A Classic Spectacle

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But in the Olympic Stadium Friday evening, even as the athletes took their oath, committing to a Games "without doping and without drugs," it was still very much a party. The brotherhood of man doesn't get many chances to gather in one place, and when it does, it's kind of hard not to be buoyant. So in between wondering if Palau is actually a country and--hey, looking good over there, Eritrea!--marvelling at the discrepancy between 7 ft. 6 in. Chinese flag bearer Yao Ming and 4 ft. 8 in. Malaysian flag bearer Bryan Nickson Lomas, the Athenians lit cosmic flashlights and shook cowbells and stood for relentless wave upon wave, proving in the end that people the world over really are the same. We're all kind of goofy.

--With reporting by Hannah Beech, Anthee Carassava, Jeff Chu, Sally B. Donnelly, Sean Gregory, Jennie James and Alice Park/Athens