The Olympic Athelets Uniforms
What will they wear at the Olympics Opening Ceremony soon coming?
Only in less than a month before the big day did China Sports Officials unveil the Chinese team uniform that has been secret for a while. Apparently, the uniform is out of a safe and classic concept. It is made up of two colors, red and yellow, which are also the colors of our national flag.
Some interneters think Australia’s team uniform photo shoot looks really cool, seeming they are making a movie poster. Canadian’s perhaps not our favorite type, it really reminds you it is bed time.
Tags: 2008 Summer Olympics, olympic uniforms, olympics opening ceremony
July 29th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Wow, would you show up to play if you’re wearing that Canadian uniform?
July 31st, 2008 at 11:36 am
Actually, I think the Canadian uniforms have street style, and it’s *cool*. The other uniforms for the most part suck - except the Germans, who look like they’re pulled out of an Armani shoot. Here’s my breakdown:
China: (from the 70s) “Would you like fries with that?” Are you KIDDING me?
Australia: Great use of Blue…and..blue…and…blue…nice material, no flavor. Anyone can go to a mall and pick up what they are wearing.
Canada: Looks like they’re about to start a b-boy competition on stage.
(Blinded): (What color *squints* is that?) (Imagine wearing that much white in Beijing, they’ll be wearing gray on the way home HAHAHA)
Japan: (left) All Aboaaaaaard! (right) I’ll stop by the games on the way to the office (wtf?)
(not sure where): Straight up bad guys outta Chips
Germans: Pimp. Look at the dude 2nd on right, with the scarf…I swear they’re all going to start ripping their shirts open in slow motion and posing during the events.
Russia: Circus Circus much? “Come on in boys and girls the world is full of wonders at Barnem and Baileys Wonderful World of Olympic Dreams”
Last one: Looks like bellboys at a cuban resort.
August 1st, 2008 at 12:48 am
Right on Rick! I was trying put my finger on China’s uniform and that’s it. But I don’t think I’d like to see the Canadian womens shot put team in that uniform prancing around to ‘ Oh Canada.”
August 1st, 2008 at 12:09 pm
Hahaha, I would hope not - actually, much like all teams, these are the “warm-up” and “coach”ish uniforms, the tighter fitting sports uniforms are what the athletes will wear when they’re actually competing.
I don’t think I’ll be watching the olympics anyways..maybe just totals and results out of moderate interest, but I’m not the ‘Oh Wow, He Runs Really…Really Fast” kind of guy anyways - I rather be the one competing.
Combined with some political disappointments re: the games I’ve lost a lot of respect for the IOC, so, results for me.
August 2nd, 2008 at 1:37 am
“I’ve lost a lot of respect for the IOC, so, results for me.”
I guess they’re ultimately to blame, right? I’m really incensed that they knew that the censorship wouldn’t be lifted but lied about it. Still, I had hoped that this would be real improvements made.
August 2nd, 2008 at 11:10 pm
yeah although the australians are hotties i’m down with the folks in between the japanese and germans - they’re fashion-forward and not fashion-backward like everyone else.
i wouldn’t be too hard on the IOC. While China views the Olympics as a coming-out party, i think the IOC sees it as a way to spur interest among the chinese people to learn more about the rest of the world. in other words, it’s the Wall Street “poison pill” trick. I think the IOC hopes that getting the chinese people (ie the “masses”) interested will create internal pressure (from the “masses”) to “open up” China, thus adding to the resistance to the government’s efforts to clamp down.
August 4th, 2008 at 12:17 pm
@Anil RE: “thus adding to the resistance to the government’s efforts to clamp down.”
That’s one stance on it. The other is, when you push a raccoon into a corner it’s going to come out with claws. China *and Chinese* will be exposed to international criticisms in-their-face like they’re not at all used to. In the past, it’s easy to shed off claims by foreigner/foreign media as uninformed, but that will be difficult in this type of situation where the world has been invited into their ‘home’. People here don’t take criticism well in general, it’s a personal insult as opposed to constructive 100% of the time, and it’s encouraged to ‘turn a blind eye’ to anything negative and embrace everything positive even if it requires a little spin.
This type of exposure and criticism may not ‘open up’ the people’s minds as much as rally them behind the government who is ‘working so hard’ to bring them happiness and pride. I’d imagine that your words fit well for a western perspective, but, this aint wallstreet baby.
August 5th, 2008 at 11:11 am
@ Rick - Yes, but as someone who’s been living there for some years, *you* understand that. In 2001, the IOC was Western dominated and, personally, I’d give them some leeway for misreading China. After all, China is a very complicated country isn’t it?
RE: you and Brian’s previous posts on the banning of minorities, interestingly here’s an article from the NYT supporting the Chinese Government!
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/04/sports/olympics/05china.html?ref=sports
Funny how, “But human rights advocates accuse the Chinese government of using the pretext of terrorism to silence dissent and clamp down on ethnic minority groups that chafe at rule by ethnic Han Chinese, who dominate the Communist Party leadership. Some security experts say many of the surveillance measures will probably stay in place after the Games, to bolster the reach of the authorities.”
and your words, “People here don’t take criticism well in general, it’s a personal insult as opposed to constructive 100% of the time, and it’s encouraged to ‘turn a blind eye’ to anything negative and embrace everything positive even if it requires a little spin.”
also apply in a similar way to both the USA and the UK; thus bolstering the Chinese view that the USA, at least, is uninformed! Not coincidentally, the NYT hardly seems like in-your-face criticism.
here’s the AP making my point better than I could:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080805/ap_on_re_as/oly_china_security_8
August 8th, 2008 at 11:24 am
@Anil
RE: “NYT”
EDWARD WONG and KEITH BRADSHER can suck my balls. Chinese news is giving a different story - and the common english translation has two versions. In fact the one I read, and one I believe due to images of the damage/attack afterwards - is that the military was doing their morning runs (they run on public streets very early in mass square patterns) and the truck drove into the mass of people then threw 2 home-made bombs, then the truck smashed a pole and driver broke his arm. The NYT makes them sound much more organized than a fruit vendor and taxi driver smashing into a big group of runners passing a HOTEL — not a police station, which is what I believe really happened. I’ve been to police stations (don’t ask why ;)) and I’ve *NEVER* seen a concentration of men in the way that 16 could be killed and 16 more injured, ever, anyone who has been to a chinese police station can back that up.
The fact they’re reporting news “as it is” which is incorrect invalidates any points they’re making, in my eyes.
That being said - the AP story you linked is what I believe correct in their statement, which is very different and says basically what I said. Go AP! NYT — balls.
My point on taking criticism must not have been clear. In the US and in Canada (I’m sure it’s the same in most westernized modern nations, but I can’t say for sure) - people very often criticize and debate their own government. Here, it happens occasionally, but if any foreigner (ie not chinese face, regardless of how long or what sort of life they’ve established here) begins to criticize, it’s looked at as racism and “looking down upon” the Chinese people. I can’t tell you how often I’ve heard the phrase “THIS IS CHINA, YOU ARE NOT CHINESE” or something to that effect in an effort to “back” someone’s claims or counter-claims, it’s ridiculous.
August 10th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
@Rick - This will be short as i’m one of those Olympic addicts who simply *must* watch every minute.
re: “THIS IS CHINA, YOU ARE NOT CHINESE”
I’d say the same to you if you were in India and I was Indian. It’s not a matter of understanding, it’s a matter of biology. In the USA, we’ve been trained to think that all people are equal and hence the same. This is not true. Our senses are tuned differently (scientific studies back this up). That’s why you didn’t like the Chinese fashions and architecture posted here recently and I did. Same goes for many sights, smells, tastes, and touches (don’t know about hearing). Naturally, this is bound to affect culture deeply. It is physically impossible for you to *get* it unless you’re Chinese.
August 11th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
@Anil
RE: “It is physically impossible for you to *get* it unless you’re Chinese.”
Maybe I’m off base, but, I thought we were talking about criticisms. It’s physically impossible for me to *get* “human rights”, oppression, personal freedoms, etc….unless I’m Chinese?
August 12th, 2008 at 7:33 am
@Rick
Sorry, my bad. I’m trying to skip ahead to avoid a *very* long discussion so I could watch more Olympics :p
We’d really have to get deep into the last 400 years of history, sociology and psychology, to properly discuss it. So, let me put it this way:
You said, “It’s physically impossible for me to *get* “human rights”, oppression, personal freedoms, etc….unless I’m Chinese?”
Your very wording and phrasing are Western values from a Western point of view. But there are *not* just one interpretation of those words and values, there are many. This is why the American values of “Freedom and Democracy” fit the definition of Totalitarianism in India and hence a reason why a Western critique of India rings hollow to Indian ears.
Here’s an example: I read an American backpacker’s blog of her visit to Mumbai. She tried really hard to be open-minded and non-judgemental but in the end she had to complain of the unbearable stench in certain areas of Mumbai. Now, to her, her statement was a criticism, but to Indians her statement was racist and condescending. Why? Because after thousands of years of killing their tongue and nose cells with heavy spices, they *physically* could not smell what she smelled to that degree. So what other explanation could there be for her statement other than another repetition of Western imperialistic self-righteousness? After years and years of hearing the same thing over and over again, it’s just so much easier to say, “This is India and you’re not Indian!”
August 12th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
@Rick
Sorry man, after re-reading my post, I realize I’m going off on a tangent because I wasn’t clear. When I said, “It is physically impossible for you to *get* it unless you’re Chinese.”, I meant it is neurologically impossible for you to be Chinese without being Chinese! That may be obvious, but, just to be clear, there is a difference between knowledge, understanding, and your “lizard brain” (forget about the hard-wiring for now). You may have knowledge of and even understand the Chinese people but the “lizard brain” is imprinted into you as a child and almost impossible to reprogram. It’s not a racial thing, it’s a biological thing. You will never be Chinese, but (if you raise them there) your kids will be. See what I mean?
Incidentally, the “lizard brain” thing also neatly explains two things. One, why I feel free to comment on this blog even though I have very little knowledge of either China *or* India. And Two, why my experiences with the Chinese people contradict the experiences that you’ve had (or at least posted here). I frequently criticized the Chinese I encountered (and vice versa), but never once did I get the old “THIS IS CHINA, YOU ARE NOT CHINESE” that you and other Westerners (on other blogs) get. Why? Because I’m not white
August 12th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
@ Anil
I understand your analogy, but I don’t see the relationship between stinky personal freedoms. In America you have the right to stink, if someone critiques you maybe you’ll take offense, but, it’s not against the law to stink, there is no fine for stinking, you can choose to stink or not to stink relative to other people’s noses. This might kill your social life, however, it’s your right. In China, they can ban you from doing something if you stink - for example, stinky taxi drivers were banned from driving cabs during the Olympics in Beijing. Stinkiness has been squashed “in the name of the image” of the country. That’s not personal freedom, that’s denial of choice of style of living based on preference, such as stink. Maybe I like to stink. Know what I mean? The differences between what I’m arguing and what you’re using as example is significant…at least, as I see it.
August 13th, 2008 at 2:49 am
@ Rick
I agree, I think we’re arguing two different things. But to use your example, sure a cab driver in New York has the *legal* freedom to stink, but he doesn’t have the *economic* freedom to stink. A stinky cab isn’t going to last long in New York because nobody will ride with him. In the US, sure we have the *legal* freedom to burp, but we don’t have the *social* freedom to do so. I’d never get invited back to dinner parties if I acted that way. In India, if you don’t burp they’d ask, “Why are you oppressing (repressing) yourself?” AFAIK, prostitution is illegal in China, is it not? So why did my hotel (local not tourist) feel free to provide me with all the hookers I wanted *and* allowed me to use their premises for such activity? This was a large, mainstream hotel not a mom and pop whole in the wall that charges by the hour. Sure, in New York I’m free to get my own hookers but the hotel staff is *not* free to actually pimp out these services. In India, such activity is also illegal. But in India they have the freedom of corruption. I’m free to bribe the hotel staff and they’re free, with a wink and a nod, to accept that bribe.
I’m not an expert of the law on any country, heck I barely know the law of my own country, so I can only by what I see. We’ve seen the pictures of overloaded vehicles on this blog, that’s intellectual freedom. We’ve seen the pictures of the guy with the monkey act, that’s freedom from extreme bureaucratic effort.
Relatively speaking, I don’t care that homosexuals are oppressed in Iran because I’m not gay. I do care that I’m free to smoke in restaurants and bars (currently banned in New York) because I’m a smoker. I’m glad that stinky taxi drivers are banned in Beijing because I’ve just been granted the freedom to not have to ride in a stinky cab! We could go on and on trading examples and counter-examples but the bottom line is what may be important to YOU may not be important to ME. There is a difference between what is allowed and what is permitted. Western-style “Freedoms” seem very rigid and intolerant to me, and I would gladly trade what is allowed for the flexibility and tolerance of what is permitted.
August 13th, 2008 at 11:50 am
@Anil
RE: “I’ve just been granted the freedom to not have to ride in a stinky cab”
Your examples aren’t great. It’s not a “freedom” to not have to do something like that, it’s a choice. Plus, who determines stinky vs. non-stinky, as you stated yourself, everyone’s nose is different. Maybe foreigners still think the cab drivers stink and the dudes who were banned smell like peaches.
Personal freedoms allow you to socially kill yourself. That’s the point. It’s not up to someone else to say what is or isn’t socially acceptable - bureaucratically - that’s denying freedoms.
Smoking is not a personal freedom, Anil, because it causes damage to nearby people’s health. They have the right to life, and in a sense, your indulgence causes them potential harm. If BO could be proven to have some kind of medical impact to people smelling it, maybe there would be some regulation that wouldn’t be considered denial of a personal freedom. Also, BO is a bad example anyways, there are significant other examples I don’t want to even bother bringing up which I’m sure you can google and find lists of.
It’s opening up in any case, which is good. Progress is progress.
The tower will crumble though. Economic state is not sustainable and exports are slowing. Domestic demand is way too low to maintain this kind of 9% 10% 11% expectation, markets here went to shit long ago, real estate - stock - well..eh, soon people with a bit of cash will learn not to blow it all on ridiculous shit like they just won the lottery as is now, and savings plans and finance management might see a growth opportunity.
August 13th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
@Rick
It’s become clear to me that while we are both using English to write our words, you’re not speaking my language and I’m not speaking yours. Just accept the fact that…YOU *are* in China and YOU are *not* Chinese and try to understand the fact that your version of criticism may not be seen that way by others, m’kay? O_o
August 13th, 2008 at 2:37 pm
@Anil
I accept both of those points. Clearly I’m in China and not Chinese. Clearly people will view criticisms differently. That’s not what I am arguing.
What I’m stating is that almost exclusively _the same_ criticism from two different sources is viewed differently. A criticism from a white guy in China is an attack. The same criticism from a Chinese in China is (example, here) “a good point.” This is what I’m saying.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
@ Rick
Exactly! Which brings us back full-circle to my statement of, “We’d really have to get deep into the last 400 years of history, sociology and psychology, to properly discuss it.”
There’s a reason why I can get away with that kind of criticism and you can’t. In the view of some Chinese “my” people suffered a similar fate at the hands of “your” people as the Chinese did! Your history books will say one thing, but their history books say something completely different and that kind of imprinting happens as a child. You may think you’re talking about a topical subject such as freedom or oppression but there’s a subtext here that I think you are missing. And that subtext is, “Oh great, yet another white guy attacking us like they’ve been doing for the last two hundred years.” It doesn’t matter that their argument makes no sense or is ridiculous, what matters is that the topic is simply off-limits for you. Period.
Now, I am massively generalizing and simplifying here and I suspect there are ways you can get around such a problem. But the full explanation is too complicated, nuanced and massive for me to handle. And quite frankly, I’m not even qualified for that. My mail-order PhD in Sinology that i bought off of Ebay arrives next week.
August 13th, 2008 at 5:42 pm
@Anil,
I’m with you against those Brit fuckers! Us Scottsmen suffered greatly at the hand of the foul oppressors, in fact, they used to fuck our women on wedding knight trying to breed us out! We’re one in the same!
August 13th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
@Rick
A Scotsman?!?! Why didn’t you say so? We could have saved ourselves that massive discussion and gotten straight to point :p
August 14th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
@Anil
And a Canadian! Now you get it, eh
August 14th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
Rick, Re: sticky cab driver banned in Beijing
It happened only during the Olympics, but frankly, i hope this could continue so it could be a dresscode for taxi business.
And that rule is typically Chinese. I m not sure of the correctness of this, here is my understanding, holding olypics is like if a normal working-class family hold a christmas party guested by VIPs such as USA president etc, I guess that family should provide best food and cleanest house as possible as they can to show the respect.
August 14th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
@Admin
I agree with the concept of improving hygiene of drivers in Beijing. I think that the approach would be different in a Euro or American nation though, such as education and restriction on the drivers by the company as opposed to banning by the government. Clearly there is a *business benefit* to drivers having good hygiene, as well as a general social improvement.
The problem with this isn’t so much the concept or intention as much as the solution
August 14th, 2008 at 2:42 pm
@ Rick
I already *knew* that you were Canadian. I was just joking :p
What I don’t understand is how you can understand the Scottish position but not the Chinese…
August 14th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
@admin
Thank you for stating the point i was poorly trying to make far better than i could.
@Rick
Your problem isn’t so much with the solution, it’s with *how* the solution was implemented. You see? We all agree on the concept but have different values on how to implement it.
August 14th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
@Anil
semantecs. When I mention “the solution” I’m referring to: Problem: stinky drivers, solution: kick ‘em out. Implementation in this case would be whatever process they took to kick them out, ie, with gigantic tweezers and clothes pins on their noses? or huge gumboots on swivels? That’s not so important.
August 15th, 2008 at 3:22 am
@Rick
re: semantics
Agreed.
You are very frustrating :p