Bring on the Commonwealth Games

I have seen the Red Arrows displays at many air shows over the years, but this evening was the first time that I have seen them fly past my house!
This was of course part of the Opening Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games. It was great fun watching the finished product on television after seeing the rehearsal on Monday, and I thought it was very good. When we saw on the screen that the Red Arrows were approaching Glasgow, we hurried through to the front of the house just in time to see them fly past the lounge window on their way to Parkhead.
I enjoyed all of the entertainment; the opening song and dance number was a but cringe-making (I wasn't kidding yesterday about John Barrowman and the dancing Tunnocks Tea Cakes!) but it was also cheerful and tongue-in-cheek. Rod Stewart appeared to have almost completely lost his voice but I thought that Amy McDonald and Nicola Benedetti were particularly excellent. I thought it was sad but appropriate that the Malaysian flag was carried round at half mast, and that there was a minute's silence for the victims of flight MH17 last week.
The most hilarious but agonising moment was when the president of the Commonwealth Games committee struggled to open up the baton to retrieve the Queen's message which was stashed inside it. After a couple of minutes which probably seemed like hours to him, with Sir Chris Hoy trying to help and the Queen looking on, he managed to open it and looked very relieved.
By the way, I thought that the controversial Scottish team uniform looked great; it was meant to be bold and eye-catching and I think it worked.