http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/the-2013-winter-olympics-closing.html
In the first part of this post on the Olympic closing ceremony that can be read via the link above I explained how the closing ceremony for the Sochi games was attempting to promote discussion about Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws by contrasting them with the way that the Communists banned many great works of Russian art and culture out of a fear that they would corrupt impressionable minds and derail the future of the greatest nation ever created.
With the second act drawing to a close it was time for the traditional International Olympic Committee (IOC) formality of handing Olympic hosting duties from Russia to South Korea who will host the 2018 Winter Olympics.
This began with the flag ceremony which I think involved raising the Greek flag to symbolise the Greek roots of the ancient Olympics, the re-raising of the Olympic flag, the bringing down of the Russian flag and the raising of the South Korean flag. However I cannot be sure because I really, really needed a cigarette at this point. As far as I can tell though no-one of any great political significance/symbolism were used to bring the flags in or out of the arena. The Russian television director was very keen to focus on the Greek flag though. That's because the Greek economic crisis is one of the main reasons why the European Union (EU) is in no mood nor position to welcome Ukraine and its economic crisis with open arms.
Following the flag ceremony it fell to the South Koreans to take over the ceremony with a short sequence welcoming the Olympic family to their nation. As the next host nation now faces four years of members of the Olympic family putting pressure on them out of politeness I tend to avoid studying their sequence in too much detail. On this occasion I actually took the opportunity to go outside for that much needed cigarette meaning that I literally only got to see the last few seconds. However from that little glimpse it is clear that the South Koreans also used used the blue sky and yellow sun motif which was eerily reminiscent of the Ukrainian national flag. The South Korean sequence also featured a flood of dancers wearing metallic grey/black costumes. However the South Korean poisonous/radioactive cloud had a distinctly 1980's style about them. This was clearly a reference to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster when a Soviet nuclear power station melted down and then blew up in the Ukrainian city of Pripyat on what is now the Ukraine-Belarus border.
I don't think it is giving away any great secret to mention that the Korean peninsula on which 2018 Winter Olympic games will be held is still technically a war zone. As such the potential for something as disruptive and stressful as the situation in Ukraine or worse to break out during the games is quite high. For example it is not unheard of for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) to drop subtle little hints on their South Korean neighbours in the form of artillery shells. Also the DPRK has recently re-started it's Russian built, Soviet-era nuclear facilities. As such any plan for the 2018 games has to at least entertain the idea of Chernobyl style disaster taking place. To make matters worse the DPRK has also recently broken off most ties with neighbour China in favour of closer ties with the USA. The USA seems to view the DPRK's role in the region as that of the neighbourhood bully which everyone must look to the USA to protect them from. So in summary I think the South Koreans were trying to express their sympathy for Russia over the Ukraine situation without antagonising the USA.
The hand-over portion of the ceremony ended - as they always do - with speeches first from the head to the host nations National Olympic Committee (NOC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Normally these speeches are quite dry and dull but on this occasion they were cause for much drama. That was simply due to the situation in Ukraine. Although international politics are part and parcel of the Olympics it normally involves an athlete making a 'mistake' or a public statement that leads into an abstract discussion about some vague subject - the age of sexual consent has been a popular such topic recently. The situation in the Ukraine though has been extremely fast moving and chaotic and took place so close to Sochi that on a clear day you can almost literally see Ukraine from the Olympic park. Furthermore the situation in Ukraine was extremely violent with more people being killed there then at the 1972 Munich Olympics when armed terrorists broke into the Olympic village with the specific intention of killing athletes.
As such many people thought that the IOC should have taken action to punish the USA who were behind much of the violence in Ukraine in a clear effort to embarrass Russia over its support for the Syrian government. Not only did the IOC fail to punish the USA but they also seemed keen to shield the USA from any criticism or embarrassment - for example the medal ceremony that was chosen for the closing ceremony seemed specifically chosen to avoid the USA having to stand in the glare of global attention. To make matters worse on Friday (21/2/14) during the speed skating events the IOC even seemed to be trying to reward the USA for its actions by focusing the political pressure on the Asian region that the USA is very interested in at the moment.
Bursting with pride and just an undercurrent of anger the President of the Russian NOC spoke extensively about how Russia had delivered on its promise to deliver a safe and smoothly run games. This pride seemed justified because apart from some initial problems with the construction of some of the accommodation which provided ample opportunity for discussion about corruption within Russian public life the Sochi games have been both safe and smoothly run despite almost unprecedented challenges. Beyond simply stating a fact the repeated use of variants of the phrase; "Russia has delivered" seemed to imply that the IOC had not delivered on its obligation to punish those who go beyond the realms of what is consider acceptable behaviour at an Olympic games.
By the time the IOC President Thomas Bach stood up to speak there was an atmosphere in the arena that I remember from police lines just before the bottles and bricks start flying. In a clear effort to diffuse the tension Bach spent most of what was a very unsettled speech paying the Russian hosts complements and repeatedly relying on variants of the phrase "Russia has delivered" that he had borrowed from the Russian hosts perhaps without realising its significance. I actually felt a lot of sympathy for Bach having to stand up in the opening ceremony and give voice to the USA led Principle 6/1.2.6 campaign on gay rights that called for the boycott of these games. However I feel much less sympathy for him now because the Principle 6/1.2.6 Campaign let alone the situation in Ukraine means that there is still a strong argument for the USA to be retroactively excluded from the 2014 games meaning that the USA loses claim to the medals won by its athletes and is only allowed back into the Olympic family roughly a month before the start of the 2016 Summer games in Brazil if it proves it can behave.
Following the speeches there was a short sequence leading up to and including the extinguishing of the Olympic flame. At around 12:10 on 26/2/14 (UK date) I'll be back to cover that later.
Edited at around 15:30 on 26/2/14 (UK date)
With the speeches over the three Russian children and their Clown guide returned and the giant metal columns/icicles descended from the ceiling to the floor. Up close these columns resembled giant mirrors giving the impression that the children were now trapped in a giant circus-style hall of mirrors. In espionage/psychological circles the term "mirror" is quite important because it refers to the way in which if you take two people with similar personality types you can use one as a test subject to find out how the other will react in response to certain stimuli. Over the years this has played a large part in the Olympics with one nation's 'mirror' of another nation's competitor often remaining hidden behind the scenes. It also has some relevance to the US' recent Rihanna operation because I think Rihanna and I have more in common then she is perhaps prepared to admit.
The term "mirror" is also very important in computer programming/Internet circles because what a person running a website will often do is have their main server and several 'mirror' servers containing exactly the same information. The idea being that if the main server goes down visitors to the website will instead be directed to one of the mirror servers allowing the service to continue as normal. This process is pretty much just how the Internet works but is particularly important in political circles where there is often a running battle between governments constantly trying to force websites offline and activists constantly trying to keep them up and running. In this context the reference to 'mirror's raises the issue of Internet freedom particularly its role in political protest. After all one of the great flaws of Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws is that if Russian adults are not allowed to talk to Russian children about homosexuality those children will instead turn to the Internet where they risk being exposed to exploitation by foreign governments.
The reference to the Internet also brings up the fact that while Russia lacks soft-power icons such as Rihanna or Jessie J one area of soft-power where Russia is a world leader is in the field of Internet pornography. One of the reasons why Russia is such a powerful force in Internet pornography is that its relative poverty means that Russian youngsters are prepared to do far nastier things for much less money. Although I wouldn't go so far as to describe the porn industry in the west as either glamorous or moralistic in Russia and former Soviet states there is much less concern for the safety and welfare of participants meaning that their pornography often touches on sex-trafficking and sometimes child sex-trafficking. I think it is well established that the organised criminal gangs that deal in sex-trafficking and child pornography also deal in illegal drugs and getting people addicted to illegal drugs in often a step involved in turning them into sex-trafficking victims. Mirrors of course are closely associated with cocaine use bringing that element into the discussion.
Sex-trafficking and particularly child-sex-trafficking are huge global issues at the moment and touch on all nations on earth but beyond eastern Europe are particular problems in South-East Asia centred around Thailand and South America centred around 2014 World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympic host Brazil. Also this sequence raises the point that if Russians are serious about protecting their children from paedophiles perhaps they should be more focused on this problem rather then websites that put Russian teenagers who are questioning their sexuality in touch with professional psychologists and counsellors.
Lightening up this rather dark subject matter giant versions of the three Olympic mascots started to make their way around the arena. In part this was to make sure that everybody had picked up the significance of the mascots. Drawn in the "Hello Kitty" style "The Hare" mascot was supposed to represent Russia's border with Asia. "The Leopard" mascot was supposed to represent Russia's border with the Persian region and Russian President Putin helpfully posed with an actual Persian Leopard just before the games started. "The Bear" mascot was supposed to represent Russia's border with Europe - the image of Russia people in the west are most familiar with. Together they served to remind us all what an absolutely huge nation Russia actually is.
Also throughout the games people have been bouncing around the Olympic park and the venues dressed in mascot costumes. Some of the things mascots got up to has become the stuff of legend. For example when Russia were knocked out of the men's Ice Hockey the Bear immediately dropped to his knees and held his head in his hands as if weeping. Another highlight came when the Hare and the Bear decided to try their hand at Curling. These produced lots of photographs in which it looked like the Bear was sneakily trying to have sex with the Hare from behind. So this sequence also helped to pay tribute to the antics of the mascots.
Perhaps in an effort to work the compulsory singing of the Olympic anthem into the ceremony and perhaps in an effort to distract us while they set up the next bit suddenly a golden galleon-style sailing ship appeared floating across the sky. On the bows of this ship stood an operatic soprano singing the Olympic anthem. This was a direct reference to Rihanna's entrance in the 2012 Summer para-Olympic closing ceremony because after all she seemed so desperate to be included in the Sochi games. Rihanna's people of course describe her as a mezzo-soprano which operatic sopranos rightly find quite offensive.
The blue hot air balloon that appeared to be keeping the ship afloat was reminiscent of various depictions of the hot air balloon in the classic story "Around the World in 80 Day's" which has to be the ultimate example of a whistle-stop world tour. Jules Verne who wrote the story is of course French. So this was Russia telling the world that not only did they know that the US intended to dispatch Rihanna to France to meet up with Drake on the day of the closing ceremony in an effort to convince us all that the pair are dating it also knew quite a long time in advance. The floating sailing ship itself was taken straight from "The Adventures of Baron von Munchhausen." First hand experience of the similar sounding Munchausen By Proxy Syndrome is of something that I have in common with Rihanna collaborator Eminem. So this seemed to be a Russian hint to Rihanna that she'd be better off collaborating with people like Eminem and myself rather then Chris Brown and Drake.
The film version of "The Adventures of Baron von Munchhausen" is actually an important and long standing case study in the history or propaganda. However that refers not to the 1988 remake but the 1943 German original that was produced by the Nazi's propaganda chief Joesph Goebbels. Although film was really in its infancy at the time prior to the making of "Munchhausen" war time propaganda was really focused on trashing your enemy while repeatedly drumming into the audience at home how great their nations is and how well the war was going. Through the making of Munchhausen Goebbels realised that it was also important to amuse and entertain your audience - in part to distract them from the hardships of everyday like and in part because people like people who amuse them. As such Munchhausen became the template for what is now termed "soft-power."
By comparing Rihanna to Nazi propaganda the ceremony seemed to be trying to promote discussion about the way in which soft-power works in the Internet age. Basically someone will identify with a soft-power icon such as a sports team (e.g Manchester United) or a pop-star (e.g Rihanna). They will then take to the Internet to learn more about their icon through message boards and fan sites. On those sites they then get exposed to be people who groom them in much the same way a paedophile grooms their victims. However rather then grooming them for sex the victim is being groomed to give away details of what life is like in the society in which they live or to take political action against their government. The Israelis are probably the most open about this practise making no secret of the fact that its army's cyber-warfare unit has a division dedicated to just this task.
During the games Rihanna actually inadvertently provided an example of this by posting pictures of herself wearing a Principle 2/1.2.6 Campaign beanie hat. Although I think Rihanna has her own reasons for wishing that certain homosexuals (especially lesbians) could feel more comfortable with their sexuality this could well have been interpreted by a Russian Rihanna fan with tickets to an Olympic event that they should show their adoration for their icon by staging a spontaneous, unilateral gay rights protest.
As such this sequence was included to warn Russian anti-government protesters and Ukrainian anti-government protesters to be very careful about what they read on the Internet because there is a good chance someone is simply making it up to cause trouble. This of course highlights the security threat that Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws pose in the Internet age.
At around 17:05 on 26/2/14 (UK date) we are now on the final stretch but first, for the sake of my sanity I need a little while staring at something that isn't a computer screen.
Edited at around 19:30 on 26/2/14 (UK date) to add;
As the golden galleon made its way across the arena the lighting scheme changed from icy whites and blues to a warmer almost dusty, sandy yellow. After the galleon left the arena we were left with the three Sochi mascots standing in front of a giant version of an Olympic cauldron, flame alight. The fact that the Bear was standing in the centre was a reference to 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic closing ceremony. This was dubbed the "Land of Tears" because its grand finale featured the death of the then Olympic Bear mascot called Misha and saw her being carried off to heaven.
The USA of course boycotted the 1980 Summer games in protest against the Soviet invasion and occupation of Afghanistan. This was really the first act of heightened American aggression against the Soviet Union during the decade. As anyone who has seen the film "Charlie Wilson's War" starring the recently deceased Phillip Seymour Hoffman knows the USA rapidly followed up the Olympic boycott by supplying weapons and training to a guy called Osama bin Laden so he could fight the Soviet occupation and inflict a defeat on the Soviet Union that was as crushing as the USA's own defeat in Vietnam. To this day people argue about whether the USA took the Land of Tears closing ceremony as sign that certain sections of the Soviet Union weren't as comfortable with the occupation of Afghanistan as others. One thing most people do agree though is that the USA's decision to support Osama bin Laden was short sighted at best.
Through this closing sequence Russia was trying to remind the USA that it fully understands what happens when occupying forces pull out of Afghanistan too early. It also went on to pose the question of why, despite a general global consensus that it is too soon, US President Obama has this amazing confidence that he will be able to pull American troops out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014?
A possible answer to this question was suggested when the Bear who could have been named Misha or another girl's name beginning with M leaned forwards and gently blew on the Olympic cauldron in front of her. At this point the actual Olympic flame atop of the cauldron that was shaped like a giant, erect penis suddenly went out. As she gently raised her head backwards what appeared to be a single tear rolled down the Bear's face and chin.
The lighting scheme in the arena then changed to the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag and attention turned to outside as fireworks went off accompanied by music composed by Peter Tchaikovsky. The Swan Lake composer is of course central to the debate about Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws because if it is illegal to discuss homosexuality is it also illegal to discuss Tchaikovsky? Also if you know what the US has got planned for Rihanna's summer one of Tchaikovsky's other works might spring to mind. Obviously lots of fireworks have become almost compulsory at Olympic ceremonies and due largely to the efforts of the UK New Years Eve celebrations as well. So I'm pretty sure I heard something similar to a Big Ben chime mixed in with the music. The UK of course likes to accompany it's New Year's Eve fireworks with the chimes of Big Ben and it's latest tacky pop hits.
The firework display ended with a grand aeriel shot of the Olympic park which from that angle seemed to resemble the Palm Islands that Dubai built off it's coast. That could have a reference to Arab Emirate's attention seeking "Worlds Biggest Fireworks Display!" of New Years Eve 2013 or it could have been a little reminder of just who is really behind the current US and UK position on Syria.
20:00 on 26/2/14 (UK date).
Wednesday, 26 February 2014
Monday, 24 February 2014
The 2014 Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony.
Yesterday (23/2/14) the 2014 Winter Olympics drew to a close in Sochi, Russia with the traditional closing ceremony. In the opening ceremony the Russian hosts tackled the issue of gay rights in Russia head on. The main narrative of that ceremony was an adorable little girl called Lubov (Russian for "Love") making a journey through Russia's history. The story ended with Russia reaching its modern age following the fall of the Communist Soviet Union and we were all left to ponder what would happen to Lubov next.
The closing ceremony continued this theme. However rather then bringing back Lubov the story of the closing ceremony was centred around two pre-pubescent girls and one pre-pubescent boy. This change seemed intended to promote discussion about what had happened to Lubov and by extension the debate about gay-rights in Russia which although getting off to a strong start was violently eclipsed by other events. However the change was also meant to represent Russian youth as a whole rather then one specific Russian child. That's because while it is often lazily described as an anti-gay propaganda law Russia's laws more accurately prevent people from promoting non-traditional relationships to children under the age of 18. As such it is often argued that rather then attacking gay rights the laws actually protect children from paedophiles. The perceived link between homosexuality and paedophilia in Russia is one of the specific issues that need to be challenged in order for gay rights to improve.
Before the closing ceremony could get on to address its main theme of gay rights it first had to address the political issue that stifled the gay rights issue - the ongoing unrest and instability in Sochi's Black Sea neighbour Ukraine. As such the ceremony opened with the children accompanied by the clown who acted as their guide throughout travelling in a small sail/rowing boat that was suspended from the ceiling. Beneath them dancers flooded the arena clearly meant to represent the water. However the costumes the dancers were wearing coupled with the lighting effects gave them more or a black or metallic grey appearance rather then the traditional blue of water. This was obviously meant to represent the Black Sea on which Sochi sits which in turn highlights just how close Sochi actually is to Ukraine. The metallic grey meant that the dancers could also have been interpreted as a sort of poisonous or radioactive cloud. Even before I started using the term a lot of competing nations have been comparing the situation in Ukraine to a poisonous cloud that has been threatening to engulf the games.
Despite representing something of a poisonous cloud the dancers routine was rather amusing. At one point they formed the shape of the Taoist Ying Yang symbol. Although often mistaken as representing masculinity and femininity the Ying Yang symbol actually encapsulates how opposing forces with in nature (light/dark, hot/cold etc) are in fact interconnected and dependent on each other. As such this sequence was very much an attempt to call on the opposing forces in Ukraine to unite and co-operate with each other.
Later on the dancers took the form of four arrows approaching from the north-west, north-east, south-east and the south-west. This looked remarkably similar to the opening titles of classic British TV Show "Dads Army" and rather then fully converging the arrows stopped forming a shape similar to Britain's Union flag. Throughout the games the UK has been trying to use the Curling event to draw eveyone's attention to the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence so this was a little reference to that. However the dancers then next formed up to resemble the lemniscate symbol which is used in mathematics to represent the concept of infinity and in popular culture to represent the concept of eternity. That seemed to be a jokey reference to the fact that no-one really believes that Scotland is going to break away and instead they believe that the British Kingdom shall remain United for eternity. After all politically speaking the British Olympic team have been getting some very poor reviews at the Sochi games. The use of the lemniscate symbol could also have been interpreted as a reminder to the former Soviet/new European nations that the old European nations led by the UK are tightly linked together and have a reputation for being infinitely brutal.
Finally the dancers formed up in the shape of the Olympic rings. However the dancers who should have formed the red Olympic ring refused to participate instead remaining clustered together. This was a clear reference to the mechanical red Olympic ring that failed to open during the the opening ceremony. This of course could have been the Russians showing that they've got a sense of humour and are prepared to laugh at their mistakes. However it could also have been Russia gently teasing the way people reacted to the opening ceremony because if the Russian hosts did that on purpose as a trick it certainly fooled a lot of people.
Throughout this sequence music was provided by the soundtrack to the classic American film "It's a Wonderful Life." The composer of the film's score and four time Oscar winner was Dimitri Tiomkin who was, of course, Russian by birth. Also a large part of the plot to It's a Wonderful Life centres around the Bailey Building and Loan Association which is essentially a bank providing loans to the poor. Following a run on the bank that leaves it on the verge of collapse the central characters have to use the money they'd set aside for their honeymoon to save the bank and the town. That seems to be a very direct reference to the situation in Ukraine because while there are a range of complex ethnic and cultural issues at play what has brought all those issues to the fore is the fact that Ukraine much like Bailey Building and Loan Association Ukraine is flat broke so it seems unlikely its new quasi-government is going to enjoy much of a honeymoon period.
Once this opening act had drawn to a close it was time for official International Olympic Committee (IOC) business with the VIPs taking to their seats, the playing of the national anthem of the host nation and the taking down of the Olympic flag. The Olympic flag was carried out of the arena by children from a Russian youth sports club or something similar. This was in direct contrast to the way in which the Olympic flag had been brought into the arena during the opening ceremony by adults all whom had some sort of political significance. It seemed like a deliberate attempt to keep this section as non-political as possible but it did also help support the ceremonies main theme of Russian children as they relate to the debate about gay-rights.
Following hot on the heels of the Ukraine dominated opening act I thought the timing of this was rather good. That's because the full version of the Russian national anthem that was used is very powerful and very long. It was rapidly followed up by a military marching drum band. Military bands and drummers are very much part of the tradition of Olympic ceremonies. However here the reference to Russian military power provided an opportunity for discussion about Russia's response to the situation in Ukraine or perhaps more accurately provide the Russians with a little joke at the USA's expense. While the Ukrainian insurgents and their backers in US intelligence view the current situation as an almost Cold War struggle between the Russian east and the western European Union (EU) they seem to be badly mistaken. Certainly for the last week Russia has had little to no involvement in Ukraine and rather then offering a bailout package to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence Russia is more simply acting to prevent an economic collapse in its neighbouring state after the EU refused to offer Yanukovych a similar deal.
So despite the strange statements that have been coming out the US government over the past couple of days Russia seems to have absolutely no interest in sending troops into Ukraine. Even if that will did exist there seems to be no reason for Russia to have to use its military. Although while this is certainly up for debate while I write it seems that the EU's position on Ukraine has not changed and it will not be allowing Ukraine to become a member state or providing an economic bailout. This is due to a number of factors including worries about immigration within the EU and the EU struggling to provide economic support for nations within the Eurozone let alone non-member states. As a result it seems the best EU offer to Ukraine at the moment is that the EU will host a donor conference for nations and international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that may wish to offer financial support to Ukraine. Therefore it seems that Ukraine's best hope to avoid economic collapse is to take the Russians up on their offer if that offer is still on the table.
The flag ceremony was followed by the parade of national flags and the athletes entering the stadium so at 17:30 on 24/2/14 (UK date) this seems a natural point for me to pause.
Edited at around 20:05 on 24/2/14 (UK date) to add;
The only thing of note during the parade of the national flags and the athletes entrance is that reflective strips of metal were hung from the ceiling. These were supposed to represent icicles and were also used to reflect lighting effects. However they also slightly resemble the 52 metal columns that make up the memorial in London's Hyde Park to the victims of the July 7th 2005 terrorist attacks on the UK. This seemed to be a little reminder that if the Russian hosts had really wanted to put the boot in over the situation in Ukraine they could have included a period of reflection for all those members of the Olympic family who had died since the last staging of the games just as the UK did during their 2012 opening ceremony. It would of course have been all too easy to mistake such a period of reflection as a reference to all the people Ukraine who had been killed as part of the USA's efforts to ruin the games.
With the athletes in the arena it was time for the medal ceremony. It is traditional that all of the medals that are won on the final day of the games to be presented during that evening's closing ceremony. However at the Sochi games two of the three events that took place on the final day - men's four man bobsleigh and men's ice hockey - were team events so it would have taken far too long to hand out all the gold, silver and bronze medals. For example ice hockey squads have 20 members each. As a result in order to save time only the medals from one event were handed out during the ceremony. Choosing which one no doubt led to a lot of discussion between the Russian hosts and the IOC.
The hosts would obviously have wanted the ice hockey medals handed out because the USA would have been noticeable by their absence. The hosts second choice was probably the men's four man bobsleigh firstly because the USA would be forced to appear to collect their bronze. Also though Latvia won silver while Russia won gold. The sight of Latvia and Russia standing next to each other on the podium would have highlighted the fact that Latvia and Russia are indeed separate countries. That would have made a point to members of the British gay community who boycotted Latvian vodka in order to protest Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws indicating that they perhaps didn't have the best understanding of Russian politics.
In the end it seems that the IOC won out and the medals for the men's cross-country skiing were handed out. Possibly in an effort to justify this the women's cross-country skiing medals were also handed out in order to make a statement about gender equality within the Olympic movement. Fortunately though Russia managed to get a clean sweep in the men's event while Norway managed the same thing in the women's event making it look like team medals were actually being handed out which perhaps indicated that the IOC's decision was not a popular one.
With those IOC formalities out of the way the second act was free to begin. This started with teenage dancers in zombie-style make rise up as if controlled by the music of the violinist. The fact that the dancer were very reminiscent of the Micheal Jackson "Thriller" video which has been copied by thousands of people across the world in Internet videos contrasted with the classical violinist who was pure high culture introduced the other recurring theme of the ceremony. While Russia is clearly very capable and accomplished in the high culture of classical music, ballet, classical theatre and literature it seems to lack the ability to produce performers with the mass appeal of popular culture stars such as Jessie J or Rihanna. This makes it quite hard for Russia to project soft-power across the world because while Rachmaninoff is clearly a much more accomplished musician then Rihanna teenagers just buy his records in the same way. This has a specific reference to the anti-gay propaganda laws because if Russians are not allowed to talk teenagers about homosexuality they will simply turn to foreigners on the Internet. This leaves the door open to foreign interference which creates a security problem for Russia. For example the protests that surrounded Putin's re-election as Russia's President seemed heavily influenced by the US "Occupy" protest movement which essentially began life as an Internet meme.
Furthermore the image of the zombie teenagers being roused by the music acted as a reference to the Communist-era practise of banning great works of Russian art and culture for being subversive or bourgeois. The reason why the Communists banned so much art is that at its best art conveys emotion and ideas in such a way as to force you to change the way you think and feel about the world. Communists and other authoritarians absolutely hate people thinking for themselves instead preferring them to exist in a zombie-like state doing whatever the government tells them is in the best interests of the nation. I suspect what the ceremony was trying to convey was the similarity between the Communists banning of arts and culture and the anti-gay propaganda laws. For example is it possible to talk about the work of Peter Tchaikovsky without mentioning his homosexuality which is so central to Swan Lake? Despite what many in the west still believe being compared to a Communist is probably one of the biggest insults going in modern Russia.
The next sequence ushered in a near life-sized model of a Russian village in the style of Marc Chagall a very famous Russian born artist in the avant-garde, modernist school. To highlight the often surrealist nature of Chagall's work this model village was hung upside down from the ceiling. The classical violin music was replaced by Russian Polka music while stilt-walkers and acrobats performed tricks. Apart from showing off traditional Russian culture Polka music can be very bizarre so this sequence seemed to be making the point that if the Russians had wanted to put on weird closing ceremony they certainly had the capacity to make it very weird indeed.
The Chagall village was followed across the ceiling by sky furniture representing angels, the sun and clouds that eventually released snow. This was all a reference to the climate change debate that had been a major topic of conversation during the games not least because of the hosts decision to hold the games in an area of Russia with a sub-tropical climate. However lighting effects gave the clouds something of a blueish tinge while the sun burned yellow. As a result whenever the sun passed by one of the clouds it resembled the yellow and blue colour scheme of the Ukrainian flag. In that context the presence of angels alluded to the film It's a Wonderful Life and its reference to Ukraine's dire economic problems.
This sequence ended with the arena being plunged into darkness with just a faint glow of reddish light. This was a clear reference to the Communist practise of banning great works of art and culture.
The next sequence began with a reddish tinged spotlight dramatically illuminating a single pianist in the centre of the arena. This pianist was playing famed Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto number 2 in C minor which is such a famous piece of classical music I'm sure you've heard it before even if you may not realise it. Rachmaninoff was actually forced to flee Russia for the USA following the Communist revolution because his work was absolutely despised by Russia's new elite. As such he is the perfect way to promote discussion about the censorship of art and ideas. Here the ceremony again drew comparisons between Communist censorship and the anti-gay propaganda laws because suddenly the arena was full of countless pianists. In English "Pianist" is a word you have to be very careful pronouncing because one slip of the tongue and suddenly you are saying "Penis." By filling the arena with Pianists/Penises the ceremony was making a joke about the giant penis that the lighting director drew on the stage during the opening ceremony.
There was though a more serious point to this quite bad pun because the three children who were at the centre of the story immediately started sitting on the Pianists/Penises which is a pretty obvious sexual reference. The pre-pubescent girls sitting on Pianists/Penises was a quite clear reference to paedophilia but the sight of a pre-pubescent boy also sitting on a Pianist/Penis could also be interpreted as a reference to homosexuality. The intention being to explore the perceived link between homosexuality and paedophilia by pointing out that there are also a large number of paedophiles who abuse children of the opposite gender and many who abuse both boys and girls because unlike homosexuality paedophilia is a psychological disorder.
Throughout this sequence the overwhelming colour scheme was red. In part this was to address the issue of Communist censorship but it was also a reference to HIV/AIDS. This is another central force behind Russian homophobia because that if homosexuals are allowed to live openly everyone will turn gay, catch AIDS. Towards the end of the sequence dancers took to the stage and formed the shape of a triangle/diamond that was bathed in golden light. Apart from being a subtle little dig at Rihanna's pretty poor efforts with the HIV/AIDS charity VivaGlam this was meant to be a reference to the so-called 'Golden Triangle' where most of South-East Asia's heroin production comes from. The point being made was that while there is a high risk of HIV transmission through gay male sex gay women actually have the lowest risk of sexual HIV transmission of any group including heterosexuals. Also there are other significant methods of HIV transmission including injecting drugs such as heroin and pretty poor infection control procedures at some Russian hospitals. These routes of HIV infection are of course in no way affected by a ban on people talking about homosexuality and it's pretty well established that driving homosexuality underground actually tends to increase HIV infection rates.
Edited at around 16:25 on 25/2/14 (UK date) to add;
The next sequence centred around dancers from the Bolshoi and Kirov (St Petersburg) ballet schools performing a routine that had been specially choreographed.. This is because ballet is extremely difficult and something that Russians are extremely good at. The main twist was that although the dancers were using all of the arena as their stage there was a piece of scenery in the centre that resembled a theatre's traditional ornate stage frontage. This could have been a reference to the way in which high culture such as ballet or Rachmaninoff just don't attract the same sort of large audience as pop stars like Rihanna. A possible barrier to young people getting into things like ballet is that a trip to the ballet usually involves visiting an expensive and grand theatre where you are surrounded by people dressed in formal black tie all keen to show off how much more intelligent and cultured they are then you. All of that can obviously be quite intimidating to a newcomer.
The stage structure could also have been a reference to a recent (2012) UK film production of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" which starred Keira Knightely amongst others. This production of Anna Karenina also played around with the barriers to culture question being filmed as if it was a stage production taking place in one of the grand Russian theatres of the time. This film received a lot of critical success and was considered a triumph of the British creative industries. As such the Russians couldn't miss the opportunity to remind everyone where the original source material came from.
In what might have come as a surprise to some suddenly a dancer appeared in the traditional Arabian/Persian costume of a belly dancer. Again this was to remind people what an absolutely vast country Russia is. However it was also a reference to Rihanna's efforts to have herself included in the Winter Olympics specifically how she was photographed during the games leaving a restaurant wearing essentially a bathing costume and a large, ornate flowing robe. Those in the media who are still prepared to cut Rihanna some slack tactfully described this robe as being Oriental in style. I of course described it as Arabian in style. The truth is that it was actually a mixture of both those influence which in fact reflects the reality of the situation because Arabian culture doesn't suddenly stop at the Iraqi border and Oriental culture doesn't suddenly begin at the Chinese border. Instead the two styles gradually blend into each other across many nations including Southern Russia and the "-istan" nations such as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. These of course all made up part of the Soviet Union. So apart from reminding everyone how big Russia is the ceremony was again pointing out that the US' Rihanna operation has not got anyone troubled in the slightest.
Events in Ukraine have meant that this has actually been a very relevant time to remind the US of the shortcomings of it's Rihanna operation. Unlike in Syria where the US knows full well that it is lying about what is going on the US did appear to genuinely believe that the EU was ready to welcome Ukraine with open arms and the only thing stopping that from happening was Russia putting pressure on Ukrainian President Yanukovych. That shows a worrying lack of understanding about the intricacies of EU internal politics on the part of the US. The European leg of Rihanna's Diamonds World Tour was of course supposed to make the US the expert in EU politics.
Obviously having been presented with such a glaring failure most people would have considered changing tactics but not the US of course who are instead pressing on regardless. For example on the day of the ceremony Rihanna was making her way to France for another 'date' with Drake and Chris Brown was being very noisy on social media with some cock and bull story about his ex-manager leaking some song her recorded with Rihanna a couple of years ago. Admittedly this did provide everyone with a bit of light relief from the horrors of Ukraine but some are also worried because if the US continues to behave this stupidly there will be global consequences.
At one point during the sequence the dancers surrounded the children and their guide completely overwhelming them and causing them to totally disappear from view. This was obviously quite dramatic and alarming and was supposed to represent the fear of youngsters being consumed by the culture the Communists feared or the homosexuality that some modern Russians fear. It was also a reference to the fact that high culture can be very overwhelming to the novice. Fortunately though the dancers opened like a giant white flower to reveal the children to be safe and unharmed.
This spectacle of a white flower suddenly bursting open into bloom was another reference to the situation in Ukraine - specifically the anthem of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA). This portrays Ukraine as the Viburnum shrub which has to endure a period of carrying red berries before bursting out as a triumphant white flower. This has an obvious anti-Communist message but the celebration of the white bloom has significant overtones of racial purity. In their current form the UIA and the similar groups that have been waging war against the Ukrainian government in the streets of Kiev recently are hardcore Neo-Nazi groups. So while the hope is that calmer heads will eventually gain the upper hand no rational person should be celebrating victories by these groups.
Although there wasn't anything specific that I can point to as an example the general tone of this sequence with references to South-East Asia's 'Golden Triangle' and Oriental culture also drew attention to Russia's relationship with China. Mainly due to their work on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the west Russia and China are often treated as if they are the same country. This of course dates back to the Communist-era in which the two nations were ideological allies but even then the two nations weren't that close with Russian Communism and Chinese Communism remaining very different. Now that the Soviet Union has collapsed and modern Russia is about as far away from Communist ideology as it is possible to get the two nations now have even less in common. In fact these days them seem only united by the fact that they occasionally have to come together in an effort to stop the other permanent members of the UNSC (US, UK, France) doing something extremely stupid as is currently happening in Syria.
The next sequence continued the main theme of Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws being compared and contrasted with the Commuist-era ban on subversive art and culture with the youngsters at the centre of the story being led into a giant library by their clown guide. In this giant library stood six great Russian authors who to my discredit I did not catch the names of. The question being posed was whether the Russian youngsters be harmed by being exposed to the words and ideas these great men and at least one woman?
The only other thing that I did note in this sequence was that to help emphasise that the children were in a library papers - representing pages from books - were thrown across the floor of the arena. As was the case in the opening ceremony most of the scene setting was done with overhead lighting projecting complex images onto the floor below. This was a great technical accomplishment that looked great on TV however for people in the arena who lacked the birds-eye view this made things quite hard to follow. Perhaps reflecting the fact that most of the criticism in this area had come from the UK at the end of the sequence the papers were swept away using what looked like Curling brooms. Curling of course was the Olympic event where the UK had been dedicating a lot of effort to promote discussion about the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence without much success.
The next sequence saw the children being taken to a traditional Russian travelling circus. On the face of it this was intended to highlight the fact that Russia has a long history of and is globally respected in field of highly technical and difficult circus skills such as acrobatics. However the fact that it was a travelling circus was supposed to highlight the role of Travellers such as Roma Gypsies in Russia and eastern Europe. This of course again also reminded us how big a country Russia is because the Roma originated in Northern India and it has been the way they have travelled across southern Russian and beyond that has helped Oriental culture blend with Arabian and European culture.
Unfortunately Joesph Stalin took the same approach to Roma Gypsies as Adolf Hitler - they are sub-human and deserve to be exterminated. So through much of the Communist-era the Soviet Union's Roma population were frequently persecuted with that persecution justified by outlandish stories about them stealing people's children - the Child Catcher character from the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has very strong anti-Roma overtones. Sadly these attitudes persist in parts of Russia, the former Soviet states and even parts of the traditional western European such as Italy and Greece. As such this sequence - especially the bit where the clown urgently and comically ushered the children away from the gypsies - was supposed to promote discussion about anti-Roma sentiment in eastern Europe which in turn serves as a reminder to the west that not all of these anti-Russian nationalist groups in eastern European are as warm and cuddly as people like to pretend.
This sequence ended with the circus/gypsy tent being destroyed by rocket fire. This was another little reminder to the west that these eastern European nationalist groups have caused some very brutal wars since the fall of the Soviet Union particularly in the former Yugoslavia. The red glare of these rockets as they were being fired into the circus/gypsy camp were a specific reference to the US national anthem which makes proud reference to "the rockets red glare and bombs bursting in the air."
And with that the second act ended. So at around 18:50 on 25/2/14 (UK date) I will move on to cover the official IOC business in part two.
The closing ceremony continued this theme. However rather then bringing back Lubov the story of the closing ceremony was centred around two pre-pubescent girls and one pre-pubescent boy. This change seemed intended to promote discussion about what had happened to Lubov and by extension the debate about gay-rights in Russia which although getting off to a strong start was violently eclipsed by other events. However the change was also meant to represent Russian youth as a whole rather then one specific Russian child. That's because while it is often lazily described as an anti-gay propaganda law Russia's laws more accurately prevent people from promoting non-traditional relationships to children under the age of 18. As such it is often argued that rather then attacking gay rights the laws actually protect children from paedophiles. The perceived link between homosexuality and paedophilia in Russia is one of the specific issues that need to be challenged in order for gay rights to improve.
Before the closing ceremony could get on to address its main theme of gay rights it first had to address the political issue that stifled the gay rights issue - the ongoing unrest and instability in Sochi's Black Sea neighbour Ukraine. As such the ceremony opened with the children accompanied by the clown who acted as their guide throughout travelling in a small sail/rowing boat that was suspended from the ceiling. Beneath them dancers flooded the arena clearly meant to represent the water. However the costumes the dancers were wearing coupled with the lighting effects gave them more or a black or metallic grey appearance rather then the traditional blue of water. This was obviously meant to represent the Black Sea on which Sochi sits which in turn highlights just how close Sochi actually is to Ukraine. The metallic grey meant that the dancers could also have been interpreted as a sort of poisonous or radioactive cloud. Even before I started using the term a lot of competing nations have been comparing the situation in Ukraine to a poisonous cloud that has been threatening to engulf the games.
Despite representing something of a poisonous cloud the dancers routine was rather amusing. At one point they formed the shape of the Taoist Ying Yang symbol. Although often mistaken as representing masculinity and femininity the Ying Yang symbol actually encapsulates how opposing forces with in nature (light/dark, hot/cold etc) are in fact interconnected and dependent on each other. As such this sequence was very much an attempt to call on the opposing forces in Ukraine to unite and co-operate with each other.
Later on the dancers took the form of four arrows approaching from the north-west, north-east, south-east and the south-west. This looked remarkably similar to the opening titles of classic British TV Show "Dads Army" and rather then fully converging the arrows stopped forming a shape similar to Britain's Union flag. Throughout the games the UK has been trying to use the Curling event to draw eveyone's attention to the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence so this was a little reference to that. However the dancers then next formed up to resemble the lemniscate symbol which is used in mathematics to represent the concept of infinity and in popular culture to represent the concept of eternity. That seemed to be a jokey reference to the fact that no-one really believes that Scotland is going to break away and instead they believe that the British Kingdom shall remain United for eternity. After all politically speaking the British Olympic team have been getting some very poor reviews at the Sochi games. The use of the lemniscate symbol could also have been interpreted as a reminder to the former Soviet/new European nations that the old European nations led by the UK are tightly linked together and have a reputation for being infinitely brutal.
Finally the dancers formed up in the shape of the Olympic rings. However the dancers who should have formed the red Olympic ring refused to participate instead remaining clustered together. This was a clear reference to the mechanical red Olympic ring that failed to open during the the opening ceremony. This of course could have been the Russians showing that they've got a sense of humour and are prepared to laugh at their mistakes. However it could also have been Russia gently teasing the way people reacted to the opening ceremony because if the Russian hosts did that on purpose as a trick it certainly fooled a lot of people.
Throughout this sequence music was provided by the soundtrack to the classic American film "It's a Wonderful Life." The composer of the film's score and four time Oscar winner was Dimitri Tiomkin who was, of course, Russian by birth. Also a large part of the plot to It's a Wonderful Life centres around the Bailey Building and Loan Association which is essentially a bank providing loans to the poor. Following a run on the bank that leaves it on the verge of collapse the central characters have to use the money they'd set aside for their honeymoon to save the bank and the town. That seems to be a very direct reference to the situation in Ukraine because while there are a range of complex ethnic and cultural issues at play what has brought all those issues to the fore is the fact that Ukraine much like Bailey Building and Loan Association Ukraine is flat broke so it seems unlikely its new quasi-government is going to enjoy much of a honeymoon period.
Once this opening act had drawn to a close it was time for official International Olympic Committee (IOC) business with the VIPs taking to their seats, the playing of the national anthem of the host nation and the taking down of the Olympic flag. The Olympic flag was carried out of the arena by children from a Russian youth sports club or something similar. This was in direct contrast to the way in which the Olympic flag had been brought into the arena during the opening ceremony by adults all whom had some sort of political significance. It seemed like a deliberate attempt to keep this section as non-political as possible but it did also help support the ceremonies main theme of Russian children as they relate to the debate about gay-rights.
Following hot on the heels of the Ukraine dominated opening act I thought the timing of this was rather good. That's because the full version of the Russian national anthem that was used is very powerful and very long. It was rapidly followed up by a military marching drum band. Military bands and drummers are very much part of the tradition of Olympic ceremonies. However here the reference to Russian military power provided an opportunity for discussion about Russia's response to the situation in Ukraine or perhaps more accurately provide the Russians with a little joke at the USA's expense. While the Ukrainian insurgents and their backers in US intelligence view the current situation as an almost Cold War struggle between the Russian east and the western European Union (EU) they seem to be badly mistaken. Certainly for the last week Russia has had little to no involvement in Ukraine and rather then offering a bailout package to keep Ukraine in its sphere of influence Russia is more simply acting to prevent an economic collapse in its neighbouring state after the EU refused to offer Yanukovych a similar deal.
So despite the strange statements that have been coming out the US government over the past couple of days Russia seems to have absolutely no interest in sending troops into Ukraine. Even if that will did exist there seems to be no reason for Russia to have to use its military. Although while this is certainly up for debate while I write it seems that the EU's position on Ukraine has not changed and it will not be allowing Ukraine to become a member state or providing an economic bailout. This is due to a number of factors including worries about immigration within the EU and the EU struggling to provide economic support for nations within the Eurozone let alone non-member states. As a result it seems the best EU offer to Ukraine at the moment is that the EU will host a donor conference for nations and international bodies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that may wish to offer financial support to Ukraine. Therefore it seems that Ukraine's best hope to avoid economic collapse is to take the Russians up on their offer if that offer is still on the table.
The flag ceremony was followed by the parade of national flags and the athletes entering the stadium so at 17:30 on 24/2/14 (UK date) this seems a natural point for me to pause.
Edited at around 20:05 on 24/2/14 (UK date) to add;
The only thing of note during the parade of the national flags and the athletes entrance is that reflective strips of metal were hung from the ceiling. These were supposed to represent icicles and were also used to reflect lighting effects. However they also slightly resemble the 52 metal columns that make up the memorial in London's Hyde Park to the victims of the July 7th 2005 terrorist attacks on the UK. This seemed to be a little reminder that if the Russian hosts had really wanted to put the boot in over the situation in Ukraine they could have included a period of reflection for all those members of the Olympic family who had died since the last staging of the games just as the UK did during their 2012 opening ceremony. It would of course have been all too easy to mistake such a period of reflection as a reference to all the people Ukraine who had been killed as part of the USA's efforts to ruin the games.
With the athletes in the arena it was time for the medal ceremony. It is traditional that all of the medals that are won on the final day of the games to be presented during that evening's closing ceremony. However at the Sochi games two of the three events that took place on the final day - men's four man bobsleigh and men's ice hockey - were team events so it would have taken far too long to hand out all the gold, silver and bronze medals. For example ice hockey squads have 20 members each. As a result in order to save time only the medals from one event were handed out during the ceremony. Choosing which one no doubt led to a lot of discussion between the Russian hosts and the IOC.
The hosts would obviously have wanted the ice hockey medals handed out because the USA would have been noticeable by their absence. The hosts second choice was probably the men's four man bobsleigh firstly because the USA would be forced to appear to collect their bronze. Also though Latvia won silver while Russia won gold. The sight of Latvia and Russia standing next to each other on the podium would have highlighted the fact that Latvia and Russia are indeed separate countries. That would have made a point to members of the British gay community who boycotted Latvian vodka in order to protest Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws indicating that they perhaps didn't have the best understanding of Russian politics.
In the end it seems that the IOC won out and the medals for the men's cross-country skiing were handed out. Possibly in an effort to justify this the women's cross-country skiing medals were also handed out in order to make a statement about gender equality within the Olympic movement. Fortunately though Russia managed to get a clean sweep in the men's event while Norway managed the same thing in the women's event making it look like team medals were actually being handed out which perhaps indicated that the IOC's decision was not a popular one.
With those IOC formalities out of the way the second act was free to begin. This started with teenage dancers in zombie-style make rise up as if controlled by the music of the violinist. The fact that the dancer were very reminiscent of the Micheal Jackson "Thriller" video which has been copied by thousands of people across the world in Internet videos contrasted with the classical violinist who was pure high culture introduced the other recurring theme of the ceremony. While Russia is clearly very capable and accomplished in the high culture of classical music, ballet, classical theatre and literature it seems to lack the ability to produce performers with the mass appeal of popular culture stars such as Jessie J or Rihanna. This makes it quite hard for Russia to project soft-power across the world because while Rachmaninoff is clearly a much more accomplished musician then Rihanna teenagers just buy his records in the same way. This has a specific reference to the anti-gay propaganda laws because if Russians are not allowed to talk teenagers about homosexuality they will simply turn to foreigners on the Internet. This leaves the door open to foreign interference which creates a security problem for Russia. For example the protests that surrounded Putin's re-election as Russia's President seemed heavily influenced by the US "Occupy" protest movement which essentially began life as an Internet meme.
Furthermore the image of the zombie teenagers being roused by the music acted as a reference to the Communist-era practise of banning great works of Russian art and culture for being subversive or bourgeois. The reason why the Communists banned so much art is that at its best art conveys emotion and ideas in such a way as to force you to change the way you think and feel about the world. Communists and other authoritarians absolutely hate people thinking for themselves instead preferring them to exist in a zombie-like state doing whatever the government tells them is in the best interests of the nation. I suspect what the ceremony was trying to convey was the similarity between the Communists banning of arts and culture and the anti-gay propaganda laws. For example is it possible to talk about the work of Peter Tchaikovsky without mentioning his homosexuality which is so central to Swan Lake? Despite what many in the west still believe being compared to a Communist is probably one of the biggest insults going in modern Russia.
The next sequence ushered in a near life-sized model of a Russian village in the style of Marc Chagall a very famous Russian born artist in the avant-garde, modernist school. To highlight the often surrealist nature of Chagall's work this model village was hung upside down from the ceiling. The classical violin music was replaced by Russian Polka music while stilt-walkers and acrobats performed tricks. Apart from showing off traditional Russian culture Polka music can be very bizarre so this sequence seemed to be making the point that if the Russians had wanted to put on weird closing ceremony they certainly had the capacity to make it very weird indeed.
The Chagall village was followed across the ceiling by sky furniture representing angels, the sun and clouds that eventually released snow. This was all a reference to the climate change debate that had been a major topic of conversation during the games not least because of the hosts decision to hold the games in an area of Russia with a sub-tropical climate. However lighting effects gave the clouds something of a blueish tinge while the sun burned yellow. As a result whenever the sun passed by one of the clouds it resembled the yellow and blue colour scheme of the Ukrainian flag. In that context the presence of angels alluded to the film It's a Wonderful Life and its reference to Ukraine's dire economic problems.
This sequence ended with the arena being plunged into darkness with just a faint glow of reddish light. This was a clear reference to the Communist practise of banning great works of art and culture.
The next sequence began with a reddish tinged spotlight dramatically illuminating a single pianist in the centre of the arena. This pianist was playing famed Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto number 2 in C minor which is such a famous piece of classical music I'm sure you've heard it before even if you may not realise it. Rachmaninoff was actually forced to flee Russia for the USA following the Communist revolution because his work was absolutely despised by Russia's new elite. As such he is the perfect way to promote discussion about the censorship of art and ideas. Here the ceremony again drew comparisons between Communist censorship and the anti-gay propaganda laws because suddenly the arena was full of countless pianists. In English "Pianist" is a word you have to be very careful pronouncing because one slip of the tongue and suddenly you are saying "Penis." By filling the arena with Pianists/Penises the ceremony was making a joke about the giant penis that the lighting director drew on the stage during the opening ceremony.
There was though a more serious point to this quite bad pun because the three children who were at the centre of the story immediately started sitting on the Pianists/Penises which is a pretty obvious sexual reference. The pre-pubescent girls sitting on Pianists/Penises was a quite clear reference to paedophilia but the sight of a pre-pubescent boy also sitting on a Pianist/Penis could also be interpreted as a reference to homosexuality. The intention being to explore the perceived link between homosexuality and paedophilia by pointing out that there are also a large number of paedophiles who abuse children of the opposite gender and many who abuse both boys and girls because unlike homosexuality paedophilia is a psychological disorder.
Throughout this sequence the overwhelming colour scheme was red. In part this was to address the issue of Communist censorship but it was also a reference to HIV/AIDS. This is another central force behind Russian homophobia because that if homosexuals are allowed to live openly everyone will turn gay, catch AIDS. Towards the end of the sequence dancers took to the stage and formed the shape of a triangle/diamond that was bathed in golden light. Apart from being a subtle little dig at Rihanna's pretty poor efforts with the HIV/AIDS charity VivaGlam this was meant to be a reference to the so-called 'Golden Triangle' where most of South-East Asia's heroin production comes from. The point being made was that while there is a high risk of HIV transmission through gay male sex gay women actually have the lowest risk of sexual HIV transmission of any group including heterosexuals. Also there are other significant methods of HIV transmission including injecting drugs such as heroin and pretty poor infection control procedures at some Russian hospitals. These routes of HIV infection are of course in no way affected by a ban on people talking about homosexuality and it's pretty well established that driving homosexuality underground actually tends to increase HIV infection rates.
Edited at around 16:25 on 25/2/14 (UK date) to add;
The next sequence centred around dancers from the Bolshoi and Kirov (St Petersburg) ballet schools performing a routine that had been specially choreographed.. This is because ballet is extremely difficult and something that Russians are extremely good at. The main twist was that although the dancers were using all of the arena as their stage there was a piece of scenery in the centre that resembled a theatre's traditional ornate stage frontage. This could have been a reference to the way in which high culture such as ballet or Rachmaninoff just don't attract the same sort of large audience as pop stars like Rihanna. A possible barrier to young people getting into things like ballet is that a trip to the ballet usually involves visiting an expensive and grand theatre where you are surrounded by people dressed in formal black tie all keen to show off how much more intelligent and cultured they are then you. All of that can obviously be quite intimidating to a newcomer.
The stage structure could also have been a reference to a recent (2012) UK film production of famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" which starred Keira Knightely amongst others. This production of Anna Karenina also played around with the barriers to culture question being filmed as if it was a stage production taking place in one of the grand Russian theatres of the time. This film received a lot of critical success and was considered a triumph of the British creative industries. As such the Russians couldn't miss the opportunity to remind everyone where the original source material came from.
In what might have come as a surprise to some suddenly a dancer appeared in the traditional Arabian/Persian costume of a belly dancer. Again this was to remind people what an absolutely vast country Russia is. However it was also a reference to Rihanna's efforts to have herself included in the Winter Olympics specifically how she was photographed during the games leaving a restaurant wearing essentially a bathing costume and a large, ornate flowing robe. Those in the media who are still prepared to cut Rihanna some slack tactfully described this robe as being Oriental in style. I of course described it as Arabian in style. The truth is that it was actually a mixture of both those influence which in fact reflects the reality of the situation because Arabian culture doesn't suddenly stop at the Iraqi border and Oriental culture doesn't suddenly begin at the Chinese border. Instead the two styles gradually blend into each other across many nations including Southern Russia and the "-istan" nations such as Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. These of course all made up part of the Soviet Union. So apart from reminding everyone how big Russia is the ceremony was again pointing out that the US' Rihanna operation has not got anyone troubled in the slightest.
Events in Ukraine have meant that this has actually been a very relevant time to remind the US of the shortcomings of it's Rihanna operation. Unlike in Syria where the US knows full well that it is lying about what is going on the US did appear to genuinely believe that the EU was ready to welcome Ukraine with open arms and the only thing stopping that from happening was Russia putting pressure on Ukrainian President Yanukovych. That shows a worrying lack of understanding about the intricacies of EU internal politics on the part of the US. The European leg of Rihanna's Diamonds World Tour was of course supposed to make the US the expert in EU politics.
Obviously having been presented with such a glaring failure most people would have considered changing tactics but not the US of course who are instead pressing on regardless. For example on the day of the ceremony Rihanna was making her way to France for another 'date' with Drake and Chris Brown was being very noisy on social media with some cock and bull story about his ex-manager leaking some song her recorded with Rihanna a couple of years ago. Admittedly this did provide everyone with a bit of light relief from the horrors of Ukraine but some are also worried because if the US continues to behave this stupidly there will be global consequences.
At one point during the sequence the dancers surrounded the children and their guide completely overwhelming them and causing them to totally disappear from view. This was obviously quite dramatic and alarming and was supposed to represent the fear of youngsters being consumed by the culture the Communists feared or the homosexuality that some modern Russians fear. It was also a reference to the fact that high culture can be very overwhelming to the novice. Fortunately though the dancers opened like a giant white flower to reveal the children to be safe and unharmed.
This spectacle of a white flower suddenly bursting open into bloom was another reference to the situation in Ukraine - specifically the anthem of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA). This portrays Ukraine as the Viburnum shrub which has to endure a period of carrying red berries before bursting out as a triumphant white flower. This has an obvious anti-Communist message but the celebration of the white bloom has significant overtones of racial purity. In their current form the UIA and the similar groups that have been waging war against the Ukrainian government in the streets of Kiev recently are hardcore Neo-Nazi groups. So while the hope is that calmer heads will eventually gain the upper hand no rational person should be celebrating victories by these groups.
Although there wasn't anything specific that I can point to as an example the general tone of this sequence with references to South-East Asia's 'Golden Triangle' and Oriental culture also drew attention to Russia's relationship with China. Mainly due to their work on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) in the west Russia and China are often treated as if they are the same country. This of course dates back to the Communist-era in which the two nations were ideological allies but even then the two nations weren't that close with Russian Communism and Chinese Communism remaining very different. Now that the Soviet Union has collapsed and modern Russia is about as far away from Communist ideology as it is possible to get the two nations now have even less in common. In fact these days them seem only united by the fact that they occasionally have to come together in an effort to stop the other permanent members of the UNSC (US, UK, France) doing something extremely stupid as is currently happening in Syria.
The next sequence continued the main theme of Russia's anti-gay propaganda laws being compared and contrasted with the Commuist-era ban on subversive art and culture with the youngsters at the centre of the story being led into a giant library by their clown guide. In this giant library stood six great Russian authors who to my discredit I did not catch the names of. The question being posed was whether the Russian youngsters be harmed by being exposed to the words and ideas these great men and at least one woman?
The only other thing that I did note in this sequence was that to help emphasise that the children were in a library papers - representing pages from books - were thrown across the floor of the arena. As was the case in the opening ceremony most of the scene setting was done with overhead lighting projecting complex images onto the floor below. This was a great technical accomplishment that looked great on TV however for people in the arena who lacked the birds-eye view this made things quite hard to follow. Perhaps reflecting the fact that most of the criticism in this area had come from the UK at the end of the sequence the papers were swept away using what looked like Curling brooms. Curling of course was the Olympic event where the UK had been dedicating a lot of effort to promote discussion about the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence without much success.
The next sequence saw the children being taken to a traditional Russian travelling circus. On the face of it this was intended to highlight the fact that Russia has a long history of and is globally respected in field of highly technical and difficult circus skills such as acrobatics. However the fact that it was a travelling circus was supposed to highlight the role of Travellers such as Roma Gypsies in Russia and eastern Europe. This of course again also reminded us how big a country Russia is because the Roma originated in Northern India and it has been the way they have travelled across southern Russian and beyond that has helped Oriental culture blend with Arabian and European culture.
Unfortunately Joesph Stalin took the same approach to Roma Gypsies as Adolf Hitler - they are sub-human and deserve to be exterminated. So through much of the Communist-era the Soviet Union's Roma population were frequently persecuted with that persecution justified by outlandish stories about them stealing people's children - the Child Catcher character from the film "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" has very strong anti-Roma overtones. Sadly these attitudes persist in parts of Russia, the former Soviet states and even parts of the traditional western European such as Italy and Greece. As such this sequence - especially the bit where the clown urgently and comically ushered the children away from the gypsies - was supposed to promote discussion about anti-Roma sentiment in eastern Europe which in turn serves as a reminder to the west that not all of these anti-Russian nationalist groups in eastern European are as warm and cuddly as people like to pretend.
This sequence ended with the circus/gypsy tent being destroyed by rocket fire. This was another little reminder to the west that these eastern European nationalist groups have caused some very brutal wars since the fall of the Soviet Union particularly in the former Yugoslavia. The red glare of these rockets as they were being fired into the circus/gypsy camp were a specific reference to the US national anthem which makes proud reference to "the rockets red glare and bombs bursting in the air."
And with that the second act ended. So at around 18:50 on 25/2/14 (UK date) I will move on to cover the official IOC business in part two.
Sunday, 23 February 2014
The 2014 Winter Olympics: Day 17(ish)
Yeah, yeah I'm drunk of my fecking eyeballs. Leave me alone.
Today has been the final day of competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics. In practical terms this meant the finals of the men's cross country skiing, the final of the 4xmens Bobsleigh and the men's Ice Hockey final.
In the ski-cross I believe it was a clean sweep by the Russians. Team USA did badly in the four man bob placing bronze behind Russia and Latvia which may have been embarrassing to the "Gay Rights for Gays!" mob who were sadly forced to admit that "Russia" and "Latvia" are indeed separate countries. The men's Ice Hockey was of course forced to suffer the humiliation of a Canada V Sweden game.
Heroically it was Russia's ski-cross medallists who were forced to take to the podium in the medal ceremony that was central to the Sochi closing ceremony. However I believe their three athletes were joined on stage by Norway's three women ski-cross skiers. Really with only six athletes taking to the stage I thought we could have at least honoured the finalists of the men's ice hockey.
Initially the men's Ice hockey should have been a bruiser between Team USA and Russia. Unfortunately the Ukrainian situation determined that Russia was forced to pull out early and Team US were too p*ssy to play Sweden.
While due to their colour scheme the Netherlands are the obvious target for "Old European Monarchies" and the "Orange Revolution" it has actually been Sweden and their "Triple Crown" who have been leading the line against Ukraine's government. For example I believe they were one of the main nations pushing for sanctions against Ukraine's government. Then after the insurgency swept Ukraine's government aside I believe it was Sweden who suggested that the European Union (EU) provide Ukraine with a roughly USD19billion bailout. Of course they didn't name the EU directly - instead talking in the more general terms of "the international community" - because by that point even the UK were pointing the finger at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and going "No, please. Help!!!.
Team USA were of course sadly missing from any discussion about Ukraine becoming the 51st state during the closing ceremony because they had heroically withdrawn from the contest in the semi-final. This had nothing to do with the fact that following the initial outbreak of insurgent violence on Tuesday (18/2/14) Japan issued a warning through the announcement of a leak from the Fukushima nuclear plant. Horrifically mis-reading this the US opened the taps at the Carlsbad nuclear facility as if to say; "No allies, it's fine. We're only supporting a coup in Ukraine to guarantee a UNSC resolution against Syria. Of course with Japan following up with the "Anne Frank Memo" this fell a little flat. So on Saturday (22/2/14/local) the USA followed up with a carbon monoxide related death at the "Legal Seafood Restaurant" because we all do know that much like Chris Brown and all his kin at Roc Nation/Live Nation the Japanese do so love their "Weeping and a Wailing"
As for the closing ceremony I think that's a topic best left for another day. However it was pretty obvious during the opening act that at any moment any one of the youngsters representing "Lubov" could have fallen out of their lifeboat and been consumed by the "poisonous cloud" below.
23:15 on 23/2 /14 (UK date).
Today has been the final day of competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics. In practical terms this meant the finals of the men's cross country skiing, the final of the 4xmens Bobsleigh and the men's Ice Hockey final.
In the ski-cross I believe it was a clean sweep by the Russians. Team USA did badly in the four man bob placing bronze behind Russia and Latvia which may have been embarrassing to the "Gay Rights for Gays!" mob who were sadly forced to admit that "Russia" and "Latvia" are indeed separate countries. The men's Ice Hockey was of course forced to suffer the humiliation of a Canada V Sweden game.
Heroically it was Russia's ski-cross medallists who were forced to take to the podium in the medal ceremony that was central to the Sochi closing ceremony. However I believe their three athletes were joined on stage by Norway's three women ski-cross skiers. Really with only six athletes taking to the stage I thought we could have at least honoured the finalists of the men's ice hockey.
Initially the men's Ice hockey should have been a bruiser between Team USA and Russia. Unfortunately the Ukrainian situation determined that Russia was forced to pull out early and Team US were too p*ssy to play Sweden.
While due to their colour scheme the Netherlands are the obvious target for "Old European Monarchies" and the "Orange Revolution" it has actually been Sweden and their "Triple Crown" who have been leading the line against Ukraine's government. For example I believe they were one of the main nations pushing for sanctions against Ukraine's government. Then after the insurgency swept Ukraine's government aside I believe it was Sweden who suggested that the European Union (EU) provide Ukraine with a roughly USD19billion bailout. Of course they didn't name the EU directly - instead talking in the more general terms of "the international community" - because by that point even the UK were pointing the finger at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and going "No, please. Help!!!.
Team USA were of course sadly missing from any discussion about Ukraine becoming the 51st state during the closing ceremony because they had heroically withdrawn from the contest in the semi-final. This had nothing to do with the fact that following the initial outbreak of insurgent violence on Tuesday (18/2/14) Japan issued a warning through the announcement of a leak from the Fukushima nuclear plant. Horrifically mis-reading this the US opened the taps at the Carlsbad nuclear facility as if to say; "No allies, it's fine. We're only supporting a coup in Ukraine to guarantee a UNSC resolution against Syria. Of course with Japan following up with the "Anne Frank Memo" this fell a little flat. So on Saturday (22/2/14/local) the USA followed up with a carbon monoxide related death at the "Legal Seafood Restaurant" because we all do know that much like Chris Brown and all his kin at Roc Nation/Live Nation the Japanese do so love their "Weeping and a Wailing"
As for the closing ceremony I think that's a topic best left for another day. However it was pretty obvious during the opening act that at any moment any one of the youngsters representing "Lubov" could have fallen out of their lifeboat and been consumed by the "poisonous cloud" below.
23:15 on 23/2 /14 (UK date).
Saturday, 22 February 2014
The 2014 Winter Olympics: Day 16(ish).
Today has been the last full day of competition at the games. Normally the combination of a relatively light events schedule and everyone getting excited about going home means that on this day hardcore politics are replaced by sporting excellence and some good natured mucking about in things like the Ice Dancing gala.
Unfortunately in Sochi the poisonous cloud of Ukraine has continued to hang over the games. So in the Alpine events (skiing, snowboarding) there were lots and lots of stupid mistakes and people falling over for no particular reason. Although I can't speak for everyone this struck me as the athletes collectively refusing to put in their best performance for an organisation that is still refusing to punish the USA for its role in the Ukraine violence.
Similarly in the speed skating arena everyone seemed happy to simply wave the Netherlands team through. The Netherlands compete in the colours of its Royal House of Orange meaning that they perfectly represent the European old guard which along side the USA has been fuelling the violence in Ukraine which has its roots in the 'Orange Revolution'. Therefore the idea was to let the Netherlands win in order to highlight this fact. To the Netherlands credit they did take this criticism on the chin setting Olympic records in the process of winning gold in both the men's and women's Team Pursuit events.
Sadly the same can't be said for the USA who spectacularly threw their bronze medal men's Ice Hockey match against Finland 5-0. As a result Team USA will not appear in either the official list of medal winners or tomorrow's medal ceremony. So it seems that not only is the USA refusing to apologise for its role in Ukraine's violence it is also unable to take any criticism of its actions.
As for events in Ukraine today they really went beyond satire. Yesterday (21/2/14) both the Ukrainian government and the political leaders of the opposition signed a, for want of better word, peace agreement. This set out a transitional roadmap that would have seen the reinstatement of the 2004 constitution, an unelected government of national unity formed within 12 days and elections to be held in December 2014. All of this is pretty standard stuff but the agreement also required that Ukraine's police withdraw from the streets and do not attempt to uphold the law. That was simply a ridiculous demand that wouldn't be tolerated in any developed nation on earth.
As with Wednesday's (19/2/14) truce this agreement lasted about nine hours before the opposition decided to break it using the absence of the police to storm the Presidential compound. Fortunately bloodshed was avoided because the President had already left and had rather helpfully left the doors unlocked. This allowed people to wander freely around the compound in scenes that were remarkably similar to those seen at Libya's Presidential compound following the fall of Tripoli. Libya is of course still effectively a failed state almost three years after its 'popular revolution' that NATO were in absolutely no way involved in.
With the Presidential compound stormed and the President absent the Ukrainian Parliament which was occupied exclusively by members of the opposition went a bit mental making all sorts of wild declarations. The most notable of these was the announcement that Parliament had sacked the President - something that neither the 2004 constitution nor more recent versions allows it to do. The 'Parliament' also decided to release Yulia Tymoshenko from prison where she was being held for her part in an absolutely epic financial fraud. Despite having been expelled by public vote in the 2010 General Election from the post of Prime Minister she'd been appointed to in 2007 upon release Tymoshenko has pretty much appointed herself as Ukraine's President. Tymoshenko's supporters are now rushing to quickly hold an election before the current hysteria dies down and people actually start questioning her record. For example they can't allow the people time to realise that the reason why Ukraine is caught between choosing a bailout from the European Union (EU) or a bailout from Russia is because Tymoshenko bankrupted the country by personally embezzling around USD188million.
Also today the USA's main reason for stoking unrest in Ukraine has been revealed. As this recent burst of violence began on Tuesday (18/2/14) the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) started work on a resolution that compels the Syrian government to throw open its borders to anyone and everyone. Officially the reason for this is to allow humanitarian assistance. In reality it is to make it easier for foreign powers to supply the Saudi and Qatari Irregular Army (SQIA). Due to the turmoil in Ukraine this resolution wasn't properly debated and was today waved through with the US, the UK and others celebrating it as a great victory in their war against the Syrian government.
With all this going on and them rapidly losing control of the situation the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had to do something to deescalate calls from the USA to be expelled from the games. So this morning it was announced that Ukrainian cross-country skier Marina Lisogor has tested positive for a banned stimulant and is to be expelled. This was intended to convey the message that the Ukrainian insurgency has indeed been receiving illegal support/stimulation from the US. It also draws attention to the general consensus that if anyone in Ukraine or the wider international community thinks what it currently going on in Ukraine is a good thing for the country then they must be under the influence of some sort of mind altering drug.
20:55 on 22/2/14 (UK date).
Unfortunately in Sochi the poisonous cloud of Ukraine has continued to hang over the games. So in the Alpine events (skiing, snowboarding) there were lots and lots of stupid mistakes and people falling over for no particular reason. Although I can't speak for everyone this struck me as the athletes collectively refusing to put in their best performance for an organisation that is still refusing to punish the USA for its role in the Ukraine violence.
Similarly in the speed skating arena everyone seemed happy to simply wave the Netherlands team through. The Netherlands compete in the colours of its Royal House of Orange meaning that they perfectly represent the European old guard which along side the USA has been fuelling the violence in Ukraine which has its roots in the 'Orange Revolution'. Therefore the idea was to let the Netherlands win in order to highlight this fact. To the Netherlands credit they did take this criticism on the chin setting Olympic records in the process of winning gold in both the men's and women's Team Pursuit events.
Sadly the same can't be said for the USA who spectacularly threw their bronze medal men's Ice Hockey match against Finland 5-0. As a result Team USA will not appear in either the official list of medal winners or tomorrow's medal ceremony. So it seems that not only is the USA refusing to apologise for its role in Ukraine's violence it is also unable to take any criticism of its actions.
As for events in Ukraine today they really went beyond satire. Yesterday (21/2/14) both the Ukrainian government and the political leaders of the opposition signed a, for want of better word, peace agreement. This set out a transitional roadmap that would have seen the reinstatement of the 2004 constitution, an unelected government of national unity formed within 12 days and elections to be held in December 2014. All of this is pretty standard stuff but the agreement also required that Ukraine's police withdraw from the streets and do not attempt to uphold the law. That was simply a ridiculous demand that wouldn't be tolerated in any developed nation on earth.
As with Wednesday's (19/2/14) truce this agreement lasted about nine hours before the opposition decided to break it using the absence of the police to storm the Presidential compound. Fortunately bloodshed was avoided because the President had already left and had rather helpfully left the doors unlocked. This allowed people to wander freely around the compound in scenes that were remarkably similar to those seen at Libya's Presidential compound following the fall of Tripoli. Libya is of course still effectively a failed state almost three years after its 'popular revolution' that NATO were in absolutely no way involved in.
With the Presidential compound stormed and the President absent the Ukrainian Parliament which was occupied exclusively by members of the opposition went a bit mental making all sorts of wild declarations. The most notable of these was the announcement that Parliament had sacked the President - something that neither the 2004 constitution nor more recent versions allows it to do. The 'Parliament' also decided to release Yulia Tymoshenko from prison where she was being held for her part in an absolutely epic financial fraud. Despite having been expelled by public vote in the 2010 General Election from the post of Prime Minister she'd been appointed to in 2007 upon release Tymoshenko has pretty much appointed herself as Ukraine's President. Tymoshenko's supporters are now rushing to quickly hold an election before the current hysteria dies down and people actually start questioning her record. For example they can't allow the people time to realise that the reason why Ukraine is caught between choosing a bailout from the European Union (EU) or a bailout from Russia is because Tymoshenko bankrupted the country by personally embezzling around USD188million.
Also today the USA's main reason for stoking unrest in Ukraine has been revealed. As this recent burst of violence began on Tuesday (18/2/14) the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) started work on a resolution that compels the Syrian government to throw open its borders to anyone and everyone. Officially the reason for this is to allow humanitarian assistance. In reality it is to make it easier for foreign powers to supply the Saudi and Qatari Irregular Army (SQIA). Due to the turmoil in Ukraine this resolution wasn't properly debated and was today waved through with the US, the UK and others celebrating it as a great victory in their war against the Syrian government.
With all this going on and them rapidly losing control of the situation the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had to do something to deescalate calls from the USA to be expelled from the games. So this morning it was announced that Ukrainian cross-country skier Marina Lisogor has tested positive for a banned stimulant and is to be expelled. This was intended to convey the message that the Ukrainian insurgency has indeed been receiving illegal support/stimulation from the US. It also draws attention to the general consensus that if anyone in Ukraine or the wider international community thinks what it currently going on in Ukraine is a good thing for the country then they must be under the influence of some sort of mind altering drug.
20:55 on 22/2/14 (UK date).
Friday, 21 February 2014
The 2014 Winter Olympics: Day 15(ish).
The big story at the games today has been the United States of America's continued participation in the competition. Or more specifically it has been the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) failure to expel the USA from the competition due to its role in the recent massacres in Ukraine.
For example, overnight, Japan announced that someone had been going into public libraries and destroying copies of Anne Frank's diary. This vandal had also been tearing out any reference to the Nazi holocaust from the history books. The use of Anne Frank's diary was a specific reference to the men's Ice Hockey semi-final between the US and Canada. After all ever since this fixture was announced people have been billing it as "The Bieber Decider" in the sense that whoever lost the match would be forced to keep Justin Bieber within their own borders for all eternity. Back in April 2013 Justin Bieber caused a minor controversy whilst visiting the Anne Frank museum. The reference to the Nazi holocaust was a direct reference to the Nazi holocaust. While I'm not defending the Nazis at the end of the Second World War it was politically convenient for the victors to add genocides that had actually been committed by their allies such as the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) to the Nazi's total rather then admitting what had actually happened. Anne Frank of course lived in the Netherlands who are currently very, very good at Olympic speed skating.
In response to this growing shock at it's failure to act the IOC attempted lessen calls for the USA to be expelled from the games by suggesting that instead the USA be sarcastically placed at the top of the medals table. Mathematically this would require something of a miracle because at the start of the day Germany topped the table while the USA languished in 4th. Therefore the day began with the IOC announcing that German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle had failed a drugs test and would be expelled from the games. This sent the message to Germany that they had better remove themselves from the top of the medals table in order to make way for the USA. It also sent the message that the Ukraine would be awarded that day's gold medal in the women's team biathlon in an effort foster peace and national unity within Ukraine. After all the IOC hopes that if the Ukraine remains quiet until the closing ceremony it can avoid sanctioning the USA.
Continuing the efforts to drive the US to a sarcastic peak of the medal tables in any sport where the US stood even an outside chance of winning a medal all the other competitors suddenly found themselves comically falling over. The only exception was in events where Canada stood a chance of winning a medal. In those events - such as men's Curling - Canada found themselves being waved through. The hope here was that having been awarded all these medals the Canadians wouldn't feel so bad about letting the USA win the men's hockey semi-final. After all with Sweden winning the other semi the USA were being granted the hockey gold medal.
Sadly the USA were far too arrogant to take even this soft route out of their shame and instead spent the entire hockey match forcing Canada to beat them. I think somehow in their heads the USA had decided that getting knocked out of the competition would somehow distract from the fact they should either have officially forfeited or been formally expelled from the competition for failing to do the sportsmanlike thing and forfeit.
The reason for the USA's arrogance is largely explained by overwhelming support they were given by the IOC in the speed skating events. Here it was quite clear that the old European nations led by the Netherlands who had been pushing the European Union (EU) for sanctions against Ukraine should have been left to fight it out with the USA in order that they could collectively come to see the error of their ways. Unfortunately the IOC judges saw this as an opportunity to reward the USA for its conduct in Ukraine by pushing Asian nations such as Russia, China, Japan and South Korea to the fore. This obviously put great pressure on these Asian nations while the USA and the old European nations were able to sit back and watch.
A perfect example of this was in the women's 1000m events. In the quarter-final a Chinese skater found herself duelling with Team GB's Elise Christie's arch-nemesis Adrianna Fontana. Unlike Christie though the Chinese skater did not lose her sh*t and crash. Instead she basically knocked the Italian on her a*se in the expectation that she would be disqualified and Fontana advanced to the semi-final. Inexplicably though the IOC ignored this and the Chinese skater went through to the semi-final. In the semi-final the Chinese pair decided to knock Elise Christie on her a*se again in the expectation that they would be disqualified and Christie would be advanced to the final. Again though IOC found it's support for the ideals of the USA and old Europe were too strong so the Chinese were forced through. As a result in a final that should have read; "Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, USA" we got far too many slitty eyes.
So in summary the USA's continued participation in the Sochi games remains a serious and unresolved issue for the IOC. After all it is quite clear that today's Ukraine peace agreement that implies regime change simply cannot stand. Fortunately though the fact that the designated leaders of the opposition have only been able to get the actual opposition to ceasefire this long by threatening them with martial law means that it is not going to stand. Unfortunately the 10 day timescale for the "government of national unity" means this is all going to blow up again right in the middle of the para-Olympics.
Presumably by that point any USA athlete wishing to participate will be have already accepted that they can do so under the Olympic banner.
21:50 on 21/2/14 (UK date).
For example, overnight, Japan announced that someone had been going into public libraries and destroying copies of Anne Frank's diary. This vandal had also been tearing out any reference to the Nazi holocaust from the history books. The use of Anne Frank's diary was a specific reference to the men's Ice Hockey semi-final between the US and Canada. After all ever since this fixture was announced people have been billing it as "The Bieber Decider" in the sense that whoever lost the match would be forced to keep Justin Bieber within their own borders for all eternity. Back in April 2013 Justin Bieber caused a minor controversy whilst visiting the Anne Frank museum. The reference to the Nazi holocaust was a direct reference to the Nazi holocaust. While I'm not defending the Nazis at the end of the Second World War it was politically convenient for the victors to add genocides that had actually been committed by their allies such as the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) to the Nazi's total rather then admitting what had actually happened. Anne Frank of course lived in the Netherlands who are currently very, very good at Olympic speed skating.
In response to this growing shock at it's failure to act the IOC attempted lessen calls for the USA to be expelled from the games by suggesting that instead the USA be sarcastically placed at the top of the medals table. Mathematically this would require something of a miracle because at the start of the day Germany topped the table while the USA languished in 4th. Therefore the day began with the IOC announcing that German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle had failed a drugs test and would be expelled from the games. This sent the message to Germany that they had better remove themselves from the top of the medals table in order to make way for the USA. It also sent the message that the Ukraine would be awarded that day's gold medal in the women's team biathlon in an effort foster peace and national unity within Ukraine. After all the IOC hopes that if the Ukraine remains quiet until the closing ceremony it can avoid sanctioning the USA.
Continuing the efforts to drive the US to a sarcastic peak of the medal tables in any sport where the US stood even an outside chance of winning a medal all the other competitors suddenly found themselves comically falling over. The only exception was in events where Canada stood a chance of winning a medal. In those events - such as men's Curling - Canada found themselves being waved through. The hope here was that having been awarded all these medals the Canadians wouldn't feel so bad about letting the USA win the men's hockey semi-final. After all with Sweden winning the other semi the USA were being granted the hockey gold medal.
Sadly the USA were far too arrogant to take even this soft route out of their shame and instead spent the entire hockey match forcing Canada to beat them. I think somehow in their heads the USA had decided that getting knocked out of the competition would somehow distract from the fact they should either have officially forfeited or been formally expelled from the competition for failing to do the sportsmanlike thing and forfeit.
The reason for the USA's arrogance is largely explained by overwhelming support they were given by the IOC in the speed skating events. Here it was quite clear that the old European nations led by the Netherlands who had been pushing the European Union (EU) for sanctions against Ukraine should have been left to fight it out with the USA in order that they could collectively come to see the error of their ways. Unfortunately the IOC judges saw this as an opportunity to reward the USA for its conduct in Ukraine by pushing Asian nations such as Russia, China, Japan and South Korea to the fore. This obviously put great pressure on these Asian nations while the USA and the old European nations were able to sit back and watch.
A perfect example of this was in the women's 1000m events. In the quarter-final a Chinese skater found herself duelling with Team GB's Elise Christie's arch-nemesis Adrianna Fontana. Unlike Christie though the Chinese skater did not lose her sh*t and crash. Instead she basically knocked the Italian on her a*se in the expectation that she would be disqualified and Fontana advanced to the semi-final. Inexplicably though the IOC ignored this and the Chinese skater went through to the semi-final. In the semi-final the Chinese pair decided to knock Elise Christie on her a*se again in the expectation that they would be disqualified and Christie would be advanced to the final. Again though IOC found it's support for the ideals of the USA and old Europe were too strong so the Chinese were forced through. As a result in a final that should have read; "Britain, Italy, the Netherlands, USA" we got far too many slitty eyes.
So in summary the USA's continued participation in the Sochi games remains a serious and unresolved issue for the IOC. After all it is quite clear that today's Ukraine peace agreement that implies regime change simply cannot stand. Fortunately though the fact that the designated leaders of the opposition have only been able to get the actual opposition to ceasefire this long by threatening them with martial law means that it is not going to stand. Unfortunately the 10 day timescale for the "government of national unity" means this is all going to blow up again right in the middle of the para-Olympics.
Presumably by that point any USA athlete wishing to participate will be have already accepted that they can do so under the Olympic banner.
21:50 on 21/2/14 (UK date).
Thursday, 20 February 2014
The 2014 Winter Olympics: Day 14(ish).
Once again life at
the Olympic games have been totally dominated by events in Sochi's Black Sea
neighbour Ukraine. This should come as no great surprise because the US'
primary objective for these games has been to be seen to ruin Russia's party as
punishment for their support for the Syrian government.
The most obvious
impact of the Ukraine crisis on the games has been the withdrawal of Ukrainian
skier Bogdana Matsotska. As seems to be the standard form much of the western
media have wrongly been describing Ms Matsotska's withdrawal as a protest
against against the violence in her native country. However if you actually
read the statement of the alpine skier who finished 27th in the Super G event
and 47th in the Giant Slalom it's clear that her feelings are much stronger. In
her statement Ms Matsotska speaks of her desire to show "solidarity with
the fighters on the barricades" in order to "protest the criminal
acts of Ukraine's [Russian] lackey government." As such I think the nicest
thing I can say about Ms Matsotska's decision to withdraw from the games is
that is really highlights the fact that no-one who has the vaguest idea of what
is going on in Ukraine is talking in terms of peaceful protesters being
oppressed by an authoritarian government. Instead they are talking about a
country in which ethnic and sectarian divisions are putting the nation on the
brink of civil war and genocide just as we saw in Yugoslavia in
1991 and in Syria back in 2011.
With Ukraine being
the overwhelming issue dominating the games the Russian hosts have been forced
to contribute to the discussion. Last night Kate Hansen - the Team USA Luger
who is famous for warming up by dancing to Beyonce songs - peeked out of her
bedroom door and spotted one of Sochi's infamous 'stray' dogs wandering the
halls of the hotel. Ms Hansen helpfully filmed this incident on her mobile
phone and uploaded the video to the Internet. Now I doubt this dog itself is
exactly sure what breed it is but in the early hours of the morning it could
easily have been mistaken for a Grey Wolf. "The Grey Wolves" was a
nickname given to the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) when they were at their
genocidal peak cleansing Ukraine of ethnic Poles at the end of the Second World
War. Such was the problem presented by the UIA that at the conference between
Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt that was held in the resort town of Yalta on
the Black Sea island of Crimea in 1945 it was decided that the only way to
resolve the situation was to move Ukraine and Poland roughly 30 miles (48km) to
the west. As such it seems odd that the current Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk
has been such a vocal supporter of the Ukrainian opposition especially with the
worst of the violence outside of the capital centring on attempts to block the
main Ukraine/Poland highway near the city of Lviv.
This dog trick also
serves to highlight exactly how the US was intending to pile pressure on Russia
by triggering a wave of spontaneous, unilateral protests under the Principle 6/1.2.6
campaign on gay rights. Although out and out cheating is distinctly frowned
upon the Olympics are hugely competitive with many nations employing teams of
psychologists both to help their athletes mentally prepare and to devise ways
to knock competitors off balance psychologically speaking. This dog stunt is
exactly the sort of thing that has been used in the past and while Russia was
careful to choose an athlete who had already finished competing if Ms Hansen
had gone on to screw up in her event you can guarantee that the US and Russia
would be arguing about this actual dog for years to come. Vladimir Luxuria's
gay rights 'protest' outside the women's Ice Hockey event on Monday (17/2/14) could also
have been used as a cover for this type of psychological gamesmanship. As such
if the Russian hosts were being forced to deal with several incidents of this
type each day they would have quickly become overstretched having to deal with
p*ssed off national delegations. That of course was the US' true intention
behind the Principle 6/1.2.6 campaign.
The devestating impact that these type of mind games can have on competitors was perfectly highlighted by the misfortune that befell Russian figure skating prodigy Yulia Lipnitskaya who fell during both of her routines today destroying her medal chances. If you've not heard of Lipnitskaya she has been one of the stories of the Sochi games because despite only being old enough to compete in the games by one week this 15 year old skates with the passion and experience of a much older woman and was widely expected to medal with her routine performing to the theme from the film "Schindler's List." Obviously Lipnitskaya's age and her decision to perform to music so closely associated with the Nazi Holocaust feeds in the that long running Olympic debate about the age of sexual consent and this years debate about how far is too far? Therefore I, and a lot of people, were looking forward to seeing how the International Olympic Committee (IOC) judges would respond to Lipnitskaya's performance.
Mind you the fact that even after the Principle 6/1.2.6 campaign, the nonsense by former members of the band Pussy Riot and now the death toll in Ukraine the fact that Team USA have not been expelled from the games for gross unsportsmanlike behaviour tells you probably all who need to know about the IOC's position on the "How far is too far?" question.
I understand that for traditional sports fans the obvious artistic/political themes of figure skating might be hard to get their heads around but they are actually central to the sport. While I don't want to detract from the immense athleticism and stamina of figure skaters it is an event that is as much about artistic expression and performance then out and out physical fitness. For example skaters are awarded one set of points for the way they perform technical tasks such as jumps and spins and then another set of points for the artistic vision of their routine and how well they express it through their choice of music, costume and manoeuvres. As such I thought this would be the perfect sport for performers like Rihanna to take an interest in. After all while it would have been advisable for Rihanna to keep a low profile during the games the silent treatment always causes her problems. Plus I think there is space within the Olympic movement for Rihanna to have a little natter about sports like figure skating with her 30million+ Internet fans.
Elsewhere at the games it has been women's Ice Hockey finals day. Although I didn't get the opportunity to watch it I gather that in the Bronze medal match Sweden went 2-0 up before being pegged back to 2-2 by Switzerland who went on to win 3-2. In the gold medal match the USA went 2-0 up into the third period before throwing it away with Canada levelling it at 2-2 with just 54 seconds left on the clock. Canada went on to win with a golden goal in Over Time. That means provisionally Canada take gold, the USA take silver and Switzerland take bronze. However I now expect that either Switzerland, Sweden or the IOC themselves will move to have the USA disqualified because not only did they field 7 rather then the regulation 6 players in the final but they've actually been fielding an ineligible player throughout the tournament.
Also today medals were awarded in the women's Curling with Britain taking bronze. However as recent experiments have demonstrated not even the use of mind altering drugs and the added risk of serious bodily harm can make Curling interesting.
20:45 on 20/2/14 (UK date).
Ukraine Update.
Last night (19/2/14) Ukraine's President Yankovych met with opposition MP's including Vitaly Kiltschko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk. The outcome of that meeting was the agreement of a truce to allow negotiations to re-start. As a result a police operation to clear Independence Square was postponed.
Sadly that truce lasted all of around nine hours. At around dawn people within Independence Square - most likely members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) - attacked police lines with rocks, petrol and live fire. Initially the police responded to this by pulling back from Independence Square in order to defuse the situation and maintain the truce. Unfortunately the paramilitaries took this as a sign of weakness and advanced out of the square. This forced the police to respond in order to stop the violence spreading throughout the city. There are now running battles throughout the roughly 100 metre around surrounding Independence Square as the police try to contain the violence.
Despite initial rumours that this latest spasm of violence had forced them to cancel later today European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers will meet in Ukraine. I think one of the main items on their agenda should be whether to proscribe groups such as the UIA as terrorist groups because it is quite clear that Ukraine's political opposition have no influence the groups responsible for the violence and meaningful negotiations simply cannot take place under those circumstances.
12:15 on 20/2/14 (UK date).
Sadly that truce lasted all of around nine hours. At around dawn people within Independence Square - most likely members of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA) - attacked police lines with rocks, petrol and live fire. Initially the police responded to this by pulling back from Independence Square in order to defuse the situation and maintain the truce. Unfortunately the paramilitaries took this as a sign of weakness and advanced out of the square. This forced the police to respond in order to stop the violence spreading throughout the city. There are now running battles throughout the roughly 100 metre around surrounding Independence Square as the police try to contain the violence.
Despite initial rumours that this latest spasm of violence had forced them to cancel later today European Union (EU) Foreign Ministers will meet in Ukraine. I think one of the main items on their agenda should be whether to proscribe groups such as the UIA as terrorist groups because it is quite clear that Ukraine's political opposition have no influence the groups responsible for the violence and meaningful negotiations simply cannot take place under those circumstances.
12:15 on 20/2/14 (UK date).
Wednesday, 19 February 2014
The 2014 Winter Olympics: Day 13(ish)
Sadly the big story
of the Olympics today has been the continued violent protests in Ukraine. This
has made the political situation so volatile that Olympic delegations now seem
to be holding off from plays they would have made in order to avoid having them
misconstrued as references to the Ukraine situation.
Events in Ukraine
have been most keenly felt in the men's Ice Hockey where Finland surprised
everyone by knocking Russia out at the quarter-final stage. As a result Russia
now stand no chance of meeting the USA in the final or even winning any medal.
It was never guaranteed that Russia would win the competition because while
they have a squad made up of some of the best hockey players in the World at the
moment that squad has always had trouble functioning as a team. Finland are
pretty much exactly the opposite because while they lack stand out superstar
players the players they do have function very well together. In the first two
periods this was very much apparent with the Russians seemingly more interested
in showing the World how they were getting bashed about by a more organised
opposition then winning. In the third period Russia did make more of an effort
but being 3-1 down and unable to score an early goal this quickly descend into
players settling personal scores amongst themselves. In the end 3-1 was how it
finished but we did at least get to see the blood bounce.
This spectacle of the
Russians getting bashed about by an organised and co-ordinated opposition does
provide a rather apt metaphor for the political situation at the games.
Although the situation in Ukraine is certainly a part of it I think the
Russians were focused on the US-led Principle 6/1.2.6 gay-rights campaign that
was intended to spark daily waves of unilateral protests at the games but has so
far failed to find much traction despite daily provocations from the US in the
form of famous people announcing they are gay along with gay-friendly
announcements by the US government. Then there have been the exploits of Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova who were formally members of the band Pussy Riot. On Tuesday
(18/2/14) Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova were briefly arrested and today they claim they were beaten and
whipped by Cossack Olympic security while trying to mount a protest close to
the Olympic park. In much of the western media these have wrongly been
described as "Pussy Riot Protests" which is untrue. On February 6th 2014 (6/2/14) Alyokhina and Tolokonnikova
appeared on stage at a concert in New York, US alongside Madonna. This prompted Pussy Riot
to expel them as members for being two close to the US. So Pussy Riot have not
protested against the Sochi games - two darlings of the US media have protested
mis-using the Pussy Riot name.
The fact that Russia
have now thrown away their chance to duke it out with the US in the men's Ice
Hockey is clearly a result of events in Ukraine. Despite the repeated claims in
the western media the conflict in Ukraine is not about European Union (EU)
membership. Instead it is the result of a long-term geographical or perhaps
more accurately linguistic split within the nation. In the east of the country
you have Ukrainians who speak Russian as their first language. In the west of
the country you have Ukrainians who speak Ukrainian as their first language.
President Yanukovych comes from the east while the rioters come from the west.
While the US is directing the violence in Ukraine in order to punish
neighbouring Russia over Syria if Russia were to join through a bruising ice
hockey final this would make it a lot easier for the western rioters to portray
Yanukovych as a Russian-stooge further inflaming the situation. As people are
already starting to draw comparisons between the situation in Ukraine as similar
to the situation in the former Yugoslavia before their brutal civil war(s)
further division should be the last thing anyone wants. Therefore I think the
Russians should be commended for giving up their chance of a gold medal in
order to help calm the situation.
Although I didn't get the opportunity to watch them in the other men's quarter-finals Sweden destroyed Slovenia 5-0 setting up an interesting semi-final against their neighbours Finland. Team USA smashed the Czech Republic 5-2 while Canada only squeaked past Latvia 2-1. The semi-final between the US and Canada is going to be interesting because they both a deep Ice Hockey tradition and they're neighbours and rivals. Also Canada may come under pressure to let the US win in order to show support for the US' stance on Syria both through the gay-rights thing and the situation in Ukraine.
Before the situation
in Ukraine really started kicking off yesterday there were a few little
interesting things taking place amongst European nations. The first of these
was the announcement by France that they'd made arrests in the Saad
al-Hilli/French Alps murder case. This was an incident that occurred just after
the 2012 Summer Olympics in London in which a British family were killed in a
shooting in the French Alps. Although I can't remember the exact circumstances
this was a British/French co-production. I think the objective was to allow
Britain to show how excellent they were at controlling me by pointing out that
I'd grown up on the fringes of the murky world of espionage/diplomacy. The
original accusation that Sad al-Hilli's brother had hired a hitman to kill him
in a dispute over an inheritance was supposed to the give the false impression
that the dispute between my brother and I over our grandmother's medical
mistreatment was in fact a dispute over an inheritance. This latest announcement
came at a time where France stands its best chances of winning medals at the
Winter Olympics in events like biathlon which involves shooting and skiing/snowboarding
where the men in helmets are hugely importance. So by arresting a former
policeman in the al-Hilli case France seems to be trying to increase its medal
chances by confessing to its role in the al-Hilli case, dropping the UK in it
in the process.
Also yesterday a
new-born baby girl was killed in a dog attack in Camathernshire in South Wales.
My now deceased grandmother and her family come from Camathernshire in South
Wales. However this largely seemed a UK attempt to piggy-back on Vanessa Mae's appearance
for Thailand at the Winter Olympics. The girl who died was Eliza-Mae Mullane
which sounds remarkably similar to Vanessa Mae-Vankorn which is the name Vanessa
Mae competed under.
The reason why the UK
was keen to piggy-back on the attention surrounding Vanessa Mae becomes clear
when you consider the type of dog involved in the death. This was a Alaskan
Malamute which is a type of sled-dog similar to a Husky. Huskies feature
heavily in the TV Show "Game of Thrones" and if you didn't work out
that references helpfully Game of Thrones actor Clive Mantle was called to a
British Court to give evidence against accused of biting his ear off later that day.
The reason why the UK
is so keen to draw attention to Game of Thrones is that although it is produced
by a US network (HBO) it is based on a British novel, it is filmed largely in
Britain and the cast is mostly British. Therefore it provides a convenient way
for Britain to declare it's world beating status in the creative industries.
This has been a pattern for this week at the Olympics with the British BAFTA
film awards being held on Sunday (16/2/14) and the British BRIT music awards
being held tonight. What I find interesting is that both the BAFTA's and the
BRIT's featured lots of big name US guests. Now this could be the US helping
the UK by increasing international interest in these otherwise third rate award
ceremonies. Alternatively though it could be the US reminding the UK that it is
not quite the World beater it thinks it is. Something that both Russia and Israel have already picked the UK up on.
Of course the fact that the UK has killed an infant in an effort to garner publicity for its attempts to showcase its creative industry does of course contribute to the Olympic debate o; "How far is too far?"
20:10 on 19/2/14 (UK date).
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