Huzzah for the Olympics

[El Pibe]

Well of course France would bang on about all those battles they lost, obviously ;-)

[El Pibe]

I think the point is to throw the audience a bone, not stroke your own.

So Queen (monarch and band), Bond, Bean (not Sean, but vaguely amazed his recent ubiquity didn't pop up), Chariots of Fire, industrial revolution, bucolic myths, rich cultural post war heritage, internet all tick a million boxes internationally (however polarising some of them may be for a domestic audience) and we have plenty more to choose from.

Like Jeremy I think a lighter touch on the NHS might have been more appropriate,

But hey, a minor quibble on what was after all a good thing that could have been the usual awful fare as Bob said.

[Loz]

The NHS segment was actually called "Second star on the right and straight on til morning" and was a celebration of the NHS (and Great Ormond St, which probably completely flummoxed any non-UK viewer), but it also was a homage to the wealth of UK children's literature. The NHS bit was really only the first few minutes making the logos out of beds. After that, we were into the kiddy book dream sequence which was the more substantial part of the segment. Small child in hospital goes to sleep and dreams of Voldemort, Cruella deVille, Captain Hook and the Queen of Hearts, before a host of Harry Potter witches fly down, transforming into Mary Poppins and fight Voldemort.

Really, the NHS bit was only part of it. I thought the logos weren't entirely necessary, but the rest of the segment was very good, but didn't look as good on telly as it could of.

[Brendan]

Was I the only one who saw the (what I thought obvious) metaphor in that?

[El Pibe]

Yeah, Mary Poppins, Harry Potter (whatever my feelings on the matter) Peter Pan are hugely iconic internationally, fair game for sure. A massive Winnie the Pooh under a blue ballon would have melted me in fond nostalgia!!

I dunno, that NHS bit was still a bit "Kazakhstan Kazakhstan number one exporter of potassium! Other countries have inferior potassium."

[titch juicy]

Brendan Wrote:

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> Was I the only one who saw the (what I thought

> obvious) metaphor in that?

if you mean; children being cared for by the nice nhs, scared because evil monsters (cameron and tories) are coming to take away their safe haven....then no, you weren't.

If i'm way wide of the mark, then perhaps yes, you were

[Brendan]

No that?s what I got. And then Mary Poppins clones herself many times over and parachutes in to save the day.

[Brendan]

I liked the bit where Caliban and his mates dressed up as Brunel and went to a nine inch nails gig.

[Loz]

Brendan Wrote:

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> No that?s what I got. And then Mary Poppins clones

> herself many times over and parachutes in to save the day.

But surely the nice NHS people did nothing to save the children - it was the lovely Mary Poppins the nanny. Could it not be read then that the metaphor was that the nice traditional English nanny fought against the nasty cheap, imported au pairs?

[maxxi]

Loz Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> > Really, the NHS bit was only part of it. I

> thought the logos weren't entirely necessary, but

> the rest of the segment was very good, but didn't

> look as good on telly as it could of.

Now you're just trying to wind me up...

[Cassius]

> Loz Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > > Really, the NHS bit was only part of it. I

> > thought the logos weren't entirely necessary,

> but

> > the rest of the segment was very good, but

> didn't

> > look as good on telly as it could of.

Is that en aitch es or en haitch es?

[Cassius]

OMG - we've just got Silver in mens team gymnastics final - according to the BBC the first medal since a Bronze in 1912!

Huzzah for the Olympics

(wipes away tear)

ETD Shit - the japanese have protested about something and we've got Bronze - still a great achievement though.

[Loz]

> Is that en aitch es or en haitch es?

Generally, in London, 'Ennay Shess"

[Otta]

Feel quite sorry for the swimmers, the margins are so tight in every race it must be so difficult to just race against your own best time and hope it's good enough.

[Otta]

Hurrah, was hoping the Lithuanian girl would win. Poor thing being dragged over to Sharon Davis for the interview.

[BB100]

So where are these extra tickets? I have been checking all day and they haven't put any on at all.

[Ann]

Any-one feel a little disappointed for Tom Daley? I did.

[Michael Palaeologus]

It will be interesting to see whether he has been the victim of press hype. Perhaps he isnt as good as we were told?

[Jeremy]

Felt really bad for him, after all he's been through - they gave it a good go, but at the end of the day they didn't do the business.

But don't forget that we still have the individual competition to go. I don't think he's overhyped, he's obviously one of the top guys, but that doesn't mean he's nailed on for a medal.

[Annette Curtain]

Erm...

Didn't his partner "over rotate" or something like that ?

[Peckhamgatecrasher]

Can anyone even name his partner? Poor sod, all attention on Daly.

[red devil]

Could do without the screeching commentary of Matt 'One Show/Countryfile' Baker...stick to worrying sheep

[Ladygooner]

Hoorah - our first Gold Medal - go the girls!

[srisky]

...and hoorah for the second!

[citizenED]

To be honest I feel a little sorry for the Badminton disqualificationees. Playing tactically is part of many sports - it was always a problem in football when teams knew they had already qualified and were aiming to avoid the better teams in the next round. Isn't this a problem with the way the competition is organised rather than being down to the individual competitors? By playing for the lesser opposition were those players not actually playing for gold?