I was utterly spellbound watching the spectacular 2012 Olympics opening ceremony, created by Danny Boyle. I was going to watch it again before writing my impressions, and take some specific notes so I didn't get out of sequence or forget things. Pfffft. Within 10 minutes of the second playing, I realized I had forgotten to take a single note. So with apologies in advance for any errors or oversights, here I go.
The ceremony began with a video segment titled "Isles of Wonder", and began by tracing the Thames from its origin point through to the heart of London. Along the way, various classic pastoral images from the countryside began to mix with images of the high-speed rail, the subway (tubes or Underground if you prefer) and the more industrial areas along the banks. This was deftly underscored by music as varied as were the images; I heard one section that sounded like a baroque song written for Henry VIII, as well as assorted choral and pastoral music and I think some Andrew Lloyd Webber (not Cats...). As the camera got closer to London, I heard Pink Floyd (they also had a giant pig flying from a building... YAY Danny!) as well as "London Calling" by The Clash, "God Save the Queen" (in the London Underground stations) by The Sex Pistols (bold!) and some Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, David Bowie.... and Meredith Veira couldn't help singing along a bit. Oh, some band called "The Beatles" got time as well... I loved the use of a whole gamut of music here, and the very British sly poke at its own stodgy image, using music by the Sex Pistols.
All of this ended with the lights in the stadium revealing the first part of over 10,000 volunteers from all across the United Kingdom, who played key roles in the ceremony from start to fin¬ish. This first group was 10 clusters of children holding huge balloon batches numbered 10 to 1, which burst as a group as the entire stadium counted down. This was cute but not very inspiring. I was underwhelmed, after the superb video start. Little did I know.
The British cyclist (Brad Wiggins; had to look it up) who won the Tour de France days earlier came out and rang the world's largest tuned bell, cast for the show at Whitechapel Foundry. The bell was inscribed with part of a line from Shakespeare's "The Tempest": "Be not afraid, the isle is full of noises". This was part of the underlying and unifying theme of Boyles ceremony, bringing in diverse elements of historic UK culture that influenced the whole world. After the bell was wrung, the ceremony itself began inside the stadium. The entire floor of the stadium was covered in real sod, with a small replica English village, and a towering replica of Gastonbury Tor. A 9 year old boy began singing "Jerusalem" A Capella; and American Idol/The Voice hopefuls be warned; this kid can take all of you. Hands down. From there three other choral groups each took turns, singing similarly informal anthems for Ireland, "Danny Boy", and for Scotland and Wales in turn. I don't know what those were; they were still wonderful to hear.
The pace accelerated here, and Kenneth Brannagh came out as part of a group of Victorian businessmen, ushering in the Industrial Revolution. Brannagh delivered more of the "be not afraid" speech, and as he did so the hundreds of people who were portraying villagers were joined by men and women in Victorian workers clothing. The sections of sod were rolled up and carried out, and smokestacks began to rise from the now cobblestoned and "industrial" looking flooring that had been under the sod. Workers began to forge a huge ring in the center of the stadium, and as four other rings flew in from the rim of the stadium the center ring was raised to join them, forming the linked Olympic logo. Lighting and then some excellent pyro finished that segment. If you ever want to know what a Union Stagehand Rigger does, all the flying/lifting/suspended stuff was their work. Way to go rigging crews! Amazing! I might have used Derek Jacoby instead of Kenneth Brannagh, but that's just me.
There was a silent moment to honor the men and women lost in the two World Wars, then 1000 percussionists began to play syncopated cadence led by a woman who had been deaf since the age of 11... and yeah, I had to look her name up again. Dame Evelyn Glennie. She was awesome. Drummers and aspiring drummers, watch this show. These people basically kept playing from this point in the show until the end of the Procession of Countries...... about 2 hours.
More nods, and a few winks, to elements of British society here. A parade of people dressed ala "Sgt. Pepper", some mods, a group of Daleks (I think so anyway) and the Chelsea Pensioners, an organized group of retired British military. I think they did a "set change here; hard to tell, the way NBC kept cutting away for commercials. Take a page from the BBC for these things American Television; put your advertisers in a small clump just before the event starts. If there is a planned intermission or break, stick more in there, and leave the rest for after the finale. Better still..... use sponsors, run NO ads, and let us watch the event. It's not like you would go bankrupt if you did that, what, once every two years?
So, off the soapbox. Another short video clip, which took a minute for me to catch on to. Daniel Craig as James Bond, escorting HRH to a waiting helicopter in the Buckingham Palace courtyard. Great little bit as Daniel stood in the Queens small chamber.. where she sat writing a note, her back to him.... until he very politely "coughed". She turned around to look at him a moment later, and yes, I am certain that was in fact herself, Queen Elizabeth II. The helicopter took off, becoming a CGI for a bit, until appearing above the stadium. After looking down at the crowd, surveying the sky and the stadium as well... Bond jumped out of the helicopter, followed by the Queen, and they parasailed down to an area just outside the stadium. Yes, real parasailing people... dressed as Bond and Liz2. Really, folks, she's like 85 years old... again, a note of humor injected into what could easily be as sonorous as a Catholic wedding with full mass.
The queen herself then made her more stately entrance, along with Phillip, and of course William and Kate. The Queen was announced to the crowd, and the second part of the ceremony began. The lead in was a horde of doctors and nurses pushing beds with "patients" into the center area, representing the Greater Ormond Street Hospital, which is funded in major part by the estate of J.M. Barrie. These were in fact actual nurses and doctors from the hospital, who also volunteered their time and efforts. They pushed the self-illuminating beds in to form the smiling face and "GOSH", the hospital logo (probably visible from space) I think this also sent an unintended message to anyone who thinks "Socialized" medicine is evil... i.e. Tea Party and Republican half wits. It has worked just fine for 200 years in the UK folks. Doctors and nurses don't live in poverty, chained together like slaves, and the country is not overrun with communists and hippies.... sigh, OK, moving on...
They did a great little performance bit, with a short narrative from "Peter Pan" read by a (terrified) J.K. Rowling, then a group of baddies form English children's literature appeared; Captain Hook, the Red Queen, Voldemort.. and yay! Cruella DeVille! The children panicked until a horde of Mary Poppinseses.... Poppins's, Poppin Fresh... crap, a bunch of flying Nannies arrived on umbrellas. Nice work again rigging and flying crews! I mean, what else would you use to chase off evil? Mike Oldfield led a band performing a variant of his "Tubular Bells" under this whole segment.
That was followed by the London Symphony Orchestra, with Rowan Atkinson featured both as a pianist playing one note under the score... and getting bored so he dreams he's running in a modded clip from "Chariots of Fire".. cute, but not one of my favorite bits. Rowan can be screamingly funny, or hopelessly tedious. He was brilliant in "Black Adder". That segued into a pop culture segment with a boy and girl meeting through the medium of her lost cell phone, and featuring a medley of pop tunes from the last 40 years or so, ending with them meeting in person and kissing. Sigh. Cell phones... again. This also featured one of the best effects used in the presentation. Each seat in the stadium was equipped with an LED panel, and this allowed the entire stadium to used like a giant video wall. Remarkable effect. This was used just often enough to be compelling, not so often as to be predictable.
The torch was shown being carried on a speedboat along the Thames, driven by David Beckham. The parade of nations began, and all 204 nations had a flag bearer, who planted the flag on arrival at a designated point on the Glastonbury Tor, as well as a girl for each carrying a "copper petal", a sort of curled leaf or flower of smooth copper, about the size you would use to scoop watermelons up... I had no clue what these were for until later. The parade went by at nearly a trot; even the coverage people kept saying they had to skip notes and stuff to keep up. I think that, without the damn commercial breaks, all 204 countries entered and took their positions in under an hour. With the NBC breaks every eight minutes, it took almost half the total broadcast time.
Finally, time for the torch. Sir Steve Redgrave carried it from the Thames into the stadium where he lit a torch carried in turn by seven young athletes, all nominated by Olympians (that sounds weird), and they proceeded up to where all the copper "petals" had been laid in the center of the stadium. Each one of the seven lit their own torch from the original, then lit a spot on the outer ring of petals. Now I got to see the purpose; each petal formed a part of a ring of gas nozzles, fed through tubes they were now mounted on the ends of. Petals ignited until the entire 204 formed a gorgeous blazing ring, and then the tubes lifted up en masse to form a single unified "bowl" of flames, standing perhaps thirty feet high. Once again the theme of diversity and unification. Sir Paul McCartney was the final bit, playing "Hey Jude" and getting the stadium to sing along, and then the final, awesome, but never long enough, pyrotechnics show. Rings of fire racing about the stadium edge, firing off the Tower Bridge and seemingly all of the East End, and much of London.
I have seen a lot of posts about how this wasn't as good as Beijing, and how it was confusing, or weird, and of course how London wasn't as well organized as some guys 2002 effort. I disagree; casually with the Beijing fans. That was a spectacular show, and certainly a light year beyond Atlanta... but it had the virtue of being very ambitious, and a first. It was certainly extravagant, very carefully planned, and meticulously executed... but that was also part of its failing from my perspective. Certainly this show was just as carefully planned, and everything appeared to happen precisely when and as it was supposed to, yet the whole montage felt much looser and more playful. Certainly it embraced the rather unpredictable nature (to us barbarians) of British society. As for the other, well, I can't imagine why Romney showed up. I think the usher should have looked at the passes for Mitt and Anne and said:
"Sorry sir, These don't seem to be any good. Bit disorganized if you ask me, but what's a chap to do? Security, see these good people the exit if you please..."
Saturday, July 28, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
What's on my mind? Way too much....
OK Facebook, you put this empty box on my page that says "What's on your mind?" So here it is 2AM, and I'm wide awake, and since you asked....
1) Mitt Romney. How can anyone want him as president? He supported sending jobs overseas, at the expense of US workers.... who are now out of work. He took credit for "saving" the US Olympics in 2002... using 100 BILLION in federal funding. Foreign policy credentials? I think they are stuck on the bottom of his shoe. If you can get it out of his mouth you might be able to read them. It's a short list. If you don't like Obama, fine. If you think that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bank collapse and Unemployment are his fault, well, you are entitled to your opinion. I just widh you would base it on facts, not lies you get told.
2) The Tea Party. I simply fail to understand them at all. They all need to abandon the birth certificate/Muslim/Socialist talk about Obama, and admit to owning one or more of those special sets of white sheets. That is the only explanation for them I can find.
3) Anti-gun AND gun nuts. Meet in the middle you morons. It's 250 years too late to disarm the citizens; and we hae gun control laws. Put the same registration/delay/background checks on ALL guns. Police departments, stop making excuses about manpower shortages to do the background checks. There are these things called "computers", and the internet... for what you pay in overtime in one month, you could hire 12 people to do the work, and buy them new laptops. In case you hadn't noticed, there are lot of skilled workers who need jobs. Speaking of which... stop paying overtime. Hire more officers.
4) Anti-abortionist/Abortionists. Same problem, though much simpler. If you don't think abortion is right, don't get one. How dare you tell other people what they can and cannot do, when it has no effect on you or your life. I support your right to voice your opinion about it being wrong, for whatever reason. And (surprise) I support your stand that abortion is not a method of birth control. It is a medical, and a PERSONAL decision, and only the mothers final say matters. It is a hard choice for almost any woman to make; stop making it worse, and stop lying and showing false imagery. If you wave "Right to Life" signs about, then bomb a clinic or attack people, you are a hypocrite and a criminal. Period. I also want you to ask yourself this; how would you feel if you were told you could no longer go to church, or have any medical care at all? Abortion supporters; stop stirring the pot. Show the world how things really work... and stick to that process. Don't lie. Above all, if you see a girl five times in 8 months, she needs help and counseling and maybe brains... not her fifth abortion at the age of 16. (Yes. I saw TWO of these).
5) Anti gay/anti gay marriage. Again, how dare you. Do I come in to your house and tell you what to do, and what not to? Do I declare your actions immoral, and cite a "higher power" and a collection of stories, parables and dogma as my justification? I don't like basketball. I think it's boring and silly. Therefore, all basketball games are ended forever, especially since only mutants play it. If you have a hoop stuck on your roof, I will arrest you after I beat you up. If you are OK with that, go ahead and protest gay marriage and beat up gay people. I'll be over shortly.
6) American industry. Why are we so stressed all the time? Simple. Some idiot threw away everything we learned about business in the 50's and 60's, everything we learned about freedom and people since 1776, and told HR heads that profit sharing was bad, and merit increases, and Cost of Living... then they got bean counters to go along, and present numbers showing how much more profit could be made if workers were expected to be there 50 to 60 hours a week, and get paid for only 40. Workers should also take time off from work if they are sick... but if you are sick too often, because you are over-stressed, you get a black mark. If our business model is so much better, why aren't all the other countries bankrupt, and buying American products because it's the only stuff that works?
7) Health care. It's not "Obamacare". Knock that off. It's also not "socialist medicine". Unless Hawaii is a socialist country hiding as a US state... same for Canada, and Japan, and.... here is the problem. Doctors work too many hours a week, and surgeons even more. So they get paid absurd salaries. Over $450,000.00 a year for a proctologist in California. Really? OK, I would have to paid a lot to look at thousands of them a year... wait, I watch TV, and Congress is on TV along with Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Phil.... time to send the networks a bill. Oh. Anyway... so doctors are overpaid and overworked. So are nurses; overworked, that is. Hospitals charge outrageous amounts above cost for everything. Example: I was charged $30.00 for surgical tape. They used about three feet. A roll is 50 yards, and costs $7.00 at Walgreens. Other charges are also inflated. The biggest cost to hospitals, doctors, nurses? Insurance. The insurance agencies are double dipping, and we keep allowing it. We get our costs raised "because of rising health care costs" which are in turn increased by the same insurers raising rates to medical professionals. I for one would cheer wildly for a complete socialist takeover of health care at this point.
Put me in charge for a year. All insurance rates would be cut by 50%, no doctor or nurse would work over 40 hours in one week or 8 hours in one day, fewer mistakes would be made in treatment and surgery, and medical care would be based on you and your doctors choices, not an actuary's tables. Police would have sufficient numbers to do their jobs without overtime and huge pensions; same for firefighters. Politicians would be given a mandatory 10% pay cut for each year they failed to balance the budget in a timely manner, and allowed unchecked greed and corruption to ruin our economy and our way of life. And no one, NO ONE, would be expected to sacrifice their time and their personal pleasures to earn a living. 40 hours work, 40 hours pay. Vacations. Raises. Health care.
The unemployment ranks would dwindle, as many would find themselves with new jobs and careers, and the only people out of work would be the parasitic, grasping, self-involved so called leaders and "captains of industry" and career politicians who represent not the people, but the lobbyists and financial backers.
There, maybe now I can sleep. Write me in when you vote in November... wouldn't THAT be a wakeup call to Washington. "Who? The president is who? Where the hell did HE come from????"
1) Mitt Romney. How can anyone want him as president? He supported sending jobs overseas, at the expense of US workers.... who are now out of work. He took credit for "saving" the US Olympics in 2002... using 100 BILLION in federal funding. Foreign policy credentials? I think they are stuck on the bottom of his shoe. If you can get it out of his mouth you might be able to read them. It's a short list. If you don't like Obama, fine. If you think that the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the bank collapse and Unemployment are his fault, well, you are entitled to your opinion. I just widh you would base it on facts, not lies you get told.
2) The Tea Party. I simply fail to understand them at all. They all need to abandon the birth certificate/Muslim/Socialist talk about Obama, and admit to owning one or more of those special sets of white sheets. That is the only explanation for them I can find.
3) Anti-gun AND gun nuts. Meet in the middle you morons. It's 250 years too late to disarm the citizens; and we hae gun control laws. Put the same registration/delay/background checks on ALL guns. Police departments, stop making excuses about manpower shortages to do the background checks. There are these things called "computers", and the internet... for what you pay in overtime in one month, you could hire 12 people to do the work, and buy them new laptops. In case you hadn't noticed, there are lot of skilled workers who need jobs. Speaking of which... stop paying overtime. Hire more officers.
4) Anti-abortionist/Abortionists. Same problem, though much simpler. If you don't think abortion is right, don't get one. How dare you tell other people what they can and cannot do, when it has no effect on you or your life. I support your right to voice your opinion about it being wrong, for whatever reason. And (surprise) I support your stand that abortion is not a method of birth control. It is a medical, and a PERSONAL decision, and only the mothers final say matters. It is a hard choice for almost any woman to make; stop making it worse, and stop lying and showing false imagery. If you wave "Right to Life" signs about, then bomb a clinic or attack people, you are a hypocrite and a criminal. Period. I also want you to ask yourself this; how would you feel if you were told you could no longer go to church, or have any medical care at all? Abortion supporters; stop stirring the pot. Show the world how things really work... and stick to that process. Don't lie. Above all, if you see a girl five times in 8 months, she needs help and counseling and maybe brains... not her fifth abortion at the age of 16. (Yes. I saw TWO of these).
5) Anti gay/anti gay marriage. Again, how dare you. Do I come in to your house and tell you what to do, and what not to? Do I declare your actions immoral, and cite a "higher power" and a collection of stories, parables and dogma as my justification? I don't like basketball. I think it's boring and silly. Therefore, all basketball games are ended forever, especially since only mutants play it. If you have a hoop stuck on your roof, I will arrest you after I beat you up. If you are OK with that, go ahead and protest gay marriage and beat up gay people. I'll be over shortly.
6) American industry. Why are we so stressed all the time? Simple. Some idiot threw away everything we learned about business in the 50's and 60's, everything we learned about freedom and people since 1776, and told HR heads that profit sharing was bad, and merit increases, and Cost of Living... then they got bean counters to go along, and present numbers showing how much more profit could be made if workers were expected to be there 50 to 60 hours a week, and get paid for only 40. Workers should also take time off from work if they are sick... but if you are sick too often, because you are over-stressed, you get a black mark. If our business model is so much better, why aren't all the other countries bankrupt, and buying American products because it's the only stuff that works?
7) Health care. It's not "Obamacare". Knock that off. It's also not "socialist medicine". Unless Hawaii is a socialist country hiding as a US state... same for Canada, and Japan, and.... here is the problem. Doctors work too many hours a week, and surgeons even more. So they get paid absurd salaries. Over $450,000.00 a year for a proctologist in California. Really? OK, I would have to paid a lot to look at thousands of them a year... wait, I watch TV, and Congress is on TV along with Michelle Bachmann, Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, Dr. Phil.... time to send the networks a bill. Oh. Anyway... so doctors are overpaid and overworked. So are nurses; overworked, that is. Hospitals charge outrageous amounts above cost for everything. Example: I was charged $30.00 for surgical tape. They used about three feet. A roll is 50 yards, and costs $7.00 at Walgreens. Other charges are also inflated. The biggest cost to hospitals, doctors, nurses? Insurance. The insurance agencies are double dipping, and we keep allowing it. We get our costs raised "because of rising health care costs" which are in turn increased by the same insurers raising rates to medical professionals. I for one would cheer wildly for a complete socialist takeover of health care at this point.
Put me in charge for a year. All insurance rates would be cut by 50%, no doctor or nurse would work over 40 hours in one week or 8 hours in one day, fewer mistakes would be made in treatment and surgery, and medical care would be based on you and your doctors choices, not an actuary's tables. Police would have sufficient numbers to do their jobs without overtime and huge pensions; same for firefighters. Politicians would be given a mandatory 10% pay cut for each year they failed to balance the budget in a timely manner, and allowed unchecked greed and corruption to ruin our economy and our way of life. And no one, NO ONE, would be expected to sacrifice their time and their personal pleasures to earn a living. 40 hours work, 40 hours pay. Vacations. Raises. Health care.
The unemployment ranks would dwindle, as many would find themselves with new jobs and careers, and the only people out of work would be the parasitic, grasping, self-involved so called leaders and "captains of industry" and career politicians who represent not the people, but the lobbyists and financial backers.
There, maybe now I can sleep. Write me in when you vote in November... wouldn't THAT be a wakeup call to Washington. "Who? The president is who? Where the hell did HE come from????"
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