Loz

I'm fat and unfit. You?

"A teenager has been arrested by police investigating abuse of Team GB diver Tom Daley on Twitter." I'm sorry, but has someone passed a law making it illegal to be a complete a***hole? Why the hell are the police involved in this? Whatever happened to free speech in this country and where will it end?

Mine is a Trindad and Tobago sprinter in the 100m. Huh? These days, breaking into anything resembling a jog is, frankly, beyond me.

I don't know which is funnier to watch... the Daily Fail getting all worked up about something, or professionally offended lefties getting all worked about about the Daily Fail getting all worked up.

Ed Williband Also, I've realised there is nothing you can do to Ed Balls' name that makes it more funny than it is.

Are you going to Olympic Park for any events? Loads of tents there that give you the opportunity.

Help-Ma-Boab Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > That woman that was in My Family. Zoe Wankmaker?

Lionel Bitchie Cheryl Mole Simon Cowbell (can you add a letter?)

> Is that en aitch es or en haitch es? Generally, in London, 'Ennay Shess"

Brendan Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > No that?s what I got. And then Mary Poppins clones > herself many times over and parachutes in to save the day. But surely the nice NHS people did nothing to save the children - it was the lovely Mary Poppins the nanny. Could it not be read then that the metaphor was that the nice traditional English nanny fought against the nasty cheap, imported au pairs?

The NHS segment was actually called "Second star on the right and straight on til morning" and was a celebration of the NHS (and Great Ormond St, which probably completely flummoxed any non-UK viewer), but it also was a homage to the wealth of UK children's literature. The NHS bit was really only the first few minutes making the logos out of beds. After that, we were into the kiddy book dream sequence which was the more substantial part of the segment. Small child in hospital goes to sleep and dreams of Voldemort, Cruella deVille, Captain Hook and the Queen of Hearts, before a host of Harry Potter witches fly down, transforming into Mary Poppins and fight Voldemort. Really, the NHS bit was only part of it. I thought the logos weren't entirely necessary, but the rest of the segment was very good, but didn't look as good on telly as it could of.

Michael Palaeologus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Great ceremony, I did pass comment a few times that it would have the right wing of the > Conservative Party frothing at the mouth, and so it did. Good. I know that one plonker MP did froth a bit, but I really do not think the ceremony particularly leant in any particular political direction, though the NHS featuring seems to have the left wing creaming their collective jeans. The whole point of the ceremony was to celebrate two things: first, the contribution the UK has made to the world in so many ways and second, and most importantly, celebrating the power of the individual. Neither of these are particularly left or right wing concepts. Yes, it celebrated the NHS, but mainly the individuals in it. It also honoured and celebrated the armed services. It showed the Queen in a wonderful new light. It celebrated our youth and our culture. As Tim Berniers-Lee's tweet said, "This is for everyone." That sentiment was also on the last page of the official programme - the text created from a montage of the photos of all the volunteer performers. Danny's description to us of the vision behind the Industrial Revolution sequence, was also telling: "You are creating hell. That is why we?re putting you through hell. The Industrial Revolution was the most important moment, not just in British history, but in human history. It was monstrous, but it changed lives. People, including you and me, can read and write thanks to it. It made us prosperous. But it also industrialised war and lead to horrendous casualties." The lefties and righties can fight all they like, but Shami Chakrabarti in the guardian today summed it up best: "This didn't feel like a leftwing or rightwing rally. There was far too much variety, self-deprecation and wit ? qualities that made the ceremony all the more British. From innovation in industry and technology to diversity in the arts and literature; from suffragettes and hunger marchers to punks and rappers ? the pageant was a celebration of our freedom. As with all great theatre, it became progressively easy to suspend disbelief. Boyle's story of Britain was inclusive and truthful, co-ordinated and individual, spectacular and human..."

Alan Medic Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > From what I've heard only 5% on the seats at any > event are for IOC hangers on. The rest of the > empty seats is from the corporate sector who were > sold tickets on the understanding that they would be used. According to the Beeb corporates are not the main problem, but the "Olympic Family" who aren't turning up. "Eight per cent of tickets have been made available to sponsors and 75% per cent to the public. Another 12% go to National Olympic Committees and 5% to the Olympic family - people like IOC officials and the media." [...] "It doesn't appear to be a sponsor issue. Sponsors are turning up," Seb Coe said on Sunday. Locog has looked at who didn't turn up on Saturday and it was not predominantly the Games' corporate funders.

Plus the wonderful Nimrod...

... and here's the music from the Pandemonium segment. I can't tell you how many times I have heard this, but it is still an amazing piece of music that perfectly represented the story. The last chord still gets me.

Caz - it's also now available on iPlayer.

Best part of the opening ceremony was... I got a close up for a few seconds!!! My clockwork device, lever pulling skills have finally got the attention they deserved. I am now a global megastar.

giggirl Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > I fell off a slide and hurt my arse. It's touch > and go whether my dignity will survive CPR. > Tragic. I have this weird mental picture of someone performing CPR on your arse. I have to say, it's quite rude...

There will be a DVD released at some stage, caz.

Well, to all my fellow EDFers involved tonight... the best of luck and enjoy this remarkable experience.

Damn...

Last night was even better than Monday - just about a full house. Standing on the field of play and hearing 80000 people suddenly go 'WOOOOH' all at once is a pretty awesome! Good luck to all - and pray that the rain stays away!

The Gruniad have a pretty believable breakdown here. They reckon ?10.6bn, of which ?9.3bn is public funding.

StraferJack Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Firstly has that 24 billion been verified by anyone or is it as pie in sky as the 2 billion? Estimates have ranged from ?9bn up to ?24bn (which is Sky News's number). General agreement seems to be around the ?10bn mark. But how much of that is public transport upgrades? Is anyone really going to argue that they are a huge plus for London? Secondly, has anyone been to the Olympic Park? And did you see the s**thole it was built upon? Regenerating that part of London is a massive plus as well. And then there are the sports facilities. London's sports facilities, for a world class city, are a disgrace. Having a few world class sports facilities is no bad thing. So, yes, ?10 bn is a huge amount. But the stuff we are getting out of it is much more than a white elephant. And all that is before you start looking at any economic benefit.

Fabricio the Guido Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Have you read about Boyle's opening ceremony? Nostalgia and melancholia with a nod to the modern > which is supposed to pass for humour, but is really quiet disappointing. I'm not watching it > because it is cringe worthy and worse than than the jubilee flotilla. But there has been (thankfully) very little in the press about the opening ceremony. We've played to over 120,000 people over two nights in the final dress rehearsals and the feedback has been far, far better than we ever hoped for. In fact, I've yet to see any bad comment from anyone who has seen the show - all of the 'bad' comments are from misery guts that are, I think, hoping that it will be crap so they have something to moan about. So really, don't watch it. You might just enjoy it, which will probably ruin your day!