my personality, though exciting and full of personality, isn't exactly low-maintenance.

I finished this one a few days ago, and just haven't gotten around to posting it.

 

I've been pumping the videos out, you see, because I've had an extraordinary amount of free time on my hands.  But that all changes tomorrow.  Why, you ask??  Because the NEW SIMS comes out!!!  Priorities people. 

Anywho, the video was another goofy one.  I absolutely LOVED Weird Al back in the day.  Like, I didn't even know the real songs, I just knew the Al versions (Amish Paradise anyone?)  I also did a class project with my BFF in 6th grade to "The White Stuff."  We brought Oreos and everything.  We got A's, obvs.

Yes, since Pav's been gone, things have kind of gone to crap.  Regardless of her success (or lack thereof) Anna was one of the most beautiful gymnasts of the past decade.  She reminds me of why I love to watch gym.

I am totally rooting for her ultimate comeback, because in her absence, everyone else looks like crap.

i sound like someone put tap shoes on a horse and shot it.

I have a very short attention span.

I wanted to do a montage that I could finish relatively quickly.  I figured it was also a good time to goof around with some random effects that I'm no good at.  Plus, Pac Rim had some super cute fluff footage.  By the way, this song is stuck in my head at ALL TIMES.

Now it shall be stuck in yours.

what is your problem? it's just a moist towelette!

Can we talk about this?

What the crap??  This really frosts my cookies.  Do you have zero reflexes?  Are you trying to avoid getting another Euros-like deduction?  Or are you just being a big dumb douche?  WHY ARE YOU PRETENDING YOU'RE JESUS?? 

After she falls, he stands like that for another, oh, I'd say ten seconds.  He doesn't budge.  Then he grabs her, and props her back on her hurt leg.

This is all so wrong.  Injuries suck in general.  But getting injured while your coach is being an asshat must suck an extra amount. 

you look terrible. i look awesome.

I'm a little late for WTF WEDNESDAY.  My bad.  I wish I could say it was because I was busy, or had something really mega important to do.  That was not the case.  I'm just lazy.

This is just a random mishmash of wtfs.  For whatever reason, Youtube is getting off on not recommending me anything gym related.  It's like, geez, can't a girl watch one video on Greyson Chance or Westboro "Baptist" Church (rage stroke) without getting four billion recommendations regarding those two topics?  Yeeshk.

So here we are.

 
I love Yang Bo.  I watch literally billions of videos of her every day.  Did I want to mow people down with a tank when she fell off beam every time?  Yes I did.  So I get that.

I don't know what a shuttlecock is.  Don't really care.  I just like the word.  Shuttlecock.

I should have checked into which exact video from the 1996 Olympics they were referring to with the Love me CHOU CHOU creepy baby toy.  I can only assume something Romanian.  (Get it???  CHOO CHOO.  I'm so funny.)

Perhaps it is that same video that led us to the Magic Bowl Potty Training clip.  1996 Olympics = potty training?  Not so much.  Sydney, yes.  Atlanta, no.

so you like show tunes. it doesn't mean you're gay. it just means you're awful.

Anna Li saw my UCLA montage.

Anna Li liked my UCLA montage.


WOGA also had my Hollie Vise montage on their website for a hot minute, but then they replaced it with a similar one done by that iLitter guy who actually knows what he's doing.  So screw you iLitter guy.  Just kidding.  I secretly love him. 

Still feel pretty cool though.  That is all.

at least i don't have to listen to his stupid theories on how super mario brothers changed civilization.

And yet, another montage.

Maybe I need a break or something.  I'm just not feeling so motivated.  I keep starting them, and then scrapping them.  And what I do finish, I'm not thrilled with.  Like this one.  I like it an appropriate amount, but... meh.  I'm just no good with slower videos.  But it's like, what, am I just NOT going to make a montage to the Glee version of "Dream On"?  As if. 

Whatever.  Here it is.

It's just sort of a mishmash of people who have been/are in the running for the next few years.  I'm generally not a huge fan of videos with long, drawn out clips of routines we've all seen a billion times, but I ended up using them anyway.  It was also hard to find videos that matched the intensity of the song, you know?  The most exciting thing I could find was Nastia winning, and while that was thrilling and all, it was almost two years ago.  In the words of Eddie Murphy/Janet Jackson:

 "What have you done for me lately?"

I want something new, something thrilling.  I waited for the NBC Pac Rim coverage, but then I remembered that nothing exciting happened there either.  So what's a girl with no life to do?

More Glee montages.  Probably.

you can't feed a child sheet music. i suppose you could, but they'd be dead in a month.

The hair.

THE HAIR. 

I know I picked on mostly NCAA girls last time, but rest assured, the problem does not solely lay within the collegiate ranks.  It transcends borders.

Case in point:

Nicole Hibbert.

I'm not going to lie.  I teared up a little bit while watching the team final for this year's Euros.  GB was so excited, the commentators were so excited, I was excited.  It was one of the first exciting team finals in a long time, and they absolutely deserved their placement.

But this...

THIS!

I'm a Jew, I have a lot of hair.  So the difficulties involving thick buns are not lost on me (hint: LOTS of pins and scalp pain.) 

It's not the Parkette's cornrows.  They're tacky, but whatever, they work.  They keep hair out of the face, and that is always good.  What kills me is the mile-high bun on top of the head.  Aside from turning a very pretty girl (Hibbert is gorgeous, for the record) into one of my pre-makeover gymnastics barbies, doesn't it also, like, eff with her aerodynamics?  It's like if I tried to vault while wearing one of Lady Gaga's top hats on my head.

It would be significantly harder, I would think.

And that's all I have to say about that.

i've grown weary of your insults. they sting. and they make me want to punch your face.

Another rousing edition of ...

WTF WEDNESDAY

Kind of light this week.  For several reasons.  I got a job, so that's awesome/sucks.  And there just aren't as many wacky things out there these days. 

Let us begin.

Something about Memmel screams herb, apparently.  This isn't the first time Youtube has made this connection. 

Now, I think it's a little harsh to call A-Sac a global crisis. It's not like the world imploded when she fell off of beam.  Well, maybe a little bit.  But it so wasn't a global crisis. 

And what the FUDGE does UCLA have to do with breastfeeding an eight year old???  What does ANYTHING have to do with breastfeeding an eight year old??  That's just probably the creepiest thing I've ever seen, and how or why it was associated with the UCLA gymnastics team is just beyond me.  

So they released the mascots for the London Olympics today.  Cute video.  But creep-ass mascots. 

I don't even know what they are.  The five minute video did nothing to explain what the heck it was.  It shows a man retiring, then going home and welding these... things.  Then the kids play with the things, which was kind of cute.  But then a rainbow summons the things, and they have to go off to serve the Olympics.  And I haven't even had any acid today.  

It's a one-eyed... thing.  When I hear "one-eyed" I only think of one thing.  And it's not the Olympics.

because there's never an excuse for stirrup pants!

I know I've been going crazy with the montages, but you have to understand, I have a lo-ho-hooooooot of time on my hands.  Obviously.  So really, all I have to do all day is watch Glee and make montages. 

I'm getting more pumped over Team USA.  They are solid.  Routines are starting to get just a *tad* more creative.  The requisite 10 second dance passages are getting much better. 

I still hate the leap passes though.  But that's not an American thing.  That's just a general, worldwide hate thing.

i'll have to take to the mic and deliver a diatribe. probably something about immigrants.

I love dance movies.  I love UCLA gymnastics.  So what better concept than to combine dance movies (in this case, Step Up 3D trailer) with UCLA gymnastics?

This isn't the best video I've done.  Sometimes you have it, and sometimes you don't, you know?  But I figured I'd post it anyway, because it is UCLA after all, and they deserve all the obsession and accolades they can get.

you tell me when you're ready, and i'll make sure i'm fastidiously groomed.

So, there weren't a whole lot of WTFs for WTF WEDNESDAY this week.

Either I a) didn't spend enough time on Youtube or b) they're onto me.

Let's begin with this gem.  It doesn't have much to do with gymnastics, aside from some decent Memmel turns.  Done by seven year olds.  While wearing ruffly bikinis.  And stockings that look like garter belts. Dancing to Beyonce's "Single Ladies."

Seven.

Now, I like a good "Single Ladies" dance as much as the next person.  Especially when done by Kurt Hummel or Justin Timberlake.  And I'd be lying if I said I hadn't tried it myself.  But this video gets me on two levels.

1.  They're better than I am.
2.  They're seven.

Seven.

I am alternately horrified and intrigued.  Take away the horrible outfits and the risque moves, and you have super talented little kids.  And while the FBI might not believe me, what I see here is QUALITY of movement.  Sometimes you need to look past choreography, and in this case how sinfully young they are, and look at how well they move.  We've all seen enough shitty floor routines to know that it's not every day that a young girl walks in with the ability to dance like that.  And not dance like THAT, but just dance.  That's what really intrigues me.

Also, this girl looks like she is about to kick my ass.

Didn't quite catch that?  

There you go. 

The blonde one is intense.  And obviously the best.  Maybe it's because I'm fresh off of writing my Ariana Berlin post, but I am just blown away by really good hip hop lately.  And while it is so very hard to look past the sheer CREEPINESS of this entire thing...

...it is clear that these kids are loaded with talent.  It's really interesting.  And creepy.  Why am I jealous of them??

OK.  Onto slightly less weird things.

  

1.  Enough of the Shawn fat jokes.  2.  Alien arms creep me out to no end.  I pray SJ never ever looks like that.  3.  I don't even know.  If you've ever seen the episode in question, Peter goes blind, and accidentally gets into bed with Chris.   So what that has to do with Shawn I don't know, and I am totally cool never ever knowing.  

This has nothing to do with gymnastics, but I find it still follows today's theme of SERIOUSLY CREEPY.  I have no clue what young Olivia is singing about, but "Inside of You" is not a wise lyric/title in most cases. 

And last but not least, we have those douches from Make It or Break It.  Bitch has my job, and I am bitter about it.  

"I love my job."  Eff you. 

some people like to film themselves getting physical with their partner. i happen to enjoy revisiting the impeccable form of my jazzercise routines.

So, anyone who has ever watched gymnastics with me knows that I tend to FREAK OUT at girls who attempt hip-hop choreography by doing a couple of toe-heel moves. 

I'm talking this:

By no stretch of the imagination is this hip hop.

All these girls just randomly flex one foot, do some butt shaking or porn slaps, and call it a day.  Not only is it insulting to the real genre of dance, but it makes them look like those drunk girls who start dancing at the bar right before they knock over my drink. 

It looks even sillier when someone with perfect form is trying to do looser choreography.

Bounce heel, bounce heel.

Now, had these routines been done to some shit-kicking country music, it might have actually fit.  I might have actually enjoyed it.  But they're not.  Bama will splice like five Top 40 songs together, and just go to town. 

I ask you this: can you find ONE toe-heel move in any of Britney Spears' videos? 

GSE is an interesting case.  I don't know whether she's making fun of herself, or if I need to make fun of her.  Like, the first move is obviously tongue-in-cheek... right?  But it's the toe-heel kick that kills me.  WHY are these in every routine???

So Bama, and an alarming number of other NCAA girls, make atrocious attempts at stylish hip-hop choreography.  Big whoop, who cares?  It's not like anyone does it any better...

OH WAIT.

Although my brand new discovery may be old news to some people, I still feel as though it warrants a big HOLY BALLS.

Ariana Freakin Berlin.

I actually made this discovery in the spring of 06, and just didn't realize it until a few nights ago.  Back when I lived in LA, I loved going to UCLA meets on the rare Friday nights I had off.  The meet in question was against Utah, which I remember because my boyfriend at the time kept going on about how cute and awesome Kristina Baskett was, and that chuffed me a little bit.  At the end of the meet, there were a few exhibition FXs.  Some tiny little brunette girl came out, and totally ripped down the house with this amazing, clean, hip hop routine.  I was just blown away.  I wasn't even sitting that close, and yet I could see how big and clean every single movement was.  Maybe I just watched too much So You Think You Can Dance, but this looked AMAZING to me.  Needless to say, the crowd went batshit crazy. 

I don't even understand how she goes at that level for the entire routine.  I would drop dead about 15 seconds in, but she kills it the entire time. 

So the other night, I'm looking up random videos of UCLA floor for a thing I'm working on, and I landed on one of her FXs.  I watched it, and realized that she was the girl I saw 4 years ago!  I ran off in search for more routines.  

My little research has shown that she was discovered by Miss Val while dancing at Sea World.  Coming back from a massive car accident, everyone just assumed she was done with gymnastics, so she got into dancing instead.  Miss Val, patron saint of all things awesome, had her walk on the team, which lead to a scholarship for the next three years.  Now, she's a stunt double on our favorite, most accurate gymnastics drama, Make It or Break It.

If the producers are reading this, and God willing someday they will be, GIVE BERLIN A PART!!!  Give the girl some lines, and let everyone see her perform.  She is the type of talent that people should be watching. 

I SO wish I had remembered who she was after I saw her in the beginning of her NCAA career!  This whole time I thought it was Baskett who had done the mystery exhibition routine, which explains why I couldn't ever find it on Youtube.

this is not happening. the cruel, slow motion laughter is just a figment of your imagination.

Obviously, the big news of the week is the return of Shawn "Rocky" Johnson.  I gave her the nickname, by the way.  This will be a comeback of epic proportions.

Personally, I am a Shawn fan.  I always have been.  I was lucky enough to see her compete live in 2006.  She was, what, 14 then?  And even at that age, she managed to out-PERFORM almost everyone, junior or senior.  Yes, I said perform.  Why, you ask?  Because gymnastics is a PERFORMANCE. 

It's hard to define stage presence, and it's even harder to convey that concept to a young girl.  But I don't think anyone ever had to do that with Shawn.  She just got it.

Some jerks in the gymworld are spazzing their faces off.  Yes, Shawn has been out of training for a year and a half.  Yes, she walked out of a handstand in a 5 second video that everyone saw.  No, she is not in competitive shape right now.

People are obviously obsessed with Shawn's body shape.  She's a gymnast, so whatever.  But it makes me sad to see so many people just tear her to shreds, based on her physical appearance.  People need to relax with the whole judgment thing.

Coming from someone who has had two separate knee surgeries, I can personally tell you that you gain weight in like a day.  I'm not some obese monster who has McDonalds hooked up to her veins, either.  I eat well, I'm in decent shape.  And yet I gained weight with both of my surgeries.

So heaven forbid Shawn isn't a fucking waif a few months out from her operation.  And I know we're all just going to DIE if she walks out of a handstand, or doesn't have an Amanar in 6 weeks from now.

I'm excited.  I think it bodes well for the sport.  Regardless of what happens, I'll be proud of her for giving it a shot.  Having regrets sucks worse than dealing with a few lame internet losers.

you two should be wetting yourselves with shame.

And now, it's time for another edition of what I like to call

WTF WEDNESDAY. 

Sometimes, you see things that just make you cock your head to the side, and stare awkwardly.

Let us begin.

I'm going to go ahead and assume that Komova is just one of those young kids that mindlessly accepts every Facebook request that she gets.  If that's not the case, then... I think we know why the Russians have better expression than the rest of us.

So, speaking of Komova, that girl brings up the weirdest suggestions on Youtube.

If you'll remember, a few weeks ago I noted that Youtube is one big conspiracy that tries to get you to watch videos about sleep walking dogs, when all you really want to see are the latest Pac routines.

Because I enjoyed a few routines from the tiny Russian, Youtube believes that would also enjoy these:

Ok, the guns I get, because of the guns in her latest FX.  But the air crash investigation?  Not too sure what that's about.  But the one that really gets me is the one about the tank.  Some gymnasts truly do remind me of tanks.  Vika is not one of them.

The one gymnast who seems to draw more bizarre YT recommendations than even Komova is our dear He Kexin.

To start, unzipping anything and having it in your face is bad.  So we'll move on.  Brain damage and, what I believe goes on to say triple colon cancer??  I'd love to know what correlation that has with He Kexin's UB.  The "lies" and the lame one about being too old I get.  Yes yes, she's underage, that's old news.  What I don't understand is how Kexin = Joe Jonas.  Maybe teenage girls really like her.

Jordyn Wieber pulls up some weird ones.  Such as:

A little young to be a legend, perhaps.  No longer a myth after Pac, that's for sure.  But what she has to do with Akon, I have absolutely no clue.

This one, while kind of mind-boggling, actually makes a lot of sense.

As does this.

But not so much this.

Finally, we have these poor Chinese girls.  I for one would love to believe that there is some relation between Tan Sexin and super galactic beat manipulators.

But the biggest WTF in all the WTFs is this: what does some little boy bending over and checking out his junk complete with creepy smiley face have to do with a Chinese gymnast?  I'm ok never knowing the answer to that.

I'm sure we all have WTFs in our lives.  But if you're watching videos of Komova or Kexin, then you probably have a few extra ones.

i don't know how to turn on my computer.

 First of all, this is just about the catchiest diddy of all time. 

Now, because the original commercial happened to play during last week's Glee, I may have rewatched it 700 times in the past week.  Rough estimate.  And every time I would think to myself

Well WTF.  What sport has evolved more than gymnastics? 

I also thought Gatorade was cool because they put Chellsie in their last commercial, but apparently I was wrong.  WHAT THE HELL GATORADE?

So I took matters into my own hands.

Behold: the new and improved Gatorade commercial ala Spanny F. Tampson. 

You're welcome.

i'm engorged with venom, and triumph.

I posted awhile back about fancy gymnastics-themed cakes, right?  Well, maybe the bakers read my blog (right) because all of a sudden, the cakes got SO much better!

Some are just adorable.  Like, this one makes me want to have kids just so I can throw them parties with cake.

Yeah, the bars are a little wonky.  And blue.  And the beam is a nice shade of maroon.  I don't even care, because little Precious Moments kids are wearing leos and headbands.   The fondant is shiny and awkward, but I don't give a crap.  Headbands.

This involves rhythmic gym, but OMG.  My cuteness meter just exploded.

WHAAAT???  How would you even cut that?  I would cry if I even tried.  That is so cute, it freaks me out.

I love the colors in this one.

The doll is so 60s-70s, I love it.  Small deductions for the flexed feet and short sleeved leo.  Other than that, a perfect 16.725.

This is where we start our descent into what I call "Not So Much."

The bars were a nice effort, even if the girl is just humongous.  And I'm digging the poofy 80s rolled down socks.  Reminds me of DJ Tanner.  The beam is where it starts to get sketchy.  The gymnast looks like she's going through an exorcism, another victim of head-on-backwards disease.  The beam also appears to be a tree trunk.  While matching the pommel horse, which also looks like a home for the Keebler Elves.  Also, you can't see it entirely in this pic, but there's also some inexplicable round thing by the pommels.  Just an orange round thing. 

This one's just... what???  Like, I checked, it wasn't for a yoga party.  It was for a gymnastics party.

Just a girl, face down in the mats.  I mean, yes, I guess you could feasibly see this position at some point in time, but really?  Of ALL the positions in the world, you choose FACEPLANT?

I, for one, am not a huge fan of polyester hair in my food.  That's just me.

Still kind of cute though.  I'd like to think that that's Alicia on the trampoline, Nastia on floor, and Bross on beam.

This girl's just dangling her leg off of the side.  OK.

Nice handstand position though.  And the kid... is he doing a bridge??  Or some weird crabwalk?

And last, but not least, we have.... this.

I don't really even know what's going on here.  The air traffic controller/rhythmic dancer.  The kid in the red's either doing a bridge or some sort of Bogi dance.  The bumblebee splits are the only thing that even kind of make sense in this picture.  Throw in some shiny rust colored flesh, and a few random flowers, and voila.

Gymnastics cake.

i'm about to projectile express myself all over your hush puppies.

So, in light of my rant regarding internet bulldogs, I thought it would be beneficial to figure out if this was a recent development in gymnastics, or if this has, in fact, been a part of the sport all along.

I decided to travel back in time to October of 1996.  I brought the internet with me.

And what I found was a world not unlike today's.  People still had beef, fans still had their faves, and there was plenty of healthy speculation.

Let's have a look, shall we?

*So, the pics are super small.  Crud.  Just click on them, and you should be able to see them up close. 

Wow.  I had no idea how many people cared about Peggy Liddick leaving.  Perhaps it was the scandal of its time. 

Seems like no one gave a crap about those tours... that can't be right.  I LOVED the "real" tour starring the "Super Six."  Oh, and these two nameless extras... who were they again?  Oh.  That's right.  Kim Zmeskal and Lilia Podkopayeva.  Just them.  

Seems like the Shannon thread had a lot of looky loos, but not a lot of posters.  I imagine people were weary of igniting yet another Shannon vs. Gutsu/Moceanu/Dawes/More Gutsu debate. 

Hmm.  This one looks familiar...

And I swear I've seen this before.

Yup.  Fourteen years later, and Khorkina fans haven't changed one bit. 

I'd love to go even further back, and see what effect Barcelona would have had on the ol' message boards.  I'm pretty sure the whole internet would have just exploded. 

So, turns out that gym fans have been psychotic all along.  Now I know.

i'm so sorry. i fully understand if you want to beat me up. just avoid my nose.

Ladies and gentlemen, today's topic is a little something I like to call

Internetiquette.

Etiquette (pronounced [,eti'ket])- a code of behavior that delineates expectations for social behavior according to contemporary conventional norms within a society, social class, or group.

Internetiquette- doing that on the internet.

Seriously.  What is it about big meets that just brings the freakshow out of gym fans?  Things tend to calm down a bit, and become more civil between meets.  But then you have a weekend with both Euros and Pac, and it's like, people lose their shiz over it!

Message boards, in general, can be a scary place.  In theory, they are places to gather, and politely discuss common interests.

In reality, they're terrifying.  I remember being thrilled when I first found a gym board, back in 2005.  None of my real life friends gave a crap about gymnastics, so the idea of discussing my favorite sport with other fans was really enticing to me.

Until I realized how MEAN PEOPLE ARE.

Holy balls, you guys, it's gymnastics!  On what planet can you justify just tearing other people apart for daring to like a gymnast?  You're not 100% up to speed with the current code and all of its rules and deductions?  You're fucking stupid.  You happen to like a B-team gymnast who doesn't win medals every day?  Good luck with those D-scores, chump.

Just the veracity and hate that some people write with blows my mind.  I always thought you were a fan of something because you LIKED that thing.  These people seem to ultimately hate gymnastics.  Focus is solely on deductions, lack of artistry, and fugly toes.  No one ever says anything good about anyone.

I think it's cool to share your opinion.  You likes what you likes.  No one's going to change that.  But it is not a DISCUSSION when you instantly shoot down other people's opinions. 

Message boards are a hotbed for this kind of behavior.  These posters, and I have to believe that they are not entirely socially adjusted, hide behind their computer screens and just trash what anyone else has to say.  Trashing opinions.  If I'm wrong about a score or deduction, then by all means, correct me.  I'll be the first to admit that I am no code guru.  But I am not "wrong" for liking a gymnast that you don't care for.

I thank Madonna every day that I wasn't active on any boards during 2008.  I was blissfully unaware that there was anything known as "Nastia vs. Shawn." 

I happily rooted for both girls, appreciating them both for their fine gymnastics.  It wasn't until later, when I joined a new board, that I realized that I had committed a cardinal sin: I liked both Shawn AND Nastia.

Since then, I have realized that the internet is full of HATE.  We seemingly exist just to criticize gymnastics.  Bent knees, flexed wrists, too posey, dead hangs, flingy layout, low chest, fat butt.  Yes, all of these things are bad, but why don't we ever stop and point out "WOW.  That was really nice to watch.  Good job."

I'm not suggesting we get all Stick It and pretend that deductions don't exist.  This sport is meant to be judged.  But it is exhausting to read over and over all of these horrible, negative things about a sport that we're supposed to like.

So you disagree with another poster on the internet.  I'm cool with that.  However, it is the way that difference is expressed that grinds my gears.

Have some fucking common courtesy.  Do not berate, or talk down to someone just because they have different tastes.  If it is a technical issue, such as a code score, do not flip your shit if someone else gets it wrong.  Calmly explain to them the correction.  And then, who knows, someone might actually learn something. 

This goes back to my rant about Youtube judges.  Don't watch three videos, read the comments, and then go online and freak out at everyone who doesn't know what bonus D+D+C gets.

I don't know why I'm ranting about this.  I feel as though this weekend has really brought out the worst in people.  Like, is it not OK just to enjoy the gymnasts?  Watch a routine without writing a 6 page dissertation about ALLLLLLLL of the deductions?  Compliment a certain gymnast without having to fight to the death with everyone else?

If I'm a coach, or a parent of a gymnast, I FORBID my girls to ever get on these boards.

So people, can we act as if we're actually FANS of the sport?  Or are we doomed to forever use the internet as some douchey mask for our deep, severely troubled personal issues?

not everyone is gonna have the walnuts to take a pro-littering stance. but i will not rest until every inch of our fair state is covered in garbage.

OMG.  Somebody needs to buy this before I do.

Your very own team of Barbie gymnasts.

Obviously, these ones aren't as cool as mine.  Note the unitards.  But you could own your very own for significantly less than I paid.  Frick. 

The real Barbie on the left is useless, but the other four with their equipment would so be worth it.  Take it from me, having them do Amy Chow-style straddle paks on the bars is really fun. 

I'll write something more wonderful and fascinating later.  I also just want to say how cool it is to see people from all over the world reading this blog, thanks largely to Coach Rick over at http://gymnasticscoaching.com.  I'd by lying if I said I didn't feel some pressure now to actually write something interesting.   Don't hold your breath, but I'll try.