Vancouver Opening Ceremonies Interesting but Odd

The Canada Olympic Games opening ceremony in Vancouver was pretty lame, although it did have its moments. I thought it was a good ad why a pro-marijuana culture--which Vancouver has--shouldn't be encouraged, Somehow I imagined that much of the creative planning for the show must have been done by the stoned. How else do you explain why performers appeared to be be smashed into the floor (instead of exiting the stage) before being turned into whales or why a 20-something fat beat poet should be featured?

Personally, I am glad (ok, amazed, eh?) that Canada didn't set their indoor stadium on fire with the Indoor Olympic Torch, featuring malfunctioning butane torches with enough flaming goodness to appeal to even the most hardened pyromaniac. And I was extremely worried that they might lose Wayne Gretzky, standing up in the bed of a pickup truck Taliban Style, riding through the streets of Vancouver to light the Outdoor Olympic Flame, another testament to what can happen if a firebug becomes a set designer.

I must say I did like all the dancing by the First Peoples. If Illinois was in Canada, I bet we still would have Chief Illiniwek. I also liked the skiers and snowboarders, dressed in all red, twirling in the air. I do think there were more falling maple leaves than necessary. All in all the opening ceremonies were interesting, but not interesting enough to keep me from having a brief snooze while watching.

Many US news commenters weighed-in quite favorably on the opening ceremony, and enjoyed its laid-back, quirky, less-is-more Canadian attitude. The Huffington Post has a comprehensive picture gallery.

Oh, and if you plan to spend a fair amount of time sitting on the couch watching the Olympics, you might want to put your time to good use and knit a reindeer hat like those that the US Team wore at the Opening Ceremonies!