Until the new Cassandra sham elements surface, the blog will mostly stick to DW versus VM til after worlds, but I did want to pause for this post:
I went through the fsu posts from those purporting to see the blog for the first time - and it seemed obvious some were seeing it for the first time and OMG.
The blog is fucking crazy! There's a run on brain bleach, there's people confronted with the limits around which their minds can stretch (not around the topic, but that there exists a person (me, the blogger) so deranged they could make all this up) there's faulty reading comprehension and there's logical fallacies but apart from that it's near unanimous that the blog is, among blogs, a freak. There is, of course, one or two 'there ought to be a law' sorts, but mostly it's get the butterfly net.
And what makes it a freak?
The premise. That Scott and Tessa have been together long since prior to the onset of his sham relationship with Jessica. That they got married in 2009 before the Olympics and yet afterwards, with Tessa pregnant, appeared in different markets touting how very platonic they are. That in every interview they were faking it.
That Scott paraded himself with Jessica and now with Cassandra, that they spoke explicitly to countless media and entertainment outlets that they weren't together and were completely platonic. That Skate Canada was a big participant, that the sainted Ilderton Ontario extols its love and gratitude for Canadian fans out of one side of their mouth while mocking them and ripping them off with the other, and that their practice is to say the exact opposite of whatever is true, and they've got a lot of familiar figure skating faces, family and friends, helping them, while marketing how home grown and unassuming everything is.
And a whole bunch of other stuff that still continues today, and we'll see plenty more of it as it comes to the fore again very soon.
That shit is fucking crazy.
So, in case the blog hasn't said so before - I agree. This shit is fucking batshit crazy. It's certifiable.
Yes it is. Fuck yeah "OMG". "OMFG" in fact.
And it's also true.
That doesn't make it any less crazy but here I am, carrying the label of a nutjob in some quarters all because Scott and Tessa lost their minds with this beyond any mind losing of any celebrity or demi celebrity in the history of celebrity. An epic clusterfuck of imbecility and arrogance.
They're the crazy ones, but they get to front as sane, as victims of a nutty blogger!
Is that fair?
I always thought I had a pretty good grasp of basic law concepts. For example, when starting this blog, I looked over the google blogger TOS very thoroughly, and also checked out a whole bunch of blogs outside the 'pantywaist'* figure skating universe and found plenty of blogs that make this one look circumspect. I understood, as some people around the web do not, that there's no "figure skating" blog category in which figure skaters and their fans must be treated with kid gloves due to tradition and their conservative sensibilities.
But still, some of the legal talk has made me curious. Maybe I'm missing something. Maybe I can file a lawsuit under the blogger name (a la a 'John Doe' action) complaining that the name of oycanada has been defamed because the subjects of oc's blog are lying their asses off, being licentious nutjobs, hoax perpetrators and scam artists, and thus making oc appear to be the crazy one.
There ought to be a law. Isn't there one? Can't I obtain a restraining order stopping Tessa and Scott from shamming because it's damaging the blog's reputation and the blogger's name - that if they must continue, they have to admit they are doing it, reimburse everyone who wants a refund from the book, and acknowledge that the blog's premise isn't crazy, but fact?
After all they reached out to US (to me, as it were. A fan). In the 'who started it' category they lose.
I think it's downright patriotic in both the US and Canada to resist being made a fool of by a bunch of lunatics, to push back against a large scale attempt to set people up, lead them on so as to play them for fools, use them as stooges and manipulate them for personal advantage. The blog began because this was what Scott and Tessa were doing.
It was practically a David and Goliath scenario!
The poor blog's everything from fundamental sanity to eyesight (no way Tessa could have been pregnant!) has been challenged based on only one thing - that anyone who writes what the blog writes and believes it to be true, must need to be committed.
But it is true.
I feel like there must be some sort of motion, order or procedural process that can be legally pursued to compel the subjects of this blog to publicly set down the relevant facts about Scott and Tessa, so the judgment of crazy can at least be made on valid grounds. As it is, the blog is being defamed simply because Scott and Tessa get to maintain their lies.
Maybe I'll pm some of the legal experts that are rife among the figure skating message boards.
_________________
*Downton Abbey era term for pearl-clutching, easily offended wimpiness.
No one in the Virtue Moir families or Skate Canada has made a single legal move against this blog. Hasn't this place been around for a couple years now? You'd think the subjects of the blog would be in court crying foul. Wouldn't you? Gee, I wonder why they haven't demanded it be shut down or why haven't they gotten some of those restraining orders someone on FSU thinks they should get (Seriously?). It couldn't possibly be because anything written here is true. No way. This place is crazy.
ReplyDeleteThey mention stuff on the internet but not the baby rumor. It's not because the blog is so inconsequential to them either, not based on who has been looking at it every day since it started.
DeleteWhen I was looking through the fsu comments, yes, there was a lot of pearl-clutching, mockery and OTT OMG-ing, but it was all based on the idea the blog is making it up. How there's crazy fans with crazy theories but then there's CRAZY and really crazy.
And they're correct. It is that crazy, except it's true.
In her recent interview with another fan/blogger, P.J. Kwong mentioned how protective Scott is of Tessa, how she respects that, how he's always been that way.
I think the crazy that has been perpetuated by Scott and Tessa and everyone around them is nominally swept under the umbrella of "protection" and will be spun that way. However it doesn't really explain the OTT of it all - almost all of it was unnecessary to the creation of the barrier they needed. If it's all about protection then take away 99% of the crap and you still have VM officially platonic, the fans believing them, and the media cooperating. If something is based on mutual protection and respect, it doesn't look like this. You don't have a pregnant woman spending months alongside her husband proactively soliciting questions about their relationship status so she can assert they're platonic and date others, you don't have a married dad of a toddler canoodling with another woman for the camera and instructing the woman to swoon over him as part of the sham's juvenile twitter games.
It's the excess that interests me. I know what reasons are given out to VM's connections to justify the sham (privacy) - but too much of it doesn't fit under the privacy umbrella. Too much is self-indulgent, mean-spirited, obviously driven by the need to give families/friends an occupation and means of participation (the incredible overkill when VM compete in Canada, especially Ontario).
I'm also curious. In order to come up with the sham idea in the first place, there have to have been others. I don't think the Virtues/Moirs/Skate Canada were all "I know - what if - now hear me out, this will sound nuts - what if they pretended not to be together and faked dating other people?" So there's a precedent there but obviously in their excess of zeal the Virtue Moirs & Co. blew the precedent to smithereens and went absolutely nuts with this.
It's crazy, but it's them. Who is the one (or ones) thinking up the most asinine stuff and enjoying it the most? Maybe they should let go of their obsession with yellow sweatshirts and think more about consulting with a few white coats.
oc, not logged in
Did Skate Canada take this blog over? It has noticeably changed in the last month. The writing style is very different and the subject matter is neutralized and saturated.
ReplyDeleteThis blog is not created by the same person anymore.
This blog reeks of disinformation now.
What information is new to the blog that's been dissed?
DeleteThe last month has been focusing on DW verus VM.
There's going to be a different writing style actually deconstructing figure skating than ridiculing Virtue/Moir and their connections for shamming their asses off.
But your opinion aside, the DW/VM discussion on the blog, which I assume is what you think has "changed" is on point, not disinformation at all.
The discussion also relates back to how blinkered VM are when it comes to marketing. They and Skate Canada have let those promoting the USFSA's interests or DW's interests control the narrative. All of the media save the London press is about how Meryl/Charlie are a champion powerhouse coming to London to claim their crown because they're the best in the world, and if they don't win something's fishy.
DeleteTheir advocates have managed to turn reality inside out because reality = Meryl Charlie are overscored. It kind of makes me think of the whole inside out of Sale & Pelletier - how it was all OMG!!!! because North American skating interests were so positive the gold was S&P's. Never mind how suspicious THAT certainty really was. (i.e., "somebody went off script and blew our deal!" Not that I believe it went down that literally, but if you want to spin, it can be spun that way just as easily).
Virtue and Moir came to their Canadian championships, and all they did was lie about the internet, talk imbecilities about the sexuality in Carmen, whine and play hurt, and do some shamming. They also unearthed some of the ridiculous from the post-Olympic spin cycle. They blew the opportunity to lay out why Carmen is the best ice dance program in the world today. The writers they have apparently put on the case to argue that VM are innovative and should be rewarded unfortunately are ridiculous hacks who have no clue WHY Carmen is the best, or what sets a figure skating program apart as better than another, so it's a complete piss in the wind.
I'm sure DW fans who knew about this blog before the topic changed enjoyed salivating over TS' off-ice shortcomings. Suddenly when the topic changes, new voices are popping up trying to discredit the blog. 9:48 seems particularly transparent, because you only think there's disinformation NOW? As in, maybe you were quite happy to believe everything negative when it was about VM?
ReplyDeleteAnwyays, good post OC...I was hoping for a turkey suit reference lol. I know you've said in the past that you started this place for YOU...but you've given a lot of us a voice, all things considered you've done a good thing here.
Thanks 12:58! :)
DeleteI think maybe 9:48 prefers only that V/M be trashed and annoyed that OC can admit that they are superior ice dancers. I can't believe I am saying this, because I don't buy into the premise of this blog, but OC's analysis of the actual skating is very well done and OMG I agree!
ReplyDeleteRe this particular post - if you did sue THEM, and I know you are only kidding, but would you then have to provide some actual evidence of your claims besides just SAYING that they are married, with a child, and big fat liars?
If I did sue them, and let's pretend a law firm said - hey, it's a little unorthodox but there have been more out there lawsuits than this - let's give it a shot and see if the court lets it proceed (the "other side" would naturally file to dismiss)! The law firm would, on my dime, take no time at all to get the documented proof. After that it's no "he said she said" - it's a matter of does the lawsuit see the light of day because the facts are in hand.
DeleteAnd even if this was like - a high school court - and as ridiculous as VM have been, I seriously doubt any of them are willing to go to any legitimate venue - let alone a court of any kind - and claim they're not married. This was a social media/entertainment media scam playing by and exploiting what they believed were the rules of those platforms and, most importantly, exploiting the loopholes in those platforms. These things don't exist in the "real" world and I don't believe any of them have the stomach or the desire to lie in the "real" world.
oc, not logged in
Are the results of lawsuits not publicly accessible?
DeleteWell, the post was facetious but just remember when something is litigated there are a billion steps which is how lawyers get rich and their clients go bankrupt. So the answer is some are and some aren't. Some are public on the web, many more are public for the price of a subscription to a legal database. But if this one hypothetically happened it would be public because the press (not the ET media and groupie pr types) would get hold of it at some point.
DeleteBut that's ahead of the game. First would be me have a $$ consultation with a law firm saying here's the deal.
Believe me, as bizarre as the concept is there are plenty of lawyers that would take it on just for the challenge, for the absurdity of the circumstances, and cause it's different.
But after the consultation ($$$) wherein I laid out my wishes, the lawyer would re$earch the legal basis for the claim I wished to file. After finding it (and there are plenty of lawyers that would find a basis even if there wasn't one because hey - $$$!) - they'd file a claim (I'd, of course, want the claim itself to be public). Maybe issue a press release announcing it. That type of thing. (It would be all over at that point as far as the actual marriage remaining secret, but let's say I'm staunch about proceeding cause I'm all principled like that. It doesn't matter now that the world knows I've told the truth - there has been damage done! I'm not dropping the lawsuit!)
The other side has to respond to the claim. Chances are, their response would be a cross motion to dismiss. They'd ignore the marriage claim part and base the motion to dismiss probably on the grounds that the lawsuit is ridiculous and the blogger does plenty to come off as a nut job on their own even without their contribution.
But in the claim of course I'd want the atty to include as an exhibit the documented proof of the marriage.
oc, not logged in
This 2:50 p.m. again (I am sure you are thrilled lol), but surely you didn't think this premise would be an easy sell? And if your answer is that you are not trying to sell your premise, then why blog this stuff at all? Support group?
ReplyDeleteThe post above was facetious.
Deleteoc, not logged in
Yes, I know it was. There will be no lawsuits. Like you've said before, if Google (I think u said Google)thought they could be sued, they would shut you down. Defamation and libel are extremely difficult to pursue.
DeleteIt's more like if google thought THEY could be sued, or if the blog was some type of nuisance to them. They have a TOS but it's their store - I'm sure they also have the option to shut it down based on "I feel like it". As it is, google asks me to add adsense on the reular.
DeleteThe real reason Moirville can't pursue defamation and libel is they're not being libeled or defamed.
This blog started as a facebook page. I didn't do my research and didn't realize that one can't use a third party's name on a facebook "page" without their consent (a 'page' is a specific type of facebook product). I believe some fans alerted facebook and facebook took down the page. I researched why, went "ah - my bad" and started a facebook "group" that was precisely the same as the page, and there it is today, because I didn't like the format and decided okay, a blog instead.
As the blog is well within terms of service, there's no grounds for Moirville to have it removed. And the reason they can't sue for defamation or libel is the facts asserted by the blog true, and I don't think they want to base a legal action on perjury. Furthermore, let's hypothesize they could somehow silence or convince the gazillion people I could subpoena (including the principals) and they succeeded. They'd have to keep the marriage "secret" for the rest of my life and theirs because if they ever revealed it they'd be a lawsuit waiting to happen.
So they can't even take step one. If there's no technicality available as a basis to get rid of the blog (like page versus group) they have nothing.
oc, not logged in
It's more like if google thought THEY could be sued, or if the blog was some type of nuisance to them. They have a TOS but it's their store - I'm sure they also have the option to shut it down based on "I feel like it". As it is, google asks me to add adsense on the regular.
DeleteThe real reason Moirville can't pursue defamation and libel is they're not being libeled or defamed.
This blog started as a facebook page. I didn't do my research and didn't realize that one can't use a third party's name on a facebook "page" without their consent (a 'page' is a specific type of facebook product). I believe some fans alerted facebook and facebook took down the page. I researched why, went "ah - my bad" and started a facebook "group" that was precisely the same as the page, and it remains as it was when it was begun, because I didn't like the format and decided okay, a blog instead.
As the blog is well within terms of service, there's no grounds for Moirville to have it removed. And the reason they can't sue for defamation or libel is the facts asserted by the blog true, and I don't think they want to base a legal action on perjury. Furthermore, let's hypothesize they could somehow silence or convince the gazillion people I could subpoena (including the principals) and they succeeded. They'd have to keep the marriage "secret" for the rest of my life and theirs because if they ever revealed it they'd be a lawsuit waiting to happen.
So they can't even take step one. If there's no technicality available as a basis to get rid of the blog (like page versus group) they have nothing.
This blog is for me, yes. I've known about Virtue Moir for quite some time and it wasn't until the post Olympics overkill, and when Scott/Tessa claimed the reason they were skipping the GP was purely shins, and when the Jessica sham amped up as big and as meanspirited as ever, that I understood that a lot of what VM had been claiming as the reason for the sham actually was not the reason for the sham and didn't justify their tactics. I figured what the hell, start a public chronicle on the web. Just keep tallying all the shit. They bought into the idea that the figure skating world was occupied by groupies (who love knowing stuff others don't, and includes the "figure skating media") and idiots - i.e., fans.
There's no law out there that someone who is supposed to act according to stereotype (i.e., a fan) has to conform to that stereotype and not acknowledge that they know they're being scammed.
As it happens, the various message boards, with the requirement for screen names and registration, quickly become hotbeds of fan politics where everybody forms factions, can't break from their 'side', and a whole lot of people don't want to rock the boat because they don't want to be ostracized or create an "addicted" situation. Via the anonymous comments on the blog, there were a number of people who started to participate, and I keep in mind that this isn't a wasteland when I create posts. But if it wasn't getting views, it would still be here, tallying up what I find relevant to the blog's premise.
oc not logged in
"and when the Jessica sham amped up as big and as meanspirited as ever, that I understood that a lot of what VM had been claiming as the reason for the sham actually was not the reason for the sham and didn't justify their tactics."
ReplyDeleteI gotta admit, in view of how meanspirited and gross the shamming was with Jessica, I'm dreading what they have planned for these Worlds. To all appearances, they must think the reasons that justified their actions are still legitimate - whatever those are. It's been mentioned we hope for some respect from VM. I'm not holding my breath.
"I think it's downright patriotic in both the US and Canada to resist being made a fool of by a bunch of lunatics, to push back against a large scale attempt to set people up, lead them on so as to play them for fools, use them as stooges and manipulate them for personal advantage. The blog began because this was what Scott and Tessa were doing."
ReplyDeleteThank you for tallying up what they're doing. It's been most insightful.
There was another motive for the blog besides just chronicle their shit - they looked like idiots while treating us like idiots and it was begging to be called out.
ReplyDeleteYou know how when people are making complete fools of themselves but don't recognize that their ass is hanging out? They think they're putting it over?
That's another reason. To make fun. Yes, I know THEY know a lot of what they do is purely idiotic. BUT they rationalize it needs to be this stupid in order to reach the people they're scamming - the public. So their rationale is - THEY'RE not stupid - it's us. So dumb it down, set the bar so low it's not just on the ground, but dig a little trench for the bar so it can hang out with the worms (no offense to worms).
And of course a lot of malicious cackling and self-amusement on the part of Moirville creeps into the whole thing, because what's more hilarious than making a bunch of strangers look and feel foolish? What's more hilarious than confirming that a bunch of strangers are every bit as stupid as you figured they were?
I guess the only thing more hilarious is convincing these same cretins that Ilderton is holier than Lourdes and they should dig in and shell out $20.00 a piece for some yellow sweatshirts.
The last great public facebook sham spam was begging for it. For fuck's sake it was asinine. Add in that Tessa was pregnant and the gifts that year were remnants from their toileted Roots deal - nobody even sprung for a Tiffanys key. So part of the blog (and the snark that proceeded it) was "yeah guys - you're actually being enabled here. A lot of people know this is a scam - it's not that you're clever and they're stupid. People are doing you a favor pretending to buy it, because you're not pulling this off."
I thought it would be a good idea to have ONE place on the web that said it.