I've been addicted to the Olympics since I was a single digit age, way back when in the 1970s. This will be the first year I'll be watching mainly online. You can e-mail me if you want the whole, sad story.
Last night, I kicked off the Olympics in style by watching a gigantic screen outside in downtown San Jose.
The Saint James Park screening was a promotion by the local NBC11 station to have the ritualistic Opening Ceremony be a community event. The cool things were the pre-show entertainment of a local kids dance group,
seeing the show on such a big screen compared to my TV, seeing people react in ways you don't expect like standing and saluting during the Chinese national anthem,
hearing people clap and cheer for their home smaller countries during the parade of nations and just sharing the experience with other people who are totally into the Olympics too. Although we are all San Francisco Bay Area people, we all have different perspectives. Definitely recommend watching the Opening Ceremonies with a group of "strangers" at least once, it's touching.
The bad side was that it was hella cold (I had a hat, gloves and parka but could have done better than wearing sandals), the toilets were port-a-potties and they were on the other side of the park from the screen, the screen was so bright it practically burned your eyeballs when scenes had a lot of white and you couldn't mute the zillion commercials.
Unfortunately, the event permit only went to 11 pm so they shut it down during the parade of nations. We missed seeing the host nation, China enter.
I had to watch the cauldron/torch lighting online this morning. Watching Li Ning do his thing was still amazing, but I wouldn't have minded watching on the huge screen.
Speaking of amazing, 3 my favorite parts of the opening ceremonies were:
The dancer calligraphy (of course). Full body brush calligraphy and painting was poetry in motion.
The women dancers in different colors. All those small but majestic movements were so elegant and beautiful at the same time.
The male drummers at the beginning were frightening, threatening and thrilling at the same time.
Last night, I kicked off the Olympics in style by watching a gigantic screen outside in downtown San Jose.
The Saint James Park screening was a promotion by the local NBC11 station to have the ritualistic Opening Ceremony be a community event. The cool things were the pre-show entertainment of a local kids dance group,
seeing the show on such a big screen compared to my TV, seeing people react in ways you don't expect like standing and saluting during the Chinese national anthem,
hearing people clap and cheer for their home smaller countries during the parade of nations and just sharing the experience with other people who are totally into the Olympics too. Although we are all San Francisco Bay Area people, we all have different perspectives. Definitely recommend watching the Opening Ceremonies with a group of "strangers" at least once, it's touching.
The bad side was that it was hella cold (I had a hat, gloves and parka but could have done better than wearing sandals), the toilets were port-a-potties and they were on the other side of the park from the screen, the screen was so bright it practically burned your eyeballs when scenes had a lot of white and you couldn't mute the zillion commercials.
Unfortunately, the event permit only went to 11 pm so they shut it down during the parade of nations. We missed seeing the host nation, China enter.
I had to watch the cauldron/torch lighting online this morning. Watching Li Ning do his thing was still amazing, but I wouldn't have minded watching on the huge screen.
Speaking of amazing, 3 my favorite parts of the opening ceremonies were:
- Tai Chi masters and their perfectly concentric circles. The dynamic fluidity, balance and harmony was awesome.
Find More Olympics Photos at NBC Olympics.com!
Olympic Medal winners at NBC Olympics.com!
As the commercial says, Go World!
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