2008 Olympics

[curiousjane]

The opening night ceremony was breathtaking. I'm looking forward to enjoying watching some of the events on television.

Any one else?

[PHS Philip]

I'm sad that I couldn't watch the (cycling) road race :( A Basque won, though, which is cool. It's been a while since their last good rider. Maybe here's the next one.

[fonmaneal]

I don't care enough about it to say anymore than this.

[Deadgod]

I don't care enough about it to say anymore than this.

Me neither. But I did see a bit of it unfortunately. What I liked most was when they were putting up the flag. I'm merely fascinated by discipline. It's just interesting to watch.

[Solaris]

I like the Olympics. Not out of national pride really, but I admire the athleticism and dedication of those people. Also, I love the huge spectacle of the opening and closing ceremonies. I watched a good portion of the OC's, and am currently watching some beach volleyball before I head off to the pool for the afternoon.

[TheLastMohican]

I am interested in the events, but more interested in the politics/foreign policy involving China. Paul Hamm was the main draw for me, but now he got injured and dropped out. I will be keeping track of Michael Phelps, though.
Besides the actual sporting events, there are intriguing points of contention like Joey Cheek's passport and the (un)compensated demolitions to make way for the new arenas. This is a pretty big deal for 1/5 of the world's population.

[ElstonGunn]

I sat around in a bar with people I didn't really know, mocking the various countries' flag parades last night. I hate the Olympics. It screws up my normal TV schedule. Oh thanks, I really did have a hankering for watching Portugal take on Spain in the hair-raising game of shot put. Maybe we'll need to get Pope Alexander VI in here to mediate again.

[redbaren]

I was going to watch the Cowboys game but..... the dang Olympics are going to screw it all up!

[lambpox]

I was in Universal City here in L.A. to watch the opening ceremony on a huge television screen...my aunt, twin and I basically waited one hour for our country (Iran) to show up, haha. It irked me when Bush was shown clapping for the Iraqi team, and they didn't show him when Iran showed up right afterward. It was quite funny, yet annoying at the same time.

[Motor Jax]

I sat around in a bar with people I didn't really know, mocking the various countries' flag parades last night. I hate the Olympics. It screws up my normal TV schedule. Oh thanks, I really did have a hankering for watching Portugal take on Spain in the hair-raising game of shot put. Maybe we'll need to get Pope Alexander VI in here to mediate again.

yea, i had went out with this "friend" (the ESFJ guy with the ESTP female roomate) that i had NOT talked to in a month (instead, isolated myself in my apartment and they didn't even call me or check up on me or anything (i am just a little pissed at them about it...))

but we had went out cause i stopped by THEIR apartment to say hi... next thing you know, he insists that we go see Dark Knight... i said ok... so we left... and he takes this long-@ss way around the theater only to get there, only to miss the showing by 30 minutes... so, we went to go grab something and headed to the bar/club (>>this one :cowboy: == too crowded, i didn't want to go, etc...)

anyways, after being there for about 30 minutes, i see him starring at one of the big screens and he goes, "i forgot they had this on tonight..." and he is just enraptured by the Olympic Openings...

i watched maybe about 15-20 minutes of it before i got bored with it...

glad he found enjoyment out of it though.... i guess... :irked:

[Deepdelver]

I saw a small portion. My daughter had her friend stay the night. So, they kept me busy. But, I enjoyed the hair, make-up and costumes of the women. Very beautiful. The LED floor was cool too.

[xtremegeek]

Who the heck convinced Bob Costas to dye his hair so dark for these Olympics!? Bad idea.

I love the Olympics. I dream of attending the opening ceremonies one day...doesn't matter if it's the Summer Games or the Winter Games, I just want to be at the opening ceremonies. It's on my Bucket List.

[Mozzes]

The opening ceremonies was mind boggling and awesomely beautiful. I probably won't watch many of the events but I am going to try to catch Phelps and Torres, basketball and weightlifting. I might catch some of the track and field stuff as long as Tyson Gay can still fly.

[NephilimAzrael]

Great performance from Pang Wei in the pistol, likewise for Emmins in the women's air-rifle.
Anyone watch the Judo? Great match between the South Korean and Austrian in the gold. Ippon in about a minute, spectacular.

[Neuro]

Saw some opening ceremony clips that were really impressive. Hopefully it'll encourage more people to learn about Chinese culture. As for the games themselves I pretty much despise the whole enterprise and think it's a destructive waste of money. Still, I'm rooting for Russia hehe.

[curiousjane]

American women swept gold, silver, and bronze in the women's saber division of fencing. Fencing is fantastic. I wish I could fence.

Although, if I was ever to compete in anything Olympic in nature, I'd compete in archery. I love archery. I just don't have the patience to train.

Side note: You know that the actress Geena Davis is a member of Mensa and competed in archery in the Olympics awhile back? I'm not a huge fan, but you gotta admit, that's a pretty impressive resume.

:)

[hum]

I don't care enough about it to say anymore than this.

I second this.

[Arcani]

I love to watch the Olympics. I find gymnastics and swimming amazing to watch. The opening ceremonies this year were phenomenal. The discipline was amazing.

American women swept gold, silver, and bronze in the women's saber division of fencing. Fencing is fantastic. I wish I could fence.

Although, if I was ever to compete in anything Olympic in nature, I'd compete in archery. I love archery. I just don't have the patience to train.

Side note: You know that the actress Geena Davis is a member of Mensa and competed in archery in the Olympics awhile back? I'm not a huge fan, but you gotta admit, that's a pretty impressive resume.

:)

I fenced in high school and for two years in college so I'm glad to see the sport is (finally) getting some recognition and air time here in the States. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see the event today but I hope to catch at least part of the other two planned broadcasts.

As an interesting aside, my college coach is supposedly one of the commentators. I'm not sure if he's only doing specific events or all the fencing.


For anyone who may have missed it, Phelps beat out Che and Lochte for the gold in the 400 IM. If I remember correctly he was almost 1.5 seconds ahead of the world record pace!

[sam988]

The opening ceremony was breathtaking, i wish i could be there. Best opening ceremony (actually, best show of the sort) i have ever seen.

[searcher]

I watched some of the opening ceremony. Not bad. What I found most amazing was the disipline in it. Ten months, some of the performers had been practising for. Ten!
NZ's got quite a few hopefuls (remembering that we are a very small country) this year so we will no doubt be hearing a lot about it all.

[ssrprotege]

Well, it's part of Korean culture that people watch matches and shout for joy when Korean teams win (in the 2002 World Cup, it was common for people to install a huge screen in public places so that people can cheer for the Korean team.). lol. I am a Korean after all, so I am gravitated towards Olympics and results.





ssrprotege added to this post, 3 minutes and 52 seconds later...

Hehe, Korea just won the Archery Team Final....proud....:lovestruck: :cry:

As far as archery is concerned, I fancy that Korea is unsurpassed so far. :thumbsup:

[NephilimAzrael]

Wonderful performance by the Koreans in the archery, China put up a great performance also in achieving the silver.

[faedra]

Personally I'm too caught up with the human rights issues to appreciate this Olympics as much as I have the previous ones.

[konec]

I'm really annoyed by the performance our national team right now... they play very poor




pfew... a german style draw



at least the hockey ladies did their job :thumbsup:

[Jgib5328]

I sat around in a bar with people I didn't really know, mocking the various countries' flag parades last night. I hate the Olympics. It screws up my normal TV schedule. Oh thanks, I really did have a hankering for watching Portugal take on Spain in the hair-raising game of shot put. Maybe we'll need to get Pope Alexander VI in here to mediate again.

It's summertime, it's not like there's anything special on tv.

[azelismia]

I don't get why people are so excited over the olympics myself

[mind_wander]

I watched the Pre-edited US version of the Beijing Olympics, while some countries got the Live version :(, oh well. I do liked the Human life like digital plex trying to create so many designs; that's so cool. Well, I can cheer for my selected 3 choices: Taiwan, China, and USA. Hmm, what happen's if there is a match China vs. USA? Well, I did see some mistakes USA team is making, lacking some defensive plays; all I can say this year, for the USA is just relax and enjoy it. While, other countries are stressing out along with so much pressure from across the world.

Anyone from the US, who is watching the Olympics continuously, Beijing is about 12hrs ahead. Everything is mostly prerecorded or live during the morning hours [Eastern/Central time].

[xeeeej]

The 4x100 men's freesytle (swimming) relay last night was amazing!

[Solaris]

The 4x100 men's freesytle (swimming) relay last night was amazing!

Absolutely! That was an outstanding anchor leg.

[enfpchick]

OMG The men's relay swimming was amazing! My family and i stayed up to watch America beat the trash talkin' French.

[xeeeej]

Perhaps the best part was how stunned & speechless the French were. Classic!

[curio]

Although I'm not complaining over the U.S. 4x100 swim relay win, I still think it's pure luck.

8/100th of a second? I guess I'm not very impressed with 8/100th of a second, while the U.S. team actually went bananas over it. That was a bit off-putting.

[Americano]

Although I'm not complaining over the U.S. 4x100 swim relay win, I still think it's pure luck.

8/100th of a second? I guess I'm not very impressed with 8/100th of a second, while the U.S. team actually went bananas over it. That was a bit off-putting.

Getting the wall tap was probably luck, but the American did chase down the French guy from behind. I think the U.S. team went so crazy because they almost lost. It was so close and they came out ahead. If they had on the other hand completely smoked the French team than they probably wouldn't have had such an animated reaction.

To answer the OP I always look forward to the Olympics and especially enjoy Gymnastics.

[Arcani]

Getting the wall tap was probably luck, but the American did chase down the French guy from behind. I think the U.S. team went so crazy because they almost lost. It was so close and they came out ahead. If they had on the other hand completely smoked the French team than they probably wouldn't have had such an animated reaction.


Not to mention Phelps' goal of 8 Olympics Golds in the same year was salvaged from a near loss. Also impressive about that relay was the record times: U.S. and France nearly 4 seconds ahead of the world record, 5 of the 8 teams came in ahead of the WR mark and a 6th, Canada, was only 3/100 behind it. Finally, every team broke a national record and came in ahead of the Olympic record. That is what made the 4x100m free amazing to watch!

Speaking of Phelps; he brought himself up to 3/3 gold medals in the 200m free and looks to be in pretty good shape for the 200m fly.

Also, the U.S. Men's Team took bronze in gymnastics (they looked so solid until the pommel horse...)! China took the gold with some amazing displays on parallel bars and vault and Japan finished strong on parallel bars and high bar for silver. So congrats to China, Japan and USA for those results.

[searcher]

Arrrg.
Mahe Drysdale is ill. badbadbad.
And Moss Burmester came fourth in the 200 Butterfly. And he was beating Michael Phelps for the first 50 metres! That is worth just as much celebrating as if he had medalled when you consider that he doesn't have much natural talent, just hard hard work.

[Colette]

The opening night ceremony was breathtaking. I'm looking forward to enjoying watching some of the events on television.

Any one else?

Breathtaking but fake. The little Chinese girl's song was lip synched (another child singer dubbed in), and the fireworks display for TV watchers was edited in as a digital effect. I wonder what else was fake. Impressive though, I suppose, unless you happen to be one of the millions of slum dwellers on the outskirts of Beijing who don't own a TV or even have electricity..

[Grizzly]

Breathtaking but fake. The little Chinese girl's song was lip synched (another child singer dubbed in), and the fireworks display for TV watchers was edited in as a digital effect. I wonder what else was fake. Impressive though, I suppose, unless you happen to be one of the millions of slum dwellers on the outskirts of Beijing who don't own a TV or even have electricity..


Why is everyone getting up in arms about the lipsynching?
It was a show, its fake already.
Just because the organizing committee decided that they'd rather have the cute one on stage while using the others audio does that make it any less enjoyable to watch?

Though adding the fireworks in post-production was over the top. I can only hope they did it because of safety concerns involving the fireworks.
But would you be angry if we find out they did the same at the Sydney olympics?

Most of the outlying districs around Beijing do have power, its once you get out to Sichuan or other western provinces that the basic services (power, Water, sewage) tend to be lacking.
I'm not defending the govt in this case, the income disparity here is monolithic, But its just as likely to decrease in China as it is in the United States.
But I can guarantee that upwards of 98% of the population here is glued to every polished and censored second of the olympics. (mainly because all business not specifically related to the olympics is at a complete standstill)

What gets me is all the whining about censorship of the western media.
this is a Communist country, people do not necessarily have rights here, what did you expect?

Normally China cares very little about what western sources say about the country, because up until now those sites have been blocked.
But now as a result of IOC's mandate they have relaxed those restrictions, and Chinese citizens can actually find out what the rest of the world thinks. In addition to being able to research sensitive topics that they previously could not (representative democracy, Tianamen Square, etc) though some of the currently sensitive topics are still blocked, The Tibetan Protests for example.
Even with all the whining from the foreign media, this is the most open an uncesored media China has seen yet. Its not the BBC, but it might get there in a decade or five.

[mind_wander]

Breathtaking but fake. The little Chinese girl's song was lip synched (another child singer dubbed in), and the fireworks display for TV watchers was edited in as a digital effect. I wonder what else was fake. Impressive though, I suppose, unless you happen to be one of the millions of slum dwellers on the outskirts of Beijing who don't own a TV or even have electricity..

I managed to get the Beijing Opening Ceremony Live Dvd and I did see the girl didn't even really try to sing it. Right now, Beijing is selling the Dvd copies, it's selling very quickly. Comparing it with the NBC version, the network cut way too much. Overall, very impressive unedited version.

Currently, 16 Gold-China, 10 Gold-USA, 6 Gold-S.Korea.

[Colette]

Why is everyone getting up in arms about the lipsynching?
It was a show, its fake already.
Just because the organizing committee decided that they'd rather have the cute one on stage while using the others audio does that make it any less enjoyable to watch?

Yeah OK, maybe it was never presented as realistic, but in that case it was more the calculated 'model pageant' type decision-making on the part of the authorities that galled people I think, rather than the deception as such. Why not let a little girl be what she really is, and have people appreciate her for what she has to offer, without needing to sculpt her image into a model of perfection?

I'm not defending the govt in this case, the income disparity here is monolithic, But its just as likely to decrease in China as it is in the United States.
But I can guarantee that upwards of 98% of the population here is glued to every polished and censored second of the olympics. (mainly because all business not specifically related to the olympics is at a complete standstill)

Even with all the whining from the foreign media, this is the most open an uncesored media China has seen yet. Its not the BBC, but it might get there in a decade or five.

Well I disagree that the coverage is "open", in the sense that China is portraying a sanitized and joyous picture of itself for these Olympics that is both highly censored, and highly misleading. Why don't we see what the slums look like? Because the IOC and Chinese authorities don't want us to.

Nobody expects China or its Government to change as a result of the international scrutiny brought on by the Olympics, or that after it's all over, China's appalling human rights record and treatment of its workers, its miners, the poor, those seeking democracy, or any other currently "oppressed" group, will undergo some magical transformation for the better. But what we can perhaps legitimately expect is that China won't willfully deceive us, such as by putting up three underage gymnasts in its women's gymnastic team, or by shutting down a smoke belching factory for a couple of days and then claiming Beijing has "clean air for the Olympics".

These issues don't stop me watching the coverage or enjoying it, but they do colour the way I see the Chinese medal victories, and the lasting impression I'll have of China as the host country.

[Arcani]

Yeah OK, maybe it was never presented as realistic, but in that case it was more the calculated 'model pageant' type decision-making on the part of the authorities that galled people I think, rather than the deception as such. Why not let a little girl be what she really is, and have people appreciate her for what she has to offer, without needing to sculpt her image into a model of perfection?

Because that wouldn't make the show as entertaining. I'm not condoning lipsyncing but keep in mind that the opening ceremony was all about putting on a show and as with any show you have to know they are going to make it look as good as possible. Watching it with that mindset I can't really complain about the lipsyncing or the post-production, they were almost expected.

It would be another matter if they explicitly stated or even implied that everything they showed was authentic, but I can't say one way or another because I only saw the American reproduction and I'm not sure what statements were made about the original.

Well I disagree that the coverage is "open", in the sense that China is portraying a sanitized and joyous picture of itself for these Olympics that is both highly censored, and highly misleading. Why don't we see what the slums look like? Because the IOC and Chinese authorities don't want us to.

Do you expect them to show us the slums? If the games were being held in the States, would you expect them to show pictures of trailer parks or the poorer sections of a city?

It's all about image. Any country hosting the Olympics is going to try to make themselves look as good as possible to the rest of the world, particularly when their image is already in low regard.

Nobody expects China or its Government to change as a result of the international scrutiny brought on by the Olympics, or that after it's all over, China's appalling human rights record and treatment of its workers, its miners, the poor, those seeking democracy, or any other currently "oppressed" group, will undergo some magical transformation for the better. But what we can perhaps legitimately expect is that China won't willfully deceive us, such as by putting up three underage gymnasts in its women's gymnastic team, or by shutting down a smoke belching factory for a couple of days and then claiming Beijing has "clean air for the Olympics".

I haven't heard about the smoke factory but it wouldn't surprise me, again, it's all about image.

The gymnastics thing is regrettable and I agree with you on that (even if it can't be proven, the consensus is pretty clear), it reflects badly on Chinese gymnastics.

These issues don't stop me watching the coverage or enjoying it, but they do colour the way I see the Chinese medal victories, and the lasting impression I'll have of China as the host country.
Any country hosting the Olympic Games is going to hide their dirty laundry, China just has more to hide...

Personally I'm quite surprised and impressed by China as the host country. I was anticipating it being a much less friendly atmosphere.

[Allie]

I watched the entire Opening Ceremony, and have also kept track of certain sports venues. Can't help it. I've been an Olympics fan since Mary Lou Retton.

IMO. The lip sync and fake fireworks are minor incidences, but the uproar may have to do with the fact that they're yet additional confirmation of the Chinese government's continued manipulation to create the image they want the world to see. I think the world has seen enough of that from them, and was hoping for a more open and tolerant China...a little warts and all. In fact, that would make them more endearing.

Generally, they don't have a very good reputation as is already: stolen US technology, blatant hacking of foreigners' laptops, brand name counterfeits, software piracy/and other disregard for intellectual property laws, contaminated products (kids toys, food, virus in electronics/quality control), etc. That's not even counting the human rights issues. What impression/image do people get when they see "Made in China" or "Product of China"?

This was their chance to display their growing status, and their chance to prove that they are legitimate (it's very important to them that most of the head of states attend. I don't see the such emphasis with other host countries). But now, there may always be a question of "what else could be fake that we may not know about yet or will never know about?"

Their Opening Ceremony was impressive overall, but I wouldn't recommend looking too deeply into the details. For example: It may be just me, but I noticed that all the women were similar in height (tall) and slender, very Caucasian looking, and they all have very similar features. They look almost like clones. I can understand synchronizing movements and costumes, but not the rest. Such uniformity/conformity (in the thousands) is creepy.

Once I noticed that, then it got me thinking: How did they recruit these girls? Did they have a list of stringent physical criteria and a recruiting site where the girls are lined up, looked at, and selected like a meat market?

I supposed with 1.3 billion people, it's probably an expedient thing for them to do, but how's that behavior and thought process any different than from their pre-Olympics image?

Already, there are questions about the ladies gymnastics. There may continue to be doubts about other things. Whether they're true or not may no longer matter much, but the fact that there are nagging suspicions is enough damage. The Chinese government placed such a heavy emphasis on image (more so than other host countries), that, anything fake, minor or otherwise, will only magnify the image problem.

It'll be interesting to see whether the overall opinion about China changed (for better, same, or worse) after all this is over.

[Colette]

IMO. The lip sync and fake fireworks are minor incidences, but the uproar may have to do with the fact that they're yet additional confirmation of the Chinese government's continued manipulation to create the image they want the world to see. I think the world has seen enough of that from them, and was hoping for a more open and tolerant China...a little warts and all. In fact, that would make them more endearing.

Yes thanks, I think that's the point I was trying to make (albeit less skillfully than you)! It's not the incidents themselves, but what they signify about China's desperation to be viewed as an acceptable player on the world stage; despite so many areas in which China falls miserably short of that aim (lack of democracy, human rights abuses, the situation in Tibet, the treatment of rural farmers/landowners, miners..etc etc..the list goes on and on).

This was their chance to display their growing status, and their chance to prove that they are legitimate (it's very important to them that most of the head of states attend. I don't see the such emphasis with other host countries). But now, there may always be a question of "what else could be fake that we may not know about yet or will never know about?"

Their Opening Ceremony was impressive overall, but I wouldn't recommend looking too deeply into the details. For example: It may be just me, but I noticed that all the women were similar in height (tall) and slender, very Caucasian looking, and they all have very similar features. They look almost like clones. I can understand synchronizing movements and costumes, but not the rest. Such uniformity/conformity (in the thousands) is creepy.

Once I noticed that, then it got me thinking: How did they recruit these girls? Did they have a list of stringent physical criteria and a recruiting site where the girls are lined up, looked at, and selected like a meat market?

Yes exactly. The focus on Westernized images, and the slickness and uniformity of it, just left a bad taste in my mouth I'm afraid. The whole thing was executed with military skill and precision, and yet it left me cold - it seemed like a pageant, not a heart-felt expression of China's pride in its own history and people.

Already, there are questions about the ladies gymnastics. There may continue to be doubts about other things. Whether they're true or not may no longer matter much, but the fact that there are nagging suspicions is enough damage.

Look at the medals tally so far. I find it more than mildly suspicious that China has dominated both the men's and women's gymnastics, and (so far) the weightlifting, which is normally dominated by Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine.

Maybe it's all perfectly legit, who knows? I guess we'll find out after it's all over.

[Arcani]

Yes exactly. The focus on Westernized images, and the slickness and uniformity of it, just left a bad taste in my mouth I'm afraid. The whole thing was executed with military skill and precision, and yet it left me cold - it seemed like a pageant, not a heart-felt expression of China's pride in its own history and people.


I think that's understandable. I was actually impressed by and enjoyed the performances, but I'm a sucker for that kind of precision (particularly those Fou drummers and the Tai-Chi demonstration). I do agree though it had a distant and cold feel to it.


Look at the medals tally so far. I find it more than mildly suspicious that China has dominated both the men's and women's gymnastics, and (so far) the weightlifting, which is normally dominated by Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine.

Maybe it's all perfectly legit, who knows? I guess we'll find out after it's all over.

I'll admit I've been wondering about that too. I'd like to think the judges are beyond the reach of the host nation (or any nation for that matter) at the Olympics, but watching the gymnastics I've had to wonder a bit. On the other hand, if you watched the team gymnastics events, the Chinese teams had some of the highest start values and their performances were excellent. I think both of those golds were well deserved.

The gymnastics scoring in general this year have been odd and nobody seems to be able to figure out what's going on with them.

I have got to wonder tonight though... the scores have been a bit too high for the Chinese and a bit too low for the Americans in the women's all-around. At least, so say the commentators and to my untrained and slightly biased eye, I agree. Is it tainted judging or just bad judging? I don't know. (I don't mean to leave out any other countries, but those are the only two really being covered by the American broadcast.)

As for the weightlifting, I don't follow it and I haven't seen any of it so I won't comment.


In other news, Phelps is now 6/6 golds with WR times. Also, the U.S. women's saber team took bronze over France, and (for those who caught it) how amazing was that final between Ukraine and China? Coming from behind like that is so difficult, kudos to the Ukraine team.

[Colette]

Well yes the US women's gymnastics team was a bit of an embarrassment to say the least, when compared with previous years. I already mentioned that 3 of the Chinese women's team are underage, and the result of this (or one result) is that the average team member weight for the Chinese team is around 77 lb, versus 100lb for the US women. In gymnastics that's a big differential, and a significant one in terms of likely agility and performance.

Other events are equally mystifying, like for example 2 time gold rowing medallist Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand only scratching a bronze medal in the men's single sculls, after leading the race by a big margin right up to the 1500m mark. It turns out he'd been suffering food poisoning all week. Is this a common occurrence? He seemed very philosophical about the defeat, but it does seem rather curious.

[Arcani]

Well yes the US women's gymnastics team was a bit of an embarrassment to say the least, when compared with previous years. I already mentioned that 3 of the Chinese women's team are underage, and the result of this (or one result) is that the average team member weight for the Chinese team is around 77 lb, versus 100lb for the US women. In gymnastics that's a big differential, and a significant one in terms of likely agility and performance.

Other events are equally mystifying, like for example 2 time gold rowing medallist Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand only scratching a bronze medal in the men's single sculls, after leading the race by a big margin right up to the 1500m mark. It turns out he'd been suffering food poisoning all week. Is this a common occurrence? He seemed very philosophical about the defeat, but it does seem rather curious.

Apparently a fair number of the participants have suffered from food poisoning, they've been talking about it a lot on the swimming events. I doubt there was any malicious intent there though, those are the dangers of eating abroad.

Yeah, the whole gymnastics thing is regrettable, but there isn't much that can be done about it. Congrats to Liukin(USA), Johnson(USA) and Yilin(China) for their results in the women's all-around. Liukin and Johnson had amazing floor ex. routines.

[Grizzly]

Just thought this belonged in this thread.

If only they had been using legal versions of windows......

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[mind_wander]

I am not sure, how many intjs are noticing this? I am not going to ruin the whole competitive thing. Does anyone noticed when any competitors from China entering into the competition, almost every country is working like a global team to beat China[Unified, as one big country and doesn't get really pissed off at each other-setting their differences aside]. While, when China isn't entering into the competition, most countries will fight hard, as hell to get the Gold; ok free for all. I do pay attention to this detail, it's not dishonorable to do this. Hey, wasn't the China slogan: One Dream, One world? Vice versa translation: China's Big Dream is to win all the gold, while the other countries unified as entire country to fight against China.

I am also Chinese, but not backhanding China about this issue. Now, after saying this; I probably get spammed by Asian folks on here, lol. If you really see the big picture, then you will see what I am talking about.





mind_wander added to this post, 3 minutes and 44 seconds later...

I watched the entire Opening Ceremony, and have also kept track of certain sports venues. Can't help it. I've been an Olympics fan since Mary Lou Retton.

IMO. The lip sync and fake fireworks are minor incidences, but the uproar may have to do with the fact that they're yet additional confirmation of the Chinese government's continued manipulation to create the image they want the world to see. I think the world has seen enough of that from them, and was hoping for a more open and tolerant China...a little warts and all. In fact, that would make them more endearing.

Generally, they don't have a very good reputation as is already: stolen US technology, blatant hacking of foreigners' laptops, brand name counterfeits, software piracy/and other disregard for intellectual property laws, contaminated products (kids toys, food, virus in electronics/quality control), etc. That's not even counting the human rights issues. What impression/image do people get when they see "Made in China" or "Product of China"?

This was their chance to display their growing status, and their chance to prove that they are legitimate (it's very important to them that most of the head of states attend. I don't see the such emphasis with other host countries). But now, there may always be a question of "what else could be fake that we may not know about yet or will never know about?"

Their Opening Ceremony was impressive overall, but I wouldn't recommend looking too deeply into the details. For example: It may be just me, but I noticed that all the women were similar in height (tall) and slender, very Caucasian looking, and they all have very similar features. They look almost like clones. I can understand synchronizing movements and costumes, but not the rest. Such uniformity/conformity (in the thousands) is creepy.

Once I noticed that, then it got me thinking: How did they recruit these girls? Did they have a list of stringent physical criteria and a recruiting site where the girls are lined up, looked at, and selected like a meat market?

I supposed with 1.3 billion people, it's probably an expedient thing for them to do, but how's that behavior and thought process any different than from their pre-Olympics image?

Already, there are questions about the ladies gymnastics. There may continue to be doubts about other things. Whether they're true or not may no longer matter much, but the fact that there are nagging suspicions is enough damage. The Chinese government placed such a heavy emphasis on image (more so than other host countries), that, anything fake, minor or otherwise, will only magnify the image problem.

It'll be interesting to see whether the overall opinion about China changed (for better, same, or worse) after all this is over.

Well, we heard about the human rights issue about how come females are not getting a fair chance to rise up. I'm guessing, they are protraying Asian females does look, like this. In reality, Asian females comes all shapes, sizes, colors, beauty[within/outside], etc. Don't judge by what's on the outside? Look what's on the inside? ah. When, the government was posting an Olympics Volunteer ad the volunteer list is so pack; select certain people to get the job.

[bladeserver]

I think I see the big picture but it seems a completely different picture from the one you describe.
Any host country has a big advantage for a variety of reasons and always do better than they do in other Oympic Games when they are away from home. This seems well documented and makes sense.
As for every other particpant i believe strongly that they all have the same goal - to do as well as they can and, if they are good enough, to win a medal. I see no evidence whatsoever of the conspiracy you dscuss and it, frankly, doesn't make sense to me.
Just my opinion.

[True Rune]

Guess I should have watched something, I don't really care, but the opening would be interesting, just to see what this means to the world.

[Allie]

Colette:

Yes exactly. The focus on Westernized images, and the slickness and uniformity of it, just left a bad taste in my mouth I'm afraid. The whole thing was executed with military skill and precision, and yet it left me cold - it seemed like a pageant, not a heart-felt expression of China's pride in its own history and people.

I agree. The entire production just didn't do anything for me. It was also very mechanical, somber and moody. Must be the need for darkened atmosphere to accommodate all that lightings and props. Trust me, when my mind starts wandering and picking out things, then they have not engaged me emotionally.

Now, the 1988 Seoul Korea OC though, they also have synchronized theme, and technically cannot compare to this (it was 1988!), but it was truly an Olympics celebration. There were thousands of performers, but they were energetic and happy. There were a lot of movements and running, and the results were fun and joyful to watch. It was controlled chaos!

Look at the medals tally so far. I find it more than mildly suspicious that China has dominated both the men's and women's gymnastics, and (so far) the weightlifting, which is normally dominated by Russia, Belarus and the Ukraine.

Maybe it's all perfectly legit, who knows? I guess we'll find out after it's all over.

Hate to say me too again, but me too (glad Tarrick is not around to rap my knuckles).

On the gymnastic scores, I thought it was just me over analyzing, and that I am not as versed in the latest technicalities. But I have always been pretty good at predicting the scores in the past. This time, though, I was baffled. Historically, judges do favor the host countries a bit. They are humans after all and will have some biases. There have been controversies in the past on the judges and the scoring system, both in gymnastics and notoriously in the Winter Olympics in Pair and Figure Skating. It was fun rooting for a perfect “10” back then.

This time I cannot make heads or tails of the scores. There were some near perfect performances by the US, Japan, and Korea but their scores were lower compared to similar or less perfect performances from China. It was especially very obvious in the Ladies All Around last night. The US got gold and silver, in the end, but the whole time, the scores were whacky. On a side note. I adore Bela Karolyi!

I hope some experts will analyze and confirm on this issue later. I really want to know.





Allie added to this post, 190 minutes and 54 seconds later...

I am not sure, how many intjs are noticing this? I am not going to ruin the whole competitive thing. Does anyone noticed when any competitors from China entering into the competition, almost every country is working like a global team to beat China[Unified, as one big country and doesn't get really pissed off at each other-setting their differences aside]. While, when China isn't entering into the competition, most countries will fight hard, as hell to get the Gold; ok free for all. I do pay attention to this detail, it's not dishonorable to do this. Hey, wasn't the China slogan: One Dream, One world? Vice versa translation: China's Big Dream is to win all the gold, while the other countries unified as entire country to fight against China.

I am also Chinese, but not backhanding China about this issue. Now, after saying this; I probably get spammed by Asian folks on here, lol. If you really see the big picture, then you will see what I am talking about.

No spamming from me :) If that's how you see it, then that's how you see it.


Well, we heard about the human rights issue about how come females are not getting a fair chance to rise up. I'm guessing, they are protraying Asian females does look, like this. In reality, Asian females comes all shapes, sizes, colors, beauty[within/outside], etc. Don't judge by what's on the outside? Look what's on the inside? ah. When, the government was posting an Olympics Volunteer ad the volunteer list is so pack; select certain people to get the job.

OK. I am invoking my INTJness. I am guessing sarcasm? If so, I agree that arranging and displaying women in such a way is not what the world means when they advocate advancement for women :laugh:

[Shaz]

China's attitude towards the whole olympic thing just makes me want to throw up.

here is why (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)

Do they talk about those issues in the US? My australian boyfriend says newspapers don't really do in his country. Here in France it's a big debate. Of course you can argue that boycotting will make things worse (and it would probably). I don't think they should have had them in the first place. The IOC's fault for thinking giving them the opportunity would make them want to change things. Fools.

At least here it draws attention on all the human rights problems there. It's the good side of it.


The Chinese authorities promised the IOC and international community concrete improvements in human rights in order to win the 2008 Olympics for Beijing. But they changed their tone after getting what they wanted. For example, then deputy Prime Minister Li Lanqing said, four days after the IOC vote in 2001, that “China’s Olympic victory” should encourage the country to maintain its “healthy life” by combatting such problems as the Falungong spiritual movement, which had “stirred up violent crime.” Several thousands of Falungong followers have been jailed since the movement was banned and at least 100 have died in detention.

A short while later, it was the turn of then Vice-President Hu Jintao (now president) to argue that after the Beijing “triumph,” it was “crucial to fight without equivocation against the separatist forces orchestrated by the Dalai Lama and the world’s anti-China forces.” In the west of the country, where there is a sizeable Muslim minority, the authorities in Xinjiang province executed Uyghurs for “separatism.”

Finally, the police and judicial authorities were given orders to pursue the “Hit Hard” campaign against crime. Every year, several thousand Chinese are executed in public, often in stadiums, by means of a bullet in the back of the neck or lethal injection.

Not to mention all the heritage destruction for the sake of showing off to the rest of the world.

[mind_wander]

Colette:



I agree. The entire production just didn't do anything for me. It was also very mechanical, somber and moody. Must be the need for darkened atmosphere to accommodate all that lightings and props. Trust me, when my mind starts wandering and picking out things, then they have not engaged me emotionally.

Now, the 1988 Seoul Korea OC though, they also have synchronized theme, and technically cannot compare to this (it was 1988!), but it was truly an Olympics celebration. There were thousands of performers, but they were energetic and happy. There were a lot of movements and running, and the results were fun and joyful to watch. It was controlled chaos!



Hate to say me too again, but me too (glad Tarrick is not around to rap my knuckles).

On the gymnastic scores, I thought it was just me over analyzing, and that I am not as versed in the latest technicalities. But I have always been pretty good at predicting the scores in the past. This time, though, I was baffled. Historically, judges do favor the host countries a bit. They are humans after all and will have some biases. There have been controversies in the past on the judges and the scoring system, both in gymnastics and notoriously in the Winter Olympics in Pair and Figure Skating. It was fun rooting for a perfect “10” back then.

This time I cannot make heads or tails of the scores. There were some near perfect performances by the US, Japan, and Korea but their scores were lower compared to similar or less perfect performances from China. It was especially very obvious in the Ladies All Around last night. The US got gold and silver, in the end, but the whole time, the scores were whacky. On a side note. I adore Bela Karolyi!

I hope some experts will analyze and confirm on this issue later. I really want to know.





Allie added to this post, 190 minutes and 54 seconds later...



No spamming from me :) If that's how you see it, then that's how you see it.




OK. I am invoking my INTJness. I am guessing sarcasm? If so, I agree that arranging and displaying women in such a way is not what the world means when they advocate advancement for women :laugh:

Thanx, for not spamming. Yeah, its was sarcasm, glad you see it, lol. I am guessing this thread has turned into: Bash on the Errors in the Beijing Olympics!

[Arcani]

PHELPS DID IT!!! What a phenomenal and supremely lucky finish! 1/100 of a second ahead of Cavic! With that exciting win, Phelps is now 7/7 gold medals in Beijing and ties the record set by Mark Spitz over 30 years ago. If America wins the medley relay tomorrow, Phelps will have won more gold medals in a single Olympics than any athlete in the 112 year history of the Modern Olympic Games!

Thanx, for not spamming. Yeah, its was sarcasm, glad you see it, lol. I am guessing this thread has turned into: Bash on the Errors in the Beijing Olympics!

Lol, it would seem that it has, unfortunately.

@Allie
My take on the gymnastics is that with the recent belief that there is no such thing as a perfect 10, the judges look harder to find deductions on those routines that are really good and might have come close to a 10 in the old mentality. On the other hand, when the deductions are easy to find, they don't look as hard and the scores come out similar when the routines were anything but.

[Colette]

PHELPS DID IT!!! What a phenomenal and supremely lucky finish! 1/100 of a second ahead of Cavic! With that exciting win, Phelps is now 7/7 gold medals in Beijing and ties the record set by Mark Spitz over 30 years ago. If America wins the medley relay tomorrow, Phelps will have won more gold medals in a single Olympics than any athlete in the 112 year history of the Modern Olympic Games!


Yeah for sure. I'm not normally a passionate patriot type, but watching the 100m men's Butterfly medal ceremony I'll admit to being quite moved by the look on Phelps' face, and his hand on heart, during the playing of 'Star Spangled Banner'. Here was a man who was deeply proud of himself, his team, and his country, and with that irresistible combination of pride and humility that seems to be the hallmark of those 'super athletes' who make their mark on sporting history. In that moment as the camera zoomed in on his face, he reminded me so much of the 'Thorpedo' receiving his Golds at the swim meet in Athens 4 years ago - in physique and temperament they just seem so similar.

Anyway, that's my cheesiness quota filled for the day. Back into INTJ mode now ;)

[TheLastMohican]

PHELPS DID IT!!! What a phenomenal and supremely lucky finish! 1/100 of a second ahead of Cavic! With that exciting win, Phelps is now 7/7 gold medals in Beijing and ties the record set by Mark Spitz over 30 years ago. If America wins the medley relay tomorrow, Phelps will have won more gold medals in a single Olympics than any athlete in the 112 year history of the Modern Olympic Games!


Yahoo! That was a great race.

The Americans are walloping the French at swimming. :smug:

[mind_wander]

PHELPS DID IT!!! What a phenomenal and supremely lucky finish! 1/100 of a second ahead of Cavic! With that exciting win, Phelps is now 7/7 gold medals in Beijing and ties the record set by Mark Spitz over 30 years ago. If America wins the medley relay tomorrow, Phelps will have won more gold medals in a single Olympics than any athlete in the 112 year history of the Modern Olympic Games!

Its great to see him to win 7 gold medals, hope him get more in the near future. I'd also saw the live Phelps/Spitz Q&A, Phelps is very speechless; glad to watched the whole thing, before my dad tried to changed the channel. He thought, it was very boring dialogue; I sure wasn't.

[Mozzes]

What's up with all the record breaking in swimming? I mean, seriously, a new world record with virtually every race. Hell, I saw third and fourth place finishers finishing ahead of the world record in a few races.

[Neuro]

What's up with all the record breaking in swimming? I mean, seriously, a new world record with virtually every race.

Global warming.

[xtremegeek]

I loved the interview with Michael Phelps' mother. She handled his ADHD better than most parents, teachers, counselors...and look at her son today. She deserves a gold medal.

[searcher]

NZ got five medals in one day!!!!
2 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze in rowing, shotput, cycling, rowing and rowing respectively.
We're on the table! *celebrates*

[Arcani]

Sounds like a good day for NZ!

I'll add to the festive air! Phelps has his 8th gold medal in the Beijing Olympics!!! 7 of them in world record time! With that, Phelps can be called the greatest olympian in history, or at least the most decorated.

I'm still in awe of his turning ability, it's unreal.

[Tenacious B]

Phelps is in his own universe.


BTW, they did a day-in-the-life-of piece on him during last week where they talked about how much food he eats - about 10k calories a day. That is really quite massive when you see it laid out on a table. He said he only had time to eat, swim, and sleep at the games, but he must spend at least a few hours on the can. ;)

[Mozzes]

Phelps is in his own universe.


BTW, they did a day-in-the-life-of piece on him during last week where they talked about how much food he eats - about 10k calories a day. That is really quite massive when you see it laid out on a table. He said he only had time to eat, swim, and sleep at the games, but he must spend at least a few hours on the can. ;)

The food isn't all that surprising. Most of us would need 10k calories if we spent 5 hours a day swimming at a high intensity.

[Tenacious B]

The food isn't all that surprising. Most of us would need 10k calories if we spent 5 hours a day swimming at a high intensity.
Yes, the amount makes sense, but it was a bit striking to really see what that much food looks like. He should get a gold medal in eating too!

[Mozzes]

Yes, the amount makes sense, but it was a bit striking to really see what that much food looks like. He should get a gold medal in eating too!

NaTo view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Joey Chestnut (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) would completely smoke him. Kobayahsi (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.) and Chestnut would duke it out for gold/silver but knowing Phelps he might be able to steal bronze.

Speaking of cross-discipline domination I wonder how long it'll take before he starts appearing in Vitamin Water commercials.

[Allie]

The men's medley relay was awesome! Phelps did it!! Finally. Phew!

[TheLastMohican]

What was going on with the gymnastics scores? Almost invariably (more noticeably in women's gymnastics) the Chinese gymnasts had (often grossly) inflated scores while the rest were given reduced scores. Every time a foreign gymnast was given a surprisingly low score, it was a Chinese gymnast who benefited from the disparity. Coincidence? I think not. Surprisingly, though the commentators frequently noted how strange the scores were, there were no open protests concerning the seemingly obvious bias, except for some brief booing after Jonathan Horton's high bar score was revealed.

So what is this? Bribes? Sympathy? Death threats? Why were the judges so frequently skipping deductions for Chinese gymnasts that everyone else noticed? Did they think we wouldn't?

[Mozzes]

What was going on with the gymnastics scores? Almost invariably (more noticeably in women's gymnastics) the Chinese gymnasts had (often grossly) inflated scores while the rest were given reduced scores. Every time a foreign gymnast was given a surprisingly low score, it was a Chinese gymnast who benefited from the disparity. Coincidence? I think not. Surprisingly, though the commentators frequently noted how strange the scores were, there were no open protests concerning the seemingly obvious bias, except for some brief booing after Jonathan Horton's high bar score was revealed.

So what is this? Bribes? Sympathy? Death threats? Why were the judges so frequently skipping deductions for Chinese gymnasts that everyone else noticed? Did they think we wouldn't?

Is it related to difficulty? Chinese gymnasts have been a step ahead the entire olympics because they've been attempting more difficult routines.

[TheLastMohican]

Is it related to difficulty? Chinese gymnasts have been a step ahead the entire olympics because they've been attempting more difficult routines.

They have been doing some of that--more in the men's gymnastics, which is why the disparity was less pronounced there. Really the only one that upset me significantly in the men's gymnastics was the high bar final.
In the women's gymnastics, the Chinese have been attempting touch routines, but constantly screwing up. Furthermore, both Johnson and Liukin have usually had still harder routines, and the Russians and Romanians, while not as attempting as many tricks, were very good at nailing what they did attempt. I think the Chinese were often biting off more than they could chew, as evidenced by the frequent balance checks and other errors. Big falls were rare, but the Chinese tended to have the worst routines in terms of fluidity, even though they performed some fancy maneuvers.

Liukin's tied score on the uneven bars was ridiculous; or rather He (the Chinese gymnast with the rapidly changing age) should have had a lower score. On the balance beam, Cheng Fei's score was jaw-droppingly high (15.95), beating out clearly better routines by at least two of the other gymnasts (I think the Romanian deserved the bronze).

[konec]

PHELPS DID IT!!! What a phenomenal and supremely lucky finish! 1/100 of a second ahead of Cavic! With that exciting win, Phelps is now 7/7 gold medals in Beijing and ties the record set by Mark Spitz over 30 years ago. If America wins the medley relay tomorrow, Phelps will have won more gold medals in a single Olympics than any athlete in the 112 year history of the Modern Olympic Games!


:suspicious:

It's a conspiracy (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)

[Arcani]

:suspicious:

It's a conspiracy (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)

.... That site looks like it was written by a disgruntled 14 year old of questionable intellect. Just because Omega made the sensor does not mean that they would be able to rig it during the games. Even if they could get access to it how would they rig it? The tampering would have to happen after the touch in case Cavic completely blew Phelps away, but the times are posted immediately after the touch. When would they make the change?

Here, argue with this (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.). Yeah, his hands didn't touch simultaneously, but is that even possible? I think, and apparently so does FINA and the IOC that both hands hit close enough to be considered simultaneous.

This wasn't the only race that was decided by 1/100 of a second either, but nobody is complaining about those...

[searcher]

The whole womans pole vault story (as told by the local newspaper here) is hillarious.

Apparantly the US competitor (ranked world number two) remarked at some point that she hoped that she would "do some damage and, you know, kick some russian butt".

She didn't have a snowballs chance in hell of actually carrying that out, seeing as the russian in question left her behind at 4.8 metres and won gold at 4.85 before going on to break the olympic AND world records one after the other, with a final height of 5.05 metres.
A whole TWENTY FIVE centimetres higher than Stuczynski's highest at the games.

Lesson learnt ay?
Oh it made me laugh.

[Allie]

Latest update:

Yahoo: China underage issue heats up (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)

[mind_wander]

What was going on with the gymnastics scores? Almost invariably (more noticeably in women's gymnastics) the Chinese gymnasts had (often grossly) inflated scores while the rest were given reduced scores. Every time a foreign gymnast was given a surprisingly low score, it was a Chinese gymnast who benefited from the disparity. Coincidence? I think not. Surprisingly, though the commentators frequently noted how strange the scores were, there were no open protests concerning the seemingly obvious bias, except for some brief booing after Jonathan Horton's high bar score was revealed.

So what is this? Bribes? Sympathy? Death threats? Why were the judges so frequently skipping deductions for Chinese gymnasts that everyone else noticed? Did they think we wouldn't?

Dude, I understand; I am Asian-American and seeing it myself. Look the Olympics is not just only for 1 year, there are other chances. In the next, 2012 London Olympics; my guess China wouldn't get so many gold because it's not being played at home base. Was it fair when the judges created inflated points? No. Look at this, there are alot of xNTx and many other types living in London. So, we will sure have to kept a BIG Eye out for these things to show up again. Also, London is trying something different to show for and alittle confident about it; if this is going to happen, someone over there needs to show some London cheering.

This has been an interesting year, it was cool the US Volleyball team won :) It was a very difficult match with Misty-May/Walsh vs. Tian Jia/Wang Jie. First and Second game score: China 18 vs. USA 21.

[TheLastMohican]

Latest update:

Yahoo: China underage issue heats up (To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.)

Cheers for Mike Walker.

[Liquid]

The one thing I don't understand about the Summer Olympics is the strange hats the water polo players wear. It looks like they're wearing diapers on their heads. Are they worried the ball might hit their ears? Bah!

[Mozzes]

The one thing I don't understand about the Summer Olympics is the strange hats the water polo players wear. It looks like they're wearing diapers on their heads. Are they worried the ball might hit their ears? Bah!

There's a lot of body contact in water polo. The ear guards help prevent players from taking blows to the ears. They wrap underneath the chin to prevent them from coming off.

[Tenacious B]

Mohican, I agree with you on the gym scores, the system is a total crock. I would not ming seeing the underage gymnasts stripped of their medals.

[Colette]

And more on the underage gymnasts:

To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

[mind_wander]

Now, the Beijing Olympics is at a closed. What you call think about the Closing Party? I think the beginning was already, but somewhere in the middle was pretty good; should focus on the camera angles on the singer's from other Asian countries, like Jackie Chan, Andy Liu, Li Bing Bing, Rain [Korean male singer], and many more. When London accepted the Olympics flag, later had their own London bus introduction; it wasn't bad at all.

I was predicting, how many US gold medals, at the end of Beijing was around 34-37. As for China, it was thinking at least 40 Gold medals overall; if it continued their winning streak would at least be 50.

Here are the final results: To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I do admire, other countries competitiveness to work as a united team and try to win back the gold from China. Very nice, first time ever; although there are some controversial judges.

You can now posted into the new London 2012 Olympics thread: To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. [London 2012 Olympics thread]

[Mozzes]

I'm kind of glad it's all over for another 4 years. Back to your regularly scheduled program, folks.

[mind_wander]

I'm kind of glad it's all over for another 4 years. Back to your regularly scheduled program, folks.

Me too, back to the regularly scheduled program: US Election. Who will win? Obama or Mccain?

[Allie]

The US election deserves it own thread :)

My final analysis for the 2008 Olympics.

1. The judges and their disgraceful gymnastic scores. It's not just us. The NBC gymnastic commentators who are experts, had to finally pointed out the biased scores as well; yet, there was no outrage as compared to previous Olympics.

2. Chinese underage gymnasts. The FIG is still investigating, but the IOC constantly jumped ahead and kept reiterating that the Chinese government documents look to be in order (ookaay). So, is the investigation for show only? If not, then please wait and let the FIG do their part since this has been handed over to them. Their coverage once again: it was no big deal.

3. From the Opening to the Closing Ceremonies: It looked like China not only cleaned up the streets, but also swept the general population under the rug, or to the outer limits somewhere, and only the party elites were visible. The rest of the media, athletes, and tourists were cloistered in this cocoon of the Olympic village bubble, where everyone was safe and snug, and guided ever so smoothly to and from by the host nation. It was a total lock down, not only for the local population, but the foreigners as well; everyone in his slots, and here are the views for the world to see.

The final images of the long habitually empty streets, with their rows of lights and newly planted trees, surrounding the Bird's Nest, projected a sad one dimensional view of an historic Olympic show. Even the noise and fireworks emanating from the stadium could not reach far enough to disguise their melancholy.

4. NBC coverage and the IOC. They lived up to the host country's expectations: When in Rome...

Looking forward to 2012 in London:

This will be fun. The handover ceremony in London was energetic. There were actual crowds in the streets. For a minute there, I forgot that noisy crowds are the norm for the host countries.

I am looking forward to the mingling of locals and tourists to provide a lively backdrop to the festivities and celebrations.

Already, there are open discussions from Londoners about the waste of pounds and what the government could have used the money for. Ahh, the sound of discourse.

On the other hand, when asked about the expectations to exceed the 2008 Olympics, the Londoners didn't want to exceed, but to match them in their own way (thank you!). That's a bloody brilliant plan to me!

[mind_wander]

The US election deserves it own thread :)

My final analysis for the 2008 Olympics.

1. The judges and their disgraceful gymnastic scores. It's not just us. The NBC gymnastic commentators who are experts, had to finally pointed out the biased scores as well; yet, there was no outrage as compared to previous Olympics.

2. Chinese underage gymnasts. The FIG is still investigating, but the IOC constantly jumped ahead and kept reiterating that the Chinese government documents look to be in order (ookaay). So, is the investigation for show only? If not, then please wait and let the FIG do their part since this has been handed over to them. Their coverage once again: it was no big deal.

3. From the Opening to the Closing Ceremonies: It looked like China not only cleaned up the streets, but also swept the general population under the rug, or to the outer limits somewhere, and only the party elites were visible. The rest of the media, athletes, and tourists were cloistered in this cocoon of the Olympic village bubble, where everyone was safe and snug, and guided ever so smoothly to and from by the host nation. It was a total lock down, not only for the local population, but the foreigners as well; everyone in his slots, and here are the views for the world to see.

The final images of the long habitually empty streets, with their rows of lights and newly planted trees, surrounding the Bird's Nest, projected a sad one dimensional view of an historic Olympic show. Even the noise and fireworks emanating from the stadium could not reach far enough to disguise their melancholy.

4. NBC coverage and the IOC. They lived up to the host country's expectations: When in Rome...

Looking forward to 2012 in London:

This will be fun. The handover ceremony in London was energetic. There were actual crowds in the streets. For a minute there, I forgot that noisy crowds are the norm for the host countries.

I am looking forward to the mingling of locals and tourists to provide a lively backdrop to the festivities and celebrations.

Already, there are open discussions from Londoners about the waste of pounds and what the government could have used the money for. Ahh, the sound of discourse.

On the other hand, when asked about the expectations to exceed the 2008 Olympics, the Londoners didn't want to exceed, but to match them in their own way (thank you!). That's a bloody brilliant plan to me!

I think, we all heard all the up's and down's Beijing's Olympics; in order to do it the right way. They should try to talked about the negative side on the host behalf because this would in effect make it harder for other countries to say anything negative about the country. Then, talked about the positive contributions, which China has done for the country. Always have both sides of the story, like an INTJ would say; Please give me the full picture and stopped with the BS. I have to say, China winning the gold helped other countries unified as one whole country, like so many goodies inside the pinata to bash on.

We all know, there is 1.3 billion Chinese people there and they all completely disappeared like magic. Wow, that's amazing! Where they all hide?

You mentioned about the closing ceremony. I know the closing introduction is hard to depicted the meaning behind the complicated design by Zhang Yi Mo's. In Asian philosophy it means, the circle represents unity and longevity. I am Asian, although it is alittle hard to understand even for me.

It is said, London might not exceed the Olympics 08', there are so many artistic, famous singers, and bright minds within London. Maybe London trying to show a disappointing teaser for the public,"London, has their own way of doing things." Always keep a hush, hush, before it happens, later they would bring on the big guns. My guess, London will try to think of the big picture and filled in the detailed gaps; the reverse of what Beijing has done. This would make more sense, basically get to the main point! Probably, the European nations and other countries would gladly helped out London to prepared for the 2012 Opening/Closing events. They can do all this within under the $40billion US, which China has spent on the Olympics. If they hired the right people to do the job, like NFs, NTs, STs, SF.

[Tenacious B]

1. The judges and their disgraceful gymnastic scores. It's not just us. The NBC gymnastic commentators who are experts, had to finally pointed out the biased scores as well; yet, there was no outrage as compared to previous Olympics.


4. NBC coverage and the IOC. They lived up to the host country's expectations: When in Rome...

I had been wondering, particularly early on, if NBC had been "persuaded" in some way to report positively on China in nearly every way.

[Allie]

I had been wondering, particularly early on, if NBC had been "persuaded" in some way to report positively on China in nearly every way.

I would expect it to be so, one can't help but notice it. I see traces of Eason Jordan-CNN-Baghdad bureau. In order to get access, you have to play by their rules. This is the way of the authoritarian state, and it seems like there's no difference this time as well.

Here's an example of Chinese government control over the Olympics, for internet and other types of broadcasting as well I am sure. So, one can only imagine what the behind the scenes would look like with everything else.

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Broadcasters have complained about having permits rescinded, being forced to give notice a month ahead of time about the location of satellite trucks, and facing harassment from bureaucrats and police about renting office space or getting parking permits for their vehicles.

Cuban reporter Joel Garcia Leon, with the magazine Trabajadores, said he expected the censorship. But he was overwhelmed by other red tape.

"I'm surprised how tightly controlled and complicated everything is here," he said. "To get a phone number from China Mobile, I have to give them a copy of my passport and my mother's maiden name. This seems quite excessive and abnormal."

[Deepdelver]

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I thought this was funny.