The London 2012 Olympic Torch was lit today using a mirror and the sun’s rays in a ceremony in Greece.
Held aloft by Greek actress Ino Menegaki, who was playing a high priestess in the opening ceremony, the flame was transferred to the first torchbearer and will travel to Britain on Friday May 18, where a 70-day relay around the UK will commence.
By the time the torch reaches its final destination in the Olympic Stadium on July 27, 2012, it will have covered 8,000 miles and have been carried by 8,000 different torch bearers, many of whom were nominated by their families and friends for their contributions to their various communities.
The Greek ceremony took place in the Temple of Hera ruins, by the ancient Olympic Games stadium where the flame was initially lit before being transferred to a Greek torch which lit the British torch. The British torch was then carried by Liverpool-born Greek world champion 10km swimmer Spyros Gianniotis, the first athlete to carry the torch in its week-long journey around Greece.
BBC correspondent James Pearce reported that the flame briefly went out before the transfer could take place, a worrying moment for those who are superstitious as the flame is meant to symbolise strength and purity.
In the myths of ancient Greece, fire was believed to be a divine element, stolen from the Gods. It seems strangely fitting that the flame should burn out. With millions spent on the Games in the midst of a global recession and a worldwide lack of perspective regarding the importance of sports, perhaps the Gods really are angry at the expense and hero worship we bestow on our athletes?
Or perhaps there was a coincidental gust of wind.
Regardless, the torch will make its way to the UK on May 18, proudly carried by members of the public entrusted with ensuring its eventual arrival in London.
Let the games begin!
Elle Brunton March 16, 2012
Police put the cuffs on Clooney
Image via Wikipedia
If you are on Twitter right now – and as it’s ‘Follow Friday’ you probably are, you will have noticed that George Clooney has been arrested for ‘civil disobedience’ whilst taking part in a demonstration outsideSudan’s embassy in Washington DC. (BBC.co.uk)
The actor, his father Nick, and other notaries including Martin Luther King III, son of the civil rights leader; Massachusetts Democratic Congressman Jim McGovern; Virginia Democratic Congressman Jim Moran; and National Association for the Advancement of Colored People President Ben Jealous were part of a protest to raise awareness of a ‘humanitarian crisis’ in the border between Sudan and South Sudan.
The arrests came just one day after Clooney met with President Barack Obama at the White House to discuss the Sudan situation.
Speaking to the BBC, Secret Service spokesman George Oglivie said: “George Clooney was arrested for crossing a police line at the Sudan embassy and he’ll be transported to the Metropolitan police department second district.”
Clooney has long been a political animal and is one of a growing number of film stars who use their position in the public eye to draw attention to causes they are passionate about.
Sudan is particularly close to the actor’s heart and he has visited the region on a number of occasions. On his last secret visit to Sudan, Clooney travelled to the Nuba Mountains in Sudan, where his group witnessed a rocket attack.
Clooney compared the current political climate inSudanto the violence inDarfur, calling the situations “ominously similar”.
The arrests reportedly came after Clooney and fellow activists ignored repeated warnings to clear the scene.
While the idea of Clooney in handcuffs may raise the pulses of millions of suburban housewives all over the world, the nature of his arrest has unequivocally drawn worldwide attention to the situation he is trying to warn of.
The media spotlight is on Clooney’s arrest and those with a responsibility to do so are trying to shed light on the Sudan situation, but there is always a danger that the star outshines the story.
Already Twitter jokes about some of the films Clooney should have been arrested for – from comedians and fans alike – are replacing the serious posts regarding the protest and some of the message is being lost.
Twitter is a fantastic way to spread a message, but beware it becomes Chinese whispers – the meaning changes and the original message can get lost.
Hopefully we’ll all remember why Clooney was willing to get arrested and take head of his warnings, in the meantime, for better or worse, Clooney has become the poster boy for political protests – expect unofficial merchandise baring ‘I got cuffed with Clooney’ slogans very soon.
Trainspotting director Danny Boyle has unveiled his vision for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics today.
The theme will be ‘Isles of Wonder’ and will reflect ‘the dark side of the industrial legacy of a land and the land’s recovery’. (bbc.co.uk/news)
Oh good, because some people might have thought that a ceremony envisioned by the Trainspotting director might be a tad depressing.
Indeed comedian Jack Whitehall recently joked that Boyle’s idea of an opening ceremony would feature a ‘some drug taking, a bit of dancing and then a bloke cutting his own arm off’.
But Boyle said: “We’ll be celebrating the whole of the country… there are so many ‘Isles of Wonder.”
Boyle is said to be bringing in performers from all over the country, school-children and nurses, because the NHS is “unique about us… along with our sense of humour”.
The largest ‘ringing-in’ bell in Europe has also reportedly been commissioned to sound the opening of the games. The bell will be engraved with a quote from Shakespeare’s The Tempest: “Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises”. Cheery.
Generally we British are not wonderful at making a spectacle of ourselves – we’re too restrained, too self-conscious and too busy queuing for tickets…
But Boyle’s Oscar-winningSlum Dog Millionaire proved he can create a lush visual feast, as well as the apocalyptic drug-induced bleakness present in Trainspotting, and a high standard of entertainment is expected.
Boyle is working alongside creative director Stephen Daldry and has been given a third of the £81m budget reserved for the four ceremonies. This is far less than Chinese film director Zhang Yimou who had £65m for the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Games.
Referring to Yimou and those who preceded him, Boyle said: “You stand on the shoulders of giants who are your predecessors.
“Not just Beijing, which was extraordinarily eye-wateringly spectacular, and expensive… but you’ve also got Athens, which was incredibly beautiful, so beautiful. And also Sydney before that which was a wonderful ‘people’s games’, as it became known as.
“So you stand on their shoulders and you hope to inherit some of their best features, but also to put your own unique spin on it.”
The four opening ceremonies of the Olympics are expected to be watched by four billion people and generate an estimated £5bn in airtime exposure.
Elle Brunton December 12, 2011
Show Sepp the Red Card?
The current Fifa President Sepp Blatter is a controversial figure at the best of times, but last month made possibly his biggest error of judgement when he claimed that there was ‘no racism in football’.
This view did nothing to endear him to the public or the government, with the latter backing a move to sack him. And his timing couldn’t have been worse asLiverpoolstar Luis Suarez was charged with racist abuse against Manchester United’s Patrice Evra on the same day.
Some hasty backtracking from Blatter later produced the following statement: “I would like to make it very clear; I am committed to the fight against racism and any type of discrimination in football and in society.
“I have been personally leading this battle against racism in football, which Fifa has been fighting through campaigns such as Say No to Racism.”
He added: “My comments have been misunderstood. What I wanted to express is that, as football players, during a match, you have battles with your opponents and sometimes things are done which are wrong.
“But, normally, at the end of the match, you apologise to your opponent if you had a confrontation during the match, you shake hands, and when the game is over, it is over.”
Which to the casual observer (or a cynical journalist) seems to mean: ‘I stand by what I said but now I have to be seen to offer some sort of explanation/justification’, no matter how weak.
Yet Sepp remains Fifa president, at least for the time being.
Blatter is notorious for offending people through his seemingly ignorant comments, from suggesting female footballers wear tighter shorts to increase the profile of the game to telling gay supporters who will be traveling to the 2020 World Cup in Quatar where homosexuality is illegal to simply “refrain from sexual activity”.
But to state that there is no racism in football is reckless and callous, and to do so while Luis Suarez, and John Terry, stars of the game at high profile clubs, are being investigated for the very thing that ‘doesn’t exist’ should have made his position untenable.
In my previous incarnation as a sports journalist I was involved with the ‘Kick Racism out of Football’ and ‘Show Racism the Red Card’ campaigns for a number of years and find the President of Fifa dismissing what continues to be a real battle against discrimination rather offensive.
One of the main messages of these campaigns is education but it seems that perhaps more work needs to be done to educate those at the top of the industry.
I’m due to go on a tour around the Fifa headquarters in Zurich, on Friday, as part of a tournament with Middlesbrough Futsal Club. My mum suggested we all wear ‘Show racism the Red Card’ t-shirts in case Sepp is hanging around his office, but I doubt he would get the message.
Elle Brunton October 19, 2011
Cool Blue shortlisted for The Chartered Institute of Public Relations North East PRide awards 2011
It’s been a busy year here at Cool Blue towers. We’ve worked on consumer and B2B campaigns regionally and nationally, designed some innovative and stylish websites, conjured up a myriad of original and, some might say, slightly wacky ideas and continued our not-for-profit work with the launch of the Middlesbrough and Teesside Philanthropic Foundation.
And that’s just a tiny sample of what we’ve been up to! We’ve had a great time but have barely stood still long enough to take it all in.
We were thrilled, therefore, to discover we’d been shortlisted for a whole host of The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) North East PRide awards 2011. With our web work, design, community relations and public sector prowess all being recognised, we feel it’s been a real team effort.
It’s the second year running that we’ve set a UK record number of shortlistings in these awards and to do that once is fantastic but to do it twice is beyond our wildest imaginings.
We are pleased as punch to be doing such a good job for our clients and representing the North East while we’re at it. So not to sound too smug, but well done to all here at Cool Blue!
The winners will be announced at a black tie event at the Hilton Newcastle Gateshead hotel on Friday November 18, 2011, where we will be dressed in our best and nervously awaiting the results, wish us luck!
