The Olympic Opening Ceremony

I was all fired up to write a coruscating review of last night's Olympic Opening Ceremony but then I saw it. Leaving aside the dewy eyed sentiment about the NHS and the ridiculous exhortation to admire the integrity of Shami 'LSE & Libya' Chakrabati, I found it very watchable and very very clever. The musical elements were great, even the James Bond & Queen piece was not too badly judged. I am not sure why the Arctic Monkeys were deemed the band to play live but...

The lighting of the Olympic flame was an anti climax. Not enough of great Olympic heroes such as Daley Thompson and Duncan Goodhew. The copper kettles turning into the games torch was beautiful and a real wow moment.

The bit that really emotionally affected me though was the sight of Muhammad Ali, I actually cried. So sad to see the man, who was the epitome of health and fitness when I was a boy, looking like that...

Now let the sport commence