Off we go !!

The extravagance was unfurled last night and now the commentary.
  I'm not one for the big show be it pageant or Glastonbury so when I tuned in to watch the show there was plenty of pessimism floating near the surface of my brain.
 
Danny Boyle had to develop a theme that told a story relevant to the nation. He couldn't match the precision and the scale of Beijing which was awesome but he had a extremely rich historical backdrop to plagiarise. Shakespeare and Dickens, The Industrial Revolution and Britain's early exposure to the very world who were watching and had come to the games. 

The pre-revolution green landscape was swept away by the rise of the factories and I thought the scene of the mill chimneys rising as if out of the earth was spectacular. The sense of the smog and pollution was well captured. As spectacular as anything Beijing offered.
I also thought the sight of molten metal running down to make one of the rings was terrific and so realistic. As was the sight of the five Olympic rings rising in the air illuminated with light.

The use of Mr Bean was genius, the link with the film Chariots of Fire and his playing in the orchestra was very funny. He represented the iconic, bumbly eccentric Englishman.            
It was disappointing,the use of a "stand in" for the Queen. If they had convinced her to jump out of the helicopter it might have produced a smile or two she is a curmudgeonly old thing and only smiles or comes alive at the races !!  

The show I thought had many highlights but lacked the drive to keep us engrossed the whole time, the focus on the progression / regression of the music produced in the UK was, I felt weak and didn't hold my attention. The  tableau's associated with this segment I thought messy with people rushing around with no perceptible concept on view.   I think he hoped the music would carry it through but it didn't.
In fact I began to drop off. When the official speeches started that was the clue for me to go to bed.
Sadly, I missed the lighting of the torch ceremony but having seen it this morning it was indeed a highlight.   I liked the common touch, with unknown youngsters paraded to start the process off.  The individual flames developed into what  become a massive fiery bowl, very impressive !!     

Well done Blighty