High Speed Olympics

When it was first announced that the 2008 Olympic Games were to be held in Beijing, I was not overly thrilled. It had nothing to do with it being China, or anything like that. It was simply that I was not looking forward to the time difference! I like to watch the events live. However, I've been reasonably pleased with the way the BBC has handled it. They have live coverage which is pretty comprehensive of all the major events (though, if you're keen to watch some of the more obscure events, like Greco-Roman Wrestling, you're kind of stuffed) that I record, then watch the next day. If you're actually up and functional at the live times, and have a digital system of some sort (which I do), you can access some extra channels and watch an uninterrupted event of some sort. The problem is, most of us are not up at 3.00 in the morning! And those extra channels can't be recorded, nor can they be accessed later. That's the only thing I'd change. However, I've been thurouly enjoying watching the Olympics on Fast Forward! My system lets me speed through at 2, 6, 12 or 30 times normal speed. So when the commentators are waffling on about absolutely nothing between events, I go x30. But during the events, it's fantastic, because I can watch it straight out, or -- if I'm running short of time, or just can't stand the tention like on that 7th Michael Phelps race! -- I can race forward to the last few seconds of the event, then watch the end on normal speed. It's fantastic! I regularly get through these 300-odd minute recordings in an hour (sometimes more, depending on how many events they're showing that I'm keen to see anything other than the results for. Sorry, never going to be a boxing fan. Probably not equestrian, either.) In other words, I've changed my mind. The time difference hasn't bothered me much at all! It's brilliant. So, here's to breaking all Olympic Speed Records with a simple push of a button!