F1 Fanatic

@F1Yankee you’re right, you definitely should have watched that before!

I thought it was great. I didn’t mind Arctic Monkeys playing, even though I’m not a fan (although I thought that as Muse have done an official Olympic song, they might perform, which I would have preferred), and thought everything else was something that was very important to Britain and very well executed, although McCartney sounded a bit poor. I also enjoyed seeing Brunel feature so heavily, as I study engineering at the university which bears his name.

I didn’t ever think it felt too slow up until it got to the teams, which always has been and always will be incredibly dull.

About ten minutes before the ceremony started a guy with a guitar was singing, does anyone know what song it was?

I loved the ceremony. I thought it was terrific and I’m so glad the NHS got a mention and I hope Saudi really were irritated by that clip of the two women kissing (although I feel for their oppressed citizens who don’t enjoy our freedom). I thought the cauldron flame thing at the end was the best bit although I was chuffed at hearing The Kinks. It wasn’t as regimented as the epic show China gave but there was a lot more fun and soul to it I thought and I absolutely loved it.

I’m really enjoying the sports too which I never thought I’d say. I’ve really gotten into the gymnastics already but I must confess I have no idea what events are being held so each time I tune in it’s like a nice surprise.

Aw, I love Frank Turner, would have watched earlier if I’d known that.
@steph

I Still Believe.

I thought the opening ceremony was fun, but it was definitely a hot mess. I heard it would have made more sense if the american broadcast hadn’t stuck in so many ad breaks, but it seems like so many half-way thought out ideas were crammed in on top of each other that i don’t know how it was supposed to work–why did Kenneth Brannaugh declame Caliban’s lines in high oratory fashion, dressed in as an early industrialist? The passage from the tempest would have been an amazing intro, if it were only given properly fey.

It was fairly impressive. Great idea for the lighting of the torch. But I just wish this country would cease it’s obsession with a past-it footballer! The nod to Pink Floyd in the opening sequence down the Thames was great too!

As for the events so far, I’m less than overwhelmed by the shooting and archery.

I missed most of the cycling unfortunately, but it was very exciting. It’s a shame that a lot of the coverage in the UK is seemingly centered around the fact that all the other countries should have happily raced for a big sprint finish to suit the coronation of Cavendish. It’s also very hard to congratulate a blood-doper on victory too! And watching the BBC’s studio pundits of Kelly Holmes, McEnroe and Michael Johnson should be good, but when talking about the cycling it’s abundantly clear that none of them know much and it was quite embarrassing for them, particularly as the latter two are probably the best pundits in any sport.

at 28 million pounds the olympic ceremony was cheaper than Andy Carrol. When it gets put like that, you realise how strange the way money is spent these days

I also watched the opening ceremony and enjoyed it rather more than I expected it would. Above all it had British people at the heart of it, and that’s how it should be: we saw industrial revolution workers, women’s democracy campaigners, NHS nurses and post-imperial immigrants. As a history graduate it definitely rubbed me up the right way!

That gelled quite nicely with the inclusive theme behind the torch. And of course I enjoyed the comic bits, particularly Rowan Atkinson during Chariots of Fire.

Complaints? I thought Hey Jude was a terribly unimaginative choice of closing song and McCartney didn’t half milk it. The bit with the queen felt like an afterthought, didn’t really fit in with the rest of the ceremony and with the earlier footage clearly having been shot earlier in the evening it was a bit confusing.

Here’s a cool video showing the ceremony from the perspective of one of the performers:

Whats with the red button on freesat? It doesnt show any of the live sports going on, only highlights of the previous days. Looks like I’m going to have to settle with only BBC1 and BBC3. Brilliant :/

Also I was watching the beach volleyball and Austria were up against Brazil. Going into the deciding set the BBC switched over to the sailing. I mean what is the point in that? It was only just the beginning of the race aswell..