What did you do when the Olympic Torch passed by?

[biffvernon]

Anyway, I'm supporting Bhutan in the Olympics. It means one doesn't have to watch much as they are only up for one event.

Read all about it: http://bhutanolympiccommittee.org/why-everyone-in-the-world-should-cheer-on-bhutan-at-the-london-games/

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Well I can report that there were 73,000 people with me in Old Trafford tonight, brimming full of Olympic Spirit and cheering on committed TeamGB against Senegalese flair. Before that most of us got behind plucky UAE against gravity-challenged Uraguay.

Some of us even had a coke and a pie.It wasn't extorionate (same price as a normal game, as were the very good programmes),and none of us had to then cavort with the devil either. 8)

The thousands of vounteers and police ensured that everything went extremely smoothly - both security and public transport. I saw someone wearing some Nike trainers.... surprisingly they weren't taken out of the line and summaraily shot against the nearest wall. Someone must have mis-understood...

I managed to get tickets some months ago, quite easily - and three of us (including the two FW gene puddles at 9 & 12 yrs) managed to see two top quality football games in good seats in Old Trafford for forty quid all in. That wouldn't happen on a normal Saturday.

It almost looked like a well planned, organised and executed sports event, where lots of people seemed to be having fun together. If only the rest of the Games could be like this. :wink:

Tomorrow I would like Logan to light the Olympic Cauldron; that would be true magic - https://www.facebook.com/logansolympictorch?ref=stream - he is a perfect Olympic spirit and got to meet David Beckham and David Cameron today and has so far raised £18k for Hearing Dogs. Please go and donate a fiver to him.
http://www.justgiving.com/lets-hear-it-for-deaf-children.

If not Logan, then please can we have Roger Bannister?

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Boris is a legend. Watch this for 1m55 of your time.

Listen to Hyde Park chant "Boris.Boris.Boris"!

"TeamGB are going to win more golds thanan you need to bail out Greece and Spain together"

"Are we ready to put on the greatest Games ever?" "Yeeeessss!"

"Can we beat the French?" "Yeeeessss!"

They loved him. Can you imagine Ken making a speech like this?

Boris for PM and King!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BRgh2mOce7Q

 

[biffvernon]

Predictions for tonight:

The betting in our household strongly favours bubbles as playing a significant part.

We shall see.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

The betting in our household strongly favours bubbles as playing a significant part.

Michael Jackson's monkey? Seems a long shot if you ask me! 8)

 

[biffvernon]

Nope. Bubbles not monkeys. Real bubbles. I could be wrong but I have my spies.

 

[Flyfisher]

If not Logan, then please can we have Roger Bannister?

Assuming the honour goes to an Olympian, I'd wager a few pennies on Steve Redgrave being chosen to light the flame. He can make a fair claim to be the greatest living Olympic athlete.

 

[Flyfisher]

Can you imagine Ken making a speech like this?

Boris for PM and King!!

Boris is delightfully un-PC, which is why he's so popular. He's not afraid to say the sorts of things most people are thinking. All a cleverly stage-managed persona, no doubt, but does it matter as long as it enables him to get away with saying such things?

I'd like to see him as PM just to see if he could sustain the same approach in serious office.

I doubt he'd run things any better than anyone else but I equally doubt he'd be any worse either - but at least he could give us all a bit of a laugh.

 

[Penners]

The betting in our household strongly favours bubbles as playing a significant part.

Bubbles?!

Boris with a bubble dip? I can barely contain my excitement.

 

[biffvernon]

Bigger bubbles than that.

But the sport that I'm interested in, Archery, got off to a daft start:

Spectators trying to get in to watch the archery were turned away amid confusion over ticketing.
The London 2012 website advertised the event's preliminary rounds as "unticketed", which some members of the public interpreted as open to the public.
But Olympic organiser Locog said it had not advertised or sold tickets for the ranking event and had always made it clear preliminary rounds were not open to spectators.

Not so clever - A world record set and only a few VIPs allowed to watch it.

 

[Flyfisher]

Culture secretary in bell-end incident . . . .

"I can't say there won't be hitches . . . . ." says Jeremy Hunt, shortly before flinging his bell into the crowd.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19011788

 

[JohnB]

Culture secretary in bell-end incident . . . .

"I can't say there won't be hitches . . . . ." says Jeremy Hunt, shortly before flinging his bell into the crowd.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19011788

A politician drops a clanger. Now there's something that doesn't happen very often :roll:.

 

[philpjuk100]

Well I for one thought the opening ceremony was great!

 

[Feltwell]

Me too - although I confess that I fell asleep at about Bhutan

The opening bit, up to the athletes parading, was I thought overall very good indeed - Danny Boyle should be proud. The only real negatve for me, that really REALLY grated, was that they felt the need to announce everything first in French then in English.

This made for something of a "Eurovision" feel - I wanted Terry Wogan to do the commentating! Why in French? And should it not at least have come after the English announcement?

Boris for PM

He was funny, but - could we really stand the utter humiliation and shame of that "fluff-haired loon" being the representative of Britain to the rest of the world?? Please No!!!

 

[biffvernon]

Opening with William Blake, the conversion of our rural idyll to an industrial wasteland, support for the NHS, the banishment of children's fictional monsters by multiple Mary Poppins, excellent political choices for the Olympic Flag bearers, Pink Floyd playing in the climax of copper plumbing; what's not to like?

 

[LadyArowana]

The only real negatve for me, that really REALLY grated, was that they felt the need to announce everything first in French then in English.

This made for something of a "Eurovision" feel - I wanted Terry Wogan to do the commentating! Why in French? And should it not at least have come after the English announcement?

Boris for PM

He was funny, but - could we really stand the utter humiliation and shame of that "fluff-haired loon" being the representative of Britain to the rest of the world?? Please No!!!

I assume it has to do with the history of the modern games and the involvement of the French chap who was a driving force behind that.

Boris may well be a "fluff haired loon" but let's be honest there have been worse humans on the Olympic stage.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Imaginative, quirky, confident and self deprecating. Truly British. No one else has the back catalogue we put on last night. Lots of lefty and righty symbolism.

Boyle and Lord Coe did Britain proud. Really proud.

Athletes parade was great. It was long - I'm sure that they ended with some extra countries formed by the end. The reaction to TeamGB was thunderous.

The passing of the torch to the new generation and the cauldron of petals was inspired and inspiring.

They even dug up Macca for a pub sing song finale.

Not a dry eye in the FW house.

Over now to the real stars of the show.

 

[FamilyWiggs]

Opening with William Blake, the conversion of our rural idyll to an industrial wasteland, support for the NHS, the banishment of children's fictional monsters by multiple Mary Poppins, excellent political choices for the Olympic Flag bearers, Pink Floyd playing in the climax of copper plumbing; what's not to like?

Steady on with the excitement Biff. Sounds like you enjoyed it! :wink: I though the highlight was the factory workers handing over their tally to get fed a Big Mac... Ronald must've paid millions for that sketch. 8)

 

[biffvernon]

I did enjoy it. Especially Mr Bean.

There's a good piece about Thomas Heatherwick, designer of the Cauldron, here: http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/cultural-capital/2012/05/review-making-thomas-heatherwick

 

[MdB]

Sir Paul at the end was awful and wasn't worth staying up for. The flame/cauldron was though as was the rest. A good show.