Be Excellent To Each Other

I don't think it could have been around for that many years, then, due to this, section 4.8:
http://www.london2012.com/documents/bra ... rights.pdf

4.8 Business names
Operating a business under the name “Olympic Sports Warehouse” or “2012 Games Event Management Ltd” etc, will (subject to a defence applying) infringe OSPA/LOAR. However, businesses which have been trading continuously under the name “Olympic Cafe” or “Olympian Trophies” etc since prior to September 1995 when OSPA was introduced will benefit from a defence and will not infringe OSPA by the continued use of that name.

The one next to where I lived had been trading under that name since 1948 so was exempt.

Is that his official list of great riots through history?

I have a feeling that some footy fans in Italy dragged a moped up into one of the stands of a big stadium and either torched it or threw it over the edge. I don't know how they got it in there.

It was Inter fans, and they torched it and threw it over the edge onto the opposition fans below.

Some of the Curvas (the stands where the Ultra fans are) are practically run by the fans, including allocation of tickets and entry. Everyone stays out, officials, police etc.

The Torch came through Telford yesterday, I was in Reading

My family all went out to see it, and had a jolly good time.

Most people I know went to see it... I would have liked too... oh well

You didn't miss much, to be fair. Just a corporate gravy train and someone dressed in white carrying a gold pole with fire on it for a hundred metres or so.

Didn't see what all the fuss was about, really.

Mmm, corporate gravy.

Someone I know went yesterday and saw it pass through Much Wenlock, and he had a great time - all smiles and photographs today. I'm glad people are enjoying it. It's not my thing, but if it makes people happy...

I was driving from Runcorn to Atherton this afternoon, and as I made my way along the A579, approaching the T junction at Lane Head, I had to stop behind a line of standing traffic. After crawling along, stop/start, for a while I saw stupidly large sign in a field at the side of the road, from Wigan Council, announcing that the torch would be starting a leg of its journey from that vicinity on 31 May 2012. Hence the grid lock.

I didn't see the torch, but I DID see a pheasant crossing the road with impunity at the lights on the T junction, which is summat I bet it can't do on any other day.

I might have moaned about it here and elsewhere, and for very good reasons, but if others are having fun it's not right to rain on their parade. I know people who are volunteering for it and I'm sure they'll enjoy the experience.

See also: the Jubilee. Yeah, I'm a republican, but, hey, extra day off! Woo!

Mrs Squirt has somehow ended up being a "Travel Ambassador" during the games. She has to stand in a kiosk wearing a magenta tabard, although we're not quite certain what purpoe she's serving yet. Still, it'll get her out of the office.

I read in the guardian that Heineken will be £7.23 a pint in the Olympic Stadia.

It'll be 4 quid a bottle, much like it already is at Wembley, etc.

Pie and mash will be £8 apparently. I read all about the outrage in the Metro, and thought that it didn't sound too bad to me actually!

Does she have to wear a purple helmet too?

Wait until you eat it

Is it Pieminister or the like? That's about standard fare for festivals - you get a lot for your money, though, and it it's rather nice.

Because they're doing (some of?) the cunting football at cunting Old Trafford, the roads round work are shut so that beelions of people can walk on them.

Except work-access is allowed, so I get to play Deathrace 2012.

I'm pretty sure that's what the email said, anyway.

I'd be interested to know what purpoe she's serving, how much is in an individual serving and how much they're gonna charge for it.

Royal Mail sent me a text and an email this morning to tell me that they would deliver my limpictics today, and then another text and email when they inevitably missed me (we were genuinely away). Do they offer this service for 'normal' special deliveries, or just the olympics? If they have the infrastructure in place, I'd hope that they roll it out more widely afterwards, if not.

Our tickets to the football have arrived, and they come with zone 1-9 travel cards.

I'm not sure how I feel about that

Zone 9 being Edinburgh, I presume.

What are the possible negatives you might have seen, Grim...? Is it because they are issuing free travel tickets to people for a service they haven't paid for (London Transport) or something else?

Oh, possibly that the price of a travel card was factored into ticket price without option to opt out, perhaps?

Yup.
A service that I have paid for, and am being begged not to use, rather than, as you might think, being told "season ticket holders will be given priority, obv".

It is somewhat bizarre that I, as a non-travelcard user (its still strangely cheaper to PAYG for me), will be able to use my olympic travelcard tickets to make journeys to work on the days that I have tickets for free, rather than paying, by using my olympic ticket.

Being begged not to use? Are they asking commuters not to use public transport on Olympic event days or something?

They are indeed.

Wow. Er, what exactly are they asking commuters to do as an alternative to get to work?

Not go, basically...

Huh? Any links to news stories, etc? Can't find anything about it.

http://www.dft.gov.uk/news/press-releas ... -20110803/

Not quite as extreme as I was being, but it amounts to the same thing

Yeah, pretty much this. We've been strongly encouraged to take holiday, and if not then to work from home as much as possible. Folks I know that can't work from home but are critical to the business are putting together plans to turn conference rooms into sleeping facilities and just stay at work for goodness knows how long. I think it's pretty much a full-on expectation that when the olympics starts, public transport in London will break and stay broken for the duration.

Goodness. :/

ALL: And how will we know the difference?

I disagree. London transport is fantastic, usually. You notice the difference when you're NOT in London, certainly.

This seems rather extreme. Could the company not hire minibuses or something?

For the roads you're not allowed to drive on?
http://www.lbc.co.uk/2012-olympics-road ... iew-46779P


Remember also that these people might be long-distance commuters, like me.

Indeed, travelling around london itself won't be too bad for me, I pretty much walk everywhere anyway. However getting in and out of London from Bletchley is a small worry. If i'm not on client site then i'll just spend the full time at home.

Are there not entire parts of London cut off by these games lanes?

In theory, no, as games lanes are only there where an alternative road exists or for one lane on a dual carriageway.

In practice, however, when you close one lane of (say) the blackwall tunnel in either direction during rush hour, which is the case on most days, it may as well be closed. For this reason we're not leaving London at all during the games.

I'm tired of the negativity regarding the olympics, which is making me almost determined to see only positive aspects. Largely because a lot of the negativity surrounds aspects that were known about when the bid was won 7 years ago, for example, the games lanes (as an aside, I had no connections to London at that point, either). But hey ho, people will be negative.

However, details of the opening cermony have been announced today, that the opening part will focus on the countryside, and 'Green and Pleasant land'. Again, I'm not looking on this negatively, however this standalone comment in amongst the inevitable whinging on the BBC comments section did make me llol.

Agreed. Fuck the haters!!!

LET'S GO TEAM HUMANITY! WOO WOO WOO

Thinking about it a bit. It could be excellent, in a mental way.

That sounds pretty awesome to me

I hope it revolves. The more I think about it, the better it gets in my head. it is still mental, though.