I went into the office after lunch, but as there wasn't much going on, I left early for home and got caught up in crowds gathering the welcome the arrival of the Olympic torch. I gave in to the occasion and positioned myself at the top of high street opposite the Castle, a little too early for comfort really, in bright sunshine. Preparations to cordon off an area for the torch procession through the city centre were thorough and long drawn out, since it was vital to keep some pedestrian thoroughfares and crossing points open until the last minute. It was quite an impressive feat of organisation. Well done Cardiff Council for that.
A brightly attired troupe of Carnival Samba dancers and drummers brought a good measure of local spirit to the streets, as did Wonderbrass, Cardiff's swinging jazz ensemble which does great things when playing out of doors. I'd got the Torch arrival time wrong, as there wasn't much public information to say when it was due to appear. In the hour beforehand, promotional teams of the three main Olympic sponsors - Coca Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung - worked like mad to mount advertising banners along barriers, and gave out free things to wave, so that the media record would show a sea of corporate commercial banners. To my mind this utterly despoils the Olympic ethos.
A brightly attired troupe of Carnival Samba dancers and drummers brought a good measure of local spirit to the streets, as did Wonderbrass, Cardiff's swinging jazz ensemble which does great things when playing out of doors. I'd got the Torch arrival time wrong, as there wasn't much public information to say when it was due to appear. In the hour beforehand, promotional teams of the three main Olympic sponsors - Coca Cola, Lloyds TSB and Samsung - worked like mad to mount advertising banners along barriers, and gave out free things to wave, so that the media record would show a sea of corporate commercial banners. To my mind this utterly despoils the Olympic ethos.
What annoyed me most that the distribution by the Samsung team of little flags with the Union Jack on one side and the Samsung Olympic sponsor's logo and colours on the other. Which is worse, to have your country's flag burned by hated adversaries, or defaced by a foreign owned global corporation? Will nobody be locked in the Tower of London for this betrayal of our national dignity? To make matters worse, the Samsung blue colour is nearly the same as that of the Tory party. Who let Olympic organisers get away with all this? The reality is every bit as absurd and degrading of our sovereign identity as the satirical TV comedy series based on LOCOG recently portrayed.
The corporate PR folk in their naff uniforms put much loud effort into warming up an already overheated crowd, making the wait seem even longer. Only on a big match day have I seen so many police officers in the city centre - dozens on foot where they belong, with the crowds, then amazingly in a vehicle procession, 3 riot squad vans, 3 patrol cars, 6 motor bikes, 4 expensive police bicycles, and 2 police horses. How much did that little show cost in fuel and police overtime? Money not being spent making the city centre a safer place to do business. Ironically the police got more of a cheer from the crowd than did the corporate PR drones.
When the torch arrived, it was preceded by a large vehicle sporting a rear end platform installation supporting half a dozen photographers. This stopped for a photo opportunity outside the Castle, blocking the view for hundreds of people in the vicinity, all straining to get a glimpse and take their own picture - as I was.
I heard a number of people curse in frustration, as their camera or phone batteries died at the vital moment. Such a long orchestrated wind up meant that people happily snapped away at unimportant stuff believing that the moment was nigh when it wasn't. Fortunately, the torch procession went down St Mary Street, crossed the Taff, then doubled back toward the Castle, crossing the Taff again to enter the Castle grounds and appear at a ticket only open air concert on Cooper's field, so those who hung around after the media circus passed got a second go - if their batteries lasted. Mine did, just - the overall results, disappointing. Occasion, un-necessarily over-hyped, disappointing.
I heard a number of people curse in frustration, as their camera or phone batteries died at the vital moment. Such a long orchestrated wind up meant that people happily snapped away at unimportant stuff believing that the moment was nigh when it wasn't. Fortunately, the torch procession went down St Mary Street, crossed the Taff, then doubled back toward the Castle, crossing the Taff again to enter the Castle grounds and appear at a ticket only open air concert on Cooper's field, so those who hung around after the media circus passed got a second go - if their batteries lasted. Mine did, just - the overall results, disappointing. Occasion, un-necessarily over-hyped, disappointing.
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