virtuous

Whew, so Guin and I are home at last after our whirlwind trip to Toronto. We'd bought tickets months ago for the Greenbelt Harvest Picnic music festival in Dundas, Ontario, so we were planning to be in the area this weekend anyway -- the plan was to drive to the Toronto area on Friday to attend the concert on Saturday.

But when we heard T&S would be skating at The Ex, we decided to drive to Buffalo on Thursday night after work and take the GO train from Oakville to the CNE on Friday morning (we refuse to drive in TO traffic ever again, heh).

And that's what we did -- thankfully, everything went smoothly and we made it to the train station just in time. The train dumped us off right at the entrance to The Ex, and we headed straight for the Ricoh Coliseum. We found it right away, then shopped a bit and wandered to get some lunch, and then we settled in to wait for the doors to open (which was supposed to happen an hour before the show started). Others wandered by, and a few people gathered around with us. It was a long wait. A loooong wait.

Anybody here ever see the claim-staking scene at the end of "Far and Away"?? When they opened those doors, it was just like that as people jostled to get good seats. Guin and I ended up on the end, at the side of the VIP section (next to the VIPs, not with them), which was perfect because that was the "front" side. This was the first time we ever got to see T&S facing the "right" way, which was great. We were so happy with the seats that we insisted on sitting in the same place for the second show of the day.

The way the curtains were set up, about four inches above the ice, you could see the skaters' feet whooshing by behind them as they warmed up. It was fun to watch and speculate from afar which skates might belong to T&S. Can you imaging sharing ice with those two? I don't know how those other skaters could handle it.

The show was amazing, of course. T&S completely stole it, also of course, and they made everything look way too easy. The edges, the lifts, the chemistry -- they were perfection, as always. No falls this time, whew!

I'd contacted the CNE beforehand to make sure my fancy camera would be allowed inside the show (since we were leaving our car in Oakville, if they didn't let me in for some reason I'd be stuck unable to attend the show with Guin!), so I knew it wouldn't be a problem. Sadly, the lighting was so wonky that the only pics that came out from the first show were of Tessa shaking hands with VIPs at the end of the show.



It was an amazing day, and we're so glad we got to go. Of course, when we got back to the hotel in the evening, we discovered that we'd forgotten the USB cable to get the photos off the camera!



More pics here: virtue & moir at the CNE - 31 aug 2012 - a set on Flickr

V., who is beyond exhausted now and will probably go back to lurking again ...

ann29

Thanks, everyone, for your reviews and photos of the CNE!

Thief Of Love

Thanks for your photos and report, V.! Glad you and Guin had such a great time.

Here's a fan recording of one of the last two performances:

fsfan1

Thank you for photos and video!
Look like they were ON at last show. Happy - this all went tpo the end?
I think this exibition look much better in simply outfit. Or they improve it a lot since last time i saw it.

dtwyyz

Thanks for the pics and videos from the CNE...now onto the high performance camp...not expecting much...but you never know if V/M will stick around Toronto a little longer for the Toronto Film Festival or the annual Audi Best Buddies gala...if not at least we have Finlandia...hahaha

fsfan1

I saw someone post Tessas photo from Ottawa September 1 or 2, dont remember.

Full Hearts

Thanks for your report and the pics, V!

It sounds like it was a fun time!

TygerTyger711

5th page? That is no place for Tessa & Scott. Can't wait to see the new programs. What weekend is Finlandia? Will it be broadcast on any North American sports networks or are we just hoping for the wonderful stream from last year?

Meyers

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virtue moir | Tumblr

aabf

cuuute pic

binker

hay guys did pj just confirm carmen? she is livetweeting the music choices so far we have nothing https://twitter.com/skatingpj



if v/m do dance to carmen, i have to say that its probably time that they should work with someone else or stay with marina and collaborate with someone else (because it is a little late to get a new coach since olympics are next year) i think they are getting too good for canton and i feel that marina keeps on downplaying they're strength even if she's politicking

i am honestly prepared to see them lose - i think thats what marina wants and im aware that she is politicking and tbh if scott says something stupid about losing this year i will honestly believe he is acting. i think they're aware of what marina is trying to do. i just believe that they're capable of doing something better

outside edge

Huh?

binker

marina is obviously politicking. she is downplaying their strengths this year so they have a better chance to win the olympics next year. she did the same thing in 2009.

Meyers

I figure (assuming that the all-but-confirmed Carmen, actually is Carmen) that whoever leaked it either did them a great favour, or was a well planned "leak". After all, it's been, what, two months since the rumor started, and by this time, people have gone through the five stages of grief (!) all the way to acceptance. Denial, anger, bargaining (maybe it's the SD!), depression, acceptance. So, even if they don't like it, by now the surprise, shock, etc. has worn off to the point where the announcement of their FD is really just an already-known fact. Can you imagine the uproar if the first time we knew it was Carmen was them performing it at HPC?

ETA PJ's latest tweet:
Pj Kwong‏@skatingpj
Virtue/Moir SD - gorgeous waltz composed by (actor) Anthony Hopkins!! (Who knew?) FD is Carmen - confirmed

Music starts at about 3:30

binker

*grabs tinfoil hat* maybe marina/ someone from the camp leaked it on purpose?