Olympics

[ixl]

So, who's following them? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif
I have to admit to being somewhat jaded about the whole thing. The idea was the spirit of amateur competition, but it's hard to believe that there is much of this left any more. Countries buying athletes, indoctrinating children to become virtual slaves for years to win medals, mass commercialization, failed drug tests. Sigh.
The only way I can enjoy it at all any more is to focus specifically on the individual athletes and their accomplishments. It's still nice to see some of these people who have worked so hard, succeed.
My wife is into gymnastics and we both watched some of the women's routines on Sunday night. I must say that I am no expert on the subject, but I've watched a lot with my wife and never seen so many young women on their butts in a gymnastics meet in some time. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif
Strangest thing, we turned on CNBC and they were covering track bicycle racing. You see these two athletic guys on their sleek bikes, no doubt made of titanium and platinum or something, sleek aerodynamic helmets and all... then the buzzer or whatever goes off, and they both...
slowly pedal away, like they are on a Sunday stroll. "Go ahead.." "No you..." "Oh no, I insist..." Very strange. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif I did some looking into it and it seems these are one-on-one matches, and there is an advantage to being second, so they play a cat-and-mouse game. In fact, they changed the rules after a 1964 race where at one point the two competitors stopped on the track and stared each other down for over 20 minutes to see who would blink. Laugh!

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[Zed]

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Indeed strange...

Taiwan won a silver in a category of women's weight lifting! This is a great achivement...I just hope other athletes do well to...

[Son of Zeus]

Well as an Aussie I can say that, though we are known as one of the great sports loving nations on earth, even we were heartily sick & tired of all the hype in the lead up to the Games.

But now that the Olympics have started it has been quite enjoyable to kick back & watch some of these champions in action. As for the corruption, the drugs, the fanaticism etc. Whilst it is probably true that it has hit a peak in recent times, it really is nothing new.

There have been drugs around since the ancient Egyptians. The Greeks, the Romans, the Babylonians & the Assyrians all had drugs. Extreme nationalism & corruption have always existed & will no doubt always will. Wasn't it the story of the ancient long distance runner who actually died from exhaustion after crossing the finishing line a point of great pride for the ancient Greeks? At least I think we have passed that stage.

The opening ceremony was superb. The story of the Canadian rowing squad attacked by a crocodile in a training camp near Rockhampton, Northern Queensland was a scream (nobody was hurt). But the fact that they rowed up & down the Fitzroy river every day for weeks on end without realising just how many crocs live in that river was for an Australian quite amusing.

Then there was all the paranoia amongst the swimmers who had to compete in Sydney Harbour frightened of sharks. I watched one Japanese reporter (subtitled in English) filing a comforting report back home to reassure Japan that the last shark attack in the Harbour was in 1964. What a load of BS!!! I was living in Sydney just over two years ago when a woman sailboarding in the Harbour had a huge chunk bitten out of her board. Fortunately fibreglass isn’t that tasty so it swam away, no doubt assuming that she also was made of fibreglass, & not tasty flesh & bone.

The best part of the Games so far has been the comedy team send ups of it all & the TV ads, some of which have been classics. However there are also very poignant moments such as when the North & South Korean teams (for so long at war) paraded under the one banner which can remind us of what the Olympic Dream is not yet dead. Not quite yet anyway.

Also there have been some great stories of people in difficult circumstances overcoming great adversity. As the Nike ad relates: “Speed is measured in seconds. Strength is measured in kilos. But there is no measurement for courage.” And ofcourse the coming together of something like 48,000 Aussie volunteers giving of their time, energy & finances is pretty well unheard of in Australia.

Cheers.......Son of Zeus.

[der King Mongo]

I'm not much into TV these days...I'm sort of boycotting the Olympics because I cannot STAND tape-delayed live events. I'd much rather be up at 2:00 in the morning, drinking a beer (and knowing I go to work in three hours), but enjoying it all the more because it's only once every four years...

Tape-delay sucks.

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***He who eats when he is full, digs his grave with his teeth***

[dumarest]

Mongo - if you have cable, try CBC - they have live Olymopics. Re gymnastics, for the women - in the finals the vault beam was incorectly set - aver an inch too low - so practice all year on an apparatus and in the real thing the beam is not where you excpect it!! I know several fell and were taken out of competition and there were injuries. Unbelieveable.

[Son of Zeus]

Anybody who missed watching the Closing Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games is a big head wanker!!!

There, that's all I have to say on the matter.

Nothing more & nothing less.

Just that.

That's it.

Only had to get it out of my system.

Definitely finished now.

Won't get another word out of me.

No, don't even try Paleo.

They’re over.

Forget about it.

They’re gone.

Done with.

Kaput.

Finished.

Oh & one more thing.

Just to rub salt into the wounds.

U also missed seeing the Not So Ancient Greek Priestesses of the Sacred Flame, who came on stage to both receive & carry the Olympic flag, flame & spirit back to Athens, Greece (bet u didn't even know where Athens was).

These Not So Ancient Greek Priestesses of the Sacred Flame were...

Young.

Fresh.

Beautiful.

Gorgeous.

Delectable.

Think I had better stop now.

It’s getting quite hot in this refrigerator right about now.

There’s nothing on the Net to compare with the Not So Ancient Greek Priestesses of the Sacred Flame.

I can tell u.

Why is that ice melting in here?

No Paleo I don't think I've ever visited THAT site.

No never.

Is that legal Paleo?

What do u mean highly legal?

I might go there right now.

What was that URL again Paleo?

Bye.

Son of Zeus.

P.S.
now u see just what sleep deprivation can do to u. Don't say I didn't warn u. :-)

[ixl]

Great, so now on top of everything else I'm a "big head wanker". Whatever the hell that is. (And no, I don't really want to know. :P)
Glad you had fun with the 'pics, SOZ. Frankly, the ceremonies bored me even when I actually cared about the Olympics. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[Son of Zeus]

"Great, so now on top of everything else I'm a "big head wanker". Whatever the hell that is. (And no, I don't really want to know. :P)
Glad you had fun with the 'pics, SOZ. Frankly, the ceremonies bored me even when I actually cared about the Olympics."

Charles,

don't worry I won't even try & explain it. You would never understand. Nor will I gabble on too much about a sense of humour that may occasionally be a tad too dark & the reality that sometimes cultural, age & whatever other differences there are in the human race can cause misunderstandings between people.

I would appreciate it though if you could pull that posting & this one as I now realise that it all came across incorrectly & is open to being misconstrued to imply what, started out as an intended tongue in cheek article, was never meant to convey. I won't apologise as I feel I have nothing to apologise for. I consider the posts that proceeded it to have been far more rude, antagonistic & disrespectful to me as an Australian than my rather feeble jab back.

But I would like to point out just how much this Olympic Games has meant to us as Australians. Through it have come the beginnings of what hopefully will be a move towards reconciliation with our own indigenous peoples: the aboriginals. Running faster, jumping higher etc are nice but ultimately don't mean that much in the bigger scheme of life.

What I do believe is of importance though is that the world learns to live in peace. Surely there has been enough wars & killings already. To me & I think a lot, sure not all, Aussies the Olympic Games reminded us of the common bond all humanity shares & of a desire for world peace. The aboriginals, & to be truthful, the squalor they often live in reflects very badly on Australia, no matter who ultimately takes the blame for it all.

However, having spent four years backpacking around the world when I was younger I can assure you that I have seen conditions as bad, if not worse, from Indonesia to Singapore, India, Pakistan, Northern Africa, Israel & even Europe. But I honestly thought Australian non-indigenous & indigenous cultures stood next to no hope of ever living in "Shalom".

You may not be aware that prior to the Games many expected huge riots & uproar as disenfranchised elements in both white & black Australian society used the world media exposure of our country for their own political ends. Terrorism, bombs, shootings were considered a very genuine threat & Nelson Mandella, Desmond Tutu & “The Hurricane” visited to try & calm the aboriginal community down. Unfortunately, "sorry", for our Prime Minister is indeed the hardest word, as he continually refuses to say it on behalf of white Australians to our indigenous blacks, even when over a quarter of a million “whities” walked across the Bridge just to say sorry to aboriginal groups waiting on the other side he still couldn’t get it.

So when much to our surprise an aboriginal, Cathy Freeman, lit the flame at the Opening Ceremony & the all aboriginal group of Yothu Yindi sang straight after "the whities" of Midnight Oil, all of whom, against much political pressure, wore black Tee Shirts with the word "sorry" written in small white writing on them at the Closing Ceremony. And when many “whities” carried placards around the games with the word “sorry” written over them & others took the time to say sorry to aboriginals they didn’t even know, when they passed them in the streets. All these were for many others, & myself very poignant moments.

So hopefully, with that as the background, you will understand that I genuinely mean that when you, from my point of view, mock these Olympics I can very easily take it personally. If all you saw were athletes running, jumping & swimming then maybe you were the real loser in the Olympics.

However, if you saw a large white population, of which I am one, saying sorry for the Stolen Generation, sorry for the aboriginal girls who are STILL taken at 9 or 10 years old from their homes in the outback to work as slaves & unpaid prostitutes for the white bushies. Sorry about the third world conditions you live in. Sorry about the squalor, the diseases, the disgusting smell & the flies (all of which I have seen first hand).

Sorry about the alcoholism, the drug addiction, the prostitution, the suicides in jail, the unemployment, the impossibility of getting a housing loan, or rental. Sorry about the fact that we feel uncomfortable in your presence. Sorry that we stole your land, forced you into communities in the lands we didn’t think worth keeping & then suddenly when gold, diamonds, oil or gas were found under those same lands that we just passed laws to take it all back again. Sorry that your nomadic way of life has been destroyed. Sorry that Tasmanians hunted aboriginals down like animals in the bush using dogs, nets & guns. Sorry that they then moved shiploads at a time to islands off the coast & left them without food, water or weapons to hunt with & that none survived & the list could go on.

As this will be my last posting here, although I don’t feel any need to apologise, I will say sorry if my posting caused offence. However, if your recent attitude expressed both here in the Forums & to me in private email is who you really are (& I don’t really think that it is) & not due to overwork & stress. Well then I can only say sorry that you are indeed a "big head wanker.

Goodbye Charles.

Son of Zeus.

P.S.
“so now on top of everything else”. Careful Charles paranoia is a form of mental illness.

[ixl]

Holy moly! SOZ, I was just kidding around with my last note. I had assumed you were joking about the "wanker" thing, and I took it as that. Honest. If I was upset I would not have posted in public, especially not with a smiley! You did notice the smiley did you not? http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif
I'm sorry for any miscommunication here that is my fault. As you know I started this conversation saying I was somewhat cynical about the Olympics in general (read the first posting) and I was merely continuing in that vein. It was not meant to be a criticism or negative reply to your posting at all.

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.

[ixl]

One more thing: I think you strongly underestimate the differences in coverage of the Olympics where you are from where we are. While certainly much was made of the pride of Australians with these Olympic games, and most Americans felt very glad for Aussie as a result, coverage of the games here is watered-down and rather Americentric.
I watched some of the events, but from that would have gotten absolutely no inkling of all of these other political issues you mentioned.
I am sorry if I was offensive in my remarks. I think while I was looking at these Olympics as a sporting event, you were looking at them as a lot more, and I didn't realize.
Sigh.

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Charles M. Kozierok
Webslave, The PC Guide (http://www.PCGuide.com)
Comprehensive PC Reference, Troubleshooting, Optimization and Buyer's Guides...
Note: Please reply to my forum postings here on the forums. Thanks.