- Well I missed the beginning part of the Opening Ceremonies, but according to kids in the Games Lounge, I didn't miss much, just some First Nations welcome and dancing. Watching a re-run, the opening, with the snowboarder was pretty cool.
- Personal highlights of the evening include Slam Poetry, KD Lang singing Hallelujah, and the upbeat tap-dancing and Irish violin playing.
- The speeches by IOC and VANOC Presidents were inspirational and moving. It was very classy for them to pay special tribute to the Georgian Luger Nodar Kumaritashvil, who crashed and died on the track in Whistler during a training run. (I saw footage of the accident after the Opening, and it's definitely not pretty to watch.) Kudos to the Georgian delegation to continue moving forward while in remembrance. John Furlong's speech was not overly long, but quite well written although the French parts were tough to endure.
- At the end of the night, Rick Hansen brought the torch in a passed it to Catriona Le May Doan to Steve Nash, then Nancy Greene Raine and finally Wayne Gretzky.
- GM Place suffers from a mechanical failure and only 3/4 towers emerge to make the cauldron. The ceremony ends when the Great One is transported on the back of police escort in the pouring rain to the exterior cauldron.
- I don't recall watching any other Olympic Opening Ceremonies other than this years' so I don't have much to compare to. Let's see what Sochi, London, and Rio have in store to top that.
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