The 2018 Winter Para-Olympics: Closing Ceremony Pt.3

A continuation of Part 2; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-2018-winter-para-olympics-closing_19.html

United in Sorrow:

This sequence centred around Lee Chun-hee. A very famous South Korean singer of Gyeonggi Minyo music. This is a style of folk music from the Gyeonggi Province.

Gyeonggi translates as; "The area surrounding the capital." So Gyeonggi-do is the province surrounding the South Korean capital Seoul.

Unfortunately my knowledge of South Korean folk music is not so good that I was able to recognise the exact songs being performed.

Lee Chun-hee performed from the stage's centre platform.

From the sub-platform at roughly 8 o'clock she was accompanied by a modern rock band.

From the sub-platform at roughly 2 o'clock the performance was joined by performers playing traditional drums from the Joseon Dynasty. I think they were specifically Jeolgo drums.

This showed the combination of the old and new. A major theme of the Olympic Closing Ceremony.

The performance was joined by many female dancers in traditional white tunics.

The Olympic Opening Ceremony introduced us to the concept of the Wu Xing.

In Chinese physics this contains the five essential elements which make up everything in the universe. The objective of life is to have these elements exist in balance with each other.

The elements all represent a different phase of development. Most commonly seen in the changing of the seasons. They are all also assigned a colour.

The colour white represents the element Metal and the season of autumn. It's phase of development is withering and decline. It is in autumn leaves wither on the branch and fall from the trees.

So in Asian culture the colour white is associated with death and mourning. This sequence set out to mourn the end of the 2018 games.

However the dancers were also wearing a red sash around their waists. It is very unusual to see this combined with white.

The colour red represents the element Fire and the season of summer. It's phase of development is blooming and growth. Summer being the peak growing season.

So in Asian culture the colour red is associated with prosperity and good fortune. It is not a colour that you would wear at a funeral.

So while this sequence was mourning the end of the 2018 games it was also looking forward to the 2022 games to be held in China. Both through Asian culture and Communism China is heavily associated with the colour red.

The dancers then took off their sashes and revealed them to be half red and half white.

This seemed to be a reference to the red and white flag of Japan. Before the 2022 Winter games in China there are the 2020 Summer games in Japan.

These half red, half white sashes also seemed to resemble the half-and-half scarves you sometimes get at football matches. Each half of the scarf is in the colours of the two teams playing.

It's often used for teams whose fans are closely linked with each other. Liverpool and Celtic being prime examples.

This raised the issue of Unification between the two Koreas. Something which had been a massive theme of the games. Not least with North and South Korea entering the stadium as a single team during the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

Particularly with US Vice President Mike Pence being replaced by US Presidential adviser Ivanka Trump the theme of the Olympic Closing Ceremony touched on the concept of new replacing old.

The Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony was very much a celebration of transformation and equality. Leading to upgraded and mature attitudes.

This sequence then seemed to indicated support for a new approach replacing the old approach to the conflict between the Koreas.

Something like doing away with the notion that the US cannot talk to the DPRK as an equal because the DPRK is not a nuclear power.

As Lee Chun-hee was singing and the drummers were drumming projected lightwaves radiated out from the stages centre platform.

This obviously touched on how an impairment in one sense can be compensated for through another sense. So light and vision being used to compensate for an impairment in hearing.

It also touched on the concept from Physics of the Doppler Effect. I'm sure as you know by now the Doppler Effect means that the frequency of either sound or light waves will change depending on the point at which you observe them.

Mainly though these radiating circles seemed to be a reference to the way that Earthquakes are shown on maps.

On March 11th 2011 (11/3/11) the fourth largest Earthquake ever recorded struck off the coast of the Tohoku region on the northwest of Japan's main Honshu island.

That Earthquake had a magnitude of 9.1. It triggered a Tsunami wave which caused mass devastation across coastal areas. Including triggering a meltdown at the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. That in turn cause Japan to shut down all of its Nuclear Power Plants plunging the nation into an energy crisis.

That Earthquake is often referred to as; "3/11." In reference to the 9/11 terror attacks that struck the US in 2001. The Japanese Earthquake did far more damage.

You may have noticed that I end all of my posts with the time and the date in the UK. That is a tradition that began with the 3/11 Earthquake.

I still remember waiting to see whether the massive Tsunami would travel back across the Pacific Ocean and the International Date Line to strike the US the day before it began.

It is the sort of situation that has you really questioning the linear nature of time. No matter what Albert Einstein says in his theories of relativity.

As you may have noticed from the teasing throughout the games Japan and the RoK are regional rivals. However this is more of a friendly, sporting rivalry. It is certainly not the sort of thing that would stop the RoK joining the World in sympathy for Japan over the 3/11 Earthquake.

That Earthquake will be amongst the main considerations as Japan prepares to host the 2020 Summer games.

Tokyo where the games will be held is around 200km (120 miles) south-east of the Fukushima exclusion zone. However just on February 18th (18/2/18) Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) entered into a special pact to protect the games from any nuclear threats.

Then of course there is the issue of Japan's energy crisis. Although that is now easing there remains questions over whether Japan will be able to provide enough electricity to power the games.

At the stage's 8'clock you had a modern rock band. At the stage's 2 o'clock platform you had traditional drummers.

Towards the end of the sequence they were joined by another band on the 4 o'clock platform. This band combined both modern and traditional instruments within their performance.

I think it may have been the same band that appeared during the Parade of Nations during the Olympic Closing Ceremony. The one that was able to combine all the styles of music in one long single song.

Parade of Nations:

It is protocol that each ceremony must include a segment in which the flags of the competing nations are paraded around the arena and then raised.

Although it's not compulsory in the Opening Ceremony many competitors choose to join their flag in the parade. So you have the teams led out in orderly blocks behind their flags.

The Closing Ceremony is more relaxed. So the flags tend to be paraded together. In the Olympics the competitors then enter the arena in one big, chaotic but happy mess.

The Para-Olympics obviously features many competitors who have physical impairments which affect their mobility. This means that they tend to not bother participating in the closing parade. Instead they take their seats within the arena before the ceremony starts.

This Closing Ceremony was no exception. The competitors were already seated in and around the stage with its different platforms. This made the competitors very much part of what is really a celebration of their efforts.

The dancers from the previous sequence actually became the stewards guiding the route of the parade. They used their half red, half white sashes as a sort of rope to mark out the route.

That really emphasised the similarity with football supporters half-and-half scarves.

Commercial Break:

The UK broadcaster felt the need to edit their broadcast of a recording of the Closing Ceremony so it would fit into its time slot.

That time pressure however did not extend to Channel 4 forgoing commercial breaks.

At around 17:45 on 21/3/18 (UK date) I'll pick this up later. Possibly tomorrow.

Edited at around 16:00 on 22/3/18 (UK date) to add;

Whang Youn Dai: 

It was the UK who created the Para-Olympics in 1948. However it was the RoK which brought these Parallel Olympics together on an equal footing with the Olympics at the 1988 Summer games held in Seoul.

That year the RoK also introduced the Whang Youn Dai Award.

Whang Youn Dai is a South Korean woman who at the age of three contracted Polio. This caused her severe and lifelong impairments to her mobility.

However Whang Youn Dai did not allow those impairments to hold her back. In 1963 she qualified as a medical doctor. In itself a woman qualifying as a doctor in the RoK was no mean feat. Let alone as a disabled woman.

As a doctor Whang Youn Dai very much embraced Para-Olympic founder Dr Ludwig Guttman's philosophy of sport being a highly effective form of treatment and rehabilitation. Her commitment to promoting disability sport was a key driver in the Para-Olympics and Olympics being placed on an equal footing in 1988.

The Whang Youn Dai Award is handed out at every Para-Olympics to those;

"Who is fair, honest and is uncompromising in his or her values and prioritizes the promotion of the Paralympic Movement above personal recognition."

2018 is of course the 30th anniversary of the Whang Youn Dai Award. This sequence was a tribute to the award and the remarkable woman who inspired it.

This took the form of a photo slideshow of all the previous winners of the award. It was interspersed with video tributes from three previous winners; David Lega, Sweden, 1996. Collette Bourgonje, Canada, 2010 and Bibian Mantel-Spee, the Netherlands, 2014.

Attention then shifted to the arena where Dr Whang Youn Dai took centre stage in her wheelchair on the protocol stage. The previous winners then came out and handed her a special award honouring how she has been;

"Fair, honest and uncompromising in her values and prioritizes the promotion of the Paralympic Movement above personal recognition."

I understand the sequence then moved on to presenting the 2018 Whang Youn Dai Award(s).

As I've said though the UK broadcaster Channel 4 only showed a recorded and edited version of the Closing Ceremony. Rather proving my jealously theory this is one of the things they edited out.

Although I have no idea how it appeared during the ceremony this year's awards went to;

Adam Hall: This New Zealander was born with Spina Bifada. That though did not prevent him becoming both a Para-Olympic Alpine Skier and working to promote disability sport within New Zealand.

Sini Pyy: Already an accomplished athlete she suffered a spinal injury in a car accident aged 17. However she did not allow that to set her back becoming not just a Para-Olympic Cross Country Skier but also a Para-Olympic Biathlete.

Sini Pyy's most significant achievement though was building the first athlete's council within the National Para-Olympic Committee (NPC) in her native Finland.

On the editing issue I should point out that the full Closing Ceremony is available on both the Paralympic website and YouTube channel. However the broadcast deal it has done with Channel 4 prevents this content being shown in the UK.

Obviously I could get around this by Spoofing my IP address. Essentially changing a tiny bit of computer code to make YouTube of the Paralympic website think I'm somewhere it is able to broadcast that content.

That is though a massive pain. I'm already very behind with the bits of the Closing Ceremony I have seen.

This issue of IP Spoofing though is why when people say things like;

"We've traced the hack/virus back to Russian IP addresses!"

People like me go;


"And?!".

 16:45 on 22/3/18 (UK date).

Emergency SHIELD.

I've decided the best way to cover the Closing Ceremony of the 2018 Winter Para-Olympics is to go on a little detour.

Instead I'm going to write about a US TV Show; "Marvels: Agents of Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D)."

This was a talking point during the 2018 Winter Olympics. Particularly through the mostly Asian, always hungry actress from the show Chloe Bennet. And her avatar. Korean American Snowboarder Chloe Kim.

It was also a big talking point during the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.

In the gap between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics the UK broadcaster Channel 4 started airing Season 5 of the show. This prompted me to catch up on Season 4. The one which had been on air during the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest.

I'm glad I did. It seems much of the antics surrounding the Para-Olympics have, at least in part, been influenced by Season 4 of Agents of Shield.

For example there was the March 4th (4/3/18) poisoning of Russian MI6 agent Sergei Skripal. This took place in the city of Salisbury, Wiltshire in the UK.

There is a spin-off show from Agents of Shield called; "Agent Carter." The lead role is played by British actress Hayley Atwell.

Hayley Atwell's big TV breakthrough came in the 2010 mini-series; "The Pillars of the Earth."

This was a huge multinational production relying on talent from the UK, the US, Canada and Germany. It was largely filmed in Hungary using development money from the European Union (EU).

It is loosely based around the building of Salisbury's very famous Cathedral. It uses that story to explore the core underpinnings of society. The pillars of the earth as it were.

So you have a very devout Monk who represents the good side of religion. You also have a corrupt Bishop representing politics and corruption. Hayley Atwell's character represents lust and sexuality.

People who enjoy fantasy comic book movies and TV shows like Agents of Shield like to talk about things like origin stories. The Pillars of the Earth is very much the origin story for the much more famous TV show; "Game of Thrones."

So The Pillars of the Earth has Game of Thrones levels of violence and nudity. That is all except for the actress Hayley Atwell. Despite representing lust and sexuality she does not appear nude.

Instead where it would be easier for the character to appear nude without you really noticing there is instead a very intrusive edit. The sort of thing that jolts your concentration reminding you that you are watching a TV show.

This makes The Pillars of the Earth an interesting case study in the never ending discussion about portrayals of sex and nudity in TV and movies.

Representing lust and sexuality it is really necessary for the artistic point being made that Hayley Atwell's character appears nude. The fact she doesn't and the way the director makes a point of the fact she doesn't raises further questions about the power of and attitudes towards women within the entertainment industry.

Watching the show you might be tempted to question whether this previously unknown actress was being difficult. Accepting a role that required nudity but then insisting on a no-nudity clause in her contract. Forcing everyone around her to work that bit harder to accommodate her ego.

In The Pillars of the Earth Hayley Atwell's character is a wool trader. The Bishop's Mill pub closed as part of the Skripal case in a former wool mill owned by the Bishop of Salisbury. Ian McShane I think.

If you go to particularly Salisbury Cathedral you can pick up a tourist map showing all the settings for The Pillars of the Earth. Including the Bishop's Mill pub.

I should probably explain why the fact I've got half a season's worth of Agents of Shield stacked up on my DVR is actually a sign of respect.

The show is very much about sub-text, metaphor and hidden meaning. Which is why it is so popular amongst the Eurovision Song Contest crowd.

The problem is that if you watch it in the same mindset you would watch some other TV show like NCIS or Law & Order it's terrible. It's just a series of a explosions and Kung Fu fight scenes happening for some dubious, unbelievable Sci-Fi reasons.

Instead you've got to watch it in the same mindset you would watch something like an Olympic ceremony. Open your mind to the hidden meanings and allow yourself to be absorbed by it. Marijuana really helps.

So what I tend to do is turn out the lights, close the curtains and allow myself to be absorbed by a couple of episodes in a row. It's much harder to do that during the summer months. Particularly when your 2017 was as hectic as mine.

The big theme of Season 4 is Artificial Intelligence (AI). As the technology advances this has become an increasingly important global talking point. We have things like self-driving cars.

The 2018 Winter Olympics specifically focused on the topic of AI bots on social media.

Ahead of the 2016 US Presidential Election incumbent President Barack Obama claimed Russia was using AI bots on social media to rig the election. This claim allowed Obama to set up a special unit of the FBI answering directly to him.

That special FBI unit was tasked with declaring comments supportive of the Republican candidate Donald Trump or critical of Obama's designated successor Hillary Clinton to be the work of Russian AI bots. Then removing them from social media under the guise of national security.

This was remarkably similar to events in Olympic host the Republic of Korea (RoK/South) during their 2012 Presidential Election.

There the incumbent President Lee Myung-bak claimed that the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK/North) was using AI bots on social media to rig the election. This claim allowed Lee to set up a special unit of the RoK's equivalent of the FBI - the NIS - answering directly to him.

That special NIS unit was tasked with declaring comments supportive of Candidate Moon Jae-in or critical of President Lee's designated successor Park Guen-hye to be the work of North Korean AI bots. Then removing them from social media under the guise of national security.

In late 2016, early 2017 it was revealed that these claims of AI bots was a deliberate lie. It allowed the NIS to rig the election in favour of Park Guen-hye. She was impeached and Moon Jae-in took her place.

Within Agents of Shield a sort mad scientist played by Scottish actor John Hannah creates an advanced AI called the; "Artificial Intelligence Digital Assistant (AIDA)" played by Australian actress Mallory Jansen.

For dubious Sci-Fi reasons AIDA goes on to create an artificial reality called; "The Framework."

Similar to the movie; "The Matrix" this is like a Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. Sort of like "Minecraft." However rather than being played on a computer it is fed directly into the person's brain.

AIDA then traps the core cast of the show into this Framework.

This is used to explore the notion of; "Social Programming." Essentially the way that the people we meet and the experiences we have shape us as people and determine how we behave.

A very good example of this is language.

Reading and writing are a slightly different thing. However it is likely that no-one taught you how to speak and understand your native language. Instead you just copied what everybody else in your society was doing.

Another good example is crime.

Most societies have laws. They also have police forces, Courts and prisons to enforce those laws. However what really prevents crime is the social convention that you don't commit crime.

The UK's August 2011 riots are a good example of this.

There is a social convention that you don't put a brick through a shop window and then just take whatever you want. During the riots that particular social convention collapsed.

The UK rapidly discovered it didn't have enough police officers to physically stop people from committing crime if they were prepared to disregard the social convention.

Social programing is also how AI bots on social media learn.

They consume the vast amount of human interactions freely available on social media. They then analyse them and then set out to recreate human behaviour.

A famous of this is Microsoft's chatbot; "Tay."

Unfortunately for Microsoft the online human interactions Tay studied seemed to be limited to people who use social media "Hate Sites" like "4Chan."

As a result Tay learnt to be foul mouthed, racist, homophobic and consumed by hate. Behaviour considered perfectly normal and acceptable by the 4Chan community.

I also recently heard about an AI bot which was forced to watch all of the "Saw" horror movies. It was then tasked with writing the script for the next horror movies.

The resulting dialogue was only slightly more clunky than the Saw movies themselves.

Another interesting real world case study in social programming is the Turpin siblings in the US.

Back in January 2018 in Riverside, California it was discovered that David and Louise Turpin had been holding their 13 children captive in some sort of bizarre basement dungeon. It emerged that all of the children had some opportunity to escape and one had even attended college. However none of them did.

That is because only ever experiencing that mini-society from birth they had been programmed to believe it was normal. Therefore they did not realise there was a reason they should try and escape.

That is an idea Agents of Shield very much explores. The core cast don't know that they've been put into the artificial reality Framework. So they don't realise it's not real or understand they need to escape.

As you would expect from Joss Whedon it all gets very existential.

Hopefully not too existential though. At around 18:45 on 20/3/18 (UK date) I've got to finish this after dinner. And drinks.

Edited at around 20:20 on 20/3/18 (UK date) to add above & below;

In putting the core cast of Agents of Shield into the Framework AIDA eliminates their one core regret. That one thing we all have that we wish we had done differently.

So for the "Fitz" character it was his father leaving when he was a child. In the Framework Fitz's father is still around. In death if not life he seems to resemble Harvey Weinstein.

For the "Caulson" character the regret is that he joined Shield. So in the Framework he is a High School history teacher. The career he would have chosen if he'd never joined Shield.

For the "Mace" character the regret is that he never got to have superpowers. So in the Framework he had superpowers.

However those superpowers do not prevent Mace being crushed by a concrete beam. In scenes that closely resemble the recent bridge collapse at Florida International University (FIU) in the US.

The result of removing these regrets is that Shield's arch-nemesis "Hydra" has risen to power. They are a Nazi like organisation.

The origin story for Shield is that Agent Carter fought for the allies in the Second World War against Nazi Germany who had Hydra as their science division. Agent Carter's Strategic Scientific Reserve (SCR) became S.H.I.E.L.D.

Hydra were able to rise to power through the never defined; "Cambridge Incident."

With boffin characters like Fitz and Simmons being British it is hard to work out is this Cambridge refers to Cambridge University. Where Stephen Hawking studied. 

Or the Cambridge, Massachusetts, US. Close to Boston where there was a terrorist bombing in April 2013.

As a fascist organisation Hydra control the population through news broadcasts - seeming to resemble Al Jazeera - which urge viewers to remember the Cambridge Incident and constantly be on their guard.

As a history teacher Caulson starts to question the Framework. He can see that Hydra are further controlling the population by engaging in; "Revisionist History."

This is the sort of thing where you would demand US Civil War statues are removed from public view. So people forget that the US Civil War was the Democrat Party fighting to keep slavery alive.

It's also things like putting out propaganda movies like; "Selma." These claim that Martin Luther King Jr was placed under surveillance by President Lyndon B. Johnson.

So people forget that Martin Luther King Jr was little more than a bit part player in the US Civil Rights movement. 

That was actually an internal dispute within the Democrat Party. One faction was led by Lyndon B. Jonson. The other was led by George C. Wallace.

The two factions used to meet for so-called; "Coca-Cola Summits." Hence the Coca-Cola button Lyndon B. Johnson had installed on the President's desk in the Oval Office.

Although apparently if you were raised on Selma you'd think President Trump installed that button. 

I wouldn't worry though. It's not like its an important part of 20th century US political history or anything.

One of the core Shield cast is the; "Mack" character. He is black. His big regret is that his only child was stillborn.

So in the Framework Mack is the proud father of a 10 year old daughter named; "Hope." As in Barack Obama's 2008 election slogan; "Hope & Change."

Even after it is revealed to him that the world of Hope is Fake News Mack still refuses to leave the Framework. Like every Obamacare Opioid addict he would prefer to live in the comfort of hope rather than face reality.

In the last few days US Democrats have been presented with their own; "Cambridge Incident."

Cambridge Analytical are a UK based company. However they are being prosecuted by the US Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

What Cambridge Analytica have done is use almost AI bots to consume the vast about of human interaction freely available on social media. They have then used it to devise the best way to target potential voters.

In short Cambridge Analytica have done what is considered a perfectly normal part of election campaigning. 

It is this sort of voter research which has coined terms such as; "White Van Man, "Mondeo Man" or "Joe the Plumber" from the US in 2012.

Of course some would say that Sergei Skripal and his ugly, ugly daughters resemble one of the Joe the Plumbers. But some would also say that Joe the Plumber resembles Ratko Mladic.

The type of social stratification used by Cambridge Analytica is as old as the social sciences itself. 

Voters have long been classified in terms of their occupation, earnings, wealth and social or political power. 

Politicians always try to identify each of these subgroups or tribes and then appeal to either their hopes of fears.

What has made Hydra angry about Cambridge Analytica is not that they were using exactly the same methods as Hillary Clinton and the Democrats.  

They are angry that they were working for the inhuman terrorist Donald Trump.

One of the key characters to emerge from the Cambridge Analytica story is Chris Wylie.

I say he's a "character." He appears to be the "Wylie" character from the US TV show; "The Mentalist."

The Mentalist centres around the; "Patrick Jane" character. A former stage hypnotist he is extremely skilled in psychological manipulation. 

The introduction of the Wylie computer geek character was something of a reference to the way computer programming and social programming interact to produce AI.

Wylie joined the show when Jane joined the FBI and moved to the field office in Austin, Texas.

I gather the actual FBI field office in Austin, Texas is currently quite busy.

Something to do with Agent Antoine "Trip" Triplett and his Howling Commandos.

We hope that one day that along with Mack's brother and the rest of Obama's Watchdogs he will grow to become a patriot.

21:50 on 20/3/18 (UK date). 









 

The 2018 Winter Para-Olympics: Closing Ceremony Pt. 2

A continuation of Part 1; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-2018-winter-para-olympics-closing.html

The ceremony completed its deconstruction of the Video Countdown tradition with a short video. Something which would traditionally appear at the start of the sequence.

I am far from an expert but this video seemed to use a technique known as; "Digital Rotoscopory."

Essentially footage is shot using a digital camera. Rather like the one on your cellphone. Computer animation is then added to the footage frame-by-frame to give it a distinctive, other worldly feel. Famous movies using this technique include; "A Scanner Darkly," "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," "Sin City" and "Avatar."

Things that stood out for me in the video included;

A shot of the suspension system on a Sit Ski sledge used by skiers with lower limb impairments. This seemed to serve as a metaphor for the work of US Snowboarder Mike Schultz which has been a big talking point at the games.

Mike Schultz was a big extreme sports competitor. Including in sports such as Motocross riding. In 2008 he lost his leg below the knee after his Snowmobile crashed during a Snocross race - the winter version of Motocross.

Schultz then turned his attention to Para-Olympic Snowboarding.

Alongside competing Schultz has also used his engineering experience to develop new prosthetics. In 2010 he invented a new type of knee joint called the; "Moto Knee." In 2013 he invented a new type of ankle joint called the; "Versa Foot."

Particularly in the Snowboarding events it has been extremely easy to identify the competitors using Schultz's patented designs. They're the ones winning all the medals.

Obviously though Schultz's designs are hidden beneath the competitors clothes. Making it hard to get a clear action shot of them.

A shot of British fans cheering and waving a British flag. Britain of course feels it deserves an out-sized role in the Para-Olympics. At these games they've certainly not been afraid of making a lot of noise. Even if they can't stick to their own script.

A Japanese Ski-Jumper wearing a Japanese flag on his helmet. He was the first competitor whose nationality was clearly stated.

Japan is of course the RoK's big regional rival. They will be hosting the 2020 Summer games. I think people would like me to hurry up and cover their segment in the 2016 Closing Ceremony.

The shot of the Japanese competitor was immediately followed by a South Korean competitor. He was wearing a South Korean flag on his headband/helmet.

After these games you're never again going to mistake the Taoist Ying Yang symbol at the centre of the South Korean flag with the Rising Sun at the centre of the Japanese flag.

A Ukrainian biathlete posing with her rifle. In full sniper mode.

The 2018 Winter games of course pick up the baton from the 2014 Winter games. These were marred by the US overthrowing the Ukrainian government and plunging the nation into civil war. In the short gap between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics.

Throughout its aggression against Ukraine the US - particularly under former President Obama - held up Nadiya Savchenko as a hero of the revolution.

During the games - on, I think, March 12th (12/3/18) - Savchenko came clean about the 2014 "Revolution."

Savchenko admitted that the current Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Andriy Parubiy had transported weapons to the protesters. He had then directed some of those armed men to open fire onto the crowds from the Hotel Ukraine. Something which the US has repeatedly blamed on Ukraine's Russian backed government.

This comes after Ukraine formally expelled Mikhail Saakashvili from their country during the Olympics.

The former President of Georgia Saakashvili famously launched an attack on Russia during the 2008 Summer Olympics. In 2010 he famously faked an entire Russian land invasion of Georgia in an effort to rig an election. Something the Cauldron is dedicated to.

So Britain's bizarre decision to start ranting and raving about Russia on March 13th (13/3/18) was totally out of step with the politics of eastern Europe.

The German Wheelchair Curling team. I recognised them because I watched them play against the British team.

Although I like to make fun of it Curling by far the most strategic sports at the winter games. So I secretly quite enjoy it.

The objective is to slide stones into a target area known as the; "House." The team whose stone is closest to the bullseye wins the round known as the; "End." They get a point for each stone within the house.

Getting a 20kg (44lb) granite stone to stop precisely on ice requires a great deal of skill on its own.

You can't though just try and get each of your eight stones into the bullseye. Instead you have to carefully position the early stones as guards to prevent your opponent getting into the house. This requires a lot of strategic thinking and mind games.

What I find frustrating about Curling is that in many ways the entire Olympics or Para-Olympics is like that. Nations may concede in one sport to position themselves to win in another.

For example at the 2018 Olympics the US Men's Curling victory against Sweden was really the result of the Canada Women's Ice Hockey conceding Gold to the US.

So in order to properly understand what is going on you have to keep an eye on all the events at the same time.

In order to do this I find my mind running at such a speed I end up finding Ice Hockey to be frustratingly slow. I simply haven't got the time for Curling.

The South Korean Sledge Ice Hockey team. One of the big events at the Olympics was the combined North and South Korean Ice Hockey team. This was not repeated at the Para-Olympics. North Korea simply didn't have any Sledge Hockey players.

Introductions & Handshakes:

It is IPC protocol that each Opening Ceremony features a short sequence in which VIP's are welcomed into the arena.

This normally includes the Head of Government/State of the host nation. In this case South Korean President Moon Jae-in. It also includes the Head of the IPC. In this case Andrew Parsons who was appointed in September 2016.

The only thing I can think to say about this sequence is about the coat President Moon was wearing.

Throughout all the previous ceremonies President Moon has worn a big arctic parka of the South Korean national team. On this occasion he was wearing a more normal wool dress coat.

This reflected how much the weather has warmed up during the games. Although officially the Winter games those familiar with the Taoist Wu Xing would describe these as the Earth games. That inbetween season where it's not quite winter but not quite yet spring.

I think after the UK v Germany Curling I caught a glimpse of the skiing events. These took place on artificial snow. I noticed some of the event staff were standing there in T-shirts.

Flag & Anthem:

It is a matter of Para-Olympic protocol that each ceremony must include a sequence in which the flag of the host nation is raised and its national anthem is performed. In closing ceremonies this is simply so the flag can be taken down again later.

Here six flagbearers carried a large, unfurled flag into arena. They arose for a recessed area in the central circular platform of the stage.

I think that these flagbearers were South Korean athletes who'd competed in these games. However I cannot be sure. I certainly can't name them.

Their names were given by the stadium announcer. However that was largely drowned out by the Channel 4 commentator who didn't give the names. The names were not included in an on-screen graphic.

I find this particularly annoying because the commentators get to watch a dress rehearsal of the ceremony the day before. They are also given a press pack including details such as the names of the performers. This is to help them prepare their commentary to convey those facts to viewers like me who don't have that luxury.

You would think that particularly at a Para-Olympics broadcasters should go to the effort of making sure performers names are included on the subtitles.

The actual flag raising was given to a military flag detail. As it had been during the Opening Ceremony.

The signing of the national anthem was sung by a choir including members who were wheelchair users.

Again though I did not catch the name of the choir. I think it may have been a military veterans association. Possibly of widows and their children.

21:05 on 19/3/18 (UK date).


 

The 2018 Winter Para-Olympics: Closing Ceremony.

On Sunday (18/3/18) the 2018 Winter Para-Olympic games drew to a close in PyeongChang in the Republic of Korea (RoK).

Events ended with the traditional Closing Ceremony.

I should begin with an apology. I found myself talking/tweeting over the first hour of the Closing Ceremony.

The reason for this is that I actually organised my entire day around the Closing Ceremony.

However I organised it around the 13:00 (GMT) start time advertised by the UK broadcaster Channel 4.

I have to say when I saw this start time advertised in multiple publications it seemed a little odd. It was two hours later than the start times of all the other ceremonies so far in the winter games.

The time difference meant that a 13:00 GMT start time translated into a start time of 22:00 in the RoK. Meaning that the ceremony was unlikely to end before 00:00 on Monday (19/3/18) morning.

That is late. Although not what I would consider excessively late for what is a once in a generation event.

A 13:00 (GMT) start time would also have translated into a 09:00 start time on the US east coast and a 06:00 start time on the west coast.

That's a good time to pick up viewers who might be interested in watching. But not interested enough to get up before dawn on a Sunday to watch.

Within the US the Para-Olympics have been broadcast by the National Broadcasting Company (NBC). They have been steadily increasing their Para-Olympic coverage since the 2014 Winter Para-Olympics.

Like all Americans NBC also have a reputation for throwing their weight around.

At the 2016 Summer Olympics NBC demanded that the Brazilian hosts used the English alphabet rather than their native Portuguese alphabet during the Parade of Nations. Specifically so the US team would enter the stadium during US primetime.

In 2016 NBC failed in that effort. However due the far smaller number of Para-Olympic broadcasters it is reasonable to assume they could have used their influence to change the start time of the Closing Ceremony.

Rather than working all that out though I should probably have used the time to check with wither the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) or the South Korean hosts.

The Closing Ceremony began as all other ceremonies have done at 11:00 (GMT).

The version that Channel 4 were falsely advertising was a recording. It was also an edited recording.

As a result I am not sure if I have even seen the entire ceremony. I will have to check against an online version if the opportunity arises.

In the meantime I think it's best I start with the bits I have definitely seen.

If challenged as to why they were behaving like this Channel 4 will probably claim that it was to promote the IPC's own online streaming platform.

If pushed further Channel 4 would likely raise the cost issue.

By not showing the Closing Ceremony Channel 4 were able to air a popular Sunday morning magazine show; "Sunday Brunch" as usual. That includes the commercials they usually sell during that show.

Channel 4 would argue they needed to air these commercials in order to pay the IPC for the rights to broadcast the games.

The introduction of the IPC's own online streaming platform and in particular the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) online streaming platform has caused some tension with traditional broadcasters.

At the same time the IPC and IOC are using these streaming platforms to compete with the traditional broadcasters they are demanding those broadcasters pay more for the rights to the games.

I think it is worth reminding both the IOC and particularly the IPC that there are benefits to keeping the games widely available on free-to-air TV. Both events are really made up of the sports you wouldn't normally watch.

Take for example the sport of Curling. Particularly in Scotland this is an established sport in the UK where I live. However if you were to pitch me the idea of Curling on paper there's no way I would watch it. I certainly wouldn't pay a subscription for the privilege of watching.

However the only sport I've been able to watch during these Para-Olympics have been two Curling matches. I found myself getting sucked into them simply because they were on TV. I might even be tempted to try my hand at it now.

If the Olympics and Para-Olympics are hidden away behind Pay-TV services it will lose this ability to attract viewers who stumble onto sports they wouldn't normally watch. That goes against the IOC and IPC's ethos of introducing people to new sports and encouraging them to give those sports a try.

No matter how hard you push them there is another simple fact that Channel 4 will never admit to.

The UK was the founder of the Para-Olympic movement with the first games held in Stoke-Manderville in 1948. At the 1988 Summer games it was the RoK who put the Olympics and Para-Olympics on an equal footing holding the games one after the other for the first time.

In it's jealously the UK certainly isn't above using sabotage to spoil its rival's big moment.

Plus over the summer of 2017 Channel 4 did a controversial drama about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) called; "The State." In response I commented;

"This is what Channel 4 are like. They just do it for attention."

The Countdown:

The Olympics are a massive global event. The Opening and Closing ceremonies are broadcast live by many broadcasters in most nations on Earth. This means that extra efforts have to be made so all these different broadcasters can calibrate and synchronise their coverage. 

The main way in which this is done is through a video countdown.

A short video sequence counts down the seconds with numerals showing 10 to 1. This allows continuity editors to know exactly how long they've got before they need to switch from the studio feed to the arena feed.

However as broadcast technology has improved the job of continuity editor has almost completely disappeared. It has been replaced almost entirely by computerised systems.

As a result this video countdown has become less and less important to the broadcast.

It has always been almost entirely irrelevant at the Para-Olympics. That is because there are far fewer broadcasters showing events live.

Here even Britain's Channel 4 who consider themselves something of a Patron Saint of Para-Olympic sport weren't showing the Closing Ceremony live.


It is though a tradition. So many host nation's have taken to having some fun with the idea and making the countdown sequence part of the ceremony itself.

Here the South Koreans really had fun with the idea. Initially they appeared to have scrapped the idea of a video countdown entirely.

Proceedings began with Bandabi- the Bear mascot of the games - dancing around on stage. He was soon joined by what seemed to be the entire Bandabi family.

So there were Bandabis wearing traditional Korean male and female dress. Representing his parents or grandparents. There were also lots of what appeared to be Bandabi's siblings and cousins.

As they danced the Bandabi family introduced us to the stage which had been constructed across the circular arena floor. This remained in place throughout the ceremony.

The stage was built around a central circular platform. From that centre circle you had gangways radiating off to other smaller stages.

This seemed to resemble the internationally recognised symbol for Chemical Weapons.

That is a black circle on either a yellow or red background. The centre circle is linked to three other circles. These circles represent chemical molecules and the linkages represent the chemical bonds between molecules.

The big talking point of these games has been the poisoning of Sergei Skripal - a Russian agent of Britain's foreign intelligence agency MI6 - in the British city of Salisbury.

This took place on March 4th (4/3/18) - five days before the Opening Ceremony on March 9th (9/3/18).

In carrying out the poisoning the UK was attempting to dominate discussion at a Para-Olympics hosted by its great rival the RoK. As I've mentioned the Skripal case touches on a wide variety of issues.

For example the way that Chemical Warfare agents are legislated for internationally is similar to the way the UK legislates for synthetic recreational drugs known as; "Legal Highs." Many of these are produced by 2022 Winter games host China.

The Para-Olympics coincided with the 61st session of the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs (UNCND) held in Vienna, Austria between March 12th (12/3/18) and March 16th (16/3/18). The issue of Chinese produced synthetics - particularly Opioids - was the main item on the agenda.

The Para-Olympics also coincided with a special summit of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) held in Sydney, Australia on March 17th (17/3/18) and March 18th (18/3/18). The main drug problem facing the host and UK Commonwealth Realm member is Chinese synthetics. Particularly Methamphetamine.

During the 2018 Winter Olympics there was a lot of interest in the mostly Asian, always hungry American actress Chloe Bennet. Particularly through her Korean-American namesake Chloe Kim. Chloe Bennet is famous for her role in the US TV Show; "Marvels Agents of Shield."

There is a spin-off show to Agents of Shield called; "Agent Carter." The lead role in that show is taken by the British actress Hayley Atwell.

Hayley Atwell's big TV debut came in the pan-European show; "Pillars of the Earth." Her role is a famous case study in the constant debate over nudity in TV.

Essentially in a show with a lot of nudity great efforts in terms of editing etc were made so that Hayley Atwell never appeared nude. Right up until the very final episode when the prank the director had been playing on his audience was revealed.

Pillars of the Earth is loosely based around the building of Salisbury's famous Cathedral. Hayley Atwell's character becomes a wool merchant.

The "Bishop's Mill" pub at the centre of the Skripal case is a re-purposed wool mill owned by the Bishop of Salisbury. It is here that Hayley Atwell sold her wool in Pillars of the Earth.

Despite setting this elaborate talking point the UK then suffered some sort of mental breakdown on March 12th (12/3/18). They abandoned their plan and instead started making hostile allegations against Russia.

The UK's inability to stick to its own script caused utter chaos at the games.

For me it meant the difference between finishing my coverage of the Opening Ceremony on Tuesday (13/3/18) and Thursday (15/3/18). That meant I was only able to watch just two of the sporting events;

The Wheelchair Curling match between the UK and Germany and the Wheelchair Curling Bronze medal match between the RoK and Canada.

It was the Gold medal match in Wheelchair Curling that was the interesting one. This saw China defeat Norway to win their first ever Winter Para-Olympic Gold in any event.

In part this was an international endorsement of China in the Skripal case. They have charitably volunteered to lead the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) investigation. Getting the UK back on script.

So it seems China is happy for action to be taken on synthetics. Even if the UK is only interested in ranting and raving about Russia.

I personally think China has been overly charitable. The OPCW investigation should pull no punches.

Obviously the stage wasn't an exact representation of the Chemical Weapons symbol. Staring at that for two hours would have been extremely awkward.

The main difference was that the satellite stages were rectangle in shape rather than circular. There were also five of them rather than three.

Their rectangular shape along with the Para-Olympics; "Agitos" blade logo invoked the internationally recognised symbol for Biological Weapons. This is hard to describe but it essentially three interconnected circular talons or blades.

The way that the stages radiated out from each other invoked the concept of radiation and Nuclear Weapons.

So the stage represented Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) weapons.

Do I need to remind you of the US broadcaster which has been stepping up its Para-Olympic coverage significantly over the past four years?

The multiple dimensions of the stage also seemed to hint at the concept of a Multi-Dimensional Universe of; "Multiverse." This posits multiple universes or dimensions beyond the human dimension in which we exist.

This idea was first suggested by in 1704 British Physicist Isaac Newton who was referenced in the Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony. Much of the work in the area has been done by Austrian Physicist Erwin Schodinger using his famous; "Schrodinger's Cat" thought experiment.

A more contemporary proponent was British Physicist and 2012 Summer Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony narrator Stephen Hawking. Who died during the 2018 Para-Olympics.

It is testament to Hawking's wit that in discussing the Multiverse with a TV comedian he was asked if there was a universe where the comedian was more intelligent of the two. Hawking replied;

"Yes. And there's also one in which you're funny."

The concept of multiple dimensions is a common one in religion and mythology. Particularly traditional Korean Animist ones.

The Olympic ceremonies feature the Fenghuang. A mythical bird which uses the sun to transfer between dimensions or universes.

Even the Abrahamic religions feature the human dimension and God's dimension - heaven. The Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony touched on the Blind Angel Samael and the concept of a multidimensional heaven.

Eventually the Bandabi family danced their way onto the stage's centre platform.

It was at this point the countdown began. English numerals were projected onto the centre platform. As the numbers counted down the hands of an analogue clock spun around marking each second.

The; "Time Dilation" sequence from the Olympic Closing Ceremony made reference to the Doomsday Clock. This was established by the Atomic Scientists Society in 1947 to warn of the danger of global nuclear war. The closer the minute hand is to midnight the closer we are to total destruction.

In going wildly off script in the Skripal case UK Prime Minister Theresa May set a deadline of midnight of March 14th (14/3/18) for Russia to respond. This deadline was 09:00 in the RoK where the day's Para-Olympic events were just getting underway.

With Prime Minister May becoming an international laughing stock it was all too easy to joke that at the midnight deadline the UK would remove BBC Radio 4 from air. This is a long recognised signal for the UK's nuclear armed submarines to launch their missiles at Russia.

As the hands of the clock spun around the circle the Bandabis had to jump them. Rather like a skipping rope.

Unfortunately the Bandabi at roughly 4 'oclock mis-timed their jump. This was the Bandabi mother figure wearing the skirt. She appeared to trip on the hands of the clock and fell over. Apparently unable to get up.

In 2016 the US popstar Katy Perry performed the Super Bowl halftime show. For a portion of the performance she was joined by two dancers in Shark costumes. One to her left and one to her right.

The performer known as; "Left Shark" completely forgot the dance routine. Instead making up its own seemingly completely random moves. Left Shark instantly became a hugely famous Internet meme.

The South Koreans seemed to hope that 4 o'clock Bandabi would reach similar levels of Internet fame. If only they're been people watching the Closing Ceremony.

Also I think it's fair to assume that the correct way to address UK Prime Minister May from now on is; "The 4 o'clock skirt." 

When the countdown had reached zero light radiated from the stage up the ramp to where the Cauldron stood. This triggered fireworks.

If you looked closely you could see 4 o'clock Bandabi picking themselves up again. As there were to do at any point.

This seemed to be a reference to an incident in the torch relay sequence of the Opening Ceremony to the 2016 Summer Para-Olympics.

While carrying the torch Marcia Malsar fell over. Suffering from Cerebral Palsy she had won Silver and Gold at the 1984 Para-Olympics. Those were the last truly Parallel Olympics. In was at the 1988 Summer games the RoK united the two Olympic strands.

The talking point Marcia Malsar's fall provided us with is how do you react when a disabled person does something embarrassing like falling over?

Generally what a lot of disabled people complain about though is people fussing over them. That is to say when they fall over everyone rushes towards them with tears in their eyes and tries wrapping them in a cotton wool blanket before urgently calling an ambulance to take them to hospital.

After all if you've got an impairment that causes balance problems you may well fall over a couple of times a day. Therefore you get very good at landing without injuring yourself and getting yourself back up again.

So the general rule is that if someone - disabled or otherwise - falls over right by you simply politely and calmly ask if they need your help.

It also posed a question about the US Democrat Party Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton. It is widely believed she suffers from a neurological condition causing what are known as; "Transient Ischemic Attacks (TIA)." It is these mini-strokes which cause her to fall frequently.

During the 2018 Para-Olympics Hillary Clinton has been visiting India. She has fallen at least twice including one occasion where she fractured her wrist.

In 2012 the South Korean equivalent of the FBI - the NIS - invented claims of foreign interference to rig the election in favour of the female candidate Park Guen-hye.

In 2016 US Democrats copied the South Koreans by enlisting the FBI to rig the election in favour of the female candidate Hillary Clinton. By inventing claims of foreign interference.

At least the NIS chose a female candidate who was actually medically fit to become President.

17:45 on 19/3/18 (UK date).

The 2018 Winter Para-Olympics: Opening Ceremony Pt 6.

A continuation of Part 5; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-2018-winter-para-olympics-opening_9.html

Cauldron Lighting:

It is protocol that each Opening Ceremony features a sequence where the Para-Olympic Cauldron is lit.

In a tradition dating all the way back to 2014 the Cauldron is lit with the so-called; "Heritage Flame." This is carried from the birthplace of the Para-Olympics at Stoke-Manderville Hospital in the UK in a torch relay which continues into the arena.

The section of the torch relay which occurred within the arena was built around the theme of transformation and equality. 

Frustratingly I did not catch the names of any of the torch bearers.

The first two torch bearers were a North Korean athlete and a South Korean athlete. They carried the torch together as equal partners.

The second set of torch bearers highlighted equality between races. 

They were South Korea's first Para-Olympic Nordic Skier and her coach. A European man who I assume is from one of the Nordic countries.

The third set of torch bearers highlighted equality between generations. 

They were a South Korean father and his disabled son. The nature of the son's impairment was not stated. However it appeared to be some form of very severe congenital, developmental disability. 

That touched on the issue of the RoK's so-called; "Birth Strike." In discussing this across all ceremonies the South Korean hosts have been influenced by the US TV Show; "A Handmaid's Tale." 

The RoK's big movie of 2016 was actually a drama called; "The Handmaiden." This was based on the novel by British author Sarah Waters called; "The Fingersmith." Lesbianism is a major theme.

In The Handmaid's Tale it is never really explained why the global birthrate has collapsed. However it is strongly suggested that it is linked to environmental pollution so children are being born. They're just either being stillborn or born with severe, life limiting developmental impairments. 

Although it's unlikely to be a popular topic to bring up at a Para-Olympics given the RoK's low birthrate severely disabled children like the one featured are a cause for concern. 

Rather than being able to fully contribute to society they are going to require extra care. Placing an extra burden on a care system already creaking under the weight of an ageing population.

The fourth set of torchbearers highlighted equality between the disabled and able bodied. 

They were a Visually Impaired Skier and her guide. For the first time at the 2018 games guides will be awarded medals alongside their Visually Impaired Skier.

The skiing pair took us to the huge problem of the torch relay. The giant, steep ramp between the arena floor and the Cauldron.

In the Olympic Opening Ceremony this was solved by steps suddenly appearing in the ramp. 

This was a reference to the 2016 Summer Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony. Their Cauldron stood atop a stage resembling a Mayan Temple with steps leading up the sides. 

Confronted with these steps the wheelchair using torch bearer was forced to stop. Then a ramp suddenly appeared in the steps making it wheelchair accessible.

Referencing a Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony during an Olympic Ceremony was an early South Korean gesture of equality between the two strands of the games.

Again the steps appeared in the ramp and the skiers climbed about halfway up. They then handed the torch to a South Korean amputee Ice Hockey Player. He climbed the rest of the ramp without steps, using only a rope to steady himself.

That was an example of a Para-Olympic athlete going above and beyond what could be achieved by mere Olympic athletes.

The act of actually lighting the cauldron was given to a South Korean Curler who won a Silver medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Alongside the captain of the South Korean women's Curling team which won a Silver medal at the 2018 Olympic games. She is now very famous within the RoK.

The Cauldron used was the same Cauldron used for the Olympics. That giant monument to US Fake News Hoaxes about Foreign Interference.

Obviously the pair could not light that giant Cauldron itself. So instead they light a small round object - resembling an Atom - which in turn caused the Cauldron to spring into life.

This possibly served as a talking point about nuclear energy. However it primarily symbolised they needed a device with which to light the main Cauldron.

The sexual innuendo of beautiful female Figure Skater Kim Yeon-ah stroking a giant phallic column into life wasn't really appropriate for the theme of this lighting ceremony.

In covering the Olympic Opening Ceremony I produced something in the region of 40,000 words across 8 posts. This led to some people suggesting I might want to edit it down a bit.

The sad fact is that was the edited version. I removed some quite large tangents that I didn't think were of primary importance. 

For example the ceremony referenced Jennifer Lawrences' "Hunger Games" movies. You could quite easily spin off from that into a discussion about nude photos of Jennifer Lawrence being leaked online. Include Apple's weak security measures which allowed the hack to take place.

One of the things I edited out but now think is important was the corkscrew motion of the column which lit the Cauldron.

This was a reference to what famous British Prime Minister Winston Churchill described as; "Corkscrew Minds." The type of no-linear thinking required in spying and espionage work.

I think Churchill was referring specifically to; "Operation Mincemeat."

During the Second World War the allies wanted to invade the Italian island of Sicily. So they drew up detailed plans of how they were going to invade Greece.

They then waited from the right sort of vagrant to die of natural causes. They dressed the corpse up as a British military officer and dumped it along with the invasion plans for Greece into the sea. As if a British officer had been killed in a plane crash.

They then waited until the Nazi forces had been moved to Greece to resist the impending invasion before invading Sicily as planned.

That type of operation requires a certain degree of non-linear thinking. Rather similar to a corkscrew.

These Corkscrew minds are really essential during the games period.

For example this Opening Ceremony has talked extensively about transformation of attitudes and equality between the able bodied and those with impairments.

But that's not really what we're talking about.

Likewise in the week leading up to the Para-Olympics the UK has been talking about a Russian MI6 agent being poisoned in the UK city of Salisbury.

But that's not really what we're talking about.

If nothing else the current UK Prime Minister Theresa May has shown us the problems that arise when Churchill's Corkscrew Minds are absent.

The sequence ended with the traditional, carefully controlled fireworks display.

No fires were allowed to rage out of control there.

The Ying Yang Song: 

All of the ceremonies so far have referenced traditional Korean Animist religions. Particularly Taoism.

Probably the most famous Taoist symbol is the Ying Yang. I guess it must be an important one. It is after all at the centre of the South Korean national flag.

The Ying Yang depicts two competing forces in balance with each other within a single whole. Those forces can be anything that competes such as Light & Dark, Good & Evil etc. The Ying Yang symbolises the need for equality and balance within life.

This closing sequence featured two female singers performing the specially composed and not at all subtle song; "Standing Here As One."

One of the singers was Hwang Su-mi. The South Korean Opera star who featured in the Olympic Opening Ceremony.

The singer was Yang So-hee. An up-and-coming K-Pop star with the band Elris.

Hwang wore a white dress while Yang wore a black dress. Symbolising the contrasting forces of Light & Dark.

Their respective styles of music also represented a contrast. Between the classical opera style and the modern pop style.

This is a type of contrast which is very familiar within the Eurovision Song Contest. Classical music is used to represent Russian high culture while pop music is used to represent American low culture.

So if you wish to indicate support for Russia your song would be in the classical style. 

If you wish to indicate support for America your song would be in the pop style. And thanks to former US President Obama ideally in the style of what has become known as; "The Black Music."

In short the RoK really, really wants to be part of the Eurovision Song Contest. And it looks like they'll fit right in.

Due to extensive lobbying by 2016 Para-Olympic host Brazil the RoK can now compete in the Eurovision Song Contest. It now allows entries from European Broadcasting Union (EBU) associate members alongside full members.

However I should warn the South Koreans that the Australians already seem to be protesting this new type of fast tracking into the academy.

That though is something the bird of the week will have to read up on as she prepares for her own personal Suneung.

Rather than having a big finish the ceremony sort of faded out. As I now must. 

17:20 on 15/3/18 (UK date).

 

The 2018 Winter Para-Olympics: Opening Ceremony Pt.5

A continuation of Part 4; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-2018-winter-para-olympics-opening_14.html

Einsteinium-310:

This sequence was built around 310 performers. It is also another heavy duty Physics lesson.

It began with the performers forming the shape of a giant human. This was a reference to famous British Physicist Isaac Newton.

In 1686 Newton invented Gravity. As a way to keep black people down. Newton described his body of work as him;

"Standing on the Shoulders of Giants."

He acknowledged that he had appropriated the work of those who had gone before him and added to it. He expected those to come after him to appropriate his work and add to it.

Obama's BLM warriors would be appalled by this cross-cultural appropriation.

Their ideology insists that only British Physicists like Stephen Hawking can add to the work of British Physicists like Isaac Newton. German Physicists like Albert Einstein can only add to the work of other German Physicists and so on.

This approach would make any form of scientific or cultural advance impossible.

We certainly wouldn't be able to have things like the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Large-Hadron Collider which in 2012 proved the existence of the Higgs-Boson. 

Physics at this level is so extremely complicated that there are only a handful of people worldwide capable of undertaking it. The type of equipment required is also prohibitively expensive. So the people who are capable of this work pool their resources and gather together.

So at places like CERN you have international cooperation which would appal people outside of the world of Physics. Israeli nuclear Physicists working alongside Iranian nuclear Physicists and so on.

Suddenly a single performer seemed to be fired across the arena floor. As this single particle collided with the giant it was spilt apart.

This was a reference to the concept of nuclear fission. 

Standing on the shoulders of Albert Einstein this was discovered by German Physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann in 1938. In response Einstein teamed up with Hungarian Physicists Leo Szilard, Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner to write the so-called; "Einstein-Szilard Letter."

That letter prompted then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to start the Manhattan Project. This led to the creation of the first nuclear bomb. 

The nuclear fission at the heart of that bomb created a new element - Einsteinium. The most stable isotope is Einsteinium-252. No matter how much police in Salisbury, UK try to insist that it's Einsteinium-380.

As the atom of the giant shattered amid fission the particles it had been made up of scattered. These sub-atomic particles spread around the arena.

The sub-atomic particles then grouped together in the centre of the arena in a circle. As they did so light projection gave the impression of them speeding up to approach the speed of light. Or at least as it's commonly portrayed in Science Fiction.

The Speed of Light is a constant which is used widely in Physics - rather like the constant Pi. This constant (c) is the C in Einstein's most famous equation E=MC2. 

This equation describes the; "Mass-Energy Equivalence." This quantifies how everything in the universe is either Energy (E) or Mass (M) and how the two states can be converted. Multiplying by Speed of Light constant (C) squared.

As they approached the speed of light the sub-atomic particles formed the shape of what resembled a human eye. With the black hole of the pupil at the centre.

This was a nod, or perhaps a wink to the 2016 Summer Para-Olympics Opening Ceremony. 

That featured a sequence entirely about the rods and cones which make up the human eye and the variety of things that can go wrong with them. Leading to visual impairment.

That Opening Ceremony of course was organised by the Brazilian Andrew Parsons. The new head of the IPC.

An earlier reference to the Brazilian Opening Ceremony showed the soundwaves produced by a drum as soundwaves. This raised an important point about the adaptations that can be made to overcome physical impairments.

It focused on what I think it one of the most common impairments known to TV viewers. The sense of sight being used to overcome an impairment in the sense of hearing.

In short visual signals are used to compensate for hearing impaired people who can't detect audio clues. TV programs feature subtitles so people who can't hear what is being said can read what is being said.

This sequenced focused on the other example commonly known to TV viewers. How the sense of sound can be used to overcome an impairment in the sense of sight. 

For example many TV services now also include Audio Description. This allows people who cannot see what is happening have what is happening described to them through sound.

As it stood there the pupil of the eye seemed to pulse as if in time with the human heart. 

This seemed to be a deliberate reference to a certain type of visual impairment known as; "Retinal Vessel Occlusion." This is caused when the tiny blood vessels within the eye either become blocked or burst. 

Although I am far from an expert common causes of this seem to be age and Diabetes. These are both hot topics within developed nations with ageing populations and high levels of obesity.

Finally the eye broke apart and the sub-atomic particles again flowed around the arena. 

The light up smart-fabric gloves the particles were wearing made clear they were intended to be light particles. Occasionally they formed into waves. In reference to the concept of; "Wave-Particle Duality."

Joined by South Korean Wheelchair Rugby (Murderball) players the particles then started to arrange themselves into chains or strings.

This introduced the complex concept of; "String Theory."

The discovery of the Higgs-Boson sub-atomic particle has shown that everything in the universe exists within a web of field of tiny, sub-atomic particles.

String Theory posits that this web or field is made up of sub-atomic particles arranged into strings. Rather like the threads you would find in a piece of fabric. 

It is the vibration of these strings which causes interactions with the field. So something like humming a Rihanna song causing a vibration which makes it rain.

Above the arena appeared a Lotus with four petals. These petals represented; Courage, Determination, Inspiration and Equality. 

Slowly the Lotus petals closed to form what resembled an Atom. As in Atom Bomb (A-bomb) or other sort of nuclear weapon.

This imagery was interesting because the Lotus flower has a special place in Animist religions. Particularly in Mahyana Buddhists who have Lotus or; "Padma" Sutra religious text.

The Lotus serves then as a symbol for the journey of enlightenment towards the complete purification of body, mind and deed through Buddhist teaching. 

An open Lotus signifies enlightenment while a closed Lotus signifies ignorance.

The petals of this Lotus; Courage, Determination, Inspiration and Equality closed to form a symbol of nuclear weapons. Suggesting the pursuit by a certain nation - we won't say who - is a regressive step leading to and driven by ignorance.

The sequence ended with a projection of a constellation of stars onto the arena floor. Signifying the universe. The sub-atomic particles in their quantum strings moved amid this universe.

After all as Einstein pointed out everything in the universe is either Energy or Matter and can transition between those states.

Obviously the projection also featured the colours of the Wu Xing. 

Because Einstein was not the first to see the universe in that way.

21:20 on 14/3/18 (UK date).

The 2018 Winter Para-Olympics: Opening Ceremony Pt.4

A continuation of Part 3; https://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/03/the-2018-winter-para-olympic-opening_12.html

Opening Speeches:

It is protocol that each Opening Ceremony includes a sequence for opening speeches. These are given by the head of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the head of the National Paralympic Committee (NPC) of the host nations.

In this ceremony the first speech was given by the head of the RoK's NPC. A man named Lee Hee-beom.

However the way the South Korean stadium announcer pronounced this name made it sound like; "Lee Ki-bum." As in; "Leaky Bum." The sort of thing a diarrhoea sufferer would experience.

One of the themes of the Olympic Closing Ceremony was the things that are common to all humans. For example that wherever you go in the World elementary school aged children are considered adorable.

Another example is jokes about bodily functions. Wherever you go in the World jokes about bodily functions are considered hilarious.

Lee Hee-beom began his speech with a quick history to the Para-Olympics.

The Para-Olympics began in Britain at the Stoke-Manderville hospital. There Dr Ludwig Guttmann was treating British soldiers who had suffered severe impairments during the Second World War. Such as partial paralysis and amputations.

Dr Guttmann used sport to rehabilitate these men by showing them they could still achieve and participate in life despite their injuries.

The history of the Para-Olympics of course touches on the Korean Peninsula's own troubled history prior to, during and after the Second World War. Without making too big an issue of it.

The first Para-Olympics took place in Britain coinciding with the 1948 Summer Olympics held in London. 2018 is obviously the 70th anniversary of those first games. This is why the UK feels it deserves an oversized role in the Para-Olympics

Although the first Para-Olympics were held alongside an Olympics the organisation of the events then quickly diverged.

The "Para" is Para-Olympics does not mean; "Paralysed" or; "Paraplegic." It means "Parallel."

It used to be that you would have an Olympics in one year in one particular country. Then you would have the Para-Olympics in a different year in a completely different country. The two sets of games would continue on their respective tracks never meeting.

This changed at the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul in the RoK. Here the South Korean hosts brought the Olympics and the Para-Olympics together on an equal footing.

That is why the UK views the RoK are something of a threat to its dominance of the political aspects of the Para-Olympics.

This history of the Para-Olympics also established the main theme of Lee Hee-beom's speech. The transformative power of the of the games. This year the RoK is making a big effort to make sure there is little or no distinction between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics.

As an example of the transformative power of the games Lee Hee-beom cited Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt.

This seemed a little dig at the summer sports which we all know are far inferior to the winter sports. After all without the Olympics Usain Bolt is just a man who can run really fast in a straight line for 100m.

Winter or summer it's clear that Para-Olympic sports are superior to Olympic sports.

For example Olympic skiers hurtle down a mountain at speeds of around 100km/h. Visually Impaired Para-Olympic skiers hurtle down a mountain at speeds of around 100km/h. While being completely unable to see where they are going.

At the 2014 Winter Para-Olympics there was something of an amusing moment. Poor visibility meant that the Sit-Ski events had to be cancelled for safety reasons. The Visually Impaired Skiers just carried on because that level of danger is normal for them.

The Para-Olympics also involve another form of transformation. The way in which equipment and techniques are used to overcome physical impairments.

As an example of this transformative power Lee Hee-beom cited the American Helen Keller.

Helen Keller was born deaf, blind and mute. The impairment in those senses were overcome using the sense of touch. Helen Keller was taught to write and communicate by using a finger to form the shape of the letters on the palm of the hand. Fiercely intelligent Helen Keller went on to become the first deaf and blind person to earn a university degree.

Lee Hee-beom also cited British Physicist Stephen Hawking.

At the time of the speech Stephen Hawking famously suffered from the degenerative condition Motor Neurone Disease (MND) sometimes known as; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig's disease. This though did not stop him becoming one of the greatest scientific minds of possibly all generations.

Hawking's MND robbed him of the power of speech. However using a computer synthesiser this did not stop him acting as the narrator of the 2012 Summer Para-Olympic Opening Ceremony. Held in the UK, birthplace of the Para-Olympics.

By an amazing coincidence Stephen Hawking died today. On other famous Physicist Albert Einstein's birthday.

A day known in the US where they don't know how to write dates as; "Pi Day." It is a celebration of the mathematical constant Pi - the short version of which is written as 3.14.

As a result this small reference has become a much wider reflection of Stephen Hawking's entire life.

The 2012 Opening Ceremony touched on the Unified Quantum Field Theory. Something the South Korean ceremonies have explored extensively. Particularly as it related to the Taoist concept of the Wu Xing.

Quantum Field Theory posits that everything in the universe exists within a web of field of tiny, sub-atomic particles.

String Theory which is referenced in the sequence of this ceremony which features the giant upon whose shoulders Isaac Newton stood posits that these sub-atomic particles exists ordered into chains rather like strings or threats in a blanket.

However these sub-atomic particles are modelled an action in one part of the field will cause a hard to predict outcome in another part of the field.

Therefore it is theoretically possible that all this talk about Stephen Hawking and his work caused Stephen Hawking's death.

In much the same way it is theoretically possible that everyone humming star of the 2012 Para-Olympic Closing Ceremony Rihanna's song; "Umbrella" caused it to rain throughout the summer of 2007.

Taoists do not consider this to be a new belief. They see it as similar to the idea of the Wu Xing. Essentially elements existing in cooperation with each other constantly seeking balance.

One of the few people on the planet who could properly discuss any potential link between Quantum Physics and the Wu Xing was Stephen Hawking.

Stephen Hawking's very obvious physical impairments have, from time to time, made him a talking point about disability rights and healthcare.

One on the big talking points in this area at the 2016 Summer Para-Olympics was the issue of euthanasia or assisted dying. Belgian Silver medallist Marieke Vervoort announced before the games that her condition would lead her to seek to end her own life.

The founding ethos of the Para-Olympics is to use sport to show wounded veterans that physical impairment does not mean that their lives are over. The notion of assisted dying goes strongly against that ethos.

However there are certain degenerative conditions such as MND and Multiple sclerosis (MS) which will eventually kill their sufferers. They will kill them in extremely painful and humiliating ways. So there is an argument for allowing people with those conditions to chose the manner and time of their inevitable death.

This presents a huge moral challenge. If the person choosing to die is under any sort of pressure then we are back in the day's of Nazi Germany. Where the disabled were exterminated as part of a mass eugenics program. A notion of innate superiority the Olympic movement has never quite let go of.

One of the stranger sequences of the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony focused on Britain's National Health Service (NHS). At the time former US President Obama was trying to introduce a similar universal healthcare system.

In the arguments against this much was made of the fact the NHS denies care to patients which is considers not to be cost effective. Loud mouth American commentators went so far as to claim the NHS has death panels. Essentially committees who decided whether a patient lives or dies based on their economic value.

During this debate someone famously claimed that if Stephen Hawking were British a NHS death panel would have deemed his MND too expensive to treat and he would have been killed.

Stephen Hawking then pointed out that he is British. And that the majority of his healthcare had been provided by the NHS.

Stephen Hawking's has not been the only sudden British celebrity death today. It has also been announced that quiz show host Jim Bowen has died.

Jim Bowen provides me with an opportunity to discuss another form of impairment which is a topic of growing importance in developed nations. Albeit not one that features at the Para-Olympics. 

Mental illness. An important topic for British Crown Prince William and his; "Heads Together Campaign."

I did use to know a psychiatric patient who suffered from Grandiose Delusions (GD). A from of Delusional Personality Disorder. 

Sufferers of this condition believe that they are an important historical figure. Such as Napoleon, Julius Cesar or Adolf Hitler. It's similar to Jerusalem Syndrome. A condition Obama seemed to be severely afflicted with.

However the GD sufferer I knew was convinced he was 1970's British Dart's themed quiz show host Jim Bowen. He would force people to play imaginary games of the quiz show; "Bullseye."

This is every bit as insane and hilarious as it sounds. So I have told this story many times.

Most recently I remember telling it while visiting the Intensive Care/Treatment Unit (IC/TU) at Salisbury Hospital. This led to me getting told off. Apparently its a bad idea to make people suffering from Respiratory Distress laugh.

So it certainly appears that while UK Prime Minister Theresa May is doubling down on her false claim that Russia poisoned MI6 agent Sergei Skripal in Salisbury the UK Establishment has been on a bit of a killing spree. 

Perhaps to send the message that she no longer enjoys their support. 

At around 15:55 on 14/3/18 (UK date) I will pick this up after a late lunch.

Edited around 17:00 on 14/3/18 (UK date) to add;

Having established this theme of transformation and equality Lee Hee-beom then spoke of South Koreans pride at once again welcoming the World back to their nation. In this spirit of upgraded and mature attitudes in the sectors of politics and social attitudes.

During the 1988 Summer Olympics the RoK was ruled by President Roh Tae-woo. He had been appointed as the successor to Chun Doo-hwan.

Chun Doo-hwan seized power in a military coup in 1979. This restored the military dictatorship of Park Chun-hee which the democratically elected President Choi Kyu-hah had ended just 8 months previously.

One of the most brutal episodes of this coup was the May 1980 Gawngju Massacre. 

Chun Doo-wan's troops massacred some 600 students at Chonnam University who were protesting against him seizing power. Chun Doo-wan was sentenced to death over the massacre in 1996 but was later pardoned.

So the pride South Koreans feel is over their transition from the military dictatorship of Park Chung-hee. Creating a society built on civilised notions of equality and inclusion. Not just in terms of the relationship between the disabled and the able bodied but also between citizens and the state.

In short the RoK is extremely proud of no longer being; "Parkland." No matter how often US Democrats march in support of Parkland.

During Lee Hee-beom's speech there were frequent shots of the team from the DPRK. 

I know that in that acronym the; "PRK" stands for; "People's Republic of Korea."

During these Para-Olympics what the; "D" stands for seems to up for interpretation.

Lee Hee-beom's speech was followed with a speech by Andrew Parsons. The head of the IPC.

Parson's speech was not as impressive as Lee Hee-beom's extremely impressive speech. It did feature a few notable moments though.

It referenced the fact that International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach was in attendence. A symbol of the Para-Olympics upgraded and equal status.

Parson's then appeared to follow directly the path laid out by his predecessor Philip Craven. He pledged to do everything to ensure that Para-Olympic sport went ahead untainted by drug use and doping. This seemed to be a laughter cue.

Due to the vast array of medical conditions on display almost all Para-Olympians are on huge amounts of drugs they need to control those conditions. So drug use by athletes is most certainly not a taboo amongst Para-Olympians. Drug cheating is almost impossible under the rules.

The equivilent cheating within the Para-Olympics is the issue of impairement classification. In short people overstating their impairments through things like taking cold baths to reduce joint mobility in order to compete against less competitive opponents.

At the same time it was looking at the granting of Theraputic Use Exemptions (TUE) such as for Bradley Wiggins the UK Parliment's Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport also examined Para-Olympic classification. Driven mainly by complaints by Craig Spence - father of T38 longjump world champion Olivia Spence.

The fact that it is almost impossible to do drug cheating under Para-Olympic rules makes the hard line Philip Craven took against Russia even harder to rationally explain.

At the end of his speech Andrew Parsons handed over to South Korean President Moon Jae-in to formally declare games open.

President Moon Jae-in continues in not being President Park Geun-hye. The daughter of dictator Park Chun-hee who rigged the 2012 election by falisfying claims of foreign interference. 

Commercial Break:

Another commercial break from UK broadcaster Channel 4.

Para-Olympic Flag & Anthem:

It is a matter of protocol that every ceremony must feature a sequence in which the Para-Olympic flag is raised and the Para-Olympic anthem is played.

Again Channel 4 came back late from their commercial break. So I have no idea how the large, unfurled flag entered the arena.

However it was handed to the military flag detail which proceeded to raise it.

As this was happened a recording of the Para-Olympic anthem was played.

However the All Wheelchair Choir who led the singing of the South Korean anthem were in attendence.

I have to say that I doubt their claim to be an all wheelchair choir. There were certainly members who were standing. Including one young man who appeared to be suffering from Downs Syndrome.

This provided an opportunity to remind people that not all impairments are the same.

Although I'm not trying to be rude Downs Syndrome is a severe development impairment. It is distingushed by incredibly low IQ. As a result people with Downs Syndrome are really too stupid to participate in the Para-Olympics. They instead compete in the Special Olympics.

However Downs Syndrome is often mistaken for Cerebral Palsy which is included in the Para-Olympics. Cerebral Palsy affects the way the brain communicates with the body. It in no way affects a person's intelligence. Sufferers can be just as stupid or just as intelligent as anybody else.

People mistaking Cerebral Palsy for Downs Syndrome and treating sufferers as if they're mentally retarded is obviously extremely frustrating for people with Cerebral Palsy.

As assuming anyone in a wheelchair is mentally retarded is also extremely frustrating for wheelchair uses. People like perhaps Stephen Hawking.

Oaths:

It is protocol that each ceremony includes a sequence in which the Para-Olympic oath is taken by representives of the competitors and the judges.

The names of the three inviduals taking the oaths of this occassion were not provided. I find that a little frustating because this is their moments of fame. It only seems right they are given due credit. Even in an onscreen caption.

Commercial Break:

Another commercial break from UK broadcaster Channel 4.

17:55 on 14/3/18 (UK date).