8.8.08
2008 Olympic Logo
Our house smelled perpetually like popcorn, and our tv rarely was off. More shouts than every came from our house, ranging for excited shouts of "WE DID IT" to angered ravings at our poor abused television blaming it for showing a failure. These are how I remember the Olympics of my childhood, exciting, suspenseful, entertaining and overall thrilling. We would commiserate with an athlete who earned a low mark from one of the judges, who we all knew was purposefully scoring all but their own national athletes low. We would vault over one another as if an extra half-inch on our part would help the ski jumper reach their maximum jump height. At the end of the day we would begrudgingly and mercifully turn off our overheated television, wipe our eyes of tears of joy and sadness and head off to bed where we became those athletes we watched throughout the day. To us, the Olympics were our chance to connect with the sporting world (we were big-game watchers only), and even witness some of the lesser advertised sports. The slaloms and horsemanship competitions intrigued us as we had no idea of just what would happen.
I don't remember any of the nuances of political misgivings, protests or any other troubles until the 2002 bomb scare at the Salt Lake Olympics. And now, this year, it seems that the Olympics are going to be all about scandal, political sway and even media censorship. The first concern was about the location of the Olympics, Beijing China, due to their questionable human rights. This has called for rebukes from national leaders, including our own, and has kept a string of protestors just outside of Olympic Stadium for the weeks leading up to today.
It's also come to the surface that China has made a very odd decision in who to hire to take care of the Beijing DRM; SafeNet (better known as MediaSentry). That makes me wonder if we could just export the RIAA to China, and have one big ball of intellectual restriction... Then there are the environmental concerns that have sparked a lot of talk, and have sparked controversy when 4 US cyclists arrived at the games wearing black respiratory masks.
Still, there is some excitement to be had. The games are always thrilling, Beijing is a very unique place to hold the Olympics, and there's a chance there to learn more about the Chinese culture. The buildings the Olympics will be held in are, in large, very unique pieces of architecture, and are surrounded by even more interesting pieces of art. The Bird's Nest the Water Cube and the Egg (not an Olympic venue) are all great examples of functional aesthetics. Another interesting happening this year is the creation the five Fuwa, "good luck dolls" who will serve as the Olympic Mascots. They are playful-looking manga styles dolls; a Fish, a Panda, a Tibetan Antelope, a Swallow and the Olympic Flame, each in one of the colors of the Olympic Rings. Their names, Bei Jing Huan Ying Ni, combine to say "Welcome to Beijing". I think they're great mascots, though some don't like their playful look. They are by far my favorite mascots, towering well above the likes of Izzy and Neve and Gliz.
So I, for one, and curious to see how the games unfold, how hyped the conflicts might actually be, and most importantly, how good the popcorn tastes watching the Opening Ceremony tonight.
