Vinnie Games Maker for London 2012–(The Aquatics Centre) ….

News and photos of Vinnie’s adventures as a Games Maker to the London 2012 Olympic Games are coming in thick and fast now ….. and his insider insight is very erm …. insightful and exciting …..

He told us that on the evening of the Olympic Opening Ceremony, after showering and talcing all his crevices, he went down to the Student Lounge of the Astor College where he is staying to be greeted by a wondrous Olympic feast set up by the Hockey Games Makers who kindly invited Vinnie and all the other Games Makers staying there to, to partake and join in the festivities and ribaldry …..

Vinnie said that there were a mahoooosive amount of Mr Kipling Bakewell tarts and Pringles of all flavours …. nom, nom nom!

….. and although they all had to be up for a 4.15am start, there was also an Olympic drinking game ….. he said they all had to down a shot whenever the Red Arrows were shown flying in formation during  the coverage and two shots for a James Bond type stunt etc. it all sounded so robustly and romantically riotous ….

When the National Anthem was played everyone stood up very  nationalistically and cheered the Queen …. even if some were a bit wobbly on their feet by then!

Vinnie doesn’t usually imbibe a lot…. but overwhelmed and surrounded by Olympic fervour, and everyone’s love for the Queen and Sebastian Coe ….  plus the altruistic spirit and companionship of his fellow Games Makers, it would have been rude NOT to have joined in, even if it did give him very loud hiccups! Vinnie didn’t elucidate on how well Paul McCartney’s  performance went down with the Games Makers ….. perhaps by then …. it was down a bottle in one!!!

Vinnie Games Maker For London 2012

Being a Games Maker for the London 2012 Olympic Games means plenty of early starts for Vinnie, for him a 4.30 am start, like yesterday is chicken feed!  He travels to “work” each day on a proper London bus, which is just soooo romantic in a Cliff Richard in his early days type way.

Vinnie had to be in Hyde Park for his 7.00 am shift on the Information Desk for the Marathon Swimming Training Session …. but he said it was a little disappointing because although the weather was exceptionally clement none of the athletes came to train there that morning, preferring instead to opt to workout at the Aquatics Centre, he mused that in away he couldn’t blame them as the water at the pool was definitely warmer, bluer and they wouldn’t have to  swim around any ducks or rowing boats!

After being debriefed and relieved of his sentry Vinnie decided to avail himself of the pleasures of Hyde Park and happened to find the Official Coca Cola Pin Trading Centre.Vinnie says that Pin Trading is a mahooooooosive on trend activity at the Olympics, but as he didn’t have any badges to swop he smoozed robustly with the traders ………. and purchased a Pin Traders badge to wear with pride and start off his collection…

He attracted quite a lot of attention at the centre due to his overwhelming effervescent interest and was cordially invited back to “trade” anytime.

Waiting for our trip to London is almost to much to bear, especially when Vinnie keeps sending us these tantalising vignettes to whet our appetite of things to come.  Darrell has also been musing as to whether the Coca Cola people would be interested in trading one of their badges for an ancient Tufty Club badge he found in the loft the other day ….. hmmmm, somehow I think they would give him short shift!

Working It With Mr Muscle …

All this Olympic brouhaha is all very well and good BUT it doesn’t get the oven cleaned ……It’s a bi-annual chore chez nous (Christmas and summer holidays) that none of us relish and this time the responsibility  for the duty befell upon me. …. and all things considered I think I rose stalwartly to the challenge ….

My oven cleaner of choice is unquestionably Mr Muscle ….. even if it does make me cough robustly ….. grease and grime just quake in its wake!Forget all that running, jumping, skipping. splishing and splashing that’s occurring in London over the next couple of weeks ….. Mr. Muscle is my Olympic Champion ….!

http://www.mrmuscleonline.co.uk/kitchen/oven_cleaner.html

News From The London 2012 Aquatic Centre

OMG … OMG …. OMG …. Vinnie and Auntie Jan were on duty at the Aquatics Centre for the first swim session of the London 2012 Olympics and guess who turned up to watch? …..  ONLY The Queen (WE LOVE THE QUEEN), Prince Philip, Princess Anne and her husband Prince Tim(?) ….. and Princess Anne spoke to them ….. alas no photos ….. but how wonderful …. Vinnie says he has to keep pinching himself (and Auntie Jan) to make sure that living the dream isn’t really a dream

The Opening Ceremony For The London 2012 Olympic Games

Before the evening kicked off Vinnie sent us a picture from his room at the university where he is staying, saying that he was sorry he couldn’t be with us to share in the spectacular …. He told us that he had showered and talced robustly after a hot and manic day of Games Makering and would be going down to the Student Lounge to watch the Opening Ceremony with a bottle of Vimto and bag of cheese and onion crisps, but he said his spirit would be with us in our lounge, but that put the willies up us and made us go bit spooky of a Derek Acorah nature.  He added that he hoped that no one in the Student Lounge would dare to change the channel …. and want to watch ITV instead!

Meanwhile, back in Wolverhampton, we settled ourselves on the sofa, draped in our Ikea Union Jack tea towels ….

…. with an ample supply of confectionery type comestibles … Peanut M & Ms for me, Revels for Darrell and Vajazzles, as he likes to call them, for Nigel.

We told Nigel that between eating his Vajazzles  he should drink the whole evening in because he was seeing real history being made. His favourite bit was all the drumming …. and now he wants a drum (heaven help us) …. All we can say is that after at least two hours the arms of those volunteers must have been really aching, they never stopped, they must have been really desperate to give them a good shake (and perhaps have a wee)  It was all very wonderful and rhythmic, especially when we turned the volume up really, really loud, even the neighbours joined in ….. banging on the wall in mutual appreciation!We liked the Queen’s bit very much too…. and the lovely mirror she has in her hallway to check how she looks before she leaves the Palace especially caught our eye as we could do with something very similar chez nous, it didn’t look “Ikea” so we wonder if she had it from the Argos catalogue!It was all very British and at times we were a little overwhelmed and emotional, hence Darrell having to go and get some kitchen roll.

When they lit the Olympic Cauldron …. we got mahoooosive goosebumps …everywhere ...

…… we have never seen anything so romantic or Olympically beautiful.

However it was a VERY long evening and eventually Nigel couldn’t keep his eyes open any longer ….

So in the end Darrell had to put a sleepy eyed Nigel to bed …..

…. which meant that Nigel missed Paul McCartney’s bit (or old scrot face as Darrell calls him) but as we said in our earlier post …. he didn’t miss a lot! Vinnie was right … it was a sensory overload (the whole Opening Ceremony, not Paul McCartney's performance)  … and there is still soooooo much more to come!

The Opening Of The London 2012 Olympic Games ……

Please bear with us ….. it was a VERY late night last night ….

….. and when Paul McCartney started warbling that just about finished us off !His voice is not what it used to be ......... in our humble opinion he should have moved over and let David Beckham have a go at singing, he couldn't have been any worse!

Tonight’s The Night …..London 2012

OMG …. OMG ….. OMG ….on Tuesday night Vinnie was only allowed into the Olympic Stadium to see the FINAL dress rehearsal for the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games!…. He said that he and Auntie Jan took a copious amount of photographs BUT obviously, as they have both had to sign the official secrets act in their own blood, they cannot divulge a sausage to us  …… suffice to say they both got very emotional ….. and were so very proud to be British and part of it all ….. they also added that a sensory overload is heading our way …..!!! OMG!!!

Meanwhile, a diligent Games Maker’s work must still go on  …… and Vinnie has been busy doing a couple of shifts on the Sports Info Desk at the Aquatics Centre. He said that yesterday had been particularly hectic. Just look at all these pigeon holes that he has to fill constantly with information and results, now that’s what we call  rush Olympic photocopying on a mahoosive scale!The Swimming starts on Saturday. Vinnie is on the first shift and will be in the thick of it …. so he has been making his robust final checks, making sure no one has left their flip flops on the side of the pool and that any bricks that some of the swimmers have been trying to pick up from the bottom of the deep end have all been recovered.  He says everything looks sooooooo blue, it’s like an indoors Mediterranean!He has also given us a “Blog Scoop” that we don’t even think the papers or TV people have cottoned onto yet  …… like Wimbledon, The Aquatics Centre has its very own hawk to keep any infiltrating and rouge pigeons from inhabiting the vast structure and more importantly stopping them from pooping in the water or dive bombing swimmers.

Vinnie was allowed to get up close and personal and inspect the hawk’s jesses. It’s all too romantic and Olymptastical for us to take in.It’s going to be hard for any of us to concentrate on anything today, because all we can think of is the opening ceremony and looking for Vinnie and Auntie Jan ……. Oooooooooooooooo oooooooo ooooooo!!

Three Return Tickets For London Please ….

With all Vinnie’s exciting news of his most romantic adventures in London as Gamesmaker for the 2012 Olympic Games,  we decided that yesterday time was of the essence and that we really should be booking our passage to the “Enchanted City” ourselves!

Fortunately Vinnie had sent us a detailed copy of his Olympic shifts so that we could gauge the best days to go down when he will be free to guide us round the wonderous sights …..

I decided to put Darrell and Nigel in charge of finding us the best ticket deal that was available, while I started to make a list of all the things we need to pack ….. like Marmite and Dairy Lea Triangles, just in case they don’t have any in London!

The boys done good …. and our aforementioned passage is now secured …. they even printed off the tickets there and then thus preventing any queuing and stuff at the station.  We are soooooo robustly excited ………….. in a Dick Whittington, come along Puss  type nature!!

Vinnie’s News – Games Maker for London 2012

Vinnie said that Monday night was the “dress rehearsal” night for the 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony ……. he said it looked “Wondrously Beautiful…..! He was only allowed to look from a far and so he and Auntie Jan could only dream of what was going on inside ….. how romantic …. in an Sebastian and Boris type way! He also sent us a picture of the Coca-Cola Beat Box stand which he described as“Truly breathtaking” …. He also wonders when, if ever, his constant goose bumpy feelings will stopMeanwhile back at the Sport Information Desk …Vinnie has been helping to put up decorative and celebrational paper chains.

Working On Olympic Time ….

It hasn’t taken Vinnie long to establish his “Living The Dream”  daily 2012 Olympic Routine …After a short walk to work and getting through the robust and very rigorous security of an Olympiad type nature…..

He is ready for whatever duties a 2012 Gamemaker may be asked to perform ….. like making that sure all the Olympic clocks had batteries in them and were then set at the right time for every part of the world!

…… Then checking that no French or English litter has been dropped anywhere dans le Parc……

And making sure there are enough verruca socks for any such afflicted water based athletes…….. Vinnie says that “No Olympian’s foot health or hygiene must be compromised at these Games, not with the whole world watching us …….”  

….. He has also the keys to the bicycle pump cupboard at the Velodrome!

There certainly isn’t time for anyone to slack and do nothing in these days of final preparation type nature  …. except for perhaps when someone sent Vinnie for a long stand………. !!!!!

What are they like????