Re: Snafu Olympics

[rahul@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (Rahul Mahajan)]

> Hugh wrote:
>Sorry, no books. But the juiciest news out of Atlanta so far is the
>completely wretched organization for the athletes and the people reporting
>on them. An international brigade of rowers hijacked an Olympics bus and
>ordered the driver to take them to their pond. The buses are late, or don't
>turn up, and the drivers don't know the way. What a way to focus your
>concentration! A bit like travelling to work in the rush hour. Three or
>four year's work training in carefully calculated doses (heh, heh) down the
>tubes cos the bus is late!
>
>Nothing else seems to work either, except the advertising. The biggest
>Swedish daily had half a page on the technological miracles of the
>CyberOlympics -- the final solution was IBM carting in half a ton of
>electric typewriters (remember those things where typing was *hard*, like
>you noticed when you made mistakes cos it was such a pain to change it) and
>all the reporters getting nostaligic for the old days shouting their scoops
>down a crackling voice-phone line (oops, ageism creeping in there -- I
>meant all the *old* reporters. No one under thirty has ever seen a
>typewriter except for the one mysterious old Methuselah uses to write the
>obituaries).
>
>Some imported network guru from Canada was brought in for a couple of days
>and had things going for an hour or two before they finally gave up and
>brought on the lawnmowers.
>
>What I'm wondering is where they managed to get hold of so many electric
>typewriters all at once!
>
>Anyway, it's all a useful reminder of the hollowness of most of the
>technohype the imperialists try and knock us out with.
>
>Yankee civilization has given us the invaluable term *snafu* (for our
>foreign subscribers, explained by Collins as s(ituation) n(ormal): a(ll)
>f(ucked) u(p)). Atlanta is giving us the *snafu Olympics*.
>
>Cheers,
>
>Hugh
>
>
>PS Neat touch to have the best-loved Black Muslim anti-Vietnam-war (I
>almost wrote anti-Vietnam, but on this list you can never be too careful!)
>folk-hero as final torchman in the heart of Dixie -- it was almost 'Burn
>Baby Burn!' again. I really would have preferred Tommie Smith or John
>Carlos from Mexico City myself, but what the hell...
>
>Except instead of Burn Baby Burn it was a fireworks show for the Riders of
>the Beast -- Nike, Coca-Cola and the Commander-in-Chief. Quantum mutatus ab
>illo ...

Romi:

One correction; it was not Rahulwho wrote it but me, his brother.

As for the techno stuff, I believe in it, the amazing stuff that is being
done cannot be begrudged them.  Come on...

As for buses being late, etc..., I am looking specifically for video
clipsof the 1972 Munich final basketball game between CCCP andUSA and the
1980 "Miracle on Ice" between US and CCCP hockey teams.

If anyone does come across a nice article or newspaper clip, please email
it to me or send it by post and I shall reimburse you your expenses.

My address is

11207 Jordan Lane
Austin, TX 78758  USA

Romi
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