Before I get into this post I feel I need to apologize for my very inconsistent blogging lately. I’m going to lay the blame on summer and the craziness that always seems to attach itself to the season. I’m trying to get back into a routine, but with several big events still to come for me there is a good probability that I will miss another post here and there. But enough of that, let’s talk about the Olympics!
This past Friday night the opening ceremonies of the 2012 Olympic games aired. Talk about a frustrating night! If you’ve been following my blog, you know how excited I was for this event, and I almost missed it.
We were getting new cable and internet installed and the people who were supposed to install it were running late. Several hours late. Someone else was finally sent in and was able to get everything installed in record time, but we still missed about the first 15 minutes of the opening ceremonies.
I have no idea what kind of set up was given for the scene from Abraham Lincoln: Orc Hunter that we came in on, so I’m not entirely sure what it was supposed to represent. I had accidentally seen a few tweets from people who were watching it live earlier in the day who joked that it looked like Hobbiton, so all I could think of was the Shire and the fires of Mordor (eventually I will go back and watch the beginning). All joking aside, though, the scene was absolutely beautiful and I did really enjoy what I saw of it. And, of course, when I later learned that the grassy knoll they left out the entire time represented Glastonbury my nerd heart did a little jig.
I absolutely loved the section with the children and British literature. I squealed like a crazy person when Jo came out and read from Peter Pan and the gigantic Voldemort may have been the creepiest thing ever. But even aside from the Harry Potter moments, everything about this segment was fun and there were a ton of references that made me smile.
I’m not that big into music, especially music from before my childhood, so the digital journey section with all the music was not as exciting for me as it probably was for other people. I did, however, enjoy the dance numbers and I thought that the engineering of all the different components was quite impressive. The highlight for me, though, was when they slipped in the sound of the TARDIS during Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody.” We may not have gotten the Doctor lighting the torch, but at least we Whovians got some kind of a nod.
Which brings me to the torch lighting – how cool was that?! First of all, that was a really neat gesture to have the younger generation of athletes light it. And second, that was one of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen. I can’t even imagine how amazing that looked in person. Well done, London!
And now we are well into the first week of the 2012 Olympic games and there have already been some incredible achievements. Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings continue to dominate in beach volleyball as they fight for their third Olympic gold medal, there have been victories (and disappointments) over at the pool, and for the first time since the “Magnificent Seven” did it back in 1996 our female gymnastics team won the gold. Yes, there has been much to cheer over and we haven’t even reached the halfway mark. I can’t wait to see what is yet to come!
Have you been watching the Olympics? What did you think of the opening ceremonies? What have been the most exciting medal wins for you? Let me know in the comments.
Hi Jessica, I’m glad I somehow stumbled onto your blog! Great post
I would like to point out Kenneth Branagh was dressed as Isambard Kingdom Brunel (more info on my Olympic Opening Ceremony post) not Abraham Lincoln but plenty of people thought that too. I look forward to your future posts 
Hahaha, yeah I knew he wasn’t actually supposed to be Lincoln, but I had no idea who he was. Thank you for filling me in! And thank you for the comment. It’s always nice to see new people stopping by.
I have been watching the games. I have to record them so I’m about 4 days behind in watching but I skip over a lot of it. Like the 21 hours of cycling or whatever it was. I don’t really need to watch the ENTIRE race.
I didn’t care for the opening ceremony. It was okay. I understand what they were trying to do, but overall I was a little bored. I was glad to see the Queen so on board with the whole thing though. That made me smile.
Go team USA!!
Patricia Rickrode
w/a Jansen Schmidt
I do the same thing. There was once a time when I could watch everything as it aired throughout the day, but no longer.
The part with the Queen was a lot of fun! My favorite was when the man who was responsible for the ceremonies (I don’t remember his name) was being interviewed and he said the Queen was “tickety boom” about it. LOL
When I was watching the Opening Ceremony, I also thought it all was very Lord of the Rings-esque. When they were forging the ring before the 5 Olympic rings went up in the air, I thought of the prologue scene in the 1st Lord of the Rings movie when they showed the rings of power being made.
I’ve been watching as much of the primetime broadcasts as I can, but the ones that I absolutely cannot miss are with Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh Jennings. Four years ago, the sport that we started getting into the last time around was beach volleyball with Misty and Kerri. And I couldn’t wait to see them again this year. And if there was a night or time I wasn’t able to tune in, I made sure to record it. — That was scary last night when they lost one of the sets (the first time they’ve ever lost), but fortunately they won the match.
Oh my goodness, yes! That stressed me out too, but they came back with a vengeance in the next set. They are one incredible team!
I was so excited for the Olympics, too, and then realized that we’d booked a vacation during the first week of them.
We’re in Canada and catch snatches of them, but of course they’re not focused on the US athletes like we wish they were. Still, I’ve gotten to watch my beloved Michael Phelps earn more medals.
I liked the opening ceremonies, though some parts dragged on too long. I liked all the references to literature, but didn’t care for the digital age stuff. I always like watching the athletes walk in and loved that they all planted their flags on the hill. The torch lighting was beautiful.
For the first time in my life I’m eager to finish vacation and get home so I can watch the second week of ther games. I won’t make this mistake again.
Aw man, that sucks! I hope you enjoy your vacation, though. The Olympics will be waiting for you when you return.
I would like to point out that *I* was the one who pointed out the TARDIS noise and who was on the phone with you during the torch lighting that you complained about the whole time. Just saying
Um…I did not complain about the torch lighting! All I did was express my disappointment that it was not the Doctor lighting it, then I went on to talk about how beautiful the torch lighting was. So you can shut it!
Nope, I don’t watch the Olympics! There I’ve said it