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[Takao]

I don't know why it's getting the hate it is. It was drawn out, and hurt by two technical difficulties. But it was still pretty cool.

 

[BigJonsson]

I hope the downhill goes as planned.........just over 13 hours!

 

[Takao]

And what's with all the rain?? China would have just seeded the clouds with nano machines or whatever.

More like the smog in Bejing would choke the rain before it could drop, lol.

 

[Karakand]

I don't know why it's getting the hate it is. It was drawn out, and hurt by two technical difficulties. But it was still pretty cool.

Breath of fresh air after the histrionics of Beijing.

 

[Guardian Bob]

Love my host country!

 

[gutter_trash]

Saturday and Sunday: Rain Rain
mild west coast BC hehe

 

[Archer]

For me, the best thing of the night was Joni Mitchell and kd lang.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKQSlH-LLTQ

Great song, especially in her twilight years.

 

[Thai]

the best part of the show was the stage. technical marvel, it was.

 

[sportzhead]

As someone living in the West Coast of the USA, I just want to say a big SCREW YOU to NBC for the damn tape delay shit. Stop it you donkeys. The Olympics are happening right above us, at least show your "primetime telecast" three hours earlier on another one of your networks bitches. Damn I hate NBC.

 

[NetMapel]

Nice lightworks going on in downtown right now at Robson Square. Live footage here: http://www.yougottabehere.com/new_events_centre/robson_square_live_concerts_and_entertainment

 

[MPW]

 

[∀ Narayan]

The cauldron design is really... meh.

 

[Archer]

I can't wait for these games to be over already. Such a mess and a bunch of bridge and tunnel crowd all over downtown. Just go home.

 

[Socreges]

Breaking: Forsberg broke his foot carrying the flag.

:lol

not even terry fox's hologram can save them now

:lol

Oh fuck! The music track is looping!

Seriously? After a couple minutes we all started commenting on that. I thought the guy might be improvising as he went, creating music on the spot. :lol

:lol (GretzkyButthurt.jpg)

Ehhhh don't know where all this negativity comes from. Yeah there are some slow parts in the opening ceremony but overall it's pretty good. You guys need to watch it with a bunch of people to really feed off of its energy as I had a great time watching it in a pub with friends.

I watched it with family and friends (about a dozen of us) and we were all generally impressed. But I noticed certain things - I just didn't bother to comment on them. But for NeoGAF? The hive mind negativity will embrace me! Organizing committees prepare these things for months/years and have millions of eyes watching - they are expected to be flawless. Any mistake is glaring. And there were some huge ones.

And I hated the focus on indigenous culture. But this is a continuing thing, manifest only when some group needs to identify a visceral Canadian culture. Well, what do we have otherwise? What can we present that is distinct and representative? Native peoples, sure, but we've completely fucked them to high hell and their place in our country is just a vestige, a memory, and not necessarily a pleasant one. It's beautiful culture, but not something we integrate whatsoever into our daily lives. It just seems disingenuous to me.

I appreciated the nature aspects and how they tried to represent it visually. The fiddler was good, but we could've done without the tap dancing, no? I liked the music generally, but Hallelujah? Why? KD Lang is extremely talented, at least. +1 for the Arcade Fire suggestion. Far more relevant.

The mechanical failure was disastrous, though. How the fuck do you allow that to happen?

And then to have Wayne Gretzky trucked for several minutes, waving awkwardly, as random people chased after him on either side.... what the fuck? After the failure inside, you could tell he was just mortified and no longer wanted to be a part of what followed. Poor guy.

+ the Native chiefs coming late as the cameras were on their empty seats. Them finally appearing and laying down their coats while Michelle Jean was introduced
+ the Canadian flags flying at half-mast - half-mast to honour the complete incompetence of the organizers?


Really looking forward to reading the papers tomorrow. CTV's recap completely neglected the missing column, but I'm sure that won't be the story generally.

 

[Chris R]

As someone living in the West Coast of the USA, I just want to say a big SCREW YOU to NBC for the damn tape delay shit. Stop it you donkeys. The Olympics are happening right above us, at least show your "primetime telecast" three hours earlier on another one of your networks bitches. Damn I hate NBC.

I feel the same way. I mean I could understand if this shit was half a world away, but in the Pacific time zone??? Such a joke :lol Here is hoping the events aren't on a delay too. If they are, heads will roll.

 

[NetMapel]

Obviously somebody got fired tonight faster than the "four" final torch bearers managed to light the flame :lol

 

[ChoklitReign]

I was so busy playing Mass Effect 2 that I missed it...

There will be repeats all day tomorrow right?

 

[Boogie]

Agreed with Socreges on Hallelujah. Gorgeous song. Not appropriate for the moment.

The mechanical failure was also facepalm-worthy. But after dealing with Vanoc for two weeks, it does not surprise me. :lol

 

[Socreges]

Obviously somebody got fired tonight faster than the "four" final torch bearers managed to light the flame :lol

He should be thrown into the Olympic cauldron, the one outside with all four pillars up. Poetic justice.

 

[Zombie James]

That Ashley Macisaac song is pretty damn good, though, even if it's the 13-year-old me talking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNVTUh5yviI

 

[Zombie James]

By the way, you know what I just realized? Someone's going to have to drive back out there to extinguish the flame for the closing ceremony.

 

[SickBoy]

I only caught bits and pieces, but here are my thoughts:

- Technically more impressive than I expected (with the obvious exception of the big technical glitch with the cauldron).

- Went on about an hour too long.

- Gretzky was brutal. Great hockey player, but is he possibly Canada's most wooden celebrity? He's the right guy for the run, but he looked so uncomfortable, even before the cauldron screwup.

- The joint-shaped cauldron sucks.

All in all I had mixed feelings. At times I thought "this is actually pretty good" and then other times, "this is exactly what I'd expect" (Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams singing some ridiculous cheesy song, for one).

EDIT: Still, awfully hard to upstage this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ItRrO6P1W4#t=4m34

Also, thread title is really unfortunate after the events earlier in the day.

 

[RagnarokX]

As someone living in the West Coast of the USA, I just want to say a big SCREW YOU to NBC for the damn tape delay shit. Stop it you donkeys. The Olympics are happening right above us, at least show your "primetime telecast" three hours earlier on another one of your networks bitches. Damn I hate NBC.

Yeah, the ceremony is still going here. So annoying.

 

[Roto13]

I can't wait for these games to be over already. Such a mess and a bunch of bridge and tunnel crowd all over downtown. Just go home.

You have a long, miserable life ahead of you.

 

[Socreges]

Yeah, the ceremony is still going here. So annoying.

Many more get to experience the colossal failure in just a few seconds!

 

[xbhaskarx]

West coast here... WTF is going on??
:lol :lol :lol

 

[Erico]

haha, watching it now too on the west coast. :lol

 

[Alucard]

I felt embarrassed as a Canadian tonight.

From the hokey native opening, to the botched hydraulics, to the boring and slow music, and the overly long and drawn out set pieces, it just wasn't that great of a showcasing of Canada. The fiddling was pretty cool, but everything just seemed so ragged and...unsure. 10 others in the household I was in tonight agreed, and we all contemplated shutting it off early, but were waiting for the Olympic torch...and then the gaffe happened, and sadness filled my heart even moreso.

Awful, awful what happened to the Georgian Olympian. Not good PR for Canada's Olympics, and it will undoubtedly add more fuel to the fire that Vancouver should not have wasted its money on an event that is going to potentialy put them billions in debt for years to come.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

haha, watching it now too on the west coast. :lol

Same. Too good. :lol

 

[BigJonsson]

I wish they had Neil Young singing Keep on Rockin' in the Free World.......

 

[Guardian Bob]

My favorite bits:

 

[sphinx]

can you guys tell what´s happening? I am in europe watching the ceremony and I they are currently letting the teams into the stadium, right now is the bulgarian team coming in.

What is this bad, strange, curious (flop, fail?!?) thing you are talking about?

will I still get to see it or was it before the teams entering the stadium?

 

[BigJonsson]

can you guys tell what´s happening? I am in europe watching the ceremony and I they are currently letting the teams into the stadium, right now is the bulgarian team coming in.

What is this bad, strange, curious (flop, fail?!?) thing you are talking about?

will I still get to see it or was it before the teams entering the stadium?

Its about 3 hours in to the whole show when they go to light the cauldron

Some people are bitching about the entire show though

 

[Guardian Bob]

can you guys tell what´s happening? I am in europe watching the ceremony and I they are currently letting the teams into the stadium, right now is the bulgarian team coming in.

What is this bad, strange, curious (flop, fail?!?) thing you are talking about?

will I still get to see it or was it before the teams entering the stadium?

Oh, they let the teams in first so they could watch the show too. The "cultural" show is after.

 

[sumo390]

Haha, well done with the lighting of the torch :lol

 

[Boogie]

I wish they had Neil Young singing Keep on Rockin' in the Free World.......

ooooh, ya, that would have been great.

Also: I would have done anything to be in that honor guard of Mounties. I'd practically piss my pants from nerves, but it would be soooooooooooooooooooo awesome, an experience of a lifetime.

Edit: from guardian bob's pic, it doesn't look like the one Mountie was my troopmate after all. So much the better. His gloating would have been insufferable. :lol

 

[xbhaskarx]

What is this bad, strange, curious (flop, fail?!?) thing you are talking about?

will I still get to see it or was it before the teams entering the stadium?

It's the last thing... so you'll have to wait another three hours.

 

[Alucard]

can you guys tell what´s happening? I am in europe watching the ceremony and I they are currently letting the teams into the stadium, right now is the bulgarian team coming in.

What is this bad, strange, curious (flop, fail?!?) thing you are talking about?

will I still get to see it or was it before the teams entering the stadium?

Just wait. After the teams come in, the real fun begins.

By the way, the snowboard guy jumping through the rings at the start was pretty cool.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Some people are bitching about the entire show though

Well, I haven't been bitching, but it was f'ing awful. I had to change the channel like six times (eg every song, tap dance, native american dance, etc.) when it would just get embarrassingly bad.

The ski (or snowboard) jump and the whales were cool, though.

 

[Guardian Bob]

Well, I haven't been bitching, but it was f'ing awful. I had to change the channel like six times when it would just get embarrassingly bad.

Ever think it was about spirit?

 

[Xater]

I woke up and wanted to see the highlights of the opening ceremony and what do I see? A guy died. This is depressing stuff.

 

[xbhaskarx]

Ever think it was about spirit?

Well, good for them. I don't know what "spirit" means but does spirit require a cringe-inducing opening ceremony?

 

[Archer]

You have a long, miserable life ahead of you.

Speak for yourself.

I wish they had Neil Young singing Keep on Rockin' in the Free World.......

This would've rocked.

 

[BigJonsson]

I usually make a point of not watching the opening ceremonies because I can't stand the "cultural" stuff. I watch the athletes march in and then come back for the torch. But since it was my home country doing it I figured I should watch the whole thing. Sure I'm reminded why I never watch this stuff as its pretty much there for "the women" but I was still entertained.

 

[whitehawk]

Well, good for them. I don't know what "spirit" means but does spirit require a cringe-inducing opening ceremony?

What he's saying is that this isn't a laser show spectacular designed to impress the average GAF member.

 

[jamesinclair]

As someone living in the West Coast of the USA, I just want to say a big SCREW YOU to NBC for the damn tape delay shit. Stop it you donkeys. The Olympics are happening right above us, at least show your "primetime telecast" three hours earlier on another one of your networks bitches. Damn I hate NBC.

I emailed my affiliate, I hope you do the same.

Its not just tonight, they're planning on having EVERYTHING tape delayed for us. And only hockey and curling will be online legally.

It's retarded.



Anyway, the stage/lighting thing was great. The whales especially were awesome. Too bad about the mechanical error....but meh, shit happens. It's not a big deal, it would have been a disaster if it were a single cauldron.

 

[Boogie]

I usually make a point of not watching the opening ceremonies because I can't stand the "cultural" stuff. I watch the athletes march in and then come back for the torch. But since it was my home country doing it I figured I should watch the whole thing. Sure I'm reminded why I never watch this stuff as its pretty much there for "the women" but I was still entertained.

My thoughts almost exactly. I'm shocked at those who expected any different.

 

[sportzhead]

I feel the same way. I mean I could understand if this shit was half a world away, but in the Pacific time zone??? Such a joke :lol Here is hoping the events aren't on a delay too. If they are, heads will roll.

All the primetime NBC stuff is going to be tape delayed for the West. We have to wait 3 hours and avoid the news so we can watch it on West Coast primetime. NBC is ran by mole people.

Also Nelly Furtado

She was wearing the hell out of that dress.

And Measha Brueggergosman has some awesome hair.

 

[BigJonsson]

My thoughts almost exactly. I'm shocked at those who expected any different.

And we all know how much more important these types of displays are for Communist states and Superpowers

 

[criesofthepast]

What if it the weather stays shit and things keep having to get delayed. Can the games go longer than 17 days? Do events just get cancelled outright after a certain point? The weather is going to be a big issue here.