Page 1 of 1

Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:23 am
by Omphalos
Did anyone see that last night? I thought it was pretty cool (I loved the opening ceremony). But I thought the English part was absolute crap. Does anyone know if the British committee put that together, or was that something that Beijing did on its own?

I really hate that they had all these "stars" come out and do something. The Chinese parts of the ceremonies had almost none of that. Does anyone really care about Jimmy Page in the context of the Olympics? I sure as hell do not. That horrible thing looked like something that Andrew Lloyd Weber would have done. And that is just fine when you are watching Cats, but not when you are supposed to be making a statement about the nation's culture and history.

I just know that the next time we get the games they are going to have 3 hours of one "celebrity" after another coming out, waving to the crowd doing their trademark whatever-the-fuck-it-is for ten seconds, then going away. I swear I could care less about most of those people. Mary Kate Olsen, Cheryl Crow and the lot of them. Why the hell was David Beckham there? The Chinese got it right: All show, no personalities. I for one am sick and tired of everyone groping people like him and feeding their egos with appearances like that. FUCK OFF!!!

[/rant]

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:28 am
by Freakzilla
All I watched was women's gymnastics, for obvious reasons.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:37 am
by A Thing of Eternity
Freakzilla wrote:All I watched was women's gymnastics, for obvious reasons.
Young extremely flexible teenage girls in spandex?

EDIT to add: I didn't see the closer, I also didn't see any of the olympics at all this year though.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 10:47 am
by Omphalos
We watched 'em every night.

Im going to try to get tickets to some events in Vacouver in 2010. I have plenty of places to stay in Seattle, and its like a $20 train ride up to Vancouover. Ive never seen any of the Olympics live before.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:30 am
by A Thing of Eternity
Omphalos wrote:We watched 'em every night.

Im going to try to get tickets to some events in Vacouver in 2010. I have plenty of places to stay in Seattle, and its like a $20 train ride up to Vancouover. Ive never seen any of the Olympics live before.
Let me know if you end up doing that, and if I'm still living on the coast we'll have to grab a coffee or a beer (I'm not sure if any of the events are actually going to be in Van though, I think they're all up in the mountains).

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:35 am
by Freakzilla
I saw USA vs Japan at Baseball in the '96 Olympics in Atlanta. My dad got box seats with an open bar from a bussines client. I got drunk and emberassed him, but I had a great time.

:oops:

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:38 am
by A Thing of Eternity
Freakzilla wrote:I saw USA vs Japan at Baseball in the '96 Olympics in Atlanta. My dad got box seats with an open bar from a bussines client. I got drunk and emberassed him, but I had a great time.

:oops:
I was pondering the roots of the word embarrassed the other day... anyone else think it might mean "to make bare-assed"? That is an embarrassing thing to happen... :shock:

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:00 pm
by Omphalos
A Thing of Eternity wrote:
Omphalos wrote:We watched 'em every night.

Im going to try to get tickets to some events in Vacouver in 2010. I have plenty of places to stay in Seattle, and its like a $20 train ride up to Vancouover. Ive never seen any of the Olympics live before.
Let me know if you end up doing that, and if I'm still living on the coast we'll have to grab a coffee or a beer (I'm not sure if any of the events are actually going to be in Van though, I think they're all up in the mountains).
I sure will. And Ill bet that they do all the skating events at venues in town.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:05 pm
by Freakzilla
A Thing of Eternity wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:I saw USA vs Japan at Baseball in the '96 Olympics in Atlanta. My dad got box seats with an open bar from a bussines client. I got drunk and emberassed him, but I had a great time.

:oops:
I was pondering the roots of the word embarrassed the other day... anyone else think it might mean "to make bare-assed"? That is an embarrassing thing to happen... :shock:
I'm not even sure I spelled it right... wow! I got it right! :D

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:21 pm
by A Thing of Eternity
Omphalos wrote:
A Thing of Eternity wrote:
Omphalos wrote:We watched 'em every night.

Im going to try to get tickets to some events in Vacouver in 2010. I have plenty of places to stay in Seattle, and its like a $20 train ride up to Vancouover. Ive never seen any of the Olympics live before.
Let me know if you end up doing that, and if I'm still living on the coast we'll have to grab a coffee or a beer (I'm not sure if any of the events are actually going to be in Van though, I think they're all up in the mountains).
I sure will. And Ill bet that they do all the skating events at venues in town.
Excellent, I'll see you in two years.
Freakzilla wrote:
A Thing of Eternity wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:I saw USA vs Japan at Baseball in the '96 Olympics in Atlanta. My dad got box seats with an open bar from a bussines client. I got drunk and emberassed him, but I had a great time.

:oops:
I was pondering the roots of the word embarrassed the other day... anyone else think it might mean "to make bare-assed"? That is an embarrassing thing to happen... :shock:
I'm not even sure I spelled it right... wow! I got it right! :D
Whaaaaa? You spelled it wrong... probably right for your accent though :wink:

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:40 pm
by Freakzilla
A Thing of Eternity wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:
A Thing of Eternity wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:I saw USA vs Japan at Baseball in the '96 Olympics in Atlanta. My dad got box seats with an open bar from a bussines client. I got drunk and emberassed him, but I had a great time.

:oops:
I was pondering the roots of the word embarrassed the other day... anyone else think it might mean "to make bare-assed"? That is an embarrassing thing to happen... :shock:
I'm not even sure I spelled it right... wow! I got it right! :D
Whaaaaa? You spelled it wrong... probably right for your accent though :wink:
D'oh! I copied and pasted it from your post instead of mine when I looked it up.

Oh well, crucify me. :?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 12:46 pm
by A Thing of Eternity
Freakzilla wrote:
A Thing of Eternity wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:
A Thing of Eternity wrote:
Freakzilla wrote:I saw USA vs Japan at Baseball in the '96 Olympics in Atlanta. My dad got box seats with an open bar from a bussines client. I got drunk and emberassed him, but I had a great time.

:oops:
I was pondering the roots of the word embarrassed the other day... anyone else think it might mean "to make bare-assed"? That is an embarrassing thing to happen... :shock:
I'm not even sure I spelled it right... wow! I got it right! :D
Whaaaaa? You spelled it wrong... probably right for your accent though :wink:
D'oh! I copied and pasted it from your post instead of mine when I looked it up.

Oh well, crucify me. :?
:lol: My spelling's nothing to be envied, I'm saved by spell check or I'd be rivaling Sloe.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 4:18 pm
by SandChigger
Ahem.
ORIGIN early 17th cent. (in the sense [hamper, impede] ): from French embarrasser, from Spanish embarazar, probably from Portuguese embaraçar (from baraço ‘halter’ ).
Now...to be brutally honest, I'm glad the damned things are over. (Are the summer games the REAL Modern Olympics or the Money Olympics? You know, the REAL ones trace back by four-year intervals to the late 1800s. The Money ones trace back to the late 1980s and what's-his-name's reign as IOC King...Salamanchamuncho or something like that? :P )

Bint was into watching them, but the only thing I actually sat in front of the tube for was the women's marathon. I really was rooting for Paula Radcliffe to recap her London "Why don't we do it in the road?" pissstop! :lol: (I think she did it in Beijing, too, but the Japanese announcers mumbled something about fixing her shoes and said no more. :?: :!: :?: Inquiring minds, WANT TO KNOW!!!)

I got into it a bit with one of the idiots over on FED2K about the way the Chinese spectators behaved during the Japanese volleyball games and some of the other events. (I watched a bit of that when it was pointed out to me that the audience was making this annoying humming sound when the Japanese went to serve; the sound stopped as soon as the ball was in play. Sorry, but that's just bad behavior, Rape of Nanjing or no.) The whole "Look how many medals OUR country has nyah nyah nyah" attitude is really in line with the Olympic ideal, eh.

I guess I've never reconciled myself with the fact that people devote their lives to and can actually make a living from what is essentially playing.

Oh well.

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:36 pm
by Freakzilla
I was just thinking how weird some of the games are. Ping Pong is an olympic sport. How about darts, or bowling? Would those be winter or summer sports?

:?

Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:16 pm
by SpacemanSpiff
Eyes and I watched most of them. We really got into the spirit of things rooting for Micheal Phelps trying to get his eight gold medals.

I'm not nuch of a sports fan but I have always enjoyed the olympics.
I was a bit surprised when they let professional athletes in however I was always of the mind that the olympics should be for ametures.

Dome of the games I would like to see were not televised because they are not the popular events like shooting and archery.

I watched some of the closing cerimoniy and I thought it was very impressive.

And of course I watched womens gymnastics for the same reason most guys do.

There is one small thing that has always bothered me, These athletes are the best in the world at their respective sports right? They have to be to qualify for the games right? So WHY do the announcers always say that the second and third place athletes will have to SETTLE for silver and bronze. Did they not WIN those medals. Yes I know evry one wants the gold and I would be a bit disapointed myself if I didn't get it but the silver and bronze medal winners are still second and third BEST athletes in that sport in the world! Nothing to sneeze at in my opinion.

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:24 am
by Nekhrun
I watched almost everything I could on 4 different channels. I don't like to watch most sports in general, but for some reason I've been into the Olympics since I was little. I still managed to miss a couple events this year.

Re: Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:08 am
by chanilover
Omphalos wrote:Did anyone see that last night? I thought it was pretty cool (I loved the opening ceremony). But I thought the English part was absolute crap. Does anyone know if the British committee put that together, or was that something that Beijing did on its own?

I really hate that they had all these "stars" come out and do something. The Chinese parts of the ceremonies had almost none of that. Does anyone really care about Jimmy Page in the context of the Olympics? I sure as hell do not. That horrible thing looked like something that Andrew Lloyd Weber would have done. And that is just fine when you are watching Cats, but not when you are supposed to be making a statement about the nation's culture and history.

I just know that the next time we get the games they are going to have 3 hours of one "celebrity" after another coming out, waving to the crowd doing their trademark whatever-the-fuck-it-is for ten seconds, then going away. I swear I could care less about most of those people. Mary Kate Olsen, Cheryl Crow and the lot of them. Why the hell was David Beckham there? The Chinese got it right: All show, no personalities. I for one am sick and tired of everyone groping people like him and feeding their egos with appearances like that. FUCK OFF!!!

[/rant]
I didn't watch the London thing out of prinicple because I don't want the Olympics in London, I wanted them to be in Paris so the French could bankrupt themselves paying for it.

The Chinese put on a good show, but it was completely devoid of humanity. Watching footage of the opening and closing ceremonies just speaks volumes about the fact that totalitarian regimes can put on a really good show. They spend £20bn, which no democratically elected government could ever justify to its electorate. There was also the slum clearance and covering up of the deaths during construction of the venues.

I don't know why Beckham was there. Leona Lewis was singing, I think, but she's an East End girl so I suppose that at least makes some kind of sense. The Olympic Village is being built in Stratford. Fucking hell, I wouldn't walk around Stratford in daylight, never mind at nighttime. Wonder how long it will take for the first Olypmic athlete to go wandering around town and get stabbed.

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:37 am
by A Thing of Eternity
SandChigger wrote:Ahem.
ORIGIN early 17th cent. (in the sense [hamper, impede] ): from French embarrasser, from Spanish embarazar, probably from Portuguese embaraçar (from baraço ‘halter’ ).
Bah, yours is less fun.
Freakzilla wrote:I was just thinking how weird some of the games are. Ping Pong is an olympic sport. How about darts, or bowling? Would those be winter or summer sports?

:?
I always wanted olympic pool.

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 9:41 am
by Freakzilla
My office has a fire alarm system going in a huge casino near in Beijing. China shut down all industy for like two months prior just so the air would be breathable. Cars could only be driven every other day.

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 6:22 pm
by SandChigger
Hey, ChaniLuv! Sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for a link about those construction deaths. :P


:lol:

(Gawd, I love to hate her. This can't be good for my health! :D )

Posted: Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:39 pm
by Omphalos
Laughter is good for the heart, and that is all she is worth, IMHO.

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 3:35 am
by inhuien
SandChigger wrote:Hey, ChaniLuv! Sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for a link about those construction deaths. :P
Do you mean to say that people died in the rushed, sloppy (eww) construction of the olympic Stadiums in China? Inconceivable :shock:

That would never happen in Blighty.

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 8:36 am
by Ampoliros
do they have Olympic Bocce?

Still holding out for Olympic D&D.

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:14 am
by chanilover
inhuien wrote:
SandChigger wrote:Hey, ChaniLuv! Sorry, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask for a link about those construction deaths. :P
Do you mean to say that people died in the rushed, sloppy (eww) construction of the olympic Stadiums in China? Inconceivable :shock:

That would never happen in Blighty.
:lol: I'm sure you heard about the guys building Wembley who received threats that they would be taken out by snipers whilst they were up in their cranes?

When I mentioned the Chinese covering up the deaths on Dumbnovels and that monumentally stupid fuckwit Hyppo banged on about a link to the story, I was reminded just how dumb she really is. Still, after I handed her back her fat greasy arse, she had the good sense to shut the fuck up.

I think the London Olympics have the potential for being a colossal farce. Can you imagine the foreign tourists expecting a smiling reception from Londoners for the Olympics?

"Which way to the horseracing?"
"Fuck off"

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:30 am
by Freakzilla
"Hurry up, people are waiting." was the most common response I got in London. I learned to count their funny money before I got in line.

:lol:

Posted: Wed Aug 27, 2008 9:33 am
by chanilover
Freakzilla wrote:"Hurry up, people are waiting." was the most common response I got in London. I learned to count their funny money before I got in line.

:lol:
:lol: That sounds so true. The first time I used the self-service checkout in the supermarket I was scared to look behind me. I kept getting it wrong and I could hear these middle aged women behind me all seething really loudly. Don't mess with women in supermarkets.