added: Slate's Seth Stevenson catches up to a story we've been on top of since day one: Why are London Olympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville so incredibly creepy? (Bring back Waldi, the psychedelic dachshund!) BONUS! LA Times piles on:
"Also known as 'My Little Drony,' this plastic Beelzebub all-knowingly looks into my very thoughts like the Eye of Sauron in a hat," one [Amazon.com] reviewer joked.okay, one more thing: The London organizers were confident in their ability to get each flag and anthem right when the time comes. Of course, it didn't prevent them from fucking up on day one. With the North Koreans, no less.
Another quipped, “Every fifteen minute since I've opened it out of the packaging, it will shout phrases such as 'I AM THE EYE OF PROVIDENCE', 'PAX ROMANA' and 'THE SECRET IS WITHIN THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA.'"
The mascots have been branded as a cross between a Teletubby and a Cyclops, a cellphone and a "Yo Gabba Gabba" character, even the one-eyed aliens Kang and Kodos from "The Simpsons." When they were unveiled two years ago by the London design firm Iris, design critic Stephen Bayley derided them in the Telegraph as "appalling computerized Smurfs for the iPhone generation."
Wenlock and Mandeville are like twisted Yo Gabba Gabba characters -- and those are already creepy enough. (Wow, a quick Google search shows thisis hardly an original thought on my part -- 5,280 returns on ["wenlock and mandeville" and "yo gabba gabba"].)
ReplyDeleteDidn't Muhammad Ali deliberately chuck his medal? And then they replaced it in Atlanta, I think.
Well, we already know they'll get the flag -- as well as the name -- of Taiwan wrong.
ReplyDeleteWhy do we get so hung up on the Taiwanese flag and designation? In the Olympic spirit, Taiwan has agreed to the compromise. Should we tell Taiwan that it can't do that?
ReplyDeleteJust so long as they use the correct national anthem for Kazakhstan (which, I hear, produces the best potassium in the world).
ReplyDeleteIsn't this technically day -1?
ReplyDeleteI think I get hung up it less (although partially) because there shouldn't be a need for compromise at all. I get hung up it subtantially (although not completely) because NBC talks about it like it's the most natural thing in the world.
ReplyDelete... and Austria.
ReplyDeleteHas there ever been an Olympic mascot that people liked? I'm curious as to what Rio will do when they are running Chicago's Olympics in 2016.
ReplyDeleteAlbania.....Albania....you border on the Adriatic...
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