RIP Aunt Joyce's Ice Cream Stand

[Artless]

Whoa, are you talking about the same Dave who is insulting (personally to named individuals) unnecessarily and attacks perfectly nice folks in print? Any educational good he might do is totally negated by his obvious delight in slamming, name-calling, personal insults and sexual content. Honorable? Not where I come from, not by a long shot.

"Honorable" is not synonymous with "nice." Pauline Kael, for example, didn't earn herself a place in the history of film by being "nice." Critical integrity is far more important.

[Willowway]

I'm sorry but you've just made me laugh out loud.

You are comparing him to Pauline Kael? She was neither vicious, nor did she lie about people or simply insult people for the pure joy of insulting people. Sorry, but the comparison is way off. She was a tough cookie but I don't recall her talking about who was having an affair with whom, anyone's private parts, all that sort of stuff which is Dave's sweet spot.

I have no inside information but I wouldn't be surprised if got a 'cease and desist' letter from someone who has a good legal case against him - there certainly are lots of candidates.

[Artless]

You can't file a lawsuit for spouting racist opinions, unfortunately.

"Unfortunately"? Yes, it's a shame that millionaire tennis players can't sue a blogging student who referred to them as men in order to call attention to their musculature.

Incidentally, I commented on the blog at length about why those references were problematic, but calling them "spouting racist opinions" is beyond hyperbolic.

[ioana]

I thought the blog was entertaining, even though there were entries that were taken too far. The nice thing about online blogs is you can always move along to the next post if you find something that bothers you.

Maybe meeting Auntie in person before I seriously started following the blog helped sway my opinion, but I didn't take the mean-spirited things as anything other than tongue-in-cheek. I'm fairly sure the post calling me a 'vampire whore' was still up. I took it as a joke and didn't mind. Granted, I have very thick skin after a few years in my job but by this stage so does any skating parent who reads about their child. I don't believe any underage skater should be online reading things posted about them on message boards and blogs. That said, 'Hooker nails' is far from your typical sheltered skater, so if people said she enjoyed the nickname, I'd be inclined to believe it.

I guess all things considered, I'm a little confused about the hatred towards the blog. Specific posts, like the one where he was frothing venom towards Isabelle Delobel at the Olympics, I might understand. The blog in general, however, had far more good points than bad. All IMHO

[judiz]

I met Dave at an ice show last year and it wasn't until we spoke for about 15 minutes that he told me who he really was. I didn't agree with everything he wrote about but he did answer a lot of questions I had about gymnastics and skating.

[Artless]

You are comparing him to Pauline Kael? She was neither vicious, nor did she lie about people or simply insult people for the pure joy of insulting people. Sorry, but the comparison is way off.

The comparison is based on the fact that back in the day readers criticized Kael for the same reasons you criticize AJ: "but she's so meeeeeean." Again, it's about whether you value intelligence and wit, or whether you value treacle. All the great critics have had bite: William Hazlitt, Mary McCarthy, GB Shaw, Mencken, Edmund Wilson, Gore Vidal, Dorothy Parker, and so on.

This is not to say that a 24-year old aspiring teacher is on the level of the greats. The point is the nature of criticism. Those who respect an art form, who take it seriously, are going to be passionate when practitioners don't measure up.

[Willowway]

This is not to say that a 24-year old aspiring teacher is on the level of the greats.

You said it!


An aspiring teacher (TEACHER!) probably doesn't write a blog about Kate Gosselin's privates (not using that polite a term). If he did teach, wouldn't the parents of his students love to see his posts and blogs, how educational would that be?

[Artless]

You said it! An aspiring teacher (TEACHER!) probably doesn't write a blog about Kate Gosselin's privates (not using that polite a term). I sure wouldn't want Dave near my kids. If he did teach, wouldn't the parents of his students love to see his posts and blogs, how educational would that be?

My daughter is quite the little ice dance fan, not much of a conformist, and would likely adore being in Dave's classroom. Pedagogically, a match made in heaven.

[Tony Wheeler]

I think there is a way to be extremely critical, and a way to be very sarcastically critical in a Perez Hilton "I'm going to say whatever I want" type of way. Dave definitely seemed to venture towards the latter, and it works for many people. (I really don't care for Perez at all and I think a lot of what he has had to say outside of his site makes no sense, but I know plenty of friends that LIVE by checking that website many times a day....) I'm quite sure that Dave had to have some of his influence from the success of Perez's crazy posting style.

When I'm replying to Formspring questions on my blog or writing "serious" news posts, I honestly do wonder how many people read them to begin with, and how many non-hardcore skating fans fall asleep amidst the ramblings. I really wish I could be witty sometimes, but I also want to be taken seriously. I guess it's a tough line to try to balance.

[Rex]

Oh, no, I liked his blog. I thought that it was bitchy and hysterical. The gymnastics stuff bored me to tears, but the skating dish was excellent. I'll be glad to see him come back.

[acquiesce]

I don't always agree with him, but Dave knows his stuff and I respect his opinions and have learned tons from his posts and q&a's. I'm glad the blog will be back and stoked that he'll continue to do the Formspring. I think some people take him WAY too seriously and need to lighten up. If you don't like it, don't read it!

And Artless, mad WORD to everything you said! Well put.

[Artless]

Thanks, acquiesce!

[mkats]

I'm not sure if there was anything sue-worthy. Was anything libelous on there? Sure he was a bitch and called people ugly, fat or untalented, but that's opinion. LutzChat was TEN times worse than that, and that was on public access TV. He did have one blog about Tanith Belbin and accused her of continuing to have a an eating disorder, but this is figure skating, and I doubt anyone is going to get angry enough to sue over being accused of being anorexic. That case is un-winnable anyway.

Someone asked him a question on his formspring about whether or not he'd been contacted by athletes, parents, coaches, etc. to complain about what he wrote, and he said the only time was Tara Lipinski's lawyer threatening a lawsuit over his insinuating that she had plastic surgery, or something like that.

I'll miss the formspring more than the blog. He did manage to answer some skating questions I've had for a long while that no one else knew the answers to.

[riveredge]

I like reading his blog.

[Maximillian]

I found it okay at times, but he wasn't nearly as funny as he thought he was.

[aussieSKATES]

There could be a lesson learned that people running unauthorised or independent blogs not supported by a legitimate media service, some kind of disclaimer preceding any "news" puts their website in perspective.

Sure, it may be tongue - in - cheek, but some people reading or being featured may not see it that way.

For Dave Lease, I suggest throwing in a few "he or she allegedly said" here and there, like Kathy Griffin, could avoid any trouble in the future.

Defamation is a big issue in Australia and has cost people money as well as their careers.

[Wyliefan]

The comparison is based on the fact that back in the day readers criticized Kael for the same reasons you criticize AJ: "but she's so meeeeeean." Again, it's about whether you value intelligence and wit, or whether you value treacle. All the great critics have had bite: William Hazlitt, Mary McCarthy, GB Shaw, Mencken, Edmund Wilson, Gore Vidal, Dorothy Parker, and so on.

This is not to say that a 24-year old aspiring teacher is on the level of the greats.

Uh, yeah. That banging noise you hear is Dorothy Parker throwing her coffin open in a spitting rage over even being mentioned in the same sentence as that spiteful little Perez Hilton wannabe. If Aunt Joyce "respects an art form," I'm Dostoevsky.

[Indra486]

If he was just sharky he would be fine, he had a fascist attitude towards anyone who dared to disagree in his ice cream blog, like 'you mere mortal know nothing about fs",
He had repeated that a certain skater paid to win gold in Olys, this was not funny.

ITA and his "special" brand of snark.

[Artless]

If Aunt Joyce "respects an art form," I'm Dostoevsky.

Здравствуйте, Fyodor! I love your work!

[Debbie S]

And if an adult cannot handle being called hooker nails, then maybe she should rethink it at the manicurists, IMHO.

I don't think this has been posted yet, but "hooker nails" referred to a teenager (at least, I think I have the right person in mind) and it was quite inappropriate.