Olympics Opening Ceremonies Trigger Buffalo Twitter Thread

https://twitter.com/HeyRaChaCha/status/229044802665209857

#BuffaloOpeningCeremony has been put on hold by City Hall until Olympic Committee "makes Rev. Stenhouse happy."

Unless I'm mistaken, origination credit goes to @BuffaloJill:

https://twitter.com/BuffaloJill/status/229013954939199489
What if Buffalo had an opening ceremony? What would we have? #BuffaloOpeningCeremony

Way to go, Jill!

https://twitter.com/HeyRaChaCha/status/229057656407597056
Al Steele's on his backhoe ready to start demolition as soon as everyone leaves the #BuffaloOpeningCeremony!

https://twitter.com/geoffsmithmech/status/229030295498805249
#BuffaloOpeningCeremony is blacked out in Buffalo

Etc!

games cancelled due to summer blizzard.

I've actually fantasized about an Opening Ceremony, should Buffalo ever host the Olympics.

Start off with a tongue-in-cheek nod to our reputation for snow... yes, snow machines on the roof of the stadium pouring fake white stuff into a SUMMER games! Fill the field with performers in white, representing the glaciers that formed our natural beauty. Then those performers bloom into colors and green, with water representing the lakes and rivers that sustain us. Change the snow machines on the roof into water cascading down into the field... a 360-degree Niagara!

For the next section, bring in the five nations of the Iroquois, each representing one of the five tribes of the Earth (America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Oceania... a variation of the coming together of the tribes at the Sydney Olympics, each wearing one of the colors of the Olympic Rings). Just as the Iroquois came together, so do the modern nations. We were almost home to the U.N. (on Navy Island, next to Grand Island), so there's a lot we can do to back this theme up.

Next "The Crossroads" (inspired by the floor pattern at the Buffalo Airport, if you've ever really studied it, it's quite an amazing piece of work)... performers come together to demonstrate the variety of wildlife migrations, historical immigration, trade/travel routes, industrial/agricultural innovations, and cultural trends that pass through our region and have weaved the city into the tapestry that it is. Obviously, the Erie Canal would be a big part of it, and I would love to see actual water on the field. Add in symbolism of the railroads, highways and air travel that are so important to our history.

Then of course, the entrance of the athletes, ceremonial obligations and whatnot.

For the lighting of the cauldron, I would build upon a particular phrase that I love from Lauren Belfer's "City of Light", when she realizes that the power stations at Niagara have transformed water into the lights that glow in homes and on streets: "We have turned water into light". I haven't fully imagined this, but somehow use of of those cascades of water from the roof of the stadium, so that the torchbearer dips the flame into a pool and the flame travels UP the liquid to light the cauldron on the roof. Lighting a jet of gasoline would be pretty dangerous... but something to that effect.

Hey, if Buffalo Niagara lands the 2032 games to coincide with our city's bicentennial, we have 20 years to figure that detail out!

End with a celebration of our culture. Our native musicians, our movie and television stars, our contributions to the theater and all the other arts. Lucille Ball, Rick James, GooGoo Dolls, Michael Bennett, Ani DeFranco and dozens more.

A theme of light, a theme of water becoming light, a theme of our crossroads to North America and bringing the world together. A theme of our Olympics being a beacon to the world, and our waterways and highways being welcoming thoroughfares to bring people together into our rich tapestry.

Until now, the IOC has rejected multinational bids, but San Diego/Tijuana and Detroit/Windsor have already proposed games that occur on both sides of a national border. We already know that Toronto has been a strong contender for the games (and would have had them in 1996 if not for the corruption that wasn't exposed until Salt Lake). Marrying our bid to Toronto's would be difficult in this post-9/11 world, but it certainly does have intriguing potential.

I'll pass on the self-loathing tweets and stick my own dreams for an Opening Ceremony that would really amaze the world! (just please... no Willie Nelson, no presidential assassinations, and build the venues in a style that respects our architectural heritage)

Why do we need to wait for the Olympics to celebrate who we are? This is so frustrating about Buffalo.

We celebrate Buffalo's art community through the Allentown Art Festival and our cuisine through our Taste of Buffalo and our sports through our teams. One can also mention the St Patricks, Dyngus and Italian festivals.

The rest is sad to mediocre. How can we celebrate our city when the Bed Tax goes into the Erie County General Fund and we only spend a fraction of the tax receipts to brand, market and attract jobs!!

How can we celebrate our architecture if we refuse to rebuild historic builds, property owners to neglect their buildings and demolish them, etc. Olmsted Parks restoration is going on 10 years without a major restoration effort in South Park or Delaware Park.

Presidents McKinley, Cleveland and Fillmore have no museums or Library's, neither does Mark Twain, nor does PanAm, War of 1812 or the other great cultural and historic milestones.

Even things that the entire city should rally around like full restoration of Front Park cannot win against the Peace Bridge expansion.

We cant even build buildings with a facade that blends with Buffalo's golden age or the period of the surrounding community.

Why is civic pride so difficult for a city that has so much?