The Paralympic Games

**Nick Armstrong** · 29-08-12, 23:32

Flicking through my recording - all a bit fey and random, it seems to me: big umbrellas, big books, big apples, a whale, Ian McKellan in a purple dressing-gown doing a sort of fake Prospero, &c. &c. - and Krishnan G commentating, somewhat forlorn and po-faced, reading stuff "from the artistic directors" (he said, as if keen to make clear this was nothing to do with him...

). Turned off at the simultaneous apple-eating

Best thing was to hear Handel crowning the whole thing, "Eternal Source of Light Divine" from the Queen Anne birthday ode, really well sung (apart from one eye-wateringly wayward note) by Elin Manahan Thomas. Pretty stunning.

**Flosshilde** · 30-08-12, 08:36

There's one thing you can be sure of - they won't get the same sort of over-the-top hyped up blanket coverage that the other Olympics got

It's on Cannel 4 to start with - presumably the BBC didn't bother to bid for them. & Channel 4 always does that fringey minority thing, doesn't it?

**Serial_Apologist** · 30-08-12, 10:21

Several viewers messaged and phoned in to The Wright Stuff this morning saying Ch 4 ruined the ceremony with ad breaks - 6 in all, Krishan on about the participating nations at war with each other, and Jon Snow adopting his usual hesitancy...

**eighthobstruction** · 30-08-12, 11:55

Quite rightly everyone being incredibly PC during commentary, and abrupt silences when someone said anything at all controversial....pussy footing or PWHAT....

....I'd love for there to be a few hidden mic's to pick up the banter between contestants....where I'm sure we'd get a few surprises <no surprise to me>....ahem!....

....I'm thinking of contacting the Para Olympic Assoc to see if there's any chance of Rugby and Rowing etc for people under 5' 8" in height.....i.e excluding those above that height....

**Resurrection Man** · 30-08-12, 12:31

Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post

.....blanket coverage that the other Olympics got .....

What is the problem with covering as many events as possible? Just because you might not have any interest in any of them is no reason to stop others watching.

**LHC** · 30-08-12, 12:43

Originally posted by eighthobstruction View Post

Quite rightly everyone being incredibly PC during commentary, and abrupt silences when someone said anything at all controversial....pussy footing or PWHAT....

....I'd love for there to be a few hidden mic's to pick up the banter between contestants....where I'm sure we'd get a few surprises <no surprise to me>....ahem!....

....I'm thinking of contacting the Para Olympic Assoc to see if there's any chance of Rugby and Rowing etc for people under 5' 8" in height.....i.e excluding those above that height....

Rugby used to be known as a sport that could accommodate players of all shapes and sizes. The Zimbabwe scrum half in the world cup in Australia was, I think, under 5' (and Shane Williams wasn't much bigger).

You could also try wheelchair rugby, or 'murder ball' as it used to be known.

**Flosshilde** · 30-08-12, 17:43

Originally posted by Resurrection Man View Post

What is the problem with covering as many events as possible? Just because you might not have any interest in any of them is no reason to stop others watching.

I think I've aired my feelings about the hype & over-hype of the Olympics on the Olyminonsense thread, & don't want to repeat myself here. My point was that I didn't expect the same level of coverage (eg several pages in the Guradian every day, outside the Sports pages), reflecting public attitudes to disability. However, the Guardian (& other papers) did feature the opening ceremony on the front page & had several pages inside, so perhaps there will be nearly the same level of coverage.

But I still won't be any more interested in the Paralympics than I was in the Olympics.

**amateur51** · 30-08-12, 17:53

Originally posted by Serial_Apologist View Post

Several viewers messaged and phoned in to The Wright Stuff this morning saying Ch 4 ruined the ceremony with ad breaks - 6 in all, Krishan on about the participating nations at war with each other, and Jon Snow adopting his usual hesitancy...

Snowy'd rather be at the Republican convention, surely

**scottycelt** · 30-08-12, 17:59

Originally posted by LHC View Post

Rugby used to be known as a sport that could accommodate players of all shapes and sizes.

Not if one happened to be the proverbial and derisible skinny 'seven-stone weakling' that I was condemned to be in my teenage days.

I managed to generally escape the odd thug and bully in proper football by some nifty and twinkle-toed maneuvering

, but there is surely no escape from those human sherman tanks in rugby!

**Flosshilde** · 30-08-12, 19:18

Originally posted by scottycelt View Post

Not if one happened to be the proverbial and derisible skinny 'seven-stone weakling' that I was condemned to be in my teenage days.

I read that as 'desirable'

But I'm sure that, if your avatar reflects your mature person, Scotty, you are much more desirable now

**Lateralthinking1** · 30-08-12, 20:02

To be of average to low height, weight or intelligence is to be expected by some to perform equally and with no chance of sympathy if you don't. Many in such categories have no difficulty without external interference. The problem is that those with the greatest demands are also the ones who are most likely to point out the limitations. It is one way of them feeling superior. Obviously that is political. I don't like it and I've always made a point of being easy going for example on people with low IQs.

There are now sharp dividing lines in society. You have a degree or you are nothing. You are nothing in terms of athletic ability or you are an Olympian. On the surface, percentages don't matter in this divide and rule. 44% go to university but far less than 1% take part in the Olympics. When 17% went to university, though, there was more balance. Going to university was slightly unusual. Being an Olympian was very unusual. The majority of people who didn't achieve either were permitted to live their lives feeling ok. The new emphasis on the idea of Olympian status being within the reach of many is particularly dubious. That percentage of less than 1% of Olympians is precisely the same percentage as the very well off. It underpins the myth of economic upward mobility.

Cameron was saying yesterday that the Paralympics would show what disabled people can do. Actually they will show what a very small number of disabled people can do, the vast majority of them very young. The event says nothing to or of the majority of disabled people who are older. They though are being subjected to questionable benefits tests where the cut off point is not designed to get dodgers into work but to get everyone off benefits unless they have hardly any capability for basic functioning.

In the US, it is worse. Paul Ryan was commenting on an Obama commercial in which the Republicans throw someone in a wheelchair over a cliff. Chuckling, he said it was ridiculous, adding that he was not a demon but just a "normal" person who takes his sons off to the ball game every Saturday. That to me underpinned his remoteness from the issue. He is a fitness freak on account of the fact that his family tend to drop dead at the age of 55. It is in their genetics. Clearly he has decided he is going to live to 80 but the thought of being anything other than fully fit has never been allowed to cross his mind. I am not sure than any amount of education overcomes the limitations in politicians' thinking linked to their own backgrounds. That worries me.

**scottycelt** · 31-08-12, 06:36

Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post

I read that as 'desirable'

But I'm sure that, if your avatar reflects your mature person, Scotty, you are much more desirable now

I can assure you, Flossie, that in my own personal experience, being a 'seven-stone weakling' is quite undesirable for most self-conscious youths, and especially fraught with some danger on a rugby field or school playground.

I'm somewhat unsurprised yet still hugely flattered that you consider my avatar attractive, but I'm also much too modest to claim it has any similarity whatsoever to the real thing.

**VodkaDilc** · 31-08-12, 08:08

Originally posted by Flosshilde View Post

There's one thing you can be sure of - they won't get the same sort of over-the-top hyped up blanket coverage that the other Olympics got

It's on Cannel 4 to start with - presumably the BBC didn't bother to bid for them. & Channel 4 always does that fringey minority thing, doesn't it?

It appears that the BBC could not match Ch 4's bid:

Paralympic Games regret for BBC over Channel 4 TV rights, says Gary Lineker

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/30/paralympics-regret-bbc-gary-lineker?newsfeed=true

Olympics presenter says many people are asking why the corporation missed out on television broadcasting deal. By Mark Sweney

**MrGongGong** · 31-08-12, 08:10

Originally posted by Lateralthinking1 View Post

Cameron was saying yesterday that the Paralympics would show what disabled people can do.

Sadly what he is doing to many disabled people is vile and deserves nothing but contempt

I am also uneasy that we seem to get two stories of disability either disabled people are heroic athletes or theoretical physicists
or
they are tragic figures trapped in useless bodies who should be given help to die

Terence Blacker: 'Spasticus' and the crime of condescension

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/terence-blacker/terence-blacker-spasticus-and-the-crime-of-condescension-8096651.html

Morons and bigots set our cultural agenda, not the sensible majority

is interesting

The Paralympic Games

The Paralympic Games

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