12:03--Well they can't keep a secret in this town any
better than anywhere else. Li Ning gets the honor. He takes a giant
leap--and the final lap around the highest wall inside the stadium to
light the cauldron. Fireworks ensue. Good job, China. Let the Games
begin!
11:54--The torch is in the building!
11:53--I should have said "doves" with quotation
marks. Ever since there was an accidental holocaust of the "peace"
birds at one ceremony, the dovishness is strictly symbolic. 100 young
women in white gesticulating gently did their dovish best.
11:38--The long parade and the short speechmaking
(doping rated a condemnation from IOC president Jacques Rogge). Finally
the rituals of the Olympic flag, the anthem, the oaths, the doves and
the lighting of the Olympic flame. I confess I am a sucker for this. So
far no panda in sight.
11:29--Press release from Russian athletic federation
hits my Blackberry, insisting Russia is just performing a lawful
peacekeeping mission and is only responding to Georgian aggression. Add
interrupting Opening Ceremonies with political propaganda to violating
the "Olympic truce" among Russia's sins today.
11:22--Kobe's grinning face flashes on the screen to huge applause, followed by possibly even louder cheers for Dirk Nowitzki.
11:12--Crowd chants "Jia you", "Go China go, or more literally "Add gas."
11:09--Look up "flag bearer" in the dictionary and if there
isn't a picture of Yao Ming, it's a lousy dictionary. A little boy walks
beside him waving a tiny flag. China wins big on style points.
11:08--Go figure. You hear so much negativity about
China and its human rights policies at home and abroad. Yet the Chinese
athletes gets the loudest cheer, a veritable roar that might have
lifted the roof off the stadium if it had one.
10:56--Swiss blonde reveals bare midriff, the international symbol of beach volleyball, but a first in my long Olympic memory.
10:45--It's probably insensitive to mention it in
this moment of crisis, but all the former Soviet republics could use
some fashion advice. To a republic, their outfits are tacky or drab.
Yellow ankle socks from the grand-paternal homeland, Ukraine
10:28--U.S., looking dapper in country club white
and blue blazers, get huge applause. President Bush is shown on the
giant screen and is a greeted by a loud noise that is less clearly
decipherable.
10:20--Cheerleaders ring the inside to greet the
athletes, but even they are wilting, losing some bounce in their step
in the heat. My usually nimble finger are slipping all over the keys.
The entry of Russia--could folks in this wired world already
know?--followed two later by the United States is moments away.
10:10--Manu Ginobli just walked by carrying the Argentinian flag. He can fill it up but he can't carry a flag, the only
bearer yet to let his country's flag drag on the ground. Lots of NBA
stars being honored as flag-bearers including Andrei Kirilenko for
Russia and, of course, Yao Ming for China.
10:00--Word just filtered down press row that Russia
has sent troops into the former Soviet republic of Georgia. So much
for the Olympic truce. It's raining on our parade. Putin is here in
Beijing. He may find himself less popular here than Bush. It has also
started raining--real weather-wise--on our parade of nations.
9:55--Iraq enters to big applause. The loud noise
greeting Iran right behind them is harder to decipher. The two Koreas
will be interesting to note.
9:35--Conspicuous applause for Pakistan and then Cuba. I wonder if President Bush is enjoying the show.
9:29--Brunei Darussalam will be a no-show. Only 204 countries now. I may get to bed a little earlier than expected.
9:27--Denmark looks like it thought it was heading for a day at the beach.
9:22--Chinese Taipei enters the building to a warm
reception. Sure sign of diminished tensions there. Hong Kong gets
even bigger applause.>
9:10--Time for your fridge and bathroom breaks. The parade of nations, 205 of them. The U.S. comes 140th.
9:08--There will always be the debate: high art or
total schlock. It is most always something of both. I give
the Chinese high marks, though, for some dazzling effects in light and
motion. And for less panda-ing to other cultures' tastes.
9:02--A giant globe, nine rings, acrobats, Olympic
sports, a song in somebody's heart, children of the world. I think I am
losing the thread, possibly back on Silk Road.
8:55-- A mass exercise in ancient martial arts. Of
course they couldn't pick one I've heard of. This is Taijiquan. It is
not yet an Olympic sport.
8:35--The rumor around town is that Li Ning, who won five
medals at the '84 LA Games, will be given the honor of lighting the
flame. But a close source has just messaged me about the possible
involvement of a panda. Seems impossible in this weather. China has
enough worries with Tibet and Darfur demonstrators. The don't need PETA
riled up.
8:33--A salute to silk and a particularly clever way for my wife to provide a reminder.
8:25--Something to do with opera and soldiers. My best guess: a salute to the Pirates of Penzance.
8:23--A dazzling salute to the Chinese invention of movable type. We journalists thank and salute them.
8:21--More Confucius. He must have said a lot of interesting things.
8:15--Something very arty about paper and intellectual pursuits. I'd explain more but Melinda is occupied.
8:10--The Chinese have resented any comparisons
critics have made to the '36 Berlin Games. Still, watching soldiers goosestep
the Chinese flag feels a little eerie.
8:09--Fireworks exploding over Tiananmen Square and
all over the city. More amazing, they clear off the field in
less than two minutes. In their stead, mutant Christmas lights do an
Olympic rings turn. And there is a Peter Pannish thing going on too.
7:55--Amazing light tricks, a modern pyrotechnic riff
on the old college football cheering section with flash cards. 2008
performers play a centuries-old percussion instrument called the fou
and quote Confucius. I have never seen that done before.
7:30--With so much talk about the smog--in five days here I haven't put on my sunglasses yet--there hasn't been too much talk about the heat. There will be tonight. Shame they never got that roof they wanted on the stadium.
7:05 p.m. --I have been watching the pregame show
for more than an hour now, from the "Acrobatic Lion Dance of Cangzhou"
to the "Purple Bamboo Tune Dance" to the "Dragon Dance of Tongliang".
Not a single beer or bao vendor has come by. I am beginning to despair.
6:45 p.m.--I am seated in the 4th row of the
magnificent "Bird's Nest", on about the 30-yard-line. Next to me is my
colleague Melinda Liu, who opened our Beijing bureau in 1980 and
returned here a decade ago. I told her I'm going to be too busy
blogging to answer many questions about what is going on.
