Thanks to Joe - Mascots pt.2

Well - Joe found the media guide for these bland little blobs, and informed us that their names are Neve and Gliz. Read on to learn to back story on these little...um...people?

Actual Picture of Live Display in Olympic Village

They are born from a snowball and an ice cube. Still, they are affectionate and warm, animated by an all-Italian passion. She has rounded forms, inspired by the snow and dressed in red; he wears blue, with squarer lines which are more typical of ice. And they both smile enthusiastically, conveying joy, a positive outlook and a sunny approach. But above all they are two natural elements without which there would be no Winter Games: snow and ice.

Well, that explains their shape all right (or relative lack thereof). But if he's blue because it's typical of ice - I have a hard time buying that snow inspires red. Short of seeing red in traffic when the city slows to a crawl when it snows for the first time...alright, potential linkage there.

Neve and Gliz are the two official Torino 2006 mascots. Their role is to present the XX Olympic Winter Games, conveying the universal Olympic values and the spirit of Italy.

Yet we never saw them...on anything...leading up to, during, or after the Olympics. Somewhere a marketing executive is sobbing in his vino. Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, we proudly present the universal Olympic values of blandness and primary colours! Huzzah!

Neve: a synthetic name, simple, with a soft and elegant sound and very easy to memorise. Neve immediately recalls the bond of the mascot with one of the two natural elements that are fundamental for the practice of winter sports, and she is the ideal friend to play with under the sign of respect, loyalty and friendship, some of the highest expressions of the Olympic spirit.

A synthetic name? What the hell is that supposed to mean for a mascot? Let's shift+F7 shall we?

Synthetic: potential context includes "artifical", "fake", "unreal", "insincere", "sham", "bogus"...

The Olympic Spirit shining through? Just maybe...

Gliz: A name whose characteristics complement Neve. It expresses energy, passion, innovation entertainment. Gliz brings to mind the names of superheroes of comic strips, cartoons or childrens’ games. Gliz has a fresh, compact, sharp-edged sound: ideal characteristic to synthesise in a single word the squared shapes of the mascot.

This needs no embellishment; it's silly all by itself. In the sky; it's a bird, it's a plane, no! - it's a square buck-toothed blobby thing with "innovation entertainment"!

Neve and Gliz were born from the pencil of Portuguese designer Pedro Albuquerque, who won the international competition organised by TOROC.

Albuquerque? As in the city of Albuquerque, New Mexico? Didn't realize the name was Portugese in origin...perhaps this is all the explanation needed as to how these mascots came to be. Except that these two things beat out 273 other entries to win...how bizarre did they have to be?

The icing on the blog by far was when in search of additional images of Neve and Gilz - Google wanted to know if I wanted instead to look up Neve and Girls. It would certainly be representative of being "affectionate and warm, animated by an all-Italian passion."

Ciao!