Opening Ceremonies

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge is holding firm that there will be no moment of silence for the 11 Israeli athletes murdered at the 1972 Munich Games at the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympics, despite pleas from the U.S., Germany and Israel. Writers from around the Tribune Co.will discuss whether the IOC should mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy with a moment of silence at the Opening Ceremony. Check back throughout the day for their responses and join the conversation by voting in the poll and leaving a comment of your own. Barry Stavro, Los Angeles Times Political events and boycotts are almost as much of an Olympic tradition as the torch is in the Opening Ceremony.  Since 1956 various countries have boycotted at least six Games, but their lasting impact was minimal, at least in international diplomatic circles.

LONDON — The song suddenly cut through the steamy humidity like a familiar breeze. Somebody inside Olympic Stadium was singing "Hey Jude. " We walked up to an Olympic worker and asked where the song was coming from. The guy shrugged and said, "Sir Paul is in there training. " Yes, he was talking about Paul McCartney . And, yes, as we discovered moments later when we entered the mostly empty stadium, McCartney and his band were on an end-zone stage rehearsing. The scene was surreal.

LONDON -- It's time again. The every-four-year itch needs scratching. London will have its Olympics, and the tizzy is at high pitch. The Olympic rings hang proudly under the Tower Bridge and over the Thames River. The airports are flooded with arrivals, and with people in official London Olympic orange and purple, slobbering over those arrivals. "Can I help you, sir? Is there anything you need?" That's a bit jarring. This is London, a huge city that understandably operates in the tone and temperament of Donald Trump.

LONDON -- The last few days before the 2010 Vancouver Olympics swirled past in a flurry for Mark Grimmette. The luger from Michigan had been chosen to carry the American flag at the opening ceremony and wondered about protocol. Instructions came at him from all sides. Line up here. Walk there. Maintain an even pace. And one more thing. "I had a lot of people tell me," he recalls, "you're not supposed to dip the flag. " Most Olympic teams briefly lower their colors as a sign of respect when they march past the box where the host nation's leaders are seated.

With iPhones and cameras out, crowds virtually stampeded the white concrete path to view Michael Heizer's "Levitated Mass," which opened Sunday morning at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The famously reclusive Heizer was on hand for the opening ceremonies and stood at the exit with LACMA director Michael Govan, shaking hands with museum guests and signing tickets. Govan cut the ribbon with a pair of gold-handled scissors to officially open the $10-million sculpture.

Paul McCartney has confirmed an Olympic-sized rumor, saying he'll be the closing act at the London 2012 opening ceremony. Earlier this year the former Beatle disclosed that he was in talks to play a role in the celebrations. On Monday, he confirmed: "I've been booked. " The lineup for the ceremony, overseen by "Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle and themed "Isles of Wonder," is a closely guarded secret. The Olympic Games take place July 27 to Aug. 12. —Associated Press More subjects to the Iron Throne A new record has come to Westeros with Sunday's ratings for "Game of Thrones.

LONDON - As a longtime Londoner but not much of a sports fan, Elaine Potter has cast a mostly skeptical eye over the Olympics and all the related fuss - the omnipresent marketing, the endless media coverage. But gazing out over the shiny new stadium in London's East End for the first time this week, with a friend who dragged her to go see it, Potter admitted to some second thoughts. "It's looking good," said Potter, 56, who's tempering her opinion of the Games as one big headache.

The 2009 launch of the Pendleton Meets Opening Ceremony collection introduced the nostalgic wool brand to the fashion crowd and inspired the creation of this season's Portland Collection. Boutique retailer Opening Ceremony, with locations in Soho, Los Angeles and Tokyo, has collaborated with dozens of brands since opening its doors in 2002. It launched its own Opening Ceremony collection, which is also sold in stores such as Barneys New York and Saks. Co-founders Carol Lim and Humberto Leon have become such influential tastemakers that in July they were named the new creative directors for the Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton-owned French fashion label Kenzo.

When the Commonwealth Games kicked off here Sunday night, India relished the spectacle as an antidote to months of bad press over alleged corruption and mismanagement, including headlines about a collapsed footbridge, a tourist shooting and a filthy athletes' village. India has hoped to use the Games to showcase its booming economy and growing international clout in the same way China did with the 2008 Summer Olympics. But the many scandals in the run-up to the Games have left some worried that they would dent the nation's stature rather than elevate it. Some in the news media have dubbed them the "Shame Games.

Several hours before the flags and nationalism became the background for a golf match, the spectators paraded down a huge hill by the thousands. There would be an estimated 45,000 of them on hand this Thursday of Ryder Cup week. They would see no golf where they were headed, other than a few of the two dozen of the greatest players in the world practicing putts. Conveniently, the ground around the putting green had plenty of little hills and so, when Padraig Harrington stretched out a 10-foot string, dropped six balls long at the end of it and missed his first five tries, it became a sort of grand theater.