717 replies to this topic

[Bingo]

The closing ceremony was a bit of a snooze compared to the opening.

Wait till you see the spring provincial budget, then you'll know where we go from here.

[mat]

There were a few moments in the closing ceremonies where I sat back and said 'well done'. The beginning - a credible and humourous apology, as Canadians do so well, of the technical screw ups in the opening ceremony. That was well conceived - utilizing a mime/clown and the original torch lighter. (very Quebecois inspired - very Canadian)

The speech given by John Furlong was inspirational. Too bad it was so obviously not written by him, nor rehearsed. It was not his 'language', how he would speak, and he spent the entire time looking at the pages - not the audience. - and a word to speech writers. If your speaker is not a natural in another language - like French - don't give them long lines. Even Harper is learning that mistake.

As for the Michael Buble debacle - the RCMP have a credibility problem, and have now seriously lost the plot. Someone tell me who in the RCMP PR dept. allowed mini-skirted, uniformed starlets dance among disneyesque Moose in what was meant to be a serious send off to the VANCOUVER games!

Seriously - blow up moose, beaver; lumberjacks in Canadian Tire attire? - that was a parody of Canada, and a detriment to a multi-cultural ideal.

The finale of the 2010 Winter games will be recognized, on so many points, as a disappointment.

[gumgum]

All the stereotypical images were meant as self deprecation type humour. The silliness of the Buble portion was intentional. It was a "this is what you think us, so let's get it out of your system" sort of thing.

[sebberry]

I thought the flying moose and blow-up beavers were fun.

I think it was really classy of the producers to have Catriona Le May Doan back to have her chance at lighting the cauldron.

[phx]

The Olympics went very well, overall, and were worth the expense.

[sebberry]

I just tried to pre-order the commemorative DVD box set from the online store at CTV...

Until I realized all I have is a pathetic MasterCard

[sebberry]

It wasn't very Canadian of us to tell the American supporters to put their flags away while in public in Vancouver or threaten them with arrest...

[Bob Fugger]

I thought the flying moose and blow-up beavers were fun.

Do you mean the props in the show or the sexual positions?

P.S. Don't try them in a canoe.

[sebberry]

Do you mean the props in the show or the sexual positions?

P.S. Don't try them in a canoe.

The props

Anyone with a Visa card want to order that commemorative DVD blu-ray set for me? I filed an online Visa app last night with CIBC and was told "3-6 weeks you'll get our decision by mail".

[Sparky]

The props

Anyone with a Visa card want to order that commemorative DVD blu-ray set for me? I filed an online Visa app last night with CIBC and was told "3-6 weeks you'll get our decision by mail".

I will do it Seb. Send me a PM with the details

[sebberry]

I will do it Seb. Send me a PM with the details

I knew someone would come through Thanks!

[aastra]

It wasn't very Canadian of us to tell the American supporters to put their flags away while in public in Vancouver or threaten them with arrest...

They'd say they were trying to protect us from ourselves and thus keep the peace. Which is probably right.

So okay, here's the elephant in the room: have Canadians pressed it too far, this whole it's-okay-for-us-to-be-in-your-face-with-jingoisim-because-we're-just-so-darned-loveable-and-you're-not thing? Even if we have to beat the crap out of you because we're drunk and you're carrying the stars and stripes, trust us when we say it would still be a warm and fuzzy beating. A beating from an American mob or a Chinese mob wouldn't be nearly so endearing, let me tell you. Those people are fanatics.

I can never remember exactly but wasn't it in Nagano when other countries were complaining about Canadians being too over-the-top with it all? Too many flags, too many big flags, etc. I recall Don Cherry's rant about how other countries should go suck the proverbial egg if they don't like it. Such nationalistic boosterism is only offensive if we're talking about US flags or Chinese flags or [insert demonized nation here] flags.

Questions:

1) Have we become the very thing that we claimed to despise?

2) Does February 28, 2010 mark the apex? Will we tone it down from now on?

3) If Toronto ever hosts the summer olympics, what would the theme be? Will Canadians try to play the "burgeoning national pride" angle forever? For how many decades can a nation continue to play the "burgeoning national pride" angle before everyone -- foreign and domestic -- decides enough is enough?

4) We've finally exorcised the no-gold-at-home demon. Have we also finally exorcised the myriad doubts and demons of our great grandparents? Over the past two weeks we've celebrated every cliche and indulged in every stereotype. Have we finally convinced ourselves that it's okay to just relax?

[sebberry]

Good questions.

Arresting someone for waving the American flag on the grounds that they are in breach of peace or some crap like that before any breach has occurred is an outrage.

Why not arrest all the Canadians for fear that they will fight the Americans?

They're essentially saying if the Americans don't put their flags away that it is the CANADIANS that will start the violence... Should have simply locked all the Canadians in BC Place for the night

[VicHockeyFan]

^ ^ I wish we would not spend so much time checking to see how others perceive us.

Seriously, a lot of people switched to the NBC coverage, just to see how Americans would talk about us. I don't think that would ever happen the other way around.

[Barra]

Winning the gold for hockey was exhilarating! It was fun driving through downtown honking my horn and high-fiving people along the way.
I got back home in time to see the closing ceremony and what a let down. It was way too self referential - there were, after all, other nations involved in this event! As for the dancing moose - ok - slightly funny. But Bill Shatner's Canada rant was really poorly written! The Molson's commercial had more punch than his talk. Why didn't they hire a proper beat poet or comedy writer to write this thing? Catherine O'Hara was somewhat better - great entry as the curling lady - but peeing in the snow? I was embarrassed! Satire works when people understand what is underlying it, and I doubt that most nations watching 'get' the snow peeing reference.
The musicians were great. Loved having Neil Young there.
Were the ceremonies worth $40 million? Hardly.

[G-Man]

Aastra I tend to agree with you.

[aastra]

Hey, thanks. I tend to agree with you, too.

But Bill Shatner's Canada rant was really poorly written! The Molson's commercial had more punch than his talk. Why didn't they hire a proper beat poet or comedy writer to write this thing? Catherine O'Hara was somewhat better - great entry as the curling lady - but peeing in the snow? I was embarrassed!

I thought most of it was poorly written and also poorly read, and I ended up turning it off because I was feeling that opening/closing ceremonies discomfort that I described in an earlier post.

[Bob Fugger]

Hey, thanks. I tend to agree with you, too.



I thought most of it was poorly written and also poorly read, and I ended up turning it off because I was feeling that opening/closing ceremonies discomfort that I described in an earlier post.

I love Catherine O'Hara - but her bit made me uncomfortable and actually a bit embarrased for us.

[aastra]

Will NHLers be playing in Sochi?

Furthermore, if you're telling me that goal-machine Alexander Ovechkin won't participate in the Olympics held in his homeland for a chance at a gold medal because the NHL tells him he "isn't allowed," you might also try selling me poolside tickets to a Shamu show at Sea World. I'm not buying it.

http://bleacherrepor...downs-usa-in-ot

[davek]

It wasn't very Canadian of us to tell the American supporters to put their flags away while in public in Vancouver or threaten them with arrest...

As an American living in Canada, I'm sensitive to this sort of thing, so maybe I'm overstating matters, but I wish I had a dollar for every time I saw something done in Canada, by Canadians, that was met with the sneer "How very American!" Telling US supporters to put away flags or wind up in cages was done in Canada, by Canadians. If that doesn't make it Canadian, I don't know what would.