Olympics Opening Ceremony Opinions

concretemasonry

Did you see the Opening Ceremony and what did you thnk of it?

I thought is was well done, well planned, precise, high tech with a lot of people and history. In other words, it was amazing and awe inspiring.

The 300' long LED screen that they danced on and then raised up after they turned it 90 degrees was a great effect. Also, how they created something that looked like mechanical or electonic things in motion that turned out to be 2000 - 3000 people. How in the world do you get ever get 2000 different people to run around on a field bigger than football field without markings form a moving scene of circles that becomes a fling bird?

It was also kind of scary to see what they can pull off and dwarf anything else ever done for a similar event.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

Chris Johnson

Give me 7 more minutes till it starts...PST...

Spoke to friends on the east coast they said it was good

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Chris

concretemasonry

Chris -

A few words - awesome, huge scope and scarry.

Do not miss it even if it gets a little hard to understand with the meanings and artistry. You now know who invented fireworks.

At least there was no Janet Jackson for entertainment.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

MALCO.New.York

The Olympics, since they have allowed Professionals to compete, have gone to Hell!

Not worth a Dime of my Time.

Do you know why Cities compete for the Ceremonies????

They make MILLIONS while screwing the little vendors and disrupting everyday life for the "Commoner".

Just do some research on Billy Payne and Atlanta.

I lived through it first hand. It COMPLETELY was a PITA.




This is a Universal Truth:

"Allegations that Atlanta organizers bribed members of the IOC to obtain the Olympic Games prompted an inquiry. However, ACOG documents were destroyed prior to a formal investigation and the allegations remain unproven. In his defense, Mr. Payne said Atlanta's bidding effort included excessive actions, even thought processes, that today seem inappropriate but, at the time, reflected the prevailing practices in the selection process and an extremely competitive environment."


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Payne


It is no longer about competition and sportsman ship.

Just MY Biased opinion.

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Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

Michaeljp86

This was new to me until tonight, I dont agree with it at all.

All the people that light up was cool, they said 8 months of practice. I was trying to figure out how they kept all those people doing everything at the right time. That was alot of work for one night.

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I am just a vessel from which genius flows -Homer Simpson

Global warming is a myth, like evolution and the metric system.

MALCO.New.York

That is exactly my point.

Eight months of practice for a parade and light show that has NOTHING to do with International Competition??????

It is no longer about anything but entertainment and ratings.

If that is what ones looks for in a Sporting Event, then by all mean, the Olympics has the market cornered.

__________________
Something to One may be Nothing to another!

Ultimate Wisdom---------
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OW-cnizLDEE

Teetorbilt

Great fireworks from the folks that invented them. The current air pollution rating is 94 with 100 being unsafe for children and the elderly.

We have a friend who arrived there yesterday and is involved with the rowing team. The info is current.

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You can't solve you're problems with the same level of thinking that created the problems.

Albert Einstein

concretemasonry

Since they have cut car traffic by 50% for the past 2 weeks and shut down many plants, much of the high pollution levels now are from the weather and geography. It looked like Tokyo by the number of masks worn.

Beijing can have high humidity in the summer and is cut off on the north and west by mountains that cut off the winds (ever see the hills around the Great Wall and 1000 miles west?). There is no water or ocean near it for evening breezes. The desert west of the mountains have dust that is picked up by the high level winds and drops when they get over the mountains. I have been there just as the weather breaks - you can cut it with a knife until it rains and drops mud from 1000 miles west. It is like LA with the mountains on the wrong side and no ocean.

They have very little good soil and frown on cutting vegetation. China is an old country with a high demand for construction and that is why wood is not used. - They prefer long term buildings. Even the use of clay brick has been discouraged for the past 10 years because of the poor use of good land and the pollution from the thousands of old plants. The problem is that China uses 535,000,000,000 brick per year (535 Billion), so this monumental change takes time. Most cities use more brick than the entire U.S. annually. Concrete and concrete block are the recommended wall products because of ecology and low use of energy. It takes a long time to change thousands of years of history and isolation from some modern technology.

They still put on a good show using U.S. and Japanese developed electronics, controls and technology. It looked like they had a big budget, unlimited manpower and a lot of creative talent with new toys.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

Winchester

I love China! I was there for 2 months in 2001. Beijing is nice because everything is HUGE. The air sucks, though, and the sky is always gray even with no clouds.

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Ryan

Winchester

May have been developed somewhere else, but I'd be willing to bet they were "made in China"

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Ryan

concretemasonry

Developed elsewhere - YES

Use and ideas created in China - YES

Made in China - YES, but with a lot of U.S. manufactured and/or developed equipment.

The U.S. manufactured equipment will be copied exactly to high standards if necessary or to lower standards if the market elsewhere if the user wants to buy by price.

Same thing as the Japanese equipment years ago. I see that Nikon and Canon were at one time cheap Japanese copies of German (Zeiss, Leica) cameras made for the price-conscious U.S. markets. They just took things a step ahead for today.

If you have not been to China, you do not understand the development, advances and problems created by the opening up of the huge real potential. They have a long way to go by our technical standards, but have the resources and assets to do a lot.

If you talk about technology, China is second to India on potential and just about as large.

It will be interesting and events like the Olympics open the eyes.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

mickeyco

Completely missed it but I did hear that the an American was murdered there today, father in law of the USA volleyball coach, his wife and someone else was seriously injured. Off to a good start.


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Some people climb mountains. I take out the trash. But we both do it for the same reason.

concretemasonry

The person (a Bachman?) murdered was either a local to me or his family was. Another youger women that was a competitor (daughter?) was not injured.

The killer also reportedly committed suicide before he was arrested. He must have known what they do to criminals there.

I lost a wallet in Beijing and reported it to the police. Within 24 hours, I got a wallet back with the correct amount of money ($75). I did not tell the police the $5 bill was Canadian so I got back all American money. They take good care of Americans and bite the bullet. They also do not like people that do things wrong because that does not fit the culture.

Its just good business!

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.