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2012 Olympics Thread

Discussion in 'Fred's House of Pancakes' started by zenMachine, Jul 26, 2012.

  1. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    #NBCfail continues. Performances by Kate Bush, Muse, Ray Davies, The Who in the Closing Ceremonies were cut in favor of Animal Practice.

    Really, NBC??!! Wth!!
     
  2. massparanoia

    massparanoia Active Member

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    It's NBC. Are you really that suprised?

    They have proven to be well versed in selectively editing...
     
  3. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    it was a great 2 weeks tho, we really enjoyed it. amazing athletes. we're still watching highlites! (at least, we were until the basketball replay came on:().
     
  4. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    And how'd your daughter enjoy it over here? (was it you who said yours was over here?)
     
  5. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    Met an American couple last weekend who were at the Women's Beach Volleyball final. They said the atmosphere was terrific and the city was very well run. Their only complaint was that the gold medal match was US vs US.
     
  6. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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  7. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    That's because you have the conditions in which to practice beach volleyball :)

    If there was an olympic sport for umbrella dancing, we'd come top at that (y)
     
  8. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    My biggest complaint is that NBC showed too much Beach Volleyball. I got so sick and tired of watching it, even though I used to play the sport myself. I mean, it's the freaking Olympics, for crying out loud!

    Since I don't have payTV I was not able to watch NBC live streams of the other events. Fortunately I was able to access the BBC iPlayer and saw some of the less sexy events like archery, judo, badminton, etc. Not to mention the unabridged versions of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies.

    I thought Muse's performance, which was edited out by NBC, was a seriously outstanding piece. Sad to see that The Who's closing trilogy also was cut. What a damn shame.
     
  9. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    I didn't realise it would work for you over there? It was a good service and only a second or two behind the tv transmissions. Did you get the full on demand options or just the live stream?

    Think it's bizarre that NBC would pay for the rights and then end up cutting out half of it.
     
  10. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    If you're outside the UK and want to watch BBC iPlayer you need a VPN service such as Unblock-US. I'd rather pay these guys a few bucks when I need to instead of paying monthly for cable TV that I hardly ever watch. I'd rather have a system like the UK where you must buy a TV license, but in return you get a well-funded public TV/Radio service without incessant commercials. Of course that would never work over here where Public TV is considered a waste of taxpayers' money and is constantly under threat of funding cuts.

    Back to topic, most Americans probably aren't even aware that they weren't seeing the whole show. A friend of mine just learned this morning about the missing Who performance. He was pissed.
     
  11. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    yes, it was a mix of business and pleasure. they had a great time with their british counterparts. stayed in the marylebonne area and went for a run every morning. weather was pretty decent and they worked hard all day and enjoyed the nightlife. she was surprised at how quiet it was almost upto the opening ceremonies. unfortunately, they were not able to get tix for any events.
     
  12. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

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    that surprised me as well. i didn't even know it was possible. seemed odd in a team sport.
     
  13. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    Am I the only one who finds it exceedingly odd that a tribute to fifty years of British music did not feature anything by Elton John?
     
  14. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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  15. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Makes you wonder if he had other commitments? Personally I thought they concentrated on old school bands, with a token gesture of newer stuff. Elton had already done a fabulous show at our Jubilee celebrations only a couple months earlier, so expecting him to do two big live events in London might have been pushing it?
     
  16. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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  17. Chuck.

    Chuck. Former Honda Enzyte Driver

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    ^ maybe they just could not invite everybody, but that's a good problem...what if their best was forgettables on Britain's Got Talent‎?
     
  18. NiHaoMike

    NiHaoMike Member

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    Not bad considering that even half Olympic speed (which you exceeded) is still pretty fast. Back in high school, I would run to the cafeteria every day to secure an early spot in a slow line, and I had to carry 30 pounds of books at the same time. I never bothered to time or measure it, but I always got one of the first few spots, so to me, it was "good enough".

    It's too bad that such forms of "fun" everyday exercise aren't as common after high school.
     
  19. zenMachine

    zenMachine Just another Onionhead

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    Not everyone who was invited accepted. Jagger and Bowie reportedly declined to perform. Adele is seven month pregnant. Etc. But it is still strange that some of GB's most influential bands' music was not even heard anywhere anytime during any ceremony.

    LOCOG must have had some serious problems procuring the rights to play certain artists' songs. Tom Jones, Sting, Radiohead, U2, and on and on.

    Instead we were treated to FOUR performances by a decidedly average Jessie J, who looked totally out of place channeling Freddie Mercury. Sad.
     
  20. GrumpyCabbie

    GrumpyCabbie Senior Member

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    Defo think it was just that the artists didn't want to play.

    Sir Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue, Sir Elton John, Sir Paul McCartney, Robbie Williams, Garry Barlow, Sir Cliff Richard and Dame Shirley Bassey and others all played live at the June Jubliee party outside Buckingham Palace. I guess none of them had the time in their busy schedules to play in a closing ceremony.

    Diamond Jubilee Concert - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    p.s. U2 are an Irish band from Dublin, well maybe not any more. Last I heard Bono was going round telling everyone what they should do with their money whilst holding onto hundreds of millions of $'s of his own.