2008 Beijing Olympics

[EHK for Darwin]

[quote name='Starkess' post='1480347' date='Aug 14 2008, 14.10']Actually, I believe they used real fireworks for the opening ceremony, but it was impossible to capture it all on video, so they used CGI so that the TV-viewers could see what the live viewers were seeing.[/quote]

How is it impossible to capture on video. I'm sure they had a bajillion cameras in the air, on the ground, wide, thin, short, long...all over the damned place. Sounds like a post mini-scandal, ad-hoc/pr explanation. Probably bs.

[quote]I dont know what you are talking about huh.gif . When I watched the NBA finals I could swear that only the prettiest women got court side seats. China invented CGI? We kill doves. We hate those flying rats. When our queen visits one of our cities this is what we do to our homeless too. Give um a bath too. We place all our politicians under friendly serveillance. Cus' before you know it they produce Fitna or submission.[/quote]

Benjen covered most of it. Politicians are under surveillance for their protection. Dissidents are put under surveillance so that they don't do anything the state doesn't want them to do. Bit of a difference. Also rural Chinese are brought into the cities as little more than slave labor (can't switch jobs, can't negotiate, can't organize, can't relocate, different passports complete with travel restrictions, isolated to shanty-town style hovels near the outskirts, etc), they built half the shit for the Olympics not to mention other projects, than they're forced out for the duration so that they don't create an eyesore for visitors. The cat shit that Benjen mentioned. Probably a few other eyebrow raising stories I can't recall.

It all very much has a '36 Munich feel to it when they cleaned up all the kill the Jews signs and prettied up the ghetto's when the world came to visit. Slightly less sinister of course.

[IheartTesla]

Federer out of the singles, losing to James Blake. This has truly capped a horrible year for him, and I believe Nadal will be #1 post-Olympics.

Now if only his horrible year continues one more game in the doubles QF, where he meets two of my Indian brothers from different mothers. They need a bronze medal more than you, Fed!

[Commodore]

Wow, six months ago Federer was being talked about as the best ever, now he is nosediving, James Blake should have been a cakewalk for him.

The [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/gymnastics/news?slug=ap-gym--underagechinese&prov=ap&type=lgns"]AP found[/url] a story from the state Chinese news service from 6 months ago saying one of the gymnasts was only 13:

[quote]BEIJING (AP)—Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government’s news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

In its report Nov. 3, Xinhua identified He as one of “10 big new stars” who made a splash at China’s Cities Games. It gave her age as 13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at those games. In the final, “this little girl” pulled off a difficult release move on the bars known as the Li Na, named for another Chinese gymnast, Xinhua said in the report, which appeared on one of its Web sites, www.hb.xinhuanet.com

The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site Thursday morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that afternoon, the Web site was still working but the page was no longer accessible. Sports editors at the state-run news agency would not comment for publication.

If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on Wednesday and clinched China’s first women’s team Olympic gold in gymnastics. He is also a favorite for gold in Monday’s uneven bars final.[/quote]

I can't believe the IOC is just going to turn a blind eye to this, it's embarassing. I wonder what kind of threats its members are under from the Chinese government.

[Ran]

Re: the fireworks, the explanation was not that it was impossible to capture it, but that there was a potential danger to helicopters trying to take the aerial shots of the fireworks that they wanted, so they faked the footage with CGI instead of having fireworks potentially knocking helicopters out of the sky.

Or so they said. Feasibly, the Chinese organizers were concerned that if even one firework didn't go off, it'd look less than perfect, so they preferred to fake it with CGI rather than risk the chance of a minor error being displayed to the world.

[Jaime L]

[quote name='Matrim Fox Cauthon' post='1480207' date='Aug 14 2008, 13.04']The Vatican?[/quote]

One of these days The Vatican's going to make these games. And then you'll see. [i]You'll all see.[/i]

[quote name='Biter' post='1480254' date='Aug 14 2008, 13.21']Going by number of competitors, Canada is seventh with 332.

Going by number of total medals, Canada is currently tied with Djibouti (2 competitors), Chad (also 2), Iraq (4) and Guam (5), among others...

Meanwhile, Sweden has one more medal than their (our?) arch nemesis, Finland. They've won a gold medal, though...[/quote]

Yeah, I remember the train of Canadians in the Parade of Nations going on for quite awhile. It's why I was so surprised that they weren't on the medal list. Also thought it was important to bring up for two opposing but equally important reasons. 1) In case there's an [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Canadianism"]anti-Canada[/url] conspiracy afoot that needed to be uncovered and 2) to tease the Canadians.

[Benjen Stark]

[quote name='Commodore' post='1480520' date='Aug 14 2008, 16.00']The [url="http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/gymnastics/news?slug=ap-gym--underagechinese&prov=ap&type=lgns"]AP found[/url] a story from the state Chinese news service from 6 months ago saying one of the gymnasts was only 13:[/quote]

[url="http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/Athlete/2/235312.shtml"]http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/.../2/235312.shtml[/url]
[quote]Date of Birth: Jan 1 1992[/quote]
I'm guess they didn't want to give her real birthdate, as that would make it easier to search for the actual year of birth.


Wonder if that means JIANG Yuyuan is 14?
[url="http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/Athlete/3/235313.shtml"]http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/BIO/.../3/235313.shtml[/url]
[quote]Date of Birth: Nov 1 1991[/quote]

From Commodore's article:
[quote]A May 23 story in the China Daily newspaper, the official English-language paper of the Chinese government, said He was 14. The story was later corrected to list her as 16.[/quote]
No reason to question that at all...

[Benjen Stark]

More fun:
[url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/12/AR2008081203262.html?hpid=topnews"]http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...ml?hpid=topnews[/url]
It seems this is the first Olympic Games to completely sell out, yet there are few people attending the games. Regular citizens are not allowed entry to the Olympic park unless they have a ticket either, which is ticking off the sponsors who have huge elaborate displays no one is going to. So China is shipping in fake crowds...

Protests are not actually being allowed in designated protest zones as promised to the IOC and a British journalist investigating it was detained and roughed up:
[url="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121868920013240079.html?mod=googlenews_wsj"]http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1218689200...=googlenews_wsj[/url]
It seems people who ask for a permit to protest get thrown out of Beijing.

[Padraig]

[quote name='Jaime L' post='1480543' date='Aug 14 2008, 22.22']One of these days The Vatican's going to make these games. And then you'll see. [i]You'll all see.[/i][/quote]
Yes, you just got to have faith. :)

[quote]Born: France
Lives in: France[/quote]
But his father was born in Togo. I don't see why he can't claim allegiance to his father's country. Most countries allow children of citizens to claim citizenship even if they are born in another country. I'm sure France would have loved him to compete for them but he choose Togo. Fair enough to me. Congrats to Togo. :)

[Lord O' Bones]

[quote name='Jaime L' post='1480543' date='Aug 14 2008, 14.22']1) In case there's an [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Canadianism"]anti-Canada[/url] conspiracy afoot[/quote]
Soviet Canuckistan? :lol:


[quote name='Padraig' post='1480608' date='Aug 14 2008, 15.23']Most countries allow children of citizens to claim citizenship even if they are born in another country.[/quote]
I think it's even less restrictive than that. Like, one of your grandparents had to be a citizen. IIRC, that's how Greece fielded a baseball team - made up with several Americans.

Not sure I agree with it, but it doesn't seem to be new or rare.

[Lord of Oop North]

[quote]Yeah, I remember the train of Canadians in the Parade of Nations going on for quite awhile. It's why I was so surprised that they weren't on the medal list.[/quote]

That news was soooo yesterday. We've already given up on Beijing. You all are going down in Vancouver 2010!!

[quote name='Lord O' Bones' post='1480672' date='Aug 14 2008, 19.42']Soviet Canuckistan? :lol:[/quote]
Never heard that one? :) I do believe that it's older then the Buchanan comments.

I love how Canadians are described as ""so liberal and hedonistic" :wideeyed:

[naz]

Re: fake fireworks -

As far as I understand, not ALL the fireworks in the opening ceremony were CGI. There was one segment in which they were symbolizing a "giant" walking through the city toward the stadium with each "footfall" creating a foot-shaped explosion of fireworks. Because the view was a tracking view (as if from a helicopter, but impossible to actually do), it was clearly CGI to me and even Matt Lauer (NBC announcer) said something to that effect, that it was "almost animation" and that it was "cinematic" in nature.

Did they expressly say it was CGI? No. That would kind of ruin the effect, no? Especially if they were trying to be "cinematic". In any case, who cares? All the other fireworks (those exploding around the stadium itself) were real as real can be. And they were pretty damn amazing, especially with the LED lighting of the stadium color-coordinated to the fireworks colors.

I think people are being hyper-critical here. They put on an amazing show. So some of it was an illusion - big deal. Hell, parts of it that people thought HAD to be computerized were done completely by human power (the undulating boxes, e.g.). Pretty amazing accomplishment, in my opinion, and totally outweighs whether 3% of the fireworks were CGI or that they subbed in a prettier girl for lipsynch duty. Like that doesn't happen a hundred times a day everywhere else in the world.

Give credit where credit is due. The Chinese may be justifiably criticized on numerous deficiencies over the years, but they put on a pretty fantastic show, all said and done.

ETA: A [url="http://www.cnn.com/2008/TECH/08/12/fake.fireworks.ap/"]link [/url]about the fireworks in question.

[Jaime L]

[quote name='Lord of Oop North' post='1480709' date='Aug 14 2008, 20.22']That news was soooo yesterday. We've already given up on Beijing. You all are going down in Vancouver 2010!![/quote]

Conserving your energy. Very pragmatic.

[quote name='nazfyratu' post='1480925' date='Aug 14 2008, 22.19']I think people are being hyper-critical here. They put on an amazing show. So some of it was an illusion - big deal. Hell, parts of it that people thought HAD to be computerized were done completely by human power (the undulating boxes, e.g.). Pretty amazing accomplishment, in my opinion, and totally outweighs whether 3% of the fireworks were CGI or that they subbed in a prettier girl for lipsynch duty. Like that doesn't happen a hundred times a day everywhere else in the world.[/quote]

Couldn't agree more. The kind of nitpicks I see from the U.S. press seem to be purposely missing the point.

[Scienide]

Well, I can now say that I've seen the worse umpire calls in the history of the game of softball...

EDIT: While, I'm glad that Lauren Bay-Regula saved the day with some fucking outstanding pitching.

[Brude]

[quote name='Lord O' Bones' post='1480672' date='Aug 14 2008, 19.42']Soviet Canuckistan?[/quote]
When the mini-series "Amerika" was running on U.S. TV, about a Soviet takeover of America, the Tonight Show was doing a running spoof, called "Kanada," (but in that one the Polynesians conquered Canada).

[Commodore]

The opening ceremony was a celebration of the state, a tribute to being just another brick in the wall (although it was a beautiful wall). Thousands of nameless, faceless Chinese people sacrificing their individuality for the motherland. It reminded me of the thousands used to build the pyramids (which also happen to be beautiful), or an ant colony.

[SergioCQH]

The Western press is appalled by the so-called trickery, but this sort of thing just emphasizes the differences in perspective between the West and the East. While individualism and celebration of individual accomplishment is important in the West, collectivism is far more important to the East. It makes perfect sense to use the voice of one girl and the face of another. As for the fireworks, the footsteps actually happened but because the pollution in Beijing is so bad, they weren't visible.

[The Inquisitor]

These games have been a bloody scandal, and that's about it.

We would have thought that the IOC would have learnt the lesson after Berlin 38 and Moscow 84.

Here's a free window for a bloody liberticide and murderous regime to justify itself internationally and to use the games as free propaganda. Disgusting.

[Padraig]

[quote name='Lord O' Bones' post='1480672' date='Aug 15 2008, 00.42']I think it's even less restrictive than that. Like, one of your grandparents had to be a citizen. IIRC, that's how Greece fielded a baseball team - made up with several Americans.

Not sure I agree with it, but it doesn't seem to be new or rare.[/quote]
True. I'm not sure about the grandfather rule (some people could easily still have close connections to where there grandparents were from) but i'd certainly have no problems with a parents role. So i'd give the former the benefit of the doubt. And Ireland has profited a lot in the past in football from the grandfather rule. :)

[quote name='The Inquisitor' post='1481168' date='Aug 15 2008, 08.34']Here's a free window for a bloody liberticide and murderous regime to justify itself internationally and to use the games as free propaganda. Disgusting.[/quote]
Thats OTT. We sold our souls years ago when we decided that we could make millions trading with China. China are either part of the world community or not. You can't pick or choose as you wish. If we want to trade with China then they are entitled to be able to hold the Olympics.

[The Inquisitor]

[quote name='Padraig' post='1481241' date='Aug 15 2008, 11.45']Thats OTT. We sold our souls years ago when we decided that we could make millions trading with China. China are either part of the world community or not. You can't pick or choose as you wish. If we want to trade with China then they are entitled to be able to hold the Olympics.[/quote]

My thoughts exactly.

That's why I fully support and think that membership to all international institutions that are the frame of the multilateral system (WTO & IMF most notably) should only be open to countries that fulfill a certain number of requisites a la OECD: representative democracies, respect to minorities and free market economies.

You are right. We sold our souls year ago, but that doesn't bar me from criticizing a disgustingly murderous and represive China and also our hideous western double morality.

Its a bloody fix, granted.

[ithanos]

Usain Bolt in the second round. Looking around for his mum after 30metres :stunned: awesome awesome. Please let it be a sign that only a clean runner blessed with unbounded natural talent can exhibit such audacity. :leaving: