Finally! 08-08-08 is HERE!

[MilDoc]

opening ceremony just finished - WOW!

Should be an exciting few weeks.

IMHO, the Gold Medal for all-time best opening ceremony goes to the Chinese! Incredibly performed and thought out stuff!

[poolhound]

IMHO, the Gold Medal for all-time best opening ceremony goes to the Chinese! Incredibly performed and thought out stuff!

As a Brit my wife and I were saying last night that the British O;ympic comittee mus be quaking in their boots thinking " Oh S**T how are we going to top that?"

[RayintheUK]

As a Brit my wife and I were saying last night that the British Olympic comittee must be quaking in their boots thinking "Oh S**T how are we going to top that?"

I really hope that they're not going to try and top it for 2112. The alleged spend on the Beijing venues sounds obscene to me and I doubt whether anyone in their right mind would consider such vast amounts for the pitiful return it will generate.

Given the state of the UK National Debt, I'd be happy with, for example, Elton John cutting a ribbon from one of his costumes!

(N.B: NOT a political comment. Cynical, maybe!)

Ray.

[Mrs. Wallnut]

Gotta admit, after being an Olympics fan since the 60s, that the Opening ceremonies were some of the most fantastic I have seen so far. The precision of the drummers. the perfect circles later on, the "upside down" dancers on the globe --- WOW!

Can't wait for the rest!

I was impressed by all this and by the "printing characters" that moved up and down and then at the end the tops opened up and people came out of them. Very nice indeed. I watched most of it and fell asleep after most of the festivities but I didn't get to see the the lighting of the torch.

I like watching gymnastics, and also the swimming and I have been watching the beach volleyball. I haven't been watching much as I have been working the last couple of days and sleep during the day and miss most of the coverage.

[Mrs. Wallnut]

IMHO, the Gold Medal for all-time best opening ceremony goes to the Chinese! Incredibly performed and thought out stuff!

I agree with this. Also I heard that they used something like 15,000 people for the opening ceremonies and didn't use anyone twice.

[LCHIEN]

IMHO, the Gold Medal for all-time best opening ceremony goes to the Chinese! Incredibly performed and thought out stuff!

the commentators said he opening ceremonies for 2008 cost 300 million dollars compared with the previous record of 30 million dollars spent in Athens last olympics.

At this rate of exponential spending the UK is going to have to spend $3Billion (and that's a US billion) to do thiers.

There's a clear messge here (aside from the money) and that is the Chinese have the sheer number of people and the patience to do anything they put their minds to.

[Uncle Cracker]

It's just a testimony to what can be achieved if you bring to bear the profits from all those Harbor Freight stores!!!

[jussi]

Did anyone catch the swimming competition today? I'm not normally a swimming fan but wow. My heart sank for poor Katie Hoff who was (I believe) only a few 100ths from taking gold. Especially when she had a huge lead going into the final turn. Then that miraculous finish by the US relay team pulling off that huge upset by taking the gold. And conversely with being behind in the final turn. good stuff. Pulling for Phelps to get his other 6 gold.


On a side note, does anyone think the Chinese girls gymnasts look no where near 16 (the minimum age).

[poolhound]

saw the relay final - very exciting. Even the team who finished 7th broke the record. What a bummer, swim the race of your life break the world record only to find 6 other teams did it ahead of you!!

[Uncle Cracker]

On a side note, does anyone think the Chinese girls gymnasts look no where near 16 (the minimum age).

I think the whole world knows they are underage, but the home country need only issue them a passport stating whatever age they "need" them to be, and that's it. Far be it from me to accuse the Chinese government of falsifying records to achieve a better showing for their team on the biggest worldwide stage...

[Wood_workur]

On a side note, does anyone think the Chinese girls gymnasts look no where near 16 (the minimum age).

Yea, I put a few of them at half of that age.

[germdoc]

I have only caught a few events so far but have enjoyed them. It's interesting how varied people's interest in specific events is and how mine have changed over time. I now have zero interest in women's gymnastics. Zero. They are like trained hamsters to me. However, I really enjoy the men's events. I have to say, seeing the Chinese competitors on the rings, I don't see how they do that. That is the most concentrated display of muscle performance I've ever seen.

For the most part I don't like the "non-traditional" events, like mountain bike races, etc. Just gimme the good ole "higher, faster, stronger"...I look forward to the track events, particularly the middle distances (what my son ran in high school).

My real favorite is swimming, probably because I used to swim and know what goes into it. Michael Phelps is truly amazing--absolutely unique swimmer, seems very intense yet enjoying himself at the same time. I am particularly impressed by the style of some of the top swimmers, how they move through the water, breathe, etc. Things have changed a lot since I wore a Speedo (not the least of which is my waistline).

I did enjoy the beach volleyball stuff much more than I thought I would. Even the guys. Though the girls "uniforms" are more interesting...

[cgallery]

On a side note, does anyone think the Chinese girls gymnasts look no where near 16 (the minimum age).

When they introduced the 20 YO Chinese gymnast that looked 16 I thought, "what the heck is going on." Then the announcer said this was her second Olympics. So yeah, they had to say she was 16 before (which was insane, she was 12). Now she is 16 and they have to say she is 20.

It also seemed like they had instructed them not to smile. When I looked closely it looked like some of them didn't have their eye teeth, which would put them at less than 14 years old, probably younger.

[jussi]

When they introduced the 20 YO Chinese gymnast that looked 16 I thought, "what the heck is going on." Then the announcer said this was her second Olympics. So yeah, they had to say she was 16 before (which was insane, she was 12). Now she is 16 and they have to say she is 20.

It also seemed like they had instructed them not to smile. When I looked closely it looked like some of them didn't have their eye teeth, which would put them at less than 14 years old, probably younger.

I swear I saw one of them hiding a pacifier

[OpaDC]

Haven't had time to post. Been to busy watching the Olympics!