Opera was the cinema of its time, so to bring back that popular appeal, you just need to unleash its visceral immediacy and excitement. Most productions don't manage that - but when an opera does do it, you never forget it.
When I first walked in to London, I was so overwhelmed by the village, the sheer volume of people. I was just so excited. You don't know what to expect. So the level of excitement was almost draining, just taking everything in. I was so exhausted after I swam because of all the excitement in the build-up.
Every now and then, you'll get one of those days when you're feeling rubbish or when you have to pretty much drag yourself out of bed to get to training. But then you'll see the Olympic pool, and all the excitement and adrenaline will come rushing back.
I find that nothing but very close and intense application to subjects of a scientific nature now seems at all to keep my imagination from running wild, or to stop up the void which seems to be left in my mind from a want of excitement.
The real excitement is collaborating with computer scientists and neuroscientists and starting to understand in detail how children learn so much so quickly.
Teachers need to feel they are trusted. They must be allowed some leeway to use their imagination; otherwise, teaching loses all sense of wonder and excitement.
There is a charm in making a stew, to the unaccustomed cook, from the excitement of wondering what the result will be, and whether any flavour save that of onions will survive the competition in the mixture.
The excitement really didn't start to build until the trailer - which was carrying me, with a space suit with ventilation and all that sort of stuff - pulled up to the launch pad.
