The 2018 Winter Olympics: Opening Ceremony.

How do you know the 2018 games are being held in Asia?

You have to complete a class BEFORE school; http://watchitdie.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/the-2018-winter-olympics-opening.html

Once you've all got your heads around that we can begin.

The Countdown:

Olympic Opening Ceremonies are broadcast live across many different broadcasters in many different nations. Therefore it is a longstanding tradition that they have to begin with a video countdown from 10 to 1. This allows everyone to calibrate and synchronise their coverage.

It also provides a way to gesture how much respect each broadcaster is showing the games.

For example do they not take the live feed at all instead choosing only to show edited highlights? Do they show the countdown or only show the ceremony itself? Do they, like Britain's BBC, show maximum respect by even broadcasting live shots of the stadium before the countdown begins.

As broadcast technology has advanced this countdown video has become less important.

It's an interesting fact that on US television you cannot broadcast a particular shade of black for more then a set length of time. If you do this it will trigger a computer to think that a commercial break has begun and switch the feed. All without a human being involved.

This has meant that the countdown has become part of the show itself. Some nations now use it as an opportunity to have some fun.

The Republic of Korean (RoK) quite reasonably considers itself to be one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth. If you are reading this on an electronic device there is a fair chance that device was make in the RoK. Or at least made using technology that had been invented in the RoK.

As such the RoK had a great deal of fun with this tradition.

The Opening Ceremony began with a short video. This intentionally took the idea of the Opening Ceremony welcoming visitors to the country comically literally.

Shot in Point of View (PoV) perspective it showed a guest arriving on an aeroplane, travelling through the airport before taking an Olympic-themed drive from the airport to the Olympic Stadium.

The video featured the promotional posters for all the previous Winter Olympics popping up in strange places. Like on the side of someones suitcase or in a magazine someone was reading. Although the posters were shown in the correct order the video also featured large numbers popping up in a completely random order.

So if you were trying to use this video to synchronise your coverage it would really have screwed you up.

When the video finished it cut to a shot of the stadium floor. At its centre in a circle and surrounded by a circle of light there stood the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great.

King Seongdeok the Great was the 33rd King of Silla - the kingdom that joined the Three Kingdoms creating the first unified Korean. The bell was commissioned by his son King Gyeongdeok.

Legend has it King Gyeongdeok had the bell cast and recast many times during his life but could never get it to sound. After his death his young son took over the work with the help of this mother the Queen. Again they had no success.

Then a monk dreamt that if a child was cast into the metal it would finally work. So they basically kidnapped a child from one of the poor villages and cast them into the metal. Finally the bell worked.

As a result it's known as the "Mother Bell" or "Emile Bell" -"Emile" being a rough translation of a Korean word for "Mother." However that legend is disputed so the bell does provide a talking point about western explorers misappropriating eastern, mystic culture.

A copy of the bell hangs in a Korean Pagoda in Angel's Gate Park in the US city of Los Angeles, California. It was donated by the RoK to the US as a gift on America's 200th birthday. As such this copy is known as the; "Friendship Bell."

This leads some people confusing the American copy with the Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great and referring to them both as the Friendship Bell.

Some people - like BBC commentators - even go so far as to mistake them both for the "Peace Bell." That was made by Japan in 1952 as a gift to the United Nations. It hangs in a peace garden at the UN headquarters in New York City, New York, US.

In front of the bell the numbers 10 to 1 were projected onto the arena floor in the common English numerals which most users of the Latin alphabet are familiar with. At the same time the word of how you pronounce those numbers in Korean were also projected onto the empty - for competitors - seats. They were projected in the Latin alphabet.

Koreans of course don't use the Latin alphabet or English numerals. Instead they use their own Hangul alphabet which has its own numerals. One of the interesting differences between the RoK and the DPRK is the way that their languages and even alphabets have altered slightly over time since partition.

Contrary to popular belief Hangul is not logographic like the Japanese or Chinese writing system. It is much more similar to the Latin alphabet with symbols or letters being used to form words. However rather than just being a list Hangul letters are arranged in blocks of vowels and consonants.

In the run-up to the games the South Koreans used their language to play a little prank on Norway's Olympic team. Their chefs submitted a written order for 1,500 eggs. They were delivered 15,000 eggs.

Apparently someone had translated the request from Norwegian into English. Then from English into South Korean Hangul and then into North Korean Hangul.

When the countdown reached zero the bell sounded and from it the arena floor started to crack as it made from ice. These are the Winter Olympics after all.

We then cut to an aerial shot of the outside of the stadium.

What I found interesting was that there were searchlights snaking through the night sky. Particularly for British people this type of imagery is synonymous with the so-called; "Blitz."

During the Second World War Britain and Germany spent the best part of five years just absolutely carpet bombing each others civilian cities. This is known as; "The Blitz" from the German; "Blitzkrieg" meaning; "Lightening War." Perfected during the Spanish Civil War at places like Guernica this used aerial bombing in conjunction with rapid advances by ground forces.

Technically the Blitz was kind of Britain's fault. They bombed German civilians first prompting Hitler to follow suit. Although Hitler didn't exactly need much provocation for anything.

These searchlights struck me as a very clever way to very subtly acknowledge Korea's own difficult experience during the Second World War and its aftermath without being needlessly provocative.

The searchlights quickly gave way to the traditional firework display. The only thing of any note I spotted was the word; "WELCOME" written in the Latin alphabet spelled out on the ground in fireworks.

Meet the Cipher: 

We were then shown another short video which introduced us to the characters who would be our guides throughout the ceremony. They were five humans of a distinctly child-like appearance.

This is quite a common story telling device used in TV and movies. The example I'll use is the 2015 US movie "Sicario" because I only watched it the other week.

This movie received a lot of coverage when it came out because it was one of the first mainstream action movies to feature a female lead - Emily Blunt's "Kate Macer." When we'd finished watching the movie my father said; "It's a good movie. I just didn't see the point of the Kate character."

The point of the Kate character is that she is a cipher through which we are introduced to the rest of the story.

Technically a cipher is any device which is used to turn create a code. Or to desconstruct a code.

The word; "Cipher" has common origins in French, English, Dutch, German, Slovak, Spanish, Serbia, Italian, Swedish and Arabic. It means "number" - often the number; "Zero."

Therefore one of the most simple ciphers is the Polyalphabetic Cipher. You assign a number to a letter of the alphabet A=1 etc and then write your message in numbers so; "YES" becomes "25519." You can even buy toy Secret Wheel Code kits. Or if no-one will get you one of those for Christmas you can make your own.

Big users of codes and ciphers are the military. The RoK is a nation at war so has compulsory military service. As a result all South Koreans have some experience of military codes and secrets. Even if it's just knowing that when a politician speaks you really need to learn to read between-the-lines.

As one of the Worlds most technologically advanced nations the RoK deal in extremely complex Symmetric-Key algorithmic ciphers. These are what make that little padlock icon appear in the top-lefthand corner of your Internet browser.

As you can probably tell from the still photograph and Betamax video propaganda they continue to put out DPRK is less technologically advanced.

At the Opening Ceremony the US was represented by Vice President Mike Pence. While the people who live on the Korean Peninsula have been talking in terms of unity and peace Mike Pence has been touring the region talking of war.

Vice President Pence even took the father of Otto Warmbier as his guest to the Opening Ceremony. One of the main reasons I object to that is that  I don't think that is any place for a grieving parent. The situation requires us to insult him.

Therefore you can certainly have a lot of fun with a phrase such as; "Childlike Cipher." 

Particularly if you're talking about someone who makes their own spy wheel cipher kits at home.

At around 21:40 on 10/2/18 (UK date) I need a little break to order my thoughts.

Edited around 22:20 on 10/2/18 (UK date) to add;

The reason why these five human ciphers had a distinctly childlike appearance is because they were in fact children.

They represented the Wu Xing - the five essential elements;

Metal: White,

Water: Black,

Wood: Green,

Fire: Red,

Earth: Yellow.

In particularly the Taoist religion these five elements make up all humans and all the things in the natural environment. This means that they explain everything from the way the human body works to the way political leaders rise and fall.

However their most commonly accepted role is in explaining cosmic cycles - the passing of the seasons basically.

Fire is Summer, Water is Winter, Metal is Autumn and Wood is Spring. The fifth, Earth covers those intermediate periods where it's not quite autumn but it's not yet winter and it's not quite spring but it's not yet summer.

After it being established that they represented the Wu Xing the children entered a cave. There they were surrounded of what where described as; "The 22 Korean Treasures."

I have Googled the 22 Korean Treasures extensively. I can find no reference to them. What I can find reference to is the 319 objects the South Korean government began listing as protected national treasures in 1962.

However the 22 objects shown in the video seem to bear no relation to the list of 319 National Treasures. The  Sacred Bell of King Seongdeok the Great for example is listed as number 29.

Therefore I'm tempted to go so far as to suggest the South Koreans are simply trying to wind up foreigners with this list of their mythical objects.

Finally in the cave the children come across a painting of a blue dragon. This comes alive.

It is our introduction to the Four Guardians;

The Azure Dragon,

The Vermilion Bird,

The White Tiger,

The Black Turtle.

These are just the names for the constellations of stars like the Plough, Orion's Belt etc.

However they are considered to be particularly spiritual beings appearing the sky as they travel between dimension. As such they represent mythological powers. The Azure Dragon represents the male force and the Vermilion Bird represents the female force.

As the video finished the children were then welcomed into the arena. The were joined first by the White Tiger guardian.

This took the form of dancers manipulating a paper sculpture with wooden polls. This is commonly associated with Chinese Dragon dances. That referenced China and Korea's shared history. It was the Chinese Tang dynasty that helped the Silla Kingdom unite Korea's Three Kingdoms. They were rewarded with Korea invading quite a large chunk of China.

Recently there has been a rumour doing the rounds in Syria. It is that China has deployed Special Operations Forces (SOF's) to fight particularly the Turkistan Islamist Party (TiP) element of Al Qaeda in Idlib Province. Particularly around the town of Jisr al-Shugour.

If true this would represent the first combat deployment by the Chinese military since they withdrew from the Korean War. If you're interested in growing Chinese regional influence and/or the technically ongoing Korean War this is the sort of rumour that really catches your attention.

The two specific Chinese SOF units mentioned in the rumour are the Night Tigers and the Siberian Tigers. I suppose if you mash them together in the context of an Olympic Ceremony you'd probably end up with a White Tiger.

If you tried mashing them together outside of an Olympic Ceremony you'd probably end up getting hurt.

It is interesting that the White Tiger is the guardian of the west. China is concerned by Al Qaeda's desire to establish Turkistan within their western Xinjiang. The White Tiger only appears when an Emperor is ruling with absolute virtue.

So that certainly does sound like the RoK giving a quiet nod of approval to their old Korean War foe.

As this was happening a video projection turned the arena floor into an overview of the Baekdu/Paektu Mountain range. This forms part of the border between the DPRK and China.

The range's highest peak is Mount Paektu, an active volcano. The Mount Paektu bloodline is central to the DPRK's creation myth. Amongst other things Kim Il-sung is said to have been born, thus creating the universe at the foot of Mount Paektu.

So this seemed like an appropriate moment for the RoK to bring out Bakiwang - the central female character in the more widely accepted Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth. As with the White Tiger see was represented in the form of a paper sculpture normally associated with Chinese Dragon dances.

I really do want someone to explain the Cheonjiwang Bonpuri creation myth to me properly. However my understanding is that Bakiwang began life as a Bear. She turned into a human woman and then marries Cheonjiwang and they have two sons who battle it out to become ruler of the human dimension.

The 2018 Winter Olympics of course pick up the baton from the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi, Russia. A bear is a famous symbol of Russia so the arrival of Bakiwang seemed like a little nod to the Winter Olympics former life.

It could even be a subtle gesture of support for Russia in things like Syria and their on going battles with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the US Democrat Party.

The White Tiger and Bakiwang were joined by a third paper sculpture. Resembling a bird this caused a bit of confusion.

It could be the Vermilion Bird guardian. However the Vermilion Bird is often confused with the Fenghuang which are the masters of all birds.

The Fenghuang is often referred to as the Chinese Phoenix due to its vague similarities with the Phoenix from Greek mythology.

The Phoenix famously lives for a long time before flying into the Sun where it catches fire only to rise from its own ashes. The Fenghuang is also associated with the Sun. However it merely flies into the Sun to use it as a portal to travel to a different dimension.

Crucially the Fenghuang only enters the human dimension during times of peace. As such it is a symbol of peace.

If you can remember all the way back to the 2014 Sochi Opening Ceremony this heavily featured the Firebird from Russian mythology. Generally that is used as a metaphor for chasing the unobtainable. However it allows for another little nod to Russia.

The sequence ended with TV viewers being treated to an Augmented Reality (AR) projection of the stars showing the places of the Four Guardian constellations. If you're unfamiliar with Augmented Reality have you heard of a game called; "Pokemon Go."

Japan will host the 2020 Summer Olympics. As is protocol this granted them a small segment in the Closing Ceremony for the 2016 Summer Games held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil.

I still have that Closing Ceremony stacked up my DVR. I promise I will at least cover Japan's segment. At this rate probably about two hours before the 2020 Opening Ceremony.

However the Japanese segment did feature a little bit of AR - an Olympic first.

Aside from the tensions stemming from the Japanese Empire there is a huge rivalry between Japan and the RoK over who exactly is THE most technologically advanced nation on Earth.

So if Japan are going to use a little bit of AR then the RoK are going to use a lot of AR. No matter how much that is completely lost on people watching live in the arena.

Introductions & Handshakes:

It is protocol that each Olympic ceremony features a short segment in which VIP's are welcomed. This is normally the head of the IOC - in this case former Olympic fencer Thomas Bach - and the Head of Government/State of the Host Nation. In this case RoK President Moon Jae-in.

After they've been welcomed everyone in the VIP box shakes hands, have a bit of a chat and sit down. Normally it's quite dull.

However on this occasion the VIP box also included Kim Yo-jong. The sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and only member of the Mount Paektu Bloodline to every set foot in the RoK.

President Moon Jae-in duly shook hands with Kim Yo-jong who has the official title of; "Director of Propaganda & Agitation." Thus making this the first time that a member of the Mount Paektu Bloodline has ever shaken hands with a South Korean President.

The VIP box also included US Vice President Pence. The South Korean hosts who are getting a reputation for a mischievous sense of humour seated Vice President Pence directly in front of Director Kim.

Apparently they'd heard the rumours about Vice President Pence being uncomfortable in the company of women who are not his wife. Then decided to double it.

Eventually Vice President Pence insisted on being moved four seats along the row so at least he wasn't sitting directly in front of Director Kim.

The US media has been seemingly overjoyed at the sight of Donald Trump's Vice President being made to look uncomfortable. I think they would be better advised to take note of the fact it is South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

As I think is well known prior to the 2016 US Presidential Election former President Obama ordered the FBI to set up a special unit to guard against Russian interference - particularly online.

To this day the US media continue to insist this Russian interference rigged the election in Donald Trump's favour and Obama's designated successor Hillary Clinton is their rightful President.

Prior to the 2012 South Korean President Election outgoing President Lee Myung-bak ordered the RoK equivalent of the FBI - the NIS - to set up a special unit to guard against North Korean interference - particularly online.

The NIS have since admitted this claim of foreign interference was merely a sham to allow them to rig the election in favour of Lee Myung-bak's designated successor Park Guen-hye.

So I think Americans would do well to remember that it is South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

His female opponent along with the Director of the NIS are currently in prison.

So no, I don't think there will be any more Russia memos coming out during the Winter Olympics. You might be lucky in that small gap between the Olympics and the Para-Olympics.

00:10 on 11/2/18 (UK date).