And in the meantime, The Olympics are driving Britain insane.

[EV]

I am sick of having the olympics shoved down my throat.

Read this article, specifically the following quote:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2012/07/21/london-olympics-lord-coe-s-astonishing-sponsors-outburst-86908-23910798/

In a tetchy interview for BBC radio, Coe said some of the stories circulating about the way the Olympic and sponsors’ brands are being protected was like the myths about the EU rules on “straight bananas”.
But the peer, who was former Tory leader William Hague’s chief of staff, admitted that some brands of clothing could see Olympic ticket-holders barred.
Asked if someone wearing a Pepsi T-shirt would be allowed in, Coe replied: “No.
“You probably wouldn’t be walking in with a Pepsi T-shirt because Coca-Cola are our sponsors and they have put millions of pounds into this project but also millions of pounds into grassroots sport.
“It is important to protect those sponsors.”

I went to watch the torch procession, and had to sit through 15 minutes of 'sponsors' driving massively overdone floats through the route and playing loud music whilst handing out tacky shit for us all to wave around to promote their bastardised ideas. I started screaming at the coca-cola truck, asking why they are not paying their fucking taxes during the olympics. They are going on about how much money they have invested, they're making it all back and more during this event.

You know, on the route of the Olympic bike ride, any shop serving spectators is not allowed to sell any products from companies that are not sponsoring the Olympic games. It's fucking madness. One of my friends works in a shop on top of Box Hill, the only shop for miles around. The Olympic bike road race goes through here, and it is a prime vantage spot for watching the race. Their boss told them that they are only allowed to sell coca-cola, no pepsi or any other drinks made by the company.

By sponsoring the games, they have a massive monopoly on all goods sold during the event. I don't understand how they STILL want more. It's a disgrace to the country, our spineless arsewipe politicians have sold out entirely, and allowed the capitalist plutocratic bastards to run rampant.

I can't stand it any longer, it's disgusting. I can't go out without seeing it plastered all over the world. I hate this, it's shocking.


't doesn't help that the Olympic 2012 logo looks like Lisa Simpson giving head either.


End of rant. I hope this brought you some amusement.

[HAL]

Yea I haven't paid much attention to it all yet. That logo looks like shit. It's terrible.

I hope all of it drives Frank mad. Course since it's in the U.K. he won't complain about it. Everything bad about the world is the fault of the U.S.

[shnozzola]

I started screaming at the coca-cola truck, asking why they are not paying their fucking taxes during the olympics.

Made me laugh - possible future signature.

[Traveler]

OMG, I haven't followed any of it. You're absolutely right about the logo, and even though I hate the taste of Pepsi, I'd be inclined to wear a Pepsi t-shirt simply because no one has a right to tell me what t-shirt I can wear. If its a symphony, they can tell me I can't wear ANY t-shirt. That's ok. And if I'm wearing something really offensive, that might be ok in some specific circumstances. But a brand? C'mon, get serious. What a total circus.

The Olympics is supposed to be about the best of the best competing in a world-wide stage. Not about consumerism. Or maybe I'm just naive. 

[Frank]

Yea I haven't paid much attention to it all yet. That logo looks like shit. It's terrible.

I hope all of it drives Frank mad. Course since it's in the U.K. he won't complain about it. Everything bad about the world is the fault of the U.S.

Actually you would be wrong (no change there then). I just didn't think this would be the place to bring it up but since someone has. Quite honestly I despise the Olympics regardless of where its held. Billions wasted on mostly minority sports that people suddenly find interesting for two weeks out of every four years. Suddenly how far someone can toss a heavy ball or throw a pointy stick fascinates people. Worst of all there is always an upsurge of interest in these otherwise pointless pastimes after the games end, until the novelty wears off and people come to their senses again.

I remember years ago on the back of a successful UK mens hockey team there was a brief interest in mens hockey until everyone realised it was a big girls blouse of a sport and interest wained just as quickly.

It swamps all the TV channels and the relentless advertising. Every corporation is an "official" sponsor or partner of some aspect of the games. Especially those who supply stuff that is bad for us such as sugary fizzy drinks and fast food. They care oh soooo much about sport. Lying bastards! It's just one big sponsorfest. What's BMW got to do with sport FFS?

I don't think it's anywhere near as popular as the government would have us believe. They're just bigging it up for all they're worth. Thankfully it's only for two weeks and then the football season starts again and we can get back to real sport that people actually like and you can wear whatever T shirt you want when you enter the stadiums.

[jetson]

That was funny, Frank.   

[HAL]

Worst of all there is always an upsurge of interest in these otherwise pointless pastimes after the games end, until the novelty wears off and people come to their senses again.

When does the novelty of kings and queens wear off?

[Frank]

Worst of all there is always an upsurge of interest in these otherwise pointless pastimes after the games end, until the novelty wears off and people come to their senses again.

When does the novelty of kings and queens wear off?

Probably not in my lifetime. But when it comes to the dignity of the present queen or the attack add, mud slinging, rat race you call a "presidential" election I'll take the Queen every time.

[Seppuku]

But when it comes to the dignity of the present queen or the attack add, mud slinging, rat race you call a "presidential" election

Take it you don't watch political debates in the houses of parliament? Half the time they're just trying to one up each other and take the piss out of one and another. It's the big brother house. I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't start 'yo momma' jokes. How often does the opposition ever actually agree or pass a compliment on something being a good idea? The problem with politics is that people are more interested in their career and winning than what's best for a country. If we were to give the power back to the monarchy, we can't even vote them out if they start screwing stuff up. I mean, the reason Labour did so badly in the last election was because they did so badly in power and just pissed off so many voters.

[HAL]

Probably not in my lifetime.

Thought so.

But when it comes to the dignity of the present queen or the attack add, mud slinging, rat race you call a "presidential" election I'll take the Queen every time.

Lot's of old ladies have dignity Franky. Your Queen is nothing special as far as that goes.

[Seppuku]

To respond to the OP. Advertisers have taken the liberty to make a big deal of it, so much so you'd think the British had the memory of a goldfish because everybody seems to want to remind us that the Olympics is happening. The torch running through the town was annoying, not for me because I was in bed not caring.  But my mum and sister who are care workers on the otherhand had to visit people in the areas closed off and with the kind of hours they have to work and the time they've got between calls to travel just made it very awkward for them and the local council didn't organise anything to compensate. Still, my mum did see the Olympic torch as she was walking her way through.

What I do find ridiculous though is the price of the tickets for the opening ceremony, basically they make this big deal out of The Olympics and advertisers are saying, "hey, don't go abroad this summer, stay at home for the Olympics", but £2012 for the opening ceremony? Seriously? Considering ticket prices (assuming I'd be lucky to get a hold of one), it's actually cheaper me going abroad for a few days. It doesn't seem too accessible to many Brits, especially in this economic climate, so I suspect for many it's not something to get too excited about, as like money people around the world, they'll just be watching it on the telly. I think the most exciting thing is the Olympic torch relay because people don't have to pay anything, different towns had different things going on and depending on where you live you might have had a fun day. My town, not so much, it's not really an interesting place, unless you're a Historian casually passing through.

However, I don't live in London and I'll be out of the country next week, so I don't think I'll get the brunt of it.

[EV]

I started screaming at the coca-cola truck, asking why they are not paying their fucking taxes during the olympics.

Made me laugh - possible future signature.

Feel free, I'd be honoured!

That logo looks like shit. It's terrible.

Couldn't have summed it up better myself.

To respond to the OP. Advertisers have taken the liberty to make a big deal of it, so much so you'd think the British had the memory of a goldfish because everybody seems to want to remind us that the Olympics is happening. The torch running through the town was annoying, not for me because I was in bed not caring.  But my mum and sister who are care workers on the otherhand had to visit people in the areas closed off and with the kind of hours they have to work and the time they've got between calls to travel just made it very awkward for them and the local council didn't organise anything to compensate. Still, my mum did see the Olympic torch as she was walking her way through.

What I do find ridiculous though is the price of the tickets for the opening ceremony, basically they make this big deal out of The Olympics and advertisers are saying, "hey, don't go abroad this summer, stay at home for the Olympics", but £2012 for the opening ceremony? Seriously? Considering ticket prices (assuming I'd be lucky to get a hold of one), it's actually cheaper me going abroad for a few days. It doesn't seem too accessible to many Brits, especially in this economic climate, so I suspect for many it's not something to get too excited about, as like money people around the world, they'll just be watching it on the telly. I think the most exciting thing is the Olympic torch relay because people don't have to pay anything, different towns had different things going on and depending on where you live you might have had a fun day. My town, not so much, it's not really an interesting place, unless you're a Historian casually passing through.

However, I don't live in London and I'll be out of the country next week, so I don't think I'll get the brunt of it.

Agree totally. I'd go abroad if I had money, but I haven't because I'm saving to put on a concert so I can't.

£2012 for a ticket the opening ceremony is outrageous. I didn't even know that! Thanks for the tipoff.

Yeah I went and saw the torch relay in Brighton, there were a hell of a lot of people there. It was a nice event, and in the true British sense of putting up with all that tedious shit (including fittingly the weather, which was drizzly and bollocks) the crowd tolerated the bad advertising to see the torch, which was a great moment- like 'Thank fuck those stupid trucks have gone past, hooray for the good people who are carrying the torch!'

Of course only 7/18 people who carried the torch through Sussex were actually from Sussex, the Sponsors made sure of that. They nominated businesspeople to carry it as well.

[screwtape]

... I'll take the Queen every time.

http://imagemacros.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/im_so_british.jpg

[Anfauglir]

I'll be extremely glad when the Olympics are finished with.....except that we'll still be paying for them for years to come.

This morning a colleague said to me "we're great at cycling".  I said "WE'RE not.  A couple guys who were born in the same country are, but WE'RE not".  I know I'm not - far too much of an old flubba-dubba to be any good at cycling.  Or running, or high jump, or any manner of other stuff.

I've no problem with people competing to discover who's the best at sport X......actually, let's clarify that: who's the best from those given the opportunity at sport X.  What I don't see as particularly relevant is what country they were born in, for the reason I gave there.  Before the COUNTRY can take credit for a particular athlete, the COUNTRY needs to have provided them with the opportunities and facilities to get there in the first place. 

Additional: I think I'll get hold of a list of all the sponsoring companies, and then boycott their products for the Olympic period.  And I'll write to them to let them know I'm doing it, and why.  Anyone with me on that one?

[Seppuku]

This morning a colleague said to me "we're great at cycling".  I said "WE'RE not.  A couple guys who were born in the same country are, but WE'RE not".  I know I'm not - far too much of an old flubba-dubba to be any good at cycling.  Or running, or high jump, or any manner of other stuff.

Lol, that reminds me of this Mitchell and Webb Look sketch.

Yeah I went and saw the torch relay in Brighton, there were a hell of a lot of people there. It was a nice event, and in the true British sense of putting up with all that tedious s**t (including fittingly the weather, which was drizzly and bollocks) the crowd tolerated the bad advertising to see the torch, which was a great moment- like 'Thank f**k those stupid trucks have gone past, hooray for the good people who are carrying the torch!'

I don't think it rained for us. I think people liked the fact they got free Coca Cola out of it, but I think the only thing going on was a bike race whilst the roads were still closed off. A storyteller I know was asked to do storytelling in Buxton and it sounded like they had more going on. I suspect the next town from us had a lot more going on, our council doesn't ever seem to make a lot of effort when it comes to national events. Not much happened for the jubilee either, our village had a party...which we didn't go to.  We celebrated the jubilee by raising the Jolly Roger in our front garden, whilst everybody else had either the St Georges Cross or Union Jack. I'm sure Queeny's a lovely lady, but I did have 2 problems 1) The hype 2) The fact the jubilee is one year too early. At the end of the day, Queeny is nothing special, just very rich and privileged with some power. She's almost like the pope, minus the gay bashing, anti-contraception and protection of kiddie fiddlers. If you enjoyed the jubilee, awesome. Same if you're going to enjoy the Olympics. I'm just not a flag waving patriot. My version of 'patriotism' is far different. Though I do have a Swedish flag for some reason. Oh and somebody bought me a Welsh one.

£2012 for a ticket the opening ceremony is outrageous. I didn't even know that! Thanks for the tipoff.

I heard it on Have I Got News For You? but I did look it up on a the net and some are selling it for more than that., for example:
http://www.sportticketexchange.com/olympic-ceremonies/olympic-opening-ceremony-tickets/

The events themselves are cheaper, prices depend on the event and they're not so bad. Still, that's insane for the opening ceremony, if there was anything I'd want to make the trip to London for would be the opening ceremony, I don't care so much about the sports. I catch them on the TV if they're on, that's about it.

[rev45]

I'll be extremely glad when the Olympics are finished with.....except that we'll still be paying for them for years to come.

I hope your government officials have plans for the Olympic facilities after the Olympics leave town. 
http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/after-the-party-what-happens-when-the-olympics-leave-town-901629.html

[screwtape]

I think the olympics would be more interesting if the contestants were randomly selected.  I'd like to see Anfauglir chugging down the runway for pole vault.

[rev45]

^You might get some instant disqualifications or sad pairings.  A quadriplegic doing the pamahorse or a blind person doing archery.  A sumo wrestler doing high hurdles might be interesting.

[Zankuu]

I think the olympics would be more interesting if the contestants were randomly selected.

I don't watch the Olympics, but I'd sure as hell watch the Screwtape Olympics.

[screwtape]

I'd have better events too. 

• Hurdles would be a little lower, but secured in concrete so they won't tip and dressed with barbed wire.
• The shot put would be a sphere of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk
• The 400m relay would be full contact.  And the baton would be a lit stick of dynamite.
• The running broad jump would terminate in a 3 foot deep pool of chocolate pudding rather than sand.
• Soccer would be played with 3 balls at once. 
• Golf would be paired with archery.  The targets would be the golfers, but the archers would have to stand on the greens.
• Water polo would be played with a shot put.  The goals would be 4' below the surface.

I have a few dozen other ideas.

[Seppuku]

Golf would be paired with archery.  The targets would be the golfers, but the archers would have to stand on the greens.

This is about the only thing in the world that would make golf interesting, thank you. That and maybe golf in a mine field...nah, the balls might accidentally set of the mines and it'd be a waste of a perfectly good mine.

[screwtape]

This is about the only thing in the world that would make golf interesting, thank you. That and maybe golf in a mine field...nah, the balls might accidentally set of the mines and it'd be a waste of a perfectly good mine.

My position is golf is not a sport.  Sure, it is difficult and it takes skill, but it is not a sport.  I define a sport as an athletic competition with objective scoring.  Golf fails on athleticism.  To make golf a genuine sport, I would make the following changes:

• No caddies.  They must carry their own equipment
• Time it.  Add 1 stroke for each minute spent between the opening tee off and the last ball going into the cup.

I even considered other ideas like allowing you to putt opponents' balls to hurt their positioning (like croquette) or making it full contact.  I figured with clubs the full contact would degenerate into hockey, so that's out.  I like the croquette idea, though that could end up in fights too.

[Zankuu]

screwtape, I'd like to submit this list as my application for your Olympic committee.

• Instead of dispensing medals to the winners and rewarding that which is expected, the Screwtape Olympics will only dispense punishment to the losers.
• Curling will be replaced by HASBRO's game of RISK®.
• Ping Pong will be replaced with a combined Screwtapian version of Running of the Bulls and Simon Says.
• Motorcycle jousting will be introduced to the 2016 event list.
• Rival synchronized swimming teams will be competing simultaneously and given underwater tranquilizer guns. Teams will now be judged on their routines alongside marksmanship.
• Rowing teams will be outfitted with kevlar body armor with the introduction of one epinephrine shot-driven timber wolf per canoe.

[Seppuku]

This is about the only thing in the world that would make golf interesting, thank you. That and maybe golf in a mine field...nah, the balls might accidentally set of the mines and it'd be a waste of a perfectly good mine.

My position is golf is not a sport.  Sure, it is difficult and it takes skill, but it is not a sport.  I define a sport as an athletic competition with objective scoring.  Golf fails on athleticism.  To make golf a genuine sport, I would make the following changes:

• No caddies.  They must carry their own equipment
• Time it.  Add 1 stroke for each minute spent between the opening tee off and the last ball going into the cup.

I even considered other ideas like allowing you to putt opponents' balls to hurt their positioning (like croquette) or making it full contact.  I figured with clubs the full contact would degenerate into hockey, so that's out.  I like the croquette idea, though that could end up in fights too.

I'm liking your views on sport more. I suspect you don't consider darts a sport. Most darts players would have a heart attack if you asked them to run. Instead of a well calculated sports diet and hydrating themselves well with the best sports drinks science can conjure. Darts players like on a diet of pie and steak with beer to wash it down with. The day darts was considered a sport was the day fat unhealthy people suddenly started feeling standing up instead of sitting on their arse made them athletic.

Either way golf SHOULD become an extreme sport. Dodging mines or having arrows flying your way (or both?) would require you to be more athletic and would make it a lot more challenging.

[nogodsforme]

I'd have better events too. 

• Hurdles would be a little lower, but secured in concrete so they won't tip and dressed with barbed wire.
• The shot put would be a sphere of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk
• The 400m relay would be full contact.  And the baton would be a lit stick of dynamite.
• The running broad jump would terminate in a 3 foot deep pool of chocolate pudding rather than sand.
• Soccer would be played with 3 balls at once. 
• Golf would be paired with archery.  The targets would be the golfers, but the archers would have to stand on the greens.
• Water polo would be played with a shot put.  The goals would be 4' below the surface.

I have a few dozen other ideas.

Now yer tawkin':

Dog Feces Balloon Toss. 
Competitive Synchronized Hot Potato.
Sumo Figure Skating.
Professional Spanking.
Downhill Speed Hokey Pokey.
Racket Mime.

Sponsers, anyone?

I just realized that those would qualify as cool band names as well.

[bosey926]

I'll be extremely glad when the Olympics are finished with.....except that we'll still be paying for them for years to come.

This morning a colleague said to me "we're great at cycling".  I said "WE'RE not.  A couple guys who were born in the same country are, but WE'RE not".  I know I'm not - far too much of an old flubba-dubba to be any good at cycling.  Or running, or high jump, or any manner of other stuff.

I've no problem with people competing to discover who's the best at sport X......actually, let's clarify that: who's the best from those given the opportunity at sport X.  What I don't see as particularly relevant is what country they were born in, for the reason I gave there.  Before the COUNTRY can take credit for a particular athlete, the COUNTRY needs to have provided them with the opportunities and facilities to get there in the first place. 

Additional: I think I'll get hold of a list of all the sponsoring companies, and then boycott their products for the Olympic period.  And I'll write to them to let them know I'm doing it, and why.  Anyone with me on that one?

     Yeah, I'm totally with you on this one Anfauglir.  The only one that I wouldn't be able to boycott, though, is likely the largest one with the most advertising: Visa.  That's who my debit card is through, so I'm kind of shit out of luck there, but with all of the food and beverage products...I likely already don't consume them because of my organic diet.  Not to say this is a "Toss me in there because I fit the stipulations" instance, rather I actually passionately dislike most all of the commercialized food world because I used to be obese due to a horrible dieting routine and obtained my current status of overall healthiness by primarily adjusting my diet to a (by my guestimations) 90% or more organic.

[wright]

The comments on the Screwtapian Olympics made me laugh so hard the cat gave me a disgusted look and left my lap. He doesn't thank all of you, but I do  .

[Anfauglir]

Additional: I think I'll get hold of a list of all the sponsoring companies, and then boycott their products for the Olympic period.  And I'll write to them to let them know I'm doing it, and why.  Anyone with me on that one?

     Yeah, I'm totally with you on this one Anfauglir.  The only one that I wouldn't be able to boycott, though, is likely the largest one with the most advertising: Visa.  That's who my debit card is through, so I'm kind of shit out of luck there.....

Me too - good point.  I have a Mastercard credit card though, so maybe I can get by using that and cash for a couple months?  (Cue someone now telling me that Mastercard and Visa are the same thing.....)

[EV]

I just spotted this, made me laugh for like half an hour...

Despite the video, I still feel strangely enamoured with Boris Johnson, he's innately British- awkwardly adorable... Anyone else agree with me there?