Tuesday, July 26, 2005
THE PARADE OF ATHLETES: OR, WHERE DOES “U” FALL IN THE ALPHABET
Part 1: The Staging
Given the large number of teams, the parade is so long that they have a big parade and a smaller parade. We were in the bigger parade and because somebody a long time ago had the bright idea of calling us the United States of America, instead of just America, or, better, AAAmerica, we were literally the last team in the parade, although the Xtreme US team, who had no banner, kind of hid behind us in the parade. Of course our placement in the parade did not stop us during staging from being front and center. Indeed, the staging, which took place in a long field lined by trees and set against the main information building and cafeteria, about 6 or 7 acres, was probably the highlight of the parade. A number of teams sat back and watched the festivities as teams came into the grounds and lined up. It took almost a full hour just to get everyone into the grounds and then another 30 minutes to march out. Before that, though, during the assembly stage, the teams had time to meet and move around a bit, and that's when I introduced the boys to the Australian girls soccer team. Being cool and standoffish, they were waiting patiently as the teams assembled
(this little story, if you don't see the end coming, is about the weakening and near obliteration of social inhibitions). Since Australia is my favorite country I've never visited I just had to go say high to the Australian girls, who had a big inflated kagaroo. They asked if I was going to ask if they "rode kangaroos," but I said of course I knew better, and that I knew "each of you has a pet kangaroo and you've taught him to rike a bike."
I asked the girls if I could formally introduce them to the boys from Illinois. They said yes, the boys coming over, AJ not shy, others having to be pulled, and so the Great Midwestern Thaw began. The boys chatted with the Aussie girls for a bit and were getting along well when our London Tiger friends literally ran onto the scene, one with a bullhorn shouting a cheer for each of the teams or countries he ran across. Soon, they saw us and the Aussie girls and joined up for a photo:
At this point, the London boys were the center of the party and the Illinois crew was quite happy to join the vortex of what became a dance circle with the Burkina Fasa boys and then a rap showdown.
If you ever want to throw a real party, invite the boys from London, Burkina Fasa, the Aussie girls and the boys from Illinois.
Although we couldn't persuade any of our boys to take the rapper's challenge, nearly all the boys danced, with Victor, Miguel, Kadeem, and Martin defending our national heritage (we did invent blues, rock n roll, and jazz didn't we?).
End of Part 1: The Staging
production notes: the video was taken with my Sony Cybershot, which is essentially a still camera; the video is mpeg and should play on most computers; if you have problems with it over the Internet we'll have to view it in another format when we get back to the States.
best
Robert
Given the large number of teams, the parade is so long that they have a big parade and a smaller parade. We were in the bigger parade and because somebody a long time ago had the bright idea of calling us the United States of America, instead of just America, or, better, AAAmerica, we were literally the last team in the parade, although the Xtreme US team, who had no banner, kind of hid behind us in the parade. Of course our placement in the parade did not stop us during staging from being front and center. Indeed, the staging, which took place in a long field lined by trees and set against the main information building and cafeteria, about 6 or 7 acres, was probably the highlight of the parade. A number of teams sat back and watched the festivities as teams came into the grounds and lined up. It took almost a full hour just to get everyone into the grounds and then another 30 minutes to march out. Before that, though, during the assembly stage, the teams had time to meet and move around a bit, and that's when I introduced the boys to the Australian girls soccer team. Being cool and standoffish, they were waiting patiently as the teams assembled
(this little story, if you don't see the end coming, is about the weakening and near obliteration of social inhibitions). Since Australia is my favorite country I've never visited I just had to go say high to the Australian girls, who had a big inflated kagaroo. They asked if I was going to ask if they "rode kangaroos," but I said of course I knew better, and that I knew "each of you has a pet kangaroo and you've taught him to rike a bike."
I asked the girls if I could formally introduce them to the boys from Illinois. They said yes, the boys coming over, AJ not shy, others having to be pulled, and so the Great Midwestern Thaw began. The boys chatted with the Aussie girls for a bit and were getting along well when our London Tiger friends literally ran onto the scene, one with a bullhorn shouting a cheer for each of the teams or countries he ran across. Soon, they saw us and the Aussie girls and joined up for a photo:
At this point, the London boys were the center of the party and the Illinois crew was quite happy to join the vortex of what became a dance circle with the Burkina Fasa boys and then a rap showdown.
If you ever want to throw a real party, invite the boys from London, Burkina Fasa, the Aussie girls and the boys from Illinois.
Although we couldn't persuade any of our boys to take the rapper's challenge, nearly all the boys danced, with Victor, Miguel, Kadeem, and Martin defending our national heritage (we did invent blues, rock n roll, and jazz didn't we?).
End of Part 1: The Staging
production notes: the video was taken with my Sony Cybershot, which is essentially a still camera; the video is mpeg and should play on most computers; if you have problems with it over the Internet we'll have to view it in another format when we get back to the States.
best
Robert
