Olympic Park(#14582RLJ) An open, scrubby meadow slopes slowly southward to the sea. Patches of salt grasses grow in the sand, interspersed with the occasional stunted tree. Wheel and tread tracks among the sand patches reveal the unseen presence of wild robots, although the sandy country looks most unpromising for them. A large sign proclaims "Future Site of Olympic Stadium". A solid gold shovel is driven into the ground at the centre of the future site of the Olympic stadium, standing erect by itself, blade buried in the earth. Nearby is a small potted shrubbery. The little plastic informational thing stuck in the pot reads "Etruscan Stadium Bush", and the picture of the grown plant on the plastic marker shows a large Olympic stadium. NBC chimes G, E, C. Sally perched atop the handle of the solid gold shovel, flaps her wings for attention. "Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the groundbreaking for the Olympic Stadium!" Chandra says, "Hello, Network Figurehead!" Chandra wonders if ESPN is going to show up, too. Sally says, "Tonight's festivities will be televised by NBC!" Azure bows, "Ms. Nelson. Mr. Company." Sally gestures with one wing toward the peacock. NBC's announcer voice loudly intones, "NBC - THE OFFICIAL NETWORK OF THE 2012 SPINDIZZY OLYMPICS - PROUD AS A PEACOCK" BunnyHugger smiles. Sally says, "Since we wanted a more or less permanent Olympic facility, the decision was taken to go with a stadium bush rather than a constructed stadium. The stadium which results is self-renewing, attractive, and cheap." She gestures toward the potted plant sitting beside the shovel." BunnyHugger looks a little startled by this. Sally says, "It will be cool and leafy in the summer, plus it processes its own sewage, which fertilizes it." NBC's camera aims at the plant and zooms in. Everything it sees is projected onto his train. Natasha says, "That sounds slightly implausible." Xor returns, "Will the athletes be expected to compete on the plant, or in its vicinity?" Azure yips, "I approve." Chandra scratches his head. "Well, seems like it's more -- symbolic than anything. I think it's pretty reasonable given the objectives -- besides, the grounds AROUND the plant are probably where the competition will be." Sally says, "Nonetheless, it works. The numerous stadia which one sees about the Italian countryside are the fossilized remains of stadium bushes." NBC returns to a medium long shot of Sally. Sally says, "No, the plant grows rapidly into a large stadium. The track and field competitions will take place in the open area at the centre, as they do in constructed stadia." Xor returns, "Oh, I see." Chandra says, "Interesting." BunnyHugger wiggles her ears a little nervously and adjusts her glasses. Sally gestures at the shovel with her wings. "I had intended to devolve into a velociraptor and dig my own hole to plant the bush, but I've met with a minor setback there. Who among you would wish to do the honours?" GreenKai wanders in, "Oh, what're we doing, gardening?" She beams, "I used to do that back home! We made a whole new lemon vine." Sally looks around... BunnyHugger says, "May I?" Sally flutters off the handle of the solid gold shovel. "Indeed you may!" NBC switches the view to BunnyHugger. Sally gestures with one wing. "And now Bunnyhugger, Chief Rabbit of the Spindizzy Olympic Movement, will dig the hole!" BunnyHugger walks up to the shovel, which is rather tall for her. She reaches up to get the handle and with some effort takes a token plug out of the soil. Sally applauds. Chandra claps. NBC zooms in on the historic moment. Xor applauds. BunnyHugger sets the shovel down, takes her jacket off, and rolls up her sleeves. Azure claps quickly. BunnyHugger makes the rest of the needed hole the rabbit way, throwing huge showers of dirt out between her hind legs, much of which hits Chitter. fluffy snickers, and offers Chitter a towel. Chitter sputters and brushes his face off. NBC zooms out and turns the camera to track the entrance of Enkeli. Jaxen claps. Sally applauds the existence of the hole. Chandra waves to The Mayor and Jim and GreenKai. BunnyHugger shakes herself off, pulls her jacket back on, and straightens her tie. Sally looks at the potted bush, rather bigger than she is. "Could you, uh, put that in the hole too?" BunnyHugger says, "Sure, can someone help me?" Jim gives a little wave back to Chandra, taking a moment to watch what is going on for a few more moments... Chandra steps up to help. BunnyHugger starts pushing it into the hole. fluffy offers to help, but Chandra beats it to it. Chandra takes a few [Cu Slugs] out of his pocket and tosses them into the hole. NBC gets a long shot of various people stepping up to help move the bush. JasonRDT pets the Etruscan Stadium Bush. Chandra gently positions the bush and sets it into the hole, timing things with BunnyHugger to make sure nothing bad happens. Sally applauds! BunnyHugger says, "Yay!" GreenKai watches from behind NBC. Azure watches the bush, padding slowly closer. Sally gestures with one toward Enkeli. "And now, to give a speech on this historic occasion, here's our Mayor, Enkeli!" Sally applauds the Mayor. Chandra claps. BunnyHugger applauds. Chitter applauds. NBC focuses on Enkeli. Enkeli smiles and waves! She heads up to the front of the crowd, "Thank you, thank you all for your kind applause." Ping waves. Ali earperks. GreenKai tail-wags! Enkeli clears her throat a moment, then smiles and tucks her paws behind her back. "I'd like to thank you all for coming out today, and to thank BunnyHugger for once again organizing the Olympics, and also Sally for helping out too. The olympics on SpinDizzy is one of those things that tends to bring folks together in a really fun way; it's a great occasion for us all to get together and to also try and attract some visitors from other places as well." JasonRDT perks his ears as well. Visitors... He makes a little note on his grimoire. Enkeli smiles, "So it's with great pleasure that we break ground here in this Stadium, to give a home and landmark for this wonderful yearly event. I hope everyone has a chance to come and join in this year, to either compete or spectate or otherwise participate -- there's a lot of room for everyone to play and bring both their creativity and their friendly competitiveness." Enkeli giggles at all the hammering going on in the background and grins, "So how about a round of applause for those who've helped organize the olympics and who are building this great stadium. Please give them encouragement, thoughts, and ideas to help out -- nothing helps volunteers out quite like hearing that people care about and enjoy what they're doing, and it's important to encourage everyon who wants to make something for everybody to enjoy." She starts a-clappin'! Enkeli grins playfully, "Once again, thank you all for turning out to witness this historic occasion, and let's all work together to make this year's olympics the best yet!" She waves happily! and stands down from the front of the crowd, figuring she should stop before she gets too long-winded. JasonRDT cheers! Yay! BunnyHugger waits for the Mayor to finish and then hops up front. Sally yays! BunnyHugger says, "Hooray!" Azure starts clapping furiously! Jaxen applauds. :) Natasha claps. "Yay." Samnang claps like he's slapping two pieces of 2x4 together Chandra applauds. NBC pans the audience. Sally gestures grandly with one wing. "And now Bunnyhugger, Chief Rabbit of the Spindizzy Olympic Movement, wishes to make an announcement!" Xor applauds! Xor... belatedly! Sally says, "You're allowed to applaud for Bunnyhugger too." Chandra applauds. NBC swings the camera back to the front to frame BunnyHugger. Azure grins. BunnyHugger says, "I just wanted to remind everyone that this year we're going to try to bring in a greater team play element. So far we have a dragons, lagomorphs, and birds-and-saurians team, and anyone else who wants to captain a team for any sort of affinity -- species, planet-of-origin, other-MUCK, or any other theme you can think of -- should feel free to post on the Board and start signing people up." BunnyHugger says, "The team captain isn't obliged to go to every event or anything like that, just to keep the roster and cheer his or her team on!" Sally draws attention to the fashionable fez atop her head. "Anyone who competes for the Birds and Dinosaurs Team gets a fez like mine to wear!" BunnyHugger says, "For those who want to join the dragons team, contact Featherwing; for the lagomorphs contact me; and for the birds-and-saurians, contact Sally. Also, anyone who'd like to helm a particular event, please also contact me!" BunnyHugger says, "A spectacular opening ceremony is in the planning stages and if you'd like to be part of that, I'm also your contact. OK, that's all for me! Be awesome!" NBC zooms out for a wide shot. Sally applauds. Chandra joins in the applause. Valleyminks hm? Sally says, "Thank you, everyone, for coming!" BunnyHugger says, "Thank you, Sally, thank you everyone!" NBC takes a few more sweeping shots around the assemblage and then stops on an overview. Valleyminks hm. "I'm going to have to think about this. Could someone please alert Borris to have mallet ready?" NBC's announcer: "THIS HAS BEEN A SPECIAL PRESENTATION OF NBC - OFFICIAL NETWORK OF THE 2012 SPINDIZZY OLYMPICS!" Attendees: Samnang Ping JasonRDT Enkeli GreenKai Natasha NBC Ali Xor Azure fluffy Royce Jaxen Garrison Chitter BunnyHugger Sally Chandra Valleyminks Jim