Skaterpalooza II: Birthday Boogaloo

Irrepressible Johnny at rehearsal—

just exactly perfect for today.

Exclusive photo © David Ingogly.

---

UPDATE: More media appearances by Johnny regarding the ongoing anti-LGBT crisis in Russia, which he termed a “tragedy” in his ABC News interview:

*Article and audio on BBC News

*Article and brief audio message to his Russian fans on Svoboda (article is in Russian)

Джонни Вейр обращается к российским поклонникам



Johnny says: “All my fans, I’m always with you. I wish you a lot of strength now, a lot of success and love. Tomorrow will be better than today.” Thank you to Tatiana Edrenkina for the translation!

---

We interrupt our impassioned tilting at stubbornly uninformed people-shaped windmills today for a purely self-indulgent batch of picspam in which Johnny continuously cracks me up. Because it’s my birthday and this is one of the things that makes me happy today, the other one being my amazing children, as always, who recently introduced me to the Tumblr for Pusheen, who looks and acts exactly like I do I would if I were a cat. So I’ll be spending my day alternating between these pics and Pusheen gifs whilst awaiting the continuation of Johnny’s mega-media tour, in which he, as pretty much the one and only openly gay US Winter Olympian (I think, though I could be wrong, but if so, I’m kinda wondering where the rest of them are in this debate), and also apparently the only US Winter Olympian of any orientation who’s currently able to form words, gets to answer the same questions over and over about the Russian LGBT crisis as articulately as possible so that people can then slam him in every comment section on the Internet and also on his Facebook page for not saying exactly what they thought he should say. Which is the other thing that is currently cracking me up daily: The people who are criticizing him most vociferously are the ones who obviously don’t know the first thing about him, which is: Johnny Weir always says exactly what he thinks—not ever what you or anyone else thinks he should say.

Any excuse to use this gif. Any excuse at all.

Anyway, below is today’s reading list for those of you following along with quiet horror at home as Russia continues slouching toward madness, and if you’d like to do something to help in addition to arming yourself with knowledge, please sign and share this petition.

UPDATE: Gay Rights Campaigners Petition IOC Over Russia’s Sochi Olympics. The international group All Out, who has partnered with Greg Louganis, Blake Skjellerup, and Athlete Ally to advocate against a boycott and for people to “speak out, don’t sit out,” presented a petition with more than 320,000 signatures to the IOC today. The petition “calls on Russia to repeal its anti-gay propaganda law in advance of the Sochi Games.” YES. THIS. Because that not only protects Olympic athletes and visitors, it also strikes at the heart of this issue in aiding and protecting the Russian LGBT community. (Note: They’re still gathering signatures—sign here.)

UPDATE: Stephen Fry’s Open Letter: “An Absolute Ban On The Russian Winter Olympics... Is Simply Essential.” An extremely well-balanced presentation by George Stroumboulopoulos of all sides of the debate, which includes excerpts from Johnny’s Falls Church News-Press column (for additional context, please see also this column). Johnny is joined by other voices who advocate NOT boycotting. 

Quote of the day: “We understand the anger and the call for a boycott, but right now it’s more important for the international community to speak out than walk out,” said Andre Banks, co-Founder and Executive Director of All Out. 

*New from the Human Rights Campaign: Take Action: Russian Anti-LGBT Law Spiraling Out of Control. Please sign and share this statement from HRC demanding believable assurance from the IOC that Olympic athletes and visitors will be safe in Sochi, but which also includes this all-important sentence: “more importantly, the IOC must advocate for the safety of all LGBT people in Russia, not simply those visiting for the Olympics. Rescinding this heinous law must be our collective goal.” THIS.

*Senator to Introduce Resolution Denouncing Anti-LGBT Law in Russia

*This Dutch Activist Was Arrested For Even Talking About Gay Rights in Russia. Lengthy but excellent followup with Kris van der Veen, including why he, like Johnny, is against boycotting the Sochi Olympics, and why he thinks it’s important to be there despite what he went through.

*LGBT Boycott of Russian Olympics?

*Should The United States Boycott The Sochi Olympics?

*Russia: MP Calls for Law Allowing Gays to be Whipped in Public Squares. The latest article on my Twitter feed. Truly horrifying.

ICYMI: Johnny appeared on CNN Saturday morning along with out New Zealand speed skater Blake Skjellerup to address the anti-gay crisis in Russia. Both athletes do NOT favor a boycott of the Sochi Olympics, saying that their presence makes a far greater statement of solidarity with the Russian LGBT community than would their absence. 

CNN video link.

For a roundup of Johnny’s other media appearances 
from last week, please see Friday’s blog.

---

And now, a brief escape into picspam.

For some reason today Blogger decided to upload all photos through some alternate Interwebz route that resulted in weird colors and way over-compressed images. Cuz that’s incomprehensible and annoying. So today’s photos had to be uploaded elsewhere and may take a teensy bit longer to load. But they’re very much worth the wait. 

As always, please do click twice to see the wonderfully large full-size images.

---

When last we visited Skaterpalooza, we ended with choreographer Kori Ade gently scolding Johnny her skaters for being a tad ... unfocused. The skaters took shelter behind Johnny, then thankfully had a break to mill around and chat. Now it’s time to get back to work.... 

(Note: Dialogue is open to interpretation and may or may not be loosely related to anything anyone actually said because it’s really hard to hear in a giant ice cube.)

Goofing around? We weren’t goofing around. 

It was those guys. Over there.

Practicing the chorus line thing again...

...which quickly devolves...

...into Johnny and Zach’s favorite pastime...

Oh, come on. You’re not really mad 

at me, are you...?

...Are you? Really...?

Kori gathers the troops again 

to go over the next bit of choreography...

#herdingcats

...Johnny is valiantly paying attention...

...isn’t he....?

Fine. If you’re going to be mad, 

I’m going over here....

...by Ross...

...and I’m just going to...

...give up and lie down on the ice.

See? Now you’re laughing again.

Hey Zach...

(OMG I think we made Ross cry.)

(Oh, he’ll get over it la la la la....)

See? He’s fine now.

OK, OK. I’ll just go do my own thing 

very seriously....

...over here by myself. 

See? Very very focused...

Yay!

---

Bonus Round:

Random Johnny.

The traditional look of longing 

for his Starbucks....

...multiple times.

Skating with iPhone in hand.

Ready to sit for a moment and take a break...

...and watch others working on their programs.

And then, break over and all kidding aside: 

that look of fierce determination. 

I imagine it’s the same look he’ll give Putin
should the opportunity arise...

---

Bonus video!! A wonderful birthday surprise!! 

This has already made my day supremely happy. 

Thank you so very much to all my dear Russian friends 

from Diva on Ice!! I love you! ♥♥

---

And one more. 

The moment we arrived at rehearsal. 

Dark and out of focus, 

and one of my fav pics ever.

---

Exclusive photos © David Ingogly.

---

NEW!! The Delaware Valley Legacy Fund 

has announced that this special skate boot 

autographed by Johnny is up for auction! 

Proceeds from the auction will be split, 

with 50 percent going to DVLF 

for their general philanthropic fund, 

and 50 percent to Johnny’s training fund. 

Bid now—the auction ends August 9!

---

Please continue to contribute to the newly established 

Johnny & Victor Weir-Voronov 
Scholarship Fund for LGBTQ Youth, 
also administered by the Delaware Valley 
Legacy Fund. The DVLF is the nonprofit 

organization who recently honored Johnny 

as their 2013 National Hero.

---

ICYMI: “Let the World Shine in Peace.” 

Quiet photo essay of exclusive black-and-white pics 

paired with Johnny’s quotes from his 

powerful column against boycotting Sochi. 

Exclusive photo © David Ingogly.

---

Johnny’s latest column for the 
Falls Church News-Press.

His columns are published every Thursday 
in the “National Commentary“ 
section—don’t miss a single one! 

---

The Team Weir-Voronov fan store now has 

updated calendars, in case you missed out on buying yours 

in January! The new 12-month version runs from 

July 2013 to June 2014, while the 18-month version takes you 

from July 2013 all the way to December 2014.

---

A number of Johnny’s auction items have been relisted, 

which means if you missed out the first time around, 

you’re in luck: It’s not too late to own a piece of Weir Gear! 

Go check it out and see what treasures you could take home!

---

Patti has posted a message 

on Johnny’s Comeback Gift Fund website, 

with her thoughts on 2013 Nationals 

and what lies ahead for next season. 

Please go read it now!

---

Please alert absolutely everyone you’ve ever met 

to “like” and follow the new 

Johnny Weir To Host SNL! (Yes Please) campaign 

on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. 

Because he should be on all the things. 

With or without ice. 

But definitely with Viacheslav.

---

HE REALLY, REALLY IS!! 
Landing quads and kicking ass!
Read his comeback statement 
and the update on his website!

---

Please click to vote for Johnny 

once a day as “Best Sportsman”! 

Because he retweeted Luisa Lotka 
to tell us he wants us to! 

---

Need to see Seasons 1 and 2 all over again? 
Watch episodes online anytime on Logo!

Please be sure to check in with GetGlue
anytime you’re watching the show... 
or thinking about watching the show.... 
or wishing you were watching the show....

---

At last: Pop Star On Ice is now available on DVD!

Order yours today from the Pop Star On Ice website!

---

Johnny tweeted:

“Buy my single,’Dirty Love’ via iTunes.

Tell all your friends to as well. The more copies sold

takes me one step closer to making a video! №1!”

IN THE SAME WAY THAT IT NEEDS AIR.

You know what to do.

Please buy the song from Johnny’s website,

or just click the “Buy” button on the player
at the top of the blog!

---

Hey, Welcome to My World also is available

as an eBook! More info on Johnny’s website!

---

copyright 2013 / Binky and the Misfit Mimes / Lynn V. Ingogly / all rights reserved

---

Tweet