The Olympics

[babygreenspots]

Although beer in the venues selling for 5 pounds rather than 5 RMB might cut down on the fun for some people.

 

[benecios]

Originally Posted by Fade to Black

the closing ceremony was epic. Based on the opener and closer, and Phelps' 8 gold medals alone i think Beijing 2008 may very well be the greatest Olympics of all time.

The London preview was completely meek compared to the Yimou choreographed stuff...it was cool to see Jimmy Page I guess. Boris Johnson is a rude **** with no class. Biggest douchebag excuse for a mayor i've ever seen.

The guy is unique.We need more like Boris.
I thought this speech was classic Boris:

 

[supercarl]

it has been the first olympics i'e enjoyed. go Team GB!

 

[sho'nuff]

South Korea prevails and gets Gold in last game of Olympics baseball.


against cuba team with a puerto rican ref that narrowed the strike zone in the 9th when cuba was up at bat


go Korea

 

[von Rothbart]

Originally Posted by Harry Lean

The olympic stadium looks like a big Budapester shoe. Pity the Olympics didn't go for another 2 weeks.

There're too many events to cramp into 2 weeks time frame. The summer Olympics could easily be stretched into 3 weeks, athelets would have more time to recuperate for next events, TV networks would have one more week of Olympics programings to air and more ads to sell...etc. It's not that much more to run the games one more week relative to the billions spent on the infrastructure and stadiums.

Originally Posted by babygreenspots

We should keep in mind comments made by Zhang Yimou to China's Southern Weekend newspaper on August 14:

"I used to joke with the performers saying, we are second best in the world. The North Koreans are number one. They are so orderly. Traditional, orderly movements create beauty."

"I once directed an opera in the West. What a hassle! We only worked four and a half days a week; there were twice daily coffee breaks, no overtime was allowed, and they would tolerate no discomfort at all, because of people's rights." he said.

"They have all sorts of organizations, trades unions. We work hard and train rigorously. The equivalent of a week's training here takes them a month".

The job of England may not be as difficult as it seems. It could focus on humor, quirkiness, individuality, etc. and still come off more favorably than the Chinese, even with such grandiose presentations. In fact they could, by contrast, draw attention to the authoritarian and conformist aspects of the Chinese ceremonies.

That unnamed opera was the Met's The First Emperor. Some of the rehearsals were relocated from NYC to Shanghai to cut cost and circumvent union work rules.

 

[babygreenspots]

Does it bother anyone that China's gold medal count is greater than the US has obtained in any Olympics besides Los Angeles (when the Eastern block boycotted)? It is also the first time a non-Western country has topped the medal count. One might say it doesn't matter, but it most certainly matters to the Chinese and in ways that go far beyond sports. A victory for collectivism?

 

[unpainted huffheinz]

Originally Posted by babygreenspots

Does it bother anyone that China's gold medal count is greater than the US has obtained in any Olympics besides Los Angeles (when the Eastern block boycotted)? It is also the first time a non-Western country has topped the medal count. One might say it doesn't matter, but it most certainly matters to the Chinese and in ways that go far beyond sports. A victory for collectivism?

The American press adds up all of the medals and proclaims the US to be victorious. I find this to be amazingly pathetic.

 

[Fade to Black]

there's no use playing sides; each country wants to present the best possible representation of themselves, naturally. especially countries as ego-centric as China and the US, there's no way the reports won't have a spin on it either way.

 

[Casey]

Well, seeing as China has made it's way to (almost) the top of the world in less than 3 decades, I think the Beijing Olympics was an eye opener to the rest of the world.

When I went to Beijing this summer, I was in awe at how clean modern the city was. I'm sure everything was cleaned up simply because people from everywhere would come and see their city, but MAN did they do a good job. And since they're building upon and improving what many American cities have done, they seemed to have become a "global city" in less time than it took for cities like Chicago or San Francisco which had to start from scratch.

Basically, it's time for the US to take this as a challenge and step it up. A lot.

Oh yeah, and it's also time for the IOC to get some competent judges. I was angry when gymnasts Nastia Liukin and He Kexin of China both scored the same and only one got the medal.

It doesn't make any sense, the system is kind of random, and the judges come from countries that don't have any top gymnasts, or any at all. And of course, everything should work out just fine in the end.

 

[Bumble_Bee]

Originally Posted by Casey

Well, seeing as China has made it's way to (almost) the top of the world in less than 3 decades, I think the Beijing Olympics was an eye opener to the rest of the world.

When I went to Beijing this summer, I was in awe at how clean modern the city was. I'm sure everything was cleaned up simply because people from everywhere would come and see their city, but MAN did they do a good job. And since they're building upon and improving what many American cities have done, they seemed to have become a "global city" in less time than it took for cities like Chicago or San Francisco which had to start from scratch.

Anyone not in self-denial probably saw this coming 20+ years ago. If you can imagine the almost 100-year industrial revolution back in the 1700s happening in 2008, , then you shouldn't be that surprised at what china have accomplished with the assistance of modern technology and its immense manpower under one central ruling government.

 

[Fade to Black]

Don't worry guys, we still have a few years to go before catching up...a lot of what you see on the surface in metropolitan centers like Beijing, Shanghai, is simply a mirage. It looks very polished and developed, but there's still quite a ways to go before the people who make up the services sector and represent this entire social infrastructure are up to par in terms of what is deemed 'world class' - ie. the New Yorks and Parises of the world. At its core, China may have vast emporiums of spas, restaurants and shopping malls, but it's still the street-squatting comrade which makes up the majority of the actual populations.

 

[visionology]

Originally Posted by babygreenspots

Does it bother anyone that China's gold medal count is greater than the US has obtained in any Olympics besides Los Angeles (when the Eastern block boycotted)? It is also the first time a non-Western country has topped the medal count. One might say it doesn't matter, but it most certainly matters to the Chinese and in ways that go far beyond sports. A victory for collectivism?

I'm not bothered or surprised really. If you train for a single thing since practically birth there is no doubt over time you will become world class in what you do. They've historically stuck to weightlifting, table tennis, gymnastics, diving, shooting, etc but have now started moving into other events like swimming & track and field where the US has been historically dominant.

There was an article in USA Today that other day comparing medals and the US fell right where it normally does in regards to golds and actually achieved one of its highest medal counts ever, so that means that China isn't necessarily taking medals away from the US, but instead away from the rest of the world. Not that any of this matters.

 

[Casey]

Originally Posted by Fade to Black

Don't worry guys, we still have a few years to go before catching up...a lot of what you see on the surface in metropolitan centers like Beijing, Shanghai, is simply a mirage. It looks very polished and developed, but there's still quite a ways to go before the people who make up the services sector and represent this entire social infrastructure are up to par in terms of what is deemed 'world class' - ie. the New Yorks and Parises of the world. At its core, China may have vast emporiums of spas, restaurants and shopping malls, but it's still the street-squatting comrade which makes up the majority of the actual populations.

Very true. I don't think their extremely high gold medal count has any direct correlation to the state of the people in China. Of course they have their gold medal superstars and billionaires, but the price of living in a big city like Shanghai or Beijing doesn't come cheap and most people have had to move to the outskirts of a town they used to call their own.

What I meant to say was catching up simply in gold medals. However, I think our athletes are still amazing considering the fact that most of them chose to do what they do and probably started much later than the Chinese athletes who I am guessing had to take up gymnastics or acrobatics because their parents couldn't afford to support them or they wanted their kids to "have a better life." Either way, our culture is so much different from theirs, it's really hard to compare.

 

[Viktri]

Actually there is huge immigration from outside of the major cities into the major cities - so much that some cities are limiting the amount of "Chinese immigrants"...

The Chinese athletes @ the olympics start training at an early age, very early age, and they don't really get a choice in their life which is rather unfortunate.

 

[whacked]

Originally Posted by Casey

the price of living in a big city like Shanghai or Beijing doesn't come cheap and most people have had to move to the outskirts of a town they used to call their own.

You have never been to Asian cities, I assume?