dirac

ESPN re-ran the pairs and the men's LPs this weekend -- and they did show Lambiel, bless their hearts. On viewing Plushenko's slip again, it is actually quite clear that he's preparing for a jump -- I must not have been looking too hard the first time around. Button's commentary confirms this, but even without that you can see his preparation. I still don't think it was a big deal -- he recovered nicely. Susanne, I forgot to answer your question about Joubert. As I recall, he was "clean" although the landing on his quad combo was not ideal and he did only one 3-axel, and not in combination. His footwork wasn't as demanding as Plushenko's, either.

Babies have quite large heads in proportion to their bodies, as a rule.

I think that "diss" and the other "-iss" phrase are slightly embarrassing attempts at an edgy demotic style. The Times has its problems, goodness knows, but I don't see that the arts coverage of The Washington Post is such a shining example in comparison. And the Post's monopoly is even more pervasive than that of the Times, which at least competes with a couple of energetic tabloids and The Wall Street Journal, although it is certainly true that none of those publications fills the role that the Times does.

I always had a soft spot for Alexis Smith. She wasn't the right age either, but she looked right, and I expect the real Linda probably wouldn't have been thrilled if an actress of the correct age had been cast.

Sorry. It means very funny -- often used ironically, as here. In this instance, it means a whole lotta unintentional humor. Among the highlights: Grant impersonating the young Porter at Yale, surely his most unpersuasive acting outside "The Howards of Virginia." The movie became a legend for its awesome badness, although the composer himself appears not to have minded it -- I guess any man would be happy to be played by Cary Grant, and they did manage to squeeze in many, many of his songs.

Well, the movies are having at the life story of Cole Porter again. "De-Lovely," starring Kevin Kline and Ashley Judd, will hit our screens some time in June of this year. I saw a trailer for it this weekend, and while I do not wish to prejudge matters, I cannot say it looks as if this movie will be a vast improvement over the 1946 yockfest "Night and Day" starring Cary Grant. First off –Linda Lee Thomas Porter was about twenty years older than her husband, and her name was a byword for beauty, elegance, and taste on two continents. This really does not sound like Ashley Judd to me. In addition, unless I'm mistaken, the trailer seemed to suggest actual physical contact in what was from all reports the blancest of mariages blancs, and presented the movie as some kind of romance. There is no question that Cole and Linda cared deeply for each other, and it was a genuine marriage. But if this movie presents the extremely gay Porter as a sort of faux heterosexual, I'm going to be peeved. Kevin Kline isn't an improvement on Grant, either – the latter might have been a good Porter in less absurd circumstances, but I fear I don't see Kline in this part, at all. On the other hand, we can hope there are some good renditions of Porter songs. I do hope I'm wrong. We'll see.

I remember an Arlene Croce piece in "Afterimages" in which she cited an article by the literary critic R. P. Blackmur in which he called Balanchine's girls "pinheads" -- meaning to describe their look, not their brains. (This is from memory, so "pinhead" could have been her term and not his.) The article wound up with Croce imagining a ballet mama telling her daughter, "Darling, all I want is that you should be a pinhead." I once tried to hunt down the original Blackmur report but had no luck at that time. Croce said he admired Diana Adams, though. I like the pinhead look, if it doesn't go too far -- I think a head too small for the body and truncated torsos atop flamingo legs can look peculiar, and one does see those.

Thanks for the additional details. Those website thingies certainly do come in handy, don't they?

I get notices from them, too, although I live up north, but no heads-up about this so far.

Thank you for the heads-up, art076, and welcome to the board! Finally NYCB heads in our direction. Now I have to sort out my vacation plans..............

Farrell Fan is quite right -- your friend is just off base on this one. The question does raise the larger issue of "what makes a masterpiece"? -- Fille is a masterpiece of craftmanship, in addition to the other qualities that make it major, but you could argue that a ballet can be a masterpiece of craftmanship and still not be major, I'd suggest.

eland received that impression from one of your earlier posts, kfw -- a misreading, but understandable if one wasn't parsing closely.

carbro is correct, in the best of all possible worlds 6.0 means perfection or close to it, but not always (certainly not in this competition:)). On occasion, the judges box themselves in by over- rather than under- marking, and at those times someone may get a 6.0 because of 5.9s awarded earlier. However, I could see no justification for Plushy's 6.0s this time around, even sans spill.

Susanne, I'm not sure, but it seemed as if Plushenko just tripped or something -- sort of a fluke spill. This is from memory, and someone else's may be fresher. Philip Hersh of the Chicago Tribune wraps it up for the ladies (via the San Jose Mercury News): http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews...rts/8293506.htm Most of the articles I've seen emphasize Shizuka Arakawa's jumps as central in her win. They certainly were, but Hersh also mentions her elegant style, which I appreciate. She is far more than a jumping bean, and she looked great out there.

sandik, I hadn't forgotten about David Vaughan's Ashton book, but it's not the same kind of biography as I think we're talking about here. You're quite right about time and proximity, though.

I second that. I always enjoy reading your reports. Others from the area, please do chime in!

Very annoyed that Lambiel wasn't shown. I assume that ABC was calculating that, as the lowest-ranking skater not from the U.S., he could be omitted. Instead, we got Weiss, and were told that he was "in the medal hunt." Uh-huh. However, ESPN will be repeating the competition, I'm not sure of the date, and maybe we'll get to see Lambiel then. Weir had a beautiful skate – I was very happy for him, and Lindemann, too. As Button said on the broadcast, what ballon the latter has! He really gets into the air, and stays there. The men certainly distinguished themselves as a group -- generally fine skating all around. As for Plushy – okay, he was good, and the fall didn't bother me, but all those 6.0s – and for presentation ??? I thought he was a bit overmarked, although I like the program. Maybe the judges are tossing out as many sixes as they can before it's too late. I nodded off on the sofa and missed the pairs!!! I woke up just in time to see the house coming down for Shen and Zhao. Does anyone have more details?

I dunno – it seems to me that often a big biography will come out within a few years of the subject's decease – to take a couple of dance examples, Robbins has had one, Ashton has had one, which was being researched while he was still alive. Saul Bellow has had a major one and he's still here. In such cases, writers have had to act with a certain urgency, because when a famous person of great age dies, his coevals are departing at the same rate. It's possible, of course, to do a book without such witnesses, but if they're around there is usually an effort to get their testimony, testimony which is often more candid than it would be with the subject still around. Julie Kavanagh got to a lot of people just in time. And Balanchine has been dead for twenty years. Certainly in his case, many essential people have already departed. And I agree with Herman that the job hasn't really been done – the Buckle and Taper books are useful, but they're not the kind of definitive job we're talking about. If one is in the works, that's good news.

kfw, I was using your phrase, "Translated, that means they've been better than whites" as a point of departure. It's not a formulation I'd normally choose.

eland is certainly right about the spirit of King's words, I think. I'd suggest that assertions such as "the Irish have a gift for words" and "blacks are better at jazz than whites" aren't widely acknowledged facts so much as widely acknowledged stereotypes, and positive stereotypes are no better than negative ones, IMO. I believe having examples in front of you is important for engaging the interest of young people. I see many African-Americans in the audience when I attend performances of the Ailey company and DTH. At performances of white dominated companies, often I see no more than a handful, if that. Clearly not a coincidence, and a matter for concern.

It's Guy Maddin's "Dracula: Pages from a Virgin's Diary" and it is indeed out on DVD. Strange but worthwhile viewing.

Thank you for the report, Susanne. I have to go home and watch my tape! Unless something really unexpected happens, the competition is Plushenko's to lose, but it's nice to see Joubert do well. I admire Lambiel, too. It's too bad about Sandhu, but not unexpected, I regret to say.

I think all true opera fans would agree that musical values are primary. However, that doesn't come close to ending the discussion.

I see your point, Ed, although that wasn't quite what I meant – I was referring more to the love interest -- the character, not the actor James Franco-- being a non-dancer. (Although it wasn't a very taxing role, and I imagine a dancer with some natural knack for acting could have handled it. But since the character wasn't a dancer, the issue doesn't really arise.)

I think the new scoring system is indeed bad news, but I'm not sure if that's what you were referring to, Funny Face. I took a quick look at the site and didn't see anything, but it was just a quick look. It has been a long stretch between skating broadcasts. It may well be partially intentional – the networks may be backing off because a) ratings have been down and B) there were a few years of skating overkill and they're cutting back. Good to hear that Oksana is finally getting it together.