by simon baird

Friday, August 08, 2008

...where i live blog the opening ceremony of the 2008 olympics

okay i love drums. drums with lights on them are even better.

countdown.. i have chills..

ok, the suits... can i have the drums back please?

okay better. YES!!!

the drums are a thousand years old?

wow

and glow sticks!

AND GLOW STICKS!! okay I am enjoying this way more than I thought I would. the angle shots where they're moving their heads up and down with the yellow and white and the perfect sync are amazing.

are the city flyovers with the fireworks live? if so then impressive!

how did they do that with the rings? it's a curtain? the crowd with the coloured lights looks cool.

aw, the kids are so cute!!

poor thing has the bindi-irwin-don't-forget-to-smile smile :)

it's the national anthem

WHAT! commercial break!! mid fireworks!!! r u kidding me? telstra must die

there's s scroll thing with video. I thought it was another ad. comentator is explaining that's it represents paper. they are dancing with crayons in their hands. it's brilliant. the stringed instrument thing is 1000 years old just like the drums. it's a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guzheng

the way they did the rolling ends of the scroll is clever. the painting is about a guy who chased the sun.

now it's dudes with feather head dresses bringing in bamboo which is what they used before paper was invented.

the floor is opening. i'm missing the drumming dudes from the opener. the music is dreary.

movable type! and it's doing the mexican wave. that can't have been easy with no alphabet. i hope it's computer controlled and there aren't short people under those things.

the letters are growing pink blossoms. oh it was people! cool! how did they do that! I hope they had a little screen showing them what to do. in the style of guitar hero but with up and down instead of coloured buttons. otherwise, omg..

thanks bendigo bank for making me miss the start of the puppet show. look how about next time we do scrolling ads on the bottom of the screen. it's stupid.

the scroll is back. and someone standing on carpet with people under it? it's the something dynasty. they were the only buddhist dynasty and they were very arty.

the oars are cool. some kind of historical story about something or other.

celebrating the invention of the compass. did not know that.

there's some opera singer girls in dresses. nice costumes. i'm a little bored.

pillars are growing up. it represents the royal palaces. people are on them. careful dudes.

telstra. didn't qantas use that song last time? gag. and we've missed most of the piano segment. he's very famous. and young. he's teaching a little girl some licks. she's having fun.

i guess the scroll is sticking around. oh I thought it was done with suspecnded projectors. it's a giant screen then.. cool. the star men are nice. they've made a dove. and they can change colour. peter pan girl provokes a nikki webster mention. no comment. aw they're making the shape of stadium i think.

tai chi chicks are hot. OH HOW CAN THAT BE AN AD BREAK!! Goddammit. Ford Falcon. Harvey Norman. You are ruining my night!! And we missed the start of... mass tai chi demonstration. AHH!!!

what re they going to do with that piece of paper? ebay?

The kids are doing some painting. And talking about climate and protecting the environment.

wow. brilliant. the tai chi guys are awsome.

kids are getting their backpacks. there are virtual birds instead of those poor pidgeons. nice. aw they coloured in the mountains and the sun.

now it's space mountain. can we expect china to lead the human race into space in the next few decades? why not.

OMG it's mario galaxy! they are running around on the globe.

the singer guy chose to wear: black t-shirt, untucked. can we not manage some sequins at the very least... even buttons and collar would have been an improvement.

oh the umbrellas are beautiful! i'm moved by those umbrellas. i'm imagining felix is on one.

the next company to ruin my night is.... red rooster. and commonwealth bank. though robocop money box made me smile. and we've missed the start of... dance spectacular.

the costumes are pretty special. i guess if you now about chinese history and culture you might know the significance of each costume.

why am i looking at fat bored westerners in the crowd? someone asleep at the control desk? WAKE UP.

athletes are marching. greece first of course. i'm getting a beer.

i can hear bagpipes but I can't see them.

battery update. i've got my screen on full dim. 1 hr 39 remaining.

i like the mali flag guy. tae kwon do champion.

"when you think of bhutan you think of archery"

go israel!

go japan!

"winston churchill called this country the pearl of africa" - and various lame anecdotes and sports trivia... is that the best you have?

guess what? NOW WOULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER TIME FOR AD BREAKS. I suppose they get angry letters from people who miss their country coming out.

cool, the foot prints are going on the paper in different colours.

i guess this goes for a good couple of hours now. i'm signing out for the time being. good night and may the olympic spirit touch your heart even if it's just a little bit.

correction: i think it was a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guqin

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