Patriotism + not enough sleep = WAH
-first ten minutes, from the montage of Vancouver/Whistler shots through the roll-call of cities that have hosted the Winter Games. "1988 -- CALGARY!" gets an especial cheer, then increasing momentum to "2010 -- VAAAAAAAAANNNNCOUVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" -- which honestly reminded me of nothing more than the every-home-hockey-game-cry "And here are YOUR Vaaaaaaannnnnnncouver Canucks!" but in thus reminding me so strongly of home, tear-jerking in its very corniness. This didn't take ten minutes, it just took a while to recover.
-National anthem.
-Greetings from the Four Host Nations (although I wasn't completely comfortable watching this and would be interested to know whether the various First Nations people who took part in this sequence were entirely in charge in terms of the presentation of their cultural markers -- songs and chants, dances, clothes, totem poles [for those nations to whom these are relevant], musical instruments, etc, or whether there was some primarily non-aboriginal team of choreographers and producers calling the shots).
-Georgian team.
-British team (hm, so maybe I care about Team GB a bit after all, or maybe I'm just still fragile from the Georgian black armbands and the pride in the British commentator's voice set me off).
-Jamaican team, with the de rigeur reference to the bobsled team.
-the crowd's reaction to the American team; OK, sometimes we get really infuriated with you guys, but apparently, at Olympic opening ceremonies, we love you (nice uniforms, too, stylin').
-TEAM CANADA!
-I didn't even stop sobbing when the cameras panned onto Harper, that bastard
-YAY THEY'RE ALL WEARING MY MITTENS!
-The commentators are talking about Canada's "Own the podium" campaign, how it's quite un-Canadian to state so loudly that -- whaddayaknow? -- we want to win. "You tend to share things out, you Canadian," says the British commentator to Kerrin Lee-Gartner, a Canadian hero of the Albertville Games (gold in downhill). "It's not like you to say this in such an American fashion." I don't care how "un-Canadian" it is -- Own. The. Podium. GO CANADA GO!
-Bryan Adams (looking unreasonably well-preserved) and Nelly Furtado -- oh dear, I suspect I might be sunk from here on in
-Sarah (McLachlan)! Two notes is all it took. Fangirl? Unabashedly. I'm 16 again.
-oh WOW, the computer-generated orcas are AMAZING (not crying, just it's cool.) The ice breaking up was pretty amazing, too. The commentator said it might be a "subtle nod to climate change." YaTHINK?
-And Loreena McKennit music! (Not crying, just it's cool. Ooops, there she is in person, I'm crying now. If anyone can remember the first song of the fiddle music, with the woman playing the harp, it's called "The Old Ways.") Oh yay more fiddle music! Canada basically invented fiddle rock, did you know? Irish/Scots/Acadian mixture in the Maritimes + fiddles = made of awesome.
-Reading the Guardian liveblog to see the following: From MK in London via text to 81111: "I got a flight to Vancouver tomorrow at 10am. How can I sleep now and miss the opening ceremony? It's too exciting! See you tomorrow Vancouver!" MK, whoever you are, I am so filled with jealousy it is probably bad for my immortal soul. (Uncontrollable sobbing.)
-Oh God, Joni Mitchell too?! I'm sure that's her singing live, because her voice is low as it is now, not as high as it was when she originally recorded this song ("Both Sides Now"). Also the crowd just gave a huge cheer. But they're focusing on the flying kid. "I've looked at love from both sides now, from give and take, and still somehow, it's love's illusions that I recall. I really don't know, I really don't know love at all." (If you recognise it, it may be from the film Love Actually? The scene where Emma Thompson cries in the bedroom because she thinks Alan Rickman is having an affair with the secretary.)
-the moment of the Rockies rising up -- OK, I suspect now I'm just overwrought.
-How are they skating? Where did the ice come from? (Not crying, query.) Maybe they are on rollerblades or something. (Ah yes, camera just panned in. They are. I am very clever.)
-"Some say what defines us is something as simple as Please and Thank You." (Huge cheer from crowd.) "And yes, we say Zed instead of Zee." (Huger cheer.) "We are the True North, strong and free!" (Huger cheer again.) "What's more is we didn't just say it. We made it be." (Sobbing from me.)
-Totally untrue but very typical commentary from Kerrin Lee-Gartner that we are "quietly proud" and that we "don't wave that flag like other countries do." OMG so not true. Canadians are uber jingoistic (albeit in what might be described as a gentle way). It's just that the world very seldom pays attention to us, so no one ever notices our flag-waving. Just have to break through my own sentimentality for a minute.
-Images of the torch relay and the litany of ways it's been carried.
-Roggue's dedication to Nodar Kumaritashvili.
-Is this guy the head of VANOC? Whoever he is, his slaughtering of "Vous etes parmi vos amis" had me laugh-sobbing. It's 04.30. Cut me some slack.
-Declaration that games are open. I love Michaelle Jean.
-kd lang. Singing Leonard Cohen. Hallelujah! is my first reaction, my second being, Actually, maybe some other song from her "Hymns of the 49th Parallel" album might have been more on-topic, but of course this one is best-known. My third thought: Wonder where Cohen is? The last: Oh just enjoy the song -- it's amazing and so is she. (lang's is my all-time favourite version of Hallelujah.)
-A nice detail: the peace sculpture, signed by the athletes in the hopes of an Olympic ceasefire, will be auctioned off with the proceeds going to Haiti. The British commentator reminds us of Governor-General Michaelle Jean's Haitian heritage and family.
-Barbara-Ann Scott! And Romeo Dallaire! Who would have expected to hear those names together in one place? (I know there were six others carrying the Olympic flag, but the juxtaposition of those two in particular struck me.) (Not crying, just it's cool.)
-One minute's silence for Nodar Kumaritashvili. Oh God, he was only 21?!
-Wickenheiser taking the oath. We love you Hayley!
-Who's lighting the cauldron? Who who who?
-Rick Hansen (sobsobsob) of course, comes in with the torch. Of course. It had to be either him or Terry Fox's mother.
-Oh, it doesn't end there. Katrina LeMay Doan, Nancy Green and Wayne Gretzky as well. The Great One left till last, of course.
-And they're all wearing the MITTS!
-All four are going to light the cauldron. How Canadian. (I think I'm cried out.)
-Oooh, apparently there's one more surprise which "we'll see shortly." I'm just never getting to bed, am I?
-Well, that announcement just said the opening ceremonies are concluded. So. Um?
-Outdoor cauldron in 5-10 minutes apparently. I'm really very awake considering it's 05.00 and I've had two hours' sleep (between 23.30 and 01.30).
-I'm getting my prediction in. It will be Terry Fox's mother to light the outdoor flame.
-Me wrong. It's The Great One again.
One and a half hours until I have to get ready to go. Actually feels like it might be worth it. Bed!