Olympic opening ceremony

I liked the opening ceremony. I didn't expect to. I was cynical about the possibility of meaningless froth and ephemera. But the whole thing was entertaining, fast moving and with deep and profound meanings about what it is to be British and what we value and cherish. Danny Boyle's interpretation of history was stylised from Hobbiton to the dark satanic mills of Mordor in a few minutes! The transformation of fields to asphalt was fast and dramatic.  It was amazing spectacle due in no small part to the scale of the performance and the sheer number of volunteers taking part.The humour was integral - and what other performance could possibly include Her Majesty, James Bond, Mr Bean, J K Rowling, Kenneth Brannagh, Evelyn Glenny,  Simon Rattle, Paul McCartney, a fleeting image of Cumbernauld (from the film Gregory's girl) and the Arctic Monkeys?! The suffragettes appeared as did CND. 
 
It praised the National Health service and meditated on remembrance in dance to the hymn "Abide with me" 
 
There was Beckham on a speedboat and the inventor of the World wide web, and to carry the Olympic flag Daniel Barenboim and Ban Ki Moon among other worthies.  There was great beauty in the way the torches lit individual copper kettles which then lifted to be transformed into one vast cauldron of flame - inspired!We sat at home in front of the TV and munched though a huge box of Strawberries. It was a great night. 
But not everyone thought so...

"RUGELEY MP Aidan Burley caused outrage tonight during the opening ceremony of the London Olympics, describing the spectacle as "leftie multicultural c**p" on social networking site Twitter. As the show began, a tweet from the Conservative MP's official account read: "The most leftie opening ceremony I have ever seen - more than Beijing, the capital of a communist state! Welfare tribute next?" Another tweet followed shortly afterwards which said: "Thank God the athletes have arrived! Now we can move on from leftie multi-cultural c**p. Bring back red arrows, Shakespeare and the Stones!""