Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • anthonyd
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by Andy Freeman link=1218237367/0#4 date=1218290764
    Sure were a lot of coffee origin flags in that parade... and most had only 5 or 6 athletes.

    Yeah obviously coffee is not much of a performance enhancing drug hey?

    On the subject of china and the opening cermony - i think it is a shame the way the media is harping on about the imperfections and CGI.

    Really it was a show and a bloody good on at that. The opening ceremony is there for everyones entertainment much like david copperfields show when he walked through the wall of china (also fake by the way). The show china put on was without a doubt one of the best opening ceremonys in the history of the olympics - irrespective of whether there was cgi fireworks or BSODs.

    Leave a comment:


  • GrindOnDemand
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by flynnaus link=1218237367/0#17 date=1218779609
    ... Touche GoD. I guess Im optimistic that China will be encouraged to reform their authoritarian approach. But I have to keep reminding myself that all Ive read about what is going on in China is from the western press.
    ... probably because theres no objective media allowed to come out of China mate!

    Censorship - grrrr >

    Leave a comment:


  • Dennis
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by GrindOnDemand link=1218237367/0#16 date=1218778553

    Flynn, cherish that soapbox of yours as your democratic right to free speech without the fear of being jailed ... in China, well :
    Spot on Tony...our democratic rights to free speech were protected by erecting fences through Sydney when Bush came to town. :P

    And as a society, we certainly value every person...as long as they dont have a disability, mental illness, or happen to be black.

    I guess we could go on like this forever, so Ill leave it there.

    As for the opening, I thought it was absolutely fantastic!

    Leave a comment:


  • flynnaus
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by GrindOnDemand link=1218237367/0#16 date=1218778553
    Flynn, cherish that soapbox of yours as your democratic right to free speech without the fear of being jailed ... in China, well :
    Touche GoD. I guess Im optimistic that China will be encouraged to reform their authoritarian approach. But I have to keep reminding myself that all Ive read about what is going on in China is from the western press.

    Leave a comment:


  • GrindOnDemand
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by flynnaus link=1218237367/0#15 date=1218755728
    ... anyway, soapbox has been put aside.
    Flynn, cherish that soapbox of yours as your democratic right to free speech without the fear of being jailed ... in China, well :

    Leave a comment:


  • flynnaus
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by NewToEspresso link=1218237367/0#14 date=1218753507
    At least in this country there is a basic recognition that every person is valuable regardless of occupation, financial status, race etc..
    There is? I must let those homeless people know when I pass them. Im sure the members of the Qranic society felt valued out Camden way. Those who were locked up in immigration detention centres for the heinous crime of trying to seek a better life in a supposedly liberal country must have felt exceptionally valued.

    Chinas human rights record may be tarnished but our own is not exactly a shining example either. WotB is right - this is a great opportunity to put China in the world spotlight in a positive way. The whole world can benefit from encouraging rather than castigating them.

    Sure we can nitpick on some cosmetic faults in the way that the opening ceremony was conducted but it was still very impressive by any measure. Sure we can voice protest on Tibet but I think the Chinese have already received the message loud and clear on this and jingoism isnt going to help.

    Anyway, soapbox has been put aside.

    Leave a comment:


  • NewToEspresso
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by Dennis link=1218237367/0#11 date=1218695174
    Oh dear, NewToEspresso, please dont think Im singling you out, most of us are probably all in the same boat...your GMC heatgun is made in China.  
    It explains why Ive had to return it 3 times due to sudden failure
    At least in this country there is a basic recognition that every person is valuable regardless of occupation, financial status, race etc..

    Leave a comment:


  • Wine_of_the_Bean
    Guest replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    I now have to fork out more than 2.5 million dollars to Jon Selim because he lost his pharmaceutical business. Plead guilty to doing the wrong thing, and turned around and sued the Federal Government and won. There goes my public-funded welfare...

    Leave a comment:


  • GrindOnDemand
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by Wine_of_the_Bean link=1218237367/0#10 date=1218691667
    For countries saying this and that about China, just think how different things would be if your country had 1.3 billion people.  If you think the public health care system, public transport, traffic, lack of housing affordability, etc. are bad now, imagine if Australia had 60 times the population.

    Enjoy the Olympics for what it is, regardless of who is hosting it.  Dont be tempted by greed or jealousy.
    Anthony, I see your point ... but

    Thank your lucky stars matey that we have a democratic welfare system in place, sure public tax-funded, but as a reasonable fall-back. NE Asian countries? Nope.

    Sure ... lets all enjoy the spirit of the Olympics, regardless of who hosts it. However, lets not forget that the host country has had to deal in high-end diplomatic politics to gain the rights - & whatever that entails to gain votes :

    The IOC is essentially a politically animal.

    At the end of the day, Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, & now China in 2008, had to do some major wheeling $ & dealing for the rights ...

    ... & on the keeping face/appearance thing I alluded to in an earlier post, didnt Sydney City Council have a concerted effort in 2000 to rid [conceal] their streets of the homeless to seem a clean & pure city?

    hmmm, politics ...

    Tony

    Leave a comment:


  • Dennis
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Oh dear, NewToEspresso, please dont think Im singling you out, most of us are probably all in the same boat...your Breville popper, GMC heatgun and Remington breadmaker are all made in China. So are most of the clothes on our back, and who could forget the illustrious Sunbeam!

    Its not that I dont have a sense of social justice - just that I think we could clean up our own act before criticising others.

    Leave a comment:


  • Wine_of_the_Bean
    Guest replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    For countries saying this and that about China, just think how different things would be if your country had 1.3 billion people. If you think the public health care system, public transport, traffic, lack of housing affordability, etc. are bad now, imagine if Australia had 60 times the population.

    Enjoy the Olympics for what it is, regardless of who is hosting it. Dont be tempted by greed or jealousy.

    Leave a comment:


  • speleomike
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Hi all

    Well with computer generated fake fireworks, BSODs projected on the stadium screens and lip syncing, therere getting off lightly from the media. Imagine if Australia did that! The media would have a field day.

    And as for replacing the little girl that could sing for someone "better looking" (if thats what happened) - I think thats terrible. If the little girl gets up and sings people dont care that she isnt a model. It wouldt matter if she had buck teeth, and a round chubby face. The public would still like her. Did the Chinese politicians consider the effects of the choice on the one that was rejected?

    What will be interesting is the effect on Beijing when the games are over and all the factories and cars start up again and make up for lost production :-) The air pollution will be "so chumpy you can carve it".

    Mike

    Leave a comment:


  • GrindOnDemand
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by Koffee Kosmo link=1218237367/0#7 date=1218677042
    ... I saw in passing a news report that the young girl that sang at the opening ceremony was lip sync - ing
    The girl that voiced the song was apparently not pretty enough to be viewed on world TV
    So the government has developed a vanity (Hollywood) completion syndrome ...
    I lived & worked in Sth Korea for almost 2 years. I soon became accustomed with a deeply entrenched cultural/social trait of keeping up appearances (or saving face). Not to say there is no substance to the people, society, or culture, but this whole idea of the importance of appearance seems uppermost in NE Asian Confucianist based cultures.

    One of the worst things you could say to a Korean is "chok-pal-yo" ... meaning, "youve lost face", or "your appearance [character] has been tarnished" - it engenders a sense of deep shame.

    Im no China expert, but yeah the Hollywood-like vanity complex fuelled by their booming GDP & growing middle-class with a highly disposable income to buy all that appears luxurious, fits in pretty well with what I witnessed in Korea over a decade ago.

    That said, it was an extraordinarily extravagant opening ceremony, precisely choreographed.

    Well, what do you expect for 40 billion bucks expended

    Stultifying air-pollution which breathing in Beijing is apparently the equivalent of smoking 70 ciggies a day, & an abominable record of human rights abuse ... well, hey, is of course going to be dismissed as non-existent by a political machine intent on being a global player.

    This Olympics is all about China saying to the world "look at us - weve come of age, have the goods, and our venues & performance (on stage & in competition) show that were strong (as a people & as an economic powerhouse).

    ... my 2 cents worth, anyways ...

    Tony

    Leave a comment:


  • Koffee_Kosmo
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    So there was no surprise when you hear chinese authorities denying the air pollution or the lip-singing thing....
    I saw in passing a news report that the young girl that sang at the opening ceremony was lip sync - ing
    The girl that voiced the song was apparently not pretty enough to be viewed on world TV
    So the government has developed a vanity (Hollywood) completion syndrome

    KK

    Leave a comment:


  • NewToEspresso
    replied
    Re: Coffeesnobs view of Opening Ceremony

    Originally posted by greenman link=1218237367/0#0 date=1218237367
    While I was sitting watching the opening of the Olympics I started to notice the number of coffee producing countries, so from then on I tried to name as many estates that I could recall over my coffee journey, my wife was turning up her eyebrows each time I mentioned another country or estate coffee that I had roasted and brewed!!
    Did exactly that when Yemen came out and my friends mentioned "wonder where that is?", to which I replied "middle east near saudi arabia and they produce very good coffee which cost nearly 3 times as much as other beans".
    We had a small gathering for dinner to be followed by the viewing of the opening ceremony but i missed most of it because I was making coffee and hot chocolate for them while they watched the opening ceremony (saw Yemen march out when delivering coffee to friends). No regrets missing it as I wasnt planning to watch it anyway (part of a silent protest against China for human rights abuse and treatment of Tibet). So there was no surprise when you hear chinese authorities denying the air pollution or the lip-singing thing....

    Leave a comment:

Working...
X