The World is Watching

Wow. The opening ceremony was pretty cool. I was pretty annoyed by the commentators (as ever... a plague upon your wagging tongue, Matt Lauer) and their continual, often superfluous, chatter, but they did at least give this one useful bit of information: The ceremony was planned/staged/etc. by a successful Chinese filmmaker (yes, I've forgotten his name) and he had a budget that might be described as beyond astronomical. So (Matt said-- about 6 times), this is what happens when you give a creative, world-class artist an unlimited budget. I'm sure he felt it was worth every penny. (Or whatever the local equivalent is in China.)

The part that excites me about the opening ceremonies is the parade of nations, and while I didn't stay up long enough to see the end, I saw most of the countries I was watching for. (I missed Mexico-- either because I was away from the TV or because they came on after I went to bed.) I did see Switzerland, though, and was rewarded for my patience by seeing my good pal Roger Federer carrying his nation's flag. (Okay, he's not my pal. I don't care.)

The other high spot of the parade was found in the medley of music played as the athletes came in-- the second or third song that came up was "Scotland the Brave." (Played by the bagpipes, no less.) Naturally, I went from casual lounging on the couch to sitting bolt upright in about a millisecond-- causing Chad to caution me about hurting myself. Once I worked out that they were playing a selection of music from (seemingly) all over the place, I sat back to enjoy the show.

And hear the song. Like five times. Bless you, unknown Chinese filmmaker.