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| Bring On Brucie For British Games |
| Londinium |
| Sunday, 24 August 2008 22:22 |
|
Umbrellas, queuing and a big red bus. This is the face London presented to the world as it officially took over as the Olympic City. Some have already leapt to criticise Britain's contribution to the closing ceremony of the Beijing games, complaining that it portrays London at its worst. We told the world that ours is a land of rain and cultural stereotypes, apparently. But I loved it. The Beijing opening ceremony was spectacular, with people flying around and plenty of fireworks. Commentators seem to agree that Britain can't match it. But would we want to, even if we were minded to throw as much money at our games as China did? What we saw in China was a cast of 10,000 taking part in a tightly choreographed display. Throughout most of the ceremony, you would have been hard pressed to tell one individual from another, as they wore identical costumes and make-up, and moved in perfect unison with the hundreds of performers beside them. That's not Britain, and it's not London. Our games will be a chance to show the world what we are about, and why be ashamed of who we really are? We are indeed a land of rain and queues, cultural stereotypes, aging rockers and reality show contestants. Let's have fun with our Olympics. Instead of mindless drones, let's have a bit of anarchy in the UK. Let's have tradition, stereotypes, great music and a bit of a laugh at ourselves. In Beijing, we showed the world David Beckham, Leona Lewis and Jimmy Page. Let's have some more British heroes for the opening ceremony. Bring on Dr Who and Bruce Forsyth. Bookmark This: 
Tags: Olympics Bruce Forsyth Trackback(0) Comments (2) 
Let's be ourselves..
written by sally porter , August 25, 2008
Londinium made me laugh - a happy laugh of recognition and understanding. We are a nation of individuals with enough self respect not to need to emulate or indeed to outshine! For me a fly-past by the Red Arrows knocks spots of an army of 10,000 drummers, dancers and mime-artists anyday. Here, the government is ultimately answereable to the electorate about how the nation's wealth is spent. In principle we have a choice between fireworks and hospitals. The Chinese government, lacking that restraining element, could afford to show off.
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written by Larry Teabag , August 25, 2008
I quite agree. We can't compete with the Beijing spectacular on their terms, so we'll need to stamp our own character on it.
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Picture this: a darkened stadium, and then a single light. An old man slowly becomes visible, he is wearing a wig and gibbering, cheekily. But what's this? A strange whooshing noise sweeps the stadium, building to a roar. A thousand rats flood in from all sides, and devour him, screaming. All that remains is a large chin-bone, stripped of flesh. A huge, robotic broom appears, and sweeps the rats and chin into a giant dustpan, and empties it into the Thames. Then, a solitary column emerges from the stadium floor. A man is standing on it, as still as a statue. As the column ascends towards the sky, softly he starts to sing "I sit and wait. Does an angel contemplate my face? Aaaaaaaagh...." He falls to the ground, with a horrifying crunch. His body continues twitching, his broken face silently mouthing the words to his song. A huge electric spade appears to shovel him up. Almost casually, it flicks him into the cool night sky. A distant splash is heard. The stadium is filled with rapturous applause, and the games begin. report abuse
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