Lord of Oop North Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 It is a bit sad that Canada can't speak about itself without defining itself in opposition to the US in some way. Maybe in 2044.Ignoring 99% of the rest of the opening ceremonies, though, right?ETA;Oh, and ZED! ZED! ZED! FUCK EH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempra Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Ignoring 99% of the rest of the opening ceremonies, though, right?ETA;Oh, and ZED! ZED! ZED! FUCK EH!Ignoring the first part of my post, though, right?Good opening ceremony except for the torch hiccup. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caligula_K Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Man, I am embarrassed to be a Canadian after that. Grove of Summer? Really, guys? Okay, rest of the world, I admit it: We are lame as shit. And that stream of consciousness poet guy's speech about Canada was one of the most pretentious, nonsensical things I've ever heard.The fiddling part was pretty cool though. I also found it hilarious how nothing from the actual performance was done in French (take that, Quebec!), and how the four Native leaders in the honour box didn't arrive for the opening of the ceremony but waited for the Native American show to start. Also, Dallaire looked piss. And some of the people dancing in white while the athletes' made their entrances were AWESOME. You rock those disco moves and show Albania which country is Lord of the Dance!Pretty awful stuff about the luger's death. May he rest in peace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aemon Stark Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Man, I am embarrassed to be a Canadian after that. Grove of Summer? Really, guys? Okay, rest of the world, I admit it: We are lame as shit. And that stream of consciousness poet guy's speech about Canada was one of the most pretentious, nonsensical things I've ever heard.He was a fat bearded spoken word poet wearing a beret. :shocked: What were they thinking??? Most of the music selections were pretty lame too. Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams? Random (recorded) Joni Mitchell song? K.D. Lang?? I admittedly didn't pay attention to most of the last parts (I had Caprica episodes to catch up on!), but while these opening ceremonies were visually impressive, the music was decidedly subpar for something like this. The fiddling part was pretty cool though. I also found it hilarious how nothing from the actual performance was done in French (take that, Quebec!), and how the four Native leaders in the honour box didn't arrive for the opening of the ceremony but waited for the Native American show to start. Also, Dallaire looked piss. And some of the people dancing in white while the athletes' made their entrances were AWESOME. You rock those disco moves and show Albania which country is Lord of the Dance!Well. That was pretty cool, and it was nice to see a vague (if indirect) reference concerning Nova Scotia's existence. The CTV announcers were abysmal, though. Regarding Quebec, there was a devil-like guy floating around in a canoe, which must be a reference to the story of "La Chasse-galerie". Doesn't get much more French than that, and one of Unibroue's beers (Maudite, I think) has a picture of it on the label. I was bothered by the general lack of, well, representation of the country in the ceremonies. You'd think we have nothing other than "colourful" aboriginals (accompanied by - to my ears - appropriately cliched music), faded pop stars, and... um... not much else. *That* was our showcase to the world? FFS. Pretty awful stuff about the luger's death. May he rest in peace.Yeah... when I first saw the story, he'd only been taken to hospital. Very sad. :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dude Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I hate NBC. I hate that they tape delay this when I live in the same time zone. Drove me crazy last summer olympics, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Datepalm Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Well, there was Hallelujah, at least. I'm not sure if its the most Olympic song out there, but you work with what you have, I suppose. The Bermudan national costume of, apparently, shorts under all circumstances made this one for me. Also kudos to the nice selection of hats on display. Particualrly whoever had wide brimmed straw hats. Well done, milners of the world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
naz Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Did Rush make any appearance? If not, I can't muster up the interest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoë Sumra Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 ...and who knew Ethiopia had a winter Olympian...?Ethiopia and cross-country skiing you can understand; goes with the cross-country and distance running tradition, if a little colder. Not so much Ghana and alpine skiing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJDonegal Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Ethiopia and cross-country skiing you can understand; goes with the cross-country and distance running tradition, if a little colder. Not so much Ghana and alpine skiing...Eddie the Eagle should worry about his income from dinner speeches. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maltaran Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Ethiopia and cross-country skiing you can understand; goes with the cross-country and distance running tradition, if a little colder. Not so much Ghana and alpine skiing...The Ghanaian guy's been in the papers, due to him being based in Milton Keynes. Apparently his nickname is "the Snow Leopard". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blasted_saber Posted February 13, 2010 Author Share Posted February 13, 2010 While the opening was good, it didnt top China IMO. What I remember most about China was the hundreds (thousands?) of performers at the same time. We only managed to put like 30, lol.I thought they really disappointed with our anthem. I have never in all my life heard it sung like that. Its basically completely different then the way every Canadian I have ever heard sings it. That disappointed me the most.Enjoyed the Canadian music stars, although Gord Downey (from the Tragically Hip) would have been great. Really liked the fiddling segment. As to the torch lighting, it was good. Speculation in Canada was that a "holographic" Terry Fox was going to light it, which would have been awesome, but ultimately probaly too hard to do right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor85 Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 While the opening was good, it didnt top China IMO. What I remember most about China was the hundreds (thousands?) of performers at the same time. We only managed to put like 30, lol.Well what did you expect, China's were Summer Olympics, duh :P. These are the WINTER Olympics. Only watched by like a thousand people worldwide and most of them in Canada (How many people live up there beside all the polar bears anyway?). Also the opening ceremony had WAAAY too much Donald Sutherland for its own good. I was NOT impressed. The improv torch thingy was cool though. Very Canadian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I thought it was funny how the hosts were so careful to remember to use the politically-correct terminology du jour. I didn't count one "Eskimo" or even a "Native Canadian". The Inuit of Canada do not like to be called Eskimo's. They think of it as a derogatory term and I would think it would only be sensible not to label them as such.And I thought the ceremonies were not bad at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellis Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 The Inuit of Canada do not like to be called Eskimo's. They think of it as a derogatory term and I would think it would only be sensible not to label them as such.And I thought the ceremonies were not bad at all.I know that! I grew up in Canada! 99.9% of Americans I have ever met in my ten years in the US do not know that. I hear Eskimo, and Indian, all the time. I was making a backhanded compliment to the US news anchors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 The US team got a fairly big cheer when it entered the stadium and as Bob Costas said, the two nations share the largest friendly border in the world. I didnt catch this Zed diss, whatever it was. I was probably mesmerized by the short-skirted flag bearers.Edit: Oh yeah, "Zed" instead of "Zee". I DID see that. It wasnt a big deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 I know that! I grew up in Canada! 99.9% of Americans I have ever met in my ten years in the US do not know that. I hear Eskimo, and Indian, all the time. I was making a backhanded compliment to the US news anchors.Oh. :leaving: To be fair to the US anchors Eskimo is still the accepted term in Alaska and you cannot expect them to know much about other nations. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 As to the torch lighting, it was good. Speculation in Canada was that a "holographic" Terry Fox was going to light it, which would have been awesome, but ultimately probaly too hard to do right.Really? I was quite disappointed in the torch lighting. Not because they had the technical difficulty and not because they had multiple torch bearers lighting it (that was a neat idea to a degree), but I was disappointed in the fact that the outdoor flame was so far from the opening ceremonies...the fact that the indoor torch was lit and the ceremony was declared over and then they take Gretzky by car to the the actual torch sight seemed so anti-climatic and NBC with Costas and Lauer seemed to not be very much in the loop on what was happening... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thor85 Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 and then they take Gretzky by car to the the actual torch sight seemed so anti-climatic But wasn't raining at the time? I think they didn't want his torch to get extinguished on the way there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brude Posted February 13, 2010 Share Posted February 13, 2010 Did Rush make any appearance? If not, I can't muster up the interest.No. I'm hoping for the closing ceremonies (where it's usually more appropriate to "rock out.")and NBC with Costas and Lauer seemed to not be very much in the loop on what was happening...That's not their fault. The final torch lighting event/mechanism and the person lighting it is very often kept a secret until the last minute.I think my favorite ever is still Barcelona 1992 into the cauldron. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blasted_saber Posted February 13, 2010 Author Share Posted February 13, 2010 Luge is on right now. Apparently they slowed the track down and extended the sidewall so the Luger cant go off the tracks now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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