I thought the 2010 boat race was poorly photographed for television
modern "technology" (the term should be subdivided - into technomena - the cameras/hardware etc themselves - and the technology - the knowledge of how to deploy these thingies) was not harnessed to give us a result any better than I recall in 1953, or whenever, with tiny screens but better reporting; the chap in the helicopter (or was it a balloon? seemed to forget his zoom lens much of the time; too much was shown close up of Oxford in the first 5 minutes - leaving out an account of the competitor; not enough integration with the commentator to explain where apparent leads of one boat were illusions of camera angle ...)
at the end there was far too much indulgence in heroising the contestants and then the winners and the neglect of the losers was perhaps not a matter just of decency and tact, as of not finding the time, aside from the wallowing in hugging and kissing and spraying each other with a noble French made bubbly wine - what will we have next - smashing guitars? ...; in boat races of yore I seem to recall a three cheers given by the winning boat - did I miss it this time because of my poor attention, or was it not shown - or did it not happen? (contrast international rugby, where the hosts applaud in the visitors to the dressing room ...)
I know I am hard of hearing and it may have been my fault not to have noticed, but I do not recall being told that this was an exceptionally fast or slow or just an average speeded race - and whatever that may have entailed for having crews made of 28 stone foreigners, and how their performance compared with others in the past, in similar weather or tidal conditions and contested by mere homegrown undergraduates;
also, there was too much xplicit display of what must be the xposor of the occasion - and what happened to my assumption that the BBC anyway was not keen to admit product placement as a form of advertising - ??!!
So, maybe I was one of the few people who, this morning, took to googlestan to xplore who or what may be Xchanging (a group of excaped convicts? a Chinese state about to seceded?) - and incredibly, the first few links I pressed gave me a blank page with some incomprehensible statement along the lines that some Directory (??!!??) had withdrawn access - so WHAT is the point of sponsoring such an international broadcasting event ...) and then, there was the giant vulgar bit of tin the winner was expected to brandish (was that a product of Britain's "vibrant" design culture? - or do we have to have in all sporting events some 'lifting of silverware' - perhaps sponsored by RentaJug?
thank heavens any royal figure kept away from tarnishing themselves with this shoddy scene
What is going to happen with televising the Olympic "Games"?
Eventually, I went to a website which gave me a message I produce below. (I point, in that document, to...):
Procurement services - what is this? buying weapons for dodgy emirates or somali pirates? finding "escorts" for overpaid footballers or eastern potentates?
Immigration services - what is this? finding business courses for punjabi villagers to attend in East Preston or constituencies where a few extra Labour voters might be appreciated by that party, in an other wise close cut race?
Various verticals - what is this? Are some verticals less vertical than others? my imagination fails me ...
We are usefully reminded that London is in the UK ...
and this is what the BBC has found itself internationally advertising, on the back of the Boat Race (I quote) .............
Xchanging plc (Xchanging) is a UK based industry specific processing services provider. The company is principally engaged in offering procurement services, integrated HR and payroll services, and immigration services to its clients present across various nations. In addition, it offers resourcing services, and managed recruitment services to its customers. Further, the company is engaged in offering procure to pay (P2P) accounting services and hosting services to a variety of customers across various verticals. Xchanging has its operations across 9 nations and customers in around 47 countries. Some of the company’s key clients include Citibank, Deutsche bank, Tech Mahindra, Wal-Mart, Cintas, American Express, Southwest.com, Lloyds, illium insurance, etc. The company has its headquarters located at London in the UK.
The company reported revenues of (British Pounds) GBP 557.76 million during the fiscal year ended December 2008, an increase of 19.14% over 2007. The operating profit of the company was GBP 46.46 million during the fiscal year 2008, an increase of 50.10% over 2007. The net profit of the company was GBP 29.16 million during the fiscal year 2008, an increase of 90.11% over 2007.
well, they made money evidently, until 2008 - but this site at least (for all the accounting wizardry they profess) doesn't indicate how they may have weathered the storms of 2009? - or did they perhaps contribute to creating them?)
