tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1367161100956691682.post7727725224238148564..comments2024-01-28T09:52:30.550-08:00Comments on Arash's World: Unity, Pride and Nationalism of the Olympic Games Arash Farzanehhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12000344680925876563noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1367161100956691682.post-42488072375137816962013-01-01T11:49:38.381-08:002013-01-01T11:49:38.381-08:00Thanks, Super Bowl 2013, I certainly appreciate yo...Thanks, Super Bowl 2013, I certainly appreciate your comment too!Arash Farzanehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12000344680925876563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1367161100956691682.post-36190828306814262622012-08-14T22:24:06.276-07:002012-08-14T22:24:06.276-07:00No, I'm bored by the Beatles and the Who. Actu...No, I'm bored by the Beatles and the Who. Actually I do like Jessie J but had never seen her before, just heard a couple of songs and an interview on the radio. And I do like Muse - have three of their albums. but their first one was the best: Origin of Symmetry.Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297306807695767580noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1367161100956691682.post-44583296274155259012012-08-14T13:49:47.132-07:002012-08-14T13:49:47.132-07:00Thank you, Vincent, for your insight from the insi...Thank you, Vincent, for your insight from the inside. My own reflections were mostly based on our own experience of Vancouver 2010, which had united Canadians, especially as a result of the well-deserved (sorry my American friends!) gold medal win for hockey!<br /><br />I am amazed about the abstract idea of a country such as Great Britain, a conglomeration of different nations, identities, cultures, and I thought that overall, in agreement with you, the Games did manage to foster a sense of national unity across the board. To be different and the same should be our paradoxical philosophy on life in general.<br /><br />As to musical taste, I did not enjoy all of it, though I did think that Jessie J, to me an unknown due to my lack of interest in current music, looked rather astonishing. But what about the Beatles and especially The Who? Not a fan?Arash Farzanehhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12000344680925876563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1367161100956691682.post-23643153413474852652012-08-14T01:31:38.726-07:002012-08-14T01:31:38.726-07:00I didn't enjoy the closing ceremony as much as...I didn't <i>enjoy</i> the closing ceremony as much as the opening one; because I don't like most of the music they played. But that's just a matter of taste. I applauded it for the energy, creativity and intentions.<br /><br />From the day the London Olympic Games were announced in July 2005, I was against; would have felt happier if Paris had taken on the burden. <br /><br />Before they started, I was even more against: all the security, all the risk of terrorists attack.<br /><br />In the event like most other Britons, I was comprehensively charmed and delighted.<br /><br />These matters of unity, pride and nationalism are very complex in these British Isles. There are the English, the Welsh, the Scots and the Irish. Anything like this which helps unite us is welcome. Northern and Southern Ireland have been politically divided for almost the last hundred years, the wounds have not entirely healed. Scotland now wants a referendum on independence. All these things were affected by the Games - positively, I'm sure.<br /><br />And then these things - unity, pride and nationalism - must be considered in relation to the waves of immigration especially in the last 60 years from the Commonwealth. Integration is not complete. Colour prejudice is hardly an issue these days. Caribbean and African immigrants eagerly become British, but where I live, Pakistani immigrants and to a great extent their descendants live lives separated from British culture by language, religion, and (no doubt) the rankling of historic prejudice against them. In my own small street, which has a largish mosque, I see hardly any signs of integration. the great-grandchildren of the original immigrants still don't learn any English till they're sent to school, in many cases, and their mothers were brought fresh from Pakistan after an arranged marriage. And they paid no attention to the Olympics.Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18297306807695767580noreply@blogger.com