The Olympics opening ceremony

We somehow managed to watch most of the Paris Olympic opening extravaganza. I thought it was a bit too long, but realized that the longer it would last, the more advertisers would find room to hawk their stuff. In capitalistic parlance, that’s what is called good economic policy. 

I loved the idea of parading the teams on the boats, was impressed by the laser lights over the Eiffel Tower, adored “Imagine” sung on the floating island and a few more creative moves, but thought that some of them were over the top, including a decapitated Marie-Antoinette. 

What worries me is that it represents a huge competitive escalation in displays and creativity that will force the next event organizers to surpass that one, and I find this unhealthy and distracting from the seminal idea of what the Games should be: a world reunion of athletes competing fairly among themselves. 

Just my two cent.