Your Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics anticipation thread!

Then again, I could be wrong: http://blogs.indiewire.com/bent/the-russian-lgbt-rights-documentary-everybody-should-watch-20140207

There are lots of LGBT groups in Russia but I don't think there's one central organisation like Stonewall that can organise things on a massive scale and bring significant numbers of non-LGBT sympathisers in. I get the impression that there's a certain amount of complacency from some of those sympathisers as well though. There seems to be a perception that it's a bad law but it won't mean as great a restriction on LGBT rights as is being made out so it isn't worth making a major issue of. Moving from passive support to active campaigning won't happen overnight.

Yeah, well, as a Russian activist in that article says, the most effective way at this point may just well be to humiliate the country on the international stage.

I would rate that as the single worst approach possible. Irrespective of political stance, there isn't much Russians tend to hate more than outside interference and loss of national face. It's almost certain to provoke a hardening of negative opinion towards any good causes.

So, to reiterate, gays there are fucked.

You are Johnny Weir and I claim my $5.

No, the Olympics can and should be used as a platform for Russian activists to promote awareness of LGBT rights in Russia but talking in terms of national humiliation is probably counterproductive.

there isn't much Russians tend to hate more than outside interference and loss of national face.

i.e. resentment

have we talked about how the "you will get hacked if you turn on your computer in Sochi" story was really an "I'm a dumbass and downloaded a sketchy app from a sketchy website" story already

xp There's definitely resentment at what's perceived as interference by outside agencies - particularly the US - in national politics. There are good and bad reasons for that.

Resentment's also a major factor in widespread racism / anti-semitism but i don't see it as a motivator of homophobia itself (though that might not have been the point being made).

It's extremely difficult for people outside of Russia to strike the right balance between supporting hugely important human rights causes and potentially making things worse.

Sisters have to do it for themselves, amiright?

Giving money to LGBT groups in Russia is an option. I think, or at least hope, there is a way for people outside of Russia to have a part to play in the conversation without generating a massively negative reaction. I wrote an article about Russian pop culture a while back and criticised the law when it was still a regional policy being discussed by the city authorities in St Petersburg. I tried to do it in a way that made it clear that it wasn't an attack on the Russian nation or its right to self determination.

The worse the Western reporting is in terms of xenophobia and hyperbole, the easier it is for people to dismiss it as cultural imperialism or an attempt to trash the country's international standing.

A voice I've trusted recently has been, perhaps oddly, Marc Almond -- he's visited/lived in/loved Russia for two decades running now, but has always been forthright about both its problems and what he sees as outside oversimplification of said problems. I don't know if he's done any long form recent pieces (he's written them before in his earlier books and collections) but his occasional thoughts on Twitter over the past year have helped me not completely jump to conclusions.

Recent interview with almond hitting that topic on bbc world a few days ago.

Thanks! I'm sure he announced that, I must have missed it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=effb2JYiKXM

http://specblo.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/02/2014-Winter-Olympics-Sochi-Google-Doodle.jpg

have we talked about how the "you will get hacked if you turn on your computer in Sochi" story was really an "I'm a dumbass and downloaded a sketchy app from a sketchy website" story already

SochiBuddy

i love that story so much.

Just slapping the word "Sochi" onto a "hackers MAY ALREADY BE ON YOUR PHONE" scarepiece

http://nyappykun.tumblr.com/post/75918242761/tatu-performs-nas-ne-dagoniat-at-the-sochi-2014

that canadian add is a little bit funny but also tone deaf i think

ad

xpost

speaking of tone deaf...

http://www.visualnews.com/2014/02/07/10-vintage-winter-olympic-posters

Slopestyle final starts in half an hour. Looks ridiculous. There's a matryoshka built into the course! BBC guy is claiming that Shaun White withdrawing had nothing to do with the run and that it's as close to perfect as it could be.

GB has a chance of a medal, I think.

Hugely contentious scoring but Sage Kotsenburg is out in front at the moment.

This is amazing. Everyone nailed their jumps in the semi final this morning but there have only been three clean runs in the final so far. Everyone is falling over.

Sage Kotsenburg wins! First gold to the USA.

Nerveracking sport

Marit Bjørgen gets another gold. Kalle pushed her to the end though.

Nice finish.

Black tape on their arms because a team member on the Norwegian women's cross country team lost her brother yesterday.

Suspect that some of the officials at the Slopestyle are your hookups for "gnarly buds" in Sochi.

My daughters keep asking me why all the female snow competitors are model-beautiful with long, blonde hair.

What did you answer

The dutch sweep first speed skating event.. AFAIK one of two nations who have taken all winter olympic medals on ice (w Korea).

Mistaken, they got their first snow medal w snowboarding gold @ Vancouver.

AFAIK one of two nations who have taken all winter olympic medals on ice

thought they had won them all on grass brah

Sven Kramer makes it look so effortless.

Biathlon def the best event. The later mass start ones are bigger blockbusters though.

I kinda liked the opening ceremony's mix of kitsch and weird

What did you answer

We told them that for starters, most of these athletes are young and astoundingly fit, which is half the battle, and then past that, a lot of women dye their hair blonde, have stylists, are tanned and extra blonde from the sun. And then we told them that a lot of the competitors in the winter olympics come from countries where people may be more likely to look like that, and we pointed out how few people of color of African or Latino descent compete in the winter olympics.

After much thought and deliberation, my conclusion is that these Western journalists should be glad their rooms were not outfitted with squat toilets

http://site.comforthouse.com/yswimages/db4300.jpg

Yes! Bjørndalen wins the 10km biathlon sprint tying the all-time winter olympian medal record, at the tender age of 40 and with some tough recent seasons behind him.

While you were sleeping, the U.S. women beat Finland, Norway dominated cross-country skiing -- and Sage Kotsenburg won a gold medal

Woo Hoo, USer Sage wins slopestyle

That was from : http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/

Finally the figure skating conspiracy theory the games were lacking http://olympics.cbc.ca/news/article/alleged-olympic-vote-swapping-deal-would-keep-canada-from-gold.html

who is this lady skater now? french, maybe. she's awesome.

Yulia beasting.