What did you do when the Olympic Torch passed by?

[LadyArowana]

Sir Paul at the end was awful and wasn't worth staying up for. The flame/cauldron was though as was the rest. A good show.

Sir Paul was awful even watching it on time delay on Saturday afternoon. Not quite as embarrassing as Madonna, but definitely past sell by date.

 

[Penners]

Yes, I've long felt that someone should tell Macca that his cracked old crock of a voice is now well past its use-by date. He should take to his cardigan and slippers and bask in his former glories, while keeping his vocal cords as still as possible.

Bet then I also thought the Arctic Monkeys were absolute rubbish. Their rendition of Come Together was hopelessly out of tune.

Otherwise, it was an extraordinary, disjointed, eclectic, confusing mish-mash of a show, which - against all odds - was utterly, breathtakingly wonderful.

I mean... Isambard Kingdom Brunel reciting Caliban's lines? NHS staff performing the Bedpan Boogie? A plethora of Poppinses? Johnny Rotten? Doves on bikes? Her Maj parachuting in with James Bond??!!

How on earth did Danny Boyle pitch that plan to LOCOG and get away with it?!

It was jaw-dropping.

 

[LadyArowana]

How on earth did Danny Boyle pitch that plan to LOCOG and get away with it?!
.

He told them it wouldn't be nearly as good as Beijing, but only as far as the rest of the world was concerned and so it wouldn't matter.

 

[biffvernon]

I was right about the bubbles :wink:
Actually it didn't come over on the BBC TV version too well but here's a better piece of film, introduced by Sam the Bubble Man himself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dJC8uKX-cc&feature=player_embedded#!

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Yes, I've long felt that someone should tell Macca that his cracked old crock of a voice is now well past its use-by date. He should take to his cardigan and slippers and bask in his former glories, while keeping his vocal cords as still as possible.

But I thought that was part of the whole message of the evening. Britain had some of its best days behind it, bits are a bit knackered now and the rest is something quirky that we're finally comfortable with.We love them, the world loves them, we know the world loves them really, and so we keep rolling them out.

Besides we've all finished a night in the pub, or at a wedding, or a birthday party, belting out Hey Jude all together.

Why should we change it for the Olympics, just because someone let the rest of the world in the side door to watch?

On reflection, I don't think there was a better way to finish the evening that was more in keeping with the style of the night.

 

[philpjuk100]

I even enjoyed Paul M ! nearly as good as "uncle albert"on the pub piano in fools and horses,a great evening!

 

[Flyfisher]

There had been such a lot of talk about Bejiing being a hard act to follow but I think it was done so differently that there was no real comparison. It all seemed just about right.

I particularly liked the James Bond bit - full marks to Her Maj for going along with that and showing the world that the stiff-upper-lipped Brits do in fact have a sense of humour - and I also very much liked the way the cauldron assembled itself. My bet was always on Redgrave to light the cauldron, but it was a nice touch for him to hand the flame over to the youngsters at the final moment - though it was rather sad and slightly shocking to see Muhummad Ali looking quite so frail.

I entirely agree with Penners' description of how things initially seemed very disjointed, particularly during the industrial revolution phase, but for some reason it did seem to work. I also thought it was a nice touch to include Tim Berners-Lee's relatively recent little gift to the world.

The Macca comments are fair enough, but give a 70-year old a bit of credit. He was an entirely fitting finale, even if he may be a tad past his prime, and who else could have closed such a show with one of their own songs that would instantly recognised by pretty much everyone on the planet and have a billion or so viewers all singing along.

But the most remarkable thing is that Mr Boyle can now sleep easy at night knowing that a certain Mr Vernon approved. There can surely be no higher accolade - not even the inevitable knighthood in the new year's honours list. :wink:

 

[Penners]

Mr Boyle can now sleep easy at night knowing that a certain Mr Vernon approved. There can surely be no higher accolade

:lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[biffvernon]

No corporate advertising, very little militarism, and, of course, no sport. Well done Mr Boyle.

Interesting that the Red Arrows were taking no chances - just a steady straight-line fly over. Over Lincolnshire, where they are based, they throw themselves about in great loops of acrobatics whilst training.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I noticed that! They look so amazing practising here.

I'm staying very grumpy about the opening ceremony and the hosting. I didn't really like it as a spectacle and the music was excruciating, I just felt the whole thing was noisy, bizarre and an obscene waste of money that is needed elsewhere. Plus my little hen disappeared for three days and only came back yesterday looking partied out, I'm convinced she went off to be at the beginning bit.

Why are we hosting the Olympics? I thought we were in financial trouble? Don't understand, at all. Fond of you lot though, so I'm glad it made you happy.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Careful now Joce; I'll put you on my list! :wink:

 

[Penners]

No corporate advertising, very little militarism, and, of course, no sport.

And best of all, no Boris.

 

[Lime]

I like Boris, he comes in for a lot of stick but he has something most other people in politics lack.
It is an apparent desire to be honest and an equally apparent demeanour when he is not honest.
Is that not true honesty?

 

[FamilyWiggs]

You know what I'm going to say by now, don't you? :wink:

Underestimate Boris at your peril.

Boris for PM! Boris for King!

 

[Penners]

Here he is, then - King Boris The First*

*Of Bulgaria - thank goodness!

 

[biffvernon]

Soldiers have been drafted in to fill empty seats at the London 2012 Olympics after prime blocks of seating at the Aquatics Centre and gymnastics arena went unused on the first day of competition

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/29/olympics-empty-seats-locog-army?fb=native&CMP=FBCNETTXT9038

I comes from an organisation that values rich people more highly than poor, giving free tickets to the over-privileged who don't care enough to bother to turn up and care even less that those who would have enjoyed the event have been prevented from so doing.

 

[biffvernon]

And some police action that didn't make the news:

http://www.itv.com/news/story/2012-07-27/arrests-after-critical-mass-cycle-ride-in-london-near-olympic-stadium-stratdford-and-waterloo-bridge/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imoSpvfJz_A&feature=player_embedded

 

[Lime]

mens basketball at the 12,000 capacity basketball arena, 70% of the lower tier of seats empty

About 15% of the larger upper tier, sold to the public, was empty

2,000 seats were empty in the venue to watch Nigeria v Tunisia.

gymnastics there were more than 1,000 empty seats

swimming heats there were an estimated 500 empty seats in one block alone.

More money than sense?
Just plain greedy?
........ explanation, IMO they believed the hype but eventually sold tickets they didn't want.
Stupid or what?

 

[MatthewC]

Interesting that the Red Arrows were taking no chances - just a steady straight-line fly over. Over Lincolnshire, where they are based, they throw themselves about in great loops of acrobatics whilst training.

I doubt that they are allowed to do that sort of thing over a city full of millions of people - just imagine the headlines if anything went wrong.

 

[Flyfisher]

I can't really understand the fuss about empty seats - they've all been paid for or given away as planned haven't they? Or perhaps the ticket holders were wearing non-sponsoring company logos and weren't allowed in. :wink: What do people expect to be done about it - arrest the ticket-holders concerned for not turning up?

It happened a lot at Bejiing also, only there I believe they just conscripted people off the streets to go in and watch, whether they wanted to or not. Is that what we want to happen here?

Personally, I'm not surprised that some people might have decided not to attend after the initial rush of enthusiasm of buying tickets. The cost of a trip to London is never a cheap day out for a family, especially if they are including overnight accomodation, and the TV coverage is so good that, frankly, you'll see more from your sofa than from a stadium seat. I can just imagine people being given 'corporate' free tickets as 'perks' and wondering how to get out of paying £100s for a day out they didn't really want.

Still, after being disappointed by the well-received opening ceremony, the naysayers need something to moan about and I'm sure this won't be the last minor straw being clutched.