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Author Archives: Jimmy Burns
My Olympic favourites
My favourite London Olympic moments (updated and final list) Opening ceremony-all of it. More tickets being made available to ordinary public. Boris dangling from a wire Jessica Ennis clinching her gold in the heptathlon Beach volley ball in Whitehall Mo Farah having the strength and love to embrace daughter and wife after running 10,000 metres and winning the gold, and then doing it again with another race, and another gold. Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s smile, win or lose Joanna Rowsell celebrating her gold without her wig Courteous attitude of an Olympic ‘volunteer’ …
The music GB gives the world
There can be few constants in Britain’s contemporary history, than the high regard that its musicians are held by the rest of the world. So it was fitting that the closing ceremony of the hugely popular London Olympics should feature musicians and songs that have crossed boundaries and appealed to the varying rock and pop tastes of the post-war generation. Less radical in its political and social narrative than Danny Boyle’s opening ceremony, this was an evening that resonated with the universality of a nation’s achievement in having music, like …
This Brazil falls well short of La Roja
I twittered at the beginning of the London Olympics that the quality of national football squads should not be judged by the performance of the teams attending . I had in mind Spain as I suspected the non-informed might have been under the misapprehension they were about to see a repeat gala by the team that won the Euro 2012. As it turned out the Spain that came to the London Olympics had mostly different players, a different manager, a dysfunctional team, and yes- as Jorge Valdano had accurately predicted-did …
The human factor of the London Olympics
If the London Olympics have generated so much love it is because they have reminded us how sportsmen and women can transcend politics, culture, and race, to give us a sense of nobility and the common good. If Bolt has emerged as the most popular athlete it is because of his refreshingly relaxed attitude to his own unrivalled talent, and his ability to connect with a universal audience. He will always be remembered for his good humour both prior and after his events, in contrast to the self-absorbed, obsessive looks …
Neymar and the 2012 Olympics
Olympic games are not generally remembered for their football, and when they are, it is usually for the performance of a player rather than a team. Way back in 1924, Uruguay’s Gold medal in the Paris Olympics –before FIFA’s World Cup competition had been created- marked the beginning of a new era of South America dominance. La Celeste as the Uruguayan team led by Jose Leandro Andrade –the first black player to earn respect at an international level- became a legend in its time, going on to winning the Olympic …
My olympic top ten
My favourite Olympic moments so far…as the games enter second week Opening ceremony-all of it. More tickets being made available to ordinary public. Boris dangling from a wire Jessica Ennis clinching her gold in the heptathlon Beach volley ball in Whitehall Mo Farah having the strength and love to embrace daughter and wife after running 10,000 metres and winning the gold. Katarina Johnson-Thompson’s smile, win or lose Joanna Rowsell celebrating her gold without her wig Courteous attitude of an Olympic ‘volunteer’ at crowded Liverpool station Union Jack and Argentine flags …
Th real value of our Parks (part two)
The River of Music concert at Battersea Park was one of the occasions that local residents and nature lovers by instinct dread. As I noted in my previous blog, my apprehension about the event , both as local resident and nature lover, grew in the days leading up to it as I witnessed the setting up of metal fencing and occupation by security staff, scaffolders, and heavy vehicles. But I am not a complete NIMBY and it would have been silly of me to stay away from the event on …
The real value of our Parks
My early morning walk in Battersea Park proved quite a challenge today- my quest for some measured, free-roaming exercise and tranquility amidst nature turning early on into an endurance test , once I had entered through the Sun Gate. (see my photographs posted on facebook). Preparation for this weekend of open-air concerts has involved an invasion of heavy vehicles, security staff, scaffolding, and metal fencing and transformed one of the most leisurely open spaces in the capital into a cross between Salisbury plain during a busy military exercise and Guantanamo …
El ser del Anglo-Spanish Society
La fiesta de verano del Anglo-Spanish Society (www.anglospanishsociety.org) en la Embajada de España en Londres es un evento que lleva ni carga política ni económica, pero que si, as contrario, se rige por intereses filantrópicos. El evento sirve para recaudar fondos para el Anglo-Spanish Society, una fundación caritativa, que incluye entre sus variadas actividades de enlace cultural y social entre dos países (el Reino Unido y España) , el financiamiento de becas de apoyo a universitarios de ambos países que quieren desarrollar ciertos estudios –una buena causa, sobre todo en …
Mourinho’s amnesty
The Spanish Federation has amnestied Jose Mourinho, and Barca fans are up in arms- well, all it seems, with the exception of Joan Laporta. The former Barca president said the federation chief Angel Maria Villar used his prerogative as newly re-elected president of the Federation to act on the side of generosity. One can only presume that Laporta speaks as he does because he suffers from selective memory failure. The Federation it was that eventually turned a conciliatory blind eye to Barca when the club was sanctioned, then forgiven, for …