The Olympics

[anthony263]

Truth be told I am still not too excited even after seeing the torch on saturday.

 

[Schnellzug]

More Olympic-related corporate arrogance: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl1|sec1_lnk2&pLid=111364

Remind me again, why should we be welcoming this Incredible experience?

 

[Welshman]

We stood for about half an hour to see the Olympic Torch go by last Tuesday, and I've never been so underwhelmed for a long time. It was mainly a massive advertising campaign for Coca-Cola.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

More Olympic-related corporate arrogance: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl1|sec1_lnk2&pLid=111364

Remind me again, why should we be welcoming this Incredible experience?

Honestly - how many times we we have to keep telling you?

It's because the country is so affluent and awash with spare money at the moment that we don't know how to spend it all.

 

[SS4]

"Swifter, Higher, Stronger" seems to reflect more on corporate profit and restriction than the Olympics. I wonder how much Visa will charge for using one's card at the point of sale?

Nobody is seriously arguing that we have to host it due to the mistake made by the previous government in a applying for it. We won't do better than China but we're known for our history, dignity and traditions amongst others so why not follow it and have a simple, high-brow ceremony in which the Queen declares the games open
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

More Olympic-related corporate arrogance: http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/201...icid=maing-grid7|uk|dl1|sec1_lnk2&pLid=111364

Remind me again, why should we be welcoming this Incredible experience?

Why would you want your taxes going on silly things like schools and hospitals?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
I notice the Ricoh Coventry City stadium is one of those being pulled out. It's one thing doing so when there is a huge cluster of machines but I can;t imagine there'd be many close to the station.

It's all very well talking about cash but there are going to be many people unaware of exactly how much the monopoly will push up prices and will run out of cash. Don't they have to have water pumps/stations where people can get clean drinking water for free?

Corporate sponsorship does keep pricing down but we are paying a much higher price because of the artificial monopoly

 

[The 375 King]

I hope the weather is cold, wet and windy with thunder storms and tornados at the olympic park untill it is all over, what a load of rubbish to waste money on, thanks a lot Blair.

 

[Deerfold]

I hope the weather is cold, wet and windy with thunder storms and tornados at the olympic park untill it is all over, what a load of rubbish to waste money on, thanks a lot Blair.

I don't - I'm going to be stood outside giving travel advice to people having been heavily leaned on to "volunteer" for this.

 

[NY Yankee]

By Michael McHugh


Tuesday June 05 2012

THE Olympic torch relay through Northern Ireland was disrupted last night following a dissident republican protest.

One man was arrested after minor scuffles with police as the flame was about to pass the peace bridge linking the divided communities in Derry.

Thousands of spectators, many of them visitors to the city, had lined the route of the relay and clapped and cheered as the torch was carried along the Foyle dual carriageway and through the city centre before it was carried across the Peace Bridge and into St Columb's Park.

Scuffles

Spectators, many of them women and children, rushed from the scene of the scuffles as police reinforcements arrived to quell the disturbances.

Nobody was injured but the torch relay was re-routed by about 100 yards.

A group of about 100 dissident republican supporters had gathered behind the Guildhall before the relay team carrying the Olympic torch had arrived.

The protesters, many of them young children carrying placards alleging police brutality during weekend searches of houses in the Creggan area of the city, then clashed with police officers.

Former SDLP leader Mark Durkan said: "We support anyone's right to protest but that has been abused here today in Derry.

"People are just absolutely disgusted that there will be negative headlines for the city coming out of a great afternoon."

Mr Durkan said there had been an agreement not to disrupt the relay.

The protest was not aimed at the torch ceremony, but shoving with stewards broke out and police intervened to push back a crowd of around 100, half of them children.

A Police Service of Northern Ireland spokesman said several dissident republicans were involved.

One man was arrested.

The trouble in Derry followed a day filled with cheer as the torch shone a light on Northern Ireland's dramatic north coast on the second day of its journey around the region.

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/republican-protesters-disrupt-the-olympic-torch-relay-3127203.html

Apparently, people in Northern Ireland also hate the Olympics. I'm not familiar with British politics. What do the Republicans want? Are they racist and pro-big business like the Republicans in America?

 

[SS4]

I don't - I'm going to be stood outside giving travel advice to people having been heavily leaned on to "volunteer" for this.

Today's weather would be pretty good for it; warm but not hot, overcast and dry. One of the days last week when it was mid 20s would be much worse IMO.
You raised an interesting point about volunteers though, I wonder just how many were all but conscripted to take part.

<snip>

Apparently, people in Northern Ireland also hate the Olympics. I'm not familiar with British politics. What do the Republicans want? Are they racist and pro-big business like the Republicans in America?

By no means do all the people in NI hate the Olympics. Republicans in NI are republicans in the more traditional sense in that they want Northern Ireland to become part of the Republic of Ireland thus by necessity leaving the UK.
How much Republicanism is fuelled by religion I do not know, generally the South [Republic of Ireland] is Catholic and Northern Ireland is Protestant.

Nobody is as racist and pro big-business as much as the Republican in the US. I can think of no other developed country where free healthcare at the point of need is so vehemently attacked.

 

[ainsworth74]

Apparently, people in Northern Ireland also hate the Olympics. I'm not familiar with British politics. What do the Republicans want? Are they racist and pro-big business like the Republicans in America?

Firstly it is a massive generalization to say that everyone in Northern Ireland hates the Olympics. I'm sure people in NI are the same as those in the rest of the UK, some are looking forward to it, some don't care and the rest would rather it wasn't happening here. However it would be wrong to suggest that all of them hate it.

Secondly Irish Republicans are nothing at all like the US Republican party (and I'd again point out that it is a massive generalization to brand all US Republican's as racists). To put a very very complex issue as simply as I can, Irish Republican's believe that the entirety of Ireland should be an independent country (meaning that NI would leave the UK and join the existing Irish Republic). Unionists are the other group and they believe in the status quo, effectively that NI should remain a part of the UK. As I say this is a very simplistic explanation as, for one, it ignores the religious side of the issue (Unionists are mostly Protestant whilst Republican's Catholic but even this is a generalization).

The Wikipedia article on The Troubles (which is the name given to conflict between the two sides from the late 60s until the 90s) is fairly good overview of the situation if you're interested in reading more.

 

[NY Yankee]

By David Stringer
Associated Press / June 7, 2012

HAMPTON COURT, England—Medieval cottages crowned with thatched roofs. King Henry VIII's storied riverside palace. A wind-swept naval fort that helped to defend Britain's coastline during World War II.

Away from the bustle of London's Olympic stadium, the Summer Games will also showcase the country's postcard perfect rural charms, and highlight centuries of its history.

While it was Britain's vibrant capital that won the right to host the 2012 Games, events aren't confined to London. Spectators will flock to Wales and Scotland, to verdant hills in southern England, and even to a working farm -- where rare breed sheep must make way for Olympic cyclists.

"It might be called London 2012, but really it's a countrywide event. There are places right across the country which are getting a chance to taste the Olympics," said Beverley Egan, of the Salvation Army charity, which owns a swath of eastern England countryside where the Olympic mountain bike competition will take place.

Egan, the organization's director of community services, lives close to the site, the 950-acre Hadleigh Farm, about 40 miles (65 kilometers) east of the London stadium, where cattle graze amid the ruins of a 700-year-old castle.

Sports fans can head to 10 venues outside Britain's capital. Canoeists will slalom through bubbling rapids at Lee Valley White Water Center just beyond London's northern outskirts, while rowing crews will compete on a lake at Eton Dorney, set inside a tranquil 400-acre park about 25 miles (40 kilometers) west of the capital.

On England's southern coast, visitors will watch sailing events at Nothe Fort -- a 19th century naval defense post. During World War II, troops fired the fort's heavy guns in warning on two suspicious ships, but later found the vessels were carrying refugees fleeing the Channel Islands, the only corner of Britain to come under Nazi occupation.

Quaint images of rolling hills will provide a quintessentially British backdrop to events beamed around the world. However lovely, they are also critical to the country's plans for capitalizing on the Olympics, which have cost Britain 9.3 billion pounds ($14.6 billion) to stage. Ministers hope prospective visitors will be captivated as they see historic landscapes and landmarks and book a vacation. They also hope potential investors can be wooed.

Competitors in road cycling races will travel into England's picturesque countryside as they compete for gold medals. Their route -- 156 miles (250 kilometers) for men, 87 miles (140 kilometers) for women -- begins outside Queen Elizabeth II's Buckingham Palace home, but quickly swaps London streets for tree-fringed country lanes.

Their path winds through fields of grazing deer in Richmond Park, bringing the Olympics into the southern England county of Surrey and to the historic Hampton Court Palace.

Home to Henry VIII from the mid-1500s, the palace sits at the heart of his scandalous personal life. It was here that he and his aides plotted England's break with the Roman Catholic church to allow the king to divorce. The king married two of his six wives here, too. Two were accused of adultery and beheaded.Continued...

Road race cyclists will flash by, headed toward the spine of chalk hills known as the North Downs -- but competitors in time trial events will start and finish their races inside the palace grounds, where William Shakespeare and his company of actors once performed for King James I.

During the road race, athletes will continue past the ruins of the 12th Century Newark Priory, on through woodland copses shaded by canopies of trees and down heart-stopping, twisting slopes.

Alan Flaherty, a highway engineer at Surrey County Council and a road cycling fanatic since he first visited the Tour de France in 2004, helped to devise the course once organizers chose to take the event outside London.

Olympic authorities had planned for the route to snake through the capital, but the sport's governing body wanted a course that would better challenge riders and show off more iconic British views.

Flaherty was tapped to share some of his own favored paths. "I literally went out with my rucksack, a camera and a pen and paper and looked at the whole route and then reported back," he said.

The final course offers a checklist of famous British images -- from Westminster Abbey to sheep-filled meadows -- and some competitors have already interrupted training rides with Flaherty to snap pictures with their smartphones.

"It does manage to go past all the main tourist sites in London, starting and finishing on The Mall, and also takes in a huge amount of Surrey," Flaherty said. "It's a real contrast -- all the countryside shows another element of Great Britain to the rest of the world."

Spectators, though not the riders who will speed by, can admire a vision of English nostalgia nestled along the course at Shere, an unspoiled village with a 12th century church, tea house, gently gurgling stream and cluster of thatched roofed cottages.

Nearby at Box Hill, a favorite southern England picnic spot and vantage point, competitors face a grueling ascent up the aptly named Zig Zag Road, an energy-sapping climb which men will complete nine times and women twice. The summit will host about 15,000 spectators, while tens of thousands more are expected to pack along the remainder of the course.

Flaherty said that since he helped to finalize the route scores of enthusiasts have taken to the course with their own bikes -- meaning he must find new paths for his own peaceful weekend cycle rides.

"I've been cycling around here for about 25 years and one of the things I liked is that it's always really quiet," Flaherty said, ruefully. "Then I got involved with the Olympics and now there are hundreds of people out on the route every weekend. The lesson is to be careful what you wish for."

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2012/06/07/outside_london_olympics_show_off_iconic_england/?page=2

Sometimes I have to remind myself that London is not the only city in the United Kingdom. It is a beautiful country. It has a scenic countryside and several historical sites. It is also home to the world's most prestigious educational institution-Oxford. Even if you have no interest in the Olympics, at least enjoy the beauty of England being showcased to the world.

 

[LE Greys]

By David Stringer
Associated Press / June 7, 2012

http://www.boston.com/news/world/europe/articles/2012/06/07/outside_london_olympics_show_off_iconic_england/?page=2

Sometimes I have to remind myself that London is not the only city in the United Kingdom. It is a beautiful country. It has a scenic countryside and several historical sites. It is also home to the world's most prestigious educational institution-Oxford. Even if you have no interest in the Olympics, at least enjoy the beauty of England being showcased to the world.

You mean [Aberdeen] <EDIT> Cambridge!

But you're quite right, and it took an American to say it. We're sometimes too keen to bash our own country over here.

 

[Deerfold]

You mean [Aberdeen] <EDIT> Cambridge!

But you're quite right, and it took an American to say it. We're sometimes too keen to bash our own country over here.

Lol. I've a friend who says Oxford seems to be branier but Cambridge is friendlier and prettier which is why she prefers it.

I prefer Cambridge too - but had a very good bank holiday in Oxford - day and night. Even if it did leave me partially deaf.

To be a little more on topic, I am hoping to enjoy the Olympic Period, it's just a bit too OTT everywhere and costing a fortune - and I'd rather the Olympic organisation was a but pickier about its sponsors (I'm not arguing that they could do without sponsorship but they could cut their cloth a little tighter - do the Olympics really need new stadiums everywhere?).

There's a playground near my work that's having a pre-Olympic "pop-up" event to encourage people to take part in sports. It'll be on for 3 weeks in July. However it's curretly closed for *5 weeks* so they can prepare it which is a bit of a shame for those who use it already! It's so far been closed a week with no obvious work having been done.

 

[Butts]

Suprisingly to me the Olympic Torch processions up here seemed to be popular in my area at least.

I saw it in Stirling, Falkirk and Alloa with lots of schookids waving flags. Coca-Cola were giving out free samples as well.:roll:

 

[LE Greys]

Suprisingly to me the Olympic Torch processions up here seemed to be popular in my area at least.

I saw it in Stirling, Falkirk and Alloa with lots of schookids waving flags. Coca-Cola were giving out free samples as well.:roll:

When it went through Aberdeen, some former classmates got to hold the torch, but not when it was alight. It's passing down my way in two weeks, and after the Queen's visit to the Lister, I intend to get some pictures of the torch in just the same place.

 

[Deerfold]

Suprisingly to me the Olympic Torch processions up here seemed to be popular in my area at least.

I saw it in Stirling, Falkirk and Alloa with lots of schookids waving flags. Coca-Cola were giving out free samples as well.:roll:

I'll be popping to see it on Sunday - got my nephews visiting to take too. I suspect they'll be more excited tham I am - though I'm open to enjoying myself. Will be interesting to see how many people it attracts as it skims the town.

 

[Clip]

Honestly - how many times we we have to keep telling you?

It's because the country is so affluent and awash with spare money at the moment that we don't know how to spend it all.

I shouldnt get involved like, but the money was set aside for the Olympics when we were affluent and awash with so called money. Would you have preferred them just to renege on all contracts already signed and have to pay the penalties that would also have come from the Olympic comittee themselves as well as all the contractors and so on and so forth?

Im pretty sure that would have ran into many more billions on top of the price tag it has already cost.



Still at least its another thing for the Great British public to whinge and moan and whine about like the whinging moaning whining people they are.

Keep calm and carry on.

 

[Zoe]

London bid for and won the 2005 World Championships in Athletics but it was then decided that it would be too expensive to build the stadium and the bidding reopened with Helsinki winning.

 

[Clip]

London bid for and won the 2005 World Championships in Athletics but it was then decided that it would be too expensive to build the stadium and the bidding reopened with Helsinki winning.

Indeed they did due to the collapse of the building of picketts lock. They had not already half built the stadium before the collapse though which was my point.

And now that we have a nice stadium to house athletics in we have now won the 2017 world championships even though we messed up the last ones.

 

[Zoe]

Indeed they did due to the collapse of the building of picketts lock. They had not already half built the stadium before the collapse though which was my point.

I'm not sure they ever started building the Picketts Lock stadium though, they just decided it was going to be too expensive.

 

[Clip]

I'm not sure they ever started building the Picketts Lock stadium though, they just decided it was going to be too expensive.

Thats my point. They didnt build it so it wasnt much of a loss. If they cancelled the Olympics half way through just becuase we are not as flash as we were when we won it we would have penalties from everyone costing us an awful lot more money than the Olympics is costing.

 

[Zoe]

Thats my point. They didnt build it so it wasnt much of a loss. If they cancelled the Olympics half way through just becuase we are not as flash as we were when we won it we would have penalties from everyone costing us an awful lot more money than the Olympics is costing.

Yes, I agree it would be too late to cancel now but maybe they could have done as soon as the credit crunch first hit when very little had been built. It may have saved construction costs although I'm not sure when the contracts for construction were signed.

 

[richw]

Suprisingly to me the Olympic Torch processions up here seemed to be popular in my area at least.

I saw it in Stirling, Falkirk and Alloa with lots of schookids waving flags. Coca-b
Cola were giving out free samples as well.:roll:

It was extremely popular in Cornwall, with tourist boards stating accommodation bookings were 500% up on the same weekend last year, but bare in mind we were the first place to get it, and had a large amount of big name celebs in area for it.

 

[richw]

Yes, I agree it would be too late to cancel now but maybe they could have done as soon as the credit crunch first hit when very little had been built. It may have saved construction costs although I'm not sure when the contracts for construction were signed.

I suspect the number of extra visitors, will in fact boost the economy, although the high outlay (somehow under budget must be mentioned) I think the boost to the economy will be higher, firstly in London with everyone jumping in to get involved, and secondly all the subsidiary companies all over the country supplying goods to London.
Initial figures suggest jubilee weekend boosted figures for many establishments in London by as much as 10 times the normal for the same weekend. The Olympics will be significantly more with all the foreign visitors to London.

 

[Clip]

Yes, I agree it would be too late to cancel now but maybe they could have done as soon as the credit crunch first hit when very little had been built. It may have saved construction costs although I'm not sure when the contracts for construction were signed.

I wouldve imagined a lot of them were pre-signed on a count of actually winning the bid. they had plans for Stratford early on in the bid process so I reckon a lot of it was already mapped out and ready to go.

Would be interesting though if they did pull the plug as I doubt the DLR extension wouldve got the go ahead nor the Javelin and I wonder if the whole LO operation wouldve got off the ground and in place with new stock and line extensions as quickly as it did with the winning of the Olympics?

Ahh...

 

[Butts]

I wonder if they had all this moaning in China when they staged the Olympics?

They spent a lot more than the UK.....

Also they didn't seem to have much problem with planning permission

 

[VTPreston_Tez]

The torch came through Preston today. My group got to do our dance (and I stood out like a sore thumb with blue trakkies on) and it was an enjoyable day.
My only problem with the Olympics is the relay - it causes major bus disruption and even blocked off the train station today which wasn't very good for the early morning commuters. Badly planned out, but still success for some yet horror for others..

 

[jon0844]

I wonder if they had all this moaning in China when they staged the Olympics?

They spent a lot more than the UK.....

Also they didn't seem to have much problem with planning permission

And it was a fantastic event (I was lucky enough to be taken out by Samsung) that made people see China, including myself, in a totally different light.

It was when I realised that I could happily take photos of Chinese army soldiers and not get the same grief you might from a member of railway staff for taking a picture of a waiting room or something pathetic.

 

[gswindale]

Initial figures suggest jubilee weekend boosted figures for many establishments in London by as much as 10 times the normal for the same weekend.

Is that a comparison with the first weekend in June or a comparison with the Spring Bank Holiday weekend? If the former then I'm not really surprised that it had that much of an impact.

The latter is slightly more surprising, but then again they're probably comparing figures over 4 days instead of 3.

Just got to decide what I do when the torch comes to town. It leaves the town where I live about 17:30 and arrives just outside where I work about 18:15 I think. With a little bit of luck the fact I'm going the other way down the motorway it won't cause a problem, but who knows!

 

[richw]

Is that a comparison with the first weekend in June or a comparison with the Spring Bank Holiday weekend? If the former then I'm not really surprised that it had that much of an impact.

The latter is slightly more surprising, but then again they're probably comparing figures over 4 days instead of 3.
!

I'm not sure, the article simply said the against the same weekend as last year, I didn't think of the bank holidays being different

 

[Clip]

The torch came through Preston today. My group got to do our dance (and I stood out like a sore thumb with blue trakkies on) and it was an enjoyable day.
My only problem with the Olympics is the relay - it causes major bus disruption and even blocked off the train station today which wasn't very good for the early morning commuters. Badly planned out, but still success for some yet horror for others..

I cant imagine there was that much disruption to early morning commuters on a saturday morning and for such a short period of time also.