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Source: (consider it)
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Thread: British Olympic Opening Ceremony Not American Enough ...
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
quote:
7/7 was the day after the announcement that London had won the Olympic bid. It has made the two inseparable; the threat of an attack on the London Games has shadowed the planning. To have an Opening Ceremony which breezed past it would have been a falsification.
Fair enough, have a moment of silence or something. I agree that cutting the memorial was tasteless, but I can't see that it's worth getting offended about. I didn't just not watch tearful tributes to 9/11 seven years after the fact, I was mortally tired of them.
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
Regardless of what you imagine, let me assure you that I will not be offended if British people forgo watching interpretive dance honoring the victims of 9/11.
Ah, but the real question is: will you be offended if the BBC interrupts its broadcast of it to present a Benny Hill re-run?
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
No. Watching television and feeling sad it not a tribute, and omitting to do so it not an offense. To me, anyway.
[ 31. July 2012, 22:54: Message edited by: Zach82 ]
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Choirboy
Shipmate
# 9659
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Posted
Actually, I think NBC is not entirely wrong about the American viewing public, or at least a significant segment of it, more is the pity.
I do think a reasonably largish segment, but by no means a majority, of the American viewing public would have been angered at the remembrance of "foreign" dead even in their own city without also including our dead from 9/11.
But then, look at the Tea Bagger nutcases we have. After that consideration, would you really be surprised at such a thing happening? Not that it be justified - just that it might happen in some circles.
All NBC wanted was to avoid controversy or the threat thereof, keep Americans watching their coverage and advertisements, and chanting USA, USA, USA! It was no loss in their market to cut the segment (if a tasteless move), with very little possible downside for them compared with a possibly meaningful cost of broadcasting that portion of the ceremony.
It's not personal, it's just business. Everything is market driven and there was no sense of either morality or art involved.
Posts: 2994 | From: Minneapolis, Minnesota USA | Registered: Jun 2005
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orfeo
Ship's Musical Counterpoint
# 13878
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
No. Watching television and feeling sad it not a tribute, and omitting to do so it not an offense. To me, anyway.
Yes, well, we can continue happily to talk about "the reaction in America" while consciously excluding you and just generalising about the other 300 million people. Duly noted.
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Technology has brought us all closer together. Turns out a lot of the people you meet as a result are complete idiots.
Posts: 18173 | From: Under | Registered: Jul 2008
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nickel
Shipmate
# 8363
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Posted
well to be honest, I've been enjoying the commercials. Some of the events covered have been good -- but even a stopped clock is right twice a day, or something like that.
Posts: 547 | From: Virginia USA | Registered: Aug 2004
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RuthW
liberal "peace first" hankie squeezer
# 13
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Choirboy:
Actually, I think NBC is not entirely wrong about the American viewing public, or at least a significant segment of it, more is the pity.
I do think a reasonably largish segment, but by no means a majority, of the American viewing public would have been angered at the remembrance of "foreign" dead even in their own city without also including our dead from 9/11.
Seriously? I have a hard time imagining some subset of Americans would actually be angry. I can see some folks brushing it off as some foreign thing they didn't need to care about. But it seems to me that folks who turn on their TVs to watch something that they know originates outside the US would, even if they were unsympathetic, not be angry so much as bored, and take the opportunity to use the bathroom and then grab another beer.
And frankly, I blame some of the rah-rah "USA! USA! USA!" mindset we have on things like NBC's awful coverage of the Olympic Games. Yes, they have to serve up what Americans will watch - they paid over $1 billion for the licensing fee and they need to recoup that and the production costs. But instead of crap like "Hey, there's the Madagascar contingent -- there's a set of Disney movies with that name" they could tell us something interesting and informative about Madagascar's athletes, and then when one of them showed up on prime time TV we'd have a tiny bit of context.
But right now I'm here to cuss a blue streak because to watch NBC's live stream of the Olympics on the internet you have to have cable TV. Why on earth should I have to be a cable subscriber to watch something on the internet? If they don't want to give it away, fine -- let them sell it. I'd happily pay $5-$10 for for an all-access pass to the Olympics live stream. Or they could sell it on a per-event basis. Whatever. But since I don't have cable TV, I can't see it at all. Idiots.
![[Mad]](angryfire.gif)
Posts: 24453 | From: La La Land | Registered: Apr 2001
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Sober Preacher's Kid
Presbymethegationalist
# 12699
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Nick Tamen:
quote:
Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:
quote:
Originally posted by Nick Tamen:
quote:
Originally posted by Liturgylover:
The other thing that I found baffling - and I can't remember where I read it - was that the Americans didn't like what they thought was a tribute to a "socialist NHS". What the hell is that all about?
I did hear comments along the line of "the health care service -- what an odd thing emphasize in the opening ceremonies." But I haven't heard any complaints on a socialists basis.
Don't worry. In every country that has introduced universal health provision (by whatever method, NHS, single-payer, universal mandate for insurance), the policy very quickly became popular and then a generation later seen as a 'bedrock value'. See the NHS, Tommy Douglas and Woodrow Lloyd in Saskatchewan, the list goes on. Romneycare is popular in Massachusetts, so I understand.
Give it time. The US is just a little late to the party.
Some of us wish we had gotten to the party decades ago.
But that wasn't really my point. The people I have heard comment on it were perplexed that it would be mentioned not because they don't see how or why the NHS would be popular, but simply because it seemed to them rather an odd thing to showcase in the Olympics.
It struck me as a little odd too, but championing WWI and WWII would just be such a sour note.
It was the most lovable and neutral historic decision from that period, and unless you are an American of a certain opinion, wildly popular.
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NDP Federal Convention Ottawa 2018: A random assortment of Prots and Trots.
Posts: 7646 | From: Peterborough, Upper Canada | Registered: Jun 2007
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Firenze:
7/7 was the day after the announcement that London had won the Olympic bid. It has made the two inseparable; the threat of an attack on the London Games has shadowed the planning. To have an Opening Ceremony which breezed past it would have been a falsification.
Ah! Thx for this. I didn't get the connection,
From what I saw on this thread, I gather that the tribute was part of the BBC commentary? I watched the opening on NBC broadcast TV; and, IIRC, it was all NBC commentators--except for the actual text (spoken by Brannaugh, etc.). Maybe it simply didn't occur to them? NOT defending them; just thinking through.
The BBC doesn't have commercial breaks, right? That might be a factor.
quote:
There was quite a bit - especially in that and the NHS/ children's lit section - about how light is threatened by dark, its triumph is not a given. Shades of E M Forster on Beethoven 5.
IMHO, the whole thing was very well done, if visually intense. (I'm migraine-prone, so it matters.) I did wonder when they started playing "Tubular Bells", given that it's the theme from "The Exorcist".
![[Paranoid]](graemlins/paranoid.gif) ![[Confused]](confused.gif)
But it began to make more sense as the light/dark theme developed. When the commentator explained that the "GOSH" sign was for Great Ormand Street Hospital, then I got the Peter Pan connection. (The author donated his proceeds there, in perpetuity.) But I had no idea about a connection between that and the NHS. A commentator did mention it in passing, but that's about all I know.
I do think that sports commentators doing live coverage of anything except football, baseball, and basketball say a lot of stupid things, and NBC is no exception to that. A couple of nights ago, they made fun of the late leader of N. Korea, and also of badminton.
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
BTW, I've heard there's a huge conflagration on Twitter re NBC's coverage, at #NBCFail. Besides all the obvious things to comment on, the guy who started the complaints had his account pulled, AIUI. Seems that NBC has a financial relationship with Twitter...
ETA: "How Twitter's Exposing NBC's Olympic Failures", in transcript from APM's "Marketplace" show.
[ 01. August 2012, 01:35: Message edited by: Golden Key ]
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Choirboy
Shipmate
# 9659
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by RuthW:
Seriously? I have a hard time imagining some subset of Americans would actually be angry. I can see some folks brushing it off as some foreign thing they didn't need to care about. But it seems to me that folks who turn on their TVs to watch something that they know originates outside the US would, even if they were unsympathetic, not be angry so much as bored, and take the opportunity to use the bathroom and then grab another beer.
Yes, seriously. They wouldn't notice if there were no commemorations. But if there were to be any remembrances, then they would say it wouldn't be right to leave 9/11 out - in fact, they may even insist on primacy of place, citing numbers killed or something.
Posts: 2994 | From: Minneapolis, Minnesota USA | Registered: Jun 2005
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Golden Key:
BTW, I've heard there's a huge conflagration on Twitter re NBC's coverage, at #NBCFail. Besides all the obvious things to comment on, the guy who started the complaints had his account pulled, AIUI. Seems that NBC has a financial relationship with Twitter...
ETA: "How Twitter's Exposing NBC's Olympic Failures", in transcript from APM's "Marketplace" show.
I saw a segment about #NBCfail on CNN this afternoon. The commentary ran something like this:
Bepectacled Straight man: Gee whiz, you guys, a lot of people are upset about NBC not covering events where Americans don't win! Have you seen what they're saying at #NBCFail?
Toothy Chick: Yeah, they'll spend all this time covering the American who got the bronze, but next to nothing about the Chinese guy who won the Gold.
KenDoll: But you see, Timmy, The Olympics are very nationalistic in flavor. The Americans don't really want to see anything but other Americans, ho, ho, ho.
Toothy chick: that's true-- and the coverage in the other countries is probably just the same, ho, ho, ho.
Bespectacled Straight Man: You know? You're right. Thanks for setting me straight, guys. Ho, ho.
OK, there's a few things that bother me about this segment. First of all, it was done in the "scripted to the last ho" style that is supposed to mimic spontaneous banter. Second, it was delivered with the collective verve of a junior high production for Our Town. But what bugged me most was: they started off the segment with a statement that people were bugged about the coverage, and responded to the information by saying," Well, the answer is, they like it just fine."
As for the ejection of the guy who started the hashtag-- where you smite down one hash, ten will spring up in its place. I don't know what Twitter thought it would accomplish besides more bad PR.
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
@NBCSports
Hire Kelly Alves immediately! ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Kelly Alves
Bunny with an axe
# 2522
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Posted
Oh, I forgot a bit:
Toothy Chick: Gee whilikers, do you think audience expectations will be different now that we live in a more globally conscious world?
KenDoll: No, no, Tiffany, we're still self-absorbed as ever...
[ 01. August 2012, 05:53: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]
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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.
Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
Kelly--
Well, you gotta make allowances for KenDoll. He wouldn't make a commitment, so Barbie left him for an Aussie. Seriously.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Palimpsest
Shipmate
# 16772
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Sober Preacher's Kid:
[Don't worry. In every country that has introduced universal health provision (by whatever method, NHS, single-payer, universal mandate for insurance), the policy very quickly became popular and then a generation later seen as a 'bedrock value'. See the NHS, Tommy Douglas and Woodrow Lloyd in Saskatchewan, the list goes on. Romneycare is popular in Massachusetts, so I understand.
Give it time. The US is just a little late to the party. By 2020 people will look back on the anti-Obamacare rhetoric as so much misguided hot air, much as Canada looks at the Saskatchewan Doctor's Strike.
Americans are going to love 2014. [/QB]
Don't bet on it. We Americans are still resisting the metric system as a Communard plot.
Posts: 2990 | From: Seattle WA. US | Registered: Nov 2011
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Golden Key
Shipmate
# 1468
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Posted
But we did at least *learn* the metric system, back in the 60s/70s. We just didn't switch over. However, our grocery labels generally use both systems.
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Blessed Gator, pray for us!
--"Oh bat bladders, do you have to bring common sense into this?" (Dragon, "Jane & the Dragon")
--"Oh, Peace Train, save this country!" (Yusuf/Cat Stevens, "Peace Train")
Posts: 18601 | From: Chilling out in an undisclosed, sincere pumpkin patch. | Registered: Oct 2001
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
KenDoll: But you see, Timmy, The Olympics are very nationalistic in flavor. The Americans don't really want to see anything but other Americans, ho, ho, ho.
Toothy chick: that's true-- and the coverage in the other countries is probably just the same, ho, ho, ho.
Well, "toothy chick", you couldn't be more wrong. The TV coverage over here can only be described as "comprehensive, bordering on obsessive". Every sport is live on TV, regardless of whether there's a British competitor or not. And it's been absolutely fabulous so far ![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif) . Why, just last night I was watching a Filippino take on a Turk in the boxing followed by Spain v USA in the men's beach volleyball and I never once thought "man, there's no Brits taking part so I'm not going to watch".
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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Niteowl
Hopeless Insomniac
# 15841
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Kelly Alves:
I saw a segment about #NBCfail on CNN this afternoon. The commentary ran something like this:
Bepectacled Straight man: Gee whiz, you guys, a lot of people are upset about NBC not covering events where Americans don't win! Have you seen what they're saying at #NBCFail?
Toothy Chick: Yeah, they'll spend all this time covering the American who got the bronze, but next to nothing about the Chinese guy who won the Gold.
KenDoll: But you see, Timmy, The Olympics are very nationalistic in flavor. The Americans don't really want to see anything but other Americans, ho, ho, ho.
Toothy chick: that's true-- and the coverage in the other countries is probably just the same, ho, ho, ho.
Bespectacled Straight Man: You know? You're right. Thanks for setting me straight, guys. Ho, ho.
OK, there's a few things that bother me about this segment. First of all, it was done in the "scripted to the last ho" style that is supposed to mimic spontaneous banter. Second, it was delivered with the collective verve of a junior high production for Our Town. But what bugged me most was: they started off the segment with a statement that people were bugged about the coverage, and responded to the information by saying," Well, the answer is, they like it just fine."
CNN is one of my daily news checks and I've been wondering since the Olympics started whether they are actually an NBC affiliate as the website has had several pro-NBC articles, including a piece this morning that almost matched your script. They took the opinion piece and wrote the script for several people. It just doesn't work and doesn't fly with most of us.
[ 01. August 2012, 08:44: Message edited by: Niteowl2 ]
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"love all, trust few, do wrong to no one"
Wm. Shakespeare
Posts: 2437 | From: U.S. | Registered: Aug 2010
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Robert Armin
All licens'd fool
# 182
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Posted
It took me a while to understand what was going on in the tribute, and I think part of that was I don't think I've seen any other public commemoration of those who died in the tube bombings. In America you've had one really big, horrendous, terrorist attack. In Britain we've had decades of smaller attacks; that doesn't make the pain any less, but they are far more part of life.
(And of course, those attacks were largely funded by Americans - the sort who like watching NBC, I would imagine.)
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Keeping fit was an obsession with Fr Moity .... He did chin ups in the vestry, calisthenics in the pulpit, and had developed a series of Tai-Chi exercises to correspond with ritual movements of the Mass. The Antipope Robert Rankin
Posts: 8927 | From: In the pack | Registered: May 2001
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
I presume you are talking about the IRA - those cute, cuddly little teddy bears shaking off the shackles of imperialist domination - just like Murkans?
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Tubbs
Miss Congeniality
# 440
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Posted
Zach82 wrote:
quote:
Sentences begin with "I’m also trying to imagine reaction in the US if..." are inevitably going to be unfair generalizations of the people of the United States. …
No, they’re just observations as not all generalisations are unfair. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
NBC’s actions and their justification of them are ignorant and crass. But NBC is a collection of individuals who make up a company and don’t represent the US as a whole. All nations are made up of delightful individuals and total morons.
quote:
Fair enough, have a moment of silence or something. I agree that cutting the memorial was tasteless, but I can't see that it's worth getting offended about. I didn't just not watch tearful tributes to 9/11 seven years after the fact, I was mortally tired of them.
So, if you’re not bothered and can’t see why people are offended, then why are you posting? It’s not like there aren’t plenty of other discussions to take part in. Or are you so caught up in your own world that as you’re not bothered, no one else should be either? ![[Disappointed]](graemlins/disappointed.gif)
Choirboy wrote:
quote:
Yes, seriously. They wouldn't notice if there were no commemorations. But if there were to be any remembrances, then they would say it wouldn't be right to leave 9/11 out - in fact, they may even insist on primacy of place, citing numbers killed or something.
One of the beauties of the wall of remembrance is that it allowed people watching to contemplate what they wanted – Munich, 9/11, Syria, 7/7, Afghanistan, Iraq, lost loved ones etc – rather than focusing on a particular event. (The pee or beer break opportunity it presented goes without saying). It neatly side-stepped the whole whose national tragedy is worse / takes precedence discussion – ours because it happened here and we’re the hosts; yours because more people died overall and the many of them were from other nations who are present; their’s because a government has turned on it’s own people and is seeking to destroy them … When all are equally horrific, sad and worthy of remembrance.
Tubbs
PS I have never watched so much sport in my life. As Marvin says, it's wall to wall coverage on the BBC, reguardless of whether we're in it or not. No strange urges to get off the sofa and join in as yet. ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
[ 01. August 2012, 10:46: Message edited by: Tubbs ]
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"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am
Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001
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alienfromzog
Ship's Alien
# 5327
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by PaulBC:
Thankfully here in Canada we had CTV & CBC showing the event.Yes it was way British.But what would you expect ? The games are in London.
Now if I have crticism it is the ommission of a memorial for the Israeli atheletes murdered at Munich in 1972. And HNS vs Voldemort HOWL
Now if Dr.Who had made an appearance that would have been a topper. ![[Angel]](graemlins/angel.gif) ![[Votive]](graemlins/votive.gif)
Apparently the IOC wouldn't allow any '72 reference.
There was indeed a subtle Who reference - the TARDIS could be heard during Bohemian Rhapsody...
And yes the Daily Show's take on this was wonderful (currently posted on my Facebook page). It gives me hope that all is not lost for America...
AFZ
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Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts.
[Sen. D.P.Moynihan]
An Alien's View of Earth - my blog (or vanity exercise...)
Posts: 2150 | From: Zog, obviously! Straight past Alpha Centauri, 2nd planet on the left... | Registered: Dec 2003
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Niteowl
Hopeless Insomniac
# 15841
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by alienfromzog:
quote:
Originally posted by PaulBC:
Thankfully here in Canada we had CTV & CBC showing the event.Yes it was way British.But what would you expect ? The games are in London.
Now if I have crticism it is the ommission of a memorial for the Israeli atheletes murdered at Munich in 1972. And HNS vs Voldemort HOWL
Now if Dr.Who had made an appearance that would have been a topper.
Apparently the IOC wouldn't allow any '72 reference.
There was indeed a subtle Who reference - the TARDIS could be heard during Bohemian Rhapsody...
And yes the Daily Show's take on this was wonderful (currently posted on my Facebook page). It gives me hope that all is not lost for America...
AFZ
The one good thing about the American televised version. Bob Costas explained the IOC not allowing a moment of silence for the Israeli athletes killed and then held a moment of silence. I may not care for NBC, but my respect for Bob Costas went up a few notches.
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"love all, trust few, do wrong to no one"
Wm. Shakespeare
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Paul.
Shipmate
# 37
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by alienfromzog:
And yes the Daily Show's take on this was wonderful (currently posted on my Facebook page).
It's ironic that I can't view it in the UK though.
Posts: 3689 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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Tubbs
Miss Congeniality
# 440
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by wilson:
quote:
Originally posted by alienfromzog:
And yes the Daily Show's take on this was wonderful (currently posted on my Facebook page).
It's ironic that I can't view it in the UK though.
But you can. ![[Yipee]](graemlins/spin.gif) The Daily Show's UK site has the clip
The clip is not work safe - but only because fits of uncontrollable giggling draw manager's attention to the fact that you're not actually working ... ![[Hot and Hormonal]](icon_redface.gif)
Tubbs
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"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am
Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001
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Paul.
Shipmate
# 37
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Tubbs:
quote:
Originally posted by wilson:
quote:
Originally posted by alienfromzog:
And yes the Daily Show's take on this was wonderful (currently posted on my Facebook page).
It's ironic that I can't view it in the UK though.
But you can. The Daily Show's UK site has the clip
The clip is not work safe - but only because fits of uncontrollable giggling draw manager's attention to the fact that you're not actually working ...
Thanks
Posts: 3689 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2004
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
quote:
So, if you’re not bothered and can’t see why people are offended, then why are you posting? It’s not like there aren’t plenty of other discussions to take part in. Or are you so caught up in your own world that as you’re not bothered, no one else should be either
Because the constant, breathless offense is ridiculous. It's ridiculous coming from Americans (which you are only too ready to say) but it's just as ridiculous coming from your lot.
The opening ceremonies of the Olympics are one huge, self indulgent exercise in sentimentality. I am doing one worse during this celebration of international love and sportsmanship than only watching the Americans- I am not watching it at all.
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
Get lost, mdijon. I didn't make this about me, you did, and I am not getting drawn into this bullshit anymore.
Alas, alas, how soon the young forget.
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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mdijon
Shipmate
# 8520
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
Because the constant, breathless offense is ridiculous.
So despite taking a stand against unfair generalizations elsewhere, you now cast this thread as part of a narrative of constant breathless offence, and have taken offence at it?
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mdijon nojidm uoɿıqɯ ɯqıɿou
ɯqıɿou uoɿıqɯ nojidm mdijon
Posts: 12277 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2004
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
<stuff>
I am doing one worse during this celebration of international love and sportsmanship than only watching the Americans- I am not watching it at all.
Could you possibly be consistent and disregard this and other O****** threads too.
Thank you
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
Could you possibly get to a place in your life where Americans not watching a shot put competition between Kiribati and Namibia isn't offensive to you?
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Sioni Sais
Shipmate
# 5713
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
Could you possibly get to a place in your life where Americans* not watching a shot put competition between Kiribati and Namibia isn't offensive to you?
I don't mind Americans watching or not watching this, that and the other, but if you're not watching why are you complaining? Is your set stuck to NBC?
eta: *Other nationalities are available. Same goes, mutatis mutandis.
[ 01. August 2012, 12:13: Message edited by: Sioni Sais ]
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"He isn't Doctor Who, he's The Doctor"
(Paul Sinha, BBC)
Posts: 24276 | From: Newport, Wales | Registered: Apr 2004
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mdijon
Shipmate
# 8520
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
Could you possibly get to a place in your life where Americans not watching a shot put competition between Kiribati and Namibia isn't offensive to you?
I know that you know that we all know that that's not a fair characterization of what people on this thread are annoyed about.
[ 01. August 2012, 12:13: Message edited by: mdijon ]
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mdijon nojidm uoɿıqɯ ɯqıɿou
ɯqıɿou uoɿıqɯ nojidm mdijon
Posts: 12277 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2004
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
quote:
I don't mind Americans watching or not watching this, that and the other, but if you're not watching why are you complaining? Is your set stuck to NBC?
eta: *Other nationalities are available. Same goes, mutatis mutandis.
Because watching track and field on television is so boring that even arguing about it on the internet is more interesting.
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Tubbs
Miss Congeniality
# 440
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
quote:
So, if you’re not bothered and can’t see why people are offended, then why are you posting? It’s not like there aren’t plenty of other discussions to take part in. Or are you so caught up in your own world that as you’re not bothered, no one else should be either
Because the constant, breathless offense is ridiculous. It's ridiculous coming from Americans (which you are only too ready to say) but it's just as ridiculous coming from your lot.
...
The only thing that’s ridiculous is someone attempting to tell other people what they should and shouldn’t be offended about – and the best way of expressing that – based purely on their own opinions of what is and isn’t worthy.
So you’re not offended and I am?! Other people’s feelings and thoughts are just as valid as yours you know. I appreciate that this idea may come as a shock to you ...
Tubbs
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"It's better to keep your mouth shut and be thought a fool than open it up and remove all doubt" - Dennis Thatcher. My blog. Decide for yourself which I am
Posts: 12701 | From: Someplace strange | Registered: Jun 2001
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by PeteC:
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
...
and I am not getting drawn into this bullshit anymore.
Alas, alas, how soon the young forget.
Once again with feeling...
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
Do I have some obligation to think all your feelings are valid, Tubbs? In Hell?
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Uncle Pete
Loyaute me lie
# 10422
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Posted
Why not? You seem to think that your feelings are worth whinging about.
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Even more so than I was before
Posts: 20466 | From: No longer where I was | Registered: Sep 2005
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mdijon
Shipmate
# 8520
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Posted
It's a variation of the questions: am I under some obligation to be reasonable in hell? To be logical? To engage in argument?
Commandment violations notwithstanding, of course one isn't. But one will be thought a non-engaging, illogical arse if one doesn't.
Putting in a "this is shit" or "this is lame" interjection, then defending with "what, I'm supposed to be logical/engage/validate your feelings" response is a very tiring pattern of posting.
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mdijon nojidm uoɿıqɯ ɯqıɿou
ɯqıɿou uoɿıqɯ nojidm mdijon
Posts: 12277 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2004
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
I'm tiresome, you're tiresome, we're all bloody tiresome. This is the internet. There is an endless supply of people being offended, and and endless supply of people telling them to stop being tiresome old spinsters that need to get laid.
Here's a nice rant about the same thing from Stephen Fry.
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
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Posted
Getting back to NBC's coverage. . .
I miss the medal ceremonies. They have all but disappeared. (Or maybe they are on live streaming; I don't know because I have no cable and a crappy computer).
I look back fondly at watching the Olympics when I was younger and coming to a realization that the world was amazingly diverse and interesting. Even though I lived in New York City, life could be fairly insular. Hearing those various national anthems had a part in moving me to be a more open person.
NBC apparently doesn't believe I can continue to have such feelings.
Also miss seeing other countries compete and <gasp!> win.
If a person just wants to see one country's athletes do their thing, they should watch the national championships for that country. The Olympics is for the world.
For example, I would like to see more highlights on athletes from countries which typically don't win medals. Also, I find it interesting that Muslim women are competing from countries that in the past wouldn't have allowed it. And then there are some countries which send maybe one or two athletes. What becomes of them after the parade of athletes (which was also interrupted repeatedly for adverts)?
Jeez. . .if a network can arrange for hockey and soccer to go mostly uninterrupted thanks to a sponsor, why can't they arrange for the Olympics to be less chopped up?
And for heaven's sake, why all the preliminary qualifying heats for one sport taking over massive time in programming on NBC when such delightful sports like Equestrian and fencing, etc. are relagated to cable? I'm tired to hours and hours of qualifying and wouldn't have minded a bit of medal competition dressage.
But I guess NBC thinks that dopes like me with limited tv range wouldn't go for more "high toned" sports.
Oh, and one last annoying thing: When an anthem or important piece of music or ceremony is being performed, I'd like to hear it and watch it without having some ninny chattering on throughout, if you please. Hearing a piece of music is NOT dead air time!
I liked what I was able to see of the opening ceremonies, but so far. . .
Thank you, NBC, for some thoroughly frustating moments. I rarely get steamed about tv since I don't watch much of it, but this has me
sabine
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"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
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Marvin the Martian
Interplanetary
# 4360
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
I'm tiresome, you're tiresome, we're all bloody tiresome. This is the internet.
If that's really how you feel then log the fuck off and rid us of your contribution to the overall tiresomeness.
We won't miss you.
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Hail Gallaxhar
Posts: 30100 | From: Adrift on a sea of surreality | Registered: Apr 2003
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
No, you would find another person to bully soon enough.
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Organ Builder
Shipmate
# 12478
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
No, you would find another person to bully soon enough.
On the first page of Oblivion is a Hell call for you from Le Roc, started in June. I don't remember Le Roc ever being so upset as to start a Hell call before, though I may well have missed it.
On the first and only page of Hell is your Hell call from Orfeo, started in July. I think Orfeo has started Hell calls before, but he's not in the top 5 or 10 by any means.
The month of August is still young...
Throwing out the word "bully" seems a little careless under those circumstances, but perhaps it's just one of those irregular verbs:
I debate [passionately].
You are obsessed [by the subject].
He/She bullies.
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How desperately difficult it is to be honest with oneself. It is much easier to be honest with other people.--E.F. Benson
Posts: 3337 | From: ...somewhere in between 40 and death... | Registered: Mar 2007
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mdijon
Shipmate
# 8520
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Posted
Let me take stock Zach;
- you were annoyed by people being offended and felt the need to say so.
- But you don't want to make it about you, I did that.
- You aren't going to be drawn on this bullshit any more. [But see below.]
- Your defence is that you don't need to recognise anyone else's feelings as valid.
- You think we are part of endless breathless offence, which seems to offend you enough to move you to post
- And we are all as tiresome as each other.
- But your hanging around prevents us bullying someone else.
I have a memory of reading engaging posts from you in the past, but this reads like a bad newbie/troll act.
[ 01. August 2012, 14:08: Message edited by: mdijon ]
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mdijon nojidm uoɿıqɯ ɯqıɿou
ɯqıɿou uoɿıqɯ nojidm mdijon
Posts: 12277 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2004
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
I've been called to hell three times in 10 years. The first one, from my first year, was a big misunderstanding, and the OP admitted as much. After 10 years I get two hell calls, and suddenly I'm a vicious idiot whom everyone hates.
Now someone blame me for making this thread about me, because that's how hell works.
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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Organ Builder
Shipmate
# 12478
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Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Zach82:
Now someone blame me for making this thread about me, because that's how hell works.
Perhaps you could edit The Collected Works of Yorick.
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How desperately difficult it is to be honest with oneself. It is much easier to be honest with other people.--E.F. Benson
Posts: 3337 | From: ...somewhere in between 40 and death... | Registered: Mar 2007
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
Now would be an appropriate time for you to remind me of my resolution to not get drawn into this bullshit, Pete.
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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mdijon
Shipmate
# 8520
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Posted
3rd time lucky?
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mdijon nojidm uoɿıqɯ ɯqıɿou
ɯqıɿou uoɿıqɯ nojidm mdijon
Posts: 12277 | From: UK | Registered: Sep 2004
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Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
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Posted
No, probably not. There is very little doubt that I will post an innocent statement, someone like you will think it's more vicious than it actually is, and I will confirm my guilt by defending myself because I am overly defensive. Then the people that post on every hell thread will all show up to confirm that I am, indeed, guilty (just as they do for every victim of every hell thread, because it's their whole reason for posting in the first place). Again and again, until we all die.
I could just ignore hell threads, but I am as compelled to tell needlessly offended people to get over it as needlessly offended people are to be needlessly offended. An argument against free will if there ever was one.
[ 01. August 2012, 14:33: Message edited by: Zach82 ]
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Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
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