London, you've got to do better

All signs pointed to disappointment. First, the nanaimo bars I so desperately tried to make turned out too lumpy and too gooey at the same time. Even my sugar-loving roommate pronounced them "cloyingly sweet." Then, in search of Canadian beer, the guy at BevMo had never heard of Labatt's or Molson and led me to the European section. I know I'm no longer living in a state where Canadian pennies mix with American and no one takes second notice, but come on. Then, of course, there was the death of the luge-er (luge-ist?) that Brian Williams just couldn't help but show on a seemingly endless loop.

But despite such omens, I had high hopes for that favorite event of mine that comes only once every two years: the Olympic opening ceremonies. I love the opening ceremonies more than I love the actual Olympic events. The parade of nations makes my heart melt. I get that nervously excited knot in my stomach when the torch enters the stadium. I like the imagination of the IOC that French is somehow the most sensible language to conduct business in.

But this opening ceremonies... blah. I get that Canada is not the most exciting nation ever. And I get that it's pretty much impossible to live up to an army of synchronized drummers recruited from a pool of 1.3 billion. I even get the hope that three hours of dancing First Nations people could be the beginning of an apology for a history of attempted genocide. But fiddlers? A poetry slam? A weird child running over digital wheat fields? I just think there could have been something else. The whales were cool. As pointed out by a savvy Slate blog-reader, kd lang's all white ensemble was reminiscent enough of a cake-topper that the world was indeed reminded of Canada's progressiveness around gay marriage (take that, USA). But I think I would've preferred floating state-sponsored health care or something to really showcase what Canada has to offer. Nelly Furtado's heels just didn't do it for me.

To be honest, my continued disappointment in the Olympics thus far really stems from NBC. Just because you were projected to lose $200 million on all of this is not a legitimate reason to only post half-hearted clips of nothing on your website. Thanks for spoiling the excitement of competition--do I want to watch Jacobellis' unforgettable silver (and her creepy pale hair) or Kearney winning the first US gold? What I actually would've liked to watch is something where I didn't know the outcome, but I guess that's out. Not to mention that the closest thing I can get to watching live is reading the live blogging comments. Looks like this year will be just like the Olympics of my childhood where I turned to CBC for any real coverage of Olympic events.

Somehow, Canada pulls it out in the end.