London 2012 - Skybar and News

[jerseyboi]

Ringing in the games! Huge Olympic logo floats down the Thames to mark 150 days to go

[southseasteve]

[wawd]

any links to an article about the floating rings? will they be going to the barrier tonight or have they already?

[pagey17]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/spo...er-Thames.html

Says they will be back out for Games time.

[Pegasus85]

First post here! Just thought I'd let you guys know that the view from my office at the top of One Canada Square of those rings was pretty cool. It started with a couple of guys by the window pointing at something and after a couple of minutes pretty much the whole floor was over by the windows snapping away with their phones! The excitement at seeing them was palpable.

Also, HUGE crowds at the river bank watching all the action. Will try and get some pictures up soon enough

[jerseyboi]

[wawd]

thanks pagey17

Originally Posted by pagey17

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/spo...er-Thames.html

[jerseyboi]

[pagey17]

[brit1955]

We should remember there's always a huge difference between the artist's impression and reality.

As a resident of Stratford I should point out they've missed the chewing gum stains on the pavement plus the litter and general detritus of urban life - which last month charmingly included human faeces in the bus station. And a fine sturdy motion it was indeed. It was a credit to both the lack of inhibition and constitution of its creator who I can only assume sought further assistance at Newham General Hospital...

To be frank, most residents of Stratford would be eternally grateful if Newham Council could manage to lay two paving stones level with each other but unfortunately that seems beyond the realm of possibility.

Other horrors perpetrated in the Stratford area include:

The Spiral Clock:



They've now moved it well out of the way to Maryland Point half a mile away.

In close up:



It's a Spiral! It's a Clock!! Geddit???

The Railway Tree, made from railway track, to symbolising Stratford's importance as a transport hub. I give it 4/10 for its literal symbolism and 1/10 as an example of artistic endeavour:




And last but not least, the Orbit Tower:



Make of it what you will. The Eiffel Tower it ain't.

Hopefully, and if the local scallywags keep to previous form, most of these horrors will be stolen for their scrap metal value like so many of the drain covers and public statuary in the area that's already gone walkabout.

It's not all doom and gloom though.

I took this photo last year on Angel Lane on the opposite side of the road to the Olympic Park:




The Old Town Hall still survives. A delightful Italianate confection opened in 1869 by the Old Queen herself (Gawd Bless 'Er):



Yet even here our local phantom turd layer left one of his prodigious creations in a doorway on the side of the building last year.

[brit1955]

Originally Posted by Sykocs

We should be proud, we are not going to get the chance to see it again here in our lifetimes give LOCOG a break its 2012!!!

Come back in a year's time. That's when all the scandal will break about the allegations of backhanders, bribery, incompetence and corruption.

There also remains the thorny issue of what will happen to the Olympic Stadium after the Games.

Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn has waged a long campaign for his club to play matches at the stadium after the Olympics and launched a legal challenge when West Ham were initially chosen ahead of Tottenham. That was after Newham Council (whose Mayor has a Director's box at West Ham) subbed West Ham £60,000 to "assist" with their bid.

Hearn says the uncertainty over the future of the stadium is the result of a lack of foresight when it was designed and that no one is actually taking responsibility for admitting they've built the wrong type of stadium. Tottenham Hotspur even wanted to demolish the thing and start again.

Locog didn't listen to the advice five years ago when everyone was saying what type of stadium would work for the future but one thing is clear and that is the stadium is not fit for football.

I see the damn thing everyday and frankly it has the architectural merits of an out-of-town Ikea and exudes the strength and permanency of an Airfix model.

And such a bargain for £600 million wouldn't you agree?

[jamiefearon]

Originally Posted by brit1955

We should remember there's always a huge difference between the artist's impression and reality.

As a resident of Stratford I should point out they've missed the chewing gum stains on the pavement plus the litter and general detritus of urban life - which last month charmingly included human faeces in the bus station. And a fine sturdy motion it was indeed. It was a credit to both the lack of inhibition and constitution of its creator who I can only assume sought further assistance at Newham General Hospital...

To be frank, most residents of Stratford would be eternally grateful if Newham Council could manage to lay two paving stones level with each other but unfortunately that seems beyond the realm of possibility.

Other horrors perpetrated in the Stratford area include:

The Spiral Clock:



They've now moved it well out of the way to Maryland Point half a mile away.

In close up:



It's a Spiral! It's a Clock!! Geddit???

The Railway Tree, made from railway track, to symbolising Stratford's importance as a transport hub. I give it 4/10 for its literal symbolism and 1/10 as an example of artistic endeavour:




And last but not least, the Orbit Tower:



Make of it what you will. The Eiffel Tower it ain't.

Hopefully, and if the local scallywags keep to previous form, most of these horrors will be stolen for their scrap metal value like so many of the drain covers and public statuary in the area that's already gone walkabout.

It's not all doom and gloom though.

I took this photo last year on Angel Lane on the opposite side of the road to the Olympic Park:




The Old Town Hall still survives. A delightful Italianate confection opened in 1860 by the Old Queen herself (Gawd Bless 'Er):



Yet even here our local phantom turd layer left one of his prodigious creations in a doorway on the side of the building last year.

How do you know it was Human?

[annamaria4711]

LURV your posting Brit1955...brilliant great posting

hey don't worry about Newham council they've got a Million Pound refit by overybury....and a subsidise kitchen just incase eating on designer furniture in a designer interior is not enough for the poor bugger who only work 35 hrs a week...!!!

[Shmunkey]

With regards to the rail track sculpture, that has been there for years now. Everything is still in tact and nothing has been stolen by 'locals'. This 'put something nice in the east it'll be ruined' attitude has to stop...
I saw a broken window over while wondering about Chelsea. OMGGggZZ! ppl in the west are well chavvy"!!! LOL. >_>

Life. Get one. Stop being so damn British and moan about everything, if this hurts you so much don't look at it. Live under a rock where everything stays the same.

[Metroguy78]

Shmucnkey... i think i love you!!

Nothing i hate more than people who just spout out moaning drivel. Maybe Im just too optimistic.

[pagey17]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17213422

Cultural olympiad begins with a virtual rainbow

[MartinLeRoy]

Was kinda hoping I'd be able see it from Newcastle. Can't yet...

[pagey17]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...shire-17217655

London 2012 Olympic football will be officially launched in Coventry later.

The City of Coventry Stadium will host 12 matches during the games, including the women's bronze medal play-off.

Hope Powell, coach of Britain's women's team, and former Olympic athlete Jonathan Edwards are due to officially launch the event from 14:00 GMT.

The official match ball, The Albert, will also be unveiled by Manchester United's Tom Cleverly and Robert Ashcroft, who named it.

The 43-year-old from Derbyshire was chosen after a competition to name the ball involving more than 12,000 suggestions.

[wawd]

Originally Posted by Shmunkey

With regards to the rail track sculpture, that has been there for years now. Everything is still in tact and nothing has been stolen by 'locals'. This 'put something nice in the east it'll be ruined' attitude has to stop...
I saw a broken window over while wondering about Chelsea. OMGGggZZ! ppl in the west are well chavvy"!!! LOL. >_>

Life. Get one. Stop being so damn British and moan about everything, if this hurts you so much don't look at it. Live under a rock where everything stays the same.

+1

[spindrift]

House prices fall in Newham:

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/201...me-prices.html

The east London borough hosting the 2012 Olympic Games had the city’s biggest decline in home prices even after the government spent billions of pounds on projects aimed at revitalizing the capital’s poorest area.
Prices in Newham, where the opening ceremony will be held on July 27, fell 2.5 percent last year compared with a 2.8 percent gain in London overall, Jones Lang LaSalle Inc. (JLL) estimates. Property values in the three other areas benefiting most from Olympic investment all rose, according to the Chicago- based broker.
“There’s still a lot more infrastructure that needs to be built in Newham before you see significant rises in house prices,” said Nick Verdi, a real-estate broker who works for Keatons about a mile (1.6 kilometers) from the Olympic Park. “It’s been a very flat market.”


Liquor Stores, Betting Shops
Blocks of public housing projects, known as council estates, are bisected by business streets lined with discount liquor stores, betting shops and fast-food outlets. Residents say improvements in Stratford are making it worse for the other parts of Newham by drawing people away.


“There’s too many people here and too much crime,” said Jahangir Alom, 36, a shopkeeper at Bengal Supermarket on the corner of London Road and Upper Road in Plaistow. “The population is moving to Stratford because of that.”
Georgina Baker, 15, and a friend sit on a carousel in Star Park with the Canary Wharf business district in the background. They are skipping school.
“You can see the difference as you go from Canning Town to Stratford. It goes from poor to really new,” she said. “It’s not fair to the area.”


Home prices vary greatly in Newham, said Keatons broker Verdi. For 255,000 pounds, a buyer can get either a newly refurbished three-bedroom house in the Plaistow neighborhood or a one-bedroom apartment in Stratford, less than two miles away.