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5 Five Star Bars in Berlin

The old concepts seem to have lost their appeal. Although Techno Raves and other drug-induced excesses certainly still have their place here in Berlin - and it's usually in a dark and damp cellar at some hopelessly obscure location - it looks as though the good old fashion mainstream establishment has not only raised it's ugly little head. It's sitting right next to you at some of the finest cocktail bars in Europe. Alas, the Ravers may have celebrated themselves kaputt, but that's certainly no reason not to say goodbye in style to good times gone by over a wonderfully not-too-dry American Martini. Yes, that's right. They are here. Berlin's nightlife offers some of the most interesting cocktail lounges this side of Fifth Avenue and the following five, in my humble opinion, are quite simply the best.

Reingold, www.reingold.de. Reingold is the insider lounge of the five, a favorite place kind of place. One reason for this might be its location. It's definitely off the beaten path, at least as far as tourists are concerned. Most customers coming here come here for one very good reason: excellent cocktails in a very relaxed atmosphere. Tastefully designed, it has that modern yet simple ambiance that rounds off the classic cocktail bar touch. Gold is the primary color here (Reingold, get it?). And rightly so, emphasized as it is by a very clever lighting scheme. You can sit very comfortably here, for hours usually, listening to everything from a nice conversation to pulsing electro house. The film crowd seems drawn to the place, especially during the film festival season. Ever hear of the Berlinale? Oh, and I almost forgot. These might just be the most generous barkeepers in town. Novalisstr. 11, 10115 Berlin. Can't miss it.

Gainsbourg Bar Americain, www.gainsbourg.de. Have you ever tried a Brigitte Bardot? You will here and you won't regret it. This is a favourite among Berlin's “scene” and an appropriate tribute to that “dirty mouth of French pop”, the French chanson singer Serge Gainsbourg. Its somewhat hidden location, the black and white portraits on the wall, and the smoke-filled rooms might seem to lend the place a rather dusky touch at first, but its one that seems to make the beautifully mixed cocktails all the tastier. Don't forget to try a Juliette Gréco while you're at it. Savignyplatz 5, 10623 Berlin.

Bar am Lützowplatz, www.baramluetzowplatz.com. You might find the idea of a Mao portrait at the end of the longest bar in town a bit peculiar, and indeed it is, but if you're looking for classic cocktail excellence, this is the place to be. No experiments here, thank you. No experiments, that is, except for perhaps the architecture. Well, then there is also that vast collection of Champagne and the rare malt whiskeys… Well, come to think of it, it's quite an experimental place after all. The Bar's numerous awards are well deserved and proudly documented. The Gin Sour and the New Yorker are phenomenal. Lützwoplatz 7, 10785 Berlin.

Greendoor, www.greendoor.de. What hasn't been said about this place? Berlin's best bar, Germany's best barkeeper, home of the world's best Manhattan. Is it all true? You be the judge. They certainly mean business here, that's for sure. Their motto is “The power of positive drinking” and the atmosphere falls somewhere between Speak Easy, Philip Marlow and a decidedly 60's touch. Everybody comes here because everyone is welcome. You'll try the Mojito Royal… if you're smart. Winterfeldstr. 50, 10781 Berlin.

Harry's New York Bar, www.esplanade.de. I'll stop at Harry's. And I often do. You will simply not find a bigger selection of international cocktails than here. Bigger coincidentally means better in this case, by the way. Although “merely” a hotel bar, it's located in the Esplanade Grand Hotel, Harry's is an unusually lively place that never seems to close. The pianist offers the appropriate, swinging soundtrack to some of the best mixed drinks in town. And sure the drinks here are a bit on the expensive side, but hey, let's face it. Quality always has its price.

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“Why do you need so many shoes?,” my husband asks me, as he shakes his head and stares at my closet in disbelief.  

I start to answer him and I realize that it's one of those age old questions that men have been asking women for years.  It's up there with “What's inside the women's bathroom?,” and “Why do women always want to know what men are thinking?”   It's not just my husband, millions of men want to know,  ”Why do we women need so many shoes? ” 

The truth is women are in love with shoes.  Let me give you the top ten reasons why.

1.  Variety - We women simply cannot wear the same shoe every day.  We need change.  Plus, our shoes need to match our outfits and our outfits need to match our activities and lifestyle.  After all, you can't wear open toe sandals if you are going hiking in the canyons now can you?  Plus, variety is the spice of life.

2.  Style - We want to look good.  No, we want to look hot.  No, we want to look comfortable.  See what I mean?  Th bottom line is that we need different styles for different looks.   

3.  A Good Deal - Women are born shoppers.  It is a true talent and no true shopper can turn down a good deal on a pair of shoes.  That is why discount shoe stores like DSW or Shoe Pavillion are so popular.  No shoe shopper work her salt can resist a pair of Manolo Blahniks marked half-off. 

4.  Comfort  (AKA High Heels vs. Falts) - High heel shoes look great, but let's face it, they can really hurt the tootsies!  Most women I know alternate between high heels and flats.  You know what that means.. more shoes! 

5.  Durability - Well made shoes can last a lifetime.  This is especially true if you do not wear them every day.  As a result of this your shoes build up in your closet.  Kinda like plaque on your teeth.

6.  Trendy - Unlike that hot pink leather skirt you partied like it's 1999 in, the shoes that you may have worn with it are still in fashion.  In fact, Flashdance plastic jelly shoes have made a huge comeback.  What a feeling! 

7.  Stability - As the years come and go, women's clothing size may fluctuate.  One year you may be a size 4 and then after a few years of stuffing krispy kreme donuts down your face, you may suddenly be a size 14.  But guess what?  Your shoe size will stay the same.  Chances are if a woman is a size 8 shoe,  she will stay a size 8.  How great is that?!

8.  Options -  “Should I wear my 5 inch Marc Jacobs heels today, or my 2 inch Gucci loafers?”  It's a woman's fundamental right to be able to make a choice on her own footwear.  In order to make those choices, women need (you guessed it) many different shoes.     

9.  Collections -  Some men collect playboy magazines.  We women collect shoes.  Enough said.   

10.  Friendship - If diamonds are a girl's best friend than shoes are a woman's best friend.  Shoes will always be there for her.  They will never shun her or treat her wrong.  They will never try to steal her boyfriend or call her fat.  They will never let her down.  The bottom line is a women needs as many of these friends as she can get.

So there you have it.  Now please don't get me started on purses…    

OPINION: Larrikin Music must be feeling like merry, merry king of the Courts today but I don't imagine many other people are laughing with them. The case of Larrikin Music vs Men at Work, was one of two landmark court cases to conclude yesterday - the other being AFACT vs iiNet. In the iiNet case the consumer won, but no such luck with the famous anthem of ex-patriots, 'Down Under.'

Larrikin Music holds the copyright to the children's nursery rhyme, “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.” It is from this tune that the flute music in 'Down Under' originates. The question before the courts was two things, firstly whether Larrikin Music could hold the copyright for something submitted to a Girl Guide Competition, and secondly weather 'Down Under' resembled 'Kookaburra' significantly enough as to constitute plagiarism. That Larrikin did own the copyright was established in order for the case to proceed, and yesterday courts found that the Men at Work had plagiarised the riff. It seems that the courts judged “Down Under” based only on the flute section of the song.

I do hope that Men at Work are able to find cause to appeal this ruling. The plagiarised section is less than three seconds at the beginning of the song. The ramifications for this ruling across music, arts, and literary fields could be potentially catastrophic. What gets me is, does Larrikin Music seriously think this venture will be profitable for them in the long run? They have proved themselves before the nation they sell their own musical product to, to be financially motivated enough to have a cheap shot an iconic song whose creators have never enforced their own right to ownership to anything resembling this insanely disgusting degree.

“Kookaburra” is sung in every single kindergarten and pre-school in the country, and in many other countries also. I don't think anyone, anywhere released there was still an active copyright for this rhyme. Now that we know there is though, will Larrikin be suing the kids soon? This lawsuit has been absolutely stupid. It's nursery rhyme. One which, if Wikipedia is to be believed, is not even original in itself. '”Kookaburra” is sung to the same tune as the Welsh folk song “A Ei Di'r 'Deryn Du” or “Dacw ti yn eistedd, y 'deryn du” (English translation “There you are sitting, black bird.”). The syllables and themes are almost identical in pattern to those in “Kookaburra”.' That is almost an identical lyric as well. I wonder if the Australian public can convince the country of Wales to sue Larrikin Music for the $40-60 million or so they'll be taking off 'Men at Work.'?

Assuming this link provided by Wikipedia is a genuine source with a correct translation, I don't see how anyone in Australia could hold a copyright on 'Kookaburra' at all. If I were the lawyers of Men at Work, this would be my cause for appeal here. Let me compare the two sets of lyric.

“Dacw ti yn Eistedd ” or 'There you are Sitting,” as translated from Gaelic by artsconnection.org.uk *

There you are sitting, blackbird,
You are the king of the forest,
Sing bird, come, sing, bird, come,
What a beauty you are.

The first verse of “Kookaburra” (sits in the old gum tree) as “owned” by Larrikin Music (who hopefully make enough off this song, as I really doubt anyone will consciously buy their music after this)

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree,
Merry merry king of the bush is he.
Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra,
Gay your life must be!

'Bush' is another term for 'forest' the use of which is most common in Australia and Africa where sparse, dry vegetation required a new terminology. But these lines are almost word for word identical in meaning excepting the last line where beauty is swapped for happiness. When sung in the Gaelic it is obvious that it is also the exact same tune which Marion Sinclair put to flute. My problem is this, how can you own a copyright on something which is just a localisation of a folk tune from our cultural heritage? That's like renaming Robyn Hood, Bobby Rook and having him rob corrupt landowners using a bow and arrow, from within Yellowstone. It would still be Robyn Hood.

As artists we all aim to leave a legacy behind us after we are gone. The ultimate goal of any musician, writer or painter is to create something which will become a part of the national cultural identity. The idea that after I am gone, some corporation could buy the rights and control that legacy for their own personal financial gain, horrifies me. I imagine it would also horrify Marion Sinclair. Certainly its horrifying most Australians I know, who also consider Men at Work's “Down Under” as a culturally iconic tune itself - and little due to the three second of flute riff, which the artists hadn't even realised they had stolen.

In 'The Australian' today, Colin Hay from Men at Work said: “It is indeed true, that Greg Ham, (not a writer of the song) unconsciously referenced two bars of Kookaburra on the flute, during live shows after he joined the band in 1979, and it did end up in the Men at Work recording. It was inadvertent, naive, unconscious, and by the time Men at Work recorded the song, it had become unrecognisable.''

He went on to say, '”I believe what has won today is opportunistic greed and what has suffered is creative musical endeavour.' I have to say that I agree. Regardless of whether or not they won, Larrikin Music's action in undertaking this suit was not 'fair dinkum' behaviour at all. Personally, I'd rather be poor but honest. (The Wild Colonial Boy) In the face of all this corporate cultural ownership of late I find myself wondering, where is the nation I love? Where are the Australian People in all of this? I'll borrow another line, this one from John Williamson's iconic 'True Blue,' because it seems particularly relevant in regard to the greed, and corporate culture being displayed of late. Australians, “Are you really disappearing? Just another dying race?” - “Did they sell us out like sponge cake?”

I grow weary of these cases which showcase the over-excessive greed and protection (by some) of artistic materials to a level which is well beyond what is morally right. What if the children or grandchildren of Banjo Patterson decided to exercise their legal holding over tunes such as 'Waltzing Matilda' or 'The Man from Snowy River?' If Slim Dusty's children assert the right to lyrics in his music, we're really stuffed! “G'day, G'day, whadda ya know? Well, strike a light. Just say G'day, G'day, G'day and she'll be right.” Especially, in cases of culturally iconic materials, I wish again, that the Australian Government would fix the copyright laws. Because if whoever holds the rights to Slim Dusty's songs decides to go around suing every time a single lyric or three bars of music is used, the entire nation will become bankrupt beyond repair in under a month! Thankfully they don't.

These companies cannot be permitted to continue to successfully sue over such ridiculous things. There must be limits to the standard point at which it is considered 'intellectual theft.' The bar is too low right now. Where will the art, music and literature of tomorrow come from?

Of possible interest to Larrikin Music, I've not sung “Kookaburra” since I was about eight. I do still enjoy “Down Under” though, and listen to it often. 'Matter of fact, I got it (on) now.' (reference to a “Victoria Bitter” beer commercial tagline) But if Larrikin Music thinks I'll be buying any of their material in a hurry, well - “Tell em they're dreamin'” (The Castle)

“I come from a land down under…”

*In the Gaelic, if you are a curious nerd, like me.
Dyna ti yn Eistedd y Deryn Du,
Brenin y goedwig fawr wyt ti,
Can dere deryn can dere deryn,
Dyna un hardd wyt ti.

*I do apologise to strained readers, for the excessive use of very out-dated colloquialisms, but I was attempting to make a point with them.

Sources:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNT7uZf7lew (Men At Work - Down Under)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kookaburra_Sits_in_the_Old_Gum_Tree
http://www.artsconnection.org.uk/acdownloads/lyrics.pdf (Welsh book of nursery rhymes with English translations)
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news/ripping-off-kids-song-was-unconscious/story-fn3dxity-1225826913068
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/02/04/2810693.htm?section=justin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNnX5od2XDI (VB Commercial)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceWKrsJX9N4 (John Williamson - True Blue)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT331BRkkP0 (Slim Dusty - G'day G'day)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwvazMc5EfE (Slim Dusty singing Banjo Patterson's Waltzing Matilda)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118826/ (The Castle)

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The 550 Maranello was Ferrari's version of the 12-cylinder Berlinetta, with an engine in front and a 21st century style and performance. The Ferrari 550 Maranello was a two-seat Gran Turismo sport car. The 550 Maranello was first introduced in 1996 and touted as a top of the market front-engine vehicle V12 coupe that had not been seen since the Daytona. The car shared its platform and 5.5-liter engine with the 2+2 456 model but was placed at Ferrari's highest end model. In 2002 the 550 Maranello was replaced by the Modificata (modified) Ferrari 575M Maranello in 2002.

The 550 Maranello had a luxurious feel with its interior and roominess. The trunk was wide and high but did not go far back. It did not lack in the performance associated with a Ferrari as it could reach 199 mph and go from 0-60 mph in only 4.5 seconds. The CC of the 550 is 5473 and has 485 bhp of power.

The aerodynamics of the 550 Maranello was shaped in a wind tunnel and the time Ferrari spent on testing Ferrari ensured that there was minimum drag and a constant vertical load on its wheels and it didn't matter the set up of the car. Once again Pininfarina designed the body of the Ferrari and they made the body low and wide with a tail that was cut off.

The engine is laid out in a classic style as it is in the front of the car. The 50 engine is a 12 cylinder and the chassis is a tube shaped steel frame with lightweight aluminum bodywork that is welded to the chassis itself. The 5.5 L V12 engine used in the 550 Maranello won the “over 4 liter” class of the International Engine of the Year award for the years 2000 and 2001. For improved weight distribution Ferrari placed the gearbox in the rear.

One nice thing that Ferrari did when producing the 550 Maranello is put shock absorbers, incorporated by the suspension, that have two settings of normal and sports which can be changed by a switch on the dashboard. The transmission is a 6-speed syncro and the brakes are disc brakes. The 550 Maranello has ZF rack and pinion steering, which comes with Servotronic power steering that is speed sensitive. The gas tank can hold 30 gallons of fuel and is made from a light aluminum alloy. Overall the 550 Maranello weighs 3726 pounds.

A Pennsylvania woman has found Jesus, and he’s living right inside of her!

Has the Lord decided that it’s time to get caught up to the advancement of medical science?

After centuries of people claiming to find the images of the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ in fabric, in water stains on walls, and in patterns in sand, a recent sighting of the likeness of Jesus is a little more high-tech.

There is a clear image rendering Jesus at the Crucifixion visible in the film of an MRI of her spine, says Rhonda Hodge, 34, of Pittsburgh. This miraculous MRI shows a detailed image of Jesus on the cross, she claims.

Plagued by numbness of the neck and left arm, the MRI was performed to try to help address a bulging disc. Upon receiving the films of her spine, Hodge was astonished to discover the presence of the Lord in her backbone!

Hodge claims that pictures of her spine clearly show a detailed rendering of Christ’s Passion. “You can almost seen the thorns around the head and the nails… the nails through the feet,” she said.

“You could actually see the hands,” Hodge continued. “They look like they're nailed on the cross. You can see the body. It's in a straight line, and then you see his feet. They look like they're together, and the knees are bent.”

There is “do doubt” in her mind that the film of the MRI of her spine resembles a rendering of the crucifixion.

“What went through my mind?” Hodge said. “Just surprise. Oh my God, that's the Crucifixion.”

Could this sighting of Jesus in an MRI scan mark the dawn of a new era?

In recent years, reports of the images of the Lord have been heading toward the internal, or would be heading toward the internal, it seems, if folks would just stop looking at their food and eat their lunch!

Numerous reports of the appearance of Jesus and the Virgin Mary on foodstuffs have been made over the past few decades.

In 1977, a woman in New Mexico beheld the face of Jesus as it appeared in the tortilla she was frying in a pan with some eggs. Jesus has also appeared on a Fish Stick in Ontario, Canada, and the likeness of Mother Teresa appeared on a breakfast bun in a café in Nashville, TN, much to the confusion of the still living nun. And, who can forget the appearance of Mary the Mother of God on that grilled cheese sandwich in 2004?

So, what’s next for Rhonda Hodge and her divine spine? Apparently, she is considering the blessings of Ebay. After all, the Virgin Mary grilled cheese sandwich did fetch $28,000 on Ebay. And it had a bite taken out of it!

However, Hodge is still ambivalent about the sale of the image of the MRI messiah. “It's been quite a few months, I haven't done it yet. I don't know,” she said. It is certainly a tough call.”  What would Jesus do?

So has the presence of the lord in her backbone changed her life at all? “My neck does feel better.” Hodge responded. “I don't know if that was Jesus or physical therapy.”

Source: CBS, ABC News 

View a picture of the MRI here

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Figure skating is one of the most popular sports on television.  Figure skating events typically garner higher ratings than even regular season NHL, MLB and NBA games.  For whatever reason, the American public loves to watch the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat on the ice.  Especially popular among viewers is the singles competitions.  The ladies final at the Salt Lake City Olympics was the second highest rated show in Nielsen ratings history.  

The new skating season is just underway and it is destined to be another very exciting year.  Because it is an Olympic year, skaters are working especially hard to hone their skills and the media coverage is sure to be electric.  Michelle Kwan, ’s perennial favorite, is planning yet another run at the elusive gold medal and Timothy Goebel wants to show that his bronze medal in the 2002 Olympics wasn’t just a fluke. 

Along with all of this excitement, this will be the first Olympic season to use the new International Skating Union’s judging system.  The ISU hopes that the new system will eliminate any nasty judging controversies like we saw in the pair’s competition in

Salt
Lake

.  Unfortunately for fans, the new system eliminates the oh-so-exciting possibility of seeing a skater earn a perfect 10.  But, excitement level aside, the new system promises unbiased judging which will undoubtedly have a positive effect on the sport overall.

So, you’re watching the U.S. Nationals on TV, and you see Sasha Cohen leap into the air and twirl around and land upright on one foot.  It looks great to you, but then you hear Dick Button comment that while her takeoff was nice, she under-rotated, causing her to cheat the landing on her triple flip.  What’s that all about?  Well, it’s about the position of her foot when she landed.  But, first, let’s go over the basic jumps.

Jumps

While they may all look similar to the untrained eye, the various jumps that figure skaters perform are all a little different from one another.  It’s all about which foot and edge they start off on and then land on.  The edge refers the edge of the blade that the skater is pressing on either as they take off or land.  So if the skater is gliding along on their left foot and pressing on their outside edge, where the little toe is located, you would notice that they will begin to glide to the left.  Likewise, if they press on their inside edge of the same foot, on the big toe side, they will glide to the right.  Outside edges are generally considered easier to control than inside.

Toe Loop:  The skaterskates backwards on their right foot, pressing the outside edge, then uses thetoe pick of their left skate to propel them upward while they rotate at leastone full revolution to the left then land on the right foot, again pressing onthe outer edge.

Loop
:Skatingbackwards, the skater takes off on the right outside edge, butinsteadof using the toe pick, they simply jump and rotate to the left.  Sometimes they start the jump with their leftfoot crossed over their right as if they are in a semi squatting position.  Then they will land on the right outside backedge.

Flip:  The name ofthis jump is misleading as there is no real flipping going on.  Instead,the skater takes off backwards ontheir left inside edge, and then usesthe toe pick on their right foot topropel them upward while rotating tothe left.This time, the skater will land on the opposite foot from takeoff, theright outside edge.

Lutz:  Thisis verysimilar to the flip jump, but the skater must take off on theleft outside backedge, and then toe pick with the right foot and landon the right outside backedge.  The average viewer may not evennotice the difference between a flip and lutz, but it is a very big deal to thejudges.  Ifthey see that the skaterstarts to do a lutz and then switches to theinside edge just before takeoff,then the skater will be marked down,because they have done what is called a“flutz,” which is a combinationof the flip and the lutz.

Salchow:  Goingbackwards the skatertakes off on their left inside edge and then swings theirright legforward in a wide, sweeping motion, then leaps up and rotates totheleft, landing on the right outside edge.

Axel:  The mostdifficult jump for most skaters is the dreaded axel.  It is harder than the other jumps because theskater actually rotates one and half turns in the air.  This is the only jump you will see skatersbegin from the forward position.  Theskater usually winds up for this jump by skating backwards, then steppingforward onto their left outside edge.Then they leap upwards and rotate one and a half times, landing on theirback outside right edge.

These are the basic big jumps that you will see skaters performin competition.  Often, they willincrease the difficulty of their programs by completing jumps incombination.  For instance, they mayperform a loop, followed immediately by a flip.Ifthey take a step or two in between then it is considered a jumpseriesrather than a jump combination, which is slightly less difficult.

When a skater completes a double toe loop, it just meansthat they have rotated two complete turns in the air.  Today, elite skaters are expected to executetriple jumps and some have even managed to land quadruple jumps.  If you hear a commentator complaining thatthe skater “cheated” the jump, that simply means that they didn’t really do allof the rotating in the air.  Forinstance, they may do two and half rotations, and then slide the final halfturn as they land.  They will lose pointsfor a “cheat.”  Similarly, a skater mayloose points for “two-footing” a landing when they tap their non-landing footon the ice as they land.  You have toreally watch carefully to catch these mistakes, but it can certainly mean thedifference between a silver and a gold medal!

Spins

The other skill set you see skaters performing is their spins.  Like jumps, there are many different types of spins, but to the average fan, they may all look similar.  Again, it’s all about the edges that the skaters are spinning on, along with their body positions.  Here are the basics:

Back and forward spins:  Most right handed skaters spin in a counter-clockwise rotation.  The forward spin is performed on a left forward outside edge, while the back spin is done on a back right outside edge.  It is very difficult to tell which edge they are really spinning on because it looks like they are positioned right in the middle of the blade.  The easiest way to differentiate is to watch how they enter the spin, either forward or backwards. 

Skaters change up their spin difficulty by changing positions and edges as they spin.

Sit spin:  As its name implies, a sit spin is performed while the skater is in a sitting position, usually with one leg out in front. 

Scratch:  This is the classic spin that skaters tend to use as their big finale move at the end of the program.  They spin very fast in a very upright position. 

Layback:  Again, as the name implies, the skater spins upright, then lays way back or to the side, arching their back.

Camel:  The skater spins while elevating their free leg into a horizontal position.  The torso is bent forward as well, forming a sort of “T” with the body.  A flying camel is a regular camel, but the skater jumps into the spin.

Biellmann spin:  Named after Denise Biellmann, who invented it, the spin is like a layback, but the skater catches the free leg with their hands and pulls it up behind their head. 

So, these are the basic spins, but most of the time, youwon’t see an elite skater perform just one of these spins then go on tosomething else.  Instead, they will do acombination of several of the spins.  Forinstance, the skater may begin with a flying camel, transition into to a sitspin, and then finish it as a scratch spin.The difficulty is increased by changing positions, edges and feet, whilemaintaining speed and center.  You’llknow when they are off center because they will start traveling across the ice,rather than staying in one place.  Inorder for a skater to earn full points for a spin, they must complete a minimumnumber of revolutions, usually six.Furthermore, the positions of the skater’s free leg and their arms andback also impact their score on spins.Basically, it should look pretty rather than clunky.

Other Elements

Beyond the big jumps and spins, there are other elementsthat skaters must perform.

Footwork:  When yousee skaters doing intricate steps and quick turns across the ice, it is calledfootwork.  The faster and morecomplicated the steps and turns, the higher the level of difficulty.  Likewise, judges like it when the skaterchanges edges, so that they end up doing a sort of “S” pattern on the icerather than a simple straight line, because it is harder.

Spiral:  Although the usual definition of spiral implies that something is rotating, there is actually no rotation in a spiral.  The spiral is the move where the skater skates on one leg and extends their free leg behind them above their hip level, in much the same position as the camel spin.  However, some of the most impressive spirals are done with the leg being held in a much higher position than the hip.  While this move is relatively simple, it looks great when done well.  Often, skaters will do a series of spirals in which they will change feet or edges.

Spread eagle:  Another relatively simple, yet classic move, the spread eagle is performed by skating in a slightly sideways position with the feet in the open ballet position with toes pointing away from one another.  A spread eagle can be done on either the inside or outside edge, and often skaters will transition from one to the other.

Judging System

After the disaster of the gold medal judging snafu in the pair’s competition in

Salt
Lake

, the ISU has instituted a new, fairer system.  It is no longer the subjective system that allowed for favoritism or even cheating among judges.  For the skaters it is a nice change because they can have some piece of mind that they are being judged on merit and skill and not on extraneous details that they have no control over.  For the fans, the judging system seems complicated and a little anticlimactic.  It was easier to interpret the skaters’ marks in the old system – clearly, a 9.8 out of 10 was good.  Now, they have triple digit scores so who knows what they mean.

To simplify things, it is important to know that each skater earns two scores: the technical score and the program components score. 

The technical score:  Each jump, spin or footwork technique is assigned a base value, according their degree of difficulty.  Depending on how the skater executes the element, they may earn either +3 or -3 points on the base.  So, if an element has a base value of 7 points and the skater performs it perfectly, they may earn 3 more points for a total score of 10 points. 

Program components score:  This is what used to be called the artistic impression score.  It includes five sections:  skating skills, transitions/linking footwork and movement, performance/execution, choreography/composition, interpretation and timing.  The skater is awarded points on a scale of 0-10, in increments of .25 for each component.

In order to get to a final score, the judges add the two scores together.  However, the two scores are not actually a simple sum of the two scores.  The program components score is factored so that the possible technical ability of the ladies and men is equal.  The judges factor it all so that even though the ladies are not yet capable of earning the same technical score of the men, the two scores are worth approximately fifty percent of their total. 

Clearly, the average fan cannot possibly try to keep score from their couch, but they can learn to see what the judges see and be more informed about the technical requirements.  Learn to watch the whole skater, including the blade of the skate.  The edges are the thing that matters most in the technical elements and the artistry and beauty is what matters most in the program components score.

Tune in to ESPN or the regular networks for this season’s exciting season.  Will Sasha Cohen overcome the last few disappointing seasons and overtake Michelle Kwan at the Olympics?  Will Johnny Weir continue his domination of the top of the world podium?  Who knows?  Anything can happen in an Olympic year!