2012 Summer Olympics

The Chronicler · **on:** July 26, 2012, 08:00:32 PM

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London start tomorrow. As usual, I'm most interested in seeing the opening ceremony and seeing which countries are in this year's games.

Seeing as there are a few fellow GoF members who live in or near that area, I'm curious to see what they have to say.

Mumbling · **Reply #1 on:** July 27, 2012, 03:34:25 AM

Same here, the opening ceremony is usually great to see. I'm not a sports fan so I'm not watching anything else

Littlefoot1616 · **Reply #2 on:** July 27, 2012, 04:57:24 AM

I have relatives that live in London and some of the sporting events are taking place pretty much on their doorstep which is cool to see the transformation all the hard work has made to a once otherwise uninteresting part of town.

I can't say I'm hugely geared up for the Olympics but I am supporting it. I've had the Olympic Torch pass me at least twice on its route around the country (was cool to see). I'll be watching the opening ceremony tonight (9pm my time so that'll be about 4-5pm forum time). The director of the ceremony was our own Danny Boyle (film director of such greats as: 28 Days Later, Slumdog Millionaire and Trainspotting). It'll be interesting to see what he's come up with (ice skating double decker buses anyone?

)

There have been a few issues regarding the games in terms of impact on the surrounding area. By that I mean, road closures and some areas becoming inaccessible. Part of my route to drive down to my relatives in South London have been restricted due to some of the running and cycling events taking place there. As if the Tube (London Underground) wasn't packed and bad enough at the best of times, it was even worse when they ran a "dress rehearsal" for people travelling to the Olympic Park for the opening ceremony this evening. 60,000 people travelled and, lo and behold, there were delays, backups and other problems with the sheer weight and traffic of people using the Tube to get to Stratford (East London).

All that aside, I reckon the games will be great. The country has been flying banners, got painted up in Union Jacks (country's flag) and the like and generally getting into the spirit of the games where they can (mostly). I'll be watching the odd event but overall, I'm looking forward to it

bushwacked · **Reply #3 on:** July 27, 2012, 05:25:29 AM

I'm not much of a sports fan either, but I'll try and watch the opening ceremony at least. In the news a few days ago, someone had rigged up a pair of mechanical arms to a full size double decker bus, so it actually does push ups. I think it mights also make grunting noises as it does them. I'm hoping it's used in some way during the ceremony

The torch relay went through Twickenham today near where I live, but because there was a pretty big crowd I didn't really get to see it.

Mirumoto_Kenjiro · **Reply #4 on:** July 28, 2012, 05:42:34 AM

I missed most of the opening ceremony, especially the parade of nations, and I heard a very funny scene involving the queen herself and James Bond played by Daniel Craig, leading to them both jumping out a helicopter and parachuting into the stadium. I did see the Olympic torch enter the stadium and light up the cauldron, which was very cool, and the fireworks display.

Here in the US, the networks are most likely to show about half of the events. I'd love to see Fencing & Archery. All I have to do is to figure out how to work NBC Olympics live TV...

The Chronicler · **Reply #5 on:** July 29, 2012, 08:30:16 AM

Yes, there were some great moments at the opening ceremony. The mini-movie featuring Queen Elizabeth and James Bond seems to have been the most popular of all those acts. In another act, I found the appearance of Rowan Atkinson (the guy who plays Mr. Bean) to be a nice surprise. (He was part of an orchestra as they played "Chariots of Fire", I think it was. Arguably one of the funniest acts I've ever seen at an opening ceremony.

) Of course, for a performance of all things British, who could forget about the Beatles? Not only were a few of their songs played in some acts, but also Paul McCartney himself performed the final act of the ceremony (I forget the name of the song he played).

(The TV network here in America waited until primetime to air the opening ceremony, so everything we saw was being played about 4 hours after it had actually happened. Luckily for me, I seem to live close enough to Canada that my house also gets a few Canadian channels, allowing me to watch the opening ceremony live, then, literally immediately after it finished, switch to the American broadcast just as it started. Yes, I did indeed watch the whole thing twice, back to back.

)

bushwacked · **Reply #6 on:** July 29, 2012, 11:33:29 AM

I thought the opening ceremony was pretty bad. Nothing really happened, and it felt quite boring. A lot of it was pre - filmed too.

The only bit I liked was the old german guy in the crowd waving and accidently giving the nazi salute

Mumbling · **Reply #7 on:** July 29, 2012, 12:24:14 PM

Quote from: bushwacked,Jul 29 2012 on 05:33 PM

I thought the opening ceremony was pretty bad. Nothing really happened, and it felt quite boring. A lot of it was pre - filmed too.

The only bit I liked was the old german guy in the crowd waving and accidently giving the nazi salute

They simply showed a lot of the old British culture. I enjoyed watching it

The Chronicler · **Reply #8 on:** August 01, 2012, 06:45:32 PM

For those of you who haven't heard yet, Michael Phelps has now won a total of 19 Olympic medals throughout his career, which is more than any other athlete in history. (The previous record holder was a Soviet gymnast (I forget her name) who won a total 18 medals back in the 1960s.) He still has a chance at three more at these games, so it'll be interesting to see how far he can go.

The Chronicler · **Reply #9 on:** August 10, 2012, 08:00:17 PM

Now that I'm back from vacation, I'd like to just mention a few notable events for those who haven't been following the Olympics.

With a total of 22 medals (18 gold), Michael Phelps is now finished with his career in the Olympic games, a record that may last for a long time. Usain Bolt won the gold medal in the 100m dash, defending his title from the 2008 games.

Something I found rather amusing happened during the medal ceremony for women's singles in tennis (which the U.S. won gold), as the flags were being raised and the national anthem was playing, the strong winds that day caused the American flag to come loose and fall. Of course, everyone knew it was just an accident and simply laughed off the incident.

The closing ceremony will be on Sunday, which I intend to watch similarly to how I had watched the opening ceremony.

jansenov · **Reply #10 on:** August 11, 2012, 03:51:11 AM

^What I some Russians (and I) find funny about the flag incident, is that flags that remained were those of Belarus and Russia, as if the American flag couldn't stand being in their company. Or it was blown away because the flag with the hammer and sickle was supposed to be there instead.

I follow the Olympics regularly, mostly sports Croatia participates in and highlights from elsewhere.

Mr Wonk · **Reply #11 on:** August 12, 2012, 03:54:54 PM

Well in seven minutes time the Closing Ceremony will begin. I didn't watch much of the opening and I'm not sure about wacthing all of the closing either. Still I did enjoy wacthing the events know.

jansenov · **Reply #12 on:** August 12, 2012, 07:33:18 PM

The closing was fantastic! I wouldn't know what to highlight. The Brits have produced so much of modern culture that a 3-hour selection can't cover all its best creations. And because English is a global language, much of the world can relate to it. I think it will be very difficult for Rio to surpass London.

The Chronicler · **Reply #13 on:** August 14, 2012, 07:15:22 PM

I also watched the closing ceremony. I thought it was okay for the most part, but certainly not as good as the opening. There were only of few of the songs played that I really liked, such as "Imagine" by John Lennon.

One thing I was pleasantly surprised to see was the brief appearance of Pele during the act that gave a preview of Brazil. It makes me wonder he may do at the next summer Olympics in four years. (probably only to carry the Olympic torch at one point like David Beckham did at the opening ceremony a few weeks ago)