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Charis and I went to the ISCC to meet some wonderful friends I have been chatting with online, and to watch practice
sessions of Johnny Weir, Brian Joubert, Andrei Griazev and some others ... of course Alexei was there coaching with
Tatiana and Evgeny. It was a wonderful trip! Here are some photos. Unless otherwise noted, all of these
photos are owned by me and may not be used without my written permission!
| We were in NY at sunrise |
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| The colors aren't good, the sun was actually red |
We arrived at the rink about 8am and went into the cafe.
We
first saw Johnny in the hockey rink a little after 9am stretching. There were 4 little girls from the summer school sitting
at a table next to us and when they saw Johnny one of them jumped up and said she was going to ask for an autograph. She went
into the rink and we watched as Johnny stopped warming up and signed her book for her ... it was so sweet! All of her friends
were quite jealous when she came back in, and they all looked at her book.
Johnny took the ice along with Julia, Andrei,
Brian, Alexei, Evgeny and a few others and they warmed up and did some stroking. Even if this had been the end of my trip
right here ... it would have been well worth it! I had never seen Johnny skating live before this, and just watching the stroking
and warm up was incredible!
Johnny then started working on his footwork for his long program, mostly with Evgeny. After
the session was over and Johnny came back out of the locker room I went back into the rink to talk to him. I introduced myself,
and my daughter ... gave him his gifts and we talked for a little while while he opened them. He asked me if I was staying
for the afternoon session, and told me they would be doing LP run throughs.
As was the case all day, he was approached
by skaters and parents (some with up to 5 children in tow LOL) and asked for pictures and autographs. I got to see in person
just how gracious and sweet he is! I got my picture with him and then left him alone so that he could go to get some rest
before the afternoon session. He had a very busy weekend and was exausted.
I met Madame Joubert during the morning session and she was sitting outside
waiting for Brian to come out so we talked a bit more. I had already given her a gift, and had one for Brian also. He
came out and Madame Joubert introduced us and I spoke with Brian for a little while. He showed us a picture of Blade on his
cell phone. I took (well rather my daughter did) pictures of him opening the gifts and then a couple with him. Brian
was approached all day long by the summer camp skaters and posed for quite a few pictures. He also signed autographs...
he did not turn anyone down! While he was warming up for the afternoon session in the lobby, he nearly knocked my friend
Seana out! He was jumping and then spun while she was walking by and did not see her until he landed. He was a
little shook up at the close call, but it was actually rather funny.
| Brian Joubert |
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| Brian is opening the gift I brought him |
| Brian & Me |
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| Brian posed for a couple of pictures with me after opening the gifts |
We went to lunch with friends and went back to the rink for the afternoon session. The afternoon session was
in the olympic rink and there were 7 of us, we were all sitting and chatting with Madame Joubert and when the session started
she took us up into the bleachers. After warming up and practicing jumps each skater's music was played and they did thier
LP (without jumps) from start to finish. After the full run throughs the skaters took turns working on pieces of the programs while the
coaches watched and offered advice. After the session I got to speak to Johnny again. We actually chatted for quite a while.
Seana had her little camera, which is the size of a credit card and snapped this photo with it to prove it is a working
camera LOL This photo may not be used without HER permission. You may contact me to request her permission.
I feel very blessed to have met all of the people I did that day, and I hope to see each and every one of them again.
I keep in touch with just about everyone, and have wonderful memories of them all. I met skaters, coaches and fans
alike. It is a day I don't think I will ever forget!
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