BSR

A question for you or anyone else who has some insight into the internal workings of Swinging Richards: where does all the money go? SRs makes money from cover charges, drink sales, dancer fees, a percentage of VIP privates, and apparently even take a cut of dancers' tips. Just from what they make in alcohol sales, I would think that would be enough revenue to keep a business well in the black. When you add in all their other revenue streams, it has to be an eye-popping sum. So where does all this money go? Are the owners swimming in money like Scrooge McDuck? I can't imagine that's the case because if SRs were that lucrative, people would open up competing venues to get a slice of the pie. Does the city of Atlanta impose all sorts of crazy taxes and fees on a strip club? (that's my guess, but I'd like to hear confirmation) Or does the club incur "unofficial expenses" to maintain good relations with local law enforcement and city government?

I'm totally with you on Massot. Another French figure skater I like is pairs skater Morgan Cipres.

I remember my Catholic schoolboy days when my family would occasionally go out to McDonalds during Lent for Filet O'Fish sandwiches. I thought it was kind of weird going to McDonalds & not ordering hamburgers. Little did I know that McDonalds reports that 25% of Filet O'Fish sandwiches sold in a year are ordered during Lent. Apparently the sandwich was developed back in the 1960s when a franchisee noticed he was losing Catholic customers on Fridays because McDonalds was selling only burgers back then. I hate McD's burgers. They taste weird, can't quite put my finger on it, but it's probably better not to think too much about it. But I do like the Fillet O'Fish. It's a total guilty pleasure.

This video is brilliant I love Italian food in Italy but absolutely despise Italian-American. Back in Boston I always vetoed any suggestions of Italian because almost all Italian restaurants In New England are Italian-American, not authentic Italian. Since most of my friends had never been to Italy and therefore had no idea what the difference was, they thought I was just being a pain. No, Italian-American is awful! Once you've had real Italian, your reaction to Italian-American is like those poor Italianos in the video. Fortunately, there are a couple of excellent authentic Italian restaurants in Las Vegas. They are awfully pricey, however.

Good for him that he got a gig on an American series because Spanish TV/movies don't pay sh*t. He stars in a new series that premieres on Spanish television this Wednesday. I'll be watching it ("La verdad") because it sounds interesting: the granddaughter of Spain's wealthiest banker goes missing as a teenager and reappears nine years later. Who kidnapped her? Where has she been and what has she been doing for the last nine years? But gotta say, I won't tune in for Kortajarena; the guy's really not my type. Interestingly enough, Kortajarena is from Bilbao and speaks Basque, a language spoken by only 750K people in the whole world. I always thought it would be super-cool to speak a language that almost no one else speaks/understands. Put it this way, if he's in a restaurant in LA and speaking Spanish, it's almost certain that someone at a nearby table can eavesdrop on his conversation. But Basque? No way.

I love avocados! Yes, lots of fat, but your system does need some fat, and avocados provide good heart-healthy fat. One of my favorites is avocado ice cream, which has been popular among Filipinos for decades. With the recent avocado craze, avocado ice cream is starting to be a "thing" in foodie circles. I gotta think that putting avocado in ice cream counters whatever health benefits of the avocado. Hey, I never said I ate it for my health; I just love the taste. http://www.flyingfourchette.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Avocado-Ice-Cream-9.jpg

Trust me, I've often wondered what Terry looks like under that tuxedo

I'm pretty sure that Nathan's free skate score is an Olympic record. Nathan placed first in the free skate (long program), almost nine points higher than #2 in the free skate Yuzuru Hanyu (215.08 vs. 206.17). But Nathan ended up only fifth overall because his short program score was a dismal 82.27, which put him in 17th place after the short. Hanyu's short program score was 111.68, and three other skaters each scored more than 100. Nathan was just too far behind to catch up.

I'm just not into boycotting. Don't misunderstand, if you want to boycott a business, more power to ya! It's just not something I get all fired up about. I had Domino's only once. It was surprisingly expensive for what we got, and off the top of my head, it was the worst pizza I've ever had. I'll never patronize Domino's again, because their pizza massively sucks!

Yeah, with a monster 127.64 technical score! Six quads, a couple of hands down on a quad flip, so five clean! Here is the only video I could find. There's an annoying commercial at the beginning, and there's no commentary, but at least you can watch. PS: I love his new hairdo.

This particular reality show was basically a showtune contest. The individual auditioners were put into groups, and the winning group would star in a new West End musical about a fictional boy band. I don't watch much English-language TV any more, but I ended up getting hooked on this show because (of course) some of the contestants were wicked hot. Unfortunately, none of my fave hotties were in the winning group

That's what bothers me most about Rippon. Note the attitudes of the gold and bronze medalists in the men's singles. Yuzuru and Javi both have a salt-of-the-earth humility that makes me love them all the more. Contrast that humility with Rippon's Diva Goddess bearing ... ugh! Yes, Adam's a very good skater. He placed 10th in the men's event (which is exactly where I predicted he would place). If you're the tenth best at something, out of everybody in the whole wide world, that's impressive. But honestly, if gold medalist Hanyu or Nathan Chen, who shattered the Olympic record for the free skate, walked around with Adam's supreme overconfidence, I would be turned off. Coming from the #10 skater, all the more so.

When I heard the news that Brian Boitano came out, I and surely millions others thought, "How do you 'come out' if everybody on Planet Earth already knows you're gay?"

Please tell me I'm not alone in noting the irony that "Gay Figure Skater" is actually a headline??

If you love pizza, then never ever move to Las Vegas. After living in Boston for so long (it's not all clam chowdah in Boston, they have some truly great pizza), I went into pizza deprivation here in Las Vegas. OMG, the pizza here is AWFUL!! It's like cardboard, ketchup, and Kraft American singles. Las Vegas is actually a great foodie town for almost every cuisine and taste, except pizza. After more than a decade here, I finally found a great pizzeria, run by a guy from New Jersey who knows what real pizza is. I don't miss the winters in Boston or the cost of living in NYC (lived in Manhattan for 3 years), but I sure as hell miss the almost limitless choices for great pizza.

Come on, this isn't 1890. In the 21st century, everybody pretty much expects figure skaters to be gay! Gay! GAY! And Johnny is only flamboyant off camera, like in his social media accounts. When he's doing commentary, he gets down to brass tacks and provides some great insights.

I'm already swooning. That free skate ... OMG ... Nathan is the Stud God of Figure Skating!! Nathan has already said that he's retiring after this season and plans to go to Harvard. Mind you, that's before he bombed in the short and missed the podium. Maybe his fifth place finish will spark the desire to stay in it. It seems crazy for an 18-year-old kid to retire. By the way, it's not quite over for Nathan this year. Now that he laid down the gauntlet with an eye-popping six quads in the free skate, the Nathan vs. Yuzuru battle is ON!

There were only three legitimate teams in the team event, and Team USA won the bronze. Not exactly a towering achievement, but a medal is a medal is a medal. Adam's bronze should cement his future in figure skating, whether as a coach, commentator, or in ice shows.

Thanks, latbear4blk! One day, when I finally get around to my bucket-list trip way down south, I'm sure these resources will be invaluable.

I missed the short program live and had to watch it on tape. Because I already knew the results, it took me a long time to bring myself to watch Nathan's short because I knew it was a disaster. Oh boy, was it ever. You almost have to expect the step-out of the triple axel, but not the fall on the quad lutz and the spin-out of the quad toe. Eek! he couldn't even complete a combination, to plunge his score even lower. It really bums me out because he's improved his PCS so much. Yes, Nathan has a tremendous future as a figure skater, but I don't know how long he intends to stay in the sport. I know he wants to go to Harvard; he might have already been accepted. Other skaters manage to go to college full-time and keep up their skating, but it's awfully tough. I'm not sure Nathan can handle a Harvard course load and compete as a world-class figure skater at the same time.

I used to be pretty lukewarm about pairs. Honestly, I thought pairs was for skaters who weren't good enough to cut it in singles. But lately, the pairs are doing the most unbelievable lifts - beautiful, difficult, and fraught with risk. It's become my second favorite event after the men's. I'm with you about ice dancing. I actually used to like it, but honestly, you couldn't pay me to watch it now.

In reference to another thread about guys with small cocks, lemme say that I couldn't give half a flying sh*t if Chris Mazdzer were hung or not. That body, that face, that fur ... mmmmmmmm ... plus it looks like he has a really goofy sense of humor, which makes him all the sexier.

OK, that makes sense. The team event sells more tickets, and it gives the Winter Olympics a couple more days of figure skating, one of the highest rated sports. The men's short had ten skaters, but five countries got chopped, so only five teams even competed in the free skate. Because Hanyu didn't skate in the team event, the Japanese team picked some scrub to skate the free. OMG, out of his maximum eight jumping passes, he did two double salchows, not in combination with a triple or a quad mind you, just plain double salchows. In a "competition" *cough* for Olympic gold, a skater is doing double salchows? Ten-year-olds do double salchows! The level of skating in this team event is a pathetic joke! But as you pointed out, I'm sure the TV ratings in Japan were sky-high for this team "competition" *cough* which is all the IOC and ISU care about.

Here's your favorite constantly argumentative board member, back again World-class singles skaters, ice dance pairs, or pairs teams don't just spring up overnight. Skating is an incredibly expensive sport, with very little financial reward. This hostile financial reality makes it extremely difficult to develop top skaters, which means it will always be difficult for nations to field a legitimate team, i.e., a team with decent representatives in all four disciplines.

Remember back to your schoolboy days, when teachers gave partial credit on essay tests? Well, that's kind of how it works in skating. Prior to 2010, the point value for a successful quad wasn't that high whereas the penalty for falling on a quad attempt was quite severe. Because of the controversy of quad-less Lysacek's victory over two-quad Plushenko, the point values for quads were increased, and even botched quads (under-rotations, step-outs, two-foot landings, and falls) were given "partial credit." The scoring change sparked the quad boom that we're seeing today. Those in favor of the scoring change argue that the "partial credit" point values have allowed the sport to evolve. Opponents argue that they place too much value on quads at the expense of everything else. I think a compromise needs to be worked out because the old system discouraged anyone from even attempting quad jumps while the new system encourages the splat-fests you see at too many competitions. The ISU will re-evaluate the point values at the end of this season. Besides the controversies of the scoring system, skating is very much a reputation sport. The skaters with strong results, like defending gold medalist and world champion Yuzuru Hanyu, get propped up in the judges' scores whereas skaters without the stellar resumes, like Adam Rippon, must fight an uphill battle. The new scoring system (point values vs. the old 6.0 system) was supposed to eliminate "reputation scoring," but nothing changed really. Frankly, even without the handicap of reputation scoring, Adam has almost no chance because his level of technical difficulty is so far below the Big Six, the six skaters considered the top contenders for a spot on the podium. I'm hoping that Adam scores a moral victory by finally landing a clean quad lutz in the free skate because he's never landed one in competition.