[Public_Domain]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

Did anyone notice how nostalgic they are about the Soviet period? They see it the way that North Americans thin k of the '50s. I can understand why they very quickly skipped through WWII ... no one lost more people than they did ... but turning Soviet Socialism into a kind of Art Deco warm and fuzzy is, I find very disturbing.

I actually fully expected them to not even acknowledge it. I was just expecting some sort of ice worship like we sort of saw in 2010.

To be fair, the grand majority of Russian people are still very nostalgic about it. Most may not be communist, but as far as nationalism is concerned, Russia has not been nearly as proud since 1991. Before it was all about the New Soviet Man. That proud image didn't die. What is there to be proud about now? There's no Russian exceptionalism now. Of course they are nostalgic. Germany became something new to be proud of, Russia has not.

[Public_Domain]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

These things go to bad places. We also re-write our history but we tend go the other way and debunk our heroes, second guess our actions. It sounds weaker in a way but self-examination is a bit smarter, for the most part.

All true.

But I know for damn sure we don't debunk our heroes during Olympic ceremonies.

Let them enjoy their past; they feel robbed of everything they were great for.
The new capitalist Russia is young and shitty. What, since 1991, can you name that has been great?

[Jabberwalker]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

These things go to bad places. We also re-write our history but we tend go the other way and debunk our heroes, second guess our actions. It sounds weaker in a way but self-examination is a bit smarter, for the most part.

All true.

But I know for damn sure we don't debunk our heroes during Olympic ceremonies.

Let them enjoy their past; they feel robbed of everything they were great for.
The new capitalist Russia is young and shitty. What, since 1991, can you name that has been great?

They can reliably, repeatedly and economically transport humans back and forth into near orbit. That is a fair accomplishment, actually. Now, they can't make an automobile that starts below zero, ...

[GreenTiger]

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

I like the uniform. I heard someone on CBC whining that they were too "Mountie-like" and that the Cayman Islands team were brilliant because they wore flip-flops during the march past. Duuh.

I think those uniforms look great, any body who doesn't like them needs a good kick in the ass.

[Public_Domain]

Of the last 100 years, the Soviets were 4/5th's of it. Hard to deny a history that most of the population was born in...

Watching it now. Something about Russian singing is always powerful. Just sounds great, like orchestra music. Every Silent Night-esque melody goes very well with some Russian singing. I liked the artistic quality of the alphabet bit.

[BartSimpson]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

The new capitalist Russia is young and shitty. What, since 1991, can you name that has been great?

Let me just start by citing the abundance of absolutely drop-dead, heart-stoppingly gorgeous women they've sent to the West as models, brides, cashiers at bakeries, and etc.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&sit ... Y82-s5dzEw

Then there's the guns.

My Dragunov is an exquisite piece of craftsmanship and I'm quite pleased that I was able to buy it legally instead of having to get one on the gray market after it had been smuggled out of the USSR.

The Russians are also heavily involved in the production of components for the electronics industry, their space program is currently unmatched by anyone else's, and they're bringing back their heavy industries so the civilized world doesn't have to depend on China and South Korea as our sole sources of heavy manufactured goods.

I know Putin seems to come off as a dictator, but I think he's striking a balance between protecting the culture of his country and advancing it economically. He's smarter than we are in grasping the fact that a morally and culturally corrupt society is incapable of survival in the long term and he absolutely thinks in the long-term view.

Our politicians can't think or plan past the next election cycle.

Give it twenty years and your kids might tell you that they want to move to Russia someday.

[martin14]

GreenTiger GreenTiger:

Jabberwalker Jabberwalker:

I like the uniform. I heard someone on CBC whining that they were too "Mountie-like" and that the Cayman Islands team were brilliant because they wore flip-flops during the march past. Duuh.

I think those uniforms look great, any body who doesn't like them needs a good kick in the ass.

I liked them too, Russians uniforms were just great.

But the Germans, OMG what a gay mess; they were much better dressed their
last trip through Russia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Zf1rUoi00

30 secs in

[ShepherdsDog]

you don`t think light field grey would have made the arena go quiet?

[ShepherdsDog]

Public_Domain Public_Domain:

Something about Russian singing is always powerful. Just sounds great, like orchestra music.

All they needed were the Pet Shop Boys and a chorus of Go West

[martin14]

ShepherdsDog ShepherdsDog:

you don`t think light field grey would have made the arena go quiet?

I think light field gray would have made the arena collectively shit itself.

[ShepherdsDog]

German team enters Sochi

[Hyack]

Damn, ya beat me to it....but I'll see your Wehrmacht and raise with the Waffen SS...

[Public_Domain]

Watching the event so far, pretty nice.

Let's hope, for the sake of all the athletes, things go without a hitch and no one gets hurt.

[Hyack]

martin14 martin14:

I liked them too, Russians uniforms were just great.

But the Germans, OMG what a gay mess; they were much better dressed their
last trip through Russia.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6Zf1rUoi00

30 secs in

$1:

This video contains content from International Olympic Committee, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.

It seems the Olympic Nazis have once again raised it's ugly head......

[Public_Domain]

I'm laughing my ass off at the part of Soviet history that apparently includes "Hipsters"