The Greatest Show on Earth

The Olympics have started! I am ridiculously excited about it. The games of the 29th Olympiad commenced in Beijing last night and let me tell you, it was so worth the wait. I have to hand it to the Chinese, they outdid themselves! Honestly, everything was flawless and so brilliantly excuted. I was so glad that I was watching at home though, I don't think I would enjoyed it half as much had I been stuck in a seat with hundreds of thousands of other people on a hot, muggy night, excitment notwithstanding.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes! The Opening Ceremony ROCKED! Every little detail was breathtaking. The amazing design of the bird's nest stadium. It looks even more beautiful at night when the lights are turned on inside the structure. It's one aastounding piece of engineering. If that wasn't enough, the performances during the ceremony was again flawless. Thousands and thousands of performers, all of them coordinated and synchronised in a visual display of perfect grace.
The coup de grace of the entire evening was of course, the lighting of the torch. This is an event that signals the official start of the games and the game of one upmanship is rife among host nations. In 2004 the Australians rejoiced that Athens dropped the ball on the lighting of the torch. They held fast to tradition and relied on the grandeur of a gout of flame held high by a giant torch. Many agreed that the Australians had done better, with the fire of the 27th Olympiad rising out of a pool of water. All that pales in comparison to this lighting of the torch. The ingenious design of the torch, the stadium and the spectacular suspended final lap was simply spellbinding. The final resting place of the Flame of Peace was the cherry on the top of this marvellous creation. The torch seemed to curl out of the very stadium, as if the building itself was coming alive to receive and house for the next two weeks the eternal flame of the Olympic Games.
Truly it was one of the events of this decade and the host of the 30th Olympiad will have their work, cut out for them.
Just Me.