Wheres My Koppy's Blog
Random Thoughts on Random...Stuff!
Politics, Religion, Sports, Johnny Weir, Causes I Support, Almost Anything...
And you KNOW you want to read it, right?
Josh Groban 'O Holy Night' (Josh has a beautiful voice, but he doesn't hit the notes the way Michael does.)
Bruce Springsteen 'Santa Claus is Coming to Town'
I think this is the version we've gotten used to hearing Bruce Springstseen sing on the radio. It was done at CW Post College back in 1975. I did see him do it live once, at a concert November 25, 1984 at Reunion Arena in Dallas, Texas. I love it!
I've always said I would love to see a good rock version of 'The Little Drummer Boy', with an awesome drum solo. One was done a number of years ago, but I can NOT remember who sang it, so I can't really even look for it.
I heard a punk rock type version of 'Silent Night' about twenty five years ago. It was great, but again, I can NOT remember who sang it, so I really can't even look for it!
Believe it or not I learned this song in Latin back in the Dark Ages. But I doubt seriously if any of us even came close to sounding remotely like Pavarotti!
I want to formally announce that I will not compete in the upcoming season. I have dreamt of returning to competition for the upcoming season, but due to many obligations in my professional life, I will not be able to devote enough time to my training and my representation of the United States in international competition.
I realize that a huge percentage of my fan base is awaiting my return to the competitive ice and I beg your pardon for not fulfilling your wishes this year. I do not want any of my fans to lose hope as I am still on the ice, still training hard whenever my schedule permits. I still have a very competitive attitude, and after one more year off the competitive ice, I hope to return, and my team and I are already taking a very rigid approach to my schedule in 2012 so that I will have proper time to train for the figure skating high season.
I have had many big successes in my professional life since my performance at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, and I continue to strive for perfection in every aspect of my public life. I wake up every day and go to sleep every night hoping that I’ve made my fans around the world proud with whatever I am doing, whether it’s a skating show, a public appearance, or a new episode of my TV show. I would be nothing without my thousands of fans around the world, and I hope I can continue to make you proud. I will be back on the ice, competing for you, very soon.
In the meantime, my fans can look forward to my collaborations with MAC cosmetics and eDressMe.com; “Spectacular,” an ice concert I am creating for this fall; a new season of my hit reality show, Be Good Johnny Weir, on Logo; and of course skating around the world in exhibition performances.
I’d like to thank my many fans across the globe for your continued support and faith in me. No matter what, my eyes are still firmly fixed on Sochi and the 2014 Olympic Games.
Thank you.
Johnny G. Weir
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I am looking forward to all the things Johnny has mentioned! It must have been a difficult, even agonizing decision for him to make to take another year off from competition. But he has to do what is best for him, and right now he has to take the opportunities that are coming his way. He may never have another chance to do so! I support him in whatever he chooses to do; it is his life!
Updated June 12, 2011 with two links and two photos! Also, this information is a bit late (it is also available in the included links to the LA Pride Website and parade), but the parade can be watched live in two places: via West Hollywood Channel Ten or via the live webcast at this link!
Johnny Weir has attached his name to a Gay Pride celebration for the first time. L.A. Pride 2011 is actually a three day event beginning Friday June 10th and continuing through Saturday and Sunday with a two day festival and parade. Sunday June 12th Johnny will ride a float down Santa Monica Boulevard in West Hollywood as Grand Marshal of Christopher Street West's 41st annual Pride parade.
A few days ago I started to have some random thoughts about the best figure skating performances from the Olympics. 'Best' is often a matter of opinion, though some performances seem to transcend mere 'opinion'. Then I started to think about 'favorite' as opposed to 'best', as in what I like personally. I decided I would come up with ten, and I quickly started a list. I easily came up with seven and then slowed down a little at that point; therefore I decided to post seven of my 'favorites' and then give out a few honorable mentions.
I love figure skating, and I have been a fan of the sport for a number of years. There are a number of skaters I like, some I love, and there have been a number of wonderful performances over the years, some of them quite unexpected. Some skaters may have given an overall good performance but not had that one great performance that sticks in the fan's mind even a number of years later. Some skaters may have won a medal, even a gold, but not given anything even close to their best performance while doing it. For example, Scott Hamilton has been more than candid over the years since his 1984Olympic Gold Medal in Sarajevo about the fact he had not given his best performance in the long program (video).
Even though over twenty three years have passed since this performance it is STILL my all time favorite, hands down! Even Johnny Weir's stunningly beautiful performance in Vancouver could not eclipse Brian Boitano's gold medal winning free skate for me. Boitano did what so few skaters have been able to do; he gave the performance of a lifetime on the night he needed it the most and won the gold medal in the best way possible. There have been some who have claimed over the years he only won due to Sandra Bezic's choreography; however that simply is not true. It does not matter who your coach or choreographer is, if you do not have it in you to give the performance you are truly capable of giving then you never will give it no matter who is helping you prepare.
Klimova and Ponomarenko are the only skaters with a full set of medals at the Olympics. The pair won a bronze in 1984, a silver in 1988 and became Olympic champions in 1992 At Albertville, France. Due to the politics of how ice dancing used to be judged they knew going in they would almost certainly win the gold medal. However they did not rest on their laurels and performed a beautiful and breathtaking free dance that left little doubt they deserved the gold medal.
To many fans it almost seems like Torvill and Dean practically invented ice dancing. Of course that is not the case, however when you watch this gold medal winning piece of perfection you understand why and how they were able to help popularize dance so much with so many people.
I know some people don't care for Nancy and don't think she deserved the gold in Lillehammer. I, however, disagree. Nancy won the silver but I believe she deserved the gold. She skated beautifully in Norway and no one can ever take that away from her.
When Tanith and Ben skated out on to the ice in Torino the arena was basically dead with the audience lacking energy. There had been an accident with one dance pair and the eventual gold medalists had skated a lackluster free dance that included mistakes. Tanith and Ben skated a clean, energetic and beautifully choreographed program that won them a silver medal, though I believe they should have won the gold. As a commentator later said regarding Tanith and Ben's performance, "They brought the energy back into the building."
'Fallen Angel' video link Source Two posted by tarrelond
I don't think I even have to comment on why this program is included amongst my favorites other than it is here. Enough said. The fact Weir did not win a medal is, well, it is just plain WRONG!
Few skaters ever had more fun out on the ice than Candeloro did. This program was not flawless, but it was clever and well choreographed and it earned Candeloro his first of two consecutive Olympic bronze medals.
So what do you all think of my choices? Please feel free to comment below!
Please see also my friend Misfit Mimes Blog Ganbatte! (Please order a T-shirt and #HelpJapan!)
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Johnny Weir has teamed up with designer Tadashi Shoji to design a tee shirt in support of Japanese earthquake relief efforts. All proceeds from sales of the tee shirts will go to the Japanese Red Cross Society.
Read the article 'We Believe In You' Japan Relief Tee Shirt at Johnny's website! The article also includes a link to the above video, photos and instructions on how to order the shirt.
There are a number of legitimate organizations with honest and forthright intentions to help the victims of the recent earthquakes and subsequent tsunamis that have hit Japan, New Zealand, Tonga, Myanmar, Burma and other places (as well as other recent disasters in several locations). (Tsunamis also hit areas of the United States such as parts of Hawaii, Oregon and California, though the damage and loss of life was nowhere near that of Japan.)
There are also a lot of scammers out there. Whatever you can do to help, whatever amount you can afford, whether it is to purchase one of these tee shirts or something else, please do whatever you can. Anything helps, and if you can not contribute money there are also organizations who may be able to take goods that you can provide or even that you have on hand and are not using. Simply be sensible and careful, and if you are not familiar with the organization there are many ways they can be checked out prior to a donation being made. If you have any doubts about any appeal for help or donations send your contribution to another organization you feel you can trust. If you are suspicious of any links you are presented with simply type the organization's URL into your browser yourself.
On June 18th, I will perform at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio to help raise awareness and funding for breast cancer research.
If you can, Come see me!!! If you can't, join me here and make a donation! I'm reaching out to my fans to join me in raising $10,000 for cancer research! If you can help, any and all donations are appreciated.
If each of my facebook friends donate $1 together we will raise over $50,000 for cancer research!!!
If you can donate $50, SFH will thank you by mailing you a copy of my SFH poster.
If you can donate $100, I will autograph this poster in June and SFH will mail it to you after the show!
All gifts are tax deductible so let's help find a cure!
Update and video added April 4th:
The television show Cake Boss on TLC chronicles the family run Carlos Bakery of Hoboken, New Jersey and the cakes they make, many of them extreme. First run episodes are on Monday nights; and the Monday March 28th episode showcased bakery owner Buddy Valastro and his employees (several of them family members) making seven cakes for Isaac Mizrahi's show during New York Fashion Week. Isaac appears several times during the show, and there are also four glimpses of Johnny Weir near the end of the Cake Boss episode. All of the appearances are only a few seconds long and all of them are during the last five minutes of the episode. The first glimpse is before the show begins with a glimpse of Johnny standing with his agent Tara Modlin; the second is a quick shot of the cakes being paraded down the runway with Johnny clearly visible in the front row; the third is at the end of the fashion show where Isaac walks down the runway to applause and waves at Johnny; and the fourth and last glimpse is as the credits roll Johnny and Isaac pose for photographs.
Here are video clips of Isaac's episode of Cake Boss (no Johnny):
A source for the full episode of Cake Boss here!
Another source for the full episode here!
I have provided a few sources; however there are many more articles, interviews and photos than are included here. There are also many more articles, photos and videos on the Blogs I wrote for the individual shows Johnny either walked in or skated in.
