Olympic Opening Ceremony

[Alex]

I've read all three of those but none of them were required reading for me in high school (and in my opinion only one of the three is particularly special).

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

Am i the only one who likes the parade of cuties ....er, parade of nations?

You are definitely not the only one who enjoys the procession of beautiful blokes!

Originally Posted by Morrigoon

The last runner was on wires, and they launched him up into the sky, over to one of the top walls running around the stadium (near the scrim), then all of a sudden, he pops one side of his wires, dropping him into an angle

That moment freaked me out! I thought one of his wires had broken and audibly gasped.

Originally Posted by JWBear

My only complaint is that the music during the March of Nations was boring and repetitive. I mean... 20 repeats of the same bagpipe number? Come on... why?

Oh dear gawd yes! And why bagpipes for any country other than Scotland and maybe Ireland? I believe at least one previous opening ceremony had music selected to match the country being announced. That was way cooler in my opinion.

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Absolutely brilliant use of LED technology.

Yes. A thousand times yes! By far my favorite aspect of the OCs.

And though it was decidedly low-tech, I thought the idea of having all the athletes literally leave their footprints on the painting was inspired. And a nice connection to the opening (albeit virtual) footprints across the land.

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

I'm still a little perturbed that Bush is there, but I think the ceremony and NBC did a pretty good job of framing the argument in favor of this kind of engagement.

Originally Posted by innerSpaceman

He didn't much look like he wanted to be there. The cameras caught him looking bored more than a few times.

I actually thought it was cool for Bush to be there, especially in the regular old bleachers. (Even if he was in the World Leader section.) That said, I think a head of state needs to be able to feign interest--even if the presentation is frightfully jejune. Looking bored and/or at his watch is a horrible reflection on the USA and just plain rude.

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

And when was the last time you saw goose stepping military?

Yeeeeeah, that was a bit creepy.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Has anyone mentioned the countdown? That was awesome.