User:Stronach
"At some point in their histories, most nations experience a revolution that changes everything about them. The United Kingdom had a revolution that changed the whole of human existence.
In 1709 Abraham Darby smelted iron in a blast furnace, using coke. And so began the Industrial Revolution. Out of Abraham's Shropshire furnace flowed molten metal. Out of his genius flowed the mills, looms, engines, weapons, railways, ships, cities, conflicts and prosperity that built the world we live in.
In November 1990 another Briton sparked another revolution - equally far-reaching - a revolution we're still experiencing. The digital revolution was sparked by Tim Berners-Lee's amazing gift to the world - the World Wide Web. This, he said, is for everyone.
We welcome you to an Olympic Opening Ceremony for everyone. A ceremony that celebrates the creativity, eccentricity, daring and openness of the British genius by harnessing the genius, creativity, eccentricity, daring and openness of modern London.
You'll hear the words of our great poets - Shakespeare, Blake and Milton. You'll hear the glorious noise of our unrivalled pop culture. You'll see characters from our great children's literature - Peter Pan and Captain Hook, Mary Poppins, Voldemort, Cruella de Vil. You'll see ordinary families and extraordinary athletes. Dancing nurses, singing children and amazing special effects.
But we hope, too, that through all the noise and excitement that you will glimpse a single golden thread of purpose - the idea of Jerusalem - of a better world, the world of real freedom and true equality, a world that can be built through the prosperity of industry, through the caring nation that built the welfare state, through the joyous energy of popular culture, through the dream of universal communication. A belief that we can build Jerusalem. And that it will be for everyone."
"Isles of Wonder
Some countries have revolutions that change their whole nation. Britain had a revolution that changed the whole world. The Industrial Revolution rebooted human existence. Nothing would ever be the same again.
At the end of the 20th century, the British scientist Tim Berners-Lee gave the world a gift that would change things every bit as radically as the steam engine – the World Wide Web. This, he said, is for everyone.
‘This is for everyone’ is the theme of the Opening Ceremony – a celebration of the creativity, exuberance and, above all, the generosity of the British people.
There are no spectators. Everyone in the Stadium will be part of the magic. We’re here to celebrate the achievements of the British people and to do that we’ve put as many British people as we possibly can into the show. The volunteer dancers in one of our most spectacular sequences have been recruited from the National Health Service.
The Ceremony will take us through great revolutions in British society – the Industrial Revolution, the revolution of social attitudes that began in the 1960s and the digital revolution through which we’re living now.
Woven through it all, there runs a golden thread of purpose – the idea of Jerusalem – of a better world that can be built through the prosperity of industry, through the caring nation that built the welfare state, through the joyous energy of popular culture, through the dream of universal communication.
We can build Jerusalem. And it will be for everyone.
Danny Boyle
Artistic Director
London 2012 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony"
First edit September 2008.
User:Stronach/Series Land Rover expeditions of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s
London 2012 articles
[edit]I thought the London Olympics and Paralympics were just fantastic, from start to finish. I was so moved by the Olympics opening ceremony that I wrote a very drunken 'thank-you' card to Danny Boyle that night (long after my other half had bailed and I had polished off the second bottle of wine - hey, it was a night to celebrate!), telling him how proud I was of what he and all his team and all the volunteers and technicians had achieved. I didn't know his address, so just put 'Danny Boyle, Olympics Maestro, London' on the envelope. I hope it got to him. I loved the way the ceremony made me feel about my country. I was expecting it to be rubbish and it completely confounded my cynical expectations. So I consider my work on the following articles as a little thank-you to everyone involved, and of course the fantastic athletes who took part in both Games.
- 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony Did a lot of editing on this one, especially the music
also edited on this as IPs
- And I Will Kiss Made this one. The Pandemonium/Industrial Revolution section of the Olympics opening ceremony was stunning, and Underworld's music was epically awesome. Buy the soundtrack and PLAY IT LOUD!!!
- Caliban's Dream Made this one. Beautiful piece of music that accompanied the cauldron lighting.
- Suttirat Anne Larlarb Made this one. Loved her bird bikes
- 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics cauldron Made this one. This was one of the many highpoints of the Olympics opening ceremony for me.
- Pandaemonium (history book) Made this one. Thought the book that inspired Frank Cottrell Boyce and Danny Boyle to make the Pandemonium section deserved a page.
- Isles of Wonder (album) Did some editing on this one
- Harder Than You Think Edited this one. Stonking Public Enemy track, soundtrack to the great Channel 4 trailer for the Paralympics.
- Made pages for those involved who were nominated for an Emmy and didn't already have a page: Sascha Dhillon, Tim Routledge, Adam Bassett and Al Gurdon.
- Olympic Bell. Made this one. odd that, a year on, it didn't have a page of its own.
- Pages for those involved who were nominated for Emmys for their work on the ceremony and who didn't already have pages: Sascha Dhillon, Adam Bassett, Al Gurdon and Tim Routledge.
- My user page of references to blogs, articles etc by participants in the "Green and Pleasant Land" and "Pandemonium" sections of the opening ceremony, for a page I might get round to writing.
2012: a very happy summer
[edit]- 6 June: The Transit of Venus. Got up early to watch this one on the web (it was cloudy out). Yay!
- 12 July: The 2012 Summer Olympics torch relay passes within 5 miles of my house. Yay!
- 22 July: Bradley Wiggins becomes the first British cyclist to win the Tour de France. Yay for Wiggo!
- 27 July, (08:12 BST): Took part in Martin Creed's Work No. 1197: All The Bells,[3] by ringing (well, tinkling) a goat rumble bell out of my bedroom window to welcome the Olympics. My neighbours were clanging their ship's bell doorbell with gusto.
- 27 July, (21:00 BST): 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. Triple yay! And yay for the first Olympics where every single team had women athletes on it. About bloody time ...
- 6 August: NASA's Curiosity rover lands on Mars. Got up early to watch this one on the NASA website. Yay for NASA!
- 12 August: The Olympics end. Yay! Didn't they do well?
- 29 August: The Paralympics kick off. Yay for Professor Hawking rocking the Orbital specs!
- 9 September: The Paralympics end. Yay! Didn't they do well?
When user boxes collide
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This user enjoys films.
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This user likes cows.
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How could I resist making the page for this film?
[1] page stats
Other stuff
[edit]For my info: Ashcombe pic
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References
[edit]- ^ "Danny Boyle's intro on Olympics programme". Awards Daily. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Danny Boyle's intro in Olympics Media Guide" (PDF). London 2012. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 13 March 2013.
- ^ Carrell, Severin; Higgins, Charlotte (27 July 2012). "Bells toll across UK as Martin Creed's army of ringers welcome Olympics". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 July 2012.