Russell Cruse
  • Home
  • The Rothko Room
    • Writing The Rothko Room
    • The Rothko Room Characters
    • The Council
    • The Real Rothko Room
    • Rothko Room Covers
    • The Rothko Room Music
    • The Rothko Room Puzzles
    • Locations in The Rothko Room
    • Waifs & Strays >
      • Churchill
      • The Origin of The Council
      • The First Meeting of The Council
  • Books
    • Head Count
    • The Circling Song
  • Weblog
  • Comments
  • Ukulele Stuff
  • Weblog Selections

Olympic Values? About £100,000,000 per Sponsorhip Deal.

21/7/2012

1 Comment

 
You have to laugh.  No, really; it’s the only possible response, for outrage would only lend the legislation a dignity it doesn’t deserve.  Of course I’m talking about the proscribing of certain English words throughout the period of the Olympic Games  - that nightmare of disruption that will, during the summer, make London an even more hideous place to be than it already is.

In fact I may already have broken the law by using the words Olympic, Games, London and Summer in the same sentence.  Someone has actually sat down and decided that any two of the words: Games, Twenty-Twelve, Two Thousand and Twelve, even 2012, used together is an infringement of the law.  Plus any word in the list above with one or more of the following words: London, medals, sponsors, summer, gold, silver or bronze.

Now, were you to associate my use of those words with the advertisements on other pages of this site (you know the ones for excellent works such as “Head Count”, a novel in which gold and the Olympic sport of skiing feature prominently and “The Circling Song”, a novella in which the Olympic sport of shooting is much in evidence and some of it is set in London… and in Summer), then I might bring down upon myself the full majesty of the law.

I realise the association is tangential but were I perhaps to suggest that if you are planning a trip to the summer games, you might wish to while away the hours of queuing in various places throughout the capital by reading my books, then I should not be surprised if the Home Secretary herself fetches up on my doorstep accompanied by the weary Plod, in order to deliver me my just desserts.

For it to be illegal for a pub to suggest that its punters might want to watch the Olympic Games on a TV in the bar, takes a mentality that has only a passing acquaintance with common sense.  And to suggest that anyone might mistake the Olympic Café – run by a Greek chap in Stratford for a McDonalds beggars belief.  For a start, the Olympic Café serves a very nice breakfast.  And is staffed by people over fourteen.

I hear that the backlash is well under way and that LOCOG is coming under pressure not to throw its weight around too much.  Nevertheless, a number of fines have already been levied.

Looking on the bright side, perhaps it will set a precedent.  There are a number of words and associations I’d like to see subject to fines for misuse.  “Ferment” for “foment being a favourite at the moment; “refute” for “rebut” being another; “less” for “fewer”, of course and “disinterested” for “uninterested”.

My current bugbear is “…once in a lifetime…” pertaining to anything to do with the Olympic Games.

Having foolishly trusted my Satellite Navigation device (other Tom-Toms are available) to get me home, I found myself caught up in the so called “Torch Relay” – another misnomer, since the torches themselves are not “relayed” they are held onto by their carriers (provided they can stump up 200 quid) and then presumably sold on e-bay.  I floundered around for a while, unable to extricate myself from the melee and was finally led to safety by a police car through Tunbridge Wells, cheered on by thousands of people lining the streets, and was assured by the nice copper that although it was inconvenient, I couldn’t blame people because it was a “…once in a lifetime experience…” to witness such an event.

Well, it wasn’t.  Had I been so inclined, I could have followed the wretched thing through a number of nearby locations throughout the next two days, making it a “several times in a lifetime” experience, at least.  In fact, I’d go so far as to suggest that those for whom it was a “…once in a lifetime experience…’ were simply not trying.

Shame on them for their apathy.

1 Comment
Mike Church link
1/9/2012 03:46:53 pm

I missed this one, Russell. Another entertaining once in a Sunday read :)

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Follow this blog

    RSS Feed

    UK Amazon Kindle Forum's group-authors-bookshelf book montage
    UK Amazon Kindle Forum 222 members
    Somewhere else for those who hang around on the official Amazon Kindle Forum to slouch around.

    Our group-authors-bookshelf shelf



    View this group on Goodreads »

    Archives

    November 2015
    August 2014
    May 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011

    Categories

    All
    A Clockwork Orange
    Alice Cooper
    American Literature
    Andrew Mitchell
    Anthony Burgess
    Blogging
    Book Cover
    Cover Design
    Crossword
    Eastwood
    Editing
    Emperor's New Clothes
    English
    English Language
    Films
    Frazier
    Gary Barlow
    Godfrey Bloom
    Homeless
    Homeless Man
    Homophones
    Internet Down
    John Farris
    Julian Fellowes
    Kelsey Grammer
    Language
    Left-Wing
    Literary Fiction
    Lord Mcalpine
    Mark Rothko
    Nomophilia
    Nomophobia
    Patrick O'Brian
    Pleb
    Politics
    Prejudice
    Pretentious
    Promoting Literature
    Publishing
    Raimi
    Reliance On Mobile Phones
    Richard Matheson
    Self-publishing
    Semiotics
    Spin
    Twitter
    Without The Internet
    Writing


Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.