moore Towers is very musical, as is Dylan, so they used the music very well. In the new team so far, Marinaro is too busy trying to stay on the same ice with her to use the music very much, so they've lost a lot of performance value. I guess that matters if it energizes the skaters - sometimes when skaters are very musical and their basic skills are strong, their power across the ice increases and their smoothness into and out of lifts and other elements is assisted because the music literally energizes and empowers the skaters. At the moment Marinaro is literally advertising "I'm the weak link!" With Sebastien Wolfe, it wasn't so much his skating that advertised him as the weak link, but what happened to Jessica (particularly in lifts) when she skated with him.

      Delete
    9. Just p.s. - when I look back at the Dube/Wolfe pairing, it's still amusing how persistent the (manufactured) Dube/Wolfe - Dube/Davidson narrative remained until it became impossible to sustain. Fans had taken the fabrications in "Telement Sur La Glace" - to mean that Bryce was a drag for Jessica to skate with, always moping about her dating Scott. He was the reason she was underachieving on the ice. When she hooked up with Wolfe, the predetermined fan script was at last we'd see a happy, re-energized, more confident on-ice Jessica, at liberated from Davidson's mopiness. She then proceeded to add more characteristic performance errors to her already substantial repertoire and skated much of the season appearing to be in a massive sulk, skating as if she were only on ice because somebody had threatened to shoot her dog, only without the urgency.

      And then she retired. Then she joined Battle of the Blades. After a reasonably effective initial outing, she got more and more lethargic til people were like, get rid of her already, enough. Then she proceeded for months afterwards to facebook how sparkling, fun, exciting and wonderful it had been to be on BOTB. She also spent a little time comparing how her experience with Sebastien Wolfe (figure skater) prepared her to try and teach Brian Savage (hockey player).

      Delete
    10. Thought of another way to look at the Lubova/Dylan connection vis a vis the MTM V. 2 connection - Lubova and Dylan seemed to have great awareness of where the other was or would be be on the ice, and each simply committed to what they were doing without needing to continually "spot" that the other person was where they needed to be. MTM V. 2 are still in the stage of doing a lot of obvious visual checks and re-sets. One of the other differences is that both Lubova and Dylan skate with the commitment of the very experienced, so they skate much more as a whole, with great maturity (the skating doesn't start to hesitate in between the elements) while Marinaro's inexperience shows in his skating.

      Delete
  19. And meanwhile Tracy Wilson and Tessa are acting like GP are the greatest thing since sliced bread ...

    I was worried NBC could replace Tracy with Tanith but now I think it wouldn't make much of a difference anymore.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Honestly, right now, I think Tanith is the keeper out of the two.

      Delete
    2. Tanith, Tracy, Marina, Swan, Browning's wife - I wouldn't mind if all of them moved to a lonely island and never came back.

      Delete
    3. 3:09 - what you are complaining of, 3:09, is the state of ice dance, not these individuals. Before this season is done that lonely island will be too crowded to be lonely, if you are blaming individuals. It's apparant that if you're in the sport, your only option is to spout the bullshit or withdraw. Marina is the only one who has said anything, and she only questioned the scores given her own team, not the ridiculous scores given to Chock & Bates. Not pointing out the lack of content in Chock & Bates' program.

      Remember Frank Carroll griping that when he saw Plushenko skate, he saw jump, jump, jump and no skating? Remember when Slotnikova won in Sochi and it was permissible not to just talk about what Yuna did, but to take down what Slotnikova did (even though her win was far more legitimate than Davis White's win).

      In ice dance it is CLEARLY not permissible to discuss what's going on with teams getting scores for what they're not doing, for blatant errors to be ignored or credited anyway for one team while another team gets dinged.

      Regional choreographers don't generally make bloody fortunes. Swan's affiliation with Tessa and Scott means she can get more choreographic jobs for ice dance and perhaps figure skating. Her tweeting is business - it puts her name out there and creates a higher profile. It's not about driving individuals into her studio.

      Ice dance isn't a sport. It's a racket. Obviously, it shouldn't be in the Olympics.

      Delete
    4. It didn't stop Igor from complaining about VM's Carmen. Not only did he tell everybody how much better the judges liked CL's Carmen, he also had a go at VM's lift and demanded they'd get a deduction for it.

      Delete
    5. 3:09 that made me burst out laughing. I guess Tessa and co are just continuing the tradition of dressing up shit and calling it ice cream. See: Davis White. I wish someone would smack that smug little smile right off Piper's ugly face. How did this no talent hack get so far in ice dance?! Her and Poirer shouldn't even exist in the same universe as VM and PI.

      Delete
    6. Wow I'm not the biggest fan of G/P either, but I don't think calling her ugly was very necessary (BTW I don't think she is ugly). What does looks have to do with skating skills anyway. SMH.

      Delete
  20. This could be little Moir but VM are playin'

    http://33.media.tumblr.com/7674c7a50d09dda9744bb4dc51557a0f/tumblr_ned837C00N1sanikko1_1280.jpg

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is Annie Barbare's daughter.

      Delete
    2. What is your problem 8:55? They meant to say Annie Barabé (former coach of Cynthia Phaneuf and Jessica Dubé).

      Delete
    3. So that is the same kid as this: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152688488443847&set=a.10152189465028847.1073741832.515453846&type=1&theater

      Not sure about that.

      Delete
    4. It is. Barabe had posted a whole bunch of pictures of Stella in her skating costume posing with different skaters, including Scott Moir.

      oc

      Delete
    5. Toddler Moir will never appear at the skate canada. At least not before the age of 20

      Delete
    6. She hasn't gone around wearing a sign that says "Daughter of Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir", but she has attended skating events. Tessa and Scott both have huge families that extend well beyond the ones we regularly see trying to get in the spotlight. All they have to do is have one of the less or non-visible family members mind the child at events.

      Delete
    7. You are right 12.37.

      Delete
    8. One of the most visible family members in either the Virtue or Moir families could spend an entire competition walking around with the little girl loudly talking about mommy and daddy skating, while the family member loudly talked about how Scott and Tessa were up all night because the little girl had an ear ache, and fans would write it off as something else.

      I know you're correct, 12:37 and 2:00pm, but it's also very funny, the idea they need to actually be discreet with their daughter.

      The only thing that would do the trick is an official announcement from Scott and Tessa themselves.

      Delete
    9. 1:22 -- Not just an official announcement. Also an official family photo. The way so many people only believe what they see in a photo, I think they still wouldn't take it seriously without photos.

      Isn't that the premise of all the sham photo albums? The idea that fans aren't believing them when they say they are sincerely genuinely really really really platonic. So they use backdoor social media platforms to make public their sham photos. (There! Do you believe us now? Want more? Here come some more! Are you still believing us?)

      *Rolleyes*

      Delete
    10. It's tipped over into looking like a hunger on their part to act out - say Scott, I don't think they're believing us - shouldn't you make out with Cassandra? Hey Tess, I think I saw somebody roll their eyes at our last pa - get out there and snuggle with Ryan.

      Delete
    11. OC 9:30
      I agree, this is exactly how it looks.
      It's vile.

      Delete
  21. Meryl Davis would be so proud of this lift:

    http://photography.ice-dance.com/2014-15/14SC/FD/14SC-FD-5143.jpg

    There is a comment in a post on Golden Skate with a press conference quote from Madison Chock:

    "As long as Chock has people "sitting back and relaxing while she sucks them in" (her quote during the ISU press conference" the judges will reward them with PCS marks that have nothing to do with reality of the individual components."

    Can someone please tell me where in the cop that sucking in the audience appears?

    I think this quad is going to be as awful as the last. Only two GP events into this quad, I'm already giving up the hopes I had that we would occasionally see a good team come out on top.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That initial ice network interview from Chock & Bates told us all we needed to know about the coming season, and it was confirmed at Skate America. That interview was the equivalent of an announcement that it had been decided in advance they were America's best ice dance team, and possibly even world championship material. North American ice dance is far more disgusting than Russia ever dreamed of being.

      Delete
  22. Bloggers skating commentary is prob interesting to those who give a shit, but claiming to be an expert in pregnancy, sexual abuse, social media, weight gain, weight loss, advertising, sponsorships, and the list goes onnnnnn says volumes about what type of person is speaking here. And thats not a compliment.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OC has never claimed to be an expert in any of those things although it's obvious the blogger is VERY knowledgable about skating and the rules and what constitutes good/bad skating.

      Also, it's apparent there is also a knowledge of how the figure skating culture and media works.

      Lastly, OC has excellent logic and reasoning skills which I find sorely lacking in your comments.

      You (commenter) have been around this blog enough and if you actually used your brain for something else besides fan fic you may reach a conclusion that there are quite a number of jobs around figure skating that could endow someone with knowledge in a lot of the topics OC brings up.

      Regarding pregnancy...don't be so bitter that VM have never revealed the truth of their relationship to you. That OC knows the truth and you don't (or WON'T let yourself) seems to really bother you.

      Delete
    2. Well, isn't 10;30PM ALSO an expert in all those things? Why else would they be convinced the blogger is full of it.

      Being able to conduct an informed discussion on some of these topics is possible for most people with internet access or a library card. The way these people think being informed is so so SO amazing really takes one aback. I guess being informed is only for celebrities? Or people with a public byline?

      It's like when someone rushed in to call everybody old, fat and female.

      It's freaking sad, it is, this stuff. The knee jerk idea that you can silence somebody - or a group of people - by disparaging their presumed demographic, gender, age, sexual activity - AND you can rush in and scoff at somebody able to conduct an informed discussion on topics most people could become informed about simply by READING.

      Delete
  23. I had a weird thought. If VM are not a couple then Scott Moir is like his friend Jian there and TV is his victim because he certainly takes plenty of liberties kissing and petting her. Logic logic logic and critical thinking...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 1:09. Not the same because with Tessa and Scott it is clearly consensual.

      If VM are not a couple then Scott is a jerk because of the way he treats the girlfriends, keeping a "better-half" on the side with whom he is physical and more emotionally attached than the girlfriends. What kind of guy does that, unless he's a slimeball? And what kind of girl puts up with that kind of thing?

      In fact, I do not think Scott is that kind of jerk. He's with Tessa.

      The fake girlfriends, though, have a major chip missing to consent to engaging in a fake relationship that also sometimes includes canoodling with a married father. In that respect, they're all disgusting jerks.

      Delete
    2. I know it's consentual! :) I posted that for that incessant commenter who keeps throwing fits.

      Hoping they recognize the extreme improbability of this and then recognize the opposite must be true...they are a couple/married/lovers

      Delete
    3. @1:27
      Good luck in thinking anything will make the incessant commenter see reason. It would also include them recognizing they're wrong and admitting it. As if.

      Delete
  24. From Tumblr :

    " I went to skate canada this last weekend with my skating club and mom and it was sooo much fun! We all got to meet Scott and Tessa and have our picture taken with them. ^-^ You guys all talking about your shipper parents is funny because my mom says she accidentally ran into Scott and Tessa after we all met them and that they're definately a couple. She said they were sharing a hug and then he kissed her. "

    I expect to see more of Kaitlyn and Ryan soon now that it has reached the Tumblr shippers.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ooh, a tumblr anon, very credible. Not saying this couldn't be true, but people are going to easily believe this while denying the blog? Everyone in the tumblr fandom is aware of this blog so if vm don't push back against this place why would they for tumblr.

      Delete
    2. What do you mean? They constantly push back against this place.

      And the odds are very good that this latest story is made-up.

      Delete
    3. How do we navigate what is a real and not real story?

      I'm saying this as someone who believes the blog. It's just understood that yes the blog is telling the truth, and we're not supposed to believe anything else that is said on the internet about them? ranging from sighting, information about meet and greets, and stuff they themselves say?

      Delete
    4. 4:34 - "how do we navigate what is a real and not real story?"

      I get it, and it's easier for those of us who know the basics for a fact - that they're married and parents. If stories about Scott and someone else or Jessica and someone else are reported, it's bogus, if someone makes claims that they're neither married nor parents, it's bogus.

      But the other direction? Knowing the basics doesn't help. We have to basically guess. I fall on the side of - this particular story is made up, and came here just now to express that opinion. And here other people are of the same mind.

      Here's why that's MY guess: It's set up like so many Scott-Fake Girlfriend stories are/were set up. The "definitely a couple." The kiss. The "by accident."

      Delete
    5. If we didn't know what we do about Scott and Tessa, would we be able to say "definitely a couple" about them, or anybody based on a hug and a kiss in public - particularly in a sport with theatrical traditions. (I was thinking today that figure skaters have to hug and kiss each other at the medal ceremony and other events, all this air kissing of everybody - something we don't see so much with, say hockey and football players, or track and field). I've seen pictures of Tessa giving huge bear hugs to fellow (male) skaters.

      So why not just say saw Scott and Tessa hugging and he gave her a kiss. Why "Definitely a couple"? And then the "by accident." So many "incriminating" Scott/Jessica sightings happened entirely by accident, the lucky person wasn't hoping to see them, didn't even have them on their mind (I think this sort of caveat is meant to show nothing was calculated or planned, and also to show that the person reporting the sighting isn't obsessive or interested enough to make stuff up) - when - boom! there they were - KISSING. On the LIPS!

      So for me, I'm navigating this story based on my experience with its inverse - this is the same language of the Jessica/Scott sightings. The Jessica/Scott people either believed Jessica/Scott were real, so what's the difference if they make up a sighting, it's still true, OR they just didn't want anybody else to believe or know they were fake.

      Here, it could be somebody who knows Scott and Tessa are real, so they made something up. Or they want to encourage people to be more open about the stuff they actually do know and see, so they made something up hoping it would "give permission" for more people away from this blog to unzip their lips about real stuff.

      I find it interesting because although the style and language is familiar, it's breaking new ground because it's deployed to say they ARE a couple.

      And of course, her mom could have seen them hug and kiss, sure. They could have sex on ice at Skate Canada and the fandom wouldn't admit it unless Scott and Tessa did, and Scott and Tessa know it, so why not. But for me, it's the language of the report - "definitely a couple" and "by accident" to be specific, that triggered a caution flag in me. The kiss part just seals the deal. Boy does Scott like to mug down in an unmistakable "I'm fucking this woman" way in public. The reports are legion.

      As a different example, somewhere on the web is a non-English language caption to a fan photo of Scott and Tessa near, I believe, the Staples Center in 2009. Outside on the plaza or whatever. Although I don't recall the language now, I put the caption through google translate, and among other regular fan type stuff (I think about how sweet and good-looking they were), it said "holding hands!" Meaning, the fan had spotted Scott and Tessa, asked for a picture, and then giggled that they had been holding hands when she saw them. Something about it sounded "right" - it had a genuine sort of gossipy tone, not pretending it wasn't a thrill, and a little bit of an excited tone, but wasn't try hard, and didn't overemphasize that part. This story about my mom saw them by accident reads like they borrowed a Scott/Fake Girlfriend template and plugged in Scott and Tessa.

      Delete
    6. P.S. - so that's how *I* am navigating the story - purely by its stylistic resemblance to stories I know are fake. It's my guess, if I were asked to guess. No doubt there are plenty of fans who have seen actual stuff - I'm just skeptical that this fan's mother is one, although I do see a fan posting this as something of a shift. Let's see if others follow suit.

      Delete
    7. I am intrigued by the shift as well. I thought for sure as I was reading through the account that I was going to see 'they aren't together' or something like 'they don't speak to each other unless its necessary' was not expecting 'definitely a couple.' Curious to see if more reports appear.

      Delete
    8. I don't think it will change much if a new sham photo appears. Not sure if anyone remembers but there was a Sochi volunteer on fb who posted a pic of him with VM and one of his friends asked if they were a couple and he replied that he wasn't sure but during the Olympics she was all Scott's. Everyone was giddy but this was soon forgotten under sham photos.

      Delete
    9. Over the years plenty of fans have said the same thing. Some of them have said it privately, others have said things publicly that are similar to what the Sochi volunteer said. It doesn't matter. I also don't believe there's any sort of proof that would matter unless Scott and Tessa dropped the sham and acknowledged their reality themselves. Anything else would be dismissed. For years they've repeated their "rift" story, and Steve Milton, I believe, restated it, even though what's in the public domain proves it's a lie. Scott and Tessa have even insisted the rift and its details are LITERALLY true - didn't speak, communicate in any way, nor lay eyes on each other for two months, so fans who want to say "Well, maybe they used that story to express some other truth" or whatever, are out of luck. According to Scott and Tessa, it's literally true. But it's a lie. Not only is there video from the time showing them together, not only are there images showing them together, but Marijane Strong told the television audience at 2009 Canadians how Scott and Tessa had worked every day in her apartment during her recovery, even before she was back on the ice.

      Marijane Strong was Tracy Wilson and Rob McCall's coach, is a member of the Skate Canada Hall of Fame, has a long history with Scott and Tessa, and, we note, has had an extremely low public profile the past number of years. This could be due to age, but a couple of years ago P.J. Kwong tweeted that she was excited to sit next to Strong on her flight, as Strong knows everything and she would get all the dirt.

      Strong used to be outspoken about Scott and Tessa, particularly when she was first dealing with her CES, but she's one of those figure skating notables who've gone quiet in recent years.

      Delete


    10. And naturally, common sense tells us that two elite ice dancers who have spent their lives aiming for the Vancouver Olympics, who must get past a gigantic obstacle the season before (her CES), and who need every ounce of preparation time to prepare for what they consider an essential Canadians, 4CCs and Worlds, are not going to sit around moping and not speaking for two freaking months in the run up to Canadians, and then only start working together in December. Sure. Their families will sit back and be - gee, wonder what's going to happen - they haven't spoken for eight weeks. Oh well, we won't interfere. TESSA, who had the freaking surgery and was intending to compete, is sitting at home going, oh well, I guess I had the surgery for nothing - Scott hasn't called me in forever. Gee, I hope these two months don't hurt our shot at the Olympics next year, it sure would be nice to be doing some off ice prep at this time. (There's tons they did that didn't involve Tessa's legs having to be weight bearing at first - just get the choreo and moves into the body).

      This story is another one that demonstrates skating fans don't know skating, and figure skating likes it that way. Anybody who understood the sport would know that, like a gazillion skaters before them, the Olympics are the Olympics and if Tessa had to hobble to Ilderton with a gun in one hand that "we're not speaking" two month bullshit wouldn't have been allowed to happen, even if they weren't involved.

      Even Milton doesn't know skating, but he's written about it for decades. It doesn't appear to have occurred to him that athletes preparing for the Olympics, who have sunk hundreds of thousands of dollars into that prep, most of their childhood and all of their adulthood to date, and who are candidates for a gold medal, aren't going to passively watch two months of prep go down the toilet because they're having a junior high school level crossed wires/mixed signals/hurt feelings situation. That shit gets blown to smithereens when the Olympics are on the line.

      But skating fans buy it, because they don't know what athletic preparation involves, they don't know the intensity and ferocity behind getting yourselves to the Olympics (let alone contending for gold), and they see figure skaters as fan fic creatures, theatrical creatures, not athletes.

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    11. I sometimes think that the comments demanding the blog show the proof are just redirecting towards the blog what is wanted from Scott and Tessa - to just nut up and admit it already. Only when Scott and Tessa start telling the truth will the fans believe it, which makes their photoshop antics, shamming and other bullshit all the more ridiculous. All that stuff becomes much more telling about their own dysfunction than it says anything about fans. It appears as if they want to do that stuff and seek reasons to do it (whether it's Scott canoodling with a fake girlfriend or pregnant Tessa marching down the red carpet with Ryan Semple). They're not reactive; they're proactive.

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  25. http://www.macleans.ca/news/canada/jian-ghomeshi-how-he-got-away-with-it/

    "Stories circulated at the CBC about his penchant for 'rough sex' but they were mostly dismissed as gossip, says Paul Malcolm, a Q producer for four years. 'I heard rumours of punching for as long as I was on the show, but I didn’t believe it.” “Jian was very private,' says one producer, who noted he seemed to have different tiers of girlfriends. There were high-profile women with whom he was aligned —Ani DiFranco, Sarah Polley, Lisa Ray, Tessa Virtue—as well as far younger women who would accompany him after show tapings in other cities. They were of a type, she says. 'They were very beautiful, very young and pencil thin—they’d look breakable.'”

    That's lovely. Why tell the truth about being married to your skating partner and having a child when it's more interesting and not at all gross to construct a fake narrative that puts yourself (directly or indirectly) into a position where you're mentioned as one of the high profile single women aligned with Jian Ghomeshi. Someday, Virtue and Moir's kid(s) will be so proud, right?

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    Replies
    1. who said tessa consented to being named in this article? it isnt tessa's fault that jian a a giant creep with no scruples. not here for your victim blaming bullshit tbh

      and w network is absolute garbage for heavily editing that scene to make jian look creepy @ tessa's expense

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    2. Nowhere in that comment does it say Tessa Virtue consented to being in that article. The comment said the construction of the fake platonic narrative she and Scott Moir put out to the public has directly or indirectly put Tessa in a position to be mentioned as one of the high profile single women aligned with Ghomeshi. She's NOT single, she's married with a kid. The majority of the Canadian entertainment media knows that. Those few in the media who do not know it run with the official fake narrative Virtue and Moir have formulated. Get it? Virtue and Moir created that narrative and push for it to be sold to the public.

      Learn to read and stop erecting straw men to knock down, it just makes you come across as desperate to paint Tessa as a constant victim, 4:25 PM. Tessa worked to create the narrative the reality show was constructed around - that she and Scott are platonic partners. If Tessa was honest to the public about being married to Scott, the platonic partners narrative would have never been written into a show in the first place. No platonic partners narrative = no attempts by Tessa and the producers to show her as the single girl in which someone like Ghomeshi would be interested in and hit on.

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    3. But are a couple of Q interviews (with Scott present and with no hints of anything between Tessa and Jian) and that short clip from the reality show enough for them to say Tessa was "aligned" with him, or is there something more to it? It makes me wonder what other shit Tessa put out there, if she attended other events with him, etc. So gross.

      It's also interesting to see the layers of bullshit at work here. The sports media definitely knows about Tessa's reality, and perhaps segments of the entertainment media, but the Toronto-based meta-media commenters aren't aware?

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    4. "or indirectly put Tessa in a position to be mentioned as one of the high profile single women aligned with Ghomeshi."
      where in the article does it say that she is single? in fact, none of the women she is mentioned with are single. they are all married with children. being married does not exempt you from sexual harassment. narrative or no, it still doesnt change the fact that tessa had no say in how the show was edited.

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    5. "narrative or no, it still doesnt change the fact that tessa had no say in how the show was edited."

      Wow, that you believe that is telling.

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    6. and fyi im not victimizing tessa, im just pissed at people (especially women) who victim blame. its always "if she hadnt done this it wouldn't have happened" blah blah blah people same the same old shit every damn time. it does not matter if tessa was honest with her relationship with scott. it really doesn't matter. that will not stop sexual harassment.

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    7. Tessa Virtue had the main say in the narrative on which the entire show was built upon. That's the point you seem to keep missing, 5:31 PM. The narrative it was built upon centered on her playing the fake role of a single woman. A show built upon the truth about Tessa - that she's married to her partner and they have a child - does not include a scene where she's asking her friends how to get men interested in her or a scene where Jian Ghomeshi hits on her in front of her husband Scott. The reason Ghomeshi was edited hitting on her was because she was pretending to be single.

      Stop acting like the producers of that reality show screwed Virtue and Moir over with unfair edits, 5:31. That's not what happened. The producers did not unfairly edit Tessa as being a single woman enjoying the company of men at a public event. She planned and okayed that narrative, and the show was edited to facilitate it. No single woman narrative = no creepy Ghomeshi shown being interested in her in the way the scene played out.

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    8. "being married does not exempt you from sexual harassment"

      I'm not sure what the person meant by "being aligned" but I don't think it means sexual harassment.

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    9. You really think Tessa hangs out with this dude? I think she was accosted by him on the show and it wasn't edited to look more creepy. It was creepy. JG knows the truth and still hit on her. I've no doubt even if VM were honest in the public sphere, he would still have hit on her.

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    10. The scene wasn't in front of Scott, Patrick Chan was there. I don't think someone like JG would let marriage get in the way of hitting on an attractive young woman.

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    11. 5:35, I don't understand how it's victim blaming, since there's no evidence Tessa is a victim of anything, or that she was sexually harassed. If she had been using Jian to play up the single angle and he actually DID hurt her, that would be wrong and she wouldn't deserve it. But we have no indication that has happened, just an article that says he aligned himself with her - in fact the reference to "tiers" makes it sound like she was on the upper rung, better known and less susceptible to harassment. It seems like Jian was most likely to go after women who were weaker or trying to break into the industry, which is despicable, and it's all on him.

      What is on Tessa is that she chose to present herself as single on TV, he hit on her, so now her name is associated with him, which is really unfortunate and she bears some of the blame for that.

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    12. "I don't think someone like JG would let marriage get in the way of hitting on an attractive young woman."

      I don't either, but *on camera*? Reality shows are not hidden camera shows that really capture their subjects in a natural environment. The guy was able to carry on as a creep for years while presenting himself as a sensitive feminist type on his show. He's not just going to hit on a married woman on her show and act like he wants her to cheat on her husband. And she would just reply "I'm married." It would not have been interesting to include that. There would no point because there would be no storyline about Tessa the single girl that only gets hit on by skeezes and old guys. The scene doesn't work without her being in on it.

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    13. 5:35 PM, stop erecting straw men to argue against, for fuck's sake. Nobody is victim blaming.

      That comment above says Tessa is mentioned as one of the high profile women connected to Ghomeshi, not that ALL of the women in that paragraph are now single. In the public narrative she sells, Tessa is a single woman or a woman who is "dating." Hence, that's how she's presented in the article.

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    14. 5:31 PM wow i didn't know she also had a job as a film editor! tell me, did she always produce, write and film the show as well? wow this woman has soo many talents. I wonder why they listed Robert Cohen,Jennifer Horvath
      Katie Lafferty, Jeremy Lalonde
      Jeff Pereira as the producers/editors and not tessa then! or maybe it is tessa and thats just her nom de guerre!

      its so amusing how you all whine about how corrupt the canadian media is and conveniently seem to forgot that jian ghomeshi's people made sure his scene was edited to make him look less creepy. considering how much they reused footage and did not care about continuity, w network must've been desperate to keep that footage in. gotta fill the 30 minute timeslot somehow

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    15. "5:31 PM wow i didn't know she also had a job as a film editor! tell me, did she always produce, write and film the show as well? wow this woman has soo many talents. I wonder why they listed Robert Cohen,Jennifer Horvath
      Katie Lafferty, Jeremy Lalonde
      Jeff Pereira as the producers/editors and not tessa then! or maybe it is tessa and thats just her nom de guerre!"

      Nice try. Next time try arguing against something that was actually written instead of something you just made up.

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    16. "its so amusing how you all whine about how corrupt the canadian media is and conveniently seem to forgot that jian ghomeshi's people made sure his scene was edited to make him look less creepy."

      Thanks for this, 5:59, you just inadvertently knocked down your own argument. Too easy.

      Read the article. Ghomeshi is a narcissist who, through the employment of certain people and the use of strong-arm tactics, ensures that his unscrupulous actions are carefully edited or covered up completely. A narcissist like Ghomeshi is not going to go on a show built upon the truth about Virtue and Moir - that they're happily married with a child and working towards another Olympics - and allow himself to be shown hitting on Scott Moir's wife. It's not going to happen.

      Since Virtue and Moir's reality show was not based on the truth, but on a false narrative, and in it Tessa was portrayed as a single girl yukking it up with celebs on the red carpet, Ghomeshi was tagged as one of the people showing interest in her. The narrative was of a single Tessa being tagged as of interest to Ghomeshi BECAUSE she was single, and that's how the scene played out. It facilitated the narrative. It wasn't just some unfair edit created by the producers. It was furthering the storyline forward the storyline that was created and okayed by Virtue and Moir from the beginning.

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    17. "its so amusing how you all whine about how corrupt the canadian media is and conveniently seem to forgot that jian ghomeshi's people made sure his scene was edited to make him look less creepy."

      LULZ. Wait, wait, wait. So Ghomeshi can ensure he's edited a certain way on the show, but Tessa Virtue had NO control at all over the way she was edited? On the show about HER. Sure. That makes perfect sense, 5:59 PM.

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    18. "What is on Tessa is that she chose to present herself as single on TV, he hit on her, so now her name is associated with him, which is really unfortunate and she bears some of the blame for that."

      This pretty much nails it on the head.

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    19. 5:44 PM thats my point. the narrative, her relationship with scott, etc. does not matter.

      its such a shame that there is so many people here in the comment section who have such a limited concept of victim blaming and sexual harassment (bc sexual harassment isn't always physical it could be verbal). if tessa and scott's marriage were out in the open, i bet some of you would still be like "oh if tessa wasn't too forward/friendly maybe he wouldn't have hit on her"

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    20. Yes, the narrative DOES matter. That you think it does not matter, on a show driven by that narrative, that was the very basis for that show existing in the first place, is the real shame. It's also a shame that because you either lack reading comprehension or are too concerned about protecting Tessa Virtue against imaginary attacks, you've decided to create straw men in which you accuse the people in this comments section of victim blaming or not understanding or taking sexual harassment seriously.

      Grow up.

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    21. And what was verbally abusive about the encounter? Didn't he ask her if she wanted to hang out sometime or something?

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    22. "if tessa and scott's marriage were out in the open, i bet some of you would still be like "oh if tessa wasn't too forward/friendly maybe he wouldn't have hit on her"

      I'm going to repeat this again in the off chance that you actually grasp my argument this time instead of trying to knock down an argument you've made up in your head.

      If Virtue and Moir's marriage was out in the open, there would not be a reality show about them being platonic partners. There would not be any scene filmed for a show about the real Virtue and Moir in which Jian Ghomeshi was shown hitting on Tessa Virtue. The scene would not exist. The only reason that scene exists in the first place is because it facilitated a false narrative that Tessa is/was a single woman and that's why she was of interest to Ghomeshi. So yes, Tessa Virtue being associated with Ghomeshi in the way she's being associated in that article is either directly or indirectly tied to her and Scott's creation and publicizing of that false narrative.

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    23. Ghomeshi knows the truth, right? Why didn't he ask her about her Olympic training, ask her about HPC- he's acquainted with her career, why make it personal. No one from the show forced him to say "let's hang out sometime," and implying something outside of a professional engagement. Chan was already there for the show to use as someone for us to ~speculate about. As was another skater shown earlier at HPC. It wasn't need for the show narrative for Ghomeshi to act that way but he still came on to her.

      And isn't it more likely a narcissist like him would hit on an (openly) married woman, even on a tv show. He enjoys making women feel uncomfortable (and worse, of course). If someone called him out, he'd laugh it off as innocent. And at that point, no one HAD called him out for much worse stuff. He knew he could get away with it. But to him, coming on to Tessa was asserting himself. He knew and relies on the fact women have been taught to not be rude, especially in social situations. I find it hard to believe the fucking show narrative contributed to his behavior.

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    24. "I find it hard to believe the fucking show narrative contributed to his behavior."

      The entire show was scripted and edited. No episode was filmed that wasn't storyboarded ahead of time. Even if he had hit on Tessa Virtue in real life and made her genuinely uncomfortable, a scene in which Ghomeshi hit on her and made her uncomfortable or resulted in her calling him out for it would never have aired or been included in the show at all. Ghomeshi would not have allowed it, because he goes to great lengths to ensure he is NOT shown as being a predator or who is turned down by women he makes uncomfortable. That's the entire point of the article. Everybody knew what he's really like, but he was always protected by CBC, the media, the people who worked with him, etc. His image has always been carefully crafted.

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  26. Some SD comparisons....

    P/I vs G/P - Autumn Classic
    http://youtu.be/05Ai3SO2Pbg

    P/I vs P/C - Autumn Classic
    http://youtu.be/oUPBpuQVAyc

    P/I vs C/B - Senior B
    http://youtu.be/K8nwXN9wKMY

    More soon! Not ignoring SA and SC, and haven't forgotten about DF. And here's hoping sense prevails tonight at Cup of China, although at least none of the contenders are offensive.

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  27. P/I are in 5th, four points back from 4th, and even the commentators don't understand why.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_F7gP8yDYo

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