I didn't know them personally, but was relying on the observations of Iain Sinclair, who has written much on London - its history, its neighbourhoods and its people.
Oi, watch it. I am looking into a houseboat for when I retire. As it stands today it is a very economical alternative to an apartment in this area (£300K for 2 bedrooms). Of course the government will figure that out and find new and unique ways of taxing boats and the advantages will be gone.
There's nothing inherently wrong with houseboats, I once considered buying one at a permanent mooring in Regents Park., As you say, even with a short marine mortgage, they're much cheaper than an apartment, but on several of the London canals, they've turned into floating traveller sites. My old office was next to the River Brent and you couldn't use the towpaths due to various piles of scrap metal, washing lines and other assorted crap piled all over the place. We used to go after work for a drink at The Pleasure Boat Pub, as it had a deck outside overlooking the river, but a deck overlooking a traveller site is rather less appealing and people stopped going.
"Ministers slammed"? Surely it's the former Ministers that were involved in making the bid for the Olympics and in giving out all the ****ing contracts. That lot is akin to Duffen turning round and telling the Allams to get the wage bill under control because McShane and Olofinjana are being paid too much.
On reflection you're right, Ricardo - but I would include all of 'em. They're all a complete shower of 5h1t and, together, they make me very much doubt the value of our 'democratic' system.
.....and yet another gem. (It really makes you love 'sport', doesn't it?) The Truth About The Branding Of The Games Visa has defended their exclusive Olympic sponsorship which means other cardholders will be denied access to cash machines at Games venues. In an exclusive interview with Sky News, Visa’s chief marketing officer in Europe, Mariano Dima, said: "If the sponsors are not there to support the Games, the money will have to come from local funding, or there will be a much smaller Games." The only method of buying Olympic tickets is by Visa card, but Mr Dima denied that the Olympics' official partner had created a negative image for themselves with a heavy handed approach. "We want to drive more transactions through a Visa card," he said. "That's why we sponsor this, and that's why we can afford to drive this sponsorship. "There are tens of thousands of ATMs around London that people can take money from in any part of London before coming to the Olympic Park." Sky News asked a company which monitors social media to find out how Visa had ended up paying millions of pounds only to achieve negative publicity. But Brandwatch discovered that only 25% of online comment about the brand was negative, compared to 28% which was positive. The rest were neutral. Brandwatch put that down to Visa having a strong presence on social media sites such as Facebook, and because many people did not think having Visa only cash machines would be an inconvenience. By contrast, Brandwatch found that other Olympic sponsors had a much more negative image. The chemical company Dow helped pay for the plastic wrap which envelops the Olympic Stadium, but for many people the company is inextricably linked with the Bhopal gas accident in India in 1984. According to Brandwatch, 92% of sentiment online relating to Dow was negative, while the Dutch brewer Heineken had an 81% negative score. Brandwatch's Gareth Ham said: "We've seen a lot of conversations about the perception of raised pricing due to this perceived monopoly that Heineken will have. "A lot of tweeters, for example, seem to be complaining that they would like to see a British brand as the beer provider for the Olympic Games." The rules on sponsorship have prompted both anger and derision. McDonalds is the only food provider to be allowed to sell chips at Olympic sites, unless they're sold with fish - dispensation was given because it's the national dish. Venues which normally host other sporting events and were not built specifically for the Games have had to be "debranded", with all traces of rival companies removed or covered up. Sky News filmed at the Ricoh Arena, which has had to be renamed The City of Coventry stadium for the Olympics. The Japanese electronics firm has a long-term naming-rights deal at the stadium, but all of its logos have been erased. Black seats which spell out the Ricoh name in the main stand have been covered up, and masking tape has been stuck over beer and soft drinks signs in the concourse where food and drink is sold. Black tape has even covered up the soap dispensers in the toilets. The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games (LOCOG) raised £700m from sponsors. Sir John Armitt, chairman of the Olympic Delivery Authority, told Sky News: "If you didn't have that £700m it would have to come from somewhere else, probably the taxpayer. "It is very important to get this very significant sponsorship from big companies, but when they're putting in that amount of money, quite rightly they want something in return. "They want that association with the brand." Companies also want to stop commercial rivals attempting to cash in on the popularity of the Olympics, so legislation was introduced to ban unauthorised use of combinations of words which could lead the public to conclude that firms were connected with the Games. 'London', '2012', 'Summer', 'Gold', 'Silver' and 'Bronze' are among those defined as being protected. And since 1995 there has been legislation to protect the Olympic logo. Paul Jordan, a lawyer that advises companies on the regulations, said: "In many respects there isn't a more iconic, high-profile brand or trademark on the planet and therefore you can see why LOCOG are being particularly tough and threatening enforcement when it comes to the rings." But threats, and the perception of a heavy handed approach, has drawn criticism from those who just want to get into the Olympic spirit - especially businesses along the route of the torch relay. And even ordinary members of the public have felt threatened by the rules. Muriel Butler, 90, knitted a set of athletes, complete with the Olympic ring, and planned to put them on display in a craft shop in the Norfolk town of Fakenham, before raffling them for charity. But after friends heard about the strict rules, they decided to cover up the display when the torch relay arrived in the town. Muriel was bemused: "That seemed ridiculous to me really. Never mind, I suppose that's what they want." "I just don't understand why they cut things out like that. I wish I'd never started the things." Her daughter, Jill Baker-Toplis, was angry. "I thought it was absolutely disgraceful. "We're all worried here that we're going to get sued because we've got Olympics mentioned in the window." In fact, LOCOG has not prosecuted anyone for breaching the rules. And some observers think their pre-Games warnings were designed to deter anyone, without having to take court action. But trading standards officers have used consumer protection laws to prosecute those selling fake Olympic goods. The sponsors don't get everything their own way. None of them are allowed to advertise around the perimeter of venues, which means that the only brand seen by TV cameras and hundreds of millions of viewers is the Olympic logo. Visa’s Mr Dima added: "The sponsors are working behind the scenes and building the infrastructure to enable the athletes and the rings to be the heroes. "And that's why the Olympics is so attractive. You don't need to put the logo in every place - the focus is the athletes and the spirit of the games." http://uk.news.yahoo.com/truth-branding-games-205545073.html And - you could have a look at this: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/comment/talking-politics/g4s-myth-efficient-private-sector-101529854.html
Olympics jokes: Next week, London will be host to 204 nations. Just 17 short of its actual total. I got pulled over by the police and fined for driving in one of the Olympic lanes. I tried to argue that it wasn't clearly marked or signposted, but they weren't having any of it. They said that I should've noticed something was wrong when I started knocking down the hurdles. I made an Olympic themed dinner last night, and everything went as planned. It was extremely disappointing.
The biggest joke at the Olympics, will be our very own, Boris Johnson. However he is dressed, however much it costs, he will look like a bag of **** tied up with string. Just like he did at the last Olympic closing ceremony.
...and it just goes on and on.... Man dives off Tower Bridge in Olympic taxi protest LONDON (Reuters) - A man dived off London's historic Tower Bridge into the River Thames on Monday during a protest by taxi drivers over their exclusion from part of a special Olympic Games road network in the capital. Police pulled the man from the water under the landmark bridge, from which Olympic rings were suspended to celebrate the 2012 London Games, and arrested him on a public order offence. The Port of London Authority said the man, thought to be a taxi driver, was lucky to be alive after diving headfirst from the walkway about 8 metres (25 feet) above the water. "This was an absolutely crazy thing to do. He could easily have killed himself," the spokesman said. "He has tied up a lot of resources and endangered others." The man, who has not been named, had been taking part in a protest by London taxi drivers over a decision to keep them off part of a road network reserved for Olympic athletes, officials and journalists. On a rare hot summer's day in the capital, several hundred black London taxi cabs inched along the bridge hooting their horns close to London Mayor Boris Johnson's office. The drivers are worried that they will be stuck in congestion and will lose money during the Games. London's 25,000 taxi drivers want access to all sections of the temporary network. Black taxis are currently only allowed in two thirds of the 100 mile (160 km) route. The United Cabbies Group, which organised the bridge protest, said it did not "condone or recommend jumping in the Thames". "He climbed on the bridge and threw his keys at the onrushing police before jumping in," the pressure group said on its Twitter page. A spokesman for the group could not immediately be reached. The chairman of the RMT London taxi union, Mick Bailey, who was at Tower Bridge supporting the protest, said: "There are still 25,000 cabs that can't do their jobs properly because of all the restrictions and the failure to allow us to use the Olympic Route Network". Police and the military have increased patrols on the Thames as part of Britain's biggest peacetime security operation. Tower Bridge, which opened in 1894, is one of London's best known landmarks. Its roadway can be raised to allow tall ships to pass through. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/man-jumps-off-tower-bridge-olympic-taxi-protest-170026232--spt.html
...and on...and on... Transport trouble for London four days from Games LONDON | Mon Jul 23, 2012 12:39pm BST (Reuters) - Severe disruptions hit three of the main rail links to the Olympic Park in east London early on Monday, four days before the start of the Games, in the latest transport fiasco to raise anxiety levels in the British capital. Adding to the stress factor, the labour union RMT announced industrial action by staff in some parts of the city's transport network during the Games to demand bonuses in recognition of the extra work involved.
Olympic Ladies GB has Dieke playing up front, you couldn't make it up- they are pronoucing it dieeekay though-its like Stefan Kuntz all over again!
I take that back, I just learned it hasn't even kicked-off. Delayed for an hour. About to kick-off now.
What a f**k up they put up the South korean flag against their names on the screen, thats why they did come out. What would be worse at Hampden park that or putting up the english flag against the Scottish team names.
I read somewhere that the opening ceremony will include Mary Poppins flying in from the sky to banish Lord Voldermort. I dunno if the paper was taking the piss, but clearly there's other & better things that comes to mind when they think of Britain. Just heard about the North Korean flag cock up. Maybe if LOCOG weren't so busy being Nazis towards people using "olympics" in their shop names or showing the olympic rings, they'd have got that right.
Good old Britain, we know how to do things, travel chaos, flag cock ups and soon to be Mary Poppins fighting of Voldermort. RULE BRITANIA.
Can't believe nobody has mentioned the Spain-Japan game yet (men's football) Japan have just won 1-0 To make it more impressive, Japan have left out Kagawa and Honda from the squad (their best players) whereas Spain started 2 world cup winners and 2 Euro winners (Alba and Mata who both scored in the final as well)
