That was, without question, the most impressive opening ceremony for the Olympics that I've even seen. Spectacular.
Did you see the Beijing skyline? It was the thickest smog I've ever seen; I don't think any endurance events will be setting records this year.
While I only watched 30 mins of it, those were indeed impressive 30 minutes . ..what did you think of the Dove?
I don't know, but it seems they have a BIG polution problem. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/olympics_blog/2008/08/its-the-humidit.html
I have to agree. It was amazing. The Chinese have set the bar about as high as it can possibly go for big-production, cast-of-thousands opening numbers. I wonder what London's going to do in four years. Trying to top Beijing in terms of scale would probably be excessive.
Beijing has a skyline? Looks to me like everything just fades out into grayness in a few blocks. Everyone's insisting that it's mist and not smog, but I've never seen mist like that. Maybe it's both, pollution clinging onto tiny mist droplets, creating a nasty ground fog. (I've heard that used to happen in smoky 19'th century London.)
I follow cycling and I have read several reports how bad the air quality is. Quote from www.Cyclingnews.com: Austrian shocked by "awful" air Thomas Rohregger's first breath of Olympic air was not what he expected. "I hadn't thought that it would be so bad," the Austrian said after his first training ride. "Really awful, my lungs and even my eyes are burning." Rohregger rode only the flat stretch of the road race course and didn't get into the climbs. "That's why I tried to ride a bit faster. But the pressure on my lungs was nearly unbearable. Three hours of training felt like six hours," said Rohregger to Austrian television sender ORF. To make matters worse, the riders are transported to and from their training rides in the 33°C heat and high humidity to their air-conditioned lodgings in air-conditioned buses. "They mean it well. But we athletes are very sensitive to such things. I already have a bit of a sore throat and wear a heavy sweater indoors," Rohregger noted.
I am a runner and I worry about the runners. I mean the 10,000, 5,000 and marathon maybe really affected. I sure hope not. http://www.letsrun.com/
I hear ya - running in 30C weather here with low humidity is bad enough, but over 30C, high humidity AND smog? yikes!
Critics believe that female chinese gymnasts who participated in the olympics are younger than 16 years of age? I live and breath asian culture. Looking at the following photo, 5 out of the 6 gymnasts appear to be under the age of 16. The gymnast to the far right is definitely under 16. China may have altered the passports of some of the gymnasts. The athleticism is near superhuman. These athletes are very talented. http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/08/12/sports/olympics/13araton01.ready.html
I live in China, and teach many children english while I am here. These girls physically "Appear" to match up with 10 to 12 year olds I have had in my classes here.
RE: opening ceremony. Have you read about the switch-a-roo singer as a matter of "national interest?" http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402093,00.html
Thanks for nothing NBC. The online stuff is great...if you like table tennis ( not that I hate it), but what about track and field. Arrghhhg.
Michael Phelps may win the medal count but I'm all about Dara Torres. 41 years old and outswimming women half her age. Inspiring.
Poor Dena Kastor. Had to drop at the 5KM because she turned an ankle. Rats. The Women's Marathon was great though.