Olympics Opening Entertainment: Provincial

[howeird]

All week NBC has been hyping the Olympics opening ceremonies with clips from the truly spectacular China Olympics, cast of millions, amazing costumes, fireworks galore, etc. There were more people in that entertainment than there are in all of Canada, so I was not expecting quite as big a show, but I also was not expecting such a poorly choreographed, provincial show. A cast of tens. Way too much brown on brown - perhaps someone forgot that the national symbol of Canada is a red maple leaf. And a big WTF for the Maori-decorated fiddlers and cloggers. Gag me. I love Alberta-born Joni Mitchell's song Both Sides Now, but what they did to it with Peter Pan Prairie was painful to watch. And a handful of snowboarders, skiers, etc. hanging on wires over a sheet with low-def snow sports projected on it? Oy veh is mir. All so very amateur. I feel so bad for my many Vancouver friends, who deserved far better than this.

I missed the parade and torch lighting.

Contrary to the hype, it doesn't snow much in Vancouver, so I'm not surprised they didn't get enough to naturally fill out the slopes, but snow-maker technology will fix that. Very very sad that the ceremonies took place under the cloud of a fatality on the luge run. Hoping the actual Olympic games are world class.