the watch of time

With day one under way (spot the changes from yesterday’s post)…

• Bask in the glow of a more diverse range of sponsors
• Partake in jingoistic television coverage with gushing announcers
• Enjoy the non-violent excitement of sports like archery, shooting, and boxing
• Gape at the sorry-looking, illogical Games mascot (i.e. a multi-colour porcupine in Toronto?)
• Explore the souvenir store, offering such worthy and rip-off mementos as a $4 pack of three mascotted pencils
• Watch tax dollars at work in new or refurbished facilities, with the possibility of a larger sink-hole expenditure for a future Summer Olympic Games
• Take advantage of the more-convenient-for-us North American time zone
• Enjoy the couch potato inspiration of sports like bowling and sailing
• Witness powerful episodes, such as jaw-dropping incompetence leading to athletes being disqualified (i.e. two medal hopefuls from Canada’s badminton team out due to a registration error)
• Engage in the patience-sucking joys of traffic crawling to events being held in a dozen communities outside Toronto