More Thanh Words

"My name is Thanh and I'm a Blogger". Now that I have admitted to that, I can say that I'm a stereotypical "geeky" Engineer who enjoys sci-fi books and movies and into all things technological. I also love music and have a passion for FOOD. I'm a social person and like to talk to people. I hate people who are fake or overly aggressive. If you're also into some serious discussion, with a pinch of sarcasm and a dash of real emotion, then please read on.

Saturday, August 09, 2008

Beijing Olympics - Opening Ceremony

I am a huge TV couch potato sports fan. So the Beijing Olympics 2008 is my ultimate indulgence. I will just sit in front of the TV for as many hours as possible in a day and watch every sport imaginable. I'll even watch the Equestrian dressage and Air Rifle shooting. Those aren't exactly the most high profile sports, but I only ever watch them four years.

For me, the Olympics are the epitome of sports. They may not be as pure as how they started out in Greece all those hundreds of years ago, but they still hold something magical for me. The endeavours of elite athletes working towards this ultimate goal is to be celebrated and enjoyed. There are always so many feel good stories that come out of the Olympics. Heroic stories of people's battle against the odds to pursue their dreams.

This year, 2008, the Olympics is being held in China. After so many years of shutting themselves from the rest of the world, these Olympics is likes China's debutant ball, annoucing themselves to a global audience of billions. There could be no larger debutant ball. No expenses have been spared in orgainising this massive party. China have gone all out to show their best face to the world. Planning for the stadiums finished before schedule, the city of Beijing was cleared of cars, smog, spitting, beggars etc.

The theme of grandeur of this whole Olympics was amazingly highlighted in the opening ceremony. No one watching the opening ceremony would have any doubts about the intentions of China in making this the biggest Olympics ever.

So on to the opening ceremony itself. I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed it, and there were so many moments where I just had to say "Wow". I would say that it is one of the best opening ceremonies ever, if not the best. The history of China was presented through the dynasties with spectacular visual dance routines.

Everything about the whole ceremony was massive, mirroring the current political, and economical situation that China is currently in. I think the fact that George Bush, the first American president to visit an Olympics outside of their own country in 30 years, proves the might that China now holds.

The ceremony kicked off in a dramatic countdown, using thousands of drummers performing in military precision. That military precision would be evident all night, with dancers portraying scholars, rural minorities, opera actors, kings and queens. At one stage, a large ancient Chinese typewriter device was bobbing up and down to create these wonderful patterns had me thinking a massive machine was being driven by a computer. Only when the dancers underneath it emerged did I realise it was all being done by man power. Again, this parallels with China current industrial boom, where almost all the worlds consumer devices are being made by millions of hands in Chinese factories.

The theme of using a paper scroll that kept being added to throughout the dynasties was a clever idea. The scroll sat within in the largest LCD screen I have ever seen. The LCD screen covered nearly the whole length of the field, a good 100 metres long. It showed beautiful images of paintings and Chinese art through the ages.

Needless to say, the fireworks display was beyond imagination. China does produce most of the worlds fireworks, so organising fireworks was surely the least of their worries. The firework was cleverly used in the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. A man did a horizontal walk across the whole lip of the stadium, which was used as a backdrop for the torch relay images. I don't know if the images were projected onto the stadium or if it was another huge LCD screen, but whatever the case, it was stunning. The man finally lit the tip of a firecracker, which blazed in a huge flame and went on to light the cauldron. Spectacular and so fundamentally Chinese. I'm sure every Chinese child has at one stage lit a firecracker and could totally relate to it.

Overall, it was a really great opening ceremony and I'm hoping for two weeks of great sport, mixed in with emotions of joy, laughter, sadness, anger, disappointment and love. Human kind will be on show for all the world to see.

One World, One Dream.

13 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fat and Stupid Do,

How predictable you are to post about the Opening Ceremony.

I'm sure all the readers here would rather learn about how sat your muffin top in front of the Telly eating corn chips and dip than visiting the thousands of Official websites that provide greater recaps and videos.

Anyway chubby, please visit this site for representation for your SEEKING.

http://www.etm.com.au/contact_details.asp

8/10/2008 10:32 AM  
Blogger PF said...

No credit to the maestro Zhang Yimou? :-\

8/13/2008 12:35 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thanh,

I hope one day you can write a post about World War II or the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

I would like to hear your accounts of these events.

8/13/2008 10:04 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

...the fireworks on the giant LCD were fake?
You have to be pretty stupid to think that they were real!!

8/13/2008 8:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As Fat Do would say:

Stupid is as stupid does

8/13/2008 8:45 PM  
Blogger thanh7580 said...

Homie, I like the Olympics so I'll post about it. The fact that you read it means at least one person has read my review of the opening ceremony.

Thanks for the SEEKING link. I will give them a call.

Alan, all credit to Zhang. I just forgot to mention it. It was indeed a grand vision and a masterpiece.

Melanie, sorry but I don't know much about those topics so will not discuss them until I learn more.

Estnivek, at the time I thought the shot where they panned across the whole city looked fake. But I think the static shots of fireworks were real. I can't believe the little girl singing was faked though. You would think they could find a little girl that was pretty and could sing as well.

Oblivion, I never say that. I say "Only an ijiot would think that".

8/14/2008 12:28 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hope so Fat Do,

Let's count how many hours you waste (watching TV, blogging, whinging) between now and the time you actually contact ETM.

8/14/2008 3:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

One World, One Dream?

One Blog, One Month.

8/23/2008 12:41 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don't forget in Do's case


One Fridge

One Belly

8/27/2008 11:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This was never the way Thanh planned
Not his intention
Thanh got so brave, drink in hand
Lost his discretion
It's not what, Thanh's used to
Just wanna try him on
Thanh's curious for you
Caught his attention

Thanh kissed a boy and Thanh liked it
The taste of his stinky bad breath
Thanh kissed a boy just to try it
Thanh hope his other boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean Thanh's in love tonight
Thanh kissed a boy and Thanh liked it
Thanh liked it

No, Thanh don't even know your name
It doesn't matter,
You're his experimental game
Just human nature,
It's not what,
Good boys do
Not how they should behave
his head gets so confused
Hard to obey

Thanh kissed a boy and Thanh liked it
The taste of his stinky bad breath
Thanh kissed a boy just to try it
Thanh hope his other boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean Thanh's in love tonight
Thanh kissed a boy and Thanh liked it
Thanh liked it,

Those Thanhs we are so magical
Flabby skin, cracked lips, so kissable
Hard to resist so touchable
Too good to deny it
Ain't no big deal, it's innocent

Thanh kissed a boy and Thanh liked it
The taste of his stinky bad breath
Thanh kissed a boy just to try it
Thanh hope his other boyfriend don't mind it
It felt so wrong
It felt so right
Don't mean Thanh's in love tonight
Thanh kissed a boy and Thanh liked it
Thanh liked it

8/29/2008 11:56 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is how dead this blog as become...

Your last post is on the Beijing Olympic opening ceremony.

9/03/2008 11:50 AM  
Blogger The Oriental Express said...

Thanh, I enjoyed watching the Olympics too.

However, whenever I watched the TV, I would also do some aerobic exercise at the same time.

Hence, I have managed to lose 12 kgs!

I'd fall asleep if I were to just sit down and watch the programmes.

9/06/2008 6:42 AM  
Blogger PF said...

Will there be updates soon? :-)

9/21/2008 1:58 PM  

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