Your chance to see the Olympic flame......
Lovely story from Mike Merritt highlighting the non-Olympic standard somersaults that are having to be done to keep everyone happy on Sunday 10th June, when the flame arrives.
Remember, the Council policy (in Lewis & Harris) is that no-one should work on the Sunday.
Quoth a spokesperson just a few days ago:
As they pass the Sports Centre they can view it from outside with amazement, as the Olympic slogan "Faster, Higher, Closed" is spelled out by protesters*
Perhaps, of course, they'll get a Council bus, for which the driver obviously won't be working or paid, and which won't cause any wear and tear on the bus, dropping the visitors off at the various hotels like some dour package tour.
With 70 beds taken, or 35 if they are doing a Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the not-working chefs, waitresses and other staff will serve them. After which they can take a walk around town, and give media coverage that is likely to focus on pretty, quaint, unwelcoming and shut.
Check-in for the Aberdeen flight is 1:30pm, and surely much earlier if you are carrying a naked flame (I must check these rules) as the 70 visitors pile onto the 25-seater, meaning a maximum of 5-6 hours of running time after the 7am start. Expect to hear about entire schools being decanted to the route to catch the merest glimpse, when they could really have had their Olympic ambitions nurtured at a ceremony in the Sports Centre after the flame arrives.
Shotgun. Both barrels. Own feet.
* Protesters of both persuasion.
Remember, the Council policy (in Lewis & Harris) is that no-one should work on the Sunday.
Quoth a spokesperson just a few days ago:
So we have 70 people coming off the 37-seater Inverness plane at 4pm on Sunday, piling into 18 taxis and heading to the hotel.
"The Comhairle has invested heavily in sport across the Islands and we want this event to be a major sports celebration for people to join in and make the most of what will be a wonderful occasion.
There will also be an economic spin-off for the islands with an additional 70 visitors or so associated with the Relay arriving in the Islands. In addition the media coverage is likely to generate interest in the Islands and prompt many people to visit”
As they pass the Sports Centre they can view it from outside with amazement, as the Olympic slogan "Faster, Higher, Closed" is spelled out by protesters*
Perhaps, of course, they'll get a Council bus, for which the driver obviously won't be working or paid, and which won't cause any wear and tear on the bus, dropping the visitors off at the various hotels like some dour package tour.
With 70 beds taken, or 35 if they are doing a Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the not-working chefs, waitresses and other staff will serve them. After which they can take a walk around town, and give media coverage that is likely to focus on pretty, quaint, unwelcoming and shut.
Check-in for the Aberdeen flight is 1:30pm, and surely much earlier if you are carrying a naked flame (I must check these rules) as the 70 visitors pile onto the 25-seater, meaning a maximum of 5-6 hours of running time after the 7am start. Expect to hear about entire schools being decanted to the route to catch the merest glimpse, when they could really have had their Olympic ambitions nurtured at a ceremony in the Sports Centre after the flame arrives.
Shotgun. Both barrels. Own feet.
* Protesters of both persuasion.
6 comments:
Looking forward to a "Grand Day Out" Gromit with lots of atmostphere!
Has the person who moderates the comments on this blog died?
I can just imagine what these poor 70 odd people will have to go through when they hit Stornoway Security at the airport on their way to Aberdeen.
There'll be 100ml liquid bags flying, belts and shoes being removed and the obligatory 5 minute check of the boarding pass - per person. They'll have to leave before they get here.
I have to go for the entertainment value to see whether they insist that the flame gets scanned.... Maybe one of the security staff will pass himself through the scanner holding said flame and that counts for one of the participants!
From the papers..
"But John Roberts, acting secretary of the Lord's Day Observance Society, said he was "not happy" the flame was even being flown in to the island on a Sunday.
He said: "We are very disappointed. We have always opposed Sunday flights. I don't know if we will be protesting further but if they had done the running relay on the Sunday it would have upset local feeling and almost certainly led to protests."
So there it is, we get to be part of a truly global event and one section of the community (albeit a majority?) get to impose their view on everyone else and stop it.
It is shameful that no children will get to see the flame and no families will get to have a day out to see it. Lets face it most Christians will be (should be) in Church anyway, quietly allowed to get on with their own business.
Looks like a bad case of discrimination to me!
"Pretty"?
send it to the southern isles, open and alive every sunday!
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