TorchbearerSydney

I am in Adelaide- the athletes and politicians pushing for Adelaide again have been knocked back again I think. I dont understand it, Adelaide could host this easily, all the major venues are already built and up and running. There is a 'can't do' attitude in this state Government which is pretty depressing.

I find terms like ''9 million operating loss'' a bit misleading- they had an operating cost of 9 million. All public facilities, whether it is a road, park, beach, fountain etc have an operating cost. You dont say your local park had an operating loss of 1 million last year, it just cost a million for upkeep and maintenance.

Was nice to be in the stadium to hear it....Sydney 2000 was the highlight of my life, I carried the flame into Byron Bay, witnessed the opening and closing and every athletic session, and all up I saw 70 gold medals being won! My best fiend from Uni even hosted the 1 hour pre opening activities in the stadium. And when I was a little kid a few miles from the stadium I used to stage my own Olympic Games in the backyard1

The flame in Olympic Park has always been lit by an ignition switch from my memory- I have never seen them use a human...maybe they could show the young athletes pressing the button- at least that would make some sense!

That was the 2000 Paralympic Torch...I dont think anyone is surprised that they have an ignition button for the flame now!

If the Farnham comments were on TV just before the ceremony, I missed it as I was at the stadium hyperventillating with excitement! I did notice that when Olivia walks down the steps in Dare To Dream, Farnham holds her hand and watches her feet so intensely, I suspected there may have been an incident in her heels!

New Sydney micro detail...just in a story in the Sydney Morning Herald... "Couri took long-service leave from his job as a controller at an industrial gas plant to volunteer, his main role as assistant for the Oman team. He also helped Olivia Newton-John to her feet as she tripped over a cable during dress rehearsals for the opening ceremony. "She fell arse over head, but she never stopped singing," he said." Never heard this before!

The MTV logo was done much, much better....if anything the LA28 looks old fashioned and out of date by comparison, rather than cutting edge ....

The changing A is totally derivative of the MTV logo....and anyone who has been alive the last 30 years would have seen it somewhere. I think MTV did it better though. Remember Tokyo changed its logo because it was similar to a Belgium Theater troupe- not many of us had seen that!

This is really early to be releasing a logo- there are now 3 summer logos out there- and the licensing/branding for LA wont start until August 2024... Should have been released after Tokyo 2020 I think.... (and I hate it, but I seem to be in a minority)

It will be a hugely scaled down Games if held in Adelaide, which the CGF will have to accept or have no Games......maybe I should have said 'in the 1 billions'...that includes up to 1.99 billion!

My partner has a major media presence here in Adelaide, and has been in constant battle with the Premier. We have been aggressively agitating about Adelaide hosting the Games- and the Premier has been forced to publicly face this issue again. I suspect we have played a role in Adelaide rethinking its withdrawal. Their first bid said it would cost a ridiculous $3 billion plus- the new figure of $1 billion is much more realistic. Adelaide has all the venues (including a magnificent stadium, Aquatic Centre, Velodrome, etc)...no reason it should be an expensive games.

Notice how many black suited security guards rushed out!! Also I think this ''horse race'' at the time was the worlds richest- the President ""won"" millions for winning it!

Lets not forget that the Turkmen President famously won the nations richest horse race (what a surprise)...and then....( I can guarantee you that this video is not available in Turkmenistan!)

Turkmenistan is a funny place...went a few years ago....sometimes ranked BEHIND Nth Korea in freedom indexes! But unlike Nth Korea (and the other Stans) it is enormously wealthy with gas. And they blow the money on crap like this, streets lined with marble palaces etc...