XXVIII Summer Olympic Games

I was watching the opening and cursing the idiotic NBC commentators who spoke (without saying anything of importance) throughout Björk's performance. Damn, these networks are getting worse and worse as they hire the dummies de jour.

BTW Björk's dress unraveled to cover the entire gathering of Olympic teams--very unusual but marred by the NBC birdbrains.

[cookie]

The talking was a drag. I missed Bjork (bummer. I like her. She's different), but they did it over EVERYTHING.

Is there something like C-SPAN (maybe NBC-SPAN??) where they just show, not tell??

[Jazzooo]

I'm watching the opening ceremonies now on delay. Loved the Greek presentation with the Cube Man, Cupid and the rest. Pretty hip stuff.

[john williams]

I have to admit to being impressed with the Greece through the ages thing (brilliant costumes and props) and lucky for us in Australia no-one spoke during Bjork's performance, which was mesmerising as usual.

And I'm not even a fan of the Olympics as such.

[moneyp]

Loved the "Greece Through the Ages" thing with the floats, one of the coolest presentations I've seen at an opening ceremony. I started channel-surfing when the "Parade of Nations" hit, though.

[timoleon]

i also liked a lot the ceremony,bjork's great performance,the rebetiko music,the drums,the simple and beautiful reference to greek history and also the beats from dj tiesto.
when i heard before the ceremony that they would have a dj, i was thinking it was going to be horrible but it turned out good.
unfortunately i couldn't afford to be inside the stadium for such a unique for greece experience.

Having a runner go through a chronological series past Olympic games, stumbling or pausing for the two WWs, was simple, yet very effective, IMO.

I, too, wish there were a way to eliminate the dumb, chatty commentary that mars the NBC coverage, or at least get some people who know when to shut up.

[stonemonkts]

Originally Posted by Chris A

I, too, wish there were a way to eliminate the dumb, chatty commentary that mars the NBC coverage, or at least get some people who know when to shut up.

Turn the sound off. I can't bear to listen to those shitheads.

Originally Posted by stonemonkts

Turn the sound off. I can't bear to listen to those shitheads.

I do turn the sound off most of the time, but listening to Björk with the sound off is an unsatisfactory experience.

BTW, It occurred to me that if Monica had been wearing that expansive dress, the Presidential stain would probably never have been found.

From AP:

Björk's big dress, Dutch DJ's beats
mark thunderous start to games

CHRISTY LEMIRE
AP Entertainment Writer
Friday, August 13, 2004

(08-13) 15:44 PDT ATHENS, Greece (AP)

A tiny Icelandic singer wearing an ocean of a dress and a Dutch DJ with music flowing from his fingertips helped bring the 2004 Olympic Games to a wet and wild start.

Bjork performed her song "Oceania" during Friday's opening ceremony in keeping with the evening's water theme.

"You have done good for yourselves since you left my wet embrace and crawled ashore," the lyrics went -- and so went the waves of fabric intended to look like an extension of the thick twists of ice blue that composed Bjork's gown. The shimmering material unfurled from her feet and spread over the heads of many of the thousands of athletes who'd filed into the Olympic Stadium infield.

Bjork herself shimmered as well, with bluish-purple glittery eye shadow across her lids. Her dark hair dangled in tiny twists that framed her pixieish, freckled face.

Earlier in the evening, the disc jockey Tiesto from Amsterdam played about two hours of nonstop dance music as the world's athletes took their first steps onto the world's biggest stage. It was the first time a DJ has had such a role at the games.

Standing on a platform beneath the unlit Olympic cauldron and dressed in a heather gray T-shirt and baggy, faded jeans, Tiesto bobbed his head to the beat with a set of oversized headphones covering his ears. He spun a mix of instrumental tunes that ranged from hypnotic to pulsating, culminating with throbbing house beats when the Greek team entered at the end of the procession.

It was a party atmosphere, with many athletes dancing their way into the stadium and rushing toward the video cameras spread around the track.

Among the international dignitaries cheering them on from the VIP section were British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Queen Sofia of Spain, and Prince Frederik of Denmark and his new bride, Australian-born Princess Mary.

[Uli]

Dug reading this opinion

http://be-jazz.blogspot.com/

Interesting, Uli, although he doesn't really say much about Bjørk's performance. I'll have to revisit this site from time to time--nice plug for Dennis Gonzalez.

[Gentle Giant]

Not paying much attention to the Olympics, but did I hear correctly that an Iranian wrestler backed out of a first-round match because his opponent was to be an Israeli? (Iran doesn't officially recognize the State of Israel - give 'em time, it's only been 56 years - and contact with Israelis is prohibited.)

Nice. Although Munich '72 was much worse; still, welcome to Israel's reality.

As I recall, a later item pointed out that the Iranian never reached the point where he would be competing man to man against the Israeli. That makes him look even more foolish.

[patricia]

I feel your pain, if you have to watch the Olympics on the American networks. Luckily, the CBC, as usual, covers the events, with little idle chatter, simply keeping the viewer informed on what they are seeing. Although, of course, there is the inevitable interview with the Canadian, wherever they placed, the competition is seen as just that, an attempt to show whoever is best, no matter who it is and not from just the national perspective, which is the point of the Olympics.

[stonemonkts]

There should be a C-Span-type option. Your CBC sounds close to one. I've had the sound totally off so far. I know I'm missing out on some key info. but the loss of that is worth it for me. I really couldn't enjoy the games if I had to hear the talking heads, not to mention the horrific music.

[Al in NYC]

Why Katie Couric... Why??

The competition itself, as usual, has been magnificent. The announcers, fair to excellent (Rowdy Gaines) to raucously uninformed. The NBC presentation on the cable channels has been nicely low key and concentrated on the actual sports. Of course the broadcast netwrk coverage has been its usual silly, overly dramatic, overly "personality"-centric self.

Originally Posted by Al in NYC

Of course the broadcast netwrk coverage has been its usual silly, overly dramatic, overly "personality"-centric self.

I wonder if that is really what most viewers want to hear or if its just NBC underestimating viewer intelligence?

[Jon Abbey]

Originally Posted by Chris A

NBC underestimating viewer intelligence?

you're kidding, right? like that's actually possible...

[Sergio Zamora]

Originally Posted by Chris A

Interesting, Uli, although he doesn't really say much about Bjørk's performance. I'll have to revisit this site from time to time--nice plug for Dennis Gonzalez.

Chris, you know that's mke, right?

I suspected that--Belgium and jazz and Gonzalez collectively being a clue. I was thrown off by the fact that he didn't seem to care for Björk's music, and I had mke pegged as having adventurous ears.

[cookie]

I didn't get to watch the entire match, but Martina Navratilova was slick and brutal in women's doubles. Man, that woman can play tennis! What an atlete.

I've caught a little here and there, but mostly I channel surf. Checked out some weightlifting (little guys who were wicked ripped), women's gymnastics and men's swimming. I have to say that the swimming really got me. Those cats have nice...ummm....forms.

[Ron Thorne]

Sorry that I missed Martina. Some of the swimming events have been compelling, but I certainly wish America would reassess, then change the men's basketball team approach. What an embarrasment. I felt sorry for Larry Brown today. Tim Duncan may be the only bright spot for me, and he still shouldn't be playing there, in my view.

Ummm, Cookie, I also noted that some of the female divers had nice ... ummmm, forms. There were a couple of doll-faced Chinese synchronized divers on yesterday, too.

[mke]

Originally Posted by Chris A

I suspected that--Belgium and jazz and Gonzalez collectively being a clue. I was thrown off by the fact that he didn't seem to care for Björk's music, and I had mke pegged as having adventurous ears.

What can I say? I feel like I should like her, but I just don't and can't despite repeated tries.

What about the USA basket-ball team (can't call them Dream Team any more) getting *crushed* by Puerto Rico? I wonder if the NBA considers winning the Olympics important enough to make the changes necessary to establish a real national team.

[claude]

Originally Posted by patricia

I feel your pain, if you have to watch the Olympics on the American networks. Luckily, the CBC, as usual, covers the events, with little idle chatter, simply keeping the viewer informed on what they are seeing. Although, of course, there is the inevitable interview with the Canadian, wherever they placed, the competition is seen as just that, an attempt to show whoever is best, no matter who it is and not from just the national perspective, which is the point of the Olympics.

You must be watching a different CBC than I am. I find that they have degenerated to the point that I prefer NBC! Brian Williams is an idiot, every Olympics he gets into this BS about how the gov't should be providing more support to the athletes. He's already started. I can't imagine anything more disheartening than an athlete being interviewed about their performance and all this asshole wants to talk about is politics.

In addition they seem to only be showing events that include Canadians or that are very high profile. Seems a lot like the American coverage used to be, I find they have improved while the Cdn coverage has gone downhill.

[bostontricky]

Claude - as far as I can tell, four hours of primetime coverage from NBC last night featured the following:

1) Swimming
2) Women's gymnastics

It's true the other five cable partners are picking up the remainder of the coverage, but if you don't pony up for cable, you're stuck with the "major" events only.

[Tanager]

Originally Posted by bostontricky

Claude - as far as I can tell, four hours of primetime coverage from NBC last night featured the following:

1) Swimming
2) Women's gymnastics

It's true the other five cable partners are picking up the remainder of the coverage, but if you don't pony up for cable, you're stuck with the "major" events only.

Well, swimming is one of my three favorite oly sports, so I am stoked to have it on NBC in primetime - but I hate the way NBC interlaces the two sports, so that even if you only want to watch swimming, you have to wait through hours of gymnastics, even though the actual swimming events took place in comparatively rapid succession when they were actually being swum. I know why NBC does it, and I know it's probably good for their end-to-end ratings, but as a longtime swimming fan, it's a major PITA. I've been taping the entire primetime broadcast - I may go through when it's done and splice the swimming segments together into one library tape. I'll probably do the same with T&F as well.

[claude]

Originally Posted by bostontricky

Claude - as far as I can tell, four hours of primetime coverage from NBC last night featured the following:

1) Swimming
2) Women's gymnastics

It's true the other five cable partners are picking up the remainder of the coverage, but if you don't pony up for cable, you're stuck with the "major" events only.

Don't get me wrong, NBC isn't all that it could be either. I just get a little tired of the CBC's belly-button gazing crap. I wish that someone would just show the sports with a little "expert" commentation and do away with the rest of the bullshit.

[mke]

Well, for once the US isn't the most chauvinistic. Belgian and Dutch channels focus outrageously on their own athletes: they'll tell you about Belgians losing without bothering to tell you who won. Amazingly, the French channels seem to be the least nationalistic of the bunch.

[bostontricky]

We'll see what happens once the preliminary and qualifying rounds are out of the way; plenty more time for chauvinistic navel-gazing from Costas et al.

Right now, live action will have to suffice; I've seen enough of US table tennis player Tawny Banh to recognize her walking down the street.

They handle the Olympics in the same silly way that they do the Macys Thanksgiving Day parade or, for that matter, their bland morning fare.

People from the same mold will be involved in the upcoming election debates--they will look more serious, but don't let that fool you.