The Olympic Glory Thread!

[Rob McCow]

Seeing as we've got a thread on the negative side of the build-up to the Olympics, lets have one celebrating everything that's great about the actual events!

Did anyone settle down to watch the Women's football last night? From the bits I saw there appeared to be some entertaining matches!

We've got the opening ceremony coming up soon, which should be a laugh at least. Anyone plan on watching that?

Come on GB!

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Well the rumours do suggest that Danny Boyle has come up with some interesting surprises for the opening ceremony so it should be worth a look. Shame the whole thing has to finish so late.

Has anyone else seen any of the Olympic Torch relay at all? (Apart from Monday's EastEnders which I'm guessing most of us saw!)

I managed to see Paralympian Ade Adepitan bring it across the Millennium Bridge to Southwark this morning which was quite a special moment.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Well this'll be something to watch out for tonight...

Put in spoiler brackets just to be on the safe side (!)


Doctor Who theme plays at Olympic opening ceremony

[Dirk Gently]

Interesting choices there. All iconic in there own ways I suppose.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

Please note I accept no liability should that article prove to be partially or even entirely incorrect.

[SiHart]

The opening ceremony is insane and brilliant so far!

The Queen and James Bond! Wowsers!!

[Dirk Gently]

I didn't hear the Doctor Who theme but I did catch the TARDIS dematerialising.

[SiHart]

I think there's Doctor Who to come yet if the hints on twitter are anything to go by....

[Dirk Gently]

I must have blinked & missed it. Memo to self...DON'T BLINK!

[SiHart]

They cut it due to overrunning apparently. hey ho.

[Jon Masters]

It was a good show, though why competitors can't just march into a stadium without acting liking Brits abroad and gurning at the camera I don't know. Would be ironic if half the Brit hopefuls didn't get their medal becsue they thought it would be funny to make a pyramid.

I was struck at the end by how great it would have been if Freddie had still been with us. Arctic Monkeys and Hey Jude ? He'd have raised the roof all on his own.

PS Olympic fact - I taught one of the seven young athletes who lit the cauldron.

[Stephen Morgan]

Has anyone else seen any of the Olympic Torch relay at all? (Apart from Monday's EastEnders which I'm guessing most of us saw!)

I managed to see Paralympian Ade Adepitan bring it across the Millennium Bridge to Southwark this morning which was quite a special moment.

We were down in Llanelli a few weeks ago when the torch passed through. Viv, cheeky as ever managed to talk to the torchbearers (local lad, swimming champ, kidney transplant, charity work) mother who told us where the "kiss" would take place. As we got there early in the morning we had a prime position and I actually got to touch an olympic torch for a few seconds.
The atmosphere was tremendous as the procession passed through and was quite a special moment for all concerned.

What I saw of last night's opening ceremony was fantastic. I was in work and kept going in and out the canteen to get a look. The way they lit that cauldron was great, Danny Boyle should be proud of his planning, he gave the country something to remember.

[Jeff]

I for one was disappointed in the lack of Doctor Who in the opening ceremonies. I didn't hear the TARDIS until later on youtube. I wasn't actually expecting David Tennant to light the flame (though that would have been cool) but something more should have made it in, if they had to cut for time it should have been something else.

As a Pink Floyd fan I was glad to see the floating pig at Battersea and the playing of Eclipse as the flame was lit. Loved the Bond and Mr. Bean segments.

[Richard Brinck-Johnsen]

We had a TV on in the office yesterday. It was wonderfully British how we all gave enthusiastic rounds of applause at the Gold Medal wins yesterday!!

[Anthony Williams]

Well, that's surely a Knighthood in the bag for Bradley Wiggins now!

Whitney and I thought that the opening ceremony was mostly marvellous. The only thing that I felt was misplaced was the blatant NHS propaganda, which really had no place in the whole thing. But beyond that, it was a marvellous display of the best of Britain! It's a shame that the Doctor Who and Oasis bits got cut for time reasons, mind.

[Rob McCow]

The only thing that I felt was misplaced was the blatant NHS propaganda

OK, here we go! The right wing reaction to this has made me absolutely furious. I think it's shameful to describe it as 'Propaganda'. Surely any institution which saves people's lives should be celebrated regardless of whether it's funded by the taxpayer, or by private finance, or by insurance.

The NHS is far from perfect, of course. You could pick flaws in any Healthcare system, public or private. So what? The NHS isn't so incompetent that it kills everyone that it treats. In fact, I think a heck of a lot of people actually get better.

The NHS has been a fundamental part of this country for around sixty years. So if you want to celebrate the whole of Britain, it makes sense to include it no matter what you think of it.

In any case, most of the population of the UK was born in an NHS hospital, so the vast majority of us at least owe that to the institution!

[Anthony Williams]

Actually, I was more than okay with it being mentioned that the performers were from the NHS, that they do fantastic work etc. etc.

The only bit that I thought was truly propaganda was this:



Which, IMO, was terribly misjudged, and really politicised the whole thing.

[SiHart]

It's something we should be proud of. It's not perfect, but it's ours and at its best it's wonderful!

[Rob McCow]

I don't see how that was propaganda, Ant. If a big octopus with David Cameron's face had appeared and gobbled the letters up while spraying the audience with blood, that would be propaganda.

Everything is a 'political statement' to some extent. Were you upset about the glorification of James Bond, who is a civil servant?

What would make you happy here? Would you want the letters censored? If you do, you're almost erasing the NHS from history by pretending that it doesn't exist.

[Anthony Williams]

What would make you happy here? Would you want the letters censored? If you do, you're almost erasing the NHS from history by pretending that it doesn't exist.

Not at all. As I said, I was quite happy for it to be mentioned that the performers were employees of the NHS, and that the NHS does a lot of good etc.

I don't even subscribe to the point of view that some nutters have expressed that Voldemort represented the threat to the NHS from the Conservative-led government, and that Mary Poppins represented the NHS saving the day or whatever they claim is the case.

I just thought that the display of the NHS letters was extremely out of place, particularly in a piece that was supposed to be celebrating Britain's brilliance in children's literature. That's the only part that I thought seemed like it was anything approaching propaganda, and totally unnecessary. If Bond had been wearing a badge or shirt with "I'M A CIVIL SERVANT!" in big letters, then I would have found that to be extremely inappropriate, too.

Beyond that, I really thought that the opening ceremony as a whole was absolutely marvellous.

[SiHart]

Children's Lit and Great Ormond Street hospital are linked by Peter Pan, as JM Barries gave away his royalties on the book to GOSH in perpetuity.

[Anthony Williams]

Children's Lit and Great Ormond Street hospital are linked by Peter Pan, as JM Barries gave away his royalties on the book to GOSH in perpetuity.

Indeed - and I felt that the GOSH logo that appeared at one point was very appropriate. I just didn't feel the same about the NHS letters

[SiHart]

There's not much difference- they're all part of the same entity after all.

[Rob McCow]

Yeah, it was a great ceremony.

So what do you think this 'propaganda' supposed to achieve? As you pointed out, it was one part of a huge display. It's not going to brainwash the nation into thinking that the NHS is perfect. It's only a political statement if you want it to be.

There seems to be the viewpoint in the press and the right wing that celebrating enterprise and capitalism is great, but that as soon as you say that the NHS does something right then you're a sinister member of the Communist Propaganda machine!

Is it OK to be a civil servant so long as you don't tell people?

[Anthony Williams]

It's not going to brainwash the nation into thinking that the NHS is perfect.

That's certainly what the Americans that I was watching it with thought was its purpose! I just felt that it was a little out-of-place - by all means, as I've said, I thought that it was quite right to have the GOSH logo, given it's undeniable link with J.M. Barrie and children's literature, but I thought the NHS letters were taking that just a step too far. It seemed forced and out of place - my American friends thought so too, and there was the general consensus that it seemed like propaganda.

Is it OK to be a civil servant so long as you don't tell people?

That's not what I said. I feel that if they had gone out of their way to mention that Bond is a civil servant, then that would be just as out of place as the NHS letters.