Sochi Winter Olympics Open Thread

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7_Sorrows said:
okay, i watched more after the parade of the athletes and it was very good. it makes me want to read books now like war and peace and anna karenina and crime and punishment and the brothers karasmokov (i think i spelled that wrong). i think russian history is fascinating.

it looks like there is still more! i am really impressed now.
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I am woefully ignorant of Russian history, so the games awakened in me a desire to learn more.

I found this link to be very interesting to look at the history from a Catholic perspective.

catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0088.html
 
I thought it was very well done. 👍

The complex was interesting also.
 
I forgot to state my own opinion. I think Pres. Obama may have had advance notice of how the opening would go down. I was impressed that he, nor any high profile politicians attended. And in hindsight, that now makes sense.

I thought all along that the U.S. should not partake, even though, I really like to watch the games.Seems Putin is thumbing his nose at the U.S.:mad:

I wish that we would just pack up and come home, but I realize that’s not gonna happen:rolleyes:
 
Maybe including communism in the ceremony was not to insult the US (and other countries that fought against it) but about representing a part of Russianhistory.
 
That is a different interpretation that the announcer put forth on my TV. It was stated that this period is history was a great struggle and that they were glad to come out out of it - (not a particular good time in history). She mentioned the “propaganda” train.

I thought the rest was great, the Russian Circus, the ballet, Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky(kept thinking of West Side Story), and their contribution to World War II (lost 28 million) although the announcer said 20 million, something they have received little credit for.

I personally liked the Chinese opening ceremony because of its artistic balance but the UK did their whole opening ceremony on the UK and now Russia has followed the same path.

The UK added a whole skit about the wonders of socialized medicine which many found inappropriate.
 
Foreign politicians are not invited to Olympic opening ceremonies. Obama did not go to the London Olympics in 2010 or the Vancouver winter Olympics in 2010.
 
Seamus_L said:
The opening ceremonies were very impressive. maybe the best ever, but there were two big disappointments. First, I saw nothing at all regarding the role of Christianity in the telling of Russia’s history. Second, having the Russian team enter the stadium to the music of the homosexual activist duo Tatu, was thoroughly offensive. Other than that, I really enjoyed things.

Best Team Outfits. Spain
** Worst Team Outfits. Germany**
Oddest Team Outfits. Taiwan followed by Kyrgyzstan
Code: 
                          Venezuela and Kazakhstan sounded on TV like they received the loudest ovations of visiting nations, with the US and Canada also receiving good receptions. All for now.
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There was an article on the Frankfurter Allgemeine Newspaper website about the outfit of the German team.



It was asked whether the athletes should be ashamed of their outfit.



The most liked comment said it all: “Yes! (Clear question → clear answer)”
 
gam197 said:
That is a different interpretation that the announcer put forth on my TV. It was stated that this period is history was a great struggle and that they were glad to come out out of it - not a particular good time in history.

I thought the rest was great, the Russian Circus, the ballet, Swan Lake by Tchaikovsky(kept thinking of West Side Story), and their contribution to World War II (lost 28 million) although the announcer said 20 million, something they have received little credit for.

I personally liked the Chinese opening ceremony because of its artistic balance but the UK did their whole opening ceremony on the UK and now Russia has followed the same path.

The UK added a whole skit about the wonders of socialize medicine which many found inappropriate.
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I agree. It was beautiful for the most part.
But some seem to forget that Putin was a former KGB man and is determined to be “top banana.” I don’t trust him, but I can say that about most politicians.

I don’t know how that period of history could have presented without so much visual “in your face”, but I think it could have been done.
 
PaulfromIowa said:
Foreign politicians are not invited to Olympic opening ceremonies. Obama did not go to the London Olympics in 2010 or the Vancouver winter Olympics in 2010.
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Do they need an invite in order to go? I didn’t invite Obama into my physician’s office either, but doggone it, he sure does make his presence known!

BTW, you are wrong. Putin personally invited the president of China.
 
I thought the Opening Ceremonies were very well done and I didn’t feel like they glorified communism at all - in fact, for a stylized retelling of their history, it was about as negative as they could get. If they hadn’t included it, people would have accused them of trying to sanitize their history.

Russia is a troubled country, but there’s been a lot of wonderful things that have come from their culture as well as the horrible. Russian people are allowed to be proud of and showcase the good that has come from their society, and it certainly ended on a positive note - I loved that they included a specific nod to marriage and the raising of families. If they can accomplish that (and I’m not sure that they can, because IIRC no country that has fallen below replacement birth rate has ever rebounded), it would go a long way to fix the societal ills there.

And I am no fan of Putin - not by a long shot - but it has been clear, leading up to these games, that he is very, very proud of being Russian. How many top American politicians are actually proud of being American? After all, many of them seem to be working hard at trying to turn us into someone else. 🤷
 
Indyann said:
Do they need an invite in order to go? I didn’t invite Obama into my physician’s office either, but doggone it, he sure does make his presence known!

BTW, you are wrong. Putin personally invited the president of China.
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It was a great opening ceremony. How can anyone not love all the ballet and it was performed to great composers and writers. I loved that when Putin made his one line introduction, he did it in Russian. He is proud of his heritage.

Yet what does PBS do a story line right after but on all the leaders who did not attend and on one Chinese leader(sat near Putin) who does attend but had done a speech criticizing the Russians opposition to gay rights.
 
gam197 said:
Yet what does PBS do a story line… on one Chinese leader(sat near Putin) who does attend but had done a speech criticizing the Russians opposition to gay rights.
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A Chinese official who publicly criticized Russia? And on gay rights? That really surprises me, and I haven’t heard about it. Can you tell us who it was?
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gam197:
I loved that when Putin made his one line introduction, he did it in Russian. He is proud of his heritage.
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I think the leader of the host country always delivers the declaration opening the games in the native language.
 
Indyann said:
I thought that little girl flying high above the sets was fantastic, although, I would never allow my child to attempt this. They reported she broke an arm some time ago in practice:(
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What was that about? I saw a red balloon and though it was about that story “The Red Balloon” but I don’t think that is a Russian author.

How about the little girl that walked on everyone hands?

Here is an article on mysteries solved although I did not see the athlete fall.

sports.yahoo.com/blogs/olympics-fourth-place-medal/mysteries-solved–answering-some-pivotal-questions-from-the-opening-ceremony-233247755.html
 
Digitonomy said:
A Chinese official who publicly criticized Russia? And on gay rights? That really surprises me, and I haven’t heard about it. Can you tell us who it was?I think the leader of the host country always delivers the declaration opening the games in the native language.
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This article states he is the UN secretary but PBS said Chinese leader.On further research, this leader is Korean not even Chinese. I wish I had taped it. They had a story right after the opening ceremony about 6 or more leaders who did not attend - one specifically opposed to Russia’s ban on gay right.

pbs.org/newshour/rundown/un-secretary-general-criticizes-discrimination-speech-ioc/
 
gam197 said:
This article states he is the UN secretary but PBS said Chinese leader.On further research, this leader is Korean not even Chinese.
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That makes much more sense; there is a world of difference between Ban Ki Moon and the Chinese leadership. It would be shocking if a Chinese leader said anything critical at such an event, much less something about gay rights.
 
Digitonomy said:
That makes much more sense; there is a world of difference between Ban Ki Moon and the Chinese leadership. It would be shocking if a Chinese leader said anything critical at such an event, much less something about gay rights.
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It was a short segment and I can’t find it on the internet. Yes, this makes more sense. They did say one leader would not attend because of Russia’s opposition to gay rights and I don’t recall who that was.
 
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