Postcard from London: Opening ceremony revolutionary

The London Olympics opened with a ceremony built around revolutions in British society — the industrial revolution, the revolution of social attitudes and the digital revolution.

There was everything from farm animals to hand-made clouds to a rock montage that included songs from the Beatles and The Who. Mr. Bean played classical piano with an umbrella.

The ceremony reportedly cost $235,000 per minute to produce, but at times you might have thought the number was more like $2.35.

Low budgets, however, can produce entertaining scenes and producer Danny Boyle succeeded in that. It wasn’t “Slumdog Millionaire,” but it had more than its share of memorable moments.

J.K. Rowling read from “Peter Pan.” Top that, China! I especially liked when a youth choir so elegantly sang the national anthem, “God Save Helen Mirren.”

(Ed Graney is covering the Olympics in London for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney. More Olympics coverage can be found at lvrj.com/olympics.)