wingspread

Oooh, nice view. The Olympic Park in the background doesn't look bad either. I've only been to Seoul. Wasn't able to visit the Jamsil Sports Complex (tho I saw the stadium while riding an elevated commuter train), but you can somehow see traces of the 1988 games. One subway station I passed through was Hodori-themed and had directional signs for Olympic venues. The inn I stayed at had a die-cast stadium ashtray in the lobby so I guess that also counts. Would like to visit London, Barcelona, and Munich.

Oops, I apologize for the rather hostile tone of my response. I got carried away with the flag/anthem bit and started imagining what-if scenarios. Sydney's anthem is one of my all-time favorite segments in any OC ever. Even the horses' exit with the hundred fluttering flags gave me chills. I actually have the Julie Anthony mp3 in my iPod and I've managed to memorize the whole thing (better than most Australians -- I even know the entire 2nd verse, haha) because of repeated play. Now back to the cauldron discussion.

Sure, it could've been done better, but the London 2012 cauldron isn't that much of an affront to me. As long as there's a flame burning for the duration of the Games regardless of its location, then I'm good. What I cannot accept is the idea of degrading the host country's flag and anthem during the OC. Come Games-time, it's their show and they can do whatever the hell they please in return for spending billions for the Olympics. Can you imagine the public anger if the IOC required that the host country's flag must be lower or not be raised at all/anthem not be played during the OC in the guise of equality for all participating nations? In relation to all this talk about traditions, I think the Olympics is in need of updating. Obviously the sports line-up needs to be revised (how many of them are there just because of tradition even without a global appeal and participation?), but for me I also want to drop French as a mandatory language and Greek athletes being the first to enter the stadium. Even if I'm an Olympics enthusiast, I find these to be too archaic and lacking in gravitas to merit a spot in the traditions list nowadays. In a broader perspective, I feel that they just end up being a case of veneration without understanding for the general spectator. And of course, most importantly, I hope that the IOC veers away from the mega-billion overblown Games and picks more sensible, sustainable bids. It's wishful thinking right now, but that's one tradition I would gladly welcome and am desperate to see being broken and ended.

They should have tried to clean it up and wipe the soot from the petals (or at least the outer ones) after transferring the cauldron. Poor thing looks toasted. I'm surprised it burned up badly. Perhaps Heatherwick should have chosen another material.

The article says they kept the flame burning in a miner's lamp. So at least the 'original' flame is still intact -- assuming that they lit the lamp from one of the petals that the torchbearers lit (and assuming that it was the flame from the torch that ignited the petal and not just a Barcelona-type ignition). Given these assumptions, I've no problem with the cauldron being extinguished for transfer. Given the cauldron's low height and seemingly fragile structure, I don't think moving it to a spot in the park would be a good idea. If you want a WTF-what-have-they-done-to-the-flame moment, look no further than Torino 2006. Heck, even the Barcelona cauldron lighting was technically sacrilegious.

This was a frustrating loss. NED had possession of the ball throughout the match and had many, many goal attempts.

I'd pick the flaming arrow of Barcelona 1992 as the most memorable, and I daresay most iconic moment, of any OC. Other picks: Australian national anthem, Sydney 2000 WTC flag, Salt Lake 2002 Rings of fire, Athens 2004 Countdown/Welcome drums, Beijing 2008

I just checked the Durban logo comp thread and I can see the images already. Thanks for fixing it!

I keep seeing this all over the forums instead of the actual images: And when I went to the the registry site (http://stream.imageshack.us/content.php?page=register_domain), it says there that "Only Owners, Administrators, Operators, or Moderators may register the domain." Not sure if I'm supposed to be the one registering it or GBMod, so any help or clarification would be appreciated.

Thanks for posting these videos! Hilarious!

1. I liked the henna hands and the train segments. The Ghandi segment was nice, but rather undeveloped. 2. That floating blimp thing was underused. They could've done without it. 3. It was dragging and felt self-indulgent at some points. Needed editing and a tighter narrative. 4. In relation to the comments about the empty-looking field, I think the stadium space in general wasn't used to its full OC potential. Could've done a lot more with the floor and even the tent-like roofs. Wanted to see more stuff rising from the floor, floating elements, and more surface projections.

Browse the thread and you'll find Rapidshare links: http://forums.ffshrine.org/f92/olympic-games-music-summer-winter-76023/

It's already trending on Twitter. People are having a hoot over this: Commonwealth Games changing its name to Survivor: New Delhi Inept supervisors, crumbling halls, competitors making up excuses so they don't have to go, I dub these Commonwealth Games: 'P.E. The Movie' Chair of Organizing Committee of Indian Commonwealth Games Suresh Kalmadi tried to hang himself but the ceiling collapsed Who built all the indian Commonwealth Games facilities - Ryan Air?

Found out about the bridge collapse on the local early-morning news broadcast today. I think it's best to postpone the CWG for a few weeks or even months to fix everything. It's obvious that they have been very sloppy in their attempt to cram and finish what they can just to meet the deadline.

LOL no one even bothered to post anything during/about the closing ceremony last night.

It from a local brand "Spoofs". This design isn't available in their online shop yet, though: http://www.thetshirtproject.ph/global/module.php?LM=brands

Not official merchandise (dunnow where to put this, it would seem such a waste to create a new thread, I just wanted to share this blah blah), but look at what a friend found in one of the t-shirt stores here:

'YOG' was a trending topic on Twitter last night. And now it's gone from the list.

Maybe the interior of BC Place wasn't designed to be exposed to outdoor elements? Like continuous rain, for example.

If anyone has a copy of the song played during the entrance of the Canadian flag (it sounded like an O, Canada re-orchestration?) during the Vancouver 2010 OC and would be willing to share it, I'd appreciate it very much.

Going out instead of staying home to watch the OC seems like a better idea. Those rehearsal footage videos are underwhelming, especially for a stage/set-up like that. They could have at least followed the trend and went all out with the projections. Come on, SG.

The mime part at the beginning was the only good part of the closing ceremony for me.

He does recycle ideas. I wonder if he will ever venture beyond projections? It's a cute visual effect, but I thought he used too much of it in the Vancouver OC. And as I mentioned in another thread before, Atkins has a certain style of 'interpreting a country's culture.' But for the record, I do hope he will also be the creative director for London 2012.

Please send me the link as well.