Olympics opening ceremony

That was, as has been said elsewhere, brilliant and bonkers and bonkers and brilliant, and I loved it to bits. Of course, between Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Yellow Submarine, Come Together (good cover, Arctic Monkey!) and Paul wrapping it up with The End and Hey Jude, it was practically designed for me, but even if all these elements had been missing, I'd still have loved it. The Queen parachuting with James Bond! Rowan Atkinson! (And I'm pretty sure no other country would have included one of their top comedians this way. Which is why we love the Brits.) Mary Poppins defeating Voldemort while Danny Boyle makes the world cheer for the NHS! And gosh, the Olympic flame coming together from 200-something individual petals carried earlier by all the athletes and being lighted by the youngsters was beautiful, and great symbolism. I hear the montage of great kisses in British cinema and tv was the first time a lesbian kiss was shown on Saudi Arabian tv, which, yay. Also, a Tory MP called called the whole ceremony multicultural crap which is a badge of honor. Can we get Romney committing yet another gaffe by disapproving as well, please? Good show, Danny Boyle. Good show.

Seeing the comments from American watchers about their reporters talking over the music makes me glad our lot didn't. After alll, I'm not staying up till two in the morning for their commentary. Back to Darth Real Life again, humming na, na, na, na, na, na, Hey Jude.

Thirty Days of Borgias: Day Seventeen

Day 17 ~ Favourite episode.

Argh, can't decide between my top three. It depends on which mood I'm in. But these are my three favourites, and I can't narrow it down more than this.

a) The Art of War (1.08). Loved because: Lucrezia is absolutely awesome in it, turning a dangerous situation around to her advantage (and that of Rome); she and Giulia make a splendid team; and also Rodrigo does that thing he does so well when having a crisis of conscience: wrangle a way out of it to make it into a strategy to win and a test of faith both. It's a very suspenseful episode, too.

b) Nessuno (1.09): Loved because: it's time for satisfying smackdowns all around (see Rodrigo troll the Cardinals; see Giovanni Sforza get his comeuppance; see della Rovere ending up having hold Lucrezia's horse; see the French arrive at Naples and realise they just conquered a city with the plague in it) and the last point of family harmony the show ever has, as everyone rallies around Lucrezia and her newborn. Great episode when you're in a need to be cheered up.

c) The Confession (2.10): Loved because: tragedy and fantastic character drama both, awesome from everything from the big confrontation scenes to the small details (Savonarola's blood on Rodrigo's face), and absolutely heartrendering. The one to watch when I'm in the mood for dark fic, so to speak.


( The rest of the days )