In The News

[Big Orange]

Originally Posted by Perdide

Crap logo, massive overspend, ticket lottery which favours the rich, torch bearers have to pay to keep them, touch route can't have any-none official Olympic symbols on it, evicted a chunk of London, restricted traffic routes to favour the sponsors/dignitaries, Olympic Villiage has no kitchens making it useless after the games without expensive refit, militarise London... And these are only the ones I can remember!!

I've also seen the price of some of the tacky official merchandise! Unbelieveable!! It makes merch' for other events look positively affordable and classy.

I agree with most of this and the Olympics has been sullied completely by Neoliberal Globalisation, a horrible sentiment amongst the elites bilking the most money out of everything at the expense of common sense (a tired ideology that will sooner rather than later go the way of the Soviets), however the infamous logo seems to have been toned down quite a lot and it has asthetically grown on me (I even like the wacky, cycloptic Olympic mascots).

Despite my misgivings, I'm looking forward to the torch relay passing through my neighbourhood.

[Pie Man 70]

Look on the bright side, when its all over if you like jelly sweets and don't care what shape they are there shoudl be a job lot of jelly mascots going at knockdown prices as shops desperately try to clear the shelf space for something that people buy.

I'm trying to be positive, agree, the games have pretty much ben co-opted by vested interests, but is this normal? are we only seeing now what goes on because its in our own backyard? (Ok, AFAIK no-one else has put SAM sites on blocks of flats, unless China did? anyone know?)

[Big Orange]

Have the London Olympics been good at creating jobs for British workers? I doubt that.

In China they supposedly turfed out hundreds of thousands of people from their original homes to make way for the Beijing Olympics.

[runalong]

Originally Posted by Big Orange

Have the London Olympics been good at creating jobs for British workers? I doubt that.

In China they supposedly turfed out hundreds of thousands of people from their original homes to make way for the Beijing Olympics.

Well aside from construction I imagine it's a boost for London's economy which in a recession will help as leisure is usually one of the hardest hit sectors.

I tend to agree that certainly for the last 30 years the Olympics has to make money it is also rather expensive to make one . They're still pretty impressive world events so I still plan to watch a bit

[Slamhamster]

Originally Posted by Big Orange

(I even like the wacky, cycloptic Olympic mascots).

Really? I thought they they looked disturbingly like male genitalia stuffed in a gaudy novelty condom. I guess it fits in with the overall theme of the Lisa Simpson logo though.

[Perdide]

Originally Posted by Slamhamster

Really? I thought they they looked disturbingly like male genitalia stuffed in a gaudy novelty condom. I guess it fits in with the overall theme of the Lisa Simpson logo though.

Hahahahaha.

I remember watching the One Show when they came out and the explanation was that they're supposed to represent CCTV cameras, or webcams.

So officially they are a piss-take out of the 'surveillance society'. Don't believe me? Take a look at this:



Which comes from here.

The eye is clearly labelled as a camera lens.

But I suppose they could be a pair of big shiny c*cks if you wanted them to be. Someone did say way back when they were released that their names, Wenlock and Mandeville, do sound like a posh gay couple.

[count_libido]

Sex, drugs and BBC:

http://web.orange.co.uk/article/quir..._on_air_stoned

Well, I'll be watching when it airs

[Pie Man 70]

Originally Posted by Perdide

Hahahahaha.

I remember watching the One Show when they came out and the explanation was that they're supposed to represent CCTV cameras, or webcams.

So officially they are a piss-take out of the 'surveillance society'. Don't believe me? Take a look at this:



Which comes from here.

The eye is clearly labelled as a camera lens.

But I suppose they could be a pair of big shiny c*cks if you wanted them to be. Someone did say way back when they were released that their names, Wenlock and Mandeville, do sound like a posh gay couple.

That entire load of gubbins about the mascot proves only one thing to me. The only people more detatched from reality that politicians are the marketing execs who invent this bilge

[mini_beastie]

It's a classic example of design-by-committee. If they came up with anything that was too readily identifiable someone was bound to say it would offend one group or another (.i.e any object or animal which was too obviously a British symbol). So instead they come up with some stupid, bland, slightly creepy bit of nothing which doesn't offend anyone but doesn't appeal to anyone either. It reminds me a bit of the Human Being mascot thing from Community.

[Big Orange]

The mascots and main logo to symbolise the whole event are far away from being British, however the emblem for the British team is unapologetically imperial (a lion's head in Union flag colours). The London Olympic mascots are alright for what they are and don't compare badly to earlier Olympic mascots (especially the Atlanta and Athens ones):






In fact the London Olympics logo and mascots seem to have been over designed in comparison to earlier logos and mascots...