The Russian anthem used to be played at a faster tone, when it had no lyrics at all for about twenty years.
Doh, I forgot about this thread. I must admit, the game was amazing. It was sad watching the other guy break down because he came in 5th though... it was almost a replay of that thing with the skeleton girl. The closing ceremonies were a bit tacky though... that slide show gimmick was embarrassing.
Even though I wished the Closing Ceremony was turned over to a cable network so I can continue watching the performances, (Hey, I like Nickelback, not afraid to admit it but wanted to see Alanis Morrissette more) I have to say it was kinda cheesy. Did love the beginning though, allowing the 4th person who couldn't light the Cauldron to have her time to shine here, even though I could have done without the clown. I just thought that whole lighting of the Cauldron was a nice touch, and took away what happened in the opening ceremonies.
Going to an Olympics is on my bucket list. For shits and grins, I looked at what a plane ticket to Sochi costs. I picked a random week 6 months out. Boston -> Sochi was ~$2000. Tack 4 years of inflation to that number and that's not a cheap trip. Time to start shelling away my FF miles.
Google Sochi. Besides the stuff Google always adds to the top (Maps, News, Tweets, and Images) the top three results are: Olympics Wikipedia Russian Brides
I missed the closing ceremonies—was a bit busy being amongst the mobs celebrating on the streets of downtown, here. Apparently, yesterday's game had an average of 16.6 million viewers, which smashes the previous Canadian viewership records. That's also almost exactly half of the country.
We had something like 107 million for the superbowl this year, but that's only about 1/3 of our population. I'm your casual hockey fan who goes to the occasional college game and watches the NHL come playoff time. But I was as psyched for this as if one of my favorite pro teams was in the championship game. I hollered so loud when the US tied it up with 24 seconds left that my dog got scared and ran off to another room.
It was the third highest rated hockey game in the USA, behind the 1980 "Miracle" & gold medal game. We wound up with an average 27.6 million viewers, topping the Grammys and the Rose Bowl. That's nowhere near the total % of citizens viewing the game as in Canada, though several indivual cities did match Canada's fervor. Minneapolis, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh all reached 50% share (share = total # of tv sets turned on), with several more close behind.
It would be an understatement to say the reaction in the bars was pretty much the exact opposite... It was pretty amazing when Crosby potted the winner, though. I think "Oh Canada" was sung at least twice before they got around to actually raising the flag in the arena.
It was a tribute to the seasonal changes as well as the varied First Nations tribes that live in Canada. Technically there were a lot of dancing routines, projected images on the stage and a bizarre rig of "rings" that moved from the ceiling to the floor to create environments. It held my attention, but my eyelids got heavy when the dude was jumping through the plains. I think the stereotype-fest for the closing was a bit more enjoyable... for me, anyway.
^ One of the four arms for the torch didn't raise, that's probably what they were talking about. It was really no worse than some of the other technical issues that have plagued torch-lightings in the past (Atlanta and one of either Sydney or Athens also had problems).
I thought Neil Young’s “Long May You Run” was an appropriate song to extinguish the flame. (And it wasn’t lipsynced)
For those who missed it, the Men's Ice Hockey Gold Medal match is still available for only a few hours more on BBC iPlayer: http://bbc.co.uk/i/qm808/ The closing ceremony is also available there until later tonight. http://bbc.co.uk/i/qm8hz/ (Unlike most other iPlayer programmes, these need to be watched within 7 days of being downloaded.)
Now they get snow!! 7 day forcast for the Whistler Sliding Centre 7 day forcast for Whistler Olympic / Paralympic Park 7 day forcast for Cypress Mountain
Yes they do Paralympic games schedule Glad they are getting some snow, but its Vanocuver, much like here in Victoria, that could change by morning.