2008 Beijing Olympics

[SPJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7VE26-Qs1A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17rLJK3VKsI

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[GeneChing]

...check out our article The Martial Arts Master of Ceremonies By Chen Xinghua and Chi Chien in our 2008 July/August issue.

[SPJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7VE26-Qs1A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17rLJK3VKsI

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi0cdhGfB3o&NR=1

a tribute.

[SPJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi0cdhGfB3o&NR=1

a tribute.

to some, games are about winning and losing.

to some, games are about friendship first, and wining second.

to one chinese and one american, games are friendship first and friendship second still.

When Mao saw, the picture of one Chinese and one American ping pong player exchanged gifts at Tokyo.

Mao invited US ping pong team to visit China.

and that started the contact between PRC and US.

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This is my favorite tale of Ping pong diplomacy.

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[SPJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkscO...eature=related

back to the topic.

[SimonM]

yea, no ****...wonder what will come out as the motive.

Since it appears that the killer jumped off the drum tower to his own death shortly afterward it's unlikely we will ever know.

We were camping when the opening ceremonies happened but we got my folks to tape it. The commentator on CBC, the trogldite from Hockey Night in Canada who usually apes for Don Cherry and whose name I forget, made a total ass of himself with some of his assinine and occasionally plain wrong comments. My wife didn't like the costumes on the drummers.... haven't seen the wushu yet.

Have to say the fireworks have been something very special. The footprints were great.

[The Willow Sword]

http://www.redstateupdate.com/navigation?id=57864


TWS

[SPJ]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNIPn...eature=related

1948, 1952, 1956

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_-sH...eature=related

1960,1964

tales of torch relay.

[SimonM]

Saw the rest of teh opening ceremonies yesterday. Too many commercials.

That being said two other comments:

CBC referred to all the Wushu as Taijiquan... chalk another one up for the idiots at CBC sports not knowing their ass from a hole in the ground.

The torch lighting was absolutely spectacular.

[SPJ]

I was talking with friends about it over the weekend.

I like only the beginning, b/c they are hitting the drums and also looked at the sky/heaven/god.

Chinese used to revere or pay respect to heaven/god/nature.

then the rulers/kings took heaven's place.

then the emperors took heaven's place for over 2200 years.

then the political party--

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if a people may respect the heaven/nature/god

and do whatever is necessary or consistent with human, heaven and earth.

and be in harmony in three or san he.

that would be the ideal way or path or steps.

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that is why I like Zhang Yi Mou's opening ceremonies.

the history parts, children representing, exploring space, etc are ok.

but the drum beating is the best.

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[David Jamieson]

China is having difficulty giving up the ideas of the old ways. That is apparent with all the news coming from there that isn't related to the sports.

-the murder in the drum tower
-the arrests of protesters for applying to protest (police double cross)
-the military presence
-the water starvation of the surrounding areas to keep up appearances
-the displacement of people for accommodation of the tourists and games
-the crackdowns all over the country and the subsequent shooting and imprisonment of people

and so on.

Yes China is changing, but are they only changing a mask? Seems like it. The country still functions as a communist dictatorship with severe impediments on the population in regards to freedom of thought and movement.

[SimonM]

China is having difficulty giving up the ideas of the old ways. That is apparent with all the news coming from there that isn't related to the sports.

-the murder in the drum tower

To be fair the Chinese government can't really be blamed for this one, especially considering point 3, the guy was a lone nut who attacked a stranger.

This is not common in China but it can happen anywhere on earth. Surprisingly RD hasn't tried to use it as a topic for criticizing the self defense techniques of the murdered victims yet.

-the arrests of protesters for applying to protest (police double cross)

Preliminary reports. I read the sun media article on that topic just now and, to be blunt, an annonymous source running cloak and dagger routines at the forbidden palace isn't exactly the most credible source. Reserving judgement on this until some evidence is brought to my attention one way or the other.

-the military presence

After Atlanta I don't think anyone is going to fault a host city for being security conscious. Now, mind, Beijing has been a bit over the top security wise. Still would you rather a less safe games?

Security was tightened more after the stabbing at the drum tower.

-the water starvation of the surrounding areas to keep up appearances

That one is new to me. But not surprising. China is not a water rich country and the olympics are using a lot of water.

-the displacement of people for accommodation of the tourists and games

Yeah, China has to fix this problem. Displacement of people is the biggest cause fo discontent within the country at this time. It's a much more serious problem for stability than Tibet and Xinjiang will most likely ever be.

-the crackdowns all over the country and the subsequent shooting and imprisonment of people

I don't believe in the death penalty but...

if you huck grenades into a police station in a police state your family can expect to get a bill for 1 bullet (copper).

Yes China is changing, but are they only changing a mask? Seems like it. The country still functions as a communist dictatorship with severe impediments on the population in regards to freedom of thought and movement.

China is NOT a communist dictatorship. China is a capitalist dictatorship.

[GeneChing]

I've been thrilled to see so much fencing in the NBC coverage. The USA women's sweep was awesome. There's so much discussion of the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube, but the Beijing Olympic park also has a Fencing hall, and it's a spectacular showcase for the sport.

There's some nice video here:

China's Zhong takes sabre gold

China won Olympic gold in the men's individual sabre final when Zhong Man beat France's Nicolas Lopez 15-9.

Five-time world champion Stanislav Pozdniakov lost to Lopez early on while Athens champion Aldo Montano of Italy lost 15-14 to Spain's Jorge Pina.

"It's a dream come true. I'm very happy and moved," said Zhong.

Britain's Alex O'Connell went out in the first round after he lost 15-14 to Nikolay Kovalev of Russia in a desperately close contest.

Zhong hopes his gold medal, China's first in fencing for more than two decades, may finally silence complaints from his parents that he has grown up uncivilised because of the long hours he spends training.

The swordsman hoped to be a basketball player until a fencing coach in his southern hometown spotted his potential.

But his unhappy parents opposed the training because they feared his education was suffering.

"They were worried my 'cultural level' was slipping," he said, using a common Chinese term for all-round education and manners.

"I guess I have made up for my shortcomings in other ways now. I'll have time to study later," said the 25-year-old.

China has become a force in fencing. When China re-entered the games in L.A. in '84, Jujie Luan took gold in Women's foil, astonishing the world in what has been a European and Russian dominated sport. America is making amazing headway too. I'm looking forward to Gerek Meinhardt's event. He's under coach Greg Massialas, a former teammate of mine from SJSU. Greg was a generation before me, but I knew him. Never could put a touch on that man. He was so far out of my league, it was absurd.

[SimonM]

I don't have cable. My family is supposed to be taping Fencing and Judo for me.

Here's hoping CBC coverage of events is better than their coverage of the opening ceremonies.

Great show, terrible, terrible coverage.

[WinterPalm]

Then bye-bye USA!

Sadly Canada as well.

Sadly way too many nations.