Olympic Bullshit

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Well the late '90s were full of all this crap about 'Cool Britannia', weren't they? I seem to remember the Dome being billed as a kind of 21st-century version of the Festival of Britain or the Great Exhibition. No idea about where the cash came from or how much of it was ever made back. I think a lot of Lottery money went into it.
 

Bangpuss

Well-known member
A report in one of yesterday's papers cited a report that says Olympics 2012 will cause more gridlock than expected. Bring on the four-hour crosstown bus journey!
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
A report in one of yesterday's papers cited a report that says Olympics 2012 will cause more gridlock than expected. Bring on the four-hour crosstown bus journey!

It's actually gonna cause deaths - patients in areas affected by the Golden Mile or whatever round the Isle of Dogs where they're blocking off the roads with concrete won't be able to get to their doctors. Olympic Death Squad.
 
I never understood the appeal of the opening ceremony. No sport is played, just an army of people in tracksuits walking round a track holding flags and the organisers basking in the glory of their achievements.

I can't decide if the Olympics or the high speed rail thing are the most wasteful domestic policies of the last decade. Both originate in the cauldron of New Labour, by the way, so it's not all the coalition's fault. But you have to question why a government whose raison d'etre is economic prudence wants to go ahead with the high speed railway. Over £30 billion is a modest estimate, since we all know how the budgets of public spending projects balloon. It gets you to Birmingham 15 minutes quicker.

The current trains to Birmingham are overcrowded, the only way this can be remedied is by building a completely new line. 95% of the business case of the high speed rail is about freeing up capacity, the 'getting to your destination 15 minutes quicker' theme is a red herring. It only adds a little extra to the cost so it's a nice thing to have
 

Bangpuss

Well-known member
Longer platforms and trains would increase the capacity for way less money and wouldn't carve up the countryside. The high speed option may be a red herring, but you can bet they will charge a premium to travel on it. I'd be interested to hear if there are any plans to cap rail prices, especially on the new line. Otherwise, by the time it's built, I can see a London to Birmingham train ticket purchased on the day to cost about 400 quid.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Crossing London on the tube last night, saw that the ES had a headline about how rail bosses' bonuses have effectively double their pay this year. Once again, everyone grumbles and not a single fucking thing is done about it.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Who awards their bonuses?

Who the hell needs to earn over £100 000 (at a push)? We live in a ridiculous society. The headlines about possible evictions by landlords drawing up new contracts re the Olympics are, if true, terrible.
 
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luka

Well-known member
my mum was visting me from stratford. telling me about the special lanes for celebrities. so they dont get stuck in traffic. ambulances cant use them. except if its life or death. we dont want celebrities stuck in traffic. they told my sister she can go to work but only if she cycles. but the cycle lanes have been replaced by the celebrity lanes. my mum has been told to work from home.
 

Sectionfive

bandwagon house
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Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Fantastic story here about British wrestling's places being flled by sparring partners from the Ukraine who turned out to be better than the UK athletes they were supposed to be helping.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/28/olympics-2012-british-wrestling-scrap-places

Training partners imported from Ukraine, Bulgaria and Russia, where there is a huge depth of talent, to spar with homegrown hopefuls at the sport's base in Salford in 2007 have ended up representing Britain and potentially taking two of the three places on offer at the Games.

How can you represent a country after living there for just five years? Seems to defeat the entire point of 'representing' a country rather than just competing as an individual.
 

sufi

lala
41f5MTz4rnL._SS500_.jpg

http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-rev...iewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
95 of 96 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars Extremely worried, 27 May 2012
By Kyle Logan (Glasgow) - See all my reviews
= Durability:1.0 out of 5 stars = Fun:1.0 out of 5 stars = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars
This review is from: Olympic Mascots Wenlock Policeman Figurine (Toy)
I bought this toy last week and although it arrived quickly and it seems to be well made, I have some concerns. Every fifteen minute since I've opened it out of the packaging, it will shout phrases such as 'I AM THE EYE OF PROVIDENCE', 'PAX ROMANA' and 'THE SECRET IS WITHIN THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA'.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
I like the review of that^^ that said something like "Less fun than masturbating over a picture of Sebastian Coe, and god knows I've tried it".
 

Bangpuss

Well-known member
I went to see China Mieville and Iain Sinclair talk about the Olympic legacy at the Stoke Newington literary festival at the weekend. It was very good, although there wasn't much 'debate'; just one damning analysis after another. Not sure if this is true or not -- it seems a bit far fetched to me -- but Sinclair claims there are more British troops serving the Olympics than were deployed in Afghanistan.
 
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