A Description of London

Found a delightful poem posted on today's edition of "The Writer's Almanac" describing a potential preview of people to meet in London during the 2012 Olympics and on other trips to the famous metropolis.

Since it's a public domain item, posting here the full text for "A Description of London" by John Banks. Hope ye like it.

"A Description of London"

Houses, churches, mixed together,

Streets unpleasant in all weather;

Prisons, places contiguous,

Gates, a bridge, the Thames irriguous.

Gaudy things enough to tempt ye,

Showy outsides, insides empty,

Bubbles, trades, mechanic arts,

Coaches, wheelbarrows and carts.

Warrant, bailiffs, bills unpaid,

Lords of laundresses afraid;

Rogues that nightly rob and shoot men,

Hangmen, aldermen and footmen.

Lawyers, poets, priests, physicians,

Noble, simple, all conditions:

Worth beneath a threadbare cover,

Villainy bedaubed all over.

Women black, red, fair and grey,

Prudes and such as never pray,

Handsome, ugly, noisy, still,

Some that will not, some that will.

Many a beau without a shilling,

Many a widow not unwilling;

Many a bargain, if you strike it:

This is London! How d'ye like it?

Illustration of London via Mappery.com

The Family Circus and the Olympics

My maternal grandmother introduced me to "The Family Circus" during the late 1970s.

Tacked to a metal kitchen cabinet, wedged between family photos, magazine-clipped recipes and other ephemera attached to the door with magnets, was a Bil Keane cartoon showing a little girl standing on a tennis court, holding up a can of Pringles potato chips mistaken for a can of new tennis balls. The brother-sister pair in the illustration resembled my sister and I.

Though I don't recall the caption on that cartoon, I do recall several of the clipped Olympic-themed editions of "The Family Circus" cut from the funny pages and mailed with letters to college or my new home in Atlanta (some turned up online tonight, now included with this post). It was always fun to read these enclosures and other Keane creations over the years.

Sorry to read this family-friendly cartoonist's obituary this evening, and of the death of Olympic champion Joe Frazier earlier this week.

Cartoons located across the Web are copyright Bil Keane Inc. and distributed by King Features Syndicate or www.familycircus.com

Darrell Hammond on "Fresh Air"

Driving home tonight, after posting about the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay, I heard an extremely moving interview on "Fresh Air" -- the second time in as many months that Terry Gross kept me in the car listening to someone balling their eyes out.

In Gross' sites tonight: Darrell Hammond, the "Saturday Night Live" star and author of a new book aptly titled "God, If You're Not Up There, I'm F*cked."

Sheesh! This interview was raw. Almost as raw as the September interview with Emmy winner Margo Martindale. I don't know now Gross can keep her own composure during these conversations.

The only Olympic connections I could find for Hammond is his impersonations of NBC Sports' Bob Costas, as well as Olympic gymnastics coach Bela Karolyi. From the "Fresh Air" interview and new book, it seems Hammond would likely be on the medal stand if surviving child abuse turned into an Olympic sport.

Photo via HarperCollins

London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay

The Associated Press gave a little love to the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay with an international wire story updating readers on plans for next year's run.

The Olympic flame will trek about 8,000 miles but almost entirely on British soil during 70 days next summer, according to the article.

Additional details are available at the official site for the Olympic Torch Relay. Of course, part of the Torch tradition will also take place in Olympia, Greece.

The destination list for the flame looks good to me. It would really be something to see the flame at Stonehenge, for instance.

I did not yet look closely at the route yet, but in case they did not think of it already, consider this my Olympic blogger suggestion that the London 2012 Olympic Torch Relay Team at LOCOG, as well as Coca-Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung, recreate the "Chariots of Fire" opening sequence by carrying the Olympic torch down the beach made famous by the film's director, Hugh Hudson, and Vangelis (in case you missed it, Hudson answered questions about that famous scene during a film festival in Atlanta, and his comments are available via this post).

Photo via LOCOG

Hitting the Olympic Wall

It happens every Games. Its nickname: The Wall

And it's a bummer! Lots of it going around, sadly.

"The Wall" of the Olympic world is, of course, sheer Games fatigue that sets in after one's second or third week of nights with fewer than four hours of sleep.

This is the antithesis of "Olympic Fever" when folks who are otherwise Olympic fanatics start to pick mundane activities such as laundry or household chores as "a welcome break" from Olympic activities.

What is sad is that, in a few weeks or months (or even years), looking back at the Games, many will kick themselves asking "why was I worried about laundry when I could have been at an Olympic event?!"

For the first-timers enjoying their premiere Olympics, a.k.a rookies, "The Wall" during Vancouver (and past Games) started to show up in conversations around February 17-18.

Sophomore class Wall conversations in VanCity started popping up on February 20-21.

Senior class wall (for those at their third, fourth or more Games) is dropping in right about now (Feb. 24). And tomorrow brings "the final stretch" to the Closing for everyone (for the brave veterans, could mean little or no sleep for 2-3 days to tap the Games for every last bit of fun).

It's a marathon, not a sprint. Bell lap comes around on Saturday.

Two "walls" for me this Games struck thus far ... first, I hit a brick wall when my laptop crashed last Friday, costing me about three hours of precious work. The second wall came yesterday, after about the third instance of slapping myself across the face to stay awake! I also sold a couple of tickets to figure skating on the street, and accidentally left my Feb. 24 speedskating ticket in the envelope handed to a complete stranger (a $200 mistake -- DOH!)

Fortunately last night I got a few more hours of rest. Today was OK. But the rain makes me tired. Can hardly believe this time next week I'll be back in Atlanta, and a week after that in Dallas and Oklahoma City!

Lots of very, very cool experiences have not yet been written for the blog. I hope there won't be another "wall" and to post the interviews with Carl Lewis, Kristi Yamaguchi, B.C. Premiere Gordon Campbell (press conference) and visits to hotspots including USA House, Visit Britain's media night, the B.C. to Sochi mayor's handover presser, speedskating, pin trading, condo dwelling and new friends made.

Here are a few activities that are highly recommended for the home stretch:

-- Check out the Swiss House on Granville Island.

-- Pop into the Panasonic pavilion at LiveCity Yaletown (both the pavilion and LiveCity are clients of Edelman, the P.R. firm where I work). Be certain to view the video of Sarah Brightman created just for the Vancouver Games.

-- Head over to False Creek for the very fun Saskatchewan House (a pleasant, very laid back pavilion that had some great home-province musicians and one of my favorite Olympic pins for the Games).

-- Find a way into Sochi House, the preview pavilion for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. I really hope to get there (the only "access denied" venue for yours truly at the Vancouver Games ... but I will get in!).

-- Walk around B.C. Place to view the Olympic-colored lights installed around the base of the inflated dome (a nice touch).

-- Count the Canada flags on the high rise apartment buildings. On one tower alone near Yaletown and the Marina, there are more than 30 Maple Leaf emblems on display.

-- Take the bus through East Vancouver to the Pacific Coliseum, and be sure to view the statue celebrating the two runners who completed the perfect mile in the same race.

-- Snap some photos of the Allstate U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame chalk artwork, visible from the corner windows of USA House (on Seymour across the street from Irish House).

Hoping to make it to one of the mountain events on Saturday. Tickets, anyone?

Thank you for reading the blog.

More Opening Ceremonies

Spent most of today at my computer for client work, so no new updates from the Olympic City (though heading to client LiveCity Downtown shortly).

But wanted to get a new shot from last night up for perusal -- the photo on this post is via the LA Times, and that is yours truly, bottom-left corner of image about third person up (in the snazzy white holding up camera as Team USA cruises into B.C. Place).

More blogging time on Sunday, or so I've pencilled in on calendar.

Return To Robson Square

Two weeks ago, Robson Square in downtown Vancouver was the site of the first special event I attended for the lead up to Olympic Games.

Though I've returned to Robson Square a few times the last few days and nights, tonight marked my first evening visit during which a lot of finishing touches were gelling.

Down in the square, which is steps below street level, a skating rehearsal was underway at the new GE Ice Center (disclosure: GE is a client).

A pair of workers were using a torch (eerily similar to an Olympic Torch) to apply some special decals to the concrete staircase, while all around, a mix of locals, tourists and media were watching, not only the skaters, but also the sky as above us there were two new features that will dazzle Olympic attendees: A new "zip line" attraction that crosses the square a few dozen feet overhead, and a new searchlight system that created a pyramid of light beams above the cityscape.

Less than eight days to go -- can hardly wait to see what awesome surprises pop up tomorrow!

Calm Before The Storm -- Peek Inside Our Office

Today in the Olympic city, the morning got off to a good start. My hotel is apparently the home of several Japanese media outlets starting to check in for Olympic reporting duties, and it was cool to visit with some of the new arrivals from Tokyo, Nagoya and other areas of the 1998 and 1964 Olympic host nation.

At work there are new arrivals, too. A colleague from Toronto is my new office neighbor, and we'll soon be roommates at a rented waterfront apartment a few blocks from B.C. Place.

Posting here, for the folks back home, a peek at the office and what will become a "war room" of sorts for our little P.R. enterprise during the Vancouver Olympics.

The photos also include a few tools of the trade (yes, now using two phones), my office (at least until the next wave of colleagues and clients arrives and we start sharing desks), the sofa where we may be crashing a night or two, and the giant spoon attached to the office key (all the newbies get to carry one for a few days).

Feast your eyes on the hot-off-the-press Edelman 2010 Olympic pin!

Sarah Sings "One Dream"

Over in Beijing, they had so many official Olympic songs, they filled two CDs. Among the greatest hits, "One World, One Dream."

It was surprising to find tonight that one of the official Vancouver tunes has the similar title "One Dream" performed by Canada's own Sarah McLachlan. Check it out!

Always enjoyed Sarah's voice ... even attended a Lilith Fair concert in Atlanta (dragged kicking and screaming by then-girlfriend). My favorite of her tunes is "Into The Fire" -- one of her earliest hits -- which also seems appropriate for the Olympic Torch Relay.

My favorite from Beijing was actually by another Sarah ... Brighman, that is. This performance still gives me chills!

But the all-time chill-inducing Olympic performance (just aheady of those baby grand pianos appearing out of nowhere at LA84): Pavarotti's performance in Torino. Not a dry eye in the house! I was lucky to be there, for his last live performance of his life. Bravo!

Photo via the Sarah McLachlan fan page on Facebook

POLL: Which Canadian Musicians Will Rock the Olympic Opening Ceremony?

With just days to go until the Vancouver Olympic Opening Ceremony, folks are buzzing about who will perform and represent Canada on the big night Feb. 12.

I'd like to know who you think will perform, so please peruse the Olympic Rings And Other Things poll (on the right side of screen just below the "About Me" section) and click on as many names as you like.

If you know a Canadian musician who is not listed but you believe may perform, please email that name to me or post a comment (I might add names to the poll, but only Canadians).

Happy clicking!

Update: Dang it all! I thought that k.d. lang was on the poll, and only now realized she was left off by mistake. But I do think she should be on the poll (sorry, k.d. lang and fans) -- unfortunately, now that there are votes posted, she cannot be added. So noting her here in this update -- if you want to vote for her, please send me an e-mail.