I got out my tape of the 1984 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony last night. This is one of my all time favorite memories. I still watch it once a year or so. It always lifts me up. It is not only one of the most patriotic events I have ever witnessed but it is also one of the most moving human events I have ever witnessed. It is mankind at its very best. It still gives me goose bump and brings me to tears.
It is by far the best Opening Ceremony in the history of the Olympics. I think there are two reasons. First - all the music is familiar. Not just familiar in the sense that it is new or popular but familiar in the sense that almost everyone, at least in the U.S., has heard it, knows it, and can probably sing along. Most of it will be familiar all over the World. Second - this ceremony took place in the daytime with natural light. Natural light gives me the freedom to look around and create my own story about what is going on. In darkness I am a slave to what the spotlight chooses to show me. I will always be a fan of full lighting.
So now I'm ready for the upcoming Olympics.
This week's trials included Archery and Cycling. Here's the Google link to lots of articles about them -
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=ascii&q=Olympic+Trials
As for the TV schedule, this week USA network will show rhythmic gymnastics and, I understand, trampoline. That's on Saturday morning.
This is also the week the Gymnastics Trials. They will be shown on Saturday and Sunday evenings on NBC. I'm assuming some of it will be live.
I still find it interesting that we got 2 1/2 hours of Gymnastics Nationals and now we get 4 hours of Trials. In comparison we got 6 hours of Diving competition, of which 3 hours were live. I have this horrible feeling that NBC will treat gymnasitcs the way they did Figure Skating in 2002. That is to say they will make gymnastics a "primetime" only sport, which means we won't get to see very much of it. I really hope I'm wrong.
NBC plans to broadcast over 1200 hours of coverage on 6 channels, including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, USA, and Telemundo. There will be over 400 hours of HD coverage. YIKES!!
It is by far the best Opening Ceremony in the history of the Olympics. I think there are two reasons. First - all the music is familiar. Not just familiar in the sense that it is new or popular but familiar in the sense that almost everyone, at least in the U.S., has heard it, knows it, and can probably sing along. Most of it will be familiar all over the World. Second - this ceremony took place in the daytime with natural light. Natural light gives me the freedom to look around and create my own story about what is going on. In darkness I am a slave to what the spotlight chooses to show me. I will always be a fan of full lighting.
So now I'm ready for the upcoming Olympics.
This week's trials included Archery and Cycling. Here's the Google link to lots of articles about them -
http://news.google.com/news?hl=en&edition=us&ie=ascii&q=Olympic+Trials
As for the TV schedule, this week USA network will show rhythmic gymnastics and, I understand, trampoline. That's on Saturday morning.
This is also the week the Gymnastics Trials. They will be shown on Saturday and Sunday evenings on NBC. I'm assuming some of it will be live.
I still find it interesting that we got 2 1/2 hours of Gymnastics Nationals and now we get 4 hours of Trials. In comparison we got 6 hours of Diving competition, of which 3 hours were live. I have this horrible feeling that NBC will treat gymnasitcs the way they did Figure Skating in 2002. That is to say they will make gymnastics a "primetime" only sport, which means we won't get to see very much of it. I really hope I'm wrong.
NBC plans to broadcast over 1200 hours of coverage on 6 channels, including NBC, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, USA, and Telemundo. There will be over 400 hours of HD coverage. YIKES!!