Olympic Fright

lucky flowers on 8.8.08
Originally uploaded by cizauskas

I found the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympics to be simultaneously tedious and discomfiting.

For me, just one drummer in a jazz quartet can transcend a moment more so than thousands of drummers with what appeared to be blood stains on their foreheads.

For me, the scene had ramifications of totalitarian might. Or as Tom Boswell of the Washington Post put it:

No democracy can or should invest the money and manpower that went into this city-wide fireworks-spewing deification of national pride, athletic aspiration and Communist Party self-congratulation.

Let the athletes compete -- except of course those refused visas by the Communist Chinese.

On this Chinese lucky day of 8/8/08, I submitted the above photo as part of the 24 Hours of Flickr – Flickr 888.