London Olympics 2012

No, we're not in them but we did have a coach trip to visit some of the locations the weekend before Easter.    Our visit was split between two days and we had a guided tour of the perimetre of the Olympic site (security precautions prevent direct access to the site at the moment), a visit to Royal Greenwich and a visit to the Royal Arsenal at Woolwich which will be the venue for the Shooting events. 

The main arena above has been made in part from recycled drainage pipes and can be altered to suit its new purpose after the Olympic Games.  Because the Olympic site was due to be built on industrial ground tonnes of toxic soil had to be removed, hence all public access will be at the level of the walkway with the purple buildings.  A surprising fact is that the site is bordered by the Victorian Sewage system devised by Joseph Bazalgette which forms a huge bank now called the Greenway from which we had our view of the site.

This wonderful tower is Anish Kapoor's ' Orbit', a sculpture specially designed for the Olympic location.  From our viewpoint we could see workmen hanging from the piped structure.  I think they were painting, a bit like the Forth Road Bridge.

'Visitors will be able to take a trip up the statuesque structure in a huge lift and will have the option of walking down the spiralling staircase.'  As the sculpture is higher than the Statue of Liberty the view should be tremendous.  If you follow the link for Anish Kapoor you will find further links and more information about this unique artwork.

Had we felt energetic we could all have had the experience of crossing the finishing line through this wonderful (drift)wood sculpture on the Greenway.  The organisers are keen to include the Arts in this special event and I was delighted to see an exhibition of mosaics by members of the BAMM

Above - work by Ann Bowles

Tom Green Flower Trail

Norma Vondee Singing Bird

Jan Waddington Flower Basket - Moody Blues

I liked the sculpture above but sadly didn't gather any information about it.
From this location we were taken to the Royal Arsenal by way of the Woolwich Ferry. 

This is one of the temporary buildings that will be home to the shooting events.

The trip across on the ferry was interesting!  I'm glad our coach had good brakes!

An unexpected bonus of visiting the Royal Arsenal was this sculpture at the end of an open plaza.

The sculptor is Peter Burke and it was very eerie walking among the figures.

Is it solid? Is it shadow?

I think I've exhausted Blogger and you so I'll end with this great slogan I saw in the bar at the Royal Arsenal.  The two heads at the bottom of the photo are playing Monopoly using a digital card machine as the bank.  Who would have thought?

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Posted in: Olympic 2012,Olympic Games,Olympic in 2012,Olympics 2012

London 2012 Olympics: 100 days to go - share your views

Wednesday marks 100 days to go until the beginning of the London Olympics and a series of special events are taking place around the UK and internationally to start the countdown.

It's a chance to look ahead to the games and all the activities planned around them for spectators, the public and visitors to the UK and tell us what you think of the build-up.

As the event draws closer we want to hear how this year's Olympics will affect you:

• Are you travelling to London to watch an event or soak up the atmosphere?

• Will you be keeping tabs on the torch relay if it comes to where you live?

• Are you concerned about plans for transport in London, security at the games or protests against them?

Tell us if there are events you are looking forward to in particular or if you are involved in something as part of the 100 days celebrations.

Alternatively, if the Olympics makes you want to run as far as you can in the opposite direction, tell us why and what aspects of the London games could have be changed to get you interested.

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Posted in: 2012,games,lo2012,London,London 2012,London Olympics,Olympic Games,Olympics,Olympics 2012

Celebrations mark 100 days until London 2012

London Olympic organisers will on Wednesday hold a series of events to kick off the Games' 100-day countdown as preparations for the showpiece event enter the final straight. 

The milestone will be marked across the country and internationally with a host of ceremonial activities and an array of test events to iron out any operational problems before the flame is lit on July 27. 

London 2012 chief executive Paul Deighton insisted that preparations were on course with dress rehearsals for Wheelchair Rugby, Synchronised Swimming and Shooting all set to begin on Wednesday. 

Olympic fever will spread beyond Britain's borders as expats around the globe join in the countdown. 

In the United States, former heavyweight boxing champion Lennox Lewis will lead one hundred cyclists and an open top London double decker bus on a ride down Miami's South Beach. 

One hundred British Embassies and High Commissions will hold events with Turkey, Venezuela and New Zealand all entering into the Olympic spirit, Britain's Foreign Office revealed on Tuesday. 

There will also be a series of 100 metre races at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate, the 1984 Olympic Stadium in Sarajevo and in the Palace Square in St Petersburg. 

"I'm delighted that British Embassies around the world have come together to mark 100 days to go to the opening ceremony of the greatest show on earth," said Foreign Office Minister for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Jeremy Browne. 

Organiser Deighton insisted the British capital was well-prepared to become the world's focal point. 

"We are absolutely where we want to be with 100 days to go - we are ready to welcome the world to London," he said. 

"Millions of people around the UK are getting ready to celebrate the biggest event in sport." 

Queen Elizabeth II will open the Games, giving London the honour of being the first city in the modern era to host the Olympics three times, having already held them in 1908 and 1948. 

The event is set to give Britain's ailing economy a much needed boost, but the general mood of austerity will be reflected in the Games, albeit to a far lesser extent than in 1948, when competitors were housed in military barracks and university dormitories. 

Organisers conceded long ago that, despite a budget of £9.3 billion ($14.8 billion, 11.2 billion euros), they would be unable to compete with the spectacle provided by the 2008 Beijing Olympics. 

Instead, the opening and closing ceremonies will bring to together the country's most creative minds to produce a celebration of Britishness. 

Responsibility for the opening ceremony lies with " Slumdog Millionaire" director Danny Boyle, who has promised a fitting curtain-raiser before 10,500 competitors from 204 countries do battle. 

However, two substantial hurdles still loom. 

Doubts remain about how London's already stretched transport system will cope with ferrying spectators and athletes around the congested city. 

Also, there are fears over whether Britain's security services will be able to prevent incidents such as the bloody hostage-taking of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics and the bombing of the 2004 Atlanta Games. 

Some £6.5 billion has been spent on modernising the transport system, including the world's oldest underground train system, and 48 kilometres (30 miles) of Olympic road lanes should help speed the travel of VIPs. 

Security has cast a shadow since the day after London was awarded the Games, when suicide bombers killed 52 people on the transport system. 

Security expert David Hunt, from the Exclusive Analysis think-tank, warned that the main threat by jihadist militants was likely to come from domestic, lone wolf actors. 

A combined force of more than 40,000 soldiers, police and private security guards will be mobilised for what Prime Minister David Cameron called the "biggest and most integrated security operation in mainland Britain in our peacetime history."

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Posted in: 2012,games,lo2012,London,London 2012,London Olympics,Olympic Games,Olympics,Olympics 2012

Payment Snag Halts London 2012 Olympic Ticket Sales!

When the summer Olympics of 2012 to just over one year, the ticket buying process is to stop the organizers aim to give more time to reserve seats for Olympic events. London 2012 organizers were probably begin to pull money accounts, who have requested tickets for this week, but this process should be delayed for at least one more week now.

At the heart of the matter is the excess demand for the inputs of the hope of attending the Olympics. The two-week sporting event comes with a total of 6.6 million tickets for various events in the games. Organizers said the demand for tickets for more than 20 million tickets, however, leaving a large gap between supply and demand.

A lottery system is used to determine who gets tickets and events. The organizers delayed the withdrawal of payments to request these tickets until they can determine how to allocate tickets for various events. Events such as the opening and closing are the largest ticket requests, as well as other major sports competitions in games such as swimming trials.

Many people seeking tickets have your name entered in the lottery system for various events, which increases your chances of receiving tickets for certain events. Organizers said nearly 1.8 million people have requested tickets for the date. The randomness of a lottery system which means that some people may receive inputs from many games of 2012 in London, while others in the lottery system will not receive tickets.

After the lottery has been completed and are allocated tickets, they receive more input on what you want or can not use will have the opportunity to download. The organizers of London 2012 will be an official online ticket exchange will begin early next year through which people without tickets can purchase tickets for those who received more than they need or want.

Olympic organizers will begin allocating tickets next week, and the withdrawal of funds to pay the tickets are reserved for guests. Organizers hope to inform all subscribers their lot by lottery on June 24. The two weeks of the London 2012 Olympic Games launch in the new Olympic Park in London, England, July 27, 2012.

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Posted in: London 2012 Olympic,London 2012 Olympics,London 2012 Olympics Tickets,London 2012 Ticket Sales,Olympic Games,Olympic Games Tickets,Olympic Ticket

London 2012 Olympics Progress

Progress of 2012 Olympics

While the world eagerly waits for the 2012 London Olympic Games to begin, the organizers are quite happy with the development work taking place with regard to 2012 Olympics.  No doubt, it is a huge task, but excellent planning and infrastructure have ensured that the work goes on smoothly.  A whopping 10,000 people are involved in the construction of the Olympic stadium and other allied structures required to host the various Olympic sporting sessions.  Most of the workers have been hired locally and this has created huge employment opportunities.  What more, the London Olympic construction site is claimed to be the biggest construction site in Europe.

You would be amazed to know that a one and a half billion dollar shopping center is coming up at Westfield.  Although, this is not part of the 2012 Olympics, this definitely has received a stimulus due to the construction of the Olympic site.  The builders of the shopping center are well aware that huge crowds would be pouring in for the Olympics and the huge crowds would definitely love to do some shopping during free time.  A huge dealership of a leading car brand has also opened up.

The new Olympic venues to be handed over by summer 2011 are nearing completion. The construction of the Olympic stadium is almost complete including the roof and fitting of spectator the seats.  The wooden flooring work is a marvel.  A whopping 20,000 journalists are expected to attend the Olympic event.  This is precisely the reason why a massive one million square feet of space has been allocated to media, broadcasting and journalists.  It has also been decided that a good 16,600 people would be able to stay in the Olympic Village and the first phase of the Olympic village has already been constructed.  The ventilation and air conditioning work in the first phase of the Olympic village is almost nearing completion.

The aquatic center at the Olympic center promises to be an architectural marvel and work is progressing at a fast pace.  The aquatic center is supposed to have an arc shaped roof and it looks extremely stylish.  There are also talks about this building being deemed as one of the most beautiful and exquisite in the world.

What is even more surprising is that the Olympic stadium is just a little more than three miles farther from Canary Wharf, a huge financial district and is located in an area with a huge population.  In spite of all this, work is being carried out very quickly and that too on a huge area.  The Olympic park is coming up on the banks of river Lee, one of the tributaries of Thames.  You should note that for a long time river Lee was the dumping ground of London.  All sorts of industrial waste, construction material and all the rubble of destroyed buildings, old television sets and refrigerators used to be dumped in the river.  A good four million tons of waste were removed and most of the soil has now been decontaminated.  This shows the great work being carried out by the organizers.

Definitely, the work on the London 2012 Olympics is progressing quite well and promises to complete much ahead of the scheduled time.

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Posted in: 2012 Olympics,Olympic Games

London Olympics – Frauds and Scams

Scam Alert – London Olympics

As London gets ready to hold the biggest and most dazzling event, the authorities are also worried about frauds and scams that might take place during the London Olympics.  The sports loving enthusiasts are crazy about witnessing the Olympic events and would be ready to shell out any amount of cash to view the Olympic Games.  This is where the fraudsters come in to play and take undue advantage of the situation by charging a hefty amount from the sports loving innocent people.

Scams involving 2012 Olympic Tickets

The presence of fraudsters is highly worrying for the Olympic organizers as they fear that it would lead to plenty of credit card and cheque scams.  In order to check this problem, an online program is being developed which would check all the online tickets.  This is being done to prevent frauds and catch all fraudsters.  In order to book online tickets, you need to provide all your personal details and credit card details.  This is where you need to be careful as these can be misused by the fraudsters.

Use of Fake Credit Cards During the Olympics

There is one more huge worry for the organizers as plenty of fake credit cards would be used to purchase goods and it would become very difficult to track the fake credit cards as thousands of visitors would be purchasing goods.  Definitely, business would be at its peak.  Apart from all the buyers, even the shop owners have been asked to be very careful and alert.  It is very difficult to distinguish a genuine credit card from a fake one when there is a huge crowd.

Scam Prevention and Precautions to Avoid Frauds

The Specialist Crime Directorate of London has formed a special team which consists of thirty six detectives working in close co-ordination with the ticketing industry, hotels, banks and travel operators in order to prevent any kind of frauds.  The basic idea is to provide proper checks by laying proper systems to avoid any kind of frauds and financial losses.  The shop owners and business owners are also requested not to provide any kind of credit card and financial information to those who ask.  Drawing from the information from previous cultural and sporting events, a massive one thousand ticket touts have been identified.

As you are aware, the tickets for the London Olympics are expected to be available from March 15.  All the sports enthusiasts are requested to apply for their respective tickets by visiting the official site of the organizing committee for London Olympics also known as LOGOG.  This is a great idea to prevent any kind of fraud from taking place and the sports enthusiasts would also not lose their precious money.  You would be delighted to know that all these precautions are being taken in order to make the stay of international visitors as comfortable as possible.

An online ticket checking system is being designed by the organizers of the London Olympics in order to curb the incidents of fraud.  It is expected that plenty of fake websites would spring up to cheat the sports fans, once the sale of tickets for the London Olympics begins.  One of the outstanding features of the online ticket checking system is that once the sports fans paste the URL they would immediately come to know whether the website is a genuine one or a fake one.  On encountering a fake website, the system will automatically take the sports fan to the official website of the London 2012 Olympics.

There is some good news for all the sports fans in Britain as genuine tickets for the London Olympics would be available on the official website of London Olympics along with leading travel agents like Prestige Travel, Jet Set Travel, and Thomas cook.  In order to prevent the fraudsters and touts from reselling the tickets at exorbitant prices, LOGOG is in talks with eBay, the numero uno auction house.

Definitely, the authorities in London are doing a great job to prevent frauds and scams.  It would also do a lot of good if the sports fans exercise caution while buying the tickets for the London 2012 Olympic Games.

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Posted in: 2012 Olympics,London Olympics,London Olympics Scam,London Olympics Scam Alert,Olympic Games