And remember the kooky Athens Olympics mascots?
What were they thinking?
Anyway, here's what the Chinese were thinking:
The mascots were presented as Bei Bei, Jing Jing, Huan Huan, Ying Ying and Ni Ni - which, put together reads in Chinese "Beijing welcomes you!"See, it makes plenty of sense.
"They reflect the cultural diversity of China as a multiethnic country," said Liu Qi, President of Beijing Organising Committee.
"They represent the enthusiasm and aspirations of our people, Liu Qi added.
Coloured in the five hues of the Olympic rings, the mascots also represent the sea, forests, fire, earth and air.
IN THE COMMENTS: Starless:
"A panda, a carp, a Tibetan antelope, a swallow and the Olympic flame...What are the contents of Ed's freezer?"
"Hi-Oh!"
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10 comments:
Are they Olympic mascots or Captain Planet?
Imagine the pressure on these mascots. Stay in line, or you'll disappear into some wet, dank prison where the ICPM (International Committee for the Protection of Mascots) can't help you.
If that antelope even makes one peep about independence, he'll wish he had be born to a poor Uighur family.
Of course, it could have been worse...one mascot could have represented some Taiwanese animal. [Shudder] Which would have meant the 7th Fleet could cancel all leave for the next year.
No mascot will ever be as heinous as the Atlanta Olympic mascot. Izzy, or as many of us in Atlanta referred to him/her/it/wtf as - smurf sperm.
My personal favorite was Cobi, the Barcelona mascot. While Izzy cost hundred of thousands of dollars in computer animation, Cobi was scribbled while the artist was tripping on acid.
Or so I've heard.
Moral of the story: computers = bad art, drugs = good art.
Joe Baby, thanks for emphasizing the tragic plight of Chinese mascots!
And Bill wrote: Moral of the story: computers = bad art, drugs = good art.
Ann, any comments? You are the resident artist, after all!
Starless,
LOL! Thanks for a good riff on Carson's classic bit.
I just wrote about the process of creativity and even asked if computers would ever be able to create "art." I think there's something about pressure, danger, or struggle that comes into creativity. I hadn't thought about hallucinogens, though...
Before everyone goes off the deep end with the whole computers/art do/donot equal art, obviously I was being facetious. Izzy had many components of its awfulness. Namely a desire to create the perfect inoffensive marketing item to be branded on stuffed animals to martini glasses. That wasn't the computer's fault. If this particular marketing committee had gorged on peyote after an appetizer of toad licking and drew the mascot with crushed berries mixed with their own blood, they'd still have created Izzy. The real problem - uncreative minds.
A computer is a tool. It is just as capable of creating art as a charcoal pencil or a camera or wind blowing over a sand dune.
Now you if insist on pitting computers against drugs because you have nothing else to do (and besides, meaningless arguments are the best kind), I'm out.
Speaking of drugs, we're about 3 hours away from hosting a 4-year-old birthday/tea/princess party. I'm going to need some assistance, so who's holding?
"They reflect the cultural diversity of China as a multiethnic country," said Liu Qi, President of Beijing Organising Committee.
Boy, do they have a lock on Western PC values, at least when they issue their PRC spin.
According to the CIA World Factbook, China's ethnic composition breaks down something like this:
Han Chinese 91.9%,
Zhuang, Uygur, Hui, Yi, Tibetan, Miao, Manchu, Mongol, Buyi, Korean, and other nationalities 8.1%
Sounds diverse to me! But only the Han are actually "Chinese"?
No doubt in China the word diversity = equality of beatings.
Bill,
I didn't understand your reply - except that part about the kids' party. I recommend a good Chardonnay, taken 20-30 minutes beforehand. Reapply as necessary.
The part about computers confused me. I didn't think a computer literally created Izzy. I was just wondering about the human component in creativity. As computers become more sophisticated, could they be programmed to "create" music, art or poetry through combinations of notes, pixels, and tones? Would it be art?
(And you can certainly tell when musicians are creating music while on drugs, just listen to any of Jerry Garcia's solos. Hi-Oh!)
Not so simple. Among other things, it depends on the drug. Early Jerry often played using marijuana, LSD, or amphetamine (the first album). Frequently, the results were good or at least "interesting."
But Jerry was badly into heroin for a good while in later life and it made him a selfish, and not terribly good, musician. Some of the worst Dead concerts were when Jerry was doing smack (heroin often provides the answer to the question, "Why are they so bad tonight when they were so good last night?).
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