IMNRHO, Russia is a third-world nation with a first-world arsenal. I mourn them for what they could be but aren’t because of their leaders, going back a very long time.
AuntiePam, Russia was settled by Vikings.
I was watching with my friend in a bar and we both commented that she is an inordinately unattractrive woman.
Delusion duly noted OP. Sochi’s a s***hole, whether you like it or not.
It was a fine, good show. Russia can put up very good public ceremonial displays and did not dissappoint, but “best ever”? Can’t go that far.
One thing to bear in mind is that (especially in the USA but also in just about every place with commercial TV) any Olympic coverage involving more than a couple of of hours of time zone difference, will broadcast an edited version that is focused on what the network thinks is their audience’s interests.
As for myself,
[ul]
[li]Delighted with the Russian-Cyrillic Alphabet presentation.[/li][li]Would have preferred if the cosmonauts present at the national anthem/flag raising had had a brief prior presentation, even just a slide each – I did not see that in my TV feed, did I miss it or did it just not happen? [/li][li]Enjoyed the graphics during the various historical period numbers and the re-embrace of expressionistic elements for the floor show.[/li][li]The cauldron-lighting was sort of anticlimactic, we’ve become spoiled by other shows. Would not have minded seeing a larger number of widely renowned Russian champions.[/li][li]OK, can we please have an Olympic ceremony where the Head of State acts like s/he’s really enjoying it? At least the Queen had that little James Bond skit before sitting stonefaced through the ceremonies. Yes, we know, Vlad’s not known for his chllin’ back, smiley, just-folks style, but please let go off the intensity a few moments, Chief.[/li][/ul]
More ‘everything’s just peachy’ US official Olympic coverage cutting out anything remotely controversial: NBC cut the anti-discrimination part from the IOC president’s statement during the opening ceremony.
Was it a gay bar? I ask seriously, and I hope not offensively, because she is not remotely unattractive by any other metric. Well, maybe if someone only likes women size 4 and under.
My eleven year old daughter and liked it. I let her stay up really late so we could laugh ourselves silly at the whole thing. Not as delicious as China or as self-conscientiously what-the-fuck as the Brits but still fun. We especially liked the Bermudans in their Bermudan shorts, the truly awful American uniforms from Ralph Granny Lauren, the part where it was Dr. Seuss crossed with the NYC Thanksgiving day parade and Putin’s ridiculous obvious strutting over the whole thing. She was especially happy to see her fellow eleven year old carry off the framework.
Even a wide dress can’t cover up a neck that’s wider than my entire head.
GIS shows she used to be quite gorgeous… and that the last year or so haven’t been as kind to her.
I’ll take y’all’s word for it, since all of the free videos of the opening ceremony have been pulled. But that must’ve been a hell of a fall.
Disagree. I prefer the competitions, of course, but the athlete parade is quite fascinating to me, and far more interesting than the rest of the opening ceremonies. I thought London’s and Vancouver’s were quite yawnworthy APART FROM the parade of nations, so this time around I skipped everything but the parade.
I enjoy seeing which countries are in and which are not, and which have tiny delegations and which are enormously competitive in the world of winter sports. I like the flags. I like the uniforms (mostly). And I really like the way the athletes come in bouncing, taking pictures of themselves and each other, waving to the audience and the cameras, looking like what they are: a group of largely twenty-somethings that are just so damn pleased to be there. The rest of the OCs are so…prepared, and the opening parade seems much more like a happening.
I keep hearing people complaining that Bach’s tolerance speech was cut from NBC’s broadcast, but I certainly heard it. I actually snickered and wanted to see Putin’s reaction. Is it possible that NBC changed their Pacific time zone broadcast?
Yeah, I just read the transcript and swear I heard his speech in it’s entirety on the east coast. Now I’m all confused, wondering if I am remembering something that didn’t happen…
I thought the ceremony was OK overall. It was huge, imaginative, showcased new technology and impressive engineering (even with the one glitch). It was also long, boring in parts and (to me) overly costly. Really, a whole stadium to accomodate nothing but the opening and closing ceremonies?
IMHO, Barcelona set the standard for torch lighting in 1992 when they lit the cauldron atop the stadium with a flaming arrow. It will be a while before anyone tops that.
Yeah, that obviously goes to the 1936 games, and in many ways Sochi is reminiscent of those.
I dunno; having looked up “Anna Netrebko” on Google Images, she looks like she’s absolutely gorgeous to me. I have no idea what she looks like now, but most of the pictures I saw didn’t look that old.
I was impressed with the double toilet design.
Young athletes who may never have touched alcohol before might possibly over imbibe for the very first time at Sochi.
Having two bowls instead of just one allows for trained athletes to evacuate both ends at once!
I hear its very convenient…