Bringin' It All Back Home

      This blog doesn't want to say too much about the Olympics (normally, this blog couldn't and wouldn't really care less), but it's got to say it: the Opening Ceremonies yesterday were glorious, a spectacle fitting the people that invented the term. It was surely a great deal removed from the tackier and more mind-numbing ceremonies of recent years, and amidst the pyrotechnics and the elaborate performances, there were bits of genuine visual poetry, not least of which was the "History of the Games" run, during which the runner, carrying his torch, stumbled; it seemed everyone gasped, everyone thought it an accident, until the runner rose and a voice in the background announced "World War One." All in all, an impressive show that paid a terrific tribute to history in the process. I guess I write this with a bit of contrition, because I had expected the opening ceremonies to be intolerable pap, but it wasn't, though it certainly seemed to please the crowd. Athens managed yesterday to restore some history and, perhaps more importantly, dignity to the events, and some parts of it were quite breath-taking. Sure, I could have done without Björk, but, one can't have everything. There are few enough pleasant surprises these days, and given the rumblings of scandal before and pending, Athens, in the end, can proudly say it shone. So colour this blog impressed. Goodness knows, I didn't think the Olympics could impress that way anymore. Who says you can't go home again?