The Observation Deck

I'm sure many of you are watching, so I thought I'd start a thread for Olympic discussion.

Chime in on anything you'd like....the opening ceremonies, Michael Phelps, underage gymnasts, etc.

Impressive...

I've switched to the Dara Torres "old folks" workout--------- do half as much, still go fast

Mike

Good thought.

The opening ceremonies were very impressive. From the drumming through the the printing and the writing type, and the 500' LCD TV floor.

I was a little dismayed to find out that some of the fireworks were computer generated, but it was a very impressive run up to the entrance of athletes.

It has all been pretty good TV to work with in the background.

.

I love the Olympics, but they were much better during the Cold War when you knew who to cheer for and who to cheer against. I know, I know, it's nicer now, but it's sports, and you need a side.

That said, when Jason Lezak beat out Alain Bernard in the 4x100 free relay, that was jump-out-of-my-seat awesome, only in part because the French were talking a little trash before the race. It was just a great sports moment. The race Phelps won last night, the 100 butterfly, was amazing. I keep seeing the super slow-mo replay, and I still think he's going to lose.

The opening ceremonies were great. I thought it was weird a couple days ago when there was all the hub-bub about the "giant footprint fireworks" being comuter animated. They clearly explained that on the broadcast. It was cool that they had the guy on the broadcast to comment on all of the cultural symbolism. It was welcome next to Lauer's banal parade-style commentary.

We have been enjoying the olympics too. I must say, the drumming was a little erie to me. It seemed a little too 1984 - I thought I was going to see an Apple Commercial start . Really brought on some in depth conversations regarding the stress on the individual versus the stress on the community.

I have to say I agree from the games point of view - Lezak was most likely the highlight for me. But I've enjoyed it all.

They aren't showing much sailing on TV - only on the internet. But one of the women that is sailing the Laser Radial is Anna Tunacliffe, who is doing very well. I first saw her sail as a junior high school sailor in Lake Erie and she was great. She is from Perrysburg Ohio and sailed for North Cape. http://www.bymnews.com/news/newsDetails.php?id=41055

"For the second day running, Qindao’s unpredictable weather permitted only one race on the Laser Radial course. I had an up and down day but fought my way back from 16th at the first leeward mark to fifth place at the finish. I’m still overall leader in the class, with a small cushion of five points to my nearest competition."

Anna just won the Gold!!!!

Shawn Johnson got a gold in Balance Beam!

http://tinyurl.com/5jrgwj

I must say, the drumming was a little erie to me. It seemed a little too 1984 - I thought I was going to see an Apple Commercial start

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYecfV3ubP8

Thanks Steven,

Okay, maybe the Bejing one was more upbeat. But they did have to tell the drummers to smile more so they wouldn't scare people.

The Chinese government has detained 5 bloggers for reporting Tibetan protests:

http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ch ... ers_in.php