It's a Small World

During the last two weeks while I watched the Olympics and read Tweets about the events, I realized it really is a small world—one that’s getting smaller by the nanosecond. With technology continually and instantly connecting us, I think we’re influencing each other in many new ways.

I don’t know if you watched the spectacular Sochi Olympics opening ceremony, but one performance stood out in my mind for a peculiar reason. A rather stoic Russian Police Choir (except for the main singers who grooved) performed the song, Get Lucky, by the French electronic music duo, Daft Punk, in English. I found it a rather bold song choice since it’s about, well, someone getting lucky. Granted it’s a catchy tune and won a Grammy, but I didn’t expect to see it performed in this venue…and by policemen.

The spread of popular music shouldn’t have surprised me. Gangnam Style, the pop song by South Korean musician, Psy, went viral and became a global hit. In the United States, Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood danced to it during the CMA Awards, Today Show hosts jived to the beat, and Halloween lights on some houses were synced to flash to the song. (Pity the neighbors as the light show was repeated over and over, all night long.)

I noticed another curious thing at the Olympics—fist-bumping. I had thought this was a uniquely American good-luck/celebratory action but apparently I was wrong. President Putin fist-bumped the Russian hockey team prior to a game. A Chinese athlete triple-fist-bumped (top, bottom, front) his coach before competing in aerial skiing. I expect he needed extra luck to jump 60 feet in the air, summersault multiple times, and land on his feet.

If this ritual began in America perhaps it went international in 2008 when Barack and Michelle Obama knocked knuckles in what the Washington Post called “the fist-bump heard ’round the world.” Maybe everyone should fist-bump instead of shaking hands to help prevent the spread of germs.

Speaking of around the world, my niece ordered a used textbook for medical school from an on-line bookseller. She monitored the book’s journey on her computer as it was sent from India, traveled to London, made a stop in New York, then arrived at her Philadelphia home. Surprisingly, it was more cost effective for her to buy a used book sent from another country than purchase a new one from the U.S.

Thank goodness for cable television broadcasting shows produced in other countries such as, The Artful Detective (Canada) and Sherlock (U.K.), into my living room. My favorite is Miss Fisher Murder Mysteries based on Kerry Greenwood’s excellent books set in the late 1920s. Unfortunately, this Australian series may be discontinued due to budget concerns even though they have a large audience. (Please, please, bring back Phryne Fisher for a third season!)

Maybe it’s not a small world after all, but a small universe. Olympic athletes who won gold medals on February 15, 2014, the anniversary of last year’s asteroid strike in Russia, will receive additional medals imbedded with a piece of the space rock. And, last November, the Olympic Torch went to the International Space Station and was taken on a spacewalk.

Do you feel the world has become smaller?