Saturday, November 27, 2010

Nautilus goes digital

Nautilus magazine goes digital and my name is right there on the cover. :) I have no idea what criteria they used to sort the names of the writers featured in the prose section, but you won't hear me complain. Yes, the magazine is still free and the on-line version is still there, only now it's so much easier to read it. Current issue can be downloaded here and here.

And guess what? I love the cover art.

Good job, guys!

Monday, November 22, 2010

2010 Ice and Fire: Alexei Yagudin - The One Who Was With Me



Blown away like each time they're on the dancefloor.

Bonnie Bennett and her possible suitors (TVD)

(Written before The Vampire Diaries episode 2.9. Katerina was aired, but that wouldn't have changed a thing. No, I don't like Luka. :P)

Bonnie: Who has time for boyfriends when it rains death all over Mystic Falls? *grumbles and goes back to her spell book*

Bonnie is a very interesting and underrated character in my opinion. She was introduced as Elena’s best friend, developed into a witch and then kinda stagnated there.

Bonnie: It takes a long time to learn how to cast a spell properly and there are so many of them… *whines*

With all the things going on, we still don’t know that much about her other than her interaction with Elena and her friends and all the problems they have to deal with.

Bonnie: I told you, not enough time! *buries nose back into the book*

A romantic interest would help us discover another side of Bonnie, hopefully making her a fully fleshed out character.

Bonnie: Meh… who cares?... busy here…

It would also give the girl some time to relax and a break from all the spell casting.

Bonnie: Pah!... Did you say break? *looks up and listens intently*

So the question is who would be more appropriate for her and capable of making her happy.

Bonnie: Happy… *sighs as she hasn’t been happy since Grams died*

It can either be one of the guys we already know or someone new. Let’s take a look at the available suitors. Damon…

Bonnie: I hate him! *glowers*

…would probably make a kick ass pair with Bonnie, I can easily imagine them raising hell all over Mystic Falls, but I have to agree with her for the simple, selfish reason that the two of them are way too entertaining when they are at odds with each other and I would hate to lose that. Besides, Damon needs one of the ‘good guys’ to be able to keep him in line.

Bonnie: Thank you! *smirks*

Stefan now…

Bonnie: He’s alright… as a friend… I guess…

…he’s got Elena and there’s little chance for him to give her up. Unless he does it for Katherine, in which case Bonnie has my permission to fry him the way she tried to do to Damon.

Bonnie: Really? *arches an eyebrow*

Of course not, just kidding. Moving on… Since we’re done with the vampires (at least the ones we know at this point, and I don’t think she should hook up with one of the Original Vampires who are over 500+ years old)…

Bonnie: *shudders*

…I think we should explore her other supernatural options. No, I’m not talking about Supernatural, I’ll keep those boys for myself, thank you very much.

Bonnie: At least they’re human. *grumbles*

Unfortunately, Tyler has too much on his plate at the moment with the whole werewolf turning thing, and I don’t think Bonnie would put up with his mood swings. She knows way too many cool spells that can put a muzzle on that pup’s snout.

Bonnie: *smirks a little, still pretending she’s not paying attention to the conversation*

Since Uncle Mason is dead and gone, this leaves us with the human characters on the show. Alaric is too old…

Bonnie: Oh, please… I’m so not pulling a Lana Lang!

…and poor Jenna is in desperate need of a strong Van Helsing type of guy to protect her from all the evil forces out there.

Bonnie: *nods in full agreement*







Bonnie: Ahem… *coughs* Hello? Still there?

Sorry, got distracted thinking about Van Helsing… with less hair.

Bonnie: He’s a good guy, he kills vampires. You’re forgiven. Please continue.

OK, the next one in line is Matt.

Bonnie: So first he was with Elena, then with Caroline… and you want him to hook up with me next? Since when are we playing musical chairs in TVD? I thought fans were asking for a musical episode… *scrunches forehead*

Wait, let me finish first. Much like Jenna, Matt is the only regular guy who doesn’t have a clue about what’s going on. Instead of helping and supporting her, he would give poor Bonnie even more work and headaches.

Bonnie: Hear, hear. *nods repeatedly*

And I doubt Caroline would get her hands off him that easily. She and Bonnie have just become friends again, sort of, let’s not ruin that. So the only one left is Jeremy.

Bonnie: But he’s Elena’s little brother… sure, he looks good in a tux, and his biceps are filling nicely, but he’s like my little brother too. *confused*

They are cute together and I would have no problem if they got involved, but I think Bonnie would. Jeremy is a young man still at the beginning of his self-discovery journey, and he is more lost than she is in more ways than one. He can be supportive, but he will also need a lot of help in order to become the adult he is meant to be and fulfill his potential. This is not the type of complication Bonnie really needs in her life right now.

Bonnie: She has a point. *pensive look*

Did I forget anyone?

Bonnie: I don’t think so. *long sigh* That’s it. I’m supposed to remain single for the rest of my life… probably turn into a nun, join a convent or something. *shrugs*

Come on, we shouldn’t be so pessimistic, there’s always hope for someone nice to show up in the future.

Bonnie: Like who? *trying not to pout*

Like… someone close in age…

Bonnie: Not bad.

…with strong beliefs and life values that match Bonnie’s…

Bonnie: That’s always important!

… someone strong…

Bonnie: That’s nice. *smiles* Can he have a full six pack? *grins widely*

Well, alright, but I was thinking more of the likes of someone who has already gone through the whole self discovery teenage drama, someone who knows who he is, where he stands, where he wants to end up and how to get there…

Bonnie: Ah, that… okay, that should work too.

…preferably already in the loop regarding all supernatural things so the writers won’t have to repeat themselves when they clue Matt or Jenna in, assuming they will do it at some point.

Bonnie: Word.

And it wouldn’t hurt if he had some powers too that he could use to protect both of them and help her friends too in order to relieve some pressure off her shoulders.

Bonnie: And I thought no one understood me. *sighs*

He should be nice to her, supportive and understanding when it comes to her magic…

Bonnie: Yes, please. *pleading*

…someone she can rely on, someone who’s around to stay, who can be her rock…

Bonnie: *swoons dreamily and falls in a heap on the floor*

…and, most important, someone who really loves her.

Bonnie: I want a boyyyfriiieeeeeeennnnnddd!!!

Sunday, November 21, 2010

2010 Cup of Russia

18-21.11.2010
Moscow, Russia

Full Results

Men

FPl.NameNationPointsSPFS
1Tomas VERNER

CZE
230.3131
2Patrick CHAN

CAN
227.2112
3Jeremy ABBOTT

USA
217.2124
4Samuel CONTESTI

ITA
207.3093
5Alban PREAUBERT

FRA
204.6855
6Artur GACHINSKI

RUS
202.9447
7Yuzuru HANYU

JPN
202.6666
8Ivan TRETIAKOV

RUS
189.85108
9Javier FERNANDEZ

ESP
184.06810
10Konstantin MENSHOV

RUS
181.15712
11Tatsuki MACHIDA

JPN
177.01129
12Anton KOVALEVSKI

UKR
175.541111


Ladies

FPl.NameNationPointsSPFS
1Miki ANDO

JPN
174.4751
2Akiko SUZUKI

JPN
172.7412
3Ashley WAGNER

USA
167.0233
4Agnes ZAWADZKI

USA
153.7828
5Valentina MARCHEI

ITA
153.7164
6Sofia BIRYUKOVA

RUS
153.0545
7Ksenia MAKAROVA

RUS
150.4586
8Myriane SAMSON

CAN
144.3279
9Alena LEONOVA

RUS
144.0697
10Elena GLEBOVA

EST
131.201010


Pairs

FPl.NameNationPointsSPFS
1Yuko KAVAGUTI / Alexander SMIRNOV

RUS
182.7011
2Narumi TAKAHASHI / Mervin TRAN

JPN
165.4723
3Amanda EVORA / Mark LADWIG

USA
162.8542
4Katarina GERBOLDT / Alexander ENBERT

RUS
160.4234
5Paige LAWRENCE / Rudi SWIEGERS

CAN
154.6755
6Stefania BERTON / Ondrej HOTAREK

ITA
150.8576
7Britney SIMPSON / Nathan MILLER

USA
145.7867
8Tatiana NOVIK / Mikhail KUZNETSOV

RUS
136.8588


Ice Dance

FPl.NameNationPointsSDFD
1Ekaterina BOBROVA / Dmitri SOLOVIEV

RUS
154.3311
2Nora HOFFMANN / Maxim ZAVOZIN

HUN
142.0933
3Elena ILINYKH / Nikita KATSALAPOV

RUS
134.7962
4Kristina GORSHKOVA / Vitali BUTIKOV

RUS
127.4744
5Lucie MYSLIVECKOVA / Matej NOVAK

CZE
123.7075
WDFederica FAIELLA / Massimo SCALI

ITA
2
WDMadison HUBBELL / Keiffer HUBBELL

USA
5
WDAlexandra PAUL / Mitchell ISLAM

CAN
8

Monday, November 15, 2010

2010 Skate America

11-14.11.2010
Portland, USA

Full Results


Men

FPl.NameNationPointsSPFS
1Daisuke TAKAHASHI

JPN
227.0721
2Nobunari ODA

JPN
226.0912
3Armin MAHBANOOZADEH

USA
211.1743
4Adam RIPPON

USA
203.1237
5Daisuke MURAKAMI

JPN
203.0054
6Kevin VAN DER PERREN

BEL
194.6385
7Adrian SCHULTHEISS

SWE
188.2079
8Shawn SAWYER

CAN
186.62116
9Stephen CARRIERE

USA
184.20108
10Nan SONG

CHN
180.10910
11Denis TEN

KAZ
176.11611
12Viktor PFEIFER

AUT
162.471212


Ladies

FPl.NameNationPointsSPFS
1Kanako MURAKAMI

JPN
164.9322
2Rachael FLATT

USA
162.8641
3Carolina KOSTNER

ITA
154.8716
4Joshi HELGESSON

SWE
146.9035
5Amelie LACOSTE

CAN
146.6864
6Viktoria HELGESSON

SWE
142.26123
7Elene GEDEVANISHVILI

GEO
139.3687
8Mae Berenice MEITE

FRA
137.0578
9Caroline ZHANG

USA
132.49510
10Jenna MCCORKELL

GBR
127.76119
11Min-Jeong KWAK

KOR
125.211011
12Alexe GILLES

USA
122.46912


Pairs

FPl.NameNationPointsSPFS
1Aliona SAVCHENKO / Robin SZOLKOWY

GER
197.7011
2Kirsten MOORE-TOWERS / Dylan MOSCOVITCH

CAN
175.4822
3Wenjing SUI / Cong HAN

CHN
170.0743
4Caydee DENNEY / Jeremy BARRETT

USA
166.4234
5Ksenia STOLBOVA / Fedor KLIMOV

RUS
159.4956
6Marissa CASTELLI / Simon SHNAPIR

USA
153.3375
7Felicia ZHANG / Taylor TOTH

USA
126.7067
8Stacey KEMP / David KING

GBR
115.9288


Ice Dance

FPl.NameNationPointsSDFD
1Meryl DAVIS / Charlie WHITE

USA
156.6811
2Vanessa CRONE / Paul POIRIER

CAN
149.0822
3Maia SHIBUTANI / Alex SHIBUTANI

USA
144.8143
4Kaitlyn WEAVER / Andrew POJE

CAN
142.3434
5Ekaterina RIAZANOVA / Ilia TKACHENKO

RUS
137.1455
6Lynn KRIENGKRAIRUT / Logan GIULIETTI-SCHMITT

USA
130.7266
7Cathy REED / Chris REED

JPN
113.3987
8Penny COOMES / Nicholas BUCKLAND

GBR
111.2978
9Stefanie FROHBERG / Tim GIESEN

GER
104.1899