Bow Bells

Walking around the city with my brother today we stumbled across St Mary Le Bow church which is famous for its bells. Anyone born within the sound of the bells can call themselves a 'cockney'. The church was designed by Sir Christopher Wren and though it was partly destroyed during WW2 it was rebuilt to the original design. However the interior has been redesigned with stained glass windows reflecting the history of some of the City of London churches.

Party Weekend

Quite a hectic weekend as my daughter got engaged on Friday. Then on Saturday there was a terrific birthday and engagement party.

Hythe, Kent

I took my brother-in-law, Graham and his wife Margaret to the Kent village of Hythe. The weather was not the best so we headed off to the local fish and chippie and had a great meal in stead of the planned coastal walk to Folkestone( If you look in the background  you can just about see 2 windsurfers who were flying along, really enjoying the windy conditions out at sea.

Gamesmaker orientation

On Saturday I went to Wembley Arena along with another 10000 gamesmakers for our first meeting. We were given a workbook with info and various things that we need to learn! The event was a mixture of videos and chats to people involved with the games. It was good to meet other gamesmakers but I thought they would have arranged the seating so that you would be next to someone from the same function area. Anyway the next meeting is for more role specific training so I might get to know exactly what my role will be in the Olympic village. 

Kew Gardens

I visited the exhibition  at kew gardens today which they have called 'An explosion of colour'.  The display of orchids is breathtaking although I wasn't so impressed with the sculptures scattered amongst the flowers. The scultures were there to show the beautiful natural designs of seeds and fungi but as they were made from very unnatural materials for me it just didn't work. However the flowers were definitely worth a visit.

Olympic Opening Ceremony - latest

Well friends as you may have guessed I didn't get in. I feel really gutted about it especially as I waited so long for the result of the audition. I haven't actually received an email rejecting me yet, but when I got an email asking me to audition for the paralympics opening ceremony, it didn't take a genius to work out that I am not wanted for the Olympics - after all that practicing I've been doing!
What a waste!!!!!!!!

National Gallery - Talk and draw

Yesterday I went to the National Gallery to one of their 'Talk and Draw' events. It was a first for me and I must say I really loved it. You were given a short talk on the painting which was 'Combing the hair' by Degas. Then you were given some ideas on how to draw the picture. All the materials were provided free and then we had about 20 mins to do our own interpretation of the picture.  Guess which one I did!!!!!!!

(London Museum #4) The Foundling Museum

This is No 4 on my list of museums I've never seen before. It is really 3 small museums in one. It was Britain's first public art gallery; it houses a collection of Handel's music and it tells the story of Coram's foundling children. These were the abandoned babies of the mid 1700s who were just left to die really until Thomas Coram opened a home for them. Really interesting museum with exhibits of tokens left by the mothers for their abandoned children. Can also listen to taped interviews with some of the children who were brought up there during the last 50 years or so. There is also a temporary exhibition of illustrations by Quentin Blake which are well worth a look.

Olympic Opening ceremony update

I still haven't heard whether or not I've been selected. Got a bit worried when I heard that others have been offered a place. Finally managed to find a phone number for the casting office to discover that they have not finished casting for whatever position I auditioned. So it's still watch this space!!!!!!

My time as a SEV comes to an end

Yesterday saw the end of the interviews at Canary wharf, some will continue at Excel but by and large the tens of thousands of people wanting to volunteer for the Olympics have now been interviewed. It has been an amazing experience. I have been priveledged to meet some inspiring people. My faith in the human race has been restored.