I'm enjoying the opening ceremonies so far, and they've barely begun. I LOVED that Canada remembered their First Nations people and included them as a prominent part of the opening ceremony.

I also really like those white quilted skirts the women standing along the route the athletes are entering from are wearing. Of course, I'd look like a marshmallow wearing one of those, but if I was still a skinny youngster, I'd love wearing one of those. [img]/domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/happy.gif[/img]

It hasn't started yet for us out here on the West coast - Even though the Olympics are in our time zone, NBC is tape-delaying all of their broadcasts for us.  So we don't get to see any of it live.....

Not even the events.  I can understand it when the Olympics are on a different continent, but this is really disappointing.  Even the weekend broadcasts during the day are being tape delayed here.  I think an NBC executive visited New Mexico, saw the cliff dwellings of the Anasazi, and decided everyone west of the Mississippi still lives in caves. 

Wow, you're in the same time zone as the Olympics and you still don't get it live? I would have preferred to start watching a few hours earlier. I'm getting really sleepy but want to keep watching.

I'm really loving this ceremony. Canadians are always really good story tellers. [img]/domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/happy.gif[/img] I'll try not to spoil anything for gop, so will just say that the ceremony seems to have broken from trying to top one another with dazzling special effects and instead has returned to relatively simple props that are well used to create a fantasy world and tell a story...it's great theater!

I will wait until tomorrow to return to talk more about details so everyone else has a chance to see it first.

Yes, I am and I received a calendar and something else from their today...  I like to watch all Olympics

Calluna, you don't have to stop talking about it - One of the great things about the opening ceremonies is that it really isn't a serial event - All of the pomp and ceremony is great to watch in and of itself, and I don't think it can be diminished by prior knowledge of what happens.

sooz]

They will be involved and will be forwarding a few pictures according to her... They already sent me pictires of the person carrying the torch, and she just happen to catch them...

Anyone else watching the Olympic opening ceremonies?

Not me.

I LOVED that prop they had above the arena that started out like the Northern Lights. [img]/domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/smile.gif[/img] Beautiful!

And, it was interesting to watch Wayne Gretzky's face when there was that cauldron malfunction. At first, you didn't know if they were just building up the drama with the delay, but then the camera zoomed in on him and you could immediately tell from his expression that something wasn't going according to plan...he looked rattled! Glad they managed to sort it out and do it with just three of the four legs of the cauldron up...that would have been disastrous if they couldn't light it at all! Though, I guess they might have just had to telecast to the audience the lighting of the actual torch outside.

I really loved that the event featured PEOPLE over technology. Poetry, dancing, narration with story telling. I thought it was a nice touch that the Olympic flag bearers were all white-haired and represented a variety of walks of life, and that the torch was lit by 4 torch bearers, not just one. It was a very INclusive ceremony, really representing the Olympic spirit of bringing together nations and celebrating diversity. Absolutely beautiful! There were several times that I was just touched by the event to the point of having a tear come to my eye. I think it's good they had to work with a limited budget...it wasn't just a bunch of showing off, but instead they had to put thought into creating a special event that was memorable and not just flashy. I think they succeeded amazingly well. I don't think I've enjoyed an opening ceremony as much in a long time. I really couldn't pull myself away from the TV for this one, because I just felt like I'd miss something important through every step of it.

And then having a minute of silence in an arena that size in honor of the athlete who died in training, it was just eerie...and that from just watching on TV...I can't imagine what it must have been like to be inside that arena.

The other neat thing is that having visited Vancouver, I could also really FEEL Vancouver in that ceremony. As much as they were clearly celebrating the host country and diversity and all the athletes from around the world, it also was clearly celebrating the city and had that charm that Vancouver has where they can make a large, metropolitan city feel cozy and homelike and inviting to everyone.