Champion ..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dear Diary, went to The Olympics. It was dead good. Paris very busy but amazing to see some of the venues, even if only from the outside ..

I just had to go! I couldn't be this close to The Olympics and not go to see for myself. To experience the buzz of the beautiful city of Paris at such a momentous moment, and join the crowds (And I mean crowds!) as they took in the sights. To mingle with people from all over the world as they came together for the magnificent spectacle ..

My legs are killing me now. I feel like I've run my own personal marathon, whizzing around the sights in just one hot afternoon, but it was certainly worth it. My photographs show the 'less glamorous' side of The Games, a quick glimpse behind the scenes (Because, let's face it, that's all I got!) But hey, I even bought the T-shirt ..  

And so to the shots. Click to see them larger ..

 

 

Fin!

 

We can win ..

 

 

 

 

 

It's time for The Olympics, and how exciting that they're over here in France. We looked into going to see an event or two but soon realised that - what with the ticket prices, travel and hotels - we'd be much better off sitting in our front room and watching the games with a stash of unsporty beer, crisps and chocolate ..

Tonight's opening ceremony has put me in mind of 1993, when Manchester made a bid for the 2000 Olympics. Didn't get them, of course, but the advertising of the bid made for a few nice pictures. Manchester Town Hall, Cornerhouse and the Evening News offices all sported promotional material but, should you happen to be in Manchester at the moment, I wouldn't waste your time looking for any of these buildings. The Town Hall is still shrouded in scaffolding and tarpaulin whilst it undergoes renovation, Cornerhouse (An arts venue) disappeared in 2015 and the Manchester Evening News hasn't had an office in its own city for .. ooh, bloody ages! Anyway, good luck to all the athletes, especially those in my favourite sport .. breakdancing!!

 

File under fantastic ..

Another dive into my mysterious cache of unfiled negatives yesterday, and I dug out a cracking pair of pictures from the early 90s. These were the heady days when Manchester felt it had a decent shot at winning the 2000 Olympics although I think, from the peeling poster and the headline on the MEN board, you can guess the outcome!..

Prince Andrew was another surprise in the box. I'd forgotten I even photographed him! And then there was Nigel Lawson, Gary Davies and Sonia, the Scouse singy-bird from Stock, Aitken and Waterman's little collection. There was even a shot of my old boss from the Warrington Guardian, a diminutive Geordie called Eddie who looks like he couldn't possibly have the strength to actually carry the huge Nikon and motor-drive he's wearing round his neck.
All great additions to my archive ..

What's a motor-drive, Grandad? ..

Pull over, sir!...

Fashion-crime of the century here, folks! I put this photo of my favourite jumper onto my website yesterday, and it picture proved amusingly popular when I popped it onto Facebook too, but if image is everything then God knows what I thought I must have looked like when I was 21! Eeeh, those were the days! I was having a chat last night that was going a bit retro, too. A pal of mine went Darn Sarf for some of that Olympicsy stuff and was raving about some of the photographs he'd taken. "Thing is .. " he said "I left the digi at home and bought a couple of them disposable film cameras. No messing, no looking at my own reflection on the back of the camera, just lifted it to me eye and clicked!" Very interesting! So is film going to make a comeback? Will people once more collect photographs in easily-viewable albums, passing them around as they enjoy a social - in person! - get-together? We can only hope! Hey, I could wear my jumper...