Olympic Overkill

Well. all the hype finally arrives in Crapchester tomorrow in the form of the Olympic torch. Needless to say, the local authorities and media are going into overdrive, trying to whip Crapchester's citizens up into a patriotic frenzy - there are banners up, road closures planned, the whole lot. Massive road disruption is predicted. All this, despite the fact that the torch is scheduled to be in Crapchester for only twenty minutes. That's right: twenty minutes. Which hasn't stopped the council closing roads on the route for six hours! I can't help but suspect that whilst the torch is only here for twenty minutes, the corporate sponsors will try and milk the occasion for all they can, hence the excessive road closures. It is this kind of overkill which has left me completely disillusioned with the whole Olympic circus. When London was fist awarded the games, I actually thought it could be a good thing, but that was before it turned into an overblown corporate jamboree, apparently run for the benefit of the likes of Coca Cola, Samsung and BMW, rather than for either the participants or spectators. I'm rapidly growing tired of all the attempts to talk up the torch relay with references to the 'Olympic spirit', when it is clear that it is really all about corporate greed.

So, how best to react to this 'historic' event? Should I be mounting a protest? I suppose I could follow my sometime associate Little Miss Strange's example by streaking in front of the relay. She created quite a stir with her performance in the Thames Valley earlier today. Obviously, it wasn't simply a gratuitous display of nudity, designed to cause public outrage. It was clearly a political protest - she had 'Free' written on one cheek, 'Tibet' on the other, so that the torch bearer running behind her got the message. However, I feel that the sight of me naked really would be an outrage, not just to public decency, but good taste generally. I've previously suggested standing on the route prominently drinking bottles of Pepsi-Cola but, to be honest, I've reached the stage where I really can't be arsed. Indeed, I'm inclining toward the idea that just ignoring the whole thing is the best way of protesting - deny the corporate bastards the satisfaction of having us turn up at all, thereby swelling the adoring crowds. That said, it will be difficult for those of us working tomorrow to avoid the inevitable traffic chaos. In other cheering news, I've just found out that so called 'music' event 'Crapchester Shite', sorry, 'Crapchester Live', is this coming weekend. Which, for those of us unfortunate enough to live near the park where it takes place, means two days of abject misery as we have to endure the cacophony. Still, I see that rain is forecast for the weekend so, with luck, the bastards will be washed away. God, I'm getting curmudgeonly!