Wasn't the Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony simply superlative? How can London ever hope to match it? I expect to be mortally embarrassed in 2012. I also expect Seb Coe to explain the national humiliation by whining about having a virus as he did without fail every time he lost a race.
But I must be getting awfully emotionally shallow. I watched the opening ceremony from start to finish and, I'm a bit ashamed to admit, several times found myself getting teary - even the firework 'feet' got me surreptitiously reaching for a tissue. I know that much of the symbolism was hypocritical in light of the realité; the representation of the Chinese ethnic minorities for example, and the mass participation dove of peace thing to say nothing about the 'green' theme thing but it seems to me that the Olymics is all about ideals and so actualité is somewhat beside that idealistic point. I sat there like a completely wet ninny watching the little lad who supposedly sang to keep up the morale of his classmates who were buried alongside him by the Szechuan earthquake and even tho I thought the story was probably nothing but Chinese national morale raising propaganda I still came over all sentimental. Sentimental and a bit Jewish momma - I kept thinking 'his/her mother must be so proud!'
I must be sickening for something.
Something else sickening was the council man who came out yesterday to sort out the wasps nest in my lawn. Parked, walked across the grass, stuck his spray nozzle down it, one squeeze, done. £34 for less than 3 minutes thank you. He spent more time telling me that his son who lives 10 minutes away would have done it for half the price.
2 comments:
I watched it too and thought it was a fantastic ceremony...Seoul was really the last olympics to have an opening ceremony like that and other countries can't 'compete' in terms of history and culture...If the london organisers try to compete for an opening ceremony on the same scale then they will be going down the wrong route and one that will embarass us all...Do wonder if london will have a pipe band though <g> and i always prefered ovett to coe LOL
The opening ceremony is not part of the competition.
The one in China absorbed huge amounts of human involvement and training over a long period of time, and was as much a political statement as it was an entertaining opening to it.
Nevertheless the Chinese are to be congratulated on preparing such high class facilities in which to hold them.
If every four years the host nation expects to outperform the previous one then the poorer nations chosen to host it, like our own, will bankrupt themselves.
Post a Comment