Enlightenment

I think I'm suffering from opening ceremony fatigue. I couldn't face an evening of the London 2012 Paralympic Games opening ceremony on Channel 4 yesterday, what with TV commercials as well; but I did watch the last hour and found it very moving, especially as there weren't any commercials during that hour. Enlightenment promoted science, books, Shakespeare and humanitarianism. A gigantic reproduction of Marc Quinn's Alison Lapper Pregnant put disability centre stage. Ironic that Alison's profound birth defects, caused by her mother's taking Thalidomide during pregnancy, are the product of science. I can't help wondering what countries like Pakistan that televised the show made of images of a huge naked armless woman. Will there be riots over her lack of a hijab? CLICK for a BBC slide show. Alison is also an artist (CLICK).