I think that this was one of the best opening ceremonies. IMO, Beijing is no. 1, following by Barcelona and Turino. Sochi is in that grouping. They did an amazing job capturing Russia's wonderful literature, architecture, dance, music, and art.

Every country uses these ceremonies for PR purposes. In London, the opening was all about James Bond and corgis, the Welfare State and multicultural utopia (nevermind that immigration and "welfare scroungers" are the biggest hot button topics there). Vancouver wasn't going to talk about Canada's sometimes dicey history with the First Peoples. Beijing? The country which executes more of its citizens than any other nation on earth? Yeah, that wasn't going to be mentioned. This kind of propaganda goes all the way back to the Olympics in Germany in 1936.

Exactly. It isn't like we showed scalped and murdered Indians or whipped and raped enslaved African Americans or the dogs and fire hoses set on African Americans during Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement or the Japanese sent to internment camps during in the opening ceremony in Atlanta. Every country has its own share of shameful and ugly history that it ignores at huge international moments like these. NBC's hypocrisy and jingoism is to much to take at times which is why I watch on mute when they are talking.

I liked when Thomas Bach, the IOC Presidents, lectured the world politicians about scoring their political points off the "backs of the athletes." The Olympics should never be used as a political game. The boycotts in the past were wrong. Also, Obama and the other Europeans should have attended the opening. Those athletes deserved a few minutes of their attention.

Edited February 8, 201411 yr by Ann_SS

The Netherlands won Gold, Silver and Bronze in men's speed skating over 5000 metres. So happy for our dear neighbors

I'm also happy that Norway and Sweden did well at women's skiathlon.

The opening was amazing. I knew it would be more than just crazy bling. The Russians have a culture of science, music, ballet and literature which is one of the richest and most refined in the world. The maps on the ground of the sea, turning into naval campaigns, turning into the construction of St. Petersburg, were breathtaking. The ballet was spectacular.

I know the TV commentators were criticizing the zero mention of Stalin or Russians suffering at the hands of evil dictators (*cough* *side-eyes Putin*) but I don't know what they were thinking. This is the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Nobody is going to show people being starved to death or tortured in a gulag. This is a mega promotion for the state tourism office!

Every country uses these ceremonies for PR purposes. In London, the opening was all about James Bond and corgis, the Welfare State and multicultural utopia (nevermind that immigration and "welfare scroungers" are the biggest hot button topics there). Vancouver wasn't going to talk about Canada's sometimes dicey history with the First Peoples. Beijing? The country which executes more of its citizens than any other nation on earth? Yeah, that wasn't going to be mentioned. This kind of propaganda goes all the way back to the Olympics in Germany in 1936.

Watching snowboarding this morning. LOL, The US won the first gold medal! Woot! Seeing the three medalists (from the US, Sweden, Canada) hug each other and jump around in the snow together was so cute. Snowboarders are so chill. They really don't have time for hate. I loved them somersaulting on their run over a giant Russian doll!

I absolutely love reading your posts!

I'm not a ballet fan but the dove-ballet performance was my favourite. I just thought it was very cool with all the spinning and lights. I thought the map on the ground was very cool too.

They were swans lmao You're right, they did look beautiful

The opening was amazing. I knew it would be more than just crazy bling. The Russians have a culture of science, music, ballet and literature which is one of the richest and most refined in the world. The maps on the ground of the sea, turning into naval campaigns, turning into the construction of St. Petersburg, were breathtaking. The ballet was spectacular.

I know the TV commentators were criticizing the zero mention of Stalin or Russians suffering at the hands of evil dictators (*cough* *side-eyes Putin*) but I don't know what they were thinking. This is the opening ceremony of the Olympics. Nobody is going to show people being starved to death or tortured in a gulag. This is a mega promotion for the state tourism office!

Every country uses these ceremonies for PR purposes. In London, the opening was all about James Bond and corgis, the Welfare State and multicultural utopia (nevermind that immigration and "welfare scroungers" are the biggest hot button topics there). Vancouver wasn't going to talk about Canada's sometimes dicey history with the First Peoples. Beijing? The country which executes more of its citizens than any other nation on earth? Yeah, that wasn't going to be mentioned. This kind of propaganda goes all the way back to the Olympics in Germany in 1936.

Love, love, love

Exactly. It isn't like we showed scalped and murdered Indians or whipped and raped enslaved African Americans or the dogs and fire hoses set on African Americans during Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Movement or the Japanese sent to internment camps during in the opening ceremony in Atlanta. Every country has its own share of shameful and ugly history that it ignores at huge international moments like these. NBC's hypocrisy and jingoism is to much to take at times which is why I watch on mute when they are talking.

The way Lauer was talking, you would expect that this would be the norm lol Like, how DARE they not mention dark spots, how DARE they skim over their bad, bad ways.

I'm also happy that Norway and Sweden did well at women's skiathlon.

I think that the Norwegian girls did as well as they did was amazing. I don't know if you know, but their team-mate Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen suddenly and tragically lost her brother yesterday. He was also her training partner and a close friend to many of the other skaters. They were told of his death last night, and it must have been so hard for them to focus on the competition. They all wore black ribbons on their dresses and said afterwards that they skated for Astrid and her family.

Apparently the woman who lit the torch tweeted a racist, doctored photo of the Obamas last year.

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116534/irina-rodrinas-racist-tweet-russian-figure-skater-lit-olympic-flame?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=flyout&utm_campaign=mostpopular

Edited February 8, 201411 yr by DRW50

Gold and Silver for the Dufour-Lapointe sisters in Freestyle Moguls! It would've been perfect if all three sisters got medals, but we'll take gold and silver. And we bronze in snowboard slopes. A very good start for Canada!

That 15 year old Russian figure skating was amazing! I guess they added this team figure skating competition because figure skating draws big numbers.

Yulia Lipitinskaya, Toups! She was amazing. And as cool as a cucumber.

Congrats for the Canadian win on the moguls. And congrats to the Netherlands -- gold, silver AND bronze for men's speed-skating!

Seriously, Yulia is amazing. I cannot believe the things that she can do with her body. She is elegant also.

I am watching the figure skating live right now (and so is Putin, who is in the Sochi audience). Gracie Gold skated very beautifully, but Yulia Lipnitskaya came on again and skated to the main theme from Schindler's List. Holy cow, her technique. I got chills up and down my spine. She is a phenomena.

Edited February 9, 201411 yr by Cat

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/02/07/blondie-russia-performance-canceled-_n_4747466.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices

Wow, I just read that the IOC has reprimanded Norway over the black ribbons that the Norwegian skaters wore during the women's skiathlon competition yesterday. They wore it, as I said in an earlier post, in remembrance of team-mate Astrid Jacobsen's brother who died suddenly on Friday and who was a close friend to many of the other skaters.

According to the IOC the competition venues are supposed to be a place of joy, not sorrow.

Oh how ridiculous. It's not like the black ribbons were performance enhancing drugs! They weren't harming anybody and were very discreet. I didn't even notice them.

This male figure skater from Italy has a huge booty, it's hard to stop staring at it, haha.

Wow, Yulia. I thought that she almost lost one of her jumps, but overall, she was outstanding.