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| So, the Olympics are upon us here in the UK.
Did any of you watch the opening ceremony? Even for the cynical among us the general feeling seems to be that it was 'a good show' so now we shouldn't worry too much if we don't win many/any medals . . . after all it's the taking part that counts. There was huge interest in the 'torch relay' as it toured many parts of the country and was carried by, among many others, youngest son's friend. Neighbours are off to watch the men's hockey. Another friend, the 'Mother Superior' of a convent, had offered accommodation to competitors' families and has been allocated the relatives of the Madagascan All In Wrestling Team. Should be interesting! DD would love a ticket to the gymnastics but, despite empty seats where celebs etc fail to turn up, they are almost impossible to come by. Prince Harry (along with most of the male population) has a front row seat for the women's beach volley-ball . . . and who'd a'thunk his Granny would jump out of a helicopter. ;-) Are you and your families and friends interested in sport, do you read books by sports personalities or about sporting achievements? Any comments on anything welcomed. |
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by frances_md (My Page) on Sun, Jul 29, 12 at 8:04
| Vee, while I have never understood why the opening ceremonies are so big and expensive, I thoroughly enjoyed the history and humor and fireworks and the new Bond girl. It was a job well done! I've always been a sports fan, primarily due to the fact that my father watched sports whenever he could. My mother and sister, on the other hand, never had any interest whatsoever. Every year I tell myself I will not get caught up in the Olympics and every year I can hardly tear myself away. It is fascinating to see how the venues are integrated into the city and I love seeing the countryside as well -- just beautiful. It seems that I have spent a good deal of time this year watching events in and around London, all rather spectacular. What a busy time for the British. |
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- Posted by woodnymph2 (My Page) on Sun, Jul 29, 12 at 14:56
| Yes, we are watching several events: D. the soccer, of course. We both enjoy the dressage, the gymnastics, and the bicyclists. D. has a large screen TV, which makes a huge difference. I am enjoying the scenery of Surrey today via following the cyclists. Too bad about the rainy, slippery roads, however. Actually, I prefer the winter Olympics, because of the ice skating, but it is always thrilling, no matter the season or venue. |
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- Posted by sarah_canary (My Page) on Sun, Jul 29, 12 at 15:33
| We usually watch the opening ceremonies, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole spectacle -- especially the Queen's surprising antics. We're told she has a wicked sense of humor, but we rarely see her smile. We may watch some events, but it's a busy time with work and an upcoming family visit, so we might not get to see too much. I always enjoy the diving events and the women's basketball. |
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- Posted by chris_in_the_valley (My Page) on Sun, Jul 29, 12 at 20:36
| Watched the Opening Ceremonies and was delighted at what a literary spectacle it was. What a good sport the Queen is. I've also enjoyed the vignettes we are getting about Great Britain. Soccer, tennis, gymnastics, swimming, diving, beach volleyball .... Yes, I'm watching. Thank goodness for recording devices. Always makes me want to exercise, stretch those muscles. This is what I think as I sit indoors watching on a beautiful afternoon, knowing I'm missing my laps at the pool. Wish they showed more of the swimmers from underwater so I could study their form. I laugh as I watch the back strokes. I can't swim a straight line doing a back stroke to save my life, but otherwise it is one of my best strokes. |
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| I watched the repeat of the ceremony at Saturday lunchtime. It was on during the nighttime here, of course. What organisation! My favourite part was the "Mr. Bean" spoof! I agree that it is a pity we don't get to see the Queen smile more often. My husband was presented to her and raved over her lovely eyes and smile. It was on the real occasion of her birthday and when he wished her "Happy Birthday" she smiled and thanked him "like I was the only person who had said it" he reported! I am not interested in sport at all but I love a show! |
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- Posted by sherwood38 (My Page) on Mon, Jul 30, 12 at 15:10
| I guess I am in the minority! Maybe it was the NBC presentation as they picked & chose what to show & what to cut out for commercials. I must be really old but I thought the music was too loud & just didn't "get" a lot of it no matter how much I turned down my TV and finally just gave up & turned it off. I did enjoy the Queen/James Bond bit & read that she filmed her part last March. And as a fan of Rowan Atkinson (never seen Mr Bean) I enjoyed his bit and loved the Chariots of Fire music. The children's choirs were to me oustanding. I love most sports, swimming, tennis & gymnastics-but again with our 8-hour time difference & NBC's choice of what to show we didn't get to see much. I prefer individual competition & we were shown Water Polo for ages or Women's basketball.... out here on the West coast there have been complaints as they held back showing events until "Prime" time when we could read the results on line. I gave up and try to catch results on line....since NBC refuses to share any of the film.....ok my rant is over! Pat |
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| I agree the coverage is awful - seems strange to me that in this day we have only NBC and those us who don't have cable - yes, there are actually quite a few of us - really get short shift. But I love it anyway. I always get caught up in it although I am not much of a sports fan - my interest waxes and wanes, and it is in a waning period at the moment. I loved the Queen's bit in the opening ceremony and also the next day when I saw a very short clip of her speaking with someone, telling them she hadn't seen it and she hoped it made people laugh. For some reason I found that unbearably sweet. And I adored her outfit, the feathers, the bright dress - that night she was the most beautiful woman in the world. I wonder if she doesn't smile or show emotion because she does not want to be seen as playing favorites? I didn't get the middle part of the ceremonies with the dancing teenagers? What was that about? Went on far too long IMHO. But I loved most of it. I don't even know why, but I adore Kenneth Branaugh, and Evelyn Glennie was great too. How did those drummers perform for so long? I think the Brits are doing a bang-up job and London is a terrific venue - the best in my memory. |
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- Posted by connie_in_western_nc (My Page) on Mon, Jul 30, 12 at 19:04
| Vee, yes, we watched it. The opening ceremonies up to the parade of athletes isn't my favorite (never watch the Super Bowl 1/2 time for example) but it was informative in it's own way. We are avid sports fans so LOVE the Olympics (both summer and winter) which will take us up to football season here in The States. Being retired we watch daily/nightly and since we live in the Smoky Mountains we have cable just to get ANY channels, so have 5 or 6 options at a time for viewing venues. Best part... the Queen, of course, as she is much more fun to watch since we learned she does have a wicked sense of humor, LOVES her grandchildren, and the best part... we have corgis!!!! Corgis Rule! |
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| I hadn't realised that some of you in the US are having trouble getting live (allowing for time differences) pictures of the Olympic events. Over here, probably many people are complaining because of too much air-time. The BBC has the contract for the Games and is showing them on two channels uninterrupted by any ads! BTW all the commentators have been unanimous in their praise for Michael Phelps, not just for his magnificent performance in the pool but for his whole demeanour towards others. He seems a 'thoroughly decent chap'. The same could not be said for certain teams of badminton players.;-( Connie, corgis may rule but they also bite! As you know they were bred as cattle-dogs in Wales and my late father recalls seeing one used on a farm, hanging on to the tail of a 'difficult' cow as it was herded into the milking-palour. We often see pictures of the Queen smiling, although it must be difficult to keep up a positive appearance after the tenth visit of the day to a grummit factory or a widget-works. |
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| My Grandma had a corgi - the first dog I ever knew. It was bad-tempered in the extreme! You have to pluck them, apparently, and my father used to do this, gripping the dog firmly between his legs, its bottom towards him, wearing leather gauntlets and giggling as the dog tried in vain to bite him. Paddy (the dog) once bit the postman - that was back in the 30s, before I was born - and there was a court case, after which my Aunt had to pay £5 damages. That was an enormous sum in those days. These days the dog would probaby be put down. Sorry - that was a digression back to a vivid memory of a Child's Upbringing in Wales. I can't see the Queen's corgis without thinking of Paddy. |
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- Posted by lemonhead101 (My Page) on Wed, Aug 1, 12 at 10:34
| My grandma also had a corgi or two, and the only memory I have is of a snarling bite-y dog that we were firmly told to not touch... I do happen to have a solar-power corgi dog on my window sill here at work (to go with my solar-powered waving queen)... Kinda funny. And the coverage here from NBC has been really quite poor. They frequently give the end result away prior to screening the event, and then some of the comments are positively inane (esp. on the opening ceremony). I wish I could have muted the voice over but kept the music! And I am a bit perplexed by the constant focus on medal counts for countries - it seems to me that the total medal count is not the focus of the games, but more of a 'get the world together and be good sports"... I find it a bit grating to see that medal table of which country has how many medals so frequently mentioned. To me, it's rather reminiscent of the Cold War rivalry (except this time between US and China) and I had rather thought we (as a world) were beyond that. :-) |
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| Why are we always called 'Team GB'? Why the 'team'? We all know it's a team. Do they call everyone 'Team' somewhere? And why are we 'G.B.' anyway, which is Great Britain? Why not U.K. which is G.B. and Northern Ireland? Have Northern Ireland struck out on their own? Maybe whoever decided on G.B. liked the 'Great' bit (said she cynically). All suggestions/explanations gratefully received. We can't get away from the Olympics, not for a moment, even if we want to. 5 or 6 days in and the newspapers still have Olympic healines, as well as Olympic supplements, and the TV is all-over Olympiad. |
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| I have to confess that I have not watched the Olympics in about 30 years. I have occasionally been in a room where someone else might be watching, but I was reading a book, sewing, or holding a conversation. While I genuinely admire the effort, talent and accomplishment of Olympic athletes, I have no real interest in watching. Frankly, I find them boring. And I completely loathe the heartstrings-pulling human interest stories given as filler. Rosefolly |
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| I love it all and I am not a great sports fan. It is such an array of events and people and yes, I love the stories. And re "team", on American TV they call it Team USA. It's shown on tape-delay here because most people can't watch TV or streaming on the computer during the work day. |
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| I have watched a good deal of them, especially the gymnastics, swimming and diving. My big gripe about the coverage here is that they shthe sorely the Americans which is understandable but hardly any of their competitors, particularly in the gymnastics part. I want to see at least the top 3 or 4 teams, not just the USA team and one or two competitors |
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| I hope I didn't sound too snarky. If I did, I apologize. It was not my intention. We all enjoy different things. Even on this forum where we all read, we read many different kinds of books. And I don't object to the Olympics. They bring many people great pleasure (my own mother included). I just absent myself from that part of modern culture. R |
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- Posted by connie_in_western_nc (My Page) on Tue, Aug 7, 12 at 19:23
| Vee, yes they were born to herd...not with their eyes but with their teeth!!!! However, they are smart little rascals and can learn "household manners" with some effort. We only rescue corgis now...our old man, Jay, is 14 and would have failed severely as a working cattle dog I'm afraid. He only bites FOOD!!!! :^0)))) Our latest, Brady, is with us (at 8) because his family took in 4 grandchildren (4,5,6 and 6) who roughhoused as you can imagine those 4 would and Brady thought it was open season on herding them ... hence nipping at the heels/rear ends!!!!!! The first morning we had him and I took them on their first-of-the-day "constitutional" up the road, even on a long line he tried it with Jay. With ONE lesson of harshly-spoken NO WE DON"T DO THAT... he quit. When he tried it the next morning and I yelled HEY!!!! LITTLE MAN... he hasn't done it since, though it's in his nature and he dearly loves to charge the critters on the porch knowing there is a screen door there. HAHAHHAA... they are lovely "little dogs in big-man clothes". The trick for the most part is not letting them get away with something to begin with... in our relaxed life, not with the true working, herding corgi. Would love to have seen that little guy hanging onto the kine tail!!!!!!!!! smile |
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| Connie, perhaps a few more parents should 'employ' a corgi, or similar snarly dog, maybe a jack russell, to keep their naughty children in order. Dido, below is a site (Scottish) explaining the difference between the United Kingdom and Great Britain; it seems they are the same thing. .-) |
Here is a link that might be useful: United Kingdom of Great Britain
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| I watched a tv program which showed some of the amusing stratagems used to portray Olympic news by non-accredited tv stations. Lego figures, head photos on sticks etc. To show the empty seats story one had a lonely frog sitting on a bench! Also the mocked up posters and ads of LODNON 2102 etc! Ah, the ingenuity! |
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