Olympics London 2012

#London2012: Blake, Jerusalem and the re-imagination of a new looser Britishness?

Mick Fealty on August 13, 2012, 1:52 pm

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This is a short except from a longer conversation I did with Pat Kane on Saturday morning on the Opening Ceremony (ie, before it fades from memory). Pat’s view is generally positive (“a triumph for creative London”) we started off with a short conversation on Danny Boyle’s successful tableaux for the opening ceremony, not least where it leaves independence seeking ‘celts’ like himself… If you are puzzled by where all this generosity towards Britishness from an advocate of Scottish independence is going, …

#Olympics2012: So Mitt Romney the Brits weren’t so bad as you thought?

Mick Fealty on August 13, 2012, 11:12 am

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Not a bad word in the front pages of the British press this morning. This bad tempered, short memoried crew either were not watching Twitter during the closing ceremony last night, or they decided to give it a bye ball for the sake of the overall effort. I thought Zoe Williams made a good point on the World Tonight on Friday evening to the effect that whilst the British like to say they are crap at this, that and the …

The London Olympics and the restoration of character over celebrity?

Mick Fealty on August 9, 2012, 2:11 pm

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Okay, last week some people were complaining that we did not have enough on the Olympic Games… This week I can see an emerging case for saying we’re doing too much… In our favour, I think there’s much more to talk about this week now it has almost unwound it course… Tomorrow’s Economist will seek to tell us why the London Games have worked… But today, I turn to Iain McWhirter in the Herald in Glasgow for a usefully human …

Did Team Ireland miss a chance to piggyback off Britain’s strategic investment in sport?

Mick Fealty on August 7, 2012, 12:20 pm

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London 2012 has brought lots of tears, triumphs and disappointments… I was lucky enough to be in Weymouth yesterday for a near bid for success by Ireland’s Annalise Murphy, who did her country and her family proud by running the Dutch and Belgian women pretty close near the end. She’s 22, and now knows what Olympic loss is like, and she has the talent to come back again. She gave the many Irish who turned up in the Dorset seaside …

Jamaica? No – she wanted to go…

Dewi on August 6, 2012, 5:32 am

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From the Gleaner– Some of the comments are wonderful, The quintessential athlete! A symbol of excellence. An extraordinary strategist. Congratulations Mr. Usain St. Leo Bolt. You are one in three million! And, Happy 50th Independence Anniversary, my beloved Jamaicans!!!! CONGRATS to our blessed & highly-talented Olympic STARS!!! BEST BY ANY TEST!!!! JAMAICA TO THE WORLD … EVERYTIME !!!!! Shelly-Ann not bad either – watch the video of her family celebrating. Bolt’s run summed up nicely in a comment in the …

No national gold for Boris Johnson please

Brian Walker on August 4, 2012, 3:45 pm

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Everybody seems to be writing about Boris Johnson the mayor of London these days. Well, not quite everybody but the political anoraks with not a lot else to write about during the Olympics truce, naturally enough I suppose, with Boris the herald of the Games going zoink a lot and getting himself stuck in midair on a pulley. None of the hacks is committing himself actually to backing Boris for Tory leader and PM but they’re muttering “you never know “ and stroking …

Red Arrows Perform Olympic Flypasts Across UK

Pete Baker on July 27, 2012, 6:18 pm

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The RAF Red Arrows are performing formation flypasts across the UK to mark the start of the London 2012 Olympic games. Starting in Edinburgh at 12.23pm, Belfast was the second stop at 1.01pm, followed by Cardiff at 4.21pm with the Olympic stadium in London scheduled for 8.12pm. The BBC video from Belfast is not embeddable, but here is some eyewitness video from Belfast. And another one [Loving the red, white and blue smoke trails over City Hall – Ed] Don’t tell Máirtín… Pete …

Image of Britishness for a billion Olympics viewers worldwide

Brian Walker on June 12, 2012, 12:15 pm

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Danny Boyle’s set for Olympics Opening Ceremony unveils a pastoral theme of Britishness. (I don’t dare reproduce the model of the transformed stadium for fear of the wrath of the IOC, but you can find it via the link). We’ll have to wait to see what the award winning director of Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire does with his 157 rehearsals for the cast of hundreds including farm animals and a budget of £27 million. The Mail’s snap verdict is it looks more …

P/T Brits required

articles on June 29, 2011, 10:00 am

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Someone very close to me and three friends have just succeeded in getting tickets for court No 1 at Wimbledon today and will see Djokovic’s and Nadal’s quarter finals. True they had to queue overnight and pay £74 each for the privilege. £74 each is a lot of money to them as they are students but hey as they say it’s a once in a lifetime experience both to see some sporting greats and to experience the atmosphere at Wimbledon. …

London 2012. Sports minister’s daft remarks on dissidents

Brian Walker on February 15, 2011, 6:33 pm

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If you’re badly in need of an adrenalin shot or a boost to the wrong people, this is the announcement for you – and just as the events schedule and ticket prices are unveiled. More blurted out than premeditated? Brian WalkerFormer BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution …