OLYMPIC DAY: Part V - Men's Football and Wembley Stadium

After a morning cycling at the track-- Chris Hoy and Bradley Wiggins didn't get their gold medals just for showing up-- we headed to north London and Wembley Stadium to see some men's football. We got to see Mexico play Senegal.

Originally, I thought I'd like to see Mexico win. I considered my own special NAFTA agreement to root for North American teams when Team USA or Team GB are unavailable. But as I sat there, I thought that Senegal probably doesn't have much going for it, so I switched my allegiances. I'm fickle that way.

We suspected that going to an Olympic football match at Wembley wouldn't be much different than any other football match at Wembley. We were partially right. During regular football matches, I'm certain that you wouldn't see hundreds of people gathered around the televisions waiting to see if Andy Murray and Laura Robson won their mixed singles match. There was also a great deal of London 2012 branding going on throughout the stadium, so you could never forget what was happening. And don't forget the flags. Just like in every other venue, there were loads of them.

I'm a sucker for a bunch of flags and the Olympic rings. Love 'em.

Once the action got started, it did feel like a regular football game. We got to see a fantastic game though. It went into extra time and looked as though it might even go into penalties, but Mexico got their act together before that happened and won the game.

Here's Mexico celebrating one of their goals. 

Here's Thing One and Thing Two posing for a picture. Is Thing Two wearing a rain poncho? Indeed he is, making us 4-for4 for rain during our outdoor Olympic events.

Finally, it was time to head home. If you're wondering how 81,000 leave Wembley at the same time, I'm here to tell you that they do so in an orderly fashion. Again, this is Great Britian. If there's anything that my fellow countrymen know how to do, it's form an orderly queue and leave in an orderly fashion. The police had to stop the crowd every so often as the Wembley Stadium tube station became full.  But people stopped when they were told to and didn't complain about it. It was impressive. I have to say.

Would you like to see what 80,000 people leaving at the same time looks like? Of course you do. Here it is, with bonus Mexican hats AND stormy skies!

OLYMPIC DAY: Park IV - Beach Volleyball at Horse Guards Parade

The Olympics have done an utterly fab job at using iconic London settings. Here in Greenwich, we really moaned about them taking over the park, but it definitely paid off because the venue looks beautiful. The same might also be said of Horse Guards Parade, right behind Downing Street. I don't know if the bureaucrats complained about the beach volleyball being there, but it looked great when we were there.

Here's the band warming up the crowd before the party-- I mean athletic contest-- began.

Beach volleyball has proven to be one of the most popular events at these Olympic games. It's not hard to figure out why-- athletic women wearing bikinis and jumping around. As we scanned the crowd, we saw A LOT of gentlemen who were enjoying the action before they headed off to the office. At least, that's what we deduced since so many of them were wearing suits. 

Here's a funny fact for the day: for each session, they have both a women's and a men's game, because they were worried that the men's games wouldn't sell but they knew the women's would. As a feminist, I can't quite figure out if this is progress or not.

Olympic beach volleyball proved to be one of the more unusual athletic contests I've been to, and as one who once started the Alaskan Pig Racing Contest, that's saying something. It felt more like a party than an Olympic competition. Along with the Mexican wave and popular music, which are linchpins of nearly all (not Equestrian!) the venues, beach volleyball also had a conga line, the Big Brother announcer and dancers in bikinis. (I'm wondering how the dancers will list this experience on their CV. Olympic dancer? I'd love to have that on my CV.)

Here's a snap of the women's game we saw. It was Germany (red) versus Germany (blue). We weren't sure if Germany would win, but they pulled through in the end. This is not unlike the Gold Medal Game, which will see the USA play the USA. Good luck USA!

It was quite a day. Even better, my friend Ellie and I saw two different sets of friends while we were waiting to see the game. See? London really is like one big village? (Not really.) But it added to the fun that we saw friends there. 

Finally, here's another panoramic picture of the venue. I took this after all the fun was over, unfortunately. But you still get a sense of how beautiful it was there.

OLYMPIC DAY: Part III - Equestrian Dressage at Greenwich Park

This was one we were looking forward to, especially since we've given up our beautiful Greenwich Park bit by bit since April. I also liked it from a logistical point of view, because it was only going to take us five minutes from our front door to get to an Olympic venue. Result.

We decided to go with our Team USA t-shirts today. It wasn't a political decision to support Ann Romney's horse, but rather, it was because they were the only Olympic shirts that were clean. A big bonus of this venue is that they were giving out foam fingers for free. RESULT. Apparently, the nice American woman explained to me, Stephen Colbert has been having a go at dressage and they wanted to prove to him that dressage was cool. Hey, any time they're giving away foam fingers, I'm in. So of course we had to recreate our now iconic foam finger picture:

On to the dressage, of which we knew nothing. Luckily, we were literally surrounded by subscribers to "Horse and Hound" who proved to be very helpful. They also shushed us for cheering on the British rider when he first appeared, but I now understand that shouts of support are not good at the beginning of dressage because it could spook the horse. The things I've learned in this Olympics.

The stadium, which was VERY controversial in SE10, proved to be as beautiful as they said it would be. The people around me kept saying what a great venue it was, and I couldn't help feeling very proud that it was our local park that they were talking about. I also made sure to point out that our school's sports day was usually held where the stadium was, which the people around me seemed impressed by.

Here's a panoramic of the arena:

I have to say (whisper it) that it all got a bit boring. But I tweeted throughout, which at least kept me awake. Much like diving, it only got interesting when it all went wrong.

Surprise, surprise, we got rained on on Olympic Day, Part III. This made us three-for-three on rain and the Olympics. Want to see another threatening cloud picture? Sure you do.

Oh my goodness did it rain. The heavens opened and it came bucketing down. We all got SOAKED, even with our wet-weather gear. Now there was some progress on the wet weather gear front for us, because while we did remember our jackets, we left our rain ponchos at home. EPIC FAIL.

Another good thing about an Olympic venue being so close to home was that when it was all over, we could defy the foam fingers by taking a back way and getting out of our soaked clothes pretty quickly.

We finished the day off in dry clothes on the comfort of our sofa eating Pringles while watching action in the Pringle. Needless to say, it was another great Olympic Day.

OLYMPIC DAY: Part II - Fencing at the ExCel Centre

Olympic Day, Part II, involved going to what I dubbed "The Land of Marginal Sports," the ExCel Centre. I know that seems harsh, but the sports they have there are fencing, weightlifting, boxing, judo, table tennis, wrestling and taekwondo. See what I mean?

The day got off to a fine start with Olympic foam fingers. There's nothing like a foam finger to show that you're taking the sport seriously. As we walked to the bus stop, the volunteers with their Pink Foam Fingers of Authority (as I like to call them) kept giving the boys Foam Finger High Fives. Classic.

As we waited for the boys, we recreated the "Creation" portion of the Sistine Chapel with our foam fingers. As you do.

(I wanted to include this picture in my 52 Weeks photo project for the Guardian, but I couldn't because we're not allowed to submit anything with the Olympic rings, the British lion or Team GB. Bummer.)

I totally scored with these tickets. They were another set I got only about two weeks before the games, and they were only £20 each. Bargain. Sure, we were in the last row and my legs fell asleep pretty quickly given how tight the space was, but who cares. The Olympics for 20 quid! You can't beat that bargain.

Fencing itself was interesting, even though we didn't know much about the sport. The man next to me (who also was pleased about his £20 tickets) and I tried to figure it all out together, with mixed success. I think the fencing might just win the gold medal for the most dramatic arena, though. Check this out:

During one of the breaks, the boys got the autographs of two Italian fencers. The one on the right is Andrea Baldini, who fought in the bronze medal match but lost. They were very nice, though. Sorry for the out-of-focus picture but I think I was so excited about (a) meeting actual Olympics and (b) who were lovely Italians, that I had shaky hand syndrome.

Here's a picture of the American fencer Race Imboden in action. He's the one on the left with his helmet off. Unfortunately, he lost. But he lost to the nice Italian Baldini, so we considered that a win-win. We tried to do our bit by waving our American flag for Race Imboden, but it wasn't enough.

Here's a shot of Thing 1 & 2 at the end of the day. We were all very hot and very tired. I think it was the bright lights.

Finally, we left the ExCel. But so did what felt like about a million other people from the other events too. Here's what it looked like as we all left the ExCel:

Those are all people, believe it or not. I'm starting to hyperventilate just seeing it again, but then again, they were being marshalled by polite British people, who were explaining how we do things over here. If you can say anything about the British people, it's that they know how to queue AND leave in an orderly fashion.

It was another brilliant day. Roll On, London Olympics!

OLYMPIC DAY: Part I - Water Polo in the Olympic Park

Here's one for the history books: Our first day at the London Olympics. It was brilliant, and even better than expected, which is saying something given that I could barely sleep the night before since I was so excited. We decided to call this "Olympic Day: Part I" because we're going to take full advantage of having the Olympics in our hometown of London, so we're going to see lots of things over the two weeks. Happy Olympics everyone!

Here we are, walking into the park. The aquatic centre is on the left, "The Orbit"-- the red swirly sculpture-- is next, and the Olympic stadium is behind the welcome/bienvenue sign.

While walking into the Olympic Park, we happened upon this security guard WHO WAS WEARING A NIKE HAT. We warned him that the LOCOG police would be tackling him to the ground at any moment and replacing that hat with an Official Sponsor Adidas one. You'll notice he was clever enough to turn his ID badge over when I took his pictures. Kudos, security guard man, kudos.

Water polo was a somewhat random ticket choice for us. I only bought them because (a) they were available in early July (b) it was on the third day of the Olympics and (c) because I thought it would be fun. I was right. It was fantastic to watch. Here's some water polo action, with bonus flags.

This is the Coatian team doing some sort of pre-game awesomeness. I know it looks like synchronized swimming, but they're probably giving each other wedgies under the water. Because that's how they roll in water polo.

During the match, my cousin in North Carolina tweeted me to say how cool it was that we were watching water polo. He said he got into it after seeing it at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. We agreed that it was an underappreciated sport. I mean, really, any sport that has to outlaw wedgies (though they happen all the time anyway), is pretty amazing. Also, I love how I was talking to my cousin in America via Twitter. Here's a gold medal to the wonders of the Interweb.

After the match, we had a wander around the Olympic Park. First of all, it's huge. It would take a good 30 minutes, or longer with crowds, to walk from one end to another. It also has some beautiful gardens. I mean, I know it's England's birthright to show everyone else how ace they are at gardening-- all the rain has to be put to good use, after all-- but they were breathtaking.

But then the clouds started to gather. The storm should have gotten a medal for appearance alone, belive me. We were caught out too. I know we should have known better, but drunk on sunshine in the morning, we left without any wet weather gear. We learned our lesson. Here's the gathering storm, though. It really was that dark.

Most of these people are probably thinking, "Oh shit. I forgot my umbrella." Or maybe that was just us.

We found shelter from the rain in an underpass, and eventually it stopped so we toured the rest of the park. Here's a sampling of the rest of our day:

With Wenlock, the Olympic mascot, in front of the Velodrome, otherwise known as the Pringle.

The temporary basketball arena, with the Athlete's Village behind it. Before you think, "Oh, how convenient for the men's USA Basketball Team," think again. They're staying at some fancy-pants hotel in the middle of London.

Another view of the stadium and the Orbit. And yes, it did start raining again. Thing One is wearing our picnic blanket for protection. Did he share the blanket with Thing Two? This is the Olympics, my friend. It's every man for himself.

Here we are, in front of one of the two of the Olympic Park's McDonald's. Originally, we tried to go there for lunch but thought better of the idea when they said it was going to be a TWO HOUR WAIT. So we ate our snacks and went back later when there was no queue. I though that an Olympic McDonald's would be really cool and different. But guess what? It was just like every other McDonald's we had ever been to, which I suppose is the point and the secret to McDonald's success.

It looked like it was going to rain again, so we bid farewell to the Olympic Park, knowing we'd be back there a week later. It was an epically good day.

2012: Week 30

Bye Olympic Park! We had a brilliant day., a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

Bye Olympic Park! We had a brilliant day.

Week 30. Easily the highlight of the week. Since we're not allowed to post any pictures INSIDE the park, I thought this one, taken on the DLR on our way home, would be OK. It was a brilliant day, and one we will never forget.

The Olympics Are Here! The Olympics Are Here!

July 27, 2012 has finally arrived, and with it, the 2012 Summer Olympics. I am incredibly excited. I've always been a big fan of the Olympics. It all started with the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, when my Dad's company made the scoreboard. It was the closest I'd gotten to fame in my short life, so it stayed with me.

When the Olympics were awarded to London in 2005, my adopted hometown, I could hardly believe my luck. All of my hard earned Olympic trivia could now be put to good use!

But now that we've lived through all the preparations and the restrictions, I can say this with a great deal of authority:
The Olympics are a massive pain in the ass for the people who actually live here.

Don't get me wrong. I am really excited. This is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we plan to make the most of it. We've got tickets for eight different events and we plan to watch as much as we can on the 24(!) additional Olympic channels that BBC will be providing. But bear in mind that I say that as a lifetime fan of the Olympics. There are loads more Londoners who don't have that much goodwill toward the games and are pretty grumpy about it.

The games definitely create many inconveniences for Londoners. Our rubbish collection will be at 2 a.m. No, that's not a typo. I consider it a prime example of what local residents have to put up with to host the greatest party on earth. We also got a letter advising us that we could get deliveries during the Olympics either at 6 a.m. or 11 p.m. Ours may be a more extreme example, though, since the Olympic equestrian events are happening just a stone's throw from our house.

To buttress my argument, of how it is to be a local resident during the Olympics, here's some more photos:

This is an Olympics "Games Lane" which is reserved only for people in the "Games Family" (athletes, IOC officials and crucially, sponsors). They've been given the nickname of "Zil Lane" after the special road lanes in the former Soviet Union that could only be used by high-ranking officials. Londoners, by the way, are not members of the "Games Family."

This is a sign in Greenwich. In case you can't read it, it really does say, "Avoid Area." However, it doesn't include any helpful advice on how to avoid the area if you actually live here.

OK. I feel better now. I got all of my complaints out of my system. By the way, the British people feel very strongly that they are the only ones allowed to whinge and complain about the Games. Hey, we're paying for it, so we're allowed to say whatever we want. U.S. presidential hopeful Mitt Romney? You can just shut up about your concerns about the games. Like a house guest, the only thing you're allowed to say are compliments. Show some manners. (You can say whatever you want when your rubbish gets collected at 2 a.m. So there.)

But even with all that, I'm truly excited about the games.  London has never looked better. My street, even, has never looked better-- they've painted, cleaned, swept and even added flowers. I've spotted loads of interesting things around town in the run up. Here in Greenwich, I got to see them test this aerial camera:

In Leicester Square, they hung these enormous Olympic medals in the trees:

Finally, the best Olympic moment so far (BAR NONE) was seeing our great good friend Zoe Ayling carry the Olympic torch on Monday morning. I'm getting choked up just thinking about it again. She won the honour because of her charity work, but frankly I think she could win it for being all-around awesome.

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!

2012: Week 29

2012: Week 29, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

Seems only appropriate that in the weekend that Bradley Wiggins became the first Brit to win the Tour de France that I include a picture taken at the Herne Hill Velodrome, where he used to train. My sons now go there every Saturday. Will they become the next Wiggo? Only time will tell.

2012: Week 28

Two fine ships: HMS Ocean and the Cutty Sark, both in Greenwich this summer., a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

Two fine ships: HMS Ocean and the Cutty Sark, both in Greenwich this summer.

Have you heard? It's less than two weeks to the London Olympics. For those of us in Greenwich, this means deliveries only at 6 a.m., rubbish collection at 2 a.m., and the addition of the HMS Ocean into our neighbourhood. The ship is part of the security forces for the games and will be our new neighbour in SE10 until mid-September. They had an Open House-- or should that be Open Ship-- on Sunday, which was fascinating.

I took this snap just as the launch was about to leave for shore. Luckily the captain was patient enough to give me the 10 seconds I needed to frame this shot, otherwise I might have had to swim. I think the 52 Weeks project is really getting to me.

2012: Week 27

Celebrating the end of music exams with some classic British bunting., a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

Celebrating the end of music exams with some classic British bunting.

For Week 27, I'm choosing this image. As we hurtle toward the end of term-- sports days, summer concerts, exams-- I think it's important to have a snap that marks all the hoopla. I took this snap as my son and his best friend walked toward their celebratory lunch after they had finished their brass exams.

The bunting is a bonus, which seems to be going up everywhere in London in preparation for the Olympics. (I saw some men putting some up last week on a local street at 9:30 p.m. Madness).

2012: Week 26

Blue skies over London, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

Blue skies over London

I was having a hard time deciding which picture I wanted to use for week 26-- this one or a gratuitous Olympic rings shot, taken at Heathrow airport (once I got through the very long queue at immigration). In the end, I went with this one. I'm sure I'll have plenty of more opportunities in the coming weeks to get Olympic pictures. But who knows when we'll have sunny skies over London again...

2012: Week 25

Opa!! Flaming cheese anyone?, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

Opa!! Flaming cheese anyone?

When I worked in Chicago a lifetime ago, there was a great Greek restaurant right down the street from our newspaper. My friend Joel and I made it a habit of always ordering the flaming cheese, officially known as the saganaki. As time marched on, we came to depend on the Flaming Cheese. If one of us was having a particularly bad day, the other would e-mail, "Flaming Cheese Today?" and off we would go. There's nothing like a bit of fire and tableside theatrics to brighten up your life.

Although it's been awhile since I could e-mail Joel and ask him if it was a Flaming Cheese Day, it still holds a special place in my heart. So when I went to Yia Yia Mary's in Houston with my brother and his family, I knew it was time to introduce people I love to the wonders of Flaming Cheese. Yum.

2012: Week 24

Sunrise over Houston., a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

Sunrise over Houston Texas.

2012: Week 23

A Royal Jubilee knees up! Another round of God Save the Queen. Roll on fun., a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

A Royal Jubilee knees up! Another round of God Save the Queen. Roll on fun.

During the course of the Jubilee weekend, we attended five Jubilee parties. I had to go on a cake detox when it was all over, but it was great just the same. This picture was taken at a street party in Royal Hill in the Royal Borough of Greenwich during the Royal Jubilee. Is that enough Royals for you?

2012: Week 22

The Diamond Jubilee @thamespageant through my trusty periscope (in a slightly enlarged version)., a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

The Diamond Jubilee Thames Pageant through my trusty periscope. Sure, I had to sell a bit of my soul to the Daily Mail to get it, but it was worth it.

We battled the crowds for hours in order to get the best spot, and we still were about six people back from the river, but at least my trusty periscope allowed me to see some of the action on the River Thames. It was a very soggy Jubilee Sunday, but we had a brilliant time just the same.

2012: Week 21

At last Spring has arrived. #nofilter, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.


It has been, it has to be said, a most rubbish spring. Rain, more rain, and then when we thought we couldn't take it any more, more rain. 


I took this picture in Greenwich Park on my way to Thing 2's sports day. It was an absolutely glorious day. I even got sunburned and was even, dare I say it-- hot. Needless to say, the rain resumed just in time for Jubilee weekend. What are you going to do. We just got on with it, regardless of the rain.


When I took the picture, I didn't realizse that I had lined up the sun and the bloom. I only saw that once I got home and downloaded the picture to my computer. For those of you who don't know what the #nofilter hashtag means, that's just a fancy way of saying, "I didn't monkey with this picture at all to make it look like this." 

Happy Birthday Thing 2!

Happy 9th Birthday Thing Two!

Another year has passed, and it's another milestone. This one is the last single-digit birthday he'll ever have. Time flies when you're having fun.

Just as I do every year, I went back to see what I wrote about Thing Two a year ago, to see how much has changed, and how much  has stayed the same.

The more things change:

1. We went through a huge "Tudor phase" this year, such is the pitfalls of living in England, and particularly in Greenwich, the birthplace of King Henry VIII. We visited Hampton Court Palace twice and the Tower of London, all within six weeks. I'm proud to say that I can now name all of Henry's wives and what happened to them. (Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived.)

2. He certainly has learned how to travel and get around. The other night, when I asked him how he would get from Heathrow to home by himself, he said, "I'd hire a taxi." Well done.

3. His sense of humour and sarcasm is extremely robust. The other afternoon, we walked past a young child whose balloon had just popped. Apropos of nothing, he said, "The balloon popped. And so did someone's happiness."

4. He's becoming a more adventurous eater. The other day he wanted to try sushi, "Just to try something different," he said. (In the end, he opted for the safer option: The sausage sandwich.)

The more they stay the same:

1. He is still, and will probably be forevermore, Mr. Movie.

2. He is still, I'm very happy to report, Mr. Math.

3. He still loves to help me in the kitchen when I'm cooking. Even better, he now occasionally wants to cook for everyone. Happy days.

4. Green is still his favourite colour, tigers are his favourite animal, and Arsenal is his favourite team.

5. His tenacity in trying to get better at the things he can't do is pretty impressive. He's not enthusiastic about it all the time, but at least he gives it a go.

Happy Birthday Thing 2. May you have many more.

2012: Week 20

Happy 9th Birthday Thing 2!, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

Happy 9th Birthday Thing 2!

2012: Week 19

2012: Week 19, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

A view from Carisbrooke Castle on the Isle of Wight.

Sure the Bank Holiday weekend was wet, grey and miserable-- like most of the spring in England this year-- but we had a good time just the same.

2012: Week 18

My first election voting as a British citizen. Exciting times!, a photo by MAStapleton on Flickr.

My first election voting as a British citizen. Exciting times!

Sure, the polling station was empty, with a slight air of resignation and boredom. But after securing our British Citizenship a year ago, I didn't care-- this was the first time I got to actually vote in an election after living here for more than 13 years. This was a big day for me, and definitely my highlight for Week 18.