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twokinkybeans · 4 years

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Stark On Ice Chapter 5: Glitter and Gold (Starker Figure Skating AU)

Read here on AO3!

Chapter 5: Glitter and Gold

Peter groans at the sound of his alarm. The loud, blaring tune is pulling him back into consciousness after a good night’s rest. He grabs his phone to turn the alarm off and ponders sneaking in an extra five minutes just because he’s so comfortable within these soft, thick sheets. However, the amount of notifications has him frowning. He only needs a few seconds of skimming through them to feel the blood drain from his face.

No.

No, no, no!

There are too many missed calls. Too many texts about him and Tony, and when he opens one of them, his heart sinks. Tony and he have been caught kissing. Peter sinks into the sheets a little more to trick his nerves into settling down. Obviously, they don’t. His fingers dial MJ’s number almost automatically. He knows he should call Tony too, but MJ is honest and objective, and she always knows what to do. She’ll tell him how bad the situation is. “Peter Benjamin Parker, what the fuck have you-”

Bad. The situation is bad.

And right at that moment, Peter can see his career crumbling before his very own eyes. Everything he’s worked for. Everything his parents worked for. The legacy they left behind for him. None of that matters anymore. He’s done. “MJ,” he chokes out, tears threatening to blur his vision. His voice is small. It’s a wonder MJ even caught her name falling from his lips. She quickly catches on to Peter’s clear panicked state and quips a quick ‘stay right where you are; I’m coming over’ before she ends the call. Peter stares at his lock screen. He ignores the notifications that are still flowing in- wave after wave after wave.

Tony. He has to call Tony.

Not much later, they’re all squeezed around Peter’s small dining table. MJ, Steve, Tony, and of course, Happy too. Though the latter has pulled his seat a little further back- clearly not wanting to be involved in the drama. Peter doesn’t blame him. Working for Tony Stark must be tiring. “I warned you, I-” “Steve, we didn’t do this on purpose!” “Still!” “My security system didn’t alarm me. I figured we were safe.” “Safe,” MJ deadpans “-god. Y’all gotta stop blaming each other. We know neither of you did this on purpose, so all we gotta do now is figure out a solution.” Peter sends her a grateful smile before turning to Tony.

“Have you dealt with something like this before? Do you know how to shut it down?” Tony nods slowly. Not a good sign. Tony can be stubborn. Frustrated. But he never displays a sign of powerlessness as he does now. “Media is too fast. Trying to stop the fire is a lost cause. We either confirm or deny.”

They’re quiet for a moment. Peter isn’t sure what to say next. Lying… He hates lying. Doesn’t think it’ll help solve issues in the long run. Lying will probably only make it worse. But if they admit the truth… He doesn’t even want to think about the possible consequences. Steve groans and leans forward on his elbows resting on the table. “I talked to the PR-team quickly. They recommended to try and keep this quiet until at least the end of the season. Three more weeks.” Tony shakes his head at that. “People aren’t going to wait that long. Celebrity Spin-Off is too commercial. People are too invested. They won’t let it slide, trust me. We ain't straight enough.” Peter lets the words sink in. He wonders if there’s an easy way out of this at all. Probably not. If there is, they would’ve known. “What if we…” he starts. Steve and Tony raise their heads at him. MJ only grins. “Keep going.” “Well, an official statement is way too heavy. I mean, of course, we’re two men, but we’re adults, and nothing about this kiss is illegal. If we make it too heavy for ourselves, people will think of it as a scandal too.” “So you’re saying to ignore it? I told you that won’t-”

“No, Tony, hear me out.” Peter takes another breath. “We don’t say shit. We skate our routine. By the end, we kiss each other. Confirming what the public already knows anyway.”

MJ nods approvingly and wants to give him a high five, but Steve shakes his head. “You could eliminate yourselves like that if people don’t vote-” This time, it’s Tony who speaks up. “Y’know what, I agree with Peter. They already know what’s going on anyways. Heck, I got myself tangled up in this show by accident because I didn’t want to play along with the “everyone in the skating world is straight”-norm. I’d rather get eliminated over a kiss than rumors, and eh, it’s just a show anyway. I don’t mind if we don’t win.” Steve throws his arms up. “Alright, alright, you’re right. It’s not our TV show. Skating is what we do best. If this is what you want, I’ll play along with you.” Peter glows up. He has worked with both Steve and MJ from the very start of his actual skating career at the Midtown Ice Arena, and the fact that they both support him means the world.

“Hey Peter, shouldn’t you be at-” Ned’s mouth drops when he sees Tony Stark. The boy is standing in the doorway, still wearing his PJ’s, his laptop clutched to his chest. “H-Hi?”

Peter and Tony skate towards the middle of the rink. It’s time for their second choreo of the night. The music hasn’t started yet, so it’s simple, easy forward strokes until they come to a halt. Peter can tell Tony finally masters his skates outside their choreos too. The subtle movements are smooth and steady. Peter is proud of him. Of his hard work and dedication toward something he’d never done before.

I am flesh and I am bone Rise up, ting ting, like glitter and gold

Peter grins, their tight outfits shining in the spotlights. Blinding Lights. Peter huffs quietly, not showing it but having fun about his little inward joke. They’d performed the altered version of that choreo for that earlier this night. His arm aches a little now, but it’s doable. He’s skated with worse pains before. Like that time he broke his little toe. Or the time- No. Focus.

Peter jumps swiftly into Tony’s arms for the stationary lift- careful to keep his blades away from Tony’s body. Tony catches him easily and supports his back with the warm, big, broad hands. Peter loves being held like this. It's almost bridal style, the way they're holding one another. God, Tony is so handsome from up close. The stubble on his cheeks. Little marks and spots are covering the skin and showing the man's many years of experience here on earth.

I've got fire in my soul Rise up, ting ting, like glitter

On the first ‘ting’, Peter throws his head back and lifts his right leg up straight. The next, he comes back in bridal style and easily slides down until his knees rest on Tony’s upper legs. From there, the music picks up, and Peter rolls his shoulders down sensually while Tony bends his knees further. Their foreheads press together, and Peter licks his lips as he resists the urge to kiss the man already. Peter then lowers his skates back onto the ice and lets go of Tony when he feels the grip. Lowering his body, coming back up with a sexy body roll. The audience whistles. Peter grins and reaches his arm out to grab Tony’s hand, wincing slightly at the sharp pain shooting through his deltoid. Fuck. He keeps smiling though and refocuses on the next part of the sequence. Twizzles. Then, skating their short eight-figure before both lifting a leg to slide forward in a paired spiral.

Do you ponder the manner of things In the dark The dark, the dark, the dark

Forward strokes. Peter quickly glances at Tony before he changes his hand position. The man looks so happy. So proud of himself. Peter smiles and nods at Tony as a sign he’s ready for the loop lift. It’s a challenging lift for Peter as he always has to keep himself from jumping too high- it’s not a loop jump. So instead, he pushes himself off the ice just enough for Tony to lift him, spin the both of them around and then put him back down.

I am flesh and I am bone Arise, ting ting, like glitter and gold

Here comes the most challenging part. Peter grits his teeth together. He’s done the death spiral so often he isn’t scared of it. Tony is a bit, though.

I've got fire in my soul Rise up, ting ting, like glitter

Peter tries to give Tony the most encouraging smile he can muster up as they shift their hand positions. They start circling and spinning, and once they’ve got momentum, Peter takes a leap of faith and lowers himself into the death spiral.

'Cause everybody's in the backroom's Spinning up Don't know what you're asking for

Tony grips him tightly- the two-handed version still – and Peter feels so fucking free as the man spins him around and around. They’re going a tad too slow, so Peter squeezes Tony’s hand as a sign to pull him back up. Thank god the man catches on. To drag out time now that they're up early, Peter wraps his arms around Tony’s neck gently- both their bodies still spinning on the spot.

And everybody's in the front room's Tripping out You left your bottle at the door

They come to a halt, their chests falling and rising rapidly due to the exercise. Simultaneously, the song has the breathy part- thanks to Steve for the little detail. From there, they both know there’s only one bit left before the song comes to an end. “You got this,” Peter whispers quickly before they break away from one another. The turn, facing the same end of the rink as they start running. Actual running, on the ice. They go faster and faster until halfway through, they both drop onto one knee and lean into a deep backbend as they slide forward. The audience goes wild. Steve knows how much Peter loves Johnny Weir, a famous Olympic figure skater, for his unconventional costumes and choreos. When Steve told Peter they were going to use his signature move, Peter had been thrilled. They hadn’t been so sure about Tony being able to pull it off, but the man was way more flexible than he seemed, and here they are. Peter feels ecstatic.

Like glitter and gold Like glitter Like glitter and gold Like glitter

They slow down. Leaning back up. They moved into some sort of V-shape, closer and closer to the other, so now that their knees are almost touching, they pull each other in closer until Tony is fully kneeling and has Peter splayed out in his lap. The song ends. The audience almost starts to cheer, but not before Tony leans in and passionately crashes their lips together. Tony’s lips are salty from the exercise, yet so soft and firm and already contain a strange hint of familiarity. Peter moans slightly, deepening the kiss now that they still can. He’s reeling with the loud applause and cheers and confused noises coming from the crowd around them. He knows they made the right decision.

After a few seconds, he reluctantly pulls back. Turning around proudly and sticking his still good arm in the air. He doesn’t make eye contact with anyone. Not with the people seated in the first row, not with Beck, who made his way on the ice for the standard post-choreo interview. Peter simply stands there.

This is me. He thinks. Mom and dad, this one's for you. I’m taking back control of the ice.

Masterpost Next Chapter (to be uploaded)

#starker #stark on ice #tony stark #starker fanfic #soi #adult peter parker #peter parker #tony x peter #peter x tony #peter parker x tony stark #tony stark x peter parker #marvel #mcu #fandom #fan fiction #fanfic #fan fic #fanfiction #ironspider

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ganymedesclock · 4 years

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Ghirahim and gendered expectations of sensuality

So, as people who’ve seen my previous Zelda posts might gather, I have a mixed relationship with Skyward Sword. On the one hand, I think many of its characters have tremendous potential. On the other, I feel like the game largely did not live up to that potential, and in some areas, it feels rather deliberate. But suffice to say, elements of Skyward Sword have meant that certain characters- Batreaux, Groose, Fi, and Ghirahim are not far from my mind.

A brief primer, for those who might be unfamiliar: Ghirahim is the main antagonist of Skyward Sword, and a bit of an aberration in the common Zelda formula, which tends to introduce a ‘decoy’ or “lieutenant” antagonist who dominates for most of the game and then bows out towards the end as the prelude to the true final boss- usually Ganondorf, in Skyward Sword’s case, it’s the demon god and a figure we are clearly supposed to scan as Ganondorf’s divine progenitor, Demise.

Ghirahim is quite openly a harbinger of, and servant to, Demise- where he breaks script is by being extremely proactive. We run into Ghirahim in most dungeons in the game, where he is not waiting idly for us, but doing actions that veteran Zelda players might recognize as comparable to Link’s: he breaks into dungeons either chasing Zelda, or chasing information that will allow him to proceed. We also have not one but three different fights with him, personally, and several other times he concedes that he doesn’t have time to play with Link and instead sics a boss monster on him.

The other thing about Ghirahim is, I will outright say it: He is written as a caricature of a predatory queer man.

He’s shown to be literally bloodthirsty, and presented by the narrative ostensibly as someone who has a sinister, perverse interest in both Link and Zelda, a contrast to their saintly, chaste union (which is supposed to read as a union; pursue a romantic sideplot with Peatrice, another girl in the game, and Fi will pretty much openly admonish you for cheating on Zelda, saying that Zelda wouldn’t be happy to know Link’s seeing someone and that Link should know that)

This is, really, a bit jarring, when Ghirahim’s actual dialogue suggests that he has very little interest in Link and views him much like a butler tending the master’s house while the latter is away might view a feral golden retriever that’s running loose in the place and getting mud on everything. His emotional range runs from warmly patronizing to exasperated to a truly dangerous degree (since, in this metaphor, the butler has also been tending the master’s house in near-total isolation for something like several centuries not having real conversations with the other servants and nobody’s at their psychological best in those situations even if they weren’t implicitly born and raised to murder).

Basically: that Ghirahim has no real interest in Link- not his body or appearance or anything. In his own dialogue, he seems confused by the idea that he’s at all interested, is apologetic that he’s wasting his time or dawdling and in his final scene, offers a genuinely flummoxed “you... who are you?” He offers colorful, violent threats, but when Link obstinately faces him again, he’s shown to be almost embarrassed and disgusted by them, and tries something else that almost no Zelda antagonist does: on multiple occasions, he tells Link to just walk away from the situation with what appears to be every intent of letting him go.

Ghirahim does not want Link for himself. He seems to, begrudgingly, against his own intentions, value Link as someone to fight against, but this connection does not actualize within the story- they are not really rivals. He isn’t even that deeply fond of the idea of Link’s blood, though he’s a proponent of blood as a vague concept.

Now, I like Ghirahim. I don’t think that even the read of Ghirahim as a queer man is a terrible one. But it definitely is interesting the lens in which Ghirahim’s implicit sensuality is cast. Basically, he is depicted as creeping on Link, without any real sense that he wants Link. Because it isn’t about what he wants- it’s about that implicitly he has a sexuality, and the idea of a man who might be attracted to other men is threatening, evil, and scary. Ghirahim wasn’t made queer-coded for representation’s sake. He was queer-coded to suggest he was depraved and motivated by a sinister lust. And the cruelty of this depiction is I think made immediately clear by- Ghirahim’s actual interests, passion, or preferences do not factor in here. That Scene Where Ghirahim Does The Tongue Thing is about how it is expected to make the player feel, and how implicitly Link feels.

What is Ghirahim’s type? Does he consider Demise beautiful? He makes it pretty clear he considers Link a brat. These are questions that aren’t asked, because it’s wrong that Ghirahim seems to have any sexuality at all- and, since Link is our lens and our guidepost for how we’re supposed to feel about characters, if Ghirahim behaves in a sensual manner it happens to Link, and to Zelda, invasively. Even though it is shown he feels no desire for any of these people, so that sensuality basically comes across like the game is firmly expecting us to find the idea of even an e-rated sensual male antagonist repulsive.

This led me down a very odd sort of rabbit trail.

Because Ghirahim- a bit indirectly- is inspired off a figure skater.

Specifically, Fi’s design was stated to evoke a figure skater, and we even see her ‘skating’ in several of the cutscenes. Ghirahim’s design matches Fi’s quite strongly; they were designed to be two of a kind.

I am not, myself, a figure skating buff, but a while ago, I happened across youtube videos of a skater named Johnny Weir.

Quickly, you can see the sword spirits’ inspirations; the close-fitting leotards, the lithe, acrobatic capabilities.

But here’s the thing about Johnny Weir: this is a guy putting on a sensual performance that is not a gross-out, a joke, or a threat. It’s basically impossible to find nothing suggestive in his choice of backup movement or the movements he makes running his hands along his body- his costume even asserts these more with the mirrored details on his gloves. This is a dude, acting in a way you could say is objectively sensual even if it may or may not stir every viewer given the individual nature of preference.

But there’s a world of difference to Weir’s performance. Not just that this is a voluntary choice made by a real person, while Ghirahim’s choices, even if they have in-game logic, are largely about Link and about the player- but Johnny Weir is having fun. He has a charming energy to him and is performing to a song he loves.

Watching Johnny Weir, it occurred to me, that regardless of Weir’s own orientation- that I do not know and will not speculate on- there’s a preconception around “being sexy”. Women are seen as supposed to be sexy (but, in many circles, not too sexy. Can’t insinuate they know what they’re doing, or have opinions and tastes...), or, more, “sexy is seen as a job that women do for men specifically.”

So, to homophobic audiences... a man deliberately enacting a sensual performance- a sense of what sensual looks like from a dude- is seen as weird, wild, and out there. If you’re not shocked by the implications that Ghirahim may be attracted to men, may be into Link, may be into the idea of torturing Link- then a certain amount of his writing kind of falls apart.

And comparing the way Ghirahim is animated and shot to Johnny Weir’s performance, it’s kind of... weak? Like, at one point in Weir’s routine, he lifts one leg and slides his fingertips down it in a smooth stroke from knee to thigh. It’s a steamy looking move, and this coming from someone who is so prodigiously ace I thought sexual attraction was made up for the first seventeen years of my life.

Ghirahim does not do that. He’s got thigh cutouts in his very close-fitting outfit, and has lines in his second fight about his body and how beautiful it is, but he does not make these movements that deliberately catch and draw the eye along the planes of him.

To me, I feel like besides this being a general affront against real queer people- the Zelda games have a concerning habit of depicting “eccentric, effeminate” men as either neutral characters or open villains and virtually always with this air of being the brunt of a joke (it’s very hard to imagine ALBW’s Yuga was designed by someone who earnestly loved this character)- it is also a bit rude to the character of Ghirahim himself.

Because Ghirahim, at the end of the day, is someone who ends the story heartbroken literally and figuratively. The entire game, he is driven by loyalty to Demise. He does not care who he hurts or threatens- and this comes back to the seeming implication that he is somewhat bloodthirsty, but vastly plays up his appetite for torture. When he thinks his goal is out of reach, he continues slogging away at it anyway, but listlessly. Everything he does, is for Demise. He is devoted enough to, late in the game, throw himself on Link’s sword for the third boss fight purely to stall for time until Demise revives.

Demise does not speak to Ghirahim, or acknowledge him, or even seemingly notice or care that by the time he comes back, Ghirahim’s metal heart has been torn open by being repeatedly stabbed by Link. (third boss fight is not kind.) Instead, he rips Ghirahim’s sword form out of his chest.

Ghirahim is a danger to Link, Impa, and Zelda, because he attacks them, and his own subordinates, because he threatens them. But to his master, he’s just a disposable pawn. This is a character driven by passion such that many of his poses and scenes show him nearly breaking into an actor’s soliloquy as he explains something to Link- and this is one way he does seem to like having Link around: he craves an audience.

And his passion is, in two ways, depicted as completely futile. First, in the dubious amount of oo scary gay man, watch out Link, he’s doing something weird with his tongue- and second and far more seriously, that everything he works for leaves him with nothing because his life never mattered for a second in the eyes of the person he lives and dies for.

Ghirahim is made a sensual character, but in a manner that feels bad faith- that feels like it has not thought about male sensuality in any direction besides “that’s wrong and icky, so we’ll attach it to our villain, who we want to be wrong and icky, and absolutely not suggest there’s anything particularly sad about what happens to him. His fault for being wrong and icky.”

#Legend of Zelda #Ghirahim #homophobia discussion #readmore

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iceskateandwrite-blog · 7 years

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Shout out to the arch in Yuri Plisetsky’s back, (and also Johnny Weir’s) because this is what it looks like when I, an actual human, skate it.

#yuri on ice #yuri plisetsky #johnny weir #yoi #knee slide #dat arch tho #rehearsal #ice show prep #switching the slide out for one i can do better

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louvette · 7 years

Video

youtube

FINALLY we will get to see Yurio's performance YAAAAAASSSS!!!! This song "Welcome to the Madness" was part of the YOI soundtrack and I read that it was supposed to be Yurio's exhibition song but we never got to see it. Until now that is. KYAAAH IM SO EXCITED!

For reference this is the whole song which is just perfect for our angry little Yurio.

(tagging @jiruchan just coz)

#yuri on ice #yuri plisetsky #and that sliding on the ice reminds me of Johnny Weir

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jafreitag · 3 years

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Grateful Dead Monthly: Capitol Theater – Port Chester, NY 2/18/71

Fifty years ago, on Thursday, February 18, 1971, the Grateful Dead played a concert at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York.

The Capitol Theater was designed by noted architect Thomas W. Lamb. It opened in 1926 as a vaudeville venue and movie palace with a capacity around 2,000. The Cap remained a cinema until 1970, when renovations transformed it into a performance space. Port Chester is thirty-five (or so) miles north and east of NYC, very close to Connecticut, so it was a nice in-betweeen stop for rock acts, including Pink Floyd, Janis Joplin, Traffic, Parliament-Funkadelic, and, obviously, the Good Ol’ Grateful Dead.

The Dead first visited the Cap for a two-night run of A/B sets in March 1970. They returned for a six-night run in February 1971.

In its post about 2/18, the Grateful Dead of the Day blog provided an overview:

These six shows at the Capitol Theater mark a transitional point for the band, which the new tunes partly evidence. The Dead had just come off their most commercially successful year to date with both Workingman’s Dead and American Beauty selling well the previous year, bringing new fans and embodying a new sound. But the boys never stood still musically, and they went into 1971 looking to continue to evolve. Pig was also becoming less and less of a presence in the mix as he played the organ and sang more infrequently. Pig’s reduced role pushed the Dead even further away from the psychedelic sound and deep blues that had been the very core of their sixties sound.

(There’s also some stuff online about the six shows being an LSD ESP experiment. Super heady, and I couldn’t be bothered to investigate much because neither acronym is in my personal bailiwick. If you’re into either/both, check out this website.)

2/18 was drummer Mickey Hart’s last show with the band until 10/20/74. Dennis McNally, GD publicist and author of A Long Strange Trip, writes that Mickey was distraught that his father Lenny, the band’s money manager, had embezzled $150,000, and had to be hypnotized before the show. He returned to California afterwards, and Bill Kreutzmann was the sole rhythm devil for more than three years.

2/18 is famous for debuts – Bertha, Loser, Greatest Story Ever Told, Johnny B. Goode, Wharf Rat, and Playing in the Band. The best song, however, isn’t any of those; it’s not even a song, but rather a noodly section toward the end of the first set’s Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star sandwich. The Beautiful Jam remains one of the Dead’s most enduring moments, so much so that it was included in the massive five-disc, career-spanning box set So Many Roads. Here’s how the Capitol Theater’s website describes the jam:

The biggest highlight of the night is the “Beautiful Jam” that took place during Dark Star > Wharf Rat > Dark Star. Not only did it set the mood for the night, it set the mood for the year. It encompasses everything that the Grateful Dead was during 1971. From the blissful confidence to the intriguing mysticism, this segment is a definitive moment in Grateful Dead history. When radio personality David Gans played the jam for Phil Lesh in 1997, it brought tears to his eyes. To this day, it is revered by Deadheads across the world – a moment in time that is etched in Capitol Theatre history forever.

YouTube has audio of Phil’s reaction.

And the Grateful Dead Guide blog has a piece about ’71 Dark Stars that breaks down the entire segment in painstaking detail:

The first Dark Star of ’71 is one of the most unusual – for starters, it’s the only Star with Mickey Hart, and the last time we’ll hear him playing that guiro (or ‘scratcher’) in the intro jam. Not only that, but there’s another instrument tinkling like little bells throughout, giving this Star a very distinctive atmosphere. I used to think this was Mickey Hart on glockenspiel (something we’d heard in the 11/8/70 Star) – but it turns out it’s actually Ned Lagin on clavichord! His first show with them had been the Boston 11/21/70 show (where he can’t be heard); now that they were in the area again, he found himself onstage again. (As Lagin said, “I brought my clavichord down precisely to do acoustic music with Jerry. And I sat in the first night…. I did not sit in after the first night because everyone was adjusting to Mickey’s departure from the band… Jerry and I jammed during the days, clavichord and acoustic guitar.” You can also hear him occasionally later in the set, as in Candyman.)

Dark Star comes early, in the first set – the crowd screams when they recognize it. Garcia loses no time after the intro in taking the music to a more ‘mystical’ level with a few carefully chosen high notes. The feeling is calm, meditative – but the jam flows like a liquid surge into a brief burst of ecstasy after just a couple minutes, provoking more screams from the audience. Garcia quickly calms it down for the verse, which he sings very emphatically. (Then Weir completely blows his usual post-verse notes!) Rather than going straight to a space, the band tests the waters for a bit, Garcia trying a couple different approaches as the others drop out. This is where Lagin enters the jam, with some ringing chimes. Garcia finds a high note he likes and stays there (with one delightful peal of feedback). The music slides into a luscious harmonic space (Weir echoing Lagin’s chimes), but Garcia quickly bursts into the Wharf Rat chords, and the others follow – the crowd realizes they’re in another song now, and cheers. This is certainly one of the most dramatic Wharf Rat entrances.

The sad tale of August West unfolds for the first time. Garcia’s singing is strong, and though Wharf Rat has a few rough edges in its first outing, there’s so much conviction in the song, it’s still spine-chilling. (It’s also uncharacteristic for a Dead song, in that Garcia just strums the chords throughout, while Weir plays the melodic part.) The little solo at the end morphs before our ears into a Dark Star space, and with a little twist of the riff Garcia brings us back to the Dark Star theme. The music speeds up, and they start a new melodic jam around two alternating chords. (Many people say this is a Tighten Up jam due to the chord resemblance – but it’s not.) Garcia uses a breathtakingly piercing tone; and his playing is especially ethereal with some swoops of harmonized feedback. But Weir and Lesh also play perfectly in support, the music guiding them, all playing with one voice. The jam goes through several variations, pausing and resuming – once Garcia has had enough, he heads straight to the second Dark Star verse while the audience whistles. As the outro slowly unwinds, everyone wonders what will come next – of all things, Weir starts Me & My Uncle. After this, the band decides it’s time for a break – Weir announces, “We’re going to take a break, and you can watch our dust.”

GD of the Day isn’t too complimentary of Bobby’s vocals in Playing, and calls that song the “lowlight of the evening.” It’s not that bad, tbh. There’s a nice quip, too, in the intro to Greatest Story. Bobby says that “Mickey wants to call this one ‘The Pump Man,’ for reasons of his own.” I had that on a tape recorded from Gans’ Grateful Dead Hour back in college. Always fun to revisit. And the Saint Stephen > NFA > GDTRFB > NFA segment has some satisfying schlap.

ECM did lotsa legwork for this post, including photos of the Taper’s Compendium pages about this show.

(Thanks, buddy. As always, couldn’t and wouldn’t do this without you.)

So, listeners, you have a couple of options. 2/18/71 is now an official release – it’s the live part of the American Beauty 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition.

Here’s a Spotify widget to just the show.

According to LMA poster ghostofpig, 2/18/71 is the first “Betty Board” – i.e., the first soundboard recording by legendary engineer Betty Cantor-Jackson. Transport to the Charlie Miller remaster HERE.

2/19/71 is also an official release – Three from the Vault.

That one’s not on Spotify. Idk why. It’s not as good, but you can find it, and rest of the run, on the LMA. You lazy hippies will have to figure out how to get there

More soon.

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#IFTTT #WordPress

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three--rings · 6 years

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Olympic Gala Liveblog

Yeah, umm, still figure skating. I’m watching on delay again.

-First of all WHY IS THERE SCOTT HAMILTON IN MY PRIMETIME COMMENTARY??? Where are Tara and Johnny? Boo.

-Oh, good, Hallelujah again. Cause I wasn’t sick of it after the first 5-6 times I heard it this week.

-Umm, I’m not like an RPF shipper but umm Virtue and Moir...like, y’all aren’t doing a great job of coming off as NOT a couple there.

-Hey, if you thought it was unrealistic for Yurio to do a sexy exhibition program in revealing clothes at age 16, here’s 15 year old Alina being all kinds of inappropriate. Russians, man.

-I’m just finding out Adam Rippon was snubbed for the gala. This upsets me, despite the fact that I realize I’m biased. But the medalists are doing such safe programs for the most part they need some show-stoppers.

-Wait what the fuck, NBC...they’ve shown like...none of the skaters. Is Yuzu going out of order or did they totally skip the rest of the field?

Ok now I’m pissed. We don’t get to see Evgenia, Javier, Shoma or like, 95% of the people skating???

I hate everyone. Especially NBC. I’m so glad we got to see all that bobsled.

Wait here’s Evgenia...this is all completely out of the scheduled order. YES, Evgenia with the Weir slide. I just...I want to be her friend. She seems like such a cool person.

Seriously this is such a weird order. At least now we get Beyonce ice dance. Her costume is a hot mess, though.

And now the finale. Sigh. Look at all these skaters you didn’t get to watch...I want to see what Jin did with that spider costume. And who is that in the mesh shirt?? See, I want to see this crap.

#figure skating #olympics

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movietvtechgeeks · 6 years

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/2018-winter-olympics-nbc-stumbles-huge-investment/

2018 Winter Olympics: NBC stumbles with its huge investment

NBC paid a total of $4.38 billion in 2011 for rights to the next four Olympics which at the time seemed like a smart investment. Three years later they extended for another six Olympics for $7.7 billion, but after the 2018 Winter Olympics lackluster showing, they may have some red ink to clean up on their books. For years, the conventional wisdom in TV had been that even as younger viewers turned away from TV, live sports were invulnerable -- after all, the thinking went, people wanted to watch live sports, well, live. In 2012, viewership of the London Games was up even though many viewers had already seen the results on social media. An average of 31.1 million people tuned in to watch the Games when they aired during prime time on a tape delay. But in the past two years, even sports have fallen victim to the same trends plaguing the broader industry. First the NFL's ratings fell. Now we've seen that same drop hit consecutive Summer and Winter Games. Viewership for the current Olympics on NBC is down 24% compared to Sochi among viewers aged 18-49, the age demographic most coveted by advertisers. (NBC notes that the demo is actually down only 15% when including viewers from both NBC and NBC Sports Network, which is airing prime time coverage of the Winter Games for the first time.) But even the Opening Ceremony, which is typically a major draw, was down 8.6% from four years ago. Counting up the medals, Pyeongchang was a lackluster Olympics for the U.S. team, and the post-mortems will soon begin about what went right and wrong. It’s worth taking the same look at NBC’s performance because the network is locked into showing the Olympics every two years through 2032. NBC tried some new things, and new people, to supplement a blueprint it has followed for several years. THE BOTTOM LINE The network started strong in the ratings and has faded in the homestretch in part, executives believe, because more people became absorbed in the news following the Florida school shooting. The company will turn a profit and said it will hit the ratings guarantees it promised to advertisers, an important financial barometer. Through Thursday, NBC had averaged 20.6 million viewers in prime time for the network, the NBCSN cable network and streaming services. That’s down 8 percent from the Sochi Olympics in 2014, when the broadcast network was the only prime-time option (viewership on NBC alone is down 18 percent). Young viewers are slipping away faster, and a Seton Hall University poll found people aged 18-to-29 were nearly as likely to stream the Olympics on their devices as watch on TV. No one likes to see ratings go down. But because of how streaming services have changed viewing behavior since 2014, programs with a bigger audience than four years ago are rare. For two weeks, NBC routinely had more viewers than ABC, CBS and Fox combined. “We were a little bit surprised that it started out as strong as it did,” said Mark Lazarus, chairman of the NBC Sports Group. “It will end up about where we thought it would.” TIRICO TIME NBC’s replacement of Bob Costas with Mike Tirico as prime-time Olympics host has by most accounts gone smoothly. “He’s done a terrific job,” Lazarus said. “He is a warm and welcoming host. He is facile with the facts, he is entertaining and he is compatible with our announcers in the venues and the people who come to the (headquarters) to do interviews.” Tirico has shown no growing pains, and anytime a high-profile person avoids a headline-making gaffe is a plus. He’s still somewhat of a mystery to viewers, since he had few opportunities to do interviews or commentary. Part of that was the preponderance of live events in prime time that made Tirico essentially a television traffic cop. The same busy schedule left less time for the profiles that tend to drive sports purists nuts. That also means less time to get to know the host country than in past Olympics. Anything that minimizes the presence of storytellers Mary Carillo and Jimmy Roberts is a minus. NBC also showed little taste for stories that went beyond medals or Olympic records. The sexual misconduct allegations against Shaun White, Shani Davis’ anger at not being selected flag-bearer, the skier with few apparent skills who made the Hungarian team — all got little or no attention. NBC may justify that reluctance, given that Katie Couric and commentator Joshua Cooper Ramo were criticized for comments that strayed from sports during the opening ceremony. But these stories are an important part of the Olympics, and avoiding them makes NBC vulnerable to criticism that it doesn’t want to offend the people who run the games, its business partners. LATE AT NIGHT Among the new wrinkles was NBC’s decision to broadcast its Olympic show live across the country, meaning West Coast viewers were not just stuck with a rerun of the East Coast’s prime-time show. That turned out to be well-suited to the time difference. NBC’s late-night show on the East Coast — which aired in prime time out West — was filled with live events, including the gripping gold medal women’s hockey game between the U.S. and Canada. Ratings went up for this time slot, which NBC dubbed Prime-time Plus. Get used to the template, since the next two Olympics (Tokyo in 2020, Beijing in 2022) have similar time differences. NBC also became adept in programming NBCSN during prime time. It learned to use NBCSN to complement NBC; the cable network more fully aired the women’s figure skating competition, for example, freeing NBC to show a greater breadth of Olympic sports. No longer did an NBC viewer have to feel trapped if they didn’t want to see three hours of figure skating. The network could improve on how it notifies viewers of the different options, although TV politics may prevent that. Local affiliates don’t want viewers constantly reminded of things they could watch if they changed the channel. STAR TIME Their Olympic performance increased the stature of some NBC performers. In their first Olympics as lead figure skating analysts, Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir proved deserving of the promotion. They weren’t preoccupied with their personas, did their homework and offered frank opinions. They may not have Scott Hamilton’s buoyant enthusiasm, but that’s just a difference in personality. Leigh Diffey and his co-workers on the sliding sports, Bree Schaaf and John Morgan, excelled at generating enthusiasm combined with a deep knowledge of history and the top athletes. Apolo Ohno has made a strong transition from athlete to analyst. The Alpine skiing team was the weak link. Dan Hicks is a pro, but embarrassingly called a race over when it wasn’t. Despite his considerable knowledge about skiing, Bode Miller had trouble as a rookie analyst. His monotone made an exciting sport seem clinical. And he compounded his blooper about marriage hurting a woman skier’s career with an apology that shrugged it off as a bad attempt at humor. It will be up to Miller to decide if he wants to put the same energy into being a broadcaster that he did to becoming a world-class athlete.

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

#Featured #NBC #Olympics #Shawn White

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kevystel · 7 years

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i’ve yelled about this in tags before but please take a second to imagine viktor at an ice show, surrounded by professionals and amateurs of all ages, patiently fielding the demands of many small children clustered around his feet and clamouring to be lifted into the air like he did to his husband in their now-famous gala pair skate, viktor you have to, viktor please!!!!

yuuri is at the other side of the rink lowkey panicking whenever toddlers slip on the ice and swooping in to catch them, until the very end of the ice show’s free-and-easy time, which is when he slides up to viktor and taps his shoulder. ‘my turn,’ says yuuri, deadpan, and viktor picks him up by the waist and executes a beautiful over-the-head-and-then-down dip that would make johnny weir proud. yuuri is satisfied

#yuri on ice #yuri katsuki #viktor nikiforov #victuuri

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iwouldservehim · 7 years

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Victuri: *doing a lovey-dovey finishing pose*

Yuri: *slides in Johnny Weir style* ENOUGH

#OTAYURI #YURI ON ICE #victuri #yuri plisetsky

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lia-nikiforov · 7 years

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The notion that Welcome to the Madness was somehow created exclusively as a response to “gross pedophilic Otayuri fujoshi” is so mindnumbingly stupid I don’t even know if it’s worth my time to explain why, but to me the accusation not only shows absolute ignorance on how anime making works and how the Yuri on Ice production process was, it’s also so disrespectful towards Yamamoto and Kubo and their love and passion for the project and the sport of figure skating that I just... ugh

1) WTTM is not “pedophilic sexualization”. This is Yuri on Ice, which has a character explicitly ejaculating on ice twice and a character appearing buck naked on episode 1 with very unapologetic close ups of his butt. Yurio’s shirt slightly riding up his torso as he skates at god knows what speed, with no close ups of his ass, chest or nipples. Have you ever read the production interviews, Sayokan would never shut the fuck up about butts and nipples, if she wanted to sexualize Yurio YOU WOULD’VE FUCKING SEEN BUTTS AND NIPPLES. But you don’t because all those pedophilic scenes of his shirt riding up are full body shots, never close ups to his pure virgin child flesh, no glossiness or artificial blushes, no excessive marking of his muscles, hmmm, I wonder why, oh yeah, it’s a show about figure skating and WTTM is a figure skating performance.

2) WTTM was planned from the start but had to be cut from the final episode due to time constraints (I mean, watch that episode, they had to cut the opening and ending to cover everything the plot needed them to cover). Do y'all bunch of idiots have any clue of how anime is even made. Have any of you taken a minute to get off tumblr dot com and look at the production interviews. The outfit’s design was most likely commissioned along with all the other ones, and it even appeared in the MAPPA calendar TWICE. Previews of said calendar’s illustrations were up as early as february, and by that time, Otayuri barely featured in doujinshi events.

3) A lot of the choreography and mood of that program are inspired by Johnny Weir, of whom Sayo Yamamoto is a huge fan, and Johnny is extra as fuck and particularly that slide is one of his signature moves (I think some folks even call it the Weir slide/glide, but don’t quote me on that one)

Did y’all even read Kubo’s manga it was all about Yurio wanting to express himself and free himself through something he loves. Y’all acting like half a second of Yurio’s finger in Otabek’s mouth was an actual blowjob when it was just meant to look cool and edgy like the entirety of that program because Yurio wants to be seen as cool and edgy, not a pure and innocent fairy. Again, we’ve seen what “sexual” programs look like, WTTM is nothing like those

4) Even if Otayuri’s popularity has grown very fast, VicYuu/YuuVic/Victuri is still overwhelmingly the most popular pairing in the show. There is no competition whatsoever in this regard. If they’d done this bonus just to pander to gross fujoshi and get their money the bonus scene would’ve been Victuri-centric because that’s what actually sells the show. Victor an Victuri merchandise are the most coveted by a landslide. Volume 6 sales numbers haven’t come out, but when WTTM was announced, sales trackers didn’t register any notorious spike in preorders (which did happen after episode 7 aired. Now what could’ve happened in episode 7 to make peope want to buy the show, I’ve no idea, maybe it was an otayuri sex scene that I missed or something hmmmmm)

TL;DR Did you even watch the show, did you even read anything about how it was produced and the people that made it, do you even know anything about its fandom or you just saw outrage on tumblr dot com and decided to show off how safe and pure and correct you are by jumping on the bandwagon without understanding shit.

#yuri on ice #yuri plisetsky #welcome to the madness #otayuri discourse #otayuri #this isn't even about otayuri #i usually find y'all antis hypocritically stupid to the point of being funny #but the accusations towards Sayokan and Kubo are so disrespectful and ignorant #like how did you even come up with such an idiotic narrative i can't comprehend #i usually hate the use of 'politically correct' as an insult bc it's thrown around by people who are upset #bc they're 'not allowed' to make sexist/racist/homophobic jokes anymore #but y'all really push it with your stupidity #100 #200

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