Closing ceremonies

[Deleted]

Did Beckham knock one of the cheerleaders over with that kick?

Didn't anyone stop and think how inappropriate "Whole Lotta Love" was for the occasion?

Why didn't Boris button his coat for cripesakes?

[TheSantaBarbarian]

Feeling a bit grumpy are we? I was rather enjoying it. And congratulations to all the athletes who competed in the games (except the guy who kicked the ref), it is a special thing to be called an Olympian. And congrats to the Chinese, who overall put on a great games. (and left London what they were going to do to even get close to matching the opening and closing ceremonies. I heard a Brit comedian on NPR a couple days ago that had some just hysterical comments on that issue.)

[Deleted]

I just didn't think GB was well-represented. But at least it wasn't Amy Winehouse and a bunch of football hooligans.

[Phaedrus]

As a person of Chinese descent, I would like to apologize for having to subject everyone to Chinese pop music. Especially when it is sung by Jackie Chan. I don't know what they were thinking when they thought that part up. The rest of it was awesome.

I thought the Brits were going to bring in Mick and the boys. Page is good, around the same amount of formaldehyde smell.

[bownlovingfreak]

Aug 24, 2008 21:34:48 GMT -5 Phaedrus said:

As a person of Chinese descent, I would like to apologize for having to subject everyone to Chinese pop music. Especially when it is sung by Jackie Chan. I don't know what they were thinking when they thought that part up. The rest of it was awesome.

I thought the Brits were going to bring in Mick and the boys. Page is good, around the same amount of formaldehyde smell.

We forgive you, only because the rest of it was REE-DIC-ULUUUUSSSS

China rocked it! I almost want to visit now and load up on dumplings, but no scorpion.

[callinup22]

I'm actually quite curious about the scorpion. It looks crunchy.

[bownlovingfreak]

I like crunchy, just hope the insides aren't mushy.

[GatorVball]

If Winehouse is still alive in 2012, she might light the cauldron by flicking a cigarette into it.

[Wolfgang]

They actually hired professionals to design the London portion of the closing ceremonies? Wow, the wife was just telling me that even I couldn't have designed it any worse.

If there's one thing I hate to see is Asian singers lip-synching to Western pop music. Come on now...Show the West all the great artistry of Chinese music, not copycat music. Don't the Chinese have any originality and integrity? Why do they feel the need to mimic the worst of Western pop culture?

Jimmy Page looks Chinese to me. Actually, I've thought that for quite some time and now that he's in his 60s, it's so glaring.

[azvb]

I thought the double decker bus was cool-until it opened. What was that - astroturf??? I love Leona Lewis, but didn't care for the song choice. And that Mayor from London, he reminded me of Chris Farley. I was embarassed for him - bad suit, bad hair cut. Okay, I'm done making fun.

I thought China did a fabulous job. Let's not forget that just because they can put on a show, their human rights agenda still sucks. Okay, off my soapbox now.

Having Olympic withdrawal. Actually, I still have about 6 hours on my DVR that I haven't watched. I'm sure at least 3 hours is of boxing, however.

[cardfan15]

Aug 24, 2008 21:24:02 GMT -5 TheSantaBarbarian said:

And congrats to the Chinese, who overall put on a great games. (and left London what they were going to do to even get close to matching the opening and closing ceremonies. I heard a Brit comedian on NPR a couple days ago that had some just hysterical comments on that issue.)

That's the thing that makes this Olympics so unique, although Beijing was the "host city," only a country could put on an Olympics of this scope and detail. I've had numerous Chinese friends remind me that if these Olympics were left to the city of Beijing to plan and execute, it wouldn't have come close to the organization and awe that we witnessed the past two weeks. No other Olympics will match (because no other country will invest like the central government of China did in the Beijing Olympics), however, I am certain we will have some spectacular opening and closing ceremonies and Olympic competition in the future. That is the thing about the Olympics, 4 years is long enough not to forget, but to move on and the world will move on after these Olympics.

[Phaedrus]

I was just talking to my mom about this. She was of the generation that went through the second world war and the era when China was consider the sick man of Asia. She started to bring up the peace treaty that Japan forced on China during the Sino-Japan war and all the indignities forced upon China by the Brits, French, Germans, and Americans in the early 1900's. To her, this was a point of pride that serves to wipe away a century of corrupt governments, weak military, and all that has ever ailed China and cause the Chinese people to be ashamed of ourselves. This obviously overlooks the present communist government and what they do and have done.

This explains a lot of the reaction that I found a little disturbing. The older folks don't see it as a propaganda campaign nor is it a success for the Chinese government, they see it as a vindication for the Chinese people as a whole, crossing the barriers of history, politics, and time.

[BearClause]

Aug 26, 2008 12:36:15 GMT -5 Phaedrus said:

This explains a lot of the reaction that I found a little disturbing. The older folks don't see it as a propaganda campaign nor is it a success for the Chinese government, they see it as a vindication for the Chinese people as a whole, crossing the barriers of history, politics, and time.

That's what I found so (edit) disingenuous when the Chinese gov't was imploring others around to world to not politicize the Olympic Games just because it was in China. The Olympic Games have always been political. China's hosting of the Olympic Games, the path of the torch relay, the native costumes of "nations" (many disputed including the Tibetan and Uyghur regions) within China during the opening/closing ceremonies were all overt political gestures. The choice of a Tibetan antelope (chiru) as one of their five mascots was intensely political. That was especially true given the controversy over a rail line that had the potential to disrupt the feeding/migration of said antelope species.