The opening ceremony was simply amazing last night. Getting in was hassle free. They didn't have to worry a lot about security because they had so many volunteers walking around. You did have to go through a metal detector but we are all used to that by now. There was also a Zeppelin(sp) blimp flying around as well as a few helicopters but they stayed up pretty high so you couldn't hear them. After I got in I found that they had put small boxes on all of our seats. Upon opening you found a full book that explained what you were going to see in the ceremony. It didn't spoil it, but rather complimented it. This was a necessary treat because they went all out with their props and I wouldn't have had a chance of understanding what was going on. Also inside was a small blue LED flashlight keyring and a bronze bell. When they prepped the audience they explained to us that we were to ring the bell after the chairman of the IOC gave his speech and were to blink our flashlights at some other predetermined time. The bell worked fine but the lights didn't work so well, as everyone pretty much played with them the entire time
I think they learned a lesson about trying to control crowds.In the 15 minutes before the game started something amazing happened. I pretty much had one of the cheaper tickets, but there weren't any "bad seats" in the place. In designing brand new stadiums they have pretty much gotten past that limitation. Nonetheless, you know how us bourgeoisie are, so a few of us in these top two sections decided to start the wave. About ten of us would stand up signaling to eachother and then count down - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and quite a few people would get up and do it, and at first the wave only made it over three sections. So we tried it again - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and that time it made it over about 7 sections. So we tried it one more time - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, and this time it made it all the way around, and it was pretty amazing because not only did it go around the top section, but it went down to the bottom section as well, and it didn't stop at the end, but it went around 10-15 times! After that the crowd realized the kind of power and energy we had and it was a lot of fun. Lots of chanting and ringing of our cow bells and blinking of lights and patting eachother on the back. Speaking of which, the guy to my right was from New Zealand, the guy on the right of him was from Ireland, the guy above me to my right was from Nigeria, and the guy to my left was from Greece. He helped translate everything for me and at the end of the ceremony when the Greek athletes were running the flame around he told me who each one was and what sport they were famous for. A very nice guy really.
The makeup of the stadium was incredible, but I am not going to go into great detail right now because I am going to be able to put together some beautiful panoramas when I get back to Naples.
The theme of the ceremony was the history of man starting at 3000 B.C., in Greece of course. I am sure there are already websites out their describing the ceremony in great detail so I won't do that here. But basically what they did is an abstract visualization of all of the pieces of man throughout our history. It was very much like Emerson's History which some of you know I am very fond of. I had three favorite parts of the ceremony. I think I have to say the number one is just the togetherness of having peoples from more than 202 countries all in the same stadium. Seeing all the athletes in the world in front of you...it was truly amazing. My second favorite, and this was a very short happening, was hearing Björk's voice. It brings tears to my eyes to think about it. I have heard her sing before, I think I have one of her CDs, but I have never in my life heard a voice like this. Hopefully they put out a CD. My other favorite part was the set that DJ Tiesto played. I have a lot of friends in San Diego who are DJs so I know a lot about it, and he played the most awesome set that I have ever been witness too.
Thats my really sketchy description. It was definitely one of the most amazing experiences of my life.
If you haven't seen, Google has a really cool logo up for the Olympics. I'm not sure if they will let me post it here but I'll try. Until next time
