"Upon Reflections on Ice..." Out-takes, Takeaways, Take Outs...Yours for the taking.

Rear View: Or "In hindsight", one more quick look back at the Winter (XXIV) Olympics, the ones we were told took place in and around Bejing, China. I say "we were told" in a similar vein that one the main hosts of NBC indicated (paraphrasing here): "We saw the Olympics, but we didn't see China; we weren't really allowed to see much of Bejing at all..." So, could it have all been one big "Green Screen" or "photo shopped" ? After all, most of the snow made from billions of gallons of water, that had to be transferred from elsewhere, certainly was artificial, so what keeps us from wondering that the rest was NOT? Think of David Copperfield and how he made entire buildings disappear, "right before your eyes", buildings as immense as the Empire State Building ("and all those people in it too"). If he can do it, think what China, with all its technology and political clout, is capable of. Usually, we have all kinds of backdrops, photo-ops, interviews with locals, but this time nary one in sight, nor the sounds of locals. All under the banner of "Zero" (COVID policy). One has to wonder if "Zero" adds up to something else here...In any case, I offer you, before I venture into different dimensions of "Psychological Warfare" (something the host nation knows a thing or two about, may even hold a few patents in this area), highly pertinent to not only what happens in my office occasionally, but has been a preface for what is now unfolding "right before our eyes" in Europe (no illusion here). So, here are a few last...

Out (in the cold)-Takes: You know, the stuff that traditionally ends up on the floor of the editing room, that over the years has become more popular in its own right, sometimes referred to as "bloopers", otherwise inadvertent in nature. Usually of little consequence and 'secondary' source of entertainment that, depending on the ratings of the main show, could end up with more stars. Over the last two weeks, a fortnight, we (who either watched what was called "Live" but was frequently "taped live"), we were treated to many that ranged from the ridiculous to the sublime". I will cite a few and you can categorize them accordingly (i.e., according to your take on what constitutes "ridiculous" and "sublime"): 

Curling 'athlete' trips and falls over "his own rock"...

Mikaela falling, falling, falling, but rising up each time and earning her team's esteem, our admiration for her self-effacing humor, and enduring spirit...

The women figure skater medal winners holding "Bing Dwen Dwen" (one of the two official mascots of the Winter Olympics), whose masks masked their mixed feelings about what just went down (as in their teammate, who tested positive for more than one illegal substance and then went down multiple times herself, falling down in the ranks as well as ranking her coaches, countrymen, press)...

The hockey player demonstrating the contemporary version of the 'Freudian slip' by body checking the ref...("It was an accident, or maybe, in my unconscious, in my dreams...")...

The snowboarder who tripped over the faux finish line, got right up and dusted off some fake flakes...

Jessie Diggins, who almost vomited on her own finish line, upon medaling disclosed she had food poisoning for about 30 hours pre-race, wishing she had instead opted for take-out...(something like that; just a bit of editorial license taken here)...

The sledder who himself became a sled after sliding off, who finished ahead of his sled, while not his competition ("I felt so all alone, so naked")...speaking of naked...

The cross country skier who went slightly 'off course' (off script) when he acknowledged the conditions were so severe, bitter cold, he got frostbite on a member that he will always remember (our mothers always told us to dress accordingly but some never learn, remain 'overexposed')...

Take Away, Get Aways: You know, the more serious stuff, the contemplations after, on the experience, what you can take with you. In this case, for most of the athletes, to warm them back up. In our case, after having watched them, glad they all just managed to get away, on their way home, if not already arrived:

The forewarnings of some commentators who were knowledgeable about the host country, cautioning the athletes to leave their phones (at least the ones they don't want hacked, tracked) home, were shown to be prescient by some of the "Live" commentators who questioned some of the hyper-security in and around Bejing that seemed to supersede COVID protocols..."Why weren't we able to see the sights around here let alone some of the areas the world press has been asking about...?...

NBC is likely to be experiencing some 'buyer's regret' after the last two Olympics, the controversies swirling around both that were stronger in force than the gale force winds in Bejing, who now look to fashionable Paris sans CV for a degree of relief...they have a few more to go after that to reinvigorate their audience and ratings...

A good camera, its handler, along with an animated, voice-over announcer, along with a bit of controversy involving the host country team members and of course, guess who, can even manage to make watching paint (I mean ice) dry, (i.e., "Curling!") seem exciting, dramatic, that it actually, once-and-for-all, belongs in the Olympics...

Despite not taking away as many medals as they/we would have wished, we remain proud and inspired by each and every one who represented our country in Bejing. Daring athletes each one, overcoming many obstacles, some natural and others 'man-made', daring to jump high, ski at breakneck speeds, do spins on the ice until we ourselves got nausea...many of whom did the ceremonious kissing of the ground here upon returning, but none so bold as to answer the 'triple dog dare' (of kissing the flag pole as in "A Christmas Story")...all of which will be glad they are no longer on or around the slopes when those billions of gallons of water used to make artificial surfaces defrost...

Take what you will from all of this and in return, please just return, in time for "Psych. Warfare!"