Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Disappointing to see gov. newsom with his finger to the wind.

Sadly, there is no cure for stupid.

Stay strong, because they are weak.

Sadly, media malpractice has become standard practice.

Someone should tell Republicans that violence is the last refuge of the incompetent, or possibly the first.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Nothing says ‘pro-life’ like letting children go hungry.

The real work of an opposition party is to hold the people in power accountable.

Welcome to day five of every-bit-as-bad-as-you-thought-it-would-be.

I see no possible difficulties whatsoever with this fool-proof plan.

We can show the world that autocracy can be defeated.

The rest of the comments were smacking Boebert like she was a piñata.

Anyone who bans teaching American history has no right to shape America’s future.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Finding joy where we can, and muddling through where we can’t.

“woke” is the new caravan.

I would try pessimism, but it probably wouldn’t work.

We’re watching the self-immolation of the leading world power on a level unprecedented in human history.

Let me file that under fuck it.

I don’t recall signing up for living in a dystopian sci-fi novel.

Wait, what?

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Let’s delete this post and never speak of this again.

You are here: Home / Sports / Olympics Opening Ceremony Open Thread

Reader Interactions

148Comments

  1. 1.

    Waynski

    Wife’s watching. I’m listening to the Sex Pistols. No sign of Romney. Must be in a quiet room somewhere.

  5. 5.

    the Conster

    I have no idea what to make of this. Beijing, it ain’t.

    ETA: US uniforms suck. Thurston Howell III meets Yankee Doodle Dandy, with stupid little hats. Really Ralph?

  6. 6.

    Anya

    I’ve watched online from the British feed. I sooooo badly wish I was there. Does Paul McCartney always sing off key, or was he just nervous.

  7. 7.

    Comrade Mary

    … And now you know why Obama was so eager to have that creepy Churchill bust taken out of the Oval Office. Nightmare fuel.

    Also: those cheerful people waving on the roof were real spies from MI5.

  14. 14.

    Mr Stagger Lee

    And the morons on NBCSports Network is showing a lame poker tournament. Oh BTW another thing that hased PISSED ME OFF I am told that I could watch certain games (like soccer on MSNBC instead I see reruns of the ED show, Rachel and Lawrence O’Donnell. At least Canadians show Sports!! F*&* NBC!

  15. 15.

    Comrade Mary

    If you have any iota of love left for The Beatles, then please don’t watch Paul’s closer.

  18. 18.

    gnomedad

    Right now I’m watching a celebration of the National Health Service. Wingnut freakout in 3, 2, …

  19. 19.

    PurpleGirl

    I tried watching a bit of it on NBC — TOO MANY DAMN commercials. Watching other stuff instead.

  21. 21.

    ChrisNYC

    I really liked it. And I’m not a fan of big musical numbers generally. Also, a celebration of the NHS is just wow.

    For an acidic counterpoint, there’s this Alan Partridge call of the march of athletes, via the Guardian

    youtube.com/watch?v=xnUNZs42GzY

    Really funny.

  23. 23.

    Narcissus

    A clone army of Mary Poppins just vanquished a bunch of brit lit villains for petes sake.

    how is that not awesome

  24. 24.

    Kane

    Is there anyone in the world besides Mitt Romney who is hoping for the failure of the economy and the Olympics?

  27. 27.

    The Dangerman

    Count me in as one who couldn’t give a shit about the Olympics sports where an Olympic Medal isn’t the top of their sports prizes (read: basketball, soccer, tennis, etc.)

    Now, archery, whitewater, team handball, etc; those are on my calendar.

  28. 28.

    PurpleGirl

    @Kane: I don’t want the Olympics to fail or have major problems but I’m scared that a NYC mayor will get an idea to hold them here in the City.

    ETA: And there are people, including Bloomberg, who would love to host the games. And have attendees depend on mass transit to get from event to event.

  30. 30.

    Comrade Mary

    Oh wow, maybe I’m just not paying full attention, but did you get the setup to this 60s music piece? At 4 pm you could see it starting with a typical British family in a typical British house , but CTV just came back from a commercial break into music.

    Ok, it’s the seventies now …

  31. 31.

    Canuckistani Tom

    Watched the live broadcast. Started watching the repeat, then realized that CTV was editing it for time, and turned it off in disgust.

    I liked the intro. The fly down the Thames, with the characters from The Wind in the Willows, the pig balloon.

    Anyone else notice the ads on the side of the carriage?

  35. 35.

    Steeplejack

    Just got home and turned on the TV (and I haven’t read the comments here yet), but, Lord, this looks like teh suxxor.

    Say what you like about the tenets of Chinese Communist opera, Dude, at least it’s an aesthetic.

    Mary Poppins duking it out with Voldemort? WTF?!

    . . . And now “Chariots of Fire”? Make it stop.

  36. 36.

    Comrade Mary

    But it does please me to see Scotland’s dirtiest toilet make an appearance …

  37. 37.

    Emma

    @the Conster: Beijing it ain’t. And thank God. I found all those large armies of automatons moving perfectly in step rather terrifying. The aesthetic of the Red Army. I like the nearly-controlled chaos that is Britain.

  42. 42.

    foodriots

    The Mr. Bean thing was pretty good. They needed more of that stuff and less of the Broadway Musical bullshit.

  45. 45.

    Comrade Mary

    ARGH,, CTV, those fucking fuckers,, cut off right at the intro of Tim Berners-Lee, those fucking fuckers.

  47. 47.

    Maude

    @PurpleGirl:
    He’s a media hog. He won’t be mayor in four years, at least I hope not.
    Sure, put all those people on the buses and subways, the MTA will handle it.
    Yeah, right.

  49. 49.

    Skerry

    I wish the commentators would shut the fuck up and let me hear what is being sung/played

  52. 52.

    SteveinSC

    Lame, fucking lame. I went back to lame Dyson on the Ed Show. It’s really that bizarre and lame. Oh yeah, I forgot. And fuck their damned German Queen.

  53. 53.

    Steeplejack

    @Comrade Mary:

    I had that crisis when his album Memory Almost Full came out. When it was on the in-store playlist at B&N I was going around apologizing individually to all my yoot coworkers.

  54. 54.

    The Dangerman

    @MikeJ:

    In footy the teams are U-23 with 3 spots for the elders.

    OK, I stand partially corrected; if it was all U-23, I’d watch. Maybe.

    The basketball, however, is pure travesty.

  55. 55.

    burnspbesq

    @MikeJ:

    Except that Spain lost its opener, which is just like the World Cup.

    And the women’s competition is not age-limited.

  58. 58.

    scav

    There’s a determinedly daft sort of eccentric majesty (?) to bits I wasn’t expecting and rather enjoyed. I mean, Brunel reciting Caliban (take that you sceptered isle expectation!) and a parachuting queen? Can’t really tell when they’re serious and when they’re taking the piss and having a good in-joke. Why not have fun. Liked the symbolism of the flame at the end.

  61. 61.

    dmsilev

    @Bobby Thomson: back in I believe 1980, Cogress passed the Sucky Olympics TV Coverage Act, which among other things mandates a minimum of twenty hours a day of uplifting biographical stories shot with a soft focus.

  63. 63.

    burnspbesq

    @The Dangerman:

    The basketball, however, is pure travesty.

    That may be true on the women’s side; realistically, only Australia has a shot at beating the US.

    Men? Six teams could win gold.

  68. 68.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @dmsilev:

    It was 1981. Reagan personally lobbied for it. Carter wanted sports coverage, Reagan wanted “human interest”. Which is one of the major reasons why the networks did everything they could to sabotage Carter, to include staging the Iran Hostage crisis.

  80. 80.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @efgoldman:

    Blame that idiot Roone Arledge. McKay was just the front man.

    The morons at NBC decided to keep dreck alive. Poor Bob Costas, totally lost his mojo late in the 90’s, and became the white Bryant Gumbel.

  83. 83.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @efgoldman:

    Blame that idiot Roone Arledge. McKay was just the front man.

    The morons at NBC decided to keep dreck alive. Poor Bob Costas, totally lost his mojo late in the 90’s, and became the white Bryant Gumbel.

  84. 84.

    MikeJ

    @efgoldman:

    I blame ABC and the late Jim McKay. They were the ones who started the “up close and personal” bullshit.

    I blame the athletes. If they were all racist fuckwits like Ty Cobb NBC wouldn’t even try.

  86. 86.

    Comrade Mary

    Huh? NBC isn’t broadcasting this in prime time? Why, do they know how many cocksucking motherfucking commercial breaks they’re missing? Just ask CTV.

  87. 87.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @efgoldman:

    Blame that idiot Roone Arledge. McKay was just the front man.

    The morons at NBC decided to keep dreck alive. Poor Bob Costas, totally lost his mojo late in the 90’s, and became the white Bryant Gumbel.

  88. 88.

    MikeJ

    @efgoldman:

    I blame ABC and the late Jim McKay. They were the ones who started the “up close and personal” bullshit.

    I blame the athletes. If they were all racist fuckwits like Ty Cobb NBC wouldn’t even try.

  89. 89.

    The Dangerman

    @burnspbesq:

    Men? Six teams could win gold.

    The podium should be US, Spain, Argentina, not necessarily in that order. Anything else is a monster upset.

    I guess I don’t really care if Kobe wins another gold medal; same applied to Jordan in 1992. Now, if someone can make a run at Jordan’s record from 1984, that might be interesting (and the events referenced didn’t occur on the basketball court).

  90. 90.

    Villago Delenda Est

    @efgoldman:

    Blame that idiot Roone Arledge. McKay was just the front man.

    The morons at NBC decided to keep dreck alive. Poor Bob Costas, totally lost his mojo late in the 90’s, and became the white Bryant Gumbel.

  93. 93.

    MikeJ

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    What you see is what you get
    You’ve made your bed, you better lie in it
    You choose your leaders and place your trust
    As their lies put you down and their promises bust
    You’ll see kidney machine replaced by rockets and guns

    And the public wants what the public gets
    But I want nothing this society’s got
    I’m going underground

    (And FYWP, I can see I’m not the only one it’s being obnoxious to)

  96. 96.

    erops

    I’ve only now finished grading half the papers from my summer class & tuned in. If they had Sir Paul, mr Bean, & U2, did they really hail the NHS? Have they sung Jerusalem? (One of my favourites).
    Also, I’m in Canada & CTV news is pretty good. Their domestic commentary is more acute then CBC.

  98. 98.

    PurpleGirl

    @Maude: Were you at the Shea Stadium concert? I’m convinced that anything of the Beatles I heard was a memory because of how loud the crowd was.

  101. 101.

    Comrade Mary

    @erops: Well, kind of. Wait till you get to the extended defense of Mitt Romney’s Olympic remarks.

  103. 103.

    Linnaeus

    @slag:

    I did not see that before. Pretty cool. I like how the truck pulls in, they just leave the ladder, then drive off.

  104. 104.

    catatonia

    They should go straight to the parade of nations, the best athletes from around the world, all having fun and looking good. Not this ha’penny crap: music hall knockoff glitzed up with lasers and the frenetic dancing of adolescents who are probably the well-connected issue of the UK’s version of 0.01%.

    I’ve got to admit, Costas does a pretty good job on this.

  105. 105.

    Omnes Omnibus

    @Southern Beale: “And a shitload of these tools will never win a medal and this moment will be the high point of their lives. Yuck, yuck, yuck…”

  106. 106.

    JPL

    @catatonia: Costas..you must be kidding.. This country has muslims.. and here is American Samoa followed by silence. Someone needs to stick a sock in his mouth. IMO…

  108. 108.

    slag

    @Linnaeus: I know. I’d have a hard time not engaging the bear hug. Those little ones are freakin adorable!

    It’s really nice to see people do good things for our furry brethren.

  109. 109.

    ChrisNYC

    I watched the livestream this afternoon. BBC commentary was much much better. E.g., noted that JM Barrie bequeathed his royalties to a hospital, which hospital was represented in the show, via drs and nurses. Gave a much better explication of the thought about Britishness and their history that Boyle put into the thing.

  112. 112.

    gene108

    Only thing I learned from this opening ceremony is the British set their national anthem to the tune of “God Bless America”.

  114. 114.

    Calouste

    @erops:

    Jerusalem is more or less the unofficial anthem of England, so they will only play that if they also play the anthems for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

  118. 118.

    burnspbesq

    @Calouste:

    You could see the confusion on the faces of the Great Britain football team when they played “God Save the Queen” before their match yesterday. I don’t think any of the Welsh players know the words.

  119. 119.

    Just One More Canuck

    I watched some of the coverage on TSN/CTV here in Canada. If that coverage is better than the NBC feed, then it must really suck large. It’s really time for Brian Williams to retire (Canada’s Brian Williams, not yours)

  120. 120.

    Raven

    Aw what the fuck do people expect. They are not just going to show people walking around. Turn it off if it bothers you so much. Damn.

  121. 121.

    burnspbesq

    They should just play “I Can’t Turn You Loose” before all of the US and GB basketball games, there are so many Dookies involved.

  122. 122.

    ChrisNYC

    @Calouste: They did it at the beginning. Video of kids in each place. Jerusalem and Danny Boy for (Northern) Ireland. Scotland and Wales in there too.

    From a comment on The Guardian re Danny Boyle:

    O Danny Boy
    the hype,
    the hype’s appalling

    PS: I have no idea why I know so very much about this thing.

  123. 123.

    Steeplejack

    TV on in the background. I thought I just heard Bob Costas say, “Small-breasted African nation.” I’m not sure we need that level of in-depth commentary.

    Is it just me, or has Costas lately been looking like he’s lost a lot of weight in that “I’m severely dieting but not working out” or “I’m dying of AIDS but haven’t told anybody” way?

    Ah. Gambia. A “small west African nation.” That’s all right, then. Although the other may be true as well.

  124. 124.

    catatonia

    @JPL:

    Well, yeah, but when I’m seeing Kaiser Permanente using the Olympic ideal of physically striving for excellence, to shill its egregious self ….

    I mean, this whole goddam thing is a reach around to corporate crap. And that’s so inevitable, I’d say it was OK, if occasionally I didn’t come to this website and realize, no, it really isn’t. Whatever.

    Now corporate crap is an inevitable byproduct whenever you try to observe a World Event, but I try to still enjoy things like when Costas says:

    “Germany’s medal count has slipped in recent years, so they’re (paraphrase)embracing East German principles …”

    And then he backs up and says, but they’re really not …

    The good old days, with those East German female swimmers with shoulders that would put Schwartznegger, or Rommey, to shame.

    Sometimes, with Costas, the truth slips out, and the cynic in me is rewarded.

  125. 125.

    maven

    Still watching ‘Lock Up’. Waiting for what Every One Else In The World Has Already Seen.

    At least those who have electricity.

  128. 128.

    different-church-lady

    @Anya:

    Does Paul McCartney always sing off key, or was he just nervous.

    I worked his show at Fenway Park a few years ago: I assure you he does not.

  130. 130.

    Suffern ACE

    God. There are just too many countries. Malta…like that counts for anything but an airbase and naval depot.

  131. 131.

    dmsilev

    @catatonia:

    Now corporate crap is an inevitable byproduct whenever you try to observe a World Event, but I try to still enjoy things like when Costas says:
    __
    “Germany’s medal count has slipped in recent years, so they’re (paraphrase)embracing East German principles …”

    My favorite slip along those lines came during the seemingly endless coverage of Diana’s funeral. One of the news anchors, I’d like to say Peter Jennings, said something along the lines of “the pageantry comes from the last vestiges of a dying empire”. Then paused. Then added “I meant that in the best possible way, of course.”

  132. 132.

    different-church-lady

    Once again a major television network has decided that a graphic telling me what is coming is more important than my ability to see the thing that’s actually on the screen at the moment.

  134. 134.

    freelancer

    For those on the West Coast feed, The Queen just showed up and the show has been pretty great so far.

  135. 135.

    clayton

    Lazy announcers on NBC. I guess they think all of us watching in the US don’t care about other countries — a never lived there don’t care attitude.

    Sigh. I would have liked to know without digging through the Olympics 2012 site about the flagbearers.

    American exceptionalism.

    And why isn’t American at the front, huh? /wingnut wacthing.

  136. 136.

    ChrisNYC

    So Danny Boyle says don’t be offended wingnuts.

    Asked whether he was trying to make a political point by including a lengthy sequence paying tribute to the NHS, featuring hundreds of real nurses, Boyle said free universal healthcare was “an amazing thing to celebrate”.

    “The sensibility of the show is very personal,” he said. “We had no agenda other than values we feel are true. Not everybody will love that but everyone will recognise it’s true. There’s no bullshit in it and there’s no point-making either.”

  139. 139.

    pseudonymous in nc

    @scav:

    Can’t really tell when they’re serious and when they’re taking the piss and having a good in-joke.

    That’s the point. A bit bonkers, a bit loose at the seams, but absolutely heartfelt. As someone said on the Twitters, it’s by, of and for the British, and they’re the ones who paid for it. If the wingnuts prefer the Chinese approach to such things, so be it.

    @ChrisNYC:

    BBC commentary was much much better.

    Honestly, I thought the BBC commentary was mostly rubbish: too much extemporising, especially during the parade. Trevor Nelson was out of his depth, and his co-commentators up to their necks.

  141. 141.

    foodriots

    I don’t know what all you wankers are whining about. I watched it on CTVolympics.ca and watched it later on NBC. NBC did a pretty good job I think but they were both ok.

    It’s just the opening ceremonies though. The real show are the stories that happen when the athletes compete.

    There was already one cool story where a legally blind guy broke the world record in archery. No sure what that’s all about but sounds like a pretty inspiring story I would think.

  144. 144.

    maven

    @dmsilev:

    Of course remember Diane (Double Dildo Insertion) Sawyer wore – Green-to the funeral.

    This all can’t be forgotten can it?

  146. 146.

    Canuckistani Tom

    So anyway, after Mr Bean showed up and Brian Williams (Cdn) mentioned that one of the flame lighting candidates was Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), I started wondering if we would really have the Doctor light the flame. Turns out no. I haz a sad. Although I thought I heard the TARDIS sound at one point.

    Also, no Monty Python. How hard could it be to get a few guys in pinstripe suits to do a silly walk?

    Funny thing was that I was watching with friends, and we were guessing which British song would be next during the musical. And we were spot on (‘we’re into he Britpop era, so there should be some Blurr’). Thank god we ended before the Spice Girls. Prize goes to a bud who mentioned that he was ‘from a generation that gets a different image than 4 heads when you play Bohemian Rhapsody’ At that second, they cut to the headbanging scene from Wayne’s World.

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