Olympics and all that jazz

"One must watch the Olympics because one must partake in a sense of national pride."
"You should totally watch the Olympics because it is probably never going to be held in England again in your lifetime."
"Come on, watch the Olympics! It won't be on for another four years. You might as well."

These arguments have all been put to me in the run up to the London 2012 Olympics in response to a statement I made that I probably won't watch any of the Olympic events except the opening and closing ceremonies. And the gymnastics. Those gymnasts terrify me with the ease in which they fling from bar to bar, twisting and contorting their bodies into unnatural positions. But they look amazing.
So yeah, aside from that, I probably won't watch much of the Olympics, but good luck to Team GB!

I did watch the Opening Ceremony though. I had really low expectations after our presentation at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, and well, we generally suck at stuff like that. I love cheesy and corny, but there's a line of embarrassment that we tend to straddle every time we are at the forefront of the world stage.

But Mr Danny Boyle nailed it.

The ceremony had the perfect blend of sheep, Victorians quoting Shakespeare's The Tempest, flying trees and houses, James Bond jumping out of a helicopter with the "Queen" (although the Queen's cameo in a short video with James Bond was brilliant! The screencaps and gifs on Tumblr started pouring in seconds later), and Mr Bean. It was beautifully British.  The literature segment with the nurses and doctors from Great Ormond Street was lovely; anyone that combine Peter Pan and Harry Potter with such an amazing cause definitely gets my approval. It surpassed my expectations and it was so wonderfully creative.

And then came the two hour long parade. That was great. For like half an hour. But when an hour goes past and you still haven't reached the letter "S", you start to lose interest, especially when the female commentator announcing all the countries is waaaaay too enthusiastic at 11pm.
I did learn some interesting facts along the way though. For example, apparently guinea pigs do not come from Guinea. (Yeah, that had my parents laughing for ages.) And the Cayman Islands have a pineapple and a turtle on their national flag! Win!
Also, I'm pretty sure some of those countries were made up. Hey there Benin! I didn't realise you even existed... 


Other highlights included the reveal of the Olympic cauldron which was incredible. I could mention other fun facts about the opening ceremony, but the chances are that you've probably seen it. And if you haven't, go see it!

204 countries all united under one roof, celebrating a united passion and time where we celebrate achievements and different cultures. It's just a shame we don't get to see that all the time...

P.S. Yes, I did take the time to draw the above picture on Paint.