BTLondonLive At Victoria Park
I did pop in briefly to the free BTLondonLive event in Victoria Park.
The only gluten-free food I could find was the paella, which wasn’t labelled as such, but as far as I could tell didn’t contain any gluten-containing ingredients. Note that they don’t let you take in food and drink. So for a coeliac, it’s paella or nothing.
I left fairly soon after I got there, as they weren’t showing the cycling, which of course, I could view at home. But as it was only a short bus ride from the end of my road, I wasn’t really bothered.
Red Arrows Over Haggerston
Looking at my pictures, I did at least photograph the vapour trails of the Red Arrows over Haggerston station.
If you look can just about see the vapour trails.
The Red Arrows came over my left shoulder, when I thought they would come from my right.
The Scandal of the Empty Seats
The BBC and most of the newspapers are complaining about the empty seats at some of the Olympic venues. Here‘s the BBC on the subject.
No-one is sure of the reason, but it would appear to be mostly expensive tickets, many of which went to corporate sponsors.
Could it be that when those with the tickets, found out they’d have to slum it on public transport as there is no reserved parking space for the Bentley, they have decided to forgo the privilege of seeing some of the best sport in the world?
I’ve just checked one of the world’s luxury hotel group and there are still rooms available at an affordable price for those who could afford it, like a corporate sponsor. C and I used sometimes to stay in the world’s best hotels and then use the local public transport and I know quite a few Americans, Europeans and Aussies, who have or still do that regularly. But if you’re on expenses paid by a corporate sponsor, you can’t even use a taxi in London to get to Stratford.
I also wonder if the organisers got their ticket allocation wrong, with too many expensive tickets. And given the current state of the economy, even the rich are feeling the pinch.
I live in London N1, which is an affluent area, close to the City, and I’ve never seen the buses and the streets so empty. Lots of people have gone on holiday. A friend, who works at a high level in one of the sponsors, who I thought could expect tickets, has gone away.
It’s a real conundrum, but it’s not as simple as some have said.
Did The Cyclists Have a Plan B?
It was very disappointing, that Mark Cavendish or one of the other GB cyclists didn’t win any medals in the Road Race today.
But as we saw in the Tour de France, they are not exactly untalented, so when their tactics were failing, as commentators were saying, why did they not change them?
It should be noted that when Mark Cavendish won the World Championships, the teams were larger, so the small team size probably didn’t help.
It seemed too, that the Germans didn’t have an alternative plan either, so it’s not just a British problem.
On the other hand in the Tour de France, plans appear to be changed regularly to suit the circumstances. But then the riders there are much more controlled from coaches in the cars and are in radio contact!
It strikes me that cycling teams need to evolve a better way of working.
Heatherwick Does It Again!
The cauldron at London 2012 is nothing like I’ve seen at any other Olympics.
And like the New Bus for London, it’s out of the studio of Thomas Heatherwick. Read more about it here.
It enabled a number of promising athletes chosen by our more successful past Olympians to light the cauldron.
I may have found some of the things in the Opening Ceremony a bit naff and politically correct, but I’ll give two hundred out of a hundred for the way the cauldron was designed, built and lit.
The Queen Does It In One Take
According to this piece in Her Majesty’s Daily Telegraph, The Queen played herself all in one take.
According to Nicholas Brown, the BBC’s director of Drama Production, she gave a flawless performance. “She got it in one take. That’s what she does, and she does it very well. She is a professional.
The piece also indicates that the corgis were the Queen’s too! Fox News in the United States had the headline Corgis Win The Opening Ceremony. If the latter is true, they must be the first dogs to win a Gold Medal at the Olympics.
I would think that if your corgi is expecting a litter of puppies, you won’t have any difficulty finding good homes for them!
London’s First Real Olympics
The Times points out today, that the 1908 Olympics was held in the UK, as it was supposed to have been held in Rome. But Vesuvius exploded, so the Games were moved.
Although, we held them in 1948, that was very much because we got left holding the parcel, after the Second World War, as no-one had any money. If there had been no war, London would have had the Games in 1944.
So that makes 2012, London’s first real Games!
Is This What Home Advantage Is About?
Heather Stanning and Helen Glover have just destroyed everybody in their rowing heat. They also broke the Olympic record.
They were one of the favourites to win the heat, but not so easily.
So there might just be something in home advantage!
The Anonymous Widower 