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[kitz]

Did anyone watch this last night?   Thoughts?

On the whole I thought it was excellent, some very clever planning and execution went very well.  I loved some of the themes in there including the tribute to Tim Berners Lee.

It showed all the things that we as a nation should be proud of.  All in all I thought it was very well done. 


The only downside to it was after the elation of everyone enjoying such a good performance, reality hit and it struck me that some of the very good things that were picked out seemed to be the things that seem to be in decline today ie :-
The NHS - whatever government is in power, seems to be doing a good attempt at meddling too much in the wrong way.
The Green and Pleasant Land -  How much support do our farmers get when compared to that of other countries and how much do we now import instead of supporting our own.
/cynic

[UncleUB]

Absolutely awesome.  :clap2:

I personally liked the industrial Revolution.........it needed Fred Dibnah up those chimneys 

And the James Bond bit was good as was the Cauldron lighting.

Danny Boyle had great vision and creativity in doing it all,he must have been very proud to see it all come together  :clap2:

Downside......I think its about time a certain 'Beatle' retired gracefully.

[kitz]

haha - yep more good parts, its hard to say which you liked best.   Thinking back over it now..  there was so many parts that I thoroughly enjoyed and its difficult to point out specific favourites.

Ironically there was only one person that seemed to be either unimpressed or bored the camera focused on her.

Yes I think the vast majority of the UK will say Danny Boyle did good


PS..  and what was really nice about it, is when he was interviewed by the BBC after the ceremony..  he gave all the credit to the people who took part and all the volunteers.

[Black Sheep]

Danny was always going to 'Do good'. He's a Lancashire lad who lives just down the road from here. 

[roseway]

It was too late and too long for me, but I've been watching bits of it today, and I think it was superb.

[kitz]

>> He's a Lancashire lad who lives just down the road from here.

So we now know where youre from - have several family ties & connections in that region too (spread Bolton/Swinton Districts) and I spent a fair bit of time during my younger years in the Bolton area.

>>  too long for me /snip/  I've been watching bits of it today

Best bits are the beginning and end.  Took a long while for 204 countries to filter through.   Must say that part made me realise just how geographically challenged I was, with the number of countries I'd never heard of before.

[broadstairs]

I saw an interview with Danny and he said he lived locally to the Olympic site, so where does he live or is he one of those who has more than one home.

My wife did not appreciate the bit about new technology, she thinks the downfall of society is because we have computers and mobile phones, and despite spending all my working life in IT (as it is now called) I am inclined to agree if I judge by the number of people walking around so intent on their mobiles they bump into me! IT is a tool not the be all and end all of life.....

Stuart

[not/einstein]

personally.......................its what i expected..............

[Black Sheep]

Ha ha .... Kitz, you know where I'm from anyway.  

Broadstairs, Danny is a Bury lad born and bred. As a massively succesful film director, I daresay he can possibly afford a 2nd home ?     

[kitz]

I knew you were from somewhere around that area, but didnt know it was actually Bury.
I think Danny has a lot to do with Bolton - or according to one of my friends from my 'Bolton days' he did have - (no doubt you coming from where you do and being in the same generation as me, youd probably find his face and voice quite familiar too )

Anyhow I think he pulled it off fantastically, the show was brilliant and different from any other Olympic opening Ive ever seen.  Not sure if those from outside the UK would get all the links and references throughout it, but Im damn sure there are a lot of Brits who had a lump in their throat whilst watching it.   

[tickmike]

I was a bit unsure at first but after the first introduction I was hooked, it was Great, I keep looking at the clips of the opening ceremony on the BBC website.
My wife is not happy about all the empty seats as she spent a long time trying to get into some events only to find they said it was full all sold.

[sevenlayermuddle]

Afraid I'm going to break ranks here, a bit too political for me.  Just watched the recording again as I was away, and couldn't give it my full attention on Friday.

If it was meant to be British history then what happened to Isaac Newton?  Perhaps, since there were no oppressed 'underdogs' , Danny Boyle figured Sir Isaac had no place and was best overlooked.

As for the NHS, those creepy gremlins that appeared towards the end of the sequence were what...?  MRSA sprung to mind, for me.   And the evil MRSA gremlins were swept aside by Mary Poppins, presumably symbolic (magic spells) of what the NHS is pinning it's hopes on for health of future generations?  All that was missing were the GPs and Consultants, swanning around in their Bentleys and Porches with personalised plates and unfathomable pensions.

Oh dear, I said I was going to break ranks.  No offence, just stimulating debate   

[UncleUB]

No matter what the opening ceremony was like it wasn't going to please everyone.Me personally though 95% of it was great.

Same with the games in general,the media pick up on every bit of negativity........drinks too dear,queues too long,empty seats,traffic jams,etc,etc etc.

Yes there are problems,same as previous games,but when in other countries we never hear of most of the above complaints.

Lets forget about the negatives and embrace the games,after all it will be a long time before they return to these shores.

[HPsauce]

the media pick up on every bit of negativity

I think that precisely sums up why the media are so despised these days.
No-one expects them to gloss over everything, but a bit of balance and objectivity wouldn't go amiss!

[sevenlayermuddle]

One thing that has caught my interest, not because I find it annoying (though I do, a little), but also out of genuine curiousity... is the fact that the announcements seem to be first in French first, and then in English.   I've tried to research the issue and it seems that both French and English are recognised languages, but there is a a long-standing tradition of the sequence, French then English.    It seems to be a tribute to the fact that the IOC was founded by a Frenchman.

Anyway... my specific question however, to which I'm struggling to find an authoritative answer.... has the language tradition always been honoured in the past when the games were hosted by an English-speaking nation?