The 2008 Beijing Olympics ended with a magnificent ceremony on Sunday night. Due to the time difference between America and China, and the fact that NBC showed the ceremony on tape-delay many hours after the ceremony happened, that allowed for almost an entire day to transpire in which I could look up "spoilers" for what happened during the show. This brought me to an official Olympic web site, whose synopsis for the closing ceremonies brought humor and light joy to English native speakers whose language speak. Bless their hearts, they tried. And all things considered, they did a pretty good job of writing in English. But there are some things that, being a native English speaker, just strike me as plain funny. Here are some choice excerpts:
"Guided by volunteers, all audience count down from 10 together. Both Arabic numerals and numbers written in Chinese characters appear on the screen with typical patterns of minority ethnic groups as the background."
Chuck's Comment: "Typical patterns of minority ethnic groups"? I feel like I'm back in Cultural Anthropology class again.
"With 60 light wheels shuttling, 200 bouncing and flying men run and roll over."
"A women's percussion band for welcoming performance and two children percussion players play cheerful music, and the whole stadium is in raptures."
"The torch lights in the hands of the marshals and over 90,000 audience are turned on at the same time, implying that the holy flame will be in our hearts forever."
"When the singing performance reaches the climax, the "memory tower" performers on the tree of friendship descend rapidly." (Chuck's comment: does this mean the "memory tower" really does not like the song?)
"50 male dancers holding Fuwa lucky cloud yarn strips and paper flower launchers and 120 other dancers dance on the Main Stage in tune with the rhythm of the song." (Chuck's comment: Are the 120 other dancers female? Cross-dressers? Who are these "other dancers"?)
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olympics. Show all posts
Why I'm watching the Beijing Olympics
Vloggers Beth and Val (Who are terribly funny, but in a PG-13 kind of a way) talked about the Olympics and why they found it so compelling this year. This video is actually safe (G? PG?), so I posted it here. Take a look.
The trouble with "LIVE"
NBC Universal is under some scrutiny for their Olympic coverage. Namely, it's use of the "LIVE" bug on screen. For the east coast feed, NBC slaps the word "LIVE" on-screen. And for the Mountain and Pacific time zone repeats, NBC keeps the word "LIVE" on-screen, even though it is not live.
NBC says there is nothing they can do to remove the word "LIVE" from the screen. Which, with all due respect to those in Master Control, but two of their networks, CNBC and MSNBC, have "LIVE" bugs for some programs, but can remove them with ease for later repeats. CNN and FOX News can do that, too.
So how come NBC does not do that for the Olympics, especially when they have the technology? I have nothing against the Rockefeller-based network. I really don't. But I, along with many others, find this absolutely baffling.
NBC says there is nothing they can do to remove the word "LIVE" from the screen. Which, with all due respect to those in Master Control, but two of their networks, CNBC and MSNBC, have "LIVE" bugs for some programs, but can remove them with ease for later repeats. CNN and FOX News can do that, too.
So how come NBC does not do that for the Olympics, especially when they have the technology? I have nothing against the Rockefeller-based network. I really don't. But I, along with many others, find this absolutely baffling.
Party in a Bird's Nest
The 2008 Summer Olympic games opening in Beijing, China yesterday. And it was one of the coolest ceremonies I have ever witnessed in my (short-ish) life.
The ceremonies weren't just about people doing artsy interpretations of their nation's culture and heritage. These ceremonies were about telling a story, not showing performances. And if it was a little avant garde, the announcers made sure to tell you what was going on. The only time I needed that was when millions of LED and stage lights were flashing all over the stage in a performance designed to show that we must not waste the earth's resources. (Starting right after that performance, I'm sure.)
Speaking of LED, that "magic carpet" was sure incredible, wasn't it? With it's magical touch screen in the middle, it had some resemblance to an oversized Nintendo DS. While I'm sure it did nothing to save the earth, it was an incredible performance piece and added to the overall awe and mystery of the night.
The ceremonies had an amazing dignity and openness about them. I realize this is by design. After all, the Chinese want to try their hardest to make more nations like them, and not remember some of the crappier things they do. (Every nation does this when they host the Olympics, but China had to do even more, it feels like.) But these ceremonies were safe, familiar and entertaining. They did not scare me like the Nagano games. (I was only 11, but still, I remember the little devils skating all around, scaring up a storm. Creepy.) They were memorable, which is better than Sydney. (And much better than Turin, which I cannot remember, and that was two years ago!) And they were not even delightfully campy, like the terrific Salt Lake City ceremonies. This was like a great magician's act, full of technological wonders while making sure that you leave entertained and exit in good spirits.
I'm sure it could have taken "more chances" and been "edgier," but I don't think they had to. Not this year. The simple dignity was more than enough to give the games a terrific start.
The ceremonies weren't just about people doing artsy interpretations of their nation's culture and heritage. These ceremonies were about telling a story, not showing performances. And if it was a little avant garde, the announcers made sure to tell you what was going on. The only time I needed that was when millions of LED and stage lights were flashing all over the stage in a performance designed to show that we must not waste the earth's resources. (Starting right after that performance, I'm sure.)
Speaking of LED, that "magic carpet" was sure incredible, wasn't it? With it's magical touch screen in the middle, it had some resemblance to an oversized Nintendo DS. While I'm sure it did nothing to save the earth, it was an incredible performance piece and added to the overall awe and mystery of the night.
The ceremonies had an amazing dignity and openness about them. I realize this is by design. After all, the Chinese want to try their hardest to make more nations like them, and not remember some of the crappier things they do. (Every nation does this when they host the Olympics, but China had to do even more, it feels like.) But these ceremonies were safe, familiar and entertaining. They did not scare me like the Nagano games. (I was only 11, but still, I remember the little devils skating all around, scaring up a storm. Creepy.) They were memorable, which is better than Sydney. (And much better than Turin, which I cannot remember, and that was two years ago!) And they were not even delightfully campy, like the terrific Salt Lake City ceremonies. This was like a great magician's act, full of technological wonders while making sure that you leave entertained and exit in good spirits.
I'm sure it could have taken "more chances" and been "edgier," but I don't think they had to. Not this year. The simple dignity was more than enough to give the games a terrific start.
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