Summer Olympics: Beijing, China

[Susan Elizabeth]

Originally Posted by jacobson00

i won't be surprised by that.

Me either. Also, the 'drum' portion of the opening ceremonies bothered me. I found it intimidating. Probably, because it was meant to be. It was very militaristic. Found out later, that the performers are actually members of China's military. Well, there ya go.

[Google]

 

[jacobson00]

but susan i think the british are trying to downplay the opening and looking for flaws right and left. Well they are up next and i don't see them topping the chinese, as a matter of fact i don't see anyone toping them anytime soon maybe if tokyo gets the game in 2016, which i doubt. i think Chicago and Rio de janeiro have more chances of taking the game.

[Broadway]

Originally Posted by Susan Elizabeth

Me either. Also, the 'drum' portion of the opening ceremonies bothered me. I found it intimidating. Probably, because it was meant to be. It was very militaristic. Found out later, that the performers are actually members of China's military. Well, there ya go.

Yes, it was meant to be to show the early Chinese military regimes that became the reason for the Great Wall. I found that entire thing quite fascinating and I loved it.

Matt Lauer gave the tidbit during the routine that the kids were told to make sure they smiled during the routine for exactly the reason that you've mentioned - that they felt people would be too intimidated by it.

[daddyzgirl]

Originally Posted by Broadway

You should be able to find complete video at NBColympics.com

Thanks Broadway however it's blocked for Canadian viewers. I managed to catch the whole thing - my dad was asking me if he could watch it but I had to break the news that I deleted it. I was hoping for an encore presentation so I could record it again and he could watch it, in HD.

Thanks anyway!

[sukee]

Originally Posted by Susan Elizabeth

Well, you may be right, but doesn't there seem to be something wrong with that? It seems to be almost a case of arrested development. Not very normal. I don't know, but this has bothered me for years. I think it's pushy parents. Very much like stage mothers. It just doesn't sit right with me.

No, it's not normal and it does bother me...

[CCL]

Originally Posted by Susan Elizabeth

Me either. Also, the 'drum' portion of the opening ceremonies bothered me. I found it intimidating. Probably, because it was meant to be. It was very militaristic. Found out later, that the performers are actually members of China's military. Well, there ya go.

I thought they said they were monastery students. I recall them mentioning something about the monastery having physical education as part of its studies. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

[Susan Elizabeth]

Originally Posted by CCL

I thought they said they were monastery students. I recall them mentioning something about the monastery having physical education as part of its studies. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

No, Meredith Viera definitely said military.

[CrossingGuard]

Here's a video that talks about Yang Peiyi and Lin Miaoke. I think it's horrible that they decided to replace Peiyi with the girl who they deemed to be prettier. But what I find so sweet is that Peiyi is looking at the positives and saying that she's just happy to be a part of the Olympics.

I agree with what other people are saying about the female commentator that talks during the sychronized diving events. She's very good at what she does. She catches every single detail and pretty much predicts the score the judges will give the routine.

Here's a picture of the Chinese gymnasts. The top left one doesn't look 16 to me at all.

[Broadway]

Originally Posted by daddyzgirl

Thanks Broadway however it's blocked for Canadian viewers. I managed to catch the whole thing - my dad was asking me if he could watch it but I had to break the news that I deleted it. I was hoping for an encore presentation so I could record it again and he could watch it, in HD.

Thanks anyway!

Hmmmm... how about trying Huffingtonpost.com? I know they have it there, too.

I would have to think that they'll reair it again. When I googled it there were a ton of requests for it out there, but... with the silly scandals over how it was all produced for tv they might not.

[Broadway]

Originally Posted by CCL

I thought they said they were monastery students. I recall them mentioning something about the monastery having physical education as part of its studies. Maybe I'm remembering wrong.

I can't find anything that describes the 2008 young men as students nor military. They do mention that the large group of soldiers that raised the People's Republic of China flag towards the end were members of the People Liberation Army.

I'll keep looking.