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Sitting on the sofa with my housemate, waiting for the Opening Ceremony to start - pretty much the only event I'm interested in (I find winter olympics much more watchable).
Until proved otherwise, I still have faith in Danny Boyle's ability to spend £27M to good effect, but the set is giving us a good laugh - a cross between Lord of the Rings and the scarecrows from Dr Who. And the (now redundant) fake clouds are smaller than I expected.
I feel kind of neutral about the Games themselves, but I am getting a little tired of all the adulation of London. It's not as if our media isn't London-centric to start with.
For the cynics, this may make you giggle.
ETA What? They have eleven-and-a-half in the countdown but not 9 3/4?
ETA 2 Blimey, it really is The Hobbit! But good on them for using 'Jerusalem' and 'Flower of Scotland'
ETA 3 Ah, Shakespeare. Feel unexpectedly emotional at Kenneth Branagh's speech - Trainspotting this isn't.
ETA 4 As expected: the scouring of the Shire.
ETA 5 Okay, forging the Rings was pretty awesome - spectacular molten steel effect. Quite a truncated view of British history though - from what was being said I thought it would have flowed from more ancient streams. But respect to Danny Boyle for showing it from the PoV of the working class.
ETA 6 Bit confused about the film bits - what's happening in the stadium now? But ROFL at James Bond's appearance.
ROFL even more at the parachutes!
ETA 7 Pyjamas?
ETA 8 Ah, that's why. Didn't dare hope for Peter Pan!
Can't help wondering what Mitt foot-in-mouth Romney makes of the homage to the NHS.
GOSH - no, it's not a celebration of online dating.
I'd have loved to see the intial stages of this.
"You're going to be in the Olympic Opening ceremony."
"Cool, what do I have to do?"
"Bounce on your bed."
I know they always have some odd demonstration sports, but bed-bouncing isn't one I'd have expected. Maybe they can include pillow fighting too?
YAY - JKR! *hearts*
ETA 9 OMG - they weren't kidding about Voldemort vs Mary Poppins! I have no words for my love for this. :)))
ETA 10 Cracking up at Mr Bean. Great to see a representation of the piss-taking side of Britishness. I can't wait to see the bemused commentary from other more serious parts of the world - I think DB's doing a great job representing British culture but not sure how much of it is translatable. Will anyone outside the UK get the Michael Fish reference?
If Dr Who doesn't make an appearance I'll be gutted.
ETA 11 This Is For Everyone.
ETA 12 'Abide with Me' - beautiful. And fitting to remember those who died in 7/7.
So that's that part done. In case it's not clear, I really enjoyed the show - partly from thinking 'Wow, he's really doing this?' I don't make a habit of watching these cememonies so I don't know how it compares. It didn't strike me as spectacular - I can't imagine a lot of the details being clear live - but a lot of fun and a fair representation of Great Britain. I really wonder what other countries made of it though - there were a lot of cultural in-references there.
ETA 13 I'm amused by all the athletes who're pulling out their phones and taking photos.
ETA 14 And even more amused by the random country facts the BBC presenters are throwing out to pass the time during the parade.
ETA 15 I love the way the representation of Glastonbury Tor has remained intact at the side of the arena. Even more so now that the oak at the top - a symbol routed so much deeper than the Union Jack - is receiving the flags of the world.
ETA 16 Can't say I ever associated bright pink and blue with Germany.
ETA 17 (Much later) I've been feeling sorry for the drummers, and the commentators have just acknowledged them, revealing that the drums aren't real but are plastic buckets. Hope that makes them less tiring to hit!
ETA 18 It'sElvis Chris Hoy!
ETA 19 BBC bloke: "The Queen looks on... proudly I'm sure." Er no, she was picking her nails and looking really bored.
ETA 20 Loving the cyclingowls doves - beautiful. I want those wings!
Oh, and it's ET!
ETA Final
Ah, so that's what the copper petals were about. I love copper, and I love that sort of shape, so I found the 'cauldron' beautiful and spectacular - so much better than I'd have expected from the rather angular and ugly design of torches, logos, mascots etc. Now I can feel my interest in the Games stirring. I kind of wish I'd made the effort to see the Flame when it passed near more, though I know I wasn't in much of a state to do so at the time.
I've been peering round the net trying looking for comments on the Opening Ceremony - if you've links to any good ones, please let me know!
Where Beijing 2008 had precision, uniformity and control, London 2012 had James Bond, 600 NHS nurses and 40 live sheep. - Daily Telegraph
JK Rowling was reading the opening paragraph of Peter Pan there. In other news, Mike Oldfield has been on the footpump. Now himself almost tubular ... Those flaming rings from before, in a nod to our traditional national dish of vindaloo ... How can that have been a tribute to the NHS when there were so many beds? Pure fantasy ... It's like being stuck in the biggest Flares bar ever inflicted on the world. Very British - Daily Mirror
So the big surprise in the opening ceremony is not what I expected. I thought Danny Boyle would set aside three minutes for a lavish video tribute to Willard Mitt Romney, thanking the Republican presidential nominee for doing what, until Thursday, neither David Cameron, Boris Johnson or Sebastian Coe had managed to do: silencing all but the grumpiest sceptics and uniting the British people in enthusiastic determination to enjoy the London Olympics. Because we're quite happy to whinge endlessly about security, transport and ticketing failures – but we'll be damned if we're going to hear it from some perfect-toothed American. Now we'll get behind the Games just to spite him. For that, Coe & co will forever owe Romney a great debt. - The Guardian
It's only gone and stopped raining. I don't know who's powerful enough to make that happen, but that is some trick. ... And Mary Poppins, too! If you're playing British bingo, you must be having an absolute ball. - CNN (CNN also offers this amusing Guide to visiting London during the Olympics - e.g. In some bars you may see something called “Pork Scratchings” for sale. These are not for you.)
In the middle of “God Save the Queen,” 600 staffers from the National Health Service run out rolling hospital beds, each occupied by a patient. A little odd, granted, for an Olympic ceremony. Wonder what Mitt Romney thinks of this segment? ... And now the moment that has been rumored about this ceremony for some time. A tribute to the British National Health Service. Yes, you read that right. There are hundreds of hospital beds on the field, with patients and doctors boogieing on them. We are told the dancers almost all actually work for the N.H.S. This is going to be a well-remembered section of the show for its sheer conceptual audacity ... Mr. Bean is now playing “Chariots of Fire” on the synthesizer. Industrial Revolution notwithstanding, this may be the most English section of the whole thing ... And Bermuda arrives in Capri pants. No, of course not! You know very well what they’re wearing... Wow. The Czech Republic athletes are coming wearing rain boots and carrying umbrellas. A little snarky there, Czech Republic. - NY Times (which, incidentally, has a much more appropriate logo for covering the games than LOCOG managed)
Alors que la météo était plutôt clémente, les Anglais ont fait parler leur sens de l'humour avec des faux nuages qui volaient au-dessus des tribunes. - Le Figaro
Selbstironische Queen – Das neue Bond-Girl ist 86 - Welt online
Beijing is something that, in a way, was great to follow. You can’t get bigger than Beijing, you know? So that, in a way, kind of liberated us. We thought, ‘Great, OK, good, we’ll try and do something different.’ - Danny Boyle.
You certainly did that, Mr Boyle. Respect to you.
Until proved otherwise, I still have faith in Danny Boyle's ability to spend £27M to good effect, but the set is giving us a good laugh - a cross between Lord of the Rings and the scarecrows from Dr Who. And the (now redundant) fake clouds are smaller than I expected.
I feel kind of neutral about the Games themselves, but I am getting a little tired of all the adulation of London. It's not as if our media isn't London-centric to start with.
For the cynics, this may make you giggle.
ETA What? They have eleven-and-a-half in the countdown but not 9 3/4?
ETA 2 Blimey, it really is The Hobbit! But good on them for using 'Jerusalem' and 'Flower of Scotland'
ETA 3 Ah, Shakespeare. Feel unexpectedly emotional at Kenneth Branagh's speech - Trainspotting this isn't.
ETA 4 As expected: the scouring of the Shire.
ETA 5 Okay, forging the Rings was pretty awesome - spectacular molten steel effect. Quite a truncated view of British history though - from what was being said I thought it would have flowed from more ancient streams. But respect to Danny Boyle for showing it from the PoV of the working class.
ETA 6 Bit confused about the film bits - what's happening in the stadium now? But ROFL at James Bond's appearance.
ROFL even more at the parachutes!
ETA 7 Pyjamas?
ETA 8 Ah, that's why. Didn't dare hope for Peter Pan!
Can't help wondering what Mitt foot-in-mouth Romney makes of the homage to the NHS.
GOSH - no, it's not a celebration of online dating.
I'd have loved to see the intial stages of this.
"You're going to be in the Olympic Opening ceremony."
"Cool, what do I have to do?"
"Bounce on your bed."
I know they always have some odd demonstration sports, but bed-bouncing isn't one I'd have expected. Maybe they can include pillow fighting too?
YAY - JKR! *hearts*
ETA 9 OMG - they weren't kidding about Voldemort vs Mary Poppins! I have no words for my love for this. :)))
ETA 10 Cracking up at Mr Bean. Great to see a representation of the piss-taking side of Britishness. I can't wait to see the bemused commentary from other more serious parts of the world - I think DB's doing a great job representing British culture but not sure how much of it is translatable. Will anyone outside the UK get the Michael Fish reference?
If Dr Who doesn't make an appearance I'll be gutted.
ETA 11 This Is For Everyone.
ETA 12 'Abide with Me' - beautiful. And fitting to remember those who died in 7/7.
So that's that part done. In case it's not clear, I really enjoyed the show - partly from thinking 'Wow, he's really doing this?' I don't make a habit of watching these cememonies so I don't know how it compares. It didn't strike me as spectacular - I can't imagine a lot of the details being clear live - but a lot of fun and a fair representation of Great Britain. I really wonder what other countries made of it though - there were a lot of cultural in-references there.
ETA 13 I'm amused by all the athletes who're pulling out their phones and taking photos.
ETA 14 And even more amused by the random country facts the BBC presenters are throwing out to pass the time during the parade.
ETA 15 I love the way the representation of Glastonbury Tor has remained intact at the side of the arena. Even more so now that the oak at the top - a symbol routed so much deeper than the Union Jack - is receiving the flags of the world.
ETA 16 Can't say I ever associated bright pink and blue with Germany.
ETA 17 (Much later) I've been feeling sorry for the drummers, and the commentators have just acknowledged them, revealing that the drums aren't real but are plastic buckets. Hope that makes them less tiring to hit!
ETA 18 It's
ETA 19 BBC bloke: "The Queen looks on... proudly I'm sure." Er no, she was picking her nails and looking really bored.
ETA 20 Loving the cycling
Oh, and it's ET!
ETA Final
Ah, so that's what the copper petals were about. I love copper, and I love that sort of shape, so I found the 'cauldron' beautiful and spectacular - so much better than I'd have expected from the rather angular and ugly design of torches, logos, mascots etc. Now I can feel my interest in the Games stirring. I kind of wish I'd made the effort to see the Flame when it passed near more, though I know I wasn't in much of a state to do so at the time.
I've been peering round the net trying looking for comments on the Opening Ceremony - if you've links to any good ones, please let me know!
Where Beijing 2008 had precision, uniformity and control, London 2012 had James Bond, 600 NHS nurses and 40 live sheep. - Daily Telegraph
JK Rowling was reading the opening paragraph of Peter Pan there. In other news, Mike Oldfield has been on the footpump. Now himself almost tubular ... Those flaming rings from before, in a nod to our traditional national dish of vindaloo ... How can that have been a tribute to the NHS when there were so many beds? Pure fantasy ... It's like being stuck in the biggest Flares bar ever inflicted on the world. Very British - Daily Mirror
So the big surprise in the opening ceremony is not what I expected. I thought Danny Boyle would set aside three minutes for a lavish video tribute to Willard Mitt Romney, thanking the Republican presidential nominee for doing what, until Thursday, neither David Cameron, Boris Johnson or Sebastian Coe had managed to do: silencing all but the grumpiest sceptics and uniting the British people in enthusiastic determination to enjoy the London Olympics. Because we're quite happy to whinge endlessly about security, transport and ticketing failures – but we'll be damned if we're going to hear it from some perfect-toothed American. Now we'll get behind the Games just to spite him. For that, Coe & co will forever owe Romney a great debt. - The Guardian
It's only gone and stopped raining. I don't know who's powerful enough to make that happen, but that is some trick. ... And Mary Poppins, too! If you're playing British bingo, you must be having an absolute ball. - CNN (CNN also offers this amusing Guide to visiting London during the Olympics - e.g. In some bars you may see something called “Pork Scratchings” for sale. These are not for you.)
In the middle of “God Save the Queen,” 600 staffers from the National Health Service run out rolling hospital beds, each occupied by a patient. A little odd, granted, for an Olympic ceremony. Wonder what Mitt Romney thinks of this segment? ... And now the moment that has been rumored about this ceremony for some time. A tribute to the British National Health Service. Yes, you read that right. There are hundreds of hospital beds on the field, with patients and doctors boogieing on them. We are told the dancers almost all actually work for the N.H.S. This is going to be a well-remembered section of the show for its sheer conceptual audacity ... Mr. Bean is now playing “Chariots of Fire” on the synthesizer. Industrial Revolution notwithstanding, this may be the most English section of the whole thing ... And Bermuda arrives in Capri pants. No, of course not! You know very well what they’re wearing... Wow. The Czech Republic athletes are coming wearing rain boots and carrying umbrellas. A little snarky there, Czech Republic. - NY Times (which, incidentally, has a much more appropriate logo for covering the games than LOCOG managed)
Alors que la météo était plutôt clémente, les Anglais ont fait parler leur sens de l'humour avec des faux nuages qui volaient au-dessus des tribunes. - Le Figaro
Selbstironische Queen – Das neue Bond-Girl ist 86 - Welt online
Beijing is something that, in a way, was great to follow. You can’t get bigger than Beijing, you know? So that, in a way, kind of liberated us. We thought, ‘Great, OK, good, we’ll try and do something different.’ - Danny Boyle.
You certainly did that, Mr Boyle. Respect to you.
