Worst Olympic Games opening ceremony ever!

[RealBlackStuff]

Last night I watched (only part of) the most boring and chaotic Olympic Games opening ever!
Filthy fume spewing smoke stacks, yeah right!
I switched over to another channel when they brought in the NHS hospital beds.
Tried it again a while later and was presented with some kiddie pop-concert. End of that story for me.
"We were not amused" as Queen Vic used to say.

[killer]

Comments from the media, both in the UK and worldwide: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19025686

[killer]

Irish Times report of the event: http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/bre ... king1.html

Maybe you missed the point, RBS?

[RealBlackStuff]

What point?
I do miss The Point (theater in Dublin), yes.

Being interrupted by numerous commercials does not add to any show either.
'Nuff said.

[killer]

We didn't have a single commercial throughout the entire broadcast. That must have been a local TV company decision.

From what I have read the point was to stress humanity, joy, and comedy rather than pure power. The bit about the NHS was actually about Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) which is a world-famous childrens' hospital which still receives royalties from J.M. Barrie's world-famous 'Peter Pan'. Disney paid a small fortune to the hospital for the right to make their cartoon film version of his work.

P.S. Perhaps I am wrong but I think Dublin still uses theatre rather than theater.

[RealBlackStuff]

P.S. Perhaps I am wrong but I think Dublin still uses theatre rather than theater.

Correct. But when in Rome...

[rkawakami]

We didn't have a single commercial throughout the entire broadcast.

You must be referring to the Beeb . I'm assuming that the UK is still requiring annual TV set licenses so that's a reason why you don't have to endure the onslaught of commercials every 10 minutes or so. I'm not so sure that system would work over here. "Public broadcasting" is the only viewer-supported, non-profit medium and it's been limping along for some years. Here in the USA the major TV networks are not run or funded by the government (despite what some fringe elements might believe). We are not required to pay anyone for the opportunity to watch TV shows from the commercial networks, as long as one lives in an area where you still have access to over-the-air (OTA) signals. As most of the people who live in urban areas are now getting their TV access from cable, the local telco or from satellite, that's changed. This year the US television broadcast rights of the Olympics was bought by NBC. Most of the events that the viewing public would want to see (the opening and closing ceremonies, the popular sports of gymnastics or swimming) are being broadcast "free" by the NBC network and its affiliated stations. Most of the coverage is occurring in "prime time"; 8pm to 11pm local time weekdays (7 Central ). They are also using several of their other distribution channels (Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC, NBC Sports and Telemundo, to name a few) to provide an extraordinary amount of coverage for those "lesser events", such as skeet, handball and foil, with many of them broadcast live. However, those channels are not accessible OTA as they require a cable or satellite subscription. Therefore, the US viewer is left with paying much $$$ for those channels AND we still have to skip past the commercials when viewing on our DVRs.

As far as the "theatre" vs. "theater", you say "neighbour", we say "neighbor". Having one less letter makes it easier to spell .

[killer]

@Ray: Yes, all the Olympic events are being covered by the BBC (Auntie Beeb). We are required by law to have a TV licence that covers a residence. The annual cost is £145.50 for colour TV and £49.00 for a black and white TV. Blind or partially sighted people get relief, and if anyone in the household is over 74 then the licence is free. There is no limit on the number of people in a household. There is no limit on the number of TV sets per household.

BBC broadcasts have no commercial breaks. Sometimes we might see a public service announcement, usually to do with road safety (e.g. don't drink and drive), but that is all. It means we can watch without the annoyance of advertising. Years ago, when I was in Washington DC, I tried to watch the Monaco Grand Prix. Every few seconds someone interrupted the coverage with adverts. Watching the race became a nonsense. At least the commercial channels here wait until a natural break in proceedings before interrupting for adverts. For example, on Sky Sports they wait until half-time in a football or rugby game, or the end of an over in a cricket match.

Each to their own. I'd rather watch without adverts. If there is a programme we wish to see being shown by a commercial channel, we record it and then skip through the adverts.

[Puppy]

We are required by law to have a TV licence that covers a residence.

Same here (62 EUR / year) but we do have commercials between programs.

[dr_st]

We are required by law to have a TV licence that covers a residence. The annual cost is £145.50 for colour TV and £49.00 for a black and white TV. Blind or partially sighted people get relief, and if anyone in the household is over 74 then the licence is free. There is no limit on the number of people in a household. There is no limit on the number of TV sets per household.

Same here (62 EUR / year) but we do have commercials between programs.

It's comforting to know that my backwards country is not the only one where this TV tax still exists.

Here it's about $100 a year.

[killer]

They have a TV licence fee in France called 'la redevance audiovisuelle'. It is €116 per annum. Despite this their broadcasts are interrupted by advertising.

[Puppy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Television_licence

[killer]

Quote: you say "neighbour", we say "neighbor".

We say tomato and you say tomato.

If anyone is going to mess with the spelling it might have been better to go for the phonetic 'neyba' and then nobody would understand. Neighbour is from Old English and as we invented the word we'll probably retain it. I don't really care but I do like to be able to read.

Anyway, to get back on topic there was a great moment in the opening ceremony when Sir Tim Berners-Lee (the brains behind the worlwide web) was introduced. Without him we'd probably be twiddling our thumbs right now.

[BillMorrow]

the view from the "no free lunch" aka "fringe" side:

was it not the original plan that pay cable would be commercial free..? yes i was.. yet now you pay and watch 15 to 20 minutes of commercial messages per hour of content..
if it was/is commercial free in the UK it sure is not in the USA.. NBC paid a gazillion $$ for the broadcast rights and they sure will not miss a chance to trash a conservative or make a $$.. which seems a bit ironic to me..

NHS.. they had NHS parading hospital beds..??! no doubt empty of occupants.. from personal knowledge, NHS is wonderful if you are in a car crash but if you are old do NOT get on the wrong side of the "life panels" OR require a drug that costs more than the "life panel" thinks you are worth..

opening ceremonies: it would be hard to beat the chinese and their semi-command economy and 1.3 billion workers..
and from comments above it appears the chinese are still tops in that field..
i don't know 'cuz i did not watch and most likely will not watch.. time constraints, no other reason..

nothing like a pub lunch on a windy rainy winter afternoon in sussex or kent..

[killer]

You are right, Bill, there is nothing better than a pub. Lunch is a bonus. Wet, windy and cold is normal in temperate zones ... no matter what season.

The NHS does decide whether it will pay for drugs. If a person's life can be extended by a significant period then it will pay. If it will cost a fortune and extend someone's life by a week or month then they hold back. That doesn't prevent the individual's family deciding to pay themselves for the extra week or month.

The BBC is the only non-commercial broadcaster in the UK. We can watch their programmes with no interruption. It is something that allows a full symphony to be played without, "Eat at Joe's!" getting in the way. Thank heavens for sanity.

NBC, ABC, and CNN might have political spin. Fox certainly does (owned by Murdoch). BBC is non-political ... enshrined in its charter.

Each to their own. I like having no adverts and I am happy to pay for that special privilege. I am also happy to pay for the NHS and to receive free medicines now I am over 60.

I hope to see you down the pub next time you are here. The real ale will do you more good than harm.

P.S. Hampshire has wonderful pubs, never mind Kent and Sussex.

[BillMorrow]

killer,
i've only been to kent, sussex, kingston upon thames, hampton court (dusty), london (botique hotel across from royal albert hall) and a few others places..

what i want is a canal boat and a year off..

NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN propaganda vs. FOX's both sides does not seem like a fair fight no matter who it is owned by.. but then we, you and i have agreed to disagree..
what really annoys is the blatant lack of journalism by those aforementioned 4.. at least they could try to disguise their liberal bias..

add to that canal boat NO connection to the outside world..

then i can pull up nearby, drop the hook and invite you over for a pint of whatever relieves the tensions of the day..