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Showing posts with the label 2012 Olympics

The Olympics: A Chance for People Who Know Nothing About Swimming...

to show it ! The 400 IM is "considered the marathon of swim contests." Well, never mind that it lasts about four minutes, as compared to two hours, or that swimming has actual marathon-length competitions at the professional level. Could this writer not even be bothered to check the Olympic records and see that there is a much longer event (the 1500 free) right on the schedule?

The Opening Ceremonies

OK, this guy went way over the top with the "Get off of my lawn, you young whippersnappers!" persona (e.g., calling Sir Timothy Berners-Lee "some anonymous techie"), but he had a good point when talking about the "Chariots of Fire" performance, where a serious orchestra and conductor are asked to play, but their playing was merely a backdrop to Rowan Atkinson's reprisal of the only comedic schtick he has ever done: "It’s just that the now-familiar British conceit that one is truly 'smart' only if one mocks whatever is serious has become quite boring as well as inappropriate." Look, if you think "Chariots of Fire" is a good enough piece of music to bring in a top-notch orchestra and conductor to play it (I don't!), then let them play it. If you think it is a silly piece of tripe that deserves having the piss taken out of it (I do), then hire a bunch of middling musicians to be props for Atkinson's rather repet...