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Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Let me tell you a secret.
[[Pictures will be uploaded later on]]
I always almost cried watching the Opening Ceremony of the Athens Olympics. Yes, that 2004 Olympics. And I just did.
I watched it all over again. It was just a few hours ago that it all began, all over again. Watching the (supposed) fire from ancient Olympia to the modern Athens, acknowledge even by the Gods themselves of the new Olympics. The lighting of the 5 olympic rings in the middle of the flooded stadium. Its beautiful. It filled me with flaming passion, passion for the games, passion for the beauty. Then it shows the stages of the evolution of the games and the country itself. From ancient Greek to the Ottoman suppression and to the modern Greece as we all know now. Its colourful and vivid. They are humans, very much alive, yet with "make-up" it makes them look like living statues. The movements, the colours, all fit oh so perfectly. It showcases the birth of ancient Greece, born of art and theatre, existence of Greek gods, Hercules the father of the games and of course, Alexander the Great.
And then came Bjork covering the athletes with a stream of blue canvas, representing the ocean. Singing to the tunes of Oceania. I immediately fall in love with that song, that haunting beat. Then, there's the oath taking session, where the Greece athlete had forgotten the lines and yet the crowd applauds her, cheering her on. Those fantastic fireworks (the money!), painted the dark sky.
And then I watched the closing ceremony. Oh how sad I felt. That day, knowing the 2 weeks of excitement had finally come to an end. The flag, passed on to the mayor of Beijing, I wonder, will it be as good? If not better? For me, Athens was the BEST. Well, I don't exactly remember the rest of the ceremonies... my earliest memory about olympics was the Atlanta 1996 Summer Games. Memories of Muhammad Ali carrying the torch. Though, I wasn't into it. I was only 10 yrs old then. I was more into collecting those giant cups sponsored by McDonald's featuring the Olympic Games there. Though I did remember being rather enthusiastic about the Sydney 2000 games. I loved the 2 songs featured, which sadly, I can't quite remember now. But I do remember the melody, one is something about Everybody and the other is a little girl singing. And then I remembered Cathy Freeman winning. And she became my favourite Australian Athlete. She represented the Aborogines(sp?) AND the Australians on that field. When she won, she carried BOTH flags.
Favourite song of the closing ceremony? Dinata, Dinata by Eleftheria Arvanitaki. So much energy, so much life! Shout! Shout! It says. And I did, quietly in my heart. Beating to the rythm that I will surely miss... And I believe I did cry, when it ended...
I remember how, I sacrificed Productivity and Quality Management to watch it, at around 2am in the morning? The quiz was at 9am, the following day. The show ended around 5am. That sure did not left me with much time to study and sleep. I wasn't prepared, I had not revised, yet I was foolish enough to catch the ceremony. Yes, foolish I may have been, but an idiot I am if I had missed it. Eventhough, I did not scored high marks for it, I passed and I did not regret my decision to slightly abandon it.
But now, it is 2012 London. I think it is VERY hard for anyone to top the Athen's ceremony (though I do think that Paris has a very good chance of doing that - haha biased!). Well, I guess I couldn't get to sleep because I might be feeling excited? nervous? weird? about tomorrow (or should I say today?) being my last day at work. Yeah, I can't wait. I can't wait for that KL trip either. And finally, I can't wait to get a real, full-time job. =)
P.S: Took me about 30 mins to write this entry. Wow! That's long!
flaming notes by HyperHikari 4:21 AM
+ + + Thursday, July 07, 2005
Congratulations London.
Though, I had wanted Paris to win. I am extremely dissappointed and devastated. It is such a beautiful country, famous for its 'love affairs'. 4 focal point of (I forgot one) openness, humility and energy is interesting and accepting. Though I had to say London did came up with a better 4 focal points. Legacy, rebuild, youths and support. Tell ya, their video really inspired me. If I was still very young, I would definitely have chosen to become an athlete. Actually, it would be lovely if I can be one now too... (a bit too late uh). Madrid came strong, interesting video, but sadly, London and Paris were better. New York and Moscow, expected. Though I did speculated that maybe NYC might be able to swing the votes due to the presence of their star power. But honestly, I wanted Paris to win, but by logic, London will win. I think what people want is for the youths of the world to have a dream that is shared by many, something that they can be proud of. As the team clearly says, nowadays there too much unwanted distractions for the youths.
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Here are a few awards that I would like to give out (unbiased):
-Most informative video (general):
Paris.
-Most informative video (sports venue):
Madrid.
-Most colourful video presentation:
Paris.
-Best music for a video presentation:
Madrid.
-Best actor for a video:
A tie between Elmo and that little girl at the end of the Parisian Video.
-Most irritating representation of a city in the video:
Shanghainese man from NYC.
-Most enthusiastic and charming team presentation:
NYC 2012 team.
-Presenter with the best tone:
Fencing Paralympian from Spain (she was like singing!).
-Most sporty family:
The Royal family of Spain.
-Best Candidate City logo:
A tie between Paris and New York.
-Most inspirational speech:
Lord Sebastian Coe of the London 2012 team.
-Worst mistake:
Moscow answering wrongly to an IOC member's question. (I think anyway).
-Best interaction:
Mr. Jacques Roggue and Ms. Nawal El Mutawakkal.
-Best quote at the moment:
"We cannot trust people with bad food!"
(I just love that one).
-Best star power:
Mr. Muhammad Ali.
-Best royalty:
Queen Sofia of Spain.
-Best politician:
Mr. Jacques Chirac (now this IS favouritism on my part, heh).
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I don't agree in the inclusion of a Frenchman into the NYC bid video - indirect reference. Bad play there I think. Well, I actually fell asleep halfway into NYC and woke up in bits and pieces during Moscow and London presentation. Its not that its boring, but I didn't sleep for the whole night. Was working so I needed sleep, like what I should be doing NOW ... till then, au revoir!
flaming notes by HyperHikari 8:52 AM
+ + + Monday, July 04, 2005
Thoughts ...
You know what I want? What I truly want? MONEY. Not because I'm greedy but because I need it. I want it for study. I WANT to STUDY.
STUDY.
STUDY.
STUDY.
Yes, I'd rather study all my life than work.
Well, I can always work after I study right? I'm prepared to work too... Exposing us to different elements, factors - maybe even gearing me to face radical changes. That's what makes Life interesting.
But now ... I can't. Because the world revolves around MONEY.
Well, I know I'm not the only one, I am one of the many who desperately needs it. What makes me different? 'Cos I think nothing's impossible.
But the problem with me now, is that I'm not 'working hard' for it.
I'm sadden about this. I'm envious of them who has the finances to study, to chase after their dreams. I have many dreams, many aspirations. Yet, all dampen just because of money... I'm the one with many things to achieve, yet none is happening soon.
This is outrageous. argh!
P.S: To those rich brats who squander away their parents money aimlessly. Do give some to me! Don't worry, I'll remember you for your contributions. =D
flaming notes by HyperHikari 12:01 AM
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