This version not available for download!.. WTF??? Why are you forcing me to listen to Huw Edward's stupid voice??
are you using the non commentary link from above? http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00w2r5c/Olympic_Ceremonies_London_2012_Online_Opening_Ceremony_no_comm/ its working fine for me
This is my favourite piece of music from the opening ceremony, it was beautiful and fit so incredibly well when what was happening at the time!
Okay get the idea to celebrate British history and contribution to global society but where the hell was doctor who - no tardis = fail Not a kilt or a guiness in sight = fail Edit. As pointed out, Guiness is from ROI, and I can't think what would best represent NI or Wales. Embarrasing team GB athletes screaming into cameras = fail And seriously, "Olympism"!???!? WTF!!!!!? Its now acceptable to just make up new words? = epic fail. Also, Seb Coe speech = fail And apparently the Olympics trump Ramadan if you are an athlete. They are allowed to treat a religious observance like a timeshare. Frankly I'll be glad when its all over and those of us living round here can get back to normality instead of being treated like second class citizens that should just go away and not clutter up the road and tube networks with our selfish need to go to work, earn money, and pay tax to host this bloody farce. Seriously, let's waste billions and gamble productivity in the financial capital of Europe in the midst of a recession, for the sake of a bunch of people who are good at doing some running and jumping around. That's a capital idea. Sent from my HTC Desire HD using Xparent Red Tapatalk 2
Because that bunch of people won't eat, buy souvenirs and other stuff and use various services while being in UK, right ?. Because lots of people watching Olympics won't consider to visit London now, right ? Because building those stadiums didn't help your construction industry, right ?
I don't buy that argument, can you prove that any of those points have definitely generated more money than the games have cost?
hmmm didn't watch the opening, but am hoping the Olympic eventing team does well, the only bit i am interested in. ooohhh they have the dressage online.
Overal money will have been lost by the government (tax payer) but hotel owners etc will have made more income because of it. It's all swings and round abouts
I sincerely doubt that they did. Originally slated to cost about £2.4bn, Olympic costs jumped to £9.3bn by 2007. The National Audit Office noted that public-sector funding has almost tripled, while private-sector contributions dwindled to less than 2%. Recently, the House of Commons' public accounts committee revealed costs were "heading for around £11bn". Meanwhile, Olympics critic Julian Cheyne of Games Monitor calculates costs at £13bn. A Sky Sports investigation included public transport upgrade costs, catapulting the five-ring price tag to £24bn. Our GDP is about £1.6 Trillion - spending the sums of money involved in the games doesn't come close to making a dent, even if the entire cost were compressed into 1 year instead of spread over 7. Do you think building everything involved challenged the capacity of our industry? I don't, so why would it then stimulate competitive improvement or growth which come from competition and demand. Estimates of the impact of a single day Tube strike in London come in as high as: The last tube strike cost the capital around £50 million each day, disrupting more than a million commuters - Can you fathom how much the closure of 2 out of 3 traffic lanes through embankment will screw traffic? Have you any idea how many people are being messed about by the disruption to the tube network over the weeks of the olympics? Have you given any thought to the lost productivity of businesses throughout the capital? It will be huge! Theres a sensible article at forbes here that I suggest you read before regurgitating weak economic arguments that were absurd when they were first promoted (sorry if this seems harsh, but its the arguments that I'm angry at, not you.) Please also note the few citations placed here - I'm not quoting sensationalist junk from the Daily Mail, but reputable media.
yes, some businesses will have made a short term gain but a percentage of that will simply be rephasing of revenue income as a result of compression of the peak period. The corporate gain repayment in taxation will not assist the economy as in the examples you cite again (hotels) existing infrastructure has been used. Same with the airline industry. The olympic logo and sponsor protections mean that an independent seller can't sell a burger and chips less than x miles form a venue as it infringes on McDonalds rights. No permanent jobs have been created and we are left with nothing more than a couple of stadiums surrounded by an area begging for investment - the net result will most likely be that the new facilities drop to the level of the environment through abuse and neglect, rather than the other way around. If transportation links were actually good then I might think otherwise but the truth is that stratford is not particularly well linked and London already had enough facilities for the annual run of conferences, music concerts etc. I don't see a need for the facilities they have built after the Olympics.
Guiness is from Ireland... And even if it was brewed in Mile End, what the hell would it be doing in that ceremony? Kilts are hardly symbolic of modern Scotland And yes, you are allowed to make up new words, where do you think all other words came from? Everyone knew what Olympism meant in the context of what he was saying, unless you're an idiot. Personally I thought Seb Coe did quite well. How would you do giving a speech to a billion people? I'll write to the athletes, let them know you're not happy with how they observe their religion. I'm sure they'll be very interested in your thoughts. Frankly, you sound like a massive tool. Looking through your economic argument, it's strikes me very much as you being someone who understands the cost of everything and the value of nothing. Wilde thought that described a cynic. Personally I could think of another word for it, but I don't want to get banned.
How can you say that anyone who gives a speech from que cards is doing it quite well? The pillock has had 7 years to prepare for that and he couldn't have said that from memory? What is the value of the games if it isn't economic?
Well personally if I'd spent the best past of eight years working tirelessly to put on event as enormous as The Olympic Games, I couldn't guarantee to myself that I'd be able to compose myself after the opening ceremony. The culmination of not far off of a decades hard work right in front of your eyes. If say, I then had to address the nation and a billion people world wide, I'd probably want some notes there to ensure I said what I wanted to say and not lose my composure or become wrapped up in the emotion of it all. But obviously, you'd be fine doing that without cards so yeah. Good for you! The motto of the games is Inspire a Generation. What else needs explaining? You only have to look at the success of swimming and cycling in this country of late, you know where that success comes from? The Manchester Commonwealth Games ten years ago and the facilities that it provided. Now isn't the time for examining the benefits of the games. 5, 10, 20 years down the line. That's the time.
If I had put that much of myself into something I would have been able to give a speech from the heart yes, he didn't say anything detailed just what he felt. But in a stop / start awkward way from cue cards. But international sporting achievement isn't a great justification for spending so much public money when so many need help and so many public services need upgrading.
haha, a judgemental response as harsh and one sided as my original post. excepting of course your little personal attack but we'll gloss over that little bit of unpleasantness. Fair point on the Guinness, but I disagree on the kilt, it speaks a lot to the heritage and tradition of Scotland, at least it does to me and I was disappointed not to see anything of Scotland's contribution to British history. a snip of Flower of Scotland was nice to hear but even being a Scot I think it was inappropriate - it hardly speaks to the unity of Great Britain. My point on olympism is that we have a perfectly usable language - there are plenty of words that could have been used to convey his point but no, he had to create a new piece of terminology. New words were originally created for things that could not otherwise be clearly and concisely explained, and latterly more commonly derived from older languages. Sorry, personal view but its a daft term that wasn't needed. Not a viewpoint that I'll apologise for either holding or expressing. The speech was too long and the tone was incongruous with all the energy that preceded it. As has been said he had 7 years to prepare and full knowledge of the contextual activity preceding and following his speech - it *should* have been better. Watching the whole show, it felt like a stumble that the energy levels struggled to come back from. I don't have any challenge to make regarding anyone's choice of religion or their personal choices in observance, my criticism there is of the organised relaxation of global religious dogma for a sporting event when it is not relaxed for other circumstances which are arguably much more serious. Makes the religious leaders endorsing it look hypocritical and devalues the observances of others holding to that belief system. Oh hell, I'm not as restrained as I thought: Cost is absolute, value is relative to context. The costs (tangible and intangible) of the games exceeds my opinion of the value by all forms of judgement that I can apply, be that economic, social, psychological or philosophical. As to cynical, I remind you of your very own OP We all have opinions, they're a lot like bums. All different and often there are many we would just rather not see - but you asked.
