Mmm, kouroi

So how ‘bout them Olympics? My favorite part of the opening ceremony was the historical pageant, with Eros flying over tableaux vivants depicting various scenes of Greek art and history. The whole thing—costumes, makeup, movement—was cleverly done and had great impact. (Ah, yes, the kouroi. “There were burning questions here. How are they made? What company manufactures these pants of manhood? And can I order some in time for Halloween?”)

The parade of nations, usually a bit predictable, was less so due to the Greek alphabet dictating the order of procession. I kept an eye out for the Philippines (Φιλιππίνες), but as its Greek translation starts with phi, it turned out their delegation was one of the last to enter the stadium. (My interest in languages extends to how country names are rendered in foreign languages. In my work I come across this a lot, mostly in French or Spanish. And in EU documents, countries are identified by abbreviations in each native language. For example, Greece is EL for Ελλάδα. It’s kind of cool.)

And another comment about the opening ceremony: the running commentary by Bob Costas and Katie Couric didn’t add much. In fact I wish it had been on a separate audio channel that I could mute. Bob, during the parade of nations, on the Central African Republic: “…which is, as we always duly note, in central Africa.” Oh, touché, Bob. Touché. Later on: “Belize, the island nation…” Umm, island?

Oh, right now women’s synchronized diving (springboard final) is on TV. Gonna go watch. And later on: among others, men’s synchronized diving (platform final) and gymnastics (qualifying competition). You know I’m there.