The Games of 08/08/08

Well, it's been four years since Athens and apparently it's that time again of year again. A time for athletes from every corner of the globe to come together and compete under the spirit of unity and sportsmanship. This year (as most people should know by now), the Olympics are being hosted by an ancient nation to the far east. China predates the original ancient Olympics by almost 2000 years... and although the modern ones have been going for a little bit over a century now, for China to finally be getting their crack at hosting the games in 2008 almost seems long overdue.

However controversial hosting the games in China may be, the Chinese themselves have pushed all these issues aside for the time being to make this years Olympics an event of national pride... and ultimately a key international statement worthy of inaugurating China's ascendancy as an official major world power. What better way than to put on a great show ?

To usher in these Olympics, China has put together a really neat feat of architecture. Essentially what amounts to a 'Bird's Nest' structure dubbed the 'National Stadium'. Being the fan of artistic architecture that I am, although some might find it plain looking from afar, I find the building itself to be incredibly gorgeous all around.

And the interior is definitely worthy of holding the world-class events that'll be taking place in and around Beijing for the next two weeks ...

Considering the fact that the Olympics will be commencing soon on the other side of the world, I'll be using this as an opportunity to post a mini theme of sports related shots. Should be a nice minor diversion from my summer theme methinks... And oh yeah, go team USA (I'd like to see some gold brought home ).