Blount: Ceremonies and sweat

Last update: August 9, 2008 - 7:59 PM

Some leftover thoughts on the opening ceremonies, and a few other items.

• There have been reports recently that some Chinese are concerned that the country's educational system stresses too much rote learning, quashing the imagination and creativity of its young. The astonishing opening ceremonies seemed to prove otherwise. Unique and brilliantly executed, it had people raving all day Saturday.

One segment featured a large field of square columns -- think tall typewriter keys -- that moved up and down to form patterns. They undulated like a wheat field in the wind. They spelled out Chinese characters and sprouted flowers. It looked like a wonderful feat of mechanics and computers -- until 897 people popped out of the tops and waved at the end.

It was impossible to believe so many humans could have moved with such precision. We later learned they had practiced for 10 months. Another reporter asked, 'How do these people not run the world?'

The cauldron lighting, in which a former gymnast was hoisted on cables to run sideways along the top rim of the stadium, was dreamlike in its beauty. The cauldron itself is elegant, like a silver vase wrapped with a red ribbon. Nothing like the ugly cigarette of the Athens Games or the french-fry carton of Atlanta.

• These Olympics are on track to be the sweatiest ever, no contest. Sitting in the Bird's Nest national stadium during the opening ceremonies -- where it was 85 degrees at midnight, without a hint of breeze, with humidity near 90 percent -- the media was overcome by mass perspiration. My shirt: drenched. The back of my backpack: soaked. My pants: You don't want to know. One fellow reporter said, "I'm sweating from places I didn't know you could sweat from.''

• The Brett Favre saga probably has jumped the shark in the U.S., but it crossed the pond Saturday. One of the TVs in the breakfast room at North Star Media Village was tuned to the BBC network, which featured a news report on Favre's signing with the Jets. Not one of the volunteers paid any attention.

So I can confirm the old saying: There are 1.3 billion people in China who don't care.

• The volunteers continue to charm, surprise and delight with their friendliness and hospitality. Friday's opening ceremonies lasted 4 hours, seven minutes, which meant it ended after midnight, which meant it was about 1 a.m. before we even got back to the Main Press Center to finish our stories. This is always a long night for reporters, and several of us ended up on the 5 a.m. bus back to the village.

Our day was ending. But the cheerful guide on the bus said, "I wish you a happy mood to start your morning.'' Later Saturday afternoon, after that sweaty walk to the gymnastics venue, two volunteers rushed to bring me water and hustle me under the air-conditioning vent. Anyone who stays persistently grouchy at these Olympics is a hopeless case.

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