This and other coverage doesn't capture my reaction to the opening ceremonies. I began in amazement, progressed to mild irritation, and ended with a TV OFF in a disgusted huff after two-plus hours. The mix of gargantuan production far too frequently punctuated by commercials grew to be an extremely tiring and irritating mess. It's taken me a couple of days to figure out the reasons for my reaction and with some reluctance I'll offer them. Whatever their intentions, organizers and corporate entities managed to produce little more than an astounding example of politics and commercialism gone wild. Could anyone honestly argue that this was the epitome of taste and human values? -that bigger and more is always better? What *positive* human values were demonstrated or served to advantage over what could have been accomplished with a more tastefully designed and scaled production? Where can such shows possibly go from here? I shudder to think. I've tried to watch events since opening night but relentless drip-drip-drips of commercial torture causes an intolerable negative reaction and TV goes off. But I suppose that's just me.