It's Too Soon To Be This Tired

It's only the fifth day in London and my eyes are a bit red. Long days and nights. Unlimited options for fun and getting into trouble. Game on!

The last 48 hours included two big events at USA House, including last night's gala featuring Carl Lewis, Bela Karolyi, Shawn Johnson, Shannon Miller, Carly Patterson, Donna de Varona and very special guest Muhammad Ali.

We also worked with (client) 24 Hour Fitness to open Team USA's High Performance Training Center at the University of East London. So Kerri Walsh and Coach K from USA Basketball, as well as Tony Azevedo of U.S. water polo, were on site for the festivities (and I sure can't wait for time to post Kerri's interview video over the weekend).

Also squeezed in a visit to the James Bond exhibition at the Barbican Museum (photos saved for future post, Monty Penny).

This morning was the opening of Sochi House/Russia House, and about an hour ago I picked up my Opening Ceremony ticket from a last minute Ebay adventure. It is so ... ON!

I will post more after the ceremony and encourage everyone to tune in and take note of the fans in section 222 (I'll be waving to the cameras). Predicted performers (some may already be announced but the following are best guest sans search for what is already confirmed): Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Annie Lennox (I hope), Elton John, Coldplay (please!), Adele, Shirley Bassey, Pink Floyd, Duran Duran and for some Irish flavor U2, Clannad and Sinead O'Connor.

Also predict appearances by all James Bond actors, Dame Judy Dench, Kenneth Branagh, Emma Thompson, Emma Watson and all of the Harry Potter performers, each with potential as Olympic flagbearers. Who are your predictions? Tell me and I will send the best commenters a pin!
Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Inside USA House in London

Let's get the disclosure out of the way up front: In my freelance P.R. role as a recent Edelman team member of 13 years, I am helping out the MATTER-Edelman team for their Citi Olympic sponsor client. What a cool client to support!

Citi is among the newest U.S. Olympic Committee sponsors. The company's 200 year history includes many historic enterprises, and it's been fun to learn and share more about Citi's support of several community based sport programs hand-picked by Olympic athletes.

Today at USA House in London, Citi unveiled its "Signature Step" display with Citi Olympians Rowdy Gaines and Cullen Jones. I keep thinking of the Atlanta musical "Musicals Suck! The Musical" and the lyrics to the song "Just One Step."

Gaines and Jones joined Citi Chief Branding Officer Dermot Boden and USOC CMO Lisa Baird for a brief press conference and unveiling event, during which Skyler explained the Citi Every Step of the Way program and how the company contributed $500,000 to the USOC and US Paralympics. Thirteen Citi athletes designated their sports program that has inspired their journey, and anyone with Internet access may choose and athlete/program to support in one of the most dynamic Olympic social media campaigns of 2012.

Earlier this year I chose to support Milwaukee hometown athlete Gwen Jorgensen, who I can hardly wait to see compete in the women's triathlon next week. Check out the other Citi athletes to support and pick one!

During a one-on-one interview after the event, Jones shared some details about his near-drowning experience as a five-year old visiting a water park (I, too, had a near-drowning experience at a racket club swimming pool as a kindergartner in Edmond, Okla., so it was interesting to hear his story -- I will attempt to post video of the interview later today). Jones also explained how the Citi team captured his footprint in plaster and bronze for today's unveiling -- sort of a Grauman's Chinese Theatre-like addition to USA House.

USA House in London is big! Nestled into a building next door to Royal Albert Hall, USA House of London features more sponsor fixtures than I recall in the Beijing version which was in a large restaurant. In addition to Citi, we spotted Deloitte, United Airlines, Chobani, DeVry, BMW and other Team USA supporters showcased in style.

During lunch we also shook hands with LA84 legend Peter Ueberroth and his wife Ginny. Tonight we'll check out the sponsor and media gatherings for the opening of USA House.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Welcome To London

The flight from Milwaukee via Atlanta to London went very well. Delta Air Lines flight 38 to the U.K. must have circled the city five times before touchdown, giving passengers great views of the city and Olympic venues.

The arrivals area at London Heathrow did not resemble Olympic flight arrivals of past Games. In Beijing, for instance, each and every gate and the airport control tower featured Look of the Games signage, and I suspect London's modest Olympic decoration (nothing visible until leaving the plane indoors) is tied back to austerity measures for the Games.

But inside the airport, Olympic arrivals are greeted with cheery pink London 2012 logos and signs for accreditation in the airport. I traded my first pin of the Games with a man from India dressed in the purple volunteer shirt and khakis. And only 10 minutes later I was already on the Underground to Paddington Station.

My hotel is near Paddington -- the Royal Eagle Hotel of London. Found a decent rate on Hotels.com just a couple of weeks ago, and my flat is not much bigger than my Volvo back home. Though cozy (the shower is smaller than a British phone booth and the bed-to-wall gap is about 12 inches), I enjoyed more than 100 channels and BBC updates via the Olympic Torch Relay channel and BBC 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

But on Monday there was no time to hang at the room until evening! I spent the afternoon back on the Underground to Westminster Station, destination: London Media Centre (unaccredited media center) for my Olympic blog accreditation.

It amazed me to emerge from Westminster Station to find a cloudless blue sky and an enormous Union Jack flag waving atop one of the Central London buildings. As it turned out, the flag topped the Houses of Parliament, and my eyes met the Tower of London for the first time, just in time to hear the deep bells chiming 4 p.m. GST. A few minutes later I arrived at the London Media Centre and got set up for just about anything needed for the Games, including free rail pass, wi-fi, several event invitations and a new place to work for the next 22 days of Olympic adventure.

Around 6 p.m. it was my intention to grab some groceries and turn in early at the hotel, but a special media tour of the Houses of Parliament started and I joined the party walking a few blocks to the iconic building of more than 1,000 years. It was so cool to tour the building with a small entourage of international reporters, and I bit my tongue at the urge to mention Tod Margaret and his ill-fated visit to the same building on "The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret" during season one (no sign language was used on our tour).

Seated in a committee room facing the Thames during sunset, our media tour group learned several details of U.K.-Asia trade. For instance, there are now 110 direct flights from London to China per week, and of the 7,000+ journalists visiting the London Media Centre for the Games, more than 10 percent (700) are from China. Also, London will host more than 200 CEOs from around the world during the Games, reinforcing or establishing new trade ties for London for decades to come.

A guest panelist representing Harrod's explained that since 2008 the iconic department store increased its business from China by 900 percent, adding more than 150 Mandarin speakers to their employee base at the world's most famous department store.

I also learned there are more than 12,000 Chinese university students now in London, and some London officials estimate that East London recently completed 50 years of development in fewer than five years (it will be a sight to see the Olympic development on this side of town). Our hosts at the House of Commons also fêted us with fabulous salmon, lamb, prawn and grilled tomato treats.

Day one in London concluded with a tube ride back to Paddington and a few more pin exchanges in transit. I'm still on the hunt for an Opening Ceremony ticket and look forward to scoring one if good luck continues as it did with the easy arrival at the Olympic city.

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver

Everything But London

It seems these recent weeks again kept me from blogging. Just about everything was on the brain except blogging about the Olympics -- client projects, a field trip to Wisconsin (followed by a similar trek to Oklahoma), car issues, health concerns (fortunately my health is fine but I've been helping with some family items). It was only a couple of days ago that I finally booked passage to London!

Now it's just 10 days until my eighth on-site Olympiad. On July 23 we'll touch down at Heathrow, catch a train to Paddington Station, drop by the hotel then knock on the doors at the London Media Centre. Can hardly wait!

This week the U.S. Olympic Committee announced the 530 member Team USA for London, including 228 returning Olympians and 76 Olympic Champions. There are some amazing personalities and sports women and men on the roster, and I'll work to profile many of the folks met at the Team USA Summit (in Dallas in May) during the next few days.

 It is cool that more women (269) than men (261) will represent the United States of America in 246 of 302 medal events, according to the Team USA announcement. Be sure to check out the other team fun facts at the USOC link.

I now have tickets to several key wish list London Olympic events: The women's tennis and mixed doubles gold medal matches at Wimbledon; the women's beach volleyball gold medal game (for the Olympic three-peat following attendance at the same event in Athens and Beijing); an all-day archery event, an half-day shooting event, synchronized swimming and women's triathlon. I selected many of the latter events specifically because Team USA athletes impressed me during the Summit event in Dallas, and I hope they do very well in the field of play.

The one remaining wish list item: The coveted Opening Ceremony ticket. I was outbid several times in failed attempts to score this prized item. Any offers and advice to acquire one ticket will be appreciated.

I [dot] Roy Lichtenstein at Chicago Art Institute

During the 1990s, a friend introduced me to the official Cultural Olympiad poster series for the Games of the XXIIIrd Olympiad at Los Angeles, including an iconic equestrian-themed work I purchased (one of my first Ebay finds). And during a college spring break trip to New York, another friend pointed out a massive Roy Lichtenstein mural in the lobby of a Manhattan building -- loved it!

These two events, and later reading Lichtenstein's 1997 obituary in the New York Times (which I vividly recall, as his distinct work jumped off the page during morning reading at my first full-time P.R. job in Atlanta), form my earliest introductions to an artist now among my all-time favorites.

My apartment includes that early Ebay purchase of "The Red Horseman" poster from LA84, as well as a large poster from the Museum Ludwig Köln featuring a Lichtenstein titled "Landscape with Figures and Rainbow," and small snapshot photos of other works in museums visited through the years.

You can imagine my delight to learn of the Chicago Art Institute exhibition "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" opening in May. After patiently waiting to return to The Windy City last week, I at last experienced the exhibition with my girlfriend. Borrowing from the show's souvenir button design (inspired by "I [heart] N.Y." T-shirts) ... I [dot] Lichtenstein.

With thanks to the Chicago Art Institute public relations team for the media pass, what follows are an array of afterthoughts from two visits to the exhibition, first on June 16 then a return June 24 (yes, the exhibition is worth multiple visits). The press release for the exhibition provides a good overview, as does this museum video on the installation process.

"Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" includes more than 160 works by the American artist. The entry arcade is flanked by two large works portraying architectural features, among the many building blocks and areas of study Lichtenstein explored during more than 50 years of painting.

We delighted in the cheerful Disney-inspired "Look Mickey" in vivid red, blue and yellow, with thousands of hand-painted dots that are part of so many of the works (we learned how the artist employed stencil and toothbrush to apply these points of paint on later images). And before diving into many advertising- and cartoon-inspired canvases in the second gallery, the exhibition provides a handful of compare and contrast works showing early Lichtenstein creations (most are not easily recognizable as Lichtenstein) juxtaposed with 1990s "Brushstroke" works -- with just a few paintings, visitors can see the huge leap Lichtenstein made from what was popular in art circles to his own brand of pop art.

Around the first corner, and around every turn in this exhibition, are wonderful surprises. Eyes meet the Lichtenstein everyone knows -- comic strip couples embrace while jet fighters and submarine commanders unleash attacks. The first big corner in this exhibition reveals themes of Early Pop (including common items from detergents to sneakers and jewelry), Black and White (with larger than life golf ball, tire, radio and desk calendar canvases -- don't miss the Magnifying Glass) and the first glimpse of War and Romance themes.

The most intriguing surprise early in the exhibition: ceramic busts and coffee cups (we liked how the stacked coffee mugs were just a few steps from the brown and yellow "Cup of Coffee" painting). The 18"x 45" "Hot Dog With Mustard" sort of jumps out as much as "The Ring (Engagement)" as the first Lichtenstein explosion in the exhibition (the red and black facets moving outward like the blasts of "Whaam!" in the next room).

Returning to the Black and White section, we marveled at the advertising-inspired "Large Jewels" as another of the early surprises to enjoy. So much to love in this exhibition -- we spent almost an hour in only the first two rooms!

The big guns are out in the room of comic war and romance paintings. The best treats: the aforementioned "Whaam!" facing a U-boat commander screaming in "Torpedo ... LOS!" as well as "Bratatat!" and "Takka Takka." I was humming Lionel Richie tunes upon spotting "Cold Shoulder" (with an eerie, forlorn message of Hello ... in a caption bubble almost crying off the canvas) and "We Rose Up Slowly" with its couple kissing like Brook Shields and her partner in "Endless Love" movie scenes.

"Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" rounds the bend to unveil several more explosions and brushstrokes, with some curious three-dimensional works of porcelain enamel on steel. Several private collection works are shown here and in the landscapes series in the next gallery. Most impressive are the "Perforated Seascape #1" (as visitors cross the room this 3D work comes alive in vivid red, white and blue) and two Rolux-infused paintings titled "Seascape" and "Pink Seascape" (amazing and so surprisingly Roy).

Rounding another bend takes your breath away. It is amazing to see "Landscape with Figures and Rainbow" -- the real one rather than my apartment poster -- on loan from Germany measuring an enormous 8' x 10' (awesome!); the room features Lichtenstein's amazing history of art celebrating his take on Henri Matisse, Pablo Picasso, Morris Louis and others. We spent the most time evaluating the sculptures in this section, as well as the 120" x 102" canvas "Laocoön" inspired by a major European sculpture (blending brushstrokes, dots and more colors than any other painting in the room).

Modern works, Mirrors, numerous studies (including the study for my favorite "The Red Horseman" and my girlfriend's favorite "Alka Seltzer" in pencil and crayon), angular/geometric shapes classified as Perfect/Imperfect and Artist's Studio works build the exhibition's third crescendo with a room of Nudes (with the floor-to-ceiling "Nudes with Beach Ball" drawing a lot of attention. The concluding gallery unveils the surprise of Lichtenstein's landscapes (many with Asian themes) and a return to the brushstrokes. Amazing. And the enormous scale of the landscapes offers an unintended "Where's Waldo" game to find the tiny philosopher or boat captain in a couple of the monumental works.

Obviously, we loved "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" and highly recommend a visit while its in the Chicago Art Institute through Sept. 3, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington Oct. 14 to Jan. 13, then in London and Paris throughout next year. I also recommend the exhibition catalogue with 368 pages and full color images of hundreds of Lichtenstein and related works. I don't typically use/recommend museum audio guides, but this exhibition's audio tour includes so many archived Roy Lichtenstein interviews it is a must-listen for the first-timer or longtime fan.

One thing that struck me, reading the catalogue and other museum writings through the exhibition, is the absence of reference to Ben-Day dots, often used to describe some of Lichtenstein's artistic process. My hunt through the catalogue continues, but I am curious to know whether the curators purposely avoided use of the Ben-Day reference, which also is absent from the audio guide. Was there a copyright issue of the word Ben-Day? What was the point of ommiting Ben-Day descriptions? It's not even on the dot-edu link for the exhibition.

Whether or not the dot answer is determined, the "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" exhibition is outstanding. Period.
Photos by Nicholas Wolaver except the LA84 poster from this link

Back To Blogging!

Just in time for my arrival at the Team USA Olympic Summit in Dallas, my blog was hacked or otherwise "taken over" by an unknown force in the universe. For anyone who visited this site May 13 through today, you may have seen the home page quickly switch over to a crud site. For this technical glitch, likely caused by user error on my part, I apologize. It was an excruciating process to get it fixed.

Before jumping back to blogging, I'll take just a moment to thank the helpful Google/Blogger message board contact who did his best to help me navigate a fix. I must say, it would be greatly appreciated if the wizards at Google would create a phone help center as a backup to these boards and chat rooms.

OK, there's TONS of cool Olympic stuff in the news, on the Web and around the globe. The London Olympic Games are popping up everywhere. And there are several ways folks may win their way to the 2012 Olympics if they are willing to click and code their way through some sponsor and other sweepstakes sites:

• VISA encourages entries via several banks offering credit cards, or through the Go World contest
• Proctor & Gamble has several contests underway, including an EveryDay product sweepstakes, a Pampers entry option and a Pro-Health dental competition (the Duracell contest apparently ended)
• United Airlines has an easy to enter contest including (surprise) airfare and all the fixings
• BP will let you enter if you buy eat here and get gas at one of their U.S. service stations (on the drive back from Dallas to Atlanta I picked up game codes in several states)
• Cost Plus World Market is adding some red, white and blue unofficial Games marketing to a big event in the U.K.
• Mini Cooper apparently will give away a trip later in the summer (I could not yet find a link)
• Citi created the Every Step program and contest through which participants may cheer on several key athletes and their charities of choice (I met two of these athletes in Dallas and will profile them in another post)
• Macy's with Ralph Lauren are giving away an Olympic trip
• The UPS Store has an Olympic sweepstakes open with VISA
• Panasonic's got an Olympic contest, too
• I wear my sunglasses at night, and so does Oakley, official supplier with Take London contest
• Dow wants you to know about Great Stuff to enter their London Olympic giveaway
• Hilton Honors rounds out the Olympic giveaways for this post

Special thanks to Shreveport, La., resident and ISOH member Brian Carberry for methodically locating these and other recent five-ringed sweepstakes. Good luck!

Photo via this site

USOC Hosts 2012 Team USA Media Summit

On the scene in Dallas at the U.S. Olympic Committee's 2012 Team USA Media Summit, it's been a whirlwind of interviews and photo opportunities to learn more about athletes for the London Games, now just 74 days ahead.
Lots of lessons learned, including some computer coding issues given the possible hack to this blog -- it's incredibly frustrating that I've not been able to post for 48 hours. Hopefully this post, including two photos with Olympians on site (Shawn Johnson and Michael Phelps) will work and be visible to readers.

Later today will attempt to post interview details and some information about Michelle Obama's announcement related to "Let's Move!" on site at the summit. Stay tuned for updates and send good vibes for an easy fix to the blog

Photos by Nicholas Wolaver