Posted by Dan Ewert : 8/28/2004 11:10:00 PM (Archive Link)
The Statues in Greece Aren't All That's Stone-faced

Can you stand another Olympics post? I was watching Bob Costas interview the Athens Olympics organizer, Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki (that's an impressive nine-syllable last name), and I realized this woman is probably the most thouroughly botoxed person I've ever seen. The only thing on her face capable of moving was her mouth. There was zero expression in her cheeks, eyes, and forehead. She couldn't even smile properly. She also may have had a brow lift performed at some point, which, when combined with the botox, gave her a sort of permanently surprised expression. In short, she looked very unnatural. There's a picture of her here. And a mighty unflattering one here.

Posted by Dan Ewert : 8/24/2004 10:36:00 PM (Archive Link)
Yo, Yo, S'up, So-crates?

I've been a tad busy lately and haven't had time to post. I will, however, blog a short observation about the Olympics. Well... actually, it's more about Olympic commentary. The other day, NBC's Jim Somebody was doing one of the human interest stories about Greece that he was apparently assigned to do. When Bob Costas came back on, he said, "Props to you, Jim." Uh-huh. At another point, I was watching men's gymnastics when one of the announcers opined that a particular gymnast's rings routine was sometimes "whack." Uh-huh. I heard another hip-hopism today, but I don't remember what it was. I have no problem with such terms in and of themselves, but I don't really think they belong in offical broadcasting... especially when the people saying it sound RIDICULOUS saying it.

Posted by Dan Ewert : 8/13/2004 11:51:00 PM (Archive Link)
Would Pericles Approve?

So I watched the opening ceremony for the Olympics tonight. They were ok. The entire time, though, I just kept thinking of how I’d pay good money if Bob Costas and Katie Couric would just shut the hell up. It’s as if they get nervous going more than 10 seconds without saying something and then they’ll bust out with an inane comment. Let the ceremony speak for itself, people. We don’t need your blithering.

I did like the “living art” theme the organizers did. I thought they left out a few things, though. Like say, Greece’s ancient military prowess and how they saved Western civilization from the Persians on several occasions. The only military references at all were a few rows of empty uniforms and a representation of Alexander the Great, who was, technically, Macedonian. Although, he did spread Greek culture throughout North Africa and the Near East. But no, that was it… nothing about Thermopylae or Marathon or Salamis. I also don’t recall anything about democracy or representative government or egalitarianism. My only guess as to the reasons for these omissions is that they didn’t want to offend those in the East who threatened the West and also didn’t want to offend those who live under oppressive tyrannies. After all, we don’t want to make it seem like the West’s way is better, right? Heaven forbid.

On a related note, Couric noted how the official uniform of the Greek guards includes a “skirt” with 400 pleats in it, each pleat representing a year Greece was dominated before gaining independence in 1832. She failed to mention from whom Greece had gained its freedom: the Ottoman Empire. Greece had been in thrall to the Muslim East for all those years. The country for years had been on the front lines of battling against the Muslim hordes driving into eastern Europe. In fact, the Parthenon was fairly well destroyed 1687 in a war pitting the Ottomans against the Venetians. The former were using the building as an ammo depot when the Venetians scored a direct hit and blew up the joint.

Speaking of the Parthenon, the most embarrassing part of Costas’s and Couric’s commentary was during the ceremony, there was a model of the building rotating on a little rod. Couric commented that it reminded her of the flying house from The Wizard of Oz and Costas followed it up with “singing” the flying monkey theme. Yeah… nice way to honor a great monument of Western architecture and skill.

Posted by Dan Ewert : 8/05/2004 08:16:00 PM (Archive Link)
Soft Lob Over the Plate

A lot of people have been making hay over John Kerry's comments about he would have responded on 9/11 as compared to Bush. Few, though, have brought up the context in which he made them. I just happened to be watching CNN when they aired it live. Kerry was speaking to a conference of some group called Journalists of Color. Kerry made the comments in response to a question from a New York Times reporter who asked him how he would have responded on 9/11 while stuck in a classroom and how he'll pull us out of Iraq. The first part was a complete softball thrown to Kerry to set him up for a great answer. It's the fact that she intentionally mentioned the classroom, which was meant to allow Kerry to contrast himself to Bush who was rather stolid for about 7 minutes. The second part of the question obviously shows where the media's feelings are towards Iraq... get 'em out now.