Boston and Washington Spring 2016 - Boys, Blades and Balls! - Day 3 (Skating and Harvard)

[Bianca]

I do like your daily descriptions of each of you. A taster of what's to come. ...So, my mind's whirring at the marvel of the dead cow.

Serious moment: I am very sorry you had to do work on holiday. Especially on the bathroom floor. At 4am!

Does Poot have a favourite weather website for the UK? I'd like to know when I can move some gravel this week!

Now I know you grew up in St Paul, the Twins support is explained. I've not got into baseball (did go to a Blue Jays game once), but I do like me some NFL. (Don't tell soccer, I don't want to lose my passport. )

(DS and I call this “Grandma’s beautification ritual” - she does not find this funny ). ...Why does this make it funnier? Two hours is a big commitment, though. Hope she enjoys it.

What's ice dancing like to watch live? Compared to TV. Also, that's a good point about investing in sport; ice skating seems to have faded from public attention doesn't it?

I'd have enjoyed the skating , but I think the pasta and Harvard might have edged it for me. Still, great day all round, despite the lack of gourmet food for you and your DM.

P.S. Great meteorite selfie, Poot!

P.S. The concierge do seem particularly good.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Bianca

I do like your daily descriptions of each of you. A taster of what's to come. ...So, my mind's whirring at the marvel of the dead cow.

Serious moment: I am very sorry you had to do work on holiday. Especially on the bathroom floor. At 4am!

Does Poot have a favourite weather website for the UK? I'd like to know when I can move some gravel this week!

Now I know you grew up in St Paul, the Twins support is explained. I've not got into baseball (did go to a Blue Jays game once), but I do like me some NFL. (Don't tell soccer, I don't want to lose my passport. )

(DS and I call this “Grandma’s beautification ritual” - she does not find this funny ). ...Why does this make it funnier? Two hours is a big commitment, though. Hope she enjoys it.

What's ice dancing like to watch live? Compared to TV. Also, that's a good point about investing in sport; ice skating seems to have faded from public attention doesn't it?

I'd have enjoyed the skating , but I think the pasta and Harvard might have edged it for me. Still, great day all round, despite the lack of gourmet food for you and your DM.

P.S. Great meteorite selfie, Poot!

P.S. The concierge do seem particularly good.

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Good bits, Bianca!


I always figure it's better to be working than just lying in bed and failing to sleep. This was a bad jet-lag trip for me. I need a couple of early nights once I get to America - but the skating schedule didn't allow for them. Boo!

I love ice dancing live - the only way it could be better is if they'd dim the lights (I know that would make it harder to judge, but...). It was like seeing twenty-five different short ballets - to all different types of music. This was my first time seeing VOCAL MUSIC skated to - and I'm still not sure about that...I wonder if I didn't find it a little (a lot) distracting.

But I do think you are right - some sports are just SO MUCH more enjoyable in person. And skating for me is one of them. The rink is cold, you see the Zamboni - you feel part of the history of the sport every time you go to a competition. Baseball's another one that I much prefer in person.

But the NFL, strangely - I almost prefer on telly. Maybe that's because all my recent NFL experiences have been here in London - just me, Poot - and 80,000 swearing drunks.

The last time we went to a game at Wembley, a woman was sick on my shoe while we waited to get into Wembley Park station. To be fair, though - an American woman was sick on my shoe at Food and Wine (Epcot) last year. Different shoes, too. Sigh.

My mother was a beauty queen in her youth; I am a perpetual disappointment to her. You'd have to promise me my hair would turn out like THIS:

...before I'd even THINK about spending that much time on it.


And I only own one lipstick.


In this country, we are very boring and just ask Siri for the weather report - it's American weather that Poot loves (we rarely get a tornado/hurricane/blizzard in either Hertfordshire OR the Vaucluse ). Though we did have some truly REMARKABLE thunder here a couple of weeks ago - Poot and I were up for most of the night listening to it. Sorry - that doesn't help move your gravel, does it?

[Bianca]

I haven't really watched ice dancing for a long time, it hasn't been much on my radar, which backs up what you were saying about it needing more attention, I suppose. I do like it when they dance to more upbeat music (would have enjoyed the Beatles routine) and I think I'd like vocals, too. Dimmer lights and a spotlight would make it a better show and hide some of the wobbles.

I thought I'd like to go to an NFL game at Wembley, but your experience is making me think it would be better to go to a game in the US. (And better to stay away from your shoes! ) It is a good sport on TV, though. You don't miss anything. And there are the Tight Ends! (I know, I know, there's no hope for me! ) I like the BBC coverage.

Your mother was a beauty queen?! So, she's used to putting a lot of time in. I lack a certain amount of patience. Occasionally, I contemplate learning to do a French plait, but somehow a ponytail always wins (like you say, guaranteed results!). I like a bit of mascara and tinted lipbalm - but no 'scary eyebrows and pout' selfies around here. (Those DO make me LOL)

And I can understand why Poot finds American weather more interesting - ours is less dramatic. Case in point: some gravel was moved in ...drizzle!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Bianca

I haven't really watched ice dancing for a long time, it hasn't been much on my radar, which backs up what you were saying about it needing more attention, I suppose. I do like it when they dance to more upbeat music (would have enjoyed the Beatles routine) and I think I'd like vocals, too. Dimmer lights and a spotlight would make it a better show and hide some of the wobbles.

I thought I'd like to go to an NFL game at Wembley, but your experience is making me think it would be better to go to a game in the US. (And better to stay away from your shoes! ) It is a good sport on TV, though. You don't miss anything. And there are the Tight Ends! (I know, I know, there's no hope for me! ) I like the BBC coverage.

Your mother was a beauty queen?! So, she's used to putting a lot of time in. I lack a certain amount of patience. Occasionally, I contemplate learning to do a French plait, but somehow a ponytail always wins (like you say, guaranteed results!). I like a bit of mascara and tinted lipbalm - but no 'scary eyebrows and pout' selfies around here. (Those DO make me LOL)

And I can understand why Poot finds American weather more interesting - ours is less dramatic. Case in point: some gravel was moved in ...drizzle!

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I also prefer upbeat music (for skating - but also in general). I suppose the "drama" is easier to portray skating to something like "Nessun Dorma". I also think that judges tend to reward "serious music" with higher marks. But having to sit through "My Heart Will Go On" six times was...vexing. I do wish that only one skater/pair per year "got" a particular song.

It's so funny - our experience today with the crowds at the T&F made me re-evaluate our Wembley experiences! I suppose it's always hard to manage so many people in one place. The T&F crowd was far less sweary, though - and I didn't see a single drunk. I think the Wembley games have a sort of bachelor party atmosphere - whereas games in America are much more family-orientated.

I'm not one for "putting the time in" on hair/makeup, I fear. I remember when I worked in venture capital - I went to see a popular hair stylist - and he began our "consultation" () by asking me how much time I was willing to spend each morning on my hair...

Me: Five minutes.

Him (laughing): No, seriously!

Me: Seriously, five minutes.


We determined that perhaps the two of us were not a good fit.

[Bianca]

Yes, why do judges prefer the more serious stuff? It seems to be true across the board (hence, few comedies do well at the Oscars and my desert island cake was in a class all its own at a school comp when I was about 13! )

My heart will go on ...and on... and on... I don't mind the song once, but I think they all should have had points deducted for lack of originality! Six times!

I have occasional ambitions when it comes to my hair. I.e. I've thought for a few years I might try using the hot wand to wave it, but by the time I've blow dried it I've lost the will. So, it has yet to happen.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Bianca

Yes, why do judges prefer the more serious stuff? It seems to be true across the board (hence, few comedies do well at the Oscars and my desert island cake was in a class all its own at a school comp when I was about 13! )

My heart will go on ...and on... and on... I don't mind the song once, but I think they all should have had points deducted for lack of originality! Six times!

I have occasional ambitions when it comes to my hair. I.e. I've thought for a few years I might using the hot wand to wave it, but by the time I've blow dried it I've lost the will. So, it has yet to happen.

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Not just the Celine Dion song - but the version with the film dialogue!

"Jack!"

"Rose"

"Jack!"

Vomit.


Totally with you (again ). Comedy is twenty times harder to write than tragedy - but it gets no respect.

I'm only foreign, remember - what's a desert island cake?


I set my hair in pin curls the night before DS was born - and I think that was the last time. I'm a disgrace to my mother.

[Bianca]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

Not just the Celine Dion song - but the version with the film dialogue!

"Jack!"

"Rose"

"Jack!"

Vomit.

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You have a way with words/timing that makes me LOL.

Originally Posted by GopherLass

I'm only foreign, remember - what's a desert island cake?

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Oh yes, you poor thing!

Basically, everybody else baked sensible round cakes and mine (encouraged by my mother) was a sponge cake cut into the shape of an island with sand, palm trees, rocks etc. (possibly a treasure chest) and ocean around it. Disclaimer: I'm probably remembering something fancier than might actually have been the case (or cake), but who can argue with me now?!

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Bianca

You have a way with words/timing that makes me LOL.

Why, thank you.


Oh yes, you poor thing!

Basically, everybody else baked sensible round cakes and mine (encouraged by my mother) was a sponge cake cut into the shape of an island with sand, palm trees, rocks etc. (possibly a treasure chest) and ocean around it. Disclaimer: I'm probably remembering something fancier than might actually have been the case (or cake), but who can argue with me now?!

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Ha! That was my first thought - but then I started thinking if it was some arcane English baking tradition!

And FWIW, I think I would much rather eat a "desert island cake" than a plain old sponge cake any day. But I AM strange - I once made a grotte des champignons cake for my kid (during his obsessed with mushrooms phase). One of the only bad parts about being in America for Poot's birthday last year? We didn't get to make his (now traditional) weird birthday cake.

This year's obsession is airplane crashes, though - and I'm not sure how well it will translate to baked goods.

[Bianca]

Originally Posted by GopherLass

...his year's obsession is airplane crashes, though - and I'm not sure how well it will translate to baked goods.

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Hmmm...Now that is a challenge for a celebration cake! Gets the cogs whirring, though.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Bianca

Hmmm...Now that is a challenge for a celebration cake! Gets the cogs whirring, though.

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Indeed.