"The Portlandian" - September 30, 2022 edition

[Terry Hall]

TTTTT H H EEEEE
T H H E
T HHHHH EEEEE
T H H E
T H H EEEEE

PPPP OOOO RRRR TTTTT L A N N DDDD I A N N TM
P P O O R R T L A A NN N D D I A A NN N
PPPP O O RRRR T L AAAAA N N N D D I AAAAA N N N
P O O R R T L A A N NN D D I A A N NN
P OOOO R R T LLLLL A A N N DDDD I A A N N

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The Portlandian, the Internet's premier source of Tonya News

September 30, 2022 Edition
(C) 2022 Portland Ice Skating Society
http://www.pdxiss.org
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Welcome to another edition of "The Portlandian" for 2022. A nice,
short issue this time round, but we do have some important
information about an upcoming Tonya appearance. We also do a bit
of horsing around, check out a Norwegian school play with a Tonya
theme, visit some "I, Tonya" locations and debunk a Tonya-related
myth - even though it's not actually about Tonya (and there's
more than enough of those).


TONYA ON THE BREW AND AT "BACON AND BEER"

Friday the 13th is traditionally associated with bad luck (and
maniacs in hockey masks) - but Friday the 14th of October is
going to be very good luck if you're a Tonyaphile in the greater
PDX area.

That's because on that date, Tonya will be appearing in person at
the Wild Hare Saloon in Oregon City as part of The Brew 105.9
FM's "Bacon and Beer" promotion, along with Drew, Tanner and
Laura from the station. While there, she'll be selling photos,
with all funds raised to go to the Veterans of America. Because
as we all know, there's nothing Tonya likes doing more (apart
from skating and being with her family) than raising money for
good causes.

How did we get here? Well, it all started earlier this month when
someone called the Tanner and Drew show and claimed they saw
Tonya staring at them for several minutes while they were driving
to work. As it turned out, this was not Tonya (and given that
Tonya isn't noted for being into European cars like BMW's, like
the stare-er was driving, we thought that was unlikely). But it
did make Drew, Tanner and their team become determined to track
Tonya down.

Now, the area around Battle Ground where Tonya lives is one of
those places where everybody either knows Tonya, or knows someone
who knows Tonya, so it only took a couple of days for "T-Hard"
(as she's known in that area) to become aware that there were
people looking for her. This culminated in Tonya being
interviewed on the show twice - on the 16th and the 23rd. You can
listen to those shows on iHeart radio or at the links below.

Full shows, including download option:

https://www.ivoox.com/en/podcast-tanner-and-drew_sq_f1475171_1.html

https://www.spreaker.com/show/tanner-and-drew

Just the Tonya bits, if you don't want to listen to the whole
shows:

https://www.spreaker.com/show/tanner-drew-quickies

Tonya revealed that she doesn't drive very far these days, though
she often listens to The Brew when she does. She hasn't skated
for two years thanks to Covid, but is looking to get back into
the rink soon. She talked about jumping, meeting Margot, and her
reaction upon seeing "I, Tonya" for the first time.

Tonya also says she likes nature, the outdoors, animals and
ducks. She also prefers older cars, as there's less fancy
electronic stuff in them to break.

After the interview, Tonya and the crew exchanged text numbers.
One thing then led to another, with Tonya being invited to Bacon
and Beer, an offer she enthusiastically accepted.

If you're planning on going along, here's the details:

Wild Hare Saloon
Southridge Shopping Center,
1656 Beavercreek Rd,
Oregon City, OR.

ph: (503) 303-7963.

6am to 10am (not sure exactly when Tonya will arrive)

https://thewildharesaloon.net/

https://www.facebook.com/thewildharesaloonoc/


By the way, as an example of how down-to-earth Tonya is, she
nixed the offer of a limousine when she discovered how much it
was going to cost, and will make her own way there. And let's
face it, Tonya looks far more at home in a pickup truck than a
limo anyway.


TONYA HORSES AROUND

The gang at the REINSTATE TONYA HARDING Facebook group prides
itself on finding obscure photos of our ice queen - and they've
done themselves proud with this one - of Tonya with a horse:

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=10222665358357439&set=pcb.1025410474743272

When contacted, Tonya said that she thought it might be a horse
she owned once, but she's not 100% sure herself:

"Oh my gosh I don't remember but that might be the horse that
I bought, if not it's still beautiful and looks like her. Her
name was Brittany's first"

Portland Meadows was a local race track that closed in 2019,
though the mention of her as 1991 skating champion obviously puts
it around that period. As for the horse, there only seems to be a
record of two horses under that name, one of which was born in
1987 and the other much later in 2001, so it's got to be the
first one:

https://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=1003434904&registry=Q&rbt=QH

Unfortunately, there seems to be no more information about that
horse's racing career.

By the way, there's bucketloads of photos of interest in that
Facebook group, including many of Tonya at various competitions
and exhibitions, with more being added every day:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/169663980317930/media/photos


"I, TONYA" LOCATIONS TOUR

We've featured photos of a few of the "I, Tonya" shooting
locations in previous issues. But now we can take a deeper dive,
thanks to this video in which Paul Walter Hauser talks about some
of the places where "I, Tonya" was filmed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqye2ESVKjU

Paul reveals several interesting facts:

- that the front of the "school" where Tonya goes was actually
the front of the ice rink! It was the Atlanta IceForum in Duluth,
GA.

- One of his most memorable lines was improvized.

- The Golden Buddha was actually the name of a real restaurant -
Paul later ordered some food from there when he was back in
Atlanta filming another movie a few months ago.

The uploader also visits several locations and compares how they
looked earlier this year with how they looked at the time of
filming five years earlier, even re-creating the long tracking
shot as we drive away from Tonya and Jeff's house. On a sadder
note, one location - the diner where Diane tells Tonya there's
another Olympics in '94 and Tonya confronts Lavona ("I made you a
champion") - has already gone.

Here's the complete list of major locations, if you're ever in
the area and want to check them out. Bear in mind that some of
these locations are real houses where real people live, so be
discrete and don't trespass or behave like a stalker:

INT: PRACTICE RINK / EXT: YOUNG TONYA'S SCHOOL
Atlanta IceForum
2300 Satellite Blvd
Duluth, GA 30097

LAVONA'S HOUSE
3022 Jefferson St
Chamblee, GA 30341

THE WOODS (Hunting w/ Dad, Mudding w/ Jeff, Workout Montage)
34.00303
-84.55161

THE DINER (Now demolished)
3320 Henderson Mill Rd
Chamblee, GA 30341

TONYA & JEFF'S HOUSE
696 Medford Pl SE
Smyrna, GA 30080

THE TRIPLE AXEL, FIXING THE LACES, & THE INCIDENT
Gas South Arena
6400 Sugarloaf Pkwy
Duluth, GA 30097

THE BAR/STRIP CLUB
Billy Bob's New Secrets
3962 Lawrenceville Hwy
Tucker, GA 30084

MALL SKATING
Gwinnett Place Mall
2100 Pleasant Hill Rd
Duluth, GA 30096

CHINESE RESTAURANT
Golden Buddha
1905 Clairmont Rd
Decatur, GA 30033

COMPETITION SCENES
Macon Coliseum
200 Coliseum Dr
Macon, GA 31217


NORWEGIAN SCHOOL DOES TONYA-THEMED PLAY

Over the years we've heard of teachers using Tonya's story in
class. Hartvig Nissens Skole in Norway did an "I, Tonya"-themed
play early last year. There's 6 posts (not 5, as it says).
Translations courtesy of Google Translate:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNEzwnznAd2/ 1/6

"The world's best figure skater - at least at some point". The
story of Tonya Harding is a fascinating nuance for those who are
old enough to remember the figure skating circus at the Olympics
in Lillehammer. It's also good, old class description. Can
"anyone" really do figure skating? It's all sparklingly performed
by 3MDH1. Based on the movie "I, Tonya".

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNK6KqyH4LA/ 2/6

Pictures from "The world's best figure skater" by 3mdh1. A
performance based on the life of figure skater Tonya Harding.
Photo: Inge Knoff

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNKxERQHQHr/ 3/6

"The world's best figure skater - at least at some point". The
story of Tonya Harding is a fascinating nuance for those who are
old enough to remember the figure skating circus at the Olympics
in Lillehammer. It's also good, old class description. Can
"anyone" really do figure skating? Tonya also received her share
of physical and mental abuse, but landed a triple axel like no
other. The whole thing was brilliantly performed by 3MDH1.
Teacher @simenhovd
Based on the movie "I, Tonya".

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNLAiUHHXFe/ 4/6

The romance between Tonya and her fianc� Jeff is not forgotten!
It's coming here!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNM7J-ZndAM/ 5/6

"The world's best figure skater". It is plotted against rival
Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya's figure skating career ends in an
embarrassing flop. But at least she became very famous - and
infamous. For a little while. Many thanks to 3MDH1 and @simenhovd
for this great show!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CNK6TmRnhkU/ 6/6

Pictures from "The world's best figure skater" by 3mdh1. A
performance based on the life of figure skater Tonya Harding.
Photo: Inge Knoff

More photos:

https://www.flickriver.com/photos/kongniffe/tags/tonyaharding/


MICKEY'S REVENGE?

This next item is not strictly Tonya, but we're always interested
in acting as mythbusters surrounding anything connected to her.

Pretty much anybody with an interest in The Incident will know
that shortly afterwards, Mattel signed a deal to produce a doll
of Nancy Kerrigan, to be released in the fall of '94. We all know
what happened next: Nancy made a few gaffes (such as saying that
wearing her medal in a Disney parade with Mickey Mouse was dumb
and corny), there was a backlash - and the Nancy doll got binned
by Mattel, never to see the light of day. Or did it?

Certainly, no doll actually called the Nancy Kerrigan doll was
ever released by Mattel. But several people claim that there is
an uncanny likeness between Nancy and the Esmeralda doll produced
to tie in with the Disney film "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" a
couple of years later. This has led to speculation that Mattel
sought to recoup some of its investment in the abandoned Nancy
doll by recycling its head as Esmeralda's. Could it be that
Mickey had the last laugh on Nancy after all?

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDest3PJQGc/

https://www.instagram.com/p/CRD5REzp6t_/

Finally, we can now put this rumor to rest once and for all,
thanks to an Instagram user called thedollarchive, who has come
up with some photos of a very rare prototype of the Nancy doll,
the first ones we have ever seen. And it confirms that the rumor
is not true - although there is a bit of a similarity, they are
definitely not the same.

Nancy vs Esmeralda:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDeuaW9JO_M/

There's also a photo showing Nancy posing for a sculptor, which
you can see by clicking on the right arrow on this photo:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDcpO4iJ4YV/

But this raises another question, as the date is April 14, 1994 -
well after her Oksana and Disneyland faux-pas. It's generally
assumed that the doll was canned in the wake of these incidents,
but this article reveals work was going on well after that until
at least into the summer of '94. So why did Mattel pull the plug?
Was it because she was dating her agent, Jerry Solomon, who was
still married at that time? It's quite likely that a company
making family-friendly products like toys would have found that
too unsavory, and that was the real reason it was scrapped.


AMERICAN SKATER LANDS FIRST QUAD AXEL

You've heard plenty about triple axels in "The Portlandian" over
the years, but we're pleased to report that 17-year-old Ilia
Malinin of the USA has become the first person to be ratified as
landing a clean quadruple axel in competition. With other
quadruple jumps now commonplace at top-level contests, this means
that the last of the quad jumps has now been conquered.

Skating is something that runs in Ilia's blood - his parents
competed as singles skaters in the Olympics for Uzbekistan and
both have been Uzbek national champions multiple times. So it is
perhaps no surprise that he was the first to perform this move.

The feat occurred during Ilia's Long Program at a relatively
obscure competition, the U.S. International Classic, in Lake
Placid, NY. earlier this month. Unfortunately, this did mean that
he was deprived of the thrill of performing this accomplishment
in front of a stadium of thousands of cheering fans like Tonya
was. He'd previously landed it clean at a USFSA training camp
back in May. Japan's Yuzuru Hanyu has attempted the jump at the
Japanese Championships and the Beijing Olympics earlier this
year, but failed. Russian-turned American Artur Dmitriev Jr. also
attempted it at this year's U.S. Nationals, but it was under-
rotated.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/more-sports/american-ilia-malinin-makes-figure-skating-history-by-landing-first-quad-axel/ar-AA11S2lp

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/olympics/ilia-malinin-lands-first-quadruple-axel-in-figure-skating-history/ar-AA11R5uR

You can view his jump from different angles here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pr8oqacv7wM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkDlUDK0nKk

So the question now arises: with triple axels rapidly becoming
standard fare in elite women's skating, how long before we see
the first women attempting quadruple axels?


XANADU ON ICE?

The death of Olivia Newton-John last month has refocused
attention on her film legacy, most notably, "Grease" and
"Xanadu".

If you're not familiar with the latter film, Olivia plays a
"muse" - that's a Greek goddess who inspires artists, for the
benefit of those without a classical education - who comes to
life and inspires a guy to create... a roller disco palace. Gene
Kelly plays a wealthy businessman and ex big-band musician who
bankrolls the whole exercise.

The result is a bizarre mashup of 1940s pop culture like art deco
and swing music combined with 1980s rock acts like ELO and The
Tubes. Perhaps because of this mishmash of styles it was a
massive flop, or possibly it just seemed too old-fashioned and
corny for early-80s audiences. The soundtrack album sold well,
however, and in recent years the movie has also attracted the
perhaps inevitable cult following amongst the LGBT community.
It's even been adapted into a much more successful stage musical.

Which got us thinking: it's a pity no-one put together Xanadu on
Ice - with ice skating instead of roller skating - and Tonya in
the ONJ role! Would that have been cool or what?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_sPj9VJmdA

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VISIT THESE GREAT TONYA WEB SITES:

PortIce - http://www.pdxiss.org
David House - http://www.tonyaharding.org
Charlie Main - http://www.charliesweb.com/tonya/tonya.html
Puppetboy - http://www.usapaul.net/tonya/
Valerie Smith - http://www.olywa.net/radu/valerie/LilHam.html
Swan Lake - http://members.tripod.com/~TonyaHarding/index.html
Blades of Gold - http://members.tripod.com/tmhfan/index.html
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