No matter how hard he apparently tries to wipe himself from the face of the Earth, Charlie Sheen simply won't go the fuck away. Whether it's weekend-long cocaine benders or drinking more booze in a day that most Irish villages consume in a decade, Charlie Sheen just won't get his drunk ass out of the spotlight.
Of course it all sort of came to a head last week when he called out his show's (Two and a Half Men) creator/producer Chuck Lorre as taking advantage of him. Of course that wasn't enough for the likely crazy and/or coked-up Sheen -- he went on to reveal Chuck Lorre's Hebrew name (in a rather ethnic-clurry kind of way) as Chaim Levine. The jury's still out on whether or not that part's even true but he ventured down the Mel Gibson Expressway with a borderline ethnic slur. And so what if Lorre changed his name for showbiz purposes -- Charlie Sheen's real name is actually Carlos Estevez. But crazy druggie Charlie Sheen wasn't done yet, he of course had to drag Warner Brother TV Studio into this. They were responsible for shutting down production of Two and a Half Men last week but Sheen accused them of profiting wildly from the immensely successful show which Sheen stars in.
Outside of the obvious reasoning that businesses exist to profit wildly from their employees, this isn't really news. Sheen receives in excess of $1.25 million per episode of Two and a Half Men so unless he spending that much on cocaine 24 times each year (that would be ALOT of blow) he is rather handsomely rewarded for his twenty-two minutes of acting each week for approximately half of the year.
But why is this news? Why does it effect me?
It's the ever-present, mind-numbing analysis of nearly every step of those who entertain the masses. It's supposedly news because we like a good trainwreck. It's a twisted way to think of things but plenty of people love to see someone famous self-destruct. Sure, the Dr. Phils of the world are standing by, eager to help the oh-so-troubled stars and starlets because they are so fucking important to the world as a whole. Here's a newsflash -- THEY AREN'T IMPORTANT AT ALL. How many big name stars made a huge impact on our TV-centered culture in the past five decades and just as quickly as they became popular, they faded into obscurity?
Even more important is why do I care? I care because, like so many others, I like to see the undeservingly privileged destroy themselves. Sheen, who seems to live out a sort of autobiography as a sex and booze addicted slacker in coastal southern California on Two and a Half Men, has this coming to him. I'd like nothing more that for his show to fall off the radar. He frolicks around with prostitutes and porn stars yet claims to love his family. He has beaten his wife and girlfriends in the past yet claims to be a family man who loves and provides for them. He is the worst type of hypocrite and while the supporting cast and crew of his CBS sitcom don't deserve the unemployment line, this needs to be the end of Charlie Sheen because the mere mention of his name both infurates and intensely interests me. I hate him because he's not acting, he's just being himself but I love seeing his death spiral.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Olympic Boxing hopefully faces drug charges
At Spyns we have put together 5, 7, and 10 day Olympic tours running though out the games (27th July 2012, to the 12th August 2012) If you would like more information on our luxury adventures which included dinner at Gordon Ramsay’s restaurant, royal evening tours of Buckingham Palace and VIP access into London’s most famous attractions, check out our website www.london-olympiad.com or email me at henry@london-olympiad.com.
Anthony Joshua, Britain's leading super-heavyweight prospect for the 2012 Olympics, has been suspended by the British Amateur Boxing Association after being charged with a drugs offence. The 21-year-old, who is the current Great Britain champion and a member of the BABA's development squad, will appear in court in London next week accused of possession of an illegal substance with intent to supply.
A spokesperson for the British Amateur Boxing Association said: "We have been made aware of an incident involving a member of the GB Boxing Development squad. As part of our Athlete Disciplinary Process we are conducting an investigation into this matter and, given the nature of the charge, have suspended the person involved pending the outcome of that process."
Joshua is considered a good if untested prospect by the BABA performance director, Rob McCracken. Other contenders at the weight include Frazer Clarke of Burton and the former podium squad member Amin Isa.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.
Saturday, February 26, 2011
London 2012 Olympics: Games ceremony will be anything but a horror show with Frankenstein director in charge
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| Golden moment: Oscar winner Danny Boyle is the artistic director for the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony |
Spyns clients that are coming on our tours are very excited about the opening ceremony. With each Olympics the host country trying to out-do the pervious host, in this case London wants to beat the magnificent show of color and culture Beijing put on in 2008. Created by Oscar winner Danny Boyle (Slumdog millionaire) the Opening Ceremony starts at 17:30 on July 27, 2012. If you would like to come along with Spyns on a luxuary tour that you will never forget, email me at henry@london-olympiad.com for details of our 4,5,7,and 10 day tour packages.
It’s getting closer all right, the anticipation is ratcheting up daily. This week, the velodrome in the Olympic Park was unveiled to the press.
Ahead of time, under budget, neatly undermining all those cynical instincts we reached for when anticipating how the country would humiliate itself in the preparation for hosting Olympic Games, the scale and beauty of the place left those who attended catching their breath.
The 250-metre piste consists of 54km of Siberian pine shipped in from Archangel, shaped at a German sawmill and affixed into position by 360,000 nails hammered by a team of a dozen carpenters working non-stop: just to repeat the details of its construction is to swoon. No wonder those who will actually ride there are counting down the days.
Yet, oddly, the piece of news this week which most whet the appetite about what lies ahead came not from Stratford but from a place not readily associated with sport.
The new stage version of Frankenstein opened at the National Theatre to ecstatic reviews. It features an intriguing casting trick: one night Benedict Cumberbatch plays Frankenstein while Jonny Lee Miller tackles the good doctor’s monstrous creation; the next they swap parts.
What a brilliant idea, the critics all agreed. And what a show it is. One we have come to expect of the director Danny Boyle.
With one of his movies, 127 Hours – the follow-up to the award-laden Slumdog Millionaire – in the running for Best Picture at Sunday night’s Oscars, Boyle is absolutely at the peak of his powers. Right now, he can do no wrong.
And the good news is, it is he to whom the organisers of London 2012 have entrusted the single most significant role of the whole caboodle: he is to direct the opening ceremony.
Never mind Mark Cavendish, riding off in the road race, the first event of the London programme. Never mind Jessica Ennis, hoping to sparkle as much on the track as she does on the cat walk.
Never mind Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins and Victoria Pendleton, expected to dominate the new velodrome as they did the one in Beijing. There is no doubt it is Boyle who is under the most pressure to deliver a result.
So far the director has wisely kept his counsel about his intentions – if he has yet formulated any. And a glance at his output gives little clue as to what we might anticipate.
There is nothing within his movies that qualifies as typically Danny Boyle. Some involve musical set pieces. Others don’t feature a note. Some have vibrant crowd scenes. Others are claustrophobic solo tours de force.
Some are thrillers, some funny, some supernatural, some futuristic: this is a director, it seems, who can turn his hand with equal facility to any genre.
That said, there is plenty in his movies which he would rather not reprise at the ceremony lest it be seen as unhappy comment on the London Games.
The desperate search for a bit of decent weather, perhaps, that was explored in Sunshine. Or the length of time those wishing to apply for tickets are obliged to engage with the official website (127 Hours).
Not to mention, through the gloriously revolting lavatorial set pieces in both Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire, the quality of the public facilities.
As he has no doubt discovered in his preliminary discussions with the organisers, Boyle will have neither the budget nor the scale of cast that made the Beijing opening such a jaw-dropping spectacle.
With a cast of 15,000, the first number alone there featured 2008 soldiers hammering away at drums. He knows he will not be able to call on such manpower. Not least because after the latest round of defence cuts they aren’t that number of troops left in Britain.
To reflect austere times, the director will instead have to rely on his own ingenuity. Plus, for the pyrotechnics, a couple of roman candles and a sparkler left over from Bonfire Night.
Working out what he might include, it is probably easier to list what we would rather he ignored. Please let’s not have any chirpy dancing pearly kings. No beefeaters, either, or bowler hats or London bobbies.
After the debacle that was the British contribution to the Beijing closing ceremony, let’s hope Boyle avoids exploding London buses, tone-deaf X Factor winners and superannuated hard rockers.
Plus, it would be good to keep the gymnastic tableaux symbolising hope, tolerance and the grand communion of the human spirit to a minimum.
Indeed, the more you think about it, the more you realise that Boyle would be best sticking to the one area of spectacle at which the country has long excelled.
Build a stage at one end, turn the Olympic Stadium into a mini Glastonbury and feature our finest bands playing their way through their greatest hits. If nothing else, after half an hour of listening to Radiohead, the crowd will be so depressed they will do anything to cheer themselves up.
Well, it’s one way to sell those tickets for the synchronised swimming they haven’t managed to offload on Azerbaijani competition winners.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.
Friday, February 25, 2011
London 2012 Olympics: World-class athletes given little chance to test main stadium as university event get thumbs up
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| Taking shape: Olympic Stadium's main test event will be The British Universities and Colleges Sport Championships in May next year |
Spyns is based in Whistler, Canada and France but you get used to traveling around the world to the events that we follow, Tour de France www.tdf-tours.com, Pamplona Running of the Bull www.pamplona-spain.com, New York new years eve www.newyork-times-square.com, to name a few. If we are not permanently based on the ground there we always go there months/years in advance to make sure everything is in place for our client’s arrival. It’s all about perfect preparation for the perfect tour.
Now all the Olympic Athletes have been training for years but no one will get to prepare in the Olympic venues as the Olympic Committee has decided to trail it with a Universities and Colleges Sport Championships in May next year. This willbe the only official test event at the Olympic Stadium.
If you would like to join Spyns on a luxury Olympic adventure, check out our website www.london-olympiad.com or email me at henry@london-olympiad.com.
World-class athletes will have minimal access to the main stadium in a competitive environment after Olympics organizers chose to 'test’ the technology and stadium capabilities with the school’s lower-key mass event, rather than host a grand prix or special invitational track meet.
Lord Coe, the chairman of the London organising committee, previously told The Daily Telegraph this would not be detrimental to elite athlete performance and instead create a “special” environment for when the Olympics were held.
But leading British and international athletes will be given specific training opportunities to get used to the track.
The British swimming championships on March 3-10, 2012, will be the test event for the aquatics centre, and will also double as selection trials for the Games, while the beach volleyball international will provide the trial run at a specially constructed Horse Guards Parade venue on Aug 13, 2011.
Some sports, such as gymnastics on Jan 10-18, will have their test events as Olympic qualifiers. Others, such as cycling on Feb 17-19, will host World Cup events which form part of the Olympic qualification process.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Inside the London 2012 velodrome
Spyns started as a small company offering luxury cycling tours for the Tour de France. As time has passed and happy clients have returned, the company has expanded but still kept that small friendly feel. Now that we offer Olympic tours we will have a few cycling clients coming with us to London and checking out the new built velodrome, and the 250km Men and 140km Road Race. We will have VIP refreshment tents set up along the route for our clients only. If you would like to join us for a glass of champagne as the leader passes, check out our website and chat to Ryan about our tour option. www.london-olympiad.com
Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton led a host of Great Britain's track stars, fresh from the Manchester World Cup, for a spin on the boards after the London 2012 velodrome was officially unveiled.
The 6,000-seater velodrome is the first Olympic Park venue to be completed, 23 months after construction began in March 2009.
Hoy, who struck gold three times at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, had a hand in the velodrome's design and was joined by Pendleton, Jason Kenny, Ross Edgar, Shanaze Reade, Pete Mitchell, Jess Varnish, Dave Daniell, Matt Crampton and Becky James on the track.
Racing will begin on August 2, 2012 before climaxing six days later on August 7. Tickets will cost between £20 and £325 and go on sale next month.
"Having been involved in a very small way in the design process in the early stages it is amazing to see the velodrome finally completed," he said.
"And to be able to have ridden on it gives me a feel for what it's going to be like in a year and a half's time. I can't wait."
London 2012 chairman Lord Sebastian Coe added: "This is a stunning venue built for champions, and designed for legacy. The ODA has done a terrific job. Over the next 18 months Locog will be testing the venue and installing the temporary facilities needed for an Olympic and Paralympic competition velodrome.
"The British cycling teams provided many of The team GB superstars in recent Games' and I am proud to see them on the track for the first time."
Read more: http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/event-news/photo-gallery-inside-the-london-2012-velodrome/6291.html#ixzz1EsDAtxsK
"The British cycling teams provided many of The team GB superstars in recent Games' and I am proud to see them on the track for the first time."
Read more: http://www.roadcyclinguk.com/event-news/photo-gallery-inside-the-london-2012-velodrome/6291.html#ixzz1EsDAtxsK
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
England Finds 2012 Olympics Don’t Spur Exercise
At Spyns we are pretty active, you really need to know how to more when running with the bulls in Pamplona www.pamplona-spain.com. We also run tours for Tour de France www.tdf-tours.com so enjoy all sports. If you would like to be another one of our happy clients, we invite you to come with us to London in 2012 and experience what it is like to be given the Spyns experience.
When London was awarded the 2012 Olympics, organizers promised an ambitious legacy: to get two million more people in England involved in sports and physical activity.
But with the Games in less than 18 months, that commitment now resembles a wheezing jogger, bent over and winded from a New Year’s resolution whose ambition could not be matched by exertion.
London’s original pledge evolved into a plan to get one million more people around England playing sports three or more times a week for at least 30 minutes at a time, known as the 3x30 plan. Even that target is proving elusive.
Figures issued in December by Sport England, the governing body for community sports, indicated that participation at the 3x30 level had increased by 123,000 since 2007-8, when the one million baseline was established. But that number increased by only 8,000 in the last year. At the current rate, the goal of one million new participants would not be reached in 2012-13 as hoped but more than a decade later in 2023-24.
Meanwhile, in a country that is among the fattest in Europe, the number of couch potatoes apparently continues to grow. Surveys by Sport England indicate that the number of adults doing zero moderate sports activity rose by nearly 300,000 from 2005, when London was awarded the Olympics, to the fall of 2010.
Inadequate planning, a change in government, severe funding cutbacks to sports organizations and an apparent overestimation of the impact the Olympics can have on mass participation have all forced a rethinking of England’s Olympic legacy.
The latest plan, unveiled in November by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government, omitted the one million target figure. It spoke instead of encouraging more people to take up sports through Places People Play, a program sponsored by the National Lottery.
“We haven’t yet dropped the target, but we’re looking at it fairly carefully,” Hugh Robertson, Britain’s minister for sport and the Olympics, said in a telephone interview.
What is needed is a more sensible way to define and measure sports and physical activity, Mr. Robertson and other sports experts said. Does walking to the bus stop count? If someone plays a pickup soccer match for 90 minutes, does that count as one sporting session or three?
Anecdotal evidence suggests that more people participate in sports than surveys reveal, Mr. Robertson said. But, he added, measuring participation involves a “slightly clunky mechanism.”
All Olympic bids are required to show how the Games will provide lasting benefits. Each city is allowed to devise a legacy plan. There are no specific penalties for failing to reach a target, but the fallout can undermine the reputation of a particular Winter or Summer Games and bring political opprobrium.
Some critics have accused Mr. Robertson of watering down London’s post-Olympic ambitions. He replied, “That’s emphatically what we’re not trying to do.”
Darryl Seibel, a spokesman for the British Olympic Association, said sports and government officials were determined to leave a meaningful legacy from the London Games and to transform plans “from rhetoric to reality.”
London is hardly the first host city to struggle with its Olympic legacy. In truth, international events like the Olympics and soccer’s World Cup leave a greater discernible impact on infrastructure than on sports. Roads, airports and rail systems are improved while a number of stadiums become white elephants and lingering sporting benefits remain indistinct.
Six years after Albertville, France, hosted the 1992 Winter Olympics, the figure-skating arena and speed-skating oval there were fenced off and abandoned. The magnificent Olympic stadium showcased during the 2008 Beijing Games, known as the Bird’s Nest, was seldom being used a year and a half later.
In London, there has been heated debate about whether its $854 million Olympic Stadium should be demolished after 17 days’ use and replaced with a soccer stadium or downsized and left as an arena that could host both soccer and track and field. The second option prevailed Friday in a vote by the company in charge of the Games’ legacy.
Research on the Olympic Games stimulating mass participation in sports has not produced encouraging results. In 2007, the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the British House of Commons concluded that “no host country has yet been able to demonstrate a direct benefit from the Olympic Games in the form of a lasting increase in participation.”
A study of the 2000 Sydney Games showed that while seven Olympic sports experienced a slight increase afterward in Australia, nine showed a decline.
After the 2002 Commonwealth Games, held in Manchester, England, “there appears to have been no recorded impact on sports participation levels” in the country’s northwest, Fred Coalter, a professor of sports studies at the University of Stirling in Scotland, wrote before London won the 2012 Olympic bid.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Will there be global mobile coverage in London 2012
http://www.london-olympiad.com/
At Spyns we know our clients are busy people and usually like to keep a finger on the pulse at home while on vacation. That’s why we take care of all the necessary arrangements, that way you can keep an eye on their affairs at home, and still get the most out of your adventure with us. Having mobile coverage all over London will definitely help everyone stay in touch. If you would like more information on our luxury 5, 7, and 10 days tours then check out our website www.london-olympiad.com or email me at henry@london-olympiad.com
London Underground, colloquially known as the ‘Tube’, may roll out mobile coverage across the network ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
The rollout is currently under bid by Chinese telecoms manufacturer Huawei, which would allow hundreds of thousands of Londoners and tourists each day to work while commuting to work.
Mobile access has been difficult, if not impossible on the vast majority of the network in central London. Only certain mainline railway stations and Underground stations are equipped with Wi-Fi and cell repeaters, such as Charing Cross and St. Pancras.
Oddly enough, nearly 60% of the London Underground network is in fact over ground which has good cell coverage. But for those hundreds of feet under the surface of London who commute around the city center each day, teleworking is impossible.
But mobile network access on the Tube has gone without controversy.
After the Kings Cross fire in 1987, an inquiry headed by Desmond Fennel QC led to recommendations in radio communications on the Underground. Though nearly twenty years after the disaster, now police and emergency service radios now work underground.
Had these changes been implemented sooner, it could have assisted the recovery in casualties during the London suicide bombing in 2005, where 52 people were killed.
Conversely, some are concerned that the ability to communicate through cell networks on the Underground could assist bombers who could remotely detonate explosives on trains, as seen in 2005.
As a frequent commuter on the Underground, along with hundreds of thousands of students who study at over a hundred universities in London, the benefits would outweigh the perceived negatives.
Similarly during the time I spent in New York City last year, I recall looking at my BlackBerry, clear as day as I sat next to Mary Jo Foley on the subway traveling south towards towards Wall Street. I turned to her and said, “Ooh, I can get mobile signal” in a moment of delight.
Perhaps we weren’t that deep underground after all. Nevertheless, I saw this as New York taking care of its telecommuters. How wrong I was.
Though there is no direct cell provision installed on the network, the city authorities are also hoping to bring mobile signal to the entire subway system. Costing $200 million and starting three years behind schedule, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority called the subway “an information black hole”.
Considering what the Tube is like first thing in the morning, it should probably come as no surprise that the most popular reason for wanting mobile signal on the Underground was to “let people know when I’m running late”, according to recent research.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.
London Underground, colloquially known as the ‘Tube’, may roll out mobile coverage across the network ahead of the 2012 Olympics.
The rollout is currently under bid by Chinese telecoms manufacturer Huawei, which would allow hundreds of thousands of Londoners and tourists each day to work while commuting to work.
Mobile access has been difficult, if not impossible on the vast majority of the network in central London. Only certain mainline railway stations and Underground stations are equipped with Wi-Fi and cell repeaters, such as Charing Cross and St. Pancras.
Oddly enough, nearly 60% of the London Underground network is in fact over ground which has good cell coverage. But for those hundreds of feet under the surface of London who commute around the city center each day, teleworking is impossible.
But mobile network access on the Tube has gone without controversy.
After the Kings Cross fire in 1987, an inquiry headed by Desmond Fennel QC led to recommendations in radio communications on the Underground. Though nearly twenty years after the disaster, now police and emergency service radios now work underground.
Had these changes been implemented sooner, it could have assisted the recovery in casualties during the London suicide bombing in 2005, where 52 people were killed.
Conversely, some are concerned that the ability to communicate through cell networks on the Underground could assist bombers who could remotely detonate explosives on trains, as seen in 2005.
As a frequent commuter on the Underground, along with hundreds of thousands of students who study at over a hundred universities in London, the benefits would outweigh the perceived negatives.
Similarly during the time I spent in New York City last year, I recall looking at my BlackBerry, clear as day as I sat next to Mary Jo Foley on the subway traveling south towards towards Wall Street. I turned to her and said, “Ooh, I can get mobile signal” in a moment of delight.
Perhaps we weren’t that deep underground after all. Nevertheless, I saw this as New York taking care of its telecommuters. How wrong I was.
Though there is no direct cell provision installed on the network, the city authorities are also hoping to bring mobile signal to the entire subway system. Costing $200 million and starting three years behind schedule, the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority called the subway “an information black hole”.
Considering what the Tube is like first thing in the morning, it should probably come as no surprise that the most popular reason for wanting mobile signal on the Underground was to “let people know when I’m running late”, according to recent research.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.
Monday, February 21, 2011
Just another Minnesota snowstorm
When I crawled out of bed early Sunday morning, I was surprised. Why? I was surprised that it wasn't already snowing. The weather terrorists down by the Iowa border (I was playing poker with some friends on Saturday) were in high gear pimping out the tragic details (ice, loss of electricity, 30 foot drifts, flying cows, etc.) of the impending snowstorm poised to barrel into the area around midnight.
Imagine my surprise then on Sunday morning when I peered out from the second floor of my grand estate to see not a single flake. I quickly blurted out that this was another miss from the weather terrorists. As I've said all winter, I'll believe it when I'm shoveling it.
I went about my day but soon I was proven wrong as the snow began falling. By late afternoon I ventured outside and began shoveling the entire length of the driveway. 45 minutes later it was somewhat clear but I knew, based on how fast the snow was falling, that I'd be revisiting this hellish driveway once again. After all, the city had only plowed my driveway shut once, they had at least two more times in them if not more.
Again around 8 PM I donned my snow gear and made a second, less complete effort at clearing the snow. Feeling like I was made of cooked spaghetti, I wasn't really feeling it. My heart wasn't in it and I just wanted to magically wish the snow away but after that failed I returned to my trusty shovel. This time there was a mere 4 or 5 inches as opposed to the 10 inches I encountered a few hours earlier. In a half-assed attempt, I made two semi-clear tracks through the snow, heaved the snowplow-induced drift out of the end of the driveway and in less than 30 minutes I was back inside to shed yet another pair of snow-encrusted jeans and finally relax. I knew that morning would test me yet again and I had no desire to even ponder what magical moments would await me come sunrise.
But after I popped my contact lenses in I noticed that it had virtually stopped snowing overnight. Had we really escaped with a mere 15 or so inches of new snow? I quickly backed my car from the garage and eventually made it to the grand highway.
That's where it became apparent to me that MNDOT was treating today (Presidents Day) as a holiday. As the majority of the country got to stay home, I still had to venture into the office. U.S. Highway 169 presented itself more as a rutted 1890s country road than a four-lane expressway. The loose snow was cleared, thankfully, but the ruts from the hard packed snow made my car handle like I was driving through a rock-filled ditch or the worst stretches of the Oregon Trail. My teeth clanked on each other and various items in and on my car rattled relentlessly. This was like some poorly thought out amusement park ride (maybe Toothchipper: The Experience!) but based on the number of cars I encountered it was still obviously a highway.
Whatever the case, I still arrived but I know too that MNDOT will have that same highway in pristine condition because that's just how it is here in Minnesota. It snows a foot and a half and 18 hours later the roads are mostly driveable and life returns to normal. So next time it snows 18 inches in some exotic locale like Indianapolis or Oklahome City just remember that it is not news. It happens and we move on.
Imagine my surprise then on Sunday morning when I peered out from the second floor of my grand estate to see not a single flake. I quickly blurted out that this was another miss from the weather terrorists. As I've said all winter, I'll believe it when I'm shoveling it.
I went about my day but soon I was proven wrong as the snow began falling. By late afternoon I ventured outside and began shoveling the entire length of the driveway. 45 minutes later it was somewhat clear but I knew, based on how fast the snow was falling, that I'd be revisiting this hellish driveway once again. After all, the city had only plowed my driveway shut once, they had at least two more times in them if not more.
Again around 8 PM I donned my snow gear and made a second, less complete effort at clearing the snow. Feeling like I was made of cooked spaghetti, I wasn't really feeling it. My heart wasn't in it and I just wanted to magically wish the snow away but after that failed I returned to my trusty shovel. This time there was a mere 4 or 5 inches as opposed to the 10 inches I encountered a few hours earlier. In a half-assed attempt, I made two semi-clear tracks through the snow, heaved the snowplow-induced drift out of the end of the driveway and in less than 30 minutes I was back inside to shed yet another pair of snow-encrusted jeans and finally relax. I knew that morning would test me yet again and I had no desire to even ponder what magical moments would await me come sunrise.
But after I popped my contact lenses in I noticed that it had virtually stopped snowing overnight. Had we really escaped with a mere 15 or so inches of new snow? I quickly backed my car from the garage and eventually made it to the grand highway.
That's where it became apparent to me that MNDOT was treating today (Presidents Day) as a holiday. As the majority of the country got to stay home, I still had to venture into the office. U.S. Highway 169 presented itself more as a rutted 1890s country road than a four-lane expressway. The loose snow was cleared, thankfully, but the ruts from the hard packed snow made my car handle like I was driving through a rock-filled ditch or the worst stretches of the Oregon Trail. My teeth clanked on each other and various items in and on my car rattled relentlessly. This was like some poorly thought out amusement park ride (maybe Toothchipper: The Experience!) but based on the number of cars I encountered it was still obviously a highway.
Whatever the case, I still arrived but I know too that MNDOT will have that same highway in pristine condition because that's just how it is here in Minnesota. It snows a foot and a half and 18 hours later the roads are mostly driveable and life returns to normal. So next time it snows 18 inches in some exotic locale like Indianapolis or Oklahome City just remember that it is not news. It happens and we move on.
London 2012 Olympics: why you should buy tickets for swimming's morning sessions
At Spyns we have small intimate tours that will cover the whole swimming schedule, for the opening ceremony on the 27th July until the last day of swimming on the 4th August. And if you want to stick around to the closing ceremony on the 12th August, we are more than happy to have you. Hotels, tickets, and London attractions will all be included in our tickets. Get in contact with me at henry@london-olympiad.com for information on our Gold, Silver, and Bronze tour options, or have a look at our website http://www.london-olympiad.com/
Mulling over Olympic tickets and the 2012 schedule already, in particular the swimming events? Wondering if morning heats and sessions are worth the money in the likelihood that the finals are going to be over subscribed?
You may look at the schedule and see five session events in the space of an hour and think is it worth it. The swimmers will race and be gone in a flash. Not so. Go. You won’t regret it.
You’ll be watching athletes who’ve toiled for the last four years just to get to the Aquatics Centre. Of course, some like Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte will breeze into the semi-final and finals of their events.
But for the rest, racing to get one of the eight lanes on offer will be their own Olympic final. You’ll witness their own personal dreams.
As Steve Parry, Britain’s former Olympian turned BBC pundit, says: “People are at their best on that one day every four years so it is a great chance to see them in action before the finals.
“There is an awful lot that goes on in the morning heats and it is just exciting to see a host of different nations.”
These sessions are still likely to be filled to the rafters with patriotic Britons and the swimming fraternity. There may even be a huge upset or two. The fact of the matter is that complacency comes at a price at the Olympics.
Parry, then aged 27 and the world No 5, thought he would do enough to qualify in the morning heats at the 2004 Games in Athens.
“I made the semi by 4/100ths of a second,” he recalls. “I thought I would easily make it through to the final but finished sixth in my heat and qualified last overall. I just had the afternoon to sort my head out.”
The Briton came back that night and qualified for the final from lane eight, edging out Phelps to qualify fastest. The final saw him return return home with bronze, the first British swimming medal since Graeme Smith, Parrry’s team-mate at Stockport Metro, took bronze in the 1500m freestyle at Atlanta in 1996.
Parry backs up the notion that there are relatively few duff swimming sessions at an Olympiad.
“There was only one event that was considered a non-event at the last Olympics and that was Rebecca Adlington in the 800m freestyle where she smashed the world record.”
And what of Parry’s event? There’s no question that Phelps will be overwhelming favourite for a third gold on day three of the meet (ticket code SW008).
“It is his best event and he won it at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics. He beat me in the event aged 15 which was outrageous so I fully expect him to win at 2012.”
British Swimming also realise there a number of high-profile athletes with decisions to make with the schedule now set in stone. Those include Hannah Miley, Fran Halsall and Rebecca Adlington, who is considering a four-pronged medal attack.
David Sparkes, British Swimming’s chief executive, says: “Just to make the final of the Olympic Games you have to be close to your very best. To make the final of the world championship is similar but not quite the same.
“There have been athletes over the years who have medal favourites who have subsequently slipped up in the morning. Cruising is not an option at the Games.”
Still need to mull over morning session tickets?
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. http://www.spyns.com/
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Argentina out of London Olympic Games
At Spyns we have 5, 7, and 10 day London 2012 adventure available. Our Gold tours include a 5 star hotel suite, dinner at Gordon Ramsay restaurant, and Champagne tour of the London Eye....... If you would like more information, check out www.spyns.com or www.london-olympiad.com
Argentina will not defend their men's Olympic football title in London next year after they were pipped to the two South American qualifying places by Brazil and Uruguay at the weekend.
Argentina will not defend their men's Olympic football title in London next year after they were pipped to the two South American qualifying places by Brazil and Uruguay at the weekend.
Brazil, who need the Olympic title to complete a full array of the major footballing prizes, won their third successive South American under-20 title in Peru with a 6-0 victory over Uruguay in their final match.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. http://www.spyns.com/
Saturday, February 19, 2011
New images depict how key London 2012 venues will look during Olympic Games
Spyns is excited to be releasing tour information shortly. We have a package of 5, 7, and 10 day tours starting from the opening ceremony through to the closing ceremony. All tours include handpicked Hotels in central London with easy access to Olympic Park, as well as added extras like London walking tours, luxury dining, river cruises....... If you would like to join in and be one of your many happy customers, have a get in contact with me through our websites www.spyns.com, and www.london-olympiad.com
London 2012 - along with Populous, Atkins and Drivers Jonas Deloitte - have issued new images showing what Lord's Cricket Ground for archery, the Lee Valley White Water Centre for canoe slalom and Greenwich Park for equestrian and modern pentathlon will look like during the Olympic Games.
The images aim to illustrate the work done to enable more than 120 world class temporary venues to be created for over 20,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and 10 million ticketed spectators to experience.
James Bulley, the London 2012 Director of Venues and Infrastructure, said: "The London 2012 Games will deliver what no other Games has before in terms of the complexity and scale of the event overlay and temporary structures needed.
"Alongside the absolute commitment to meet the Games requirements, central to our plans have been legacy, sustainability, accessibility and safety.
"Our vision for the London 2012 venues is the integration with London's historic and iconic landmarks alongside our existing world class stadiums and sporting arenas.
"Our combined overlay team are world class and will deliver the technical excellence required to make this a spectacular Games."
The London 2012 Games are unique for their innovative approach to the use of temporary and existing venues both on and off the Olympic Park.
From Horse Guard's Parade for beach volleyball to Wimbledon for tennis, London is being used as the stunning backdrop for events hosted in entirely temporary venues.
Working together to create these sites, and under the direction of London 2012, Populous, Atkins and Drivers Jonas Deloitte have developed all aspects of the venues from the look and feel, the user experience, the delivery of seating, accommodation and landscaping, as well as back of house requirements including power, water and lighting, together bringing an innovative approach to the delivery of London 2012.
Jeff Keas, Principal of Populous, said: "Sport is at the core of the overlay project, but more than that, we have focused on London as the backdrop.
"This means ensuring wherever we can that either the historic buildings at venues like Greenwich Park or Lord's, or the iconic London skyline, remain in sight for spectators whilst creating an intimate atmosphere for the athletes.
Steve Cardwell, Atkins Director and Design Manager, said: "The unique approach taken towards temporary venues for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has presented fantastic opportunities to think differently about the delivery of major sporting venues.
"As a result we have in essence had to go back to first principles, and are proud of the innovative, light touch, and sustainable solutions we have developed with our partners."
Stephen Jepson, Director in Drivers Jonas Deloitte's Sport team, added: "The venues we are project managing at Greenwich Park, Horse Guards Parade, the Mall and Hyde Park are entirely temporary and present an exciting challenge.
"We have spent a great deal of time understanding the site constraints and making sure the way in which each venue is delivered is done sensitively and ensures there is no long term impact.
"This gives us the confidence that it will be delivered - after all we can't change the delivery deadline."
In total, the overlay project for the London 2012 Olympics will include 250,000 temporary seats, 165,000 square metres of tents and 2,500 cabins.
A further 140 kilometres of fencing will be used while 250 kilometres of crowd barriers are set to be in place for the Games.
The images aim to illustrate the work done to enable more than 120 world class temporary venues to be created for over 20,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes and 10 million ticketed spectators to experience.
James Bulley, the London 2012 Director of Venues and Infrastructure, said: "The London 2012 Games will deliver what no other Games has before in terms of the complexity and scale of the event overlay and temporary structures needed.
"Alongside the absolute commitment to meet the Games requirements, central to our plans have been legacy, sustainability, accessibility and safety.
"Our vision for the London 2012 venues is the integration with London's historic and iconic landmarks alongside our existing world class stadiums and sporting arenas.
"Our combined overlay team are world class and will deliver the technical excellence required to make this a spectacular Games."
The London 2012 Games are unique for their innovative approach to the use of temporary and existing venues both on and off the Olympic Park.
From Horse Guard's Parade for beach volleyball to Wimbledon for tennis, London is being used as the stunning backdrop for events hosted in entirely temporary venues.
Working together to create these sites, and under the direction of London 2012, Populous, Atkins and Drivers Jonas Deloitte have developed all aspects of the venues from the look and feel, the user experience, the delivery of seating, accommodation and landscaping, as well as back of house requirements including power, water and lighting, together bringing an innovative approach to the delivery of London 2012.
Jeff Keas, Principal of Populous, said: "Sport is at the core of the overlay project, but more than that, we have focused on London as the backdrop.
"This means ensuring wherever we can that either the historic buildings at venues like Greenwich Park or Lord's, or the iconic London skyline, remain in sight for spectators whilst creating an intimate atmosphere for the athletes.
Steve Cardwell, Atkins Director and Design Manager, said: "The unique approach taken towards temporary venues for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games has presented fantastic opportunities to think differently about the delivery of major sporting venues.
"As a result we have in essence had to go back to first principles, and are proud of the innovative, light touch, and sustainable solutions we have developed with our partners."
Stephen Jepson, Director in Drivers Jonas Deloitte's Sport team, added: "The venues we are project managing at Greenwich Park, Horse Guards Parade, the Mall and Hyde Park are entirely temporary and present an exciting challenge.
"We have spent a great deal of time understanding the site constraints and making sure the way in which each venue is delivered is done sensitively and ensures there is no long term impact.
"This gives us the confidence that it will be delivered - after all we can't change the delivery deadline."
In total, the overlay project for the London 2012 Olympics will include 250,000 temporary seats, 165,000 square metres of tents and 2,500 cabins.
A further 140 kilometres of fencing will be used while 250 kilometres of crowd barriers are set to be in place for the Games.
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. http://www.spyns.com/
Friday, February 18, 2011
London 2012 to have strawberries and cream factor
Spyns has been in London finding the best hotel suites and restaurants for our 2012 Olympic clients. If you would like to have a stress free Olympic experience, get in contact with us via www.spyns.com or www.london-olympiad.com and let us take care of the rest. Who knows, you might find strawberries and cream in your hotel room, along with a bottle of champagne to celebrate a special occasion. It’s just part of the pleasure and surprise of travelling with Spyns.
LONDON — The London 2012 Olympics will have the feel of an English summer event, organisers said Thursday, bringing the strawberries and cream flavour and the open-air festival spirit to the Games.
The team designing the venues said the atmosphere of unmistakeably British classic sports events like the Wimbledon tennis championships and the Royal Ascot races had been ingrained into their designs.
They want to replicate the English summer culture, when people revel in the chance to enjoy warm weather, long evenings and an outdoor garden party.
The organising committee of the July 27-August 12 Games have also tried to show off the best of the city in their venue design, using the capital's iconic landmarks as a backdrop to competition sites outside the main Olympic Park in east London.
Venues and infrastructure director James Bulley told AFP that the Englishness factor would be a key part of forging a successful Games.
"If you look at some of our annual events running through the summer, whether it's Ascot, the Henley rowing regatta or Wimbledon, they all have a real Britishness about them," he said.
"We're trying to capture that in the designs, the feel and the look and the way in which we'll be able to enable our spectators to enjoy the experience.
"We'll enable that open-air, al fresco, picnicking feel for our spectators to really enjoy the space -- and watch the sport, of course."
The LOCOG designers looked at events such as the 1951 Festival of Britain, its delight in post-war innovation and the legacy of buildings it left for London.
They also studied the English love of parks and gardens, the street parties that break out for major national events, and the sheer fun of enjoying the precious summer months.
"This is the scene we want to set," said London 2012 venue designer John Barrow, a senior principal with architects Populous.
His team examined Sydney 2000 and Barcelona 1992 to see what made a successful Olympics.
"So when it came to London, the team said: 'What is quintessentially London, what is quintessentially English?' That's the sort of experience we're trying to drive through," he told AFP.
"It's actually a very simple model. It's park, garden, enjoyment, relaxation.
"All of those things speak to having a lot more fun in the Olympics," he said, otherwise "it won't have that fizz".
The designers have come up with several horseshoe-shaped venues to capitalise on views of London landmarks.
They include the beach volleyball arena in the historic Horse Guards Parade ground and the equestrian centre at Greenwich Park, which open up onto a view of the Royal Naval College and the Canary Wharf business district towers.
"We've chosen fantastic, superb locations in London, we want to showcase them," Bulley said.
"As the broadcast images go out around the world to our four billion viewers, they'll know this is very much a London Games."
Spyns is an active travel company based in Whistler, BC (Canada). For more information about Spyns and our package tours to the 2012 London Summer Olympic Games, including London Olympics hotels, London 2012 tickets, and summer games VIP access, please visit our websites http://www.london-olympiad.com/ http://www.london2012-tours.com/ and http://www.london-tours-2012.com/ or call us toll-free at 1.888.825.4720. www.spyns.com.
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