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I have always been an Olympic fan, and the London games have a lot of degree of importance to me, since I am halfblooded British. In fact, I almost felt at home watching some of the scenes in the ceremonies. The openings and closings have a bunch of scenes that strongly relate to my interests and hobbies.
-- The countryside scene with sheep and white housing reminded me of Scotland, and reading Harry Potter books. I am part Scottish. The clothing the actors in the scene wore reminded of my interest of the Titanic, and the children's choir (on the beach) reminding me of Declan Galbrath (I have several of his songs in my collection).
-- The industrial scene and James Bond scene following did not get much of my interest, though they looked spectacular.
-- Following was the storybook scene with kids in beds, reading and then dreaming of nightmarish characters like Voldemort from Harry Potter, Cruella de Ville from 101 Dalmatians, Hook from Peter Pan, Queen of Hearts, and more. Then Mary Poppins actresses drove the evil characters away. A lot of childhood books and movies I enjoyed were made or took place in Britain (like Harry Potter, the Christmas Carol, etc.)
-- The digital phase of the ceremony was a lot of fun to listen to with rock music from Who, Beetles, Rolling Stones, Queen, and more as well as some of my favorite 80's bands like Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Soul II Soul, Blue Monday. Everyone was dancing and they danced into the house with a man on the computer inside. A lot of music was rock music that I (and my parents) listened to a lot on radio. After the usual routine at the openings, Paul McCartney from the Beetles did his performance.
-- In addition, we get to look inside Queen’s palace on TV with her two dogs, and the Queen opened the games. Given her age, this will clearly be the last time Olympics take place in London while she is the Queen. I have seen similar scenes to the Queen’s palace in Harry Potter movies.
-- The closing ceremony was a massive multi-band concert with a lot of my favorite British artists like Pet Shop Boys, The Who, Madness, Annie Lennox, Queen and John Lennon (dead). However, there were no Rolling Stones (though they came from London as well). How they extinguished the torch looked a little creepy to me (resembling a dying flower).
-- Since I live in the USA, I rooted most of the US teams to victory, and we won the highest number of gold and total medals for any country (with Phelps raking in the most golds), so congratulate the Americans.
-- These games are completely different to me than the 2008 games in China. The London ceremonies were more of a "comfort, feel at home" feeling for me, and did not give me the same amount of "wow" that the Chinese ceremonies did four years ago.
-- In real life, I did go to see the 1996 Atlanta games, since my dad's sister, at that time, lived in Atlanta. I saw men's gymnastics, baseball (discontinued), and track & field while I was down there (I was 10 at that time).
I on the other hand hate the olympics. If I wanted to watch
the olmpics i'd put on ESPN or another sports channel. I don't
so I don't. I also hate the doping that has occurred over the years and unfair advantages some countries have going into the
games.
Even though I live in the US of A I was rooting for the US to
loose big time with all the doping and such that goes on.
I'm not convinced that it is all getting caught in the testing.
And being Jewish i'm very angry that there was no tribute to the
Israeli athletes who died 40 years ago at the olympics.
So you're not a fan of performance-enhancing drugs or blood doping? Me either, but it's inaccurate to imply that this occurs amongst the majority of Olympians, and unfair to condemn them all--and the spirit of the games--based on the actions of a dishonorable few. I'm also willing to bet that you DO watch movies starring actors who have undergone "performance-enhancing" plastic surgery, and listen to music that has been mixed and improved in a studio, no?
I'm a pretty non-competitive person, and don't get caught up in cheering for any one team over another. Instead, I applaud any person who trains hard, gets out there, and does their best, and I'm happy for whoever happens to win.
Why should today's Olympic celebrations include a tribute to the athletes and coaches (and the German police officer) who were killed four decades ago? This would only serve to dredge up a very sad and painful memory, and possibly reignite religiopolitical hatred. Let those who remember, remember, and let the fallen rest in peace. Your being Jewish doesn't put you into a special category, as far as having the right to solemnly recall the tragedy that befell the Israeli team during the 1972 Olympics. Instead, you come across as someone who just likes to bitch, moan, and grumble. Okay, so now we all know you're Jewish, which by default makes you the victim of... something... and gives you the right to be pissed off about... something, right? Shame on you for exploiting the memory of that atrocity to do so. Those long-fallen victims deserve better than that.
Kudos to you for growing and maintaining long hair for as long as you have, though.
Peace,
Val
Very well said. I could say more but I'll leave it at that.
Absolutely right. Jews delight in reminding everyone of the past for present gain, nothing else. Time to move on and leave events where they belong - in the past.
Some do, but I don't think it's right to imply that they all do. Many of those fighting for Palestinian rights are Jews themselves, to give them their due.
I don't think it was right to blow up the Israeli athletes in 1972 either. OTOH, I can understand why they did it, and I can see that a commemoration of the athletes could be twisted by some into Zionist propaganda, i.e. less remembering the fallen and more an attack on Palestine. It's not like WW2, for example. It's not over, and can't be until and unless the occupation is lifted (as well as the siege of Gaza), or heaven forbid, everyone is dead.
That's a very good point. My wife (who is Jewish) and I went to a march against Israel's attack on an aid shipment and there were many Jews at the rally carrying signs 'Jews for Palestine'.
The whole issue is very complex with fault on both sides. I thought one sign was very poignant though: "One Holocaust Does Not Justify Another".
My understanding is olympic officials bowed to pressure
from Arab countries to kill the tribute that was planned. Besides
they already re-ingnited religious political haterd in the jewish
community by bedning over backwards to favor Arab countries. if they didn't want to get into this controversy then they should
have eliminated the ceremony honoring Arab Countries/athletes.
I have strongly held pro-Palestinian political positions for over 30 years. Where I went to college there were a lot of Algerian students, and they all had PLO posters on their walls, so I make no secret of my influences.
I am in two minds about whether the Munich attack should have been commemorated or not. Perhaps it should have been, but I can also see why the delegation from Palestine asked for it to be cancelled. The fact that you don't seem to recognise them or differentiate them from other arabs from anywhere else is, I think, part of the problem.
The place where I met all those Algerians was in fact Loughborough University, late Team GB HQ, and where I also met Lord Coe back when we were both students, he being lately in charge of the 2012 games of course.
My then GF used to sit next to Seb Coe in Econometrics class. She said when she first met him he was wearing a team tee-shirt for the youth olympics, and she asked him if he bought it in a jumble sale, LOL! She didn't know then that he had been in the youth olympics and that he would also fun for Britain in the actual olympics, winning gold in 800 and 1500m.
I am not a great sports fan, but I have been cheering for Team GB, and am pleased we won so many medals. Having a little Irish blood, I am also pleased that Kate Taylor won a gold in the ladies' boxing.
I have not attempted to watch NBC, as I just assumed it would be coverage of US athletes. Nothing against the country I live in, but I will never see myself as an American. I have been here so long I could get US citizenship without even taking the test, but I just don't identify, so I haven't.
Typo: I somehow typed 'fun' instead of 'run' !!??
...not to get off of subject, but another case of #nbcfail. It used to be you only had one feed one feed alone from the Olympics, so you got to see all kinds of different countries compete in different events and different medal ceremonies, etc. Now it's all spoon-fed to us. Sad that NBC has the contract all the way through to 2020 ~_~ ... should never have been that way.
I miss CBS's coverage and Charles Kuralt, to the next life, summing up a day's events :) .....
Sincerely,
Eric
Hi Validus,
My highest compliments to you for having an amazing ability to clearly & strongly disagree with someone else's political views, while at the same time doing so with great diplomacy, tact, and still showing the other person respect & even kindness (as well as some great subtle humor)... and yet, quite frankly, I wouldn't have had the guts myself to even bring up the topics you did -- which is my reason for saying, "WOW"....
I already *indirectly* responded to you by replying to Jason's comments, below; but after closing up my MLHH window for the night, I was so impressed with what you said (and HOW you said it), that I couldn't go to sleep without getting back up again and going back to MLHH, to say something "directly" to you here.
You really are a gifted communicator, and a wonderful blessing to this community -- and I don't care how long your hair is (or isn't), you are unquestionably a great asset to MLHH; so, thank you for just being you!!
'Nough said!
- Ken
I'm humbled and flattered by your kind words, Ken. The MLHH has been a real blessing to me over the years, and I definitely feel that I've "gotten" more than I've "given." Thanks to you for being "you," too, my friend :)
--Val
n/t
If you have nothing good to say, please keep your opinions to yourself. Thank you. Maybe you were born in a different country and moved to USA later.
Matthew
I've lived in the United States all my life but I deeply
resent the Olympics ignoring the athletes that were killed in
1972 in Munich.
I also resent the advantages the US of A has over other not so rich naticns when it comes to the olympics.
All nations competing should be competing on equal footing, sadly
that isn't true.
I now kind of understand what you are trying to say. Olympics are fully aware of doping and athletes are always tested via urine samples before they are allowed to compete. When an athlete wins a medal, s/he is tested again to make sure she had not been using any performance-enhancing drugs. If s/he is tested positive, like Nadzeya Ostapchuk from Belarus, s/he gets the medal taken away. Nadzeya won gold for shotput, but tested positive, so her gold was taken away and given to Evgeniia Kolodko of Russia.
It just so happen that United States has a large population in relation to many countries of the world, therefore, the US is able to send a larger number of athletes to the games (three athletes per event instead of two), meaning more chances to get the gold. In addition, some athletes are just better than others like Phelps (he just happens to come from the US though he could have come from pretty much any country). Plus, the US is not perfect, and I have watched our athletes lose to another country like China, Russia and UK on many occasions.
As for the 1972 massacure, I was not even born yet when it occurred. I was born in 1986, 14 years later, so such did not enter my mind regarding the Olympics.
Matthew
This is the very reason past atrocities need to be acknowledged occasionally otherwise they likely will fade from memory.The same could be said for 9/11 should that event start to get less mention but due to the magnitude of it that won't happen.I watched little of the Olympics but for different reasons.Since you enjoy the Olympics that's cool but there's always the negative side of these events that the public rarely hears about.Cheers
Mârk
Sadly it will happen. I'm 57 years old, it amazes me that
we have young people today growing up not knowing that we had
World War 2 or The Viet Nam war. Heck I was at Drum Barracks in
California this past weekend for my civil was group and learned
that California shcools no longer teach about the civil war. So the day will come when young people won't know that 9/11 happened. You can sadly bet the rent on it.
To bring it back on the topic of hair, there are kids out there
saying "Paul McCartney had a band before Wings and before he
went solo?"
Sadly I have to admit when I was in HS back in the late 70s,early 80s our history class never got around to covering WW2 or the events there after.I guess they just ran out of time but that's a disgrace considering the importance of that era.I have no clue what the public schools are like anymore as I never walked through those doors again since I graduated.Cheers
Mârk
Sadly, the state of public education in the U.S. has remained on a steady downward spiral ever since the early 80s (and has been especially accelerated since the mid- to late-90s). The vast majority of today's 20- and 30-somethings are the unfortunate result of a dedicated campaign often referred to as "the dumbing down of America," intended to create a society of uninformed worker-consumers incapable of critical thinking.
It's interesting to note (and no coincidence) that the re-emergence of the short-haired trend and anti-longhair sentiments occurred at about the same time (early 80s). Regardless of whether I occassionally disagree with a few members of the MLHH about some particular issues, I'd like to extend a big thanks and much respect to EVERYONE here for remaining authentic individuals, and true to yourselves in the face of such societal opposition.
It is no exaggeration to state that the spirit of authenticity and real "human-ness" so many of you represent is a key ingredient in the recipe for any hope I hold out for the future of humanity. Keep flying those freak flags, brothers... I'm right behind ya!
--Val
Hi Val,
I would have to agree the state of public education is getting worse but I'm an outsider now that I'm out of the system.All I know is what I experienced back then.Now what I know is what people mention its currently like.You obviously have a handle on that especially since having young kids yourself.Who knows what the future will be like when the current younger generation gets older and is running the show.Anyway I always enjoy reading your thoughts on topics such as this one my friend.Cheers.
Mârk
I would point out there is a very grey area when it comes
to performance enhancing drugs.
Take Lance Armstrong for example. He won all those Tour De Frances, was tested lots of times, was cleared of charges of
using PED, but is still under a cloud of suspicion. He may yet
loose every Tour title. And it may never be fully clear whether
he is guilty. The bottom line is we may never really know
and there may be no way to fully clear or convict these
athletes. So the cloud may hang over the sports world forever.
Another aspect that ticks me off about the olympics is some countries like the US of A have the best facilities training,
the best teachers, the best equipment while other countries
have no equipment, no teachers, and no facilities. Maybe it's
those poor countries that should get the recognition when
they overcome lack of equipment/teachers/facilities to
win a gold medal.
it also ticks me off to see professional basketball players
in the olympics when it is supposed to be a competition of
non-professionals.
Hey Matt,
To bad you weren't born in the early 80's like myself. A lot 80's music (like some of the music featured in the London Olympics) was burned into a young boy's mind after hearing a lot of them in many epic 80's movies ^_~ . Nothing like being young, not really understanding what's going on in a movie and having a soundtrack to go along with it :p ~
As far as these opening and closing ceremonies went... half of me is Scottish, Irish, and a bit English (however you want to mix the pot :p ) - I've even been to England and Scotland, but I didn't really feel a connection to what I saw. I guess having been there, I would have liked to have seen some of the real old English or even Celtic (which you see further north on the island) heritage/history put into the presentation instead of mostly modern & contemporary stuff. John Lennon, definitely!... but Mary Poppins? Yeah, she's nice - Cruella DeVille? I've been Disneyed enough in my life (even though the story comes from England) that I can do without ;p . Of course, I shouldn't be criticizing - England isn't my home so it isn't my place to judge ;) .....
I do hope, though, that Brazil puts on a little better show in four years than the preview we saw the other night >_> ... the natives were pretty cool, though :D !
Going back to Beijing, also since my wife is Chinese and I had lived there for two years, I couldn't help but be impressed by the show they put on. When it comes to putting on a show, leave it up to them... they have the time, money, manpower and resources @_@ . It's going to be hard to ever top a show like that one again...
Atlanta, I remember that Olympic pretty well... Bella carrying the gymnastics team to the gold and all. I was in my mid-teens at the time. We were on the cusp of a new millennium, what was thought to be a new utopia, economies of the world were doing great and a few years later the worst thing on everyones' mind was the Millennium Bug. Hah, how time flies :p ~
Oh well, I've always been a big Olympic watcher. When I was little, my grandparents forced me to watch the Olympics - held me on their laps to watch it on TV (beginning with the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics). Wasn't really because of the great sportsmanship being shown, although that was part of it... but because the cold was was still going on at the time and even though then the Olympics were every four years apart (summer and winter combined), they told me it was a great time when the world came together in peace and unity for a common purpose. I think it still pretty much holds true today :) .....
Oh well, I've babbled on long enough now. Cheers to you and your enjoyment of these Olympics, Matt ^_^ !!!
Sincerely,
Eric
At the age of 57 when it comes to England I think of the Beatles,
the Who, Mary Poppins, etc. Alot of this stuff is from my
generation.
They have four years (1460 days to plan it.)