BanzaiB

And wouldn't they have done something more original than using stock game character images? I swear I've seen them from some Korean-made online game.

I'm not saying you knowingly posted fake images. Your intentions were good, obviously. But perhaps the original source of the images were trying to pull our legs? A lot of the images look very badly done. With all the money going into the ceremony, you would think that anything official would look more professionally done than this. For example, this picture looks to me like a copy+paste job. I can do a better job with photoshop.

I don't know why your getting so defensive about this.

Are these official concept art? Because I would hardly believe that BOC would use video game characters. And some of the photoshop effects look very off and half-assed.

I'm assuming that this is the work of the APC, of course.

God, we should just ship them off to Tibet and let them protest there. Or better yet, make them watch the Paralympics. They need to see how the athletes come on top of real and unfixable problems. Instead of finding a solution to their poverty, they sit on their asses waiting for the government to feed them caviar.

Ugh, why can't the winter game logos be more reflective of the host city? It's always the same mountain backdrop. I would've been cool to see something like a totem pole or even a maple leaf.

Ugh, no maple leaf? Does anyone have the video of the segment NBC did on Vancouver?

When will the medal design be released? I'm very anxious about the medal design because Winter Games have greater control over what the medals look like yet none of the past games have been exceptional in the department. Though I liked Torino's rather original design.

I suppose the dragon pillars in the OC counted? It's a real shame that more of Chinese culture and history wasn't shown. Whatevs.

The Chinese singers have a thing for tacky, over-the-top dresses. Just watch any CCTV concert and you'll see.

WHAT. What is South Korean singer Rain doing there? Not that I'm discriminating against the Koreans, but he had no right to be there.

God CBC's audio is horrible.

Wait, what does Rogge usually say? Has he actually referred any games as the "best ever"?

Exceptional games....Oh shi-. I think Dr.Rogge has just pissed off 1.3billion people by saying that.

Terribly unimpressed so far. The OC has left too much of an expectation for me.

I've been watching the older OC and have noticed that they are a lot more modest than the more recent ones. Provided that technology has changed a lot over the last 30 years but it seems that we are in a grey area. Isn't the OC's purpose to be a welcome for the athletes? Now it has become a big extravaganza which people bicker about who had the better OC. And people are even talking about taking away the Parade of Nations. Do you think that the recent OCs are going the right way or should we change our focus to the athletes themselves? And another unrelated question. How much do you think the hosting countries' culture affect the overall quality of the games? I personally prefer the Athens and the Beijing OCs way more than any other simply because of the massive history and culture that the two countries have. I believe that having a distinctive culture is very important to the success of an OC. That's why I didn't like the Sydney OC or the Atlanta OC very much.

World Cup! amirite? Btw, just out of curiousity...which has the bigger audience? Winter Olympics or World Cup? I'm thinking the World Cup does. If so, does it even have a bigger audience than the Summer Olympics?

I agree. I wouldn't say the world now turns to us. It's more an audience half the size of that of Beijing's will watch Vancouver for two weeks come 2010. Am I being too cynical to think that we really shouldn't group ourselves with the Summer games since the difference in size is pretty significant?

I want some awesomely choreographed mid-air wuxia-style kung fu battles that Zhang Yimou is known for.

I loved the music played during the segment with the dragon pillars and the rows of women in Tang-dynasty clothing.

I love the Coca Cola commercial with Yao Ming and that other guy...I'm not into American basketball much. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUdlExb3b5s...feature=related It's funny how they put a Chinese dragon up against a cowboy.

A Chinese dragon holding a syringe...on wheelchairs.

I know it's too early to get a solid number. But I just read on wiki that it's projected to have a projected 5500 athletes participating. Wiki being the reliabe source that it is , I just thought that I would tell you guys and ask for your opinion on this number. Is this a legit number? It seems awfully high to me because Torino only had 2500 atheletes and this is more than twice that. I think it's great if it's actually true. Knock on wood...

Well, it's only one medal than. The Chinese already has so much already.