Call me a casual fan of the televised Olympics - for me, it's like !browsing through a coffee table book of beautiful pictures -- not really caring much who wins -- just enjoying the sight of all those young, strong, buff, agile bodies -- each one unique -- just like snowflakes.
(so I suppose it's no surprise that my favorite event is beach volleyball - which seems to be on constant rotation on our local Spanish station -- and how I wish the track and field competitors all wore bikinis as well!) But what about art? Painting-sculpture-music-literature used to be Olympic events (Josef Suk once won a silver medal) -- why are they no longer included ? According to Wikipedi -- the arts were all dropped in 1954 -- because "in 1949, a report was presented at the IOC meeting in Rome which concluded that practically all contestants in the art competitions were professionals, and that the competitions should therefore be abolished" But Hey! The distinction between amateur/professional is no longer made by the IOC -- so let's bring them back. Of course, I'd like to see competitions in various traditional arts -- like Chinese brush painting, Japanese ceramics, European figure drawing etc. But -- I wouldn't object to having various avant garde categories as well -- perhaps a competition for "meaninglessness" that William and his colleagues could enter -- or "most critical of Capitalist society" for Saul and his friends.(actually -- I would like to see a competition for "geo-form" painting) I'm sure I would find it all fascinating -- and might even prefer it to all those young, lithe bodies twisting and tumbling through space. ____________________________________________________________ Take a break - you deserve it. Click here to find a great vacation. http://thirdpartyoffers.netzero.net/TGL2231/fc/Ioyw6ijmedDA5CWmvm8Zv9T2sze5FC TCmeu2IoFzAorMgAE2E6mV0I/
