London 2012 opening ceremony

Finally, London 2012 Olympics is underway. Catching only the last part of the opening ceremony on Friday, I purposely avoided mention of what occurred beforehand. Saturday night we sat down to watch the event in full. What a uniquely British and silly affair, and fantastically enjoyable. I thought the TV coverage was great, and wished that I had been there, as there must have been so much more to see.

Great fireworks, great music, great enjoyment visible by all involved there, and Corgis! Clearly some excellent stagecraft had been prepared, though I did find myself wondering where the sheep were... Voldemort, light-up duvets, Mary Poppins, speedboats, birdy creatures, dance, acrobatics, wonderful. And Sir Tim Berners-Lee of course! (And JK Rowling, and Mr Bean with Sir Simon Rattle and the LSO, and James Bond, etc, etc!) And it even ended with a singalong.

The best bit though, was the cauldron. I've been interested in the designs of Thomas Heatherwick for a long time. I hope that the spectacular achievement of this will override the negative feelings that so many have for his sculpture, The B of the Bang. Found to be unsafe, this sculpture had to be surrounded by fences for health and safety, after one of the vast prongs came away, and has been dismantled. I was so disappointed that it failed, as it was a fantastic sculpture. The beauty and simplicity of the cauldron's formation is testament to the skill of Heatherwick in inverting shape for purpose. Phenomenal.

Well done to the organisers - it was a great opener, well considered and sensitive, and inclusive.

It feels a bit of a whimper following a bang, but I saw the weekly steam train pass by the bottom of the garden this morning. I might have to try and spot it from the local station next weekend, because the trees block any view of it from here.

Links
London 2012 Opening Ceremony
Fabulous fireworks
Cauldron
Thomas Heatherwick
The B of the Bang