A Yarn of Olympic Proportions "Residents of Saltburn, in North Yorkshire, are scratching their heads today after a mysterious 'yarnbomber' wrapped the town's pier with a 50-yard scarf stretching out along the railings.
The impressive garment features woollen athletes competing in various Olympic events, from synchronised swimmers to rowers and cyclists, and has delighted young and old alike as the town discusses the good yarn."
[more inside]
posted by zizzle
on Aug 13, 2012 -
40 comments
London Mayor and favourite for next Tory leader Boris Johnson has thrown himself into the Olympic spirit. This doesn't always go
entirely to plan, leaving the blond mop-head hanging around for a while this afternoon. Fortunately, the Internet knows exactly
what to do. From standing start to a country laughing its socks off - there's a #dangleboris hashtag - mere hours have passed.
Will it damage Boris' chances of taking over from the gaffe-prone David Cameron? Probably quite the opposite.
posted by Devonian
on Aug 1, 2012 -
72 comments
There's been a lot of talk about the snarls and snafus preceding this year's games. But even as the training is winding down and the athletes are pouring into the Village, there's still plenty of interesting stuff going at this year's Olympics.
Like, have you heard about
the Olympian without a country? (
He's not the first independent athlete to compete.)
Or that
almost all the US swim team gets themselves ritually tattooed with the Olympic rings?
Or that
a California girl is one of Saudi Arabia's two female competitors?
Or that Caster Semenya (previously
1,
2)
will be South Africa's flag bearer?
Or that Nur Suryani Mohamed Taibi
may be the first Olympic athlete to have to worry that a kick from her unborn child may put her out of the medal running?
The Christian Science Monitor has been
highlighting athletes who's struggled to get to the games, including
Behdad Salimi, who'll have to prove he's the strongest man in the world to bear Iran's lone medal hopes,
Hiroshi Hoketsu, who's competing in his third Olympics this go round --- second since he retired from his desk job, and
Gladys Tejeda, who grew up in a family of subsistence farmers in an Andean village so remote she hadn't even heard of the Olympics until her family got a TV --- in 2007. London will be her third marathon.
Of course, there's another class of competitors whose fight to get to the games was a little more literal: This is the first year for women's boxing....
[more inside]
posted by Diablevert
on Jul 24, 2012 -
66 comments
On Friday, Baron
Sebastian Coe, the conservative politician, former athlete, and Nike board member who
is chair of LOCOG (the London Organizing Committee) for the 2012 games,
ignited a furor
when he said anyone wearing a Pepsi T-shirt is likely to be "booted out" because it would
upset Coca-Cola, who is an official sponsor.
[more inside]
posted by CheeseDigestsAll
on Jul 21, 2012 -
79 comments
"Everyone knows there’s a catastrophe unfolding, that few can afford to live in their own city. It was not always so." - China Miéville on
Apocalyptic London
posted by timshel
on Mar 1, 2012 -
58 comments