It was a discrepant, rainy and magical night in Paris for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2024 Summer Olympics. A 3.5 mile flotilla on the River Seine, carrying 10,500 athletes on 94 boats. Lady Gaga and Aya Nakamura performed. The whole spectacle ended on a high, with the lighting of a floating cauldron and a courageous tour de force of Celine Dione singing Edith Piaff's L'Hymne a L'amour.
- There is a lot of history.
- It was in Paris way back in 1783 that the very first flight took place, on a hot air balloon before King Louis XVI. On board were a sheep, a duck and a young rooster. They survived.
- A few days later, Jacques Charles used a hydrogen-filled balloon from the same spot in the Jardin des Tuileries in front of 400,000 people.
The ballon is filled with hydrogen, but the cauldron is not a fossil-fuel flame. Electricity is fed to 40 LED spotlights to illuminate a cloud of water using 200 high-pressure misting nozzles...an electric flame.- From today, and every day from 11AM to 7PM, 10,000 visitors in 300 people batches, can approach the Cauldron, for free, with reservations. From sunset until 2AM, the Cauldron will be floated. It will continue to float for the Paralympic Games, which end on September 8.
There was one big boo-boo. Shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games open, the five-ring Olympic flag was raised at the Trocadero, across from the Eiffel Tower...upside-down. There was another one, for South Korea was introduced as North Korea.
I tend to totally avoid public pools. A good reason is a report from The Wall Street Journal that Everyone Pees in an Olympic Pool.
Some of these downs continued today, for it continued to rain and a few events had to be cancelled or moved indoors. The good news is that the weather will improve from tomorrow.
Medals have already been awarded, with Australia and the USA in the lead with 5 each. 13 Gold medals have already been decided and 19 countries have won at least one.
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AUS
3
2
0
2.
USA
1
2
2
- The final event will be the 9:30AM EDT Gold medal women's basketball game at Bercy Arena. The odds are overwhelming that the USA will be one of the contestants.
- The Closing Ceremony will take place inside the Stade de France (where the track and field events take place), beginning at 2PM EDT.
- Remember Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir? The were the closing couple for the Pyeong Chang, Tokyo and Beijing Olympics. Also moderating will be Mike Tirico, Jimmy Fallon and Terry Gannon.
But the best part of this week is that Democracy in America just might have been preserved. Two weeks ago, Donald Trump narrowly escaped an assassination attempt. He thus became the equivalent of a Savior. Took a whole week of resurrection for the Republican National Convention to officially name him as their candidate for president. Trump was triumphant, he looked like a shoo-in to become our next leader and I was despondent.
Then earlier this week on Sunday, President Joe Biden decided to abandon his campaign for president, endorsing Kamala Harris, and sparking what was the equivalent of a building miracle. Over the next few days, anyone of any importance, like the Obamas, personally affirmed that Harris was, indeed, the one. Early polls show that Harris caught up with Trump, and looks promising as the one to rescue Democracy from the almost sure dictatorship of King Donald. Republicans aren't sure what to do. The vice presidency selection will add further thrill to the Democratic team. It won't be a female. It will be a White governor or senator, and my sense is that either Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Illinois Governor JB Pritzker will be chosen. Harris and Shapiro are both former attorney generals of their state, and have worked together for two decades. Should work well. I'm now back to being buoyant.
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