# OT -- Paris Olympics **URL:** \ **Category:** Macro Economic Trends and Risks\ **Created:** [April 20, 2024, 5:07am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188 "2024-04-20T05:07:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![intercst](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/intercst/32/1543_2.png) [@intercst](https://discussion.fool.com/u/intercst)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 5:07am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/1 "2024-04-20T05:07:02Z")
I don’t think anyone will be able to outdo the “American excess” of 84 grand pianos playing George Gershwin’s “Rapsody in Blue” at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/original/3X/3/1/31d3c465e3c67bb336d4ea0c9cf46d6091181132.jpeg "Los Angeles 1984 || "Rhapsody in Blue"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34FzFRlicog) intercst ---
**Author:** ![steve203](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/steve203/32/3302_2.png) [@steve203](https://discussion.fool.com/u/steve203)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 1:08pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/2 "2024-04-20T13:08:27Z")
“Spectacle” is what Shiny-land does. Steve ---
**Author:** ![TMFMurph](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/tmfmurph/32/4274_2.png) [@TMFMurph](https://discussion.fool.com/u/TMFMurph)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 2:05pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/3 "2024-04-20T14:05:14Z")
Hi Steve, Over the years you continually list all the things you feel this country and its people/businesses do wrong…and it is quite a list. Could you please list the things you think we do right? Light some candles instead of always “cursing the darkness”? Thanks! Murph ---
**Author:** ![flyerboys](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/flyerboys/32/2123_2.png) [@flyerboys](https://discussion.fool.com/u/flyerboys)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 2:25pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/4 "2024-04-20T14:25:25Z")
The 84 pianos were only a small part of that opening program, one that reminisced on the links between show biz, athleticism, and joy despite anguish, recalling the far earlier 1936 Olympics hosted by Los Angeles in the depths of the depression while Busby Berkeley’s insanely creative _Goldiggers of 1935_ was playing in theaters: [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/original/3X/a/8/a869d6becd08e216e8a40a19cb9174eb1a886632.jpeg "Dancing Pianos") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHMbSTWJvZM) It wasn’t typical fake shiny, it was the real thing, and I was there at the opening ceremonies rejoicing with the athletes at the beginning of the games, and later partied until 2 AM with two of them, one Nigerian and one Canadian, whose competitions would not come for a half week. It was glorious. And unlike most Olympics, the Los Angeles Olympics made money for the city, endowing a foundation for city wide youth atheletic programs that continues to this day. Hollywood actually knew how to do shiny well. d fb ---
**Author:** ![MoneySlob](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/moneyslob/32/2609_2.png) [@MoneySlob](https://discussion.fool.com/u/MoneySlob)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 2:48pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/5 "2024-04-20T14:48:46Z")
The US televised Olympics use the best media experts in the world. Only once every 4 years. I look forward to anything shiney. ---
**Author:** ![syke6](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/syke6/32/26265_2.png) [@syke6](https://discussion.fool.com/u/syke6)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/6 "2024-04-20T15:35:29Z")
The 84 games opening ceremonies set the standard for sure. ---
**Author:** ![intercst](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/intercst/32/1543_2.png) [@intercst](https://discussion.fool.com/u/intercst)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 8:54pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/7 "2024-04-20T20:54:21Z")
> [@TMFMurph](#): > > Could you please list the things you think we do right? Absolutely. America is the land of scam, skim and fraud. It’s possible to retire early just by not letting yourself get screwed. You don’t have to invent something, start a business, or do anything special. Merely watching your expenses and capturing the “skim-free”, compounded return on the stock market over an investing lifetime is enough to do it for you. [![](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/original/3X/2/5/25270dfff7238cfa8ab5a565a8047300ed227c45.jpeg "Florida man’s trip overseas ends in sticker shock over $143,000 phone bill") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAjYeoMJVnU) Phone company said it was a “good bill”, until the TV reporter came calling. intercst ---
**Author:** ![syke6](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/syke6/32/26265_2.png) [@syke6](https://discussion.fool.com/u/syke6)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 9:03pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/8 "2024-04-20T21:03:04Z")
> [@TMFMurph](#): > > Could you please list the things you think we do right? Not the previous poster, but I’ll say plumbing. Other nations have made dramatic improvements over the last couple decades, but overall the USA has the best plumbing in the world. ---
**Author:** ![intercst](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/intercst/32/1543_2.png) [@intercst](https://discussion.fool.com/u/intercst)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/9 "2024-04-20T21:40:03Z")
> [@syke6](#): > > Not the previous poster, **but I’ll say plumbing.** Other nations have made dramatic improvements over the last couple decades, but overall the USA has the best plumbing in the world. Absolutely! When I was renting an apartment in London for a year on Exxon’s dime, as a condition of the lease I had the landlord install a pump in the bathroom of this newly constructed penthouse overlooking the Thames River to give me enough water pressure to take a shower. There was only about 3 feet of hydrostatic head between the shower head and the atmospheric tank in the attic, just above the tub. Oddly there was about 80 psi of pressure in the faucet in the kitchen sink, but it was verboten to connect a showerhead to that pipe. intercst ---
**Author:** ![steve203](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/steve203/32/3302_2.png) [@steve203](https://discussion.fool.com/u/steve203)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/10 "2024-04-20T21:50:37Z")
> [@syke6](#): > > but I’ll say plumbing. Maybe a vector of puritanical morality? “cleanliness is next to Godliness”? Steve ---
**Author:** ![MarkR](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/markr/32/2011_2.png) [@MarkR](https://discussion.fool.com/u/MarkR)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 7:57am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/11 "2024-04-21T07:57:02Z")
> [@steve203](#): > > Maybe a vector of puritanical morality? “cleanliness is next to Godliness”? So you can’t do it … you can’t praise anything in the USA … even good plumbing isn’t a good thing because it is likely due to some outdated puritanical notion of godliness. 😂 ---
**Author:** ![flyerboys](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/flyerboys/32/2123_2.png) [@flyerboys](https://discussion.fool.com/u/flyerboys)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 10:15am UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/12 "2024-04-21T10:15:43Z")
The richest, fastest growing and urbanizing 19th C nations, the USA and UK, not surprisingly led the way in worrying about sanitation and inventing plumbing codes, getting serious about it in the 1880s after cholera outbreaks forced sensible people to think more clearly about Public Health. Here is the most succinct summary on the plumbing revolution I have found: > **[06.07.20-A-Comparison-of-British-and-American-Plumbing-Engineering-Standards-and-Practices-Lansing.pdf](https://www.worldplumbing.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/06.07.20-A-Comparison-of-British-and-American-Plumbing-Engineering-Standards-and-Practices-Lansing.pdf)** > > 13.57 MB Mostly the rest of the world followed in the wake of the UK and USA. The USA started seriously writing plumbing codes in the 1880’s, starting in California, closely followed by New York. I’ve done a lot of plumbing in my life (primarily to save money because competent plumbers are usually very expensive) and worked within both of the two main codes of the USA: > **[International Plumbing Code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Plumbing_Code)** > > The International Plumbing Code is a plumbing code and standard that sets minimum requirements for plumbing systems in their design and function, and which sets out rules for the acceptance of new plumbing-related technologies. It is published by the International Code Council based in Washington, D.C., through the governmental consensus process and updated on a three-year cycle to include the latest advances in technology and safest plumbing practices. The current version of this code is the 202... and > **[Uniform Plumbing Code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uniform_Plumbing_Code)** > > Designated as an American National Standard, the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC) is a model code developed by the International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials (IAPMO) to govern the installation and inspection of plumbing systems as a means of promoting the public's health, safety and welfare. > The UPC is developed using the American National Standards Institute's (ANSI) consensus development procedures. This process brings together volunteers representing a variety of viewpoints ... The UPC and offshoots worldwide originated in Los Angeles (!), and is usually a little more expensive and bothersome to implement, but I think works wonderfully better than any other system. The IPC and the mostly similar British based codes are much friendlier when installing plumbing “post hoc” into olde buildings, and usually somewhat cheaper. The UPC systems are almost always quieter, and often more durable. d fb ---
**Author:** ![jerryab2](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/motleyfoolfree/user_avatar/discussion.fool.com/jerryab2/32/3274_2.png) [@jerryab2](https://discussion.fool.com/u/jerryab2)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://discussion.fool.com/t/ot-paris-olympics/104188/13 "2024-04-21T13:59:58Z")
> [@steve203](#): > > “cleanliness is next to Godliness”? So, how often were plumbers called to fix it at Catholic churches, etc?