Enduring Spirit

Im not the biggest fan of Olympic games, no not even the Queen arrived via parachute with James Bond in London (it was cool though), so I will more than likely miss the entire thing but thanks to Pathe this is the piece of historic film that stays with me, as it does all surely, as evidence of the all conquering spirit of man that reaches beyond athletics.

Mascot Havoc

Wenlock: Why so weird?

Okay there's no real havoc. No running about screaming while unmentionable beasts hunt us down to lock their terrible jaws around saggy throats and rip us from the living. Im simply unwinding after a long old day, and decided in lazy assedness to go with the first title that hit my tired brain, and Mascot Havoc it was. I kinda like it to.
Anyway now that the London Games have been and gone, im noticing that shops still have quite a bit of merchandise on their shelves, left behind like colourful, plush scars. Poor old Wenlock and Mandeville have never looked so desperate with their solitary eye each and hairstyles only a maniac cockatoo would choose, pleading silently from the shelf to give them a home.
And I did too! (See above pic.) I couldn't help it, I hate to see inanimate objects left alone to gather dust and mold; their star now faded and ignored by those who only a week ago were using them to cheer on a nations dreams. Overly dramatic I might be but theirs is the most unkind fate and they look happier now. Nurse!
When Mr Jakes was but a callow youth, I used to think those who collected souvenirs from events like Royal weddings quite mad. In fact in some ways it actually offended me, to know that there was a kind of person in the world who would willingly spend hard earned money on cheap tat. Im happy ive finally climbed onto the tat wagon. Now if you'll excuse me, I must go and feed Wenlock. Nurse!!

So That's That

Party on Boris

After the fun and games of the last fortnight (including 29 Gold medals), waking up this morning was a bit like waking up after a heavy session on the old booze. A sort of "what happened there then? Did we really? That was great! Must do it again sometime." The London 2012 games, and especially the winning, held the nation in a suspended animation of joy, making us forget things like double dip recessions. I dare say its still not sunk in for a few as they hit the ever faithful red button too catch up on some handball or archery.
Dai Jakes purposively missed last nights closing ceremony shindig because acts like the Spice Girls quite frankly leave me feeling cold (even when prancing on black cabs) but it was great up until then and if theres any justice left in the world, athletes like Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah, Bradley Wiggins et al will have inspired the countries youngsters so that we may hold on to our 3rd medal position in Rio in four years time.
One question some people have asked in todays media is if we would be all so 'hungover' had we not bagged all those medals? Mr Jakes believes we would. These games gave us more than medals, they brought us all together, cheering our team on and they put a little dazzle back into our spirits. It doesn't happen very often and you could definately sense a buzz around the towns and in shops/pubs.
So a pleasant two week binge all told, but now its back to reality with a thud and while its been great, I for one am happy to be back to normal. There is only so much high jumping and javelin one can watch, although I will be sorry not waking up to any more beach volleyball. The sight of sweaty, toned women in bikinis goes so well with a bacon sandwich and mug of freshly brewed tea I quickly discovered.
Over to you then Rio.

A Golden Legacy (There Is Hope)

Lass fantastic Jess Ennis

Heres some free advice from an old tooth to the younger lambs: forget the idiot reality television, the hideous 'Towie' creatures and plank pop stars. Put down thy warm bottles of WKD and give up your spot on street corners with the louts and look at the photo above. Jessica Ennis is your new role model.
If there is to be any worthwhile legacy from these London 2012 olympic games, then it must be that Britain's young will look to Ennis, Farah and the reast of Team GB, switch off the television and get out and start chasing their dreams. You can achieve whatever you want to in this life, you really can. Just look at the photographs plastered all over the newspapers to see the evidence. Or better still count the Gold medals. Who needs the foul Jordan and Jodie Marsh when you have real role models aplenty in Team GB?
I admit I went into these games with the black dog of doubt snapping at my heels, believing the only winners and legacy from them would be big buisness and lardy politicians buttering their own bread. And this is still true of course but now after witnessing the success of our spunky athletes, I can see something more special being brewed: inspired youth.

Where Stones Are Set

Grand view

Dai Jakes is a trifle bored with all the whining about empty seats and security gaffs at these London 2012 games. By the Heavens, if moaning and griping were olympic events, some peole would be sure fire Gold medal winners, including my good self but I digress.
I want to talk about the venues. One thing these games have, and have in abundance are historic places to hold the events. Don't think so? Allow me to change your mind.

Wimbledon for tennis.
Lord's cricket gound: archery.
Horse Guards Parade: beach volleyball.
Earls Court: again for volleyball
Greenwich Park on the River Thames and London's oldest Royal park dating back to 1433: Equestrian events.
Hyde Park: Triathlon, 10k Open Water Swim.
Regents Park: road cycling
Royal Artillery Barracks: Shooting, Paralympic Shooting, Paralympic Archery
Wembley Stadium: football.

I don't think we're doing too badly myself. No disrespect to America and Australia but being younger countries, Sydney and Atlanta couldn't offer spots like the above for olympic venues. Yeah yeah that bridge in Sydney harbour is nice enough but its hardly London Bridge with all the class and elegance this old timer has. These places haven't simply been knocked up in the last few years, these are iconic venues which have made their mark on hundreds of history books.
Im willing to wager that every great British writer from Milton to Amis has walked through Greenwich Park. And Horse Guards Parade? The political HQ for the United Kingdom. I bet that place could name drop a few important folk if it were able to lay it stony hand on a tongue.
So while we have admittedly had a few mishaps, having these games in London has at least been visually pleasing. A lot of racing videogames have their circuits screaming around the capital city, and I always thought it cool to see Big Ben and Parliment in the background as I whizzed by in a modded Skyline. Always knew a major sporting event would look good there and now we know for certain.

Okay interwebz, continue with thy moaning. Dai Jakes has left the building.

To Be Seen Is To Be Queen

Just brilliant!

What can I say? Eager was I to put a wordy bullet into the ceremonial body of the opening of London Games 2012, but after watching the show last night and on more than one instance of catching my jaw, I will have to keep my 'gun' in safe in its holster. It was spectacular!
This was a riot of a show perforated with ghostly reflections of the past and held together by the solemn girth of hymns and the proud pomp that only trumpets can produce.
I concede that director Danny Boyle did make some bits hard for those outside the UK to 'get' but presumably they understood the significance given to our literature/music and our contribution to the modern world through the industrial revolution through to the world wide web. Im also guessing they understood our world renowned quirky, self mocking sense of humour, and the acknowledgement that by and large we manage to be a people of tolerance and community.
Kudos must go to Her Majesty for her first 'acting' debut alongside 007 Daniel Craig (see above video) and that entrance was shall we say inspired. Very very cool. Who would ever have guessed it was the real Queen that had her back to Bond as he entered the room? Delightfully sporting of you Ma'am!
So a great ceremony all told (apart from Paul MacCartney but thats personal to me because I dislike his music) and I pity the organisers of the next Olympics in Rio in four years time.

Backing the London Games?

London Games 2012. Its almost upons us and the great British public are all behind this Olympics. We shall all be glued to our fabulous new 3D giant screens, bought for the event and waving our little Union Jack flags (pack of ten for a fiver in major supermarkets) with smug patriotic smiles carved into every jolly face. Brittania rules the waves! God bless the Queen guv'nor, we are British innit?
Now call me cynical but Dai Jakes isn't easily fooled so off I went to collect the thoughts of the public. And because its far too nice weather to go walking the streets with a microphone, annoying shoppers and dodging 11am drunks, I decided to trawl the comments sections of online newspapers and forums. So, is the UK really backing the 2012 games? See for yourself.

"I for one will not be watching OUR TAX money going up in smoke just for the hoi polloi to enjoy while we are saturated with this debacle most of us did not want or need."

"I'll tell you what's in it for me. A 1 hour traffic jam before 6am becuase some bright spark wants to close roads when no Olympic traffic actually needs them."

"So far out of all the Olympics hype there has been little discussion about the athletes themselves. Is it me or has it all got a bit too commercial and going the same direction as Christmas."

"No wonder the taxman is squeezing us,god knows how much money will go up in smoke that could help the soldier heroes pensions."

"Ive seen part of the opening ceremony. Against the technical brilliance of the Chinese Olympic ceremony Its predictably embarrassing and most of the world outside Britain won't get it. Laser shows are so 80's and mexican waves as cheesy as they come. Farm animals, London buses, a cricket team, lots of fake rain and manufactured music topped off with the usual generic fireworks. So where did £240m go?"

Are we all feeling the love yet? No? Okay continue.

"I predict for most the Olympic legacy will be the £5 ice cream,the £10 pint of beer and the £5 cup of tea,and a hike in their rent if they live in London. In other words nothing but financial woes.
Not all doom and gloom,because those with their noses in the trough, see the games as a wonderful opportunity to do some profiteering."

"Benefit from the games? Maybe if you come from a shite hole in Africa, I can see that my cat's litter box would be a step up. However, for us that see this whole sham as nothing more than a vehicle for the rich and greedy to get even more obscenely richer, you will have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm."

"Well they won't improve my life unless they improve the accessibility of sport to me (which I very much doubt). Having McDonalds as sponsers shows how much the people running the olympics care about other people's health."

"What a load of rubbish this Olympic farce has become. Looking at the London Olympics in 1948 compared to this joke is embarrassing; I dread to think what will be conjured up for the opening ceremony. The sooner this circus is over the better."

"The Olympics are a disgusting sham - a pathetic attempt by the government to get us to ignore the biting social and economic problems in the UK, not to mention a prime opportunity for Tory cronies and mega-corps to rake in obscene profits at the expense of the taxpayer.
Don't forget the rampant drug cheating in practically every Olympic sport and the way ordinary small businesses and local residents have been banned from using specific terms like "London", "Summer" and "2012" in their advertising. Also, we were all English during the World Cup - now suddenly we're all a part of Team GB?"

"The Olympics have already been hijacked, by the IOC & Locog plutocrats, by McDonalds, Coca Cola and other supersizing junk food parasites and by the Westminster autocrats and their stormtroopers in Whitehall.
Londoners and those living in London have been advised to stay at home, not to use public transport or in any way get in the way of the Olympic plutocrats being whisked round the city on public roads closed to the public.
For several weeks the sovereignty of the UK and the freedom of
Londoners has been surrendered to the government securocrats, the Olympic nabobs and to the general circus economics of staging this event. It compromises the ability of people in London to do their job and earn a living,
it tramples on the freedoms of ordinary people, it is accountable
to nobody outside the Olympic plutocracy and gives free reign to the games branding police now roaming our streets and bullying our businesses.
London is now at the mercy of alien commercial interests, kudos for the political classes and the hysterical phony patriotism."

Our Daley Bread

All this talk about who should light the flame for London 2012 is a nonsense. Everyone knows it ought to be Daley Thompson, if only for this computer game alone.

The Games Need The Beckham Star

Wot no Beckham?

I believe David Beckham was the reason London got the Olympic Games in 2012. As a truly global name and clean living family man, he was its greatest ambassdor and I like many many others never imagined his place in Team GB would ever be in doubt. (And remember im not even a football fan). But alas Beckham will have no part in the Games because Team GB coach Stuart Pearce has left him out of the squad in favour of three other older players, namely Ryan Giggs, Craig Bellamy and some fellow called Micah Richards. Nice one! Becks practically gets London the Olympic Games single handedly (bit OTT but bare with me) and this is how he is repayed? Not good enough im afraid.
The amount of times Dai Jakes has defended David Beckham you'd think he was on the Becks' payroll (not true unfortunately) but Mr Jakes is only throwing his voice in with the majority of people. Beckham ought to be part of Team GB. Yes he's 37 but he's still very fit and playing professional football, even if is out in Los Angeles. He's as fit as any other plater will be and at exactly the same stage of his career as Ryan Giggs. And dare I say it, Beckham will give 110% everytime, he always does for his country (unlike others I could mention).
Now like I say, I admit to not being a football fan, so I am not aware of Stuart Pearces achievements in the sport but he is being foolish in this decision. (Not to mention a tad spiteful). Even as I type this piece, fans on the radio are phoning in by the dozen to say that one of the reasons they wanted tickets for the football in the Olympics was to see David Beckham and now many have said they will sell their tickets on. Why? Because David Beckham has a star quality that rises way way beyond any other player and its a disgrace that Pearce has left him out. A decision which will hurt the games, you'll see.

Olympic Fever in Carmarthen

Jail Hill gets in the mood

The Olympic Torch passed through Carmarthen yesterday and of course the Dai Jake's Book was there to see this fairly historic event. (Its a kind of a once in a lifetime deal). As you can see from the photographs and videos here, the weather was fabulous and the same can be said of the folks who turned up to cheer the torch on its way (Pembrokeshire and Aberystwyth after us).
Carmarthen Athletics ground and park (where we were) was buzzing with excitement and thanks to the brass band playing old classics, it all felt awfully British. Especially when the vintage cars rolled up, both Welsh and Union Jack flags flapping lazily from their bonnets.


Vintage British cars on show


And the band played on

The torch began its journey in Swansea and passed through (among others) Llanelli, Burry Port, Kidwelly, Carmarthen, Haverfordwest, Fishguard and Aberystwyth in order to spread a little Olympic fever around west Wales. Whatever you think of the forthcoming games in London (im not a big fan myself), there was no denying the 'feel good' factor in town yesterday.
Many thanks to my friend Hannah for that great close up shot of the torch (below).


Photo courtesy of Hannah Sian Griffiths Harries

I probably won't be watching much of London Olympics when it starts but I must admit that Dai Jakes enjoyed that community spirit yesterday. Our Wales fach did us proud and seeing the torch photographed against the equally historic old gaol is something very special indeed. Da Iawn pawb!


Mind the minor grumble

Olympic 007

James Bond is to open the 2012 Olympic games ceremony its been revealed. And after a personal invite from the Queen no less! Forgive my lack of enthusiasm but this for me is now 100% snooze city because not only do I find 007 films to be dull affairs* (I dont care how many gadgets he has, he's just a boring version of Batman) but olympic sport events put me to sleep like visual valium. Honestly, I could find more interesting things in a bottle of clear water. And I dont care if this is a Royal Appointment, it sounds naff. Oh were human beings able to hibernate!


*To be fair, Daniel Craig has made me want to watch his grittier version of Bond. All credit to the man.

24 Hour Shopping Shocker!

So Chinless George will announce on wednesday (Dai Jakes is announcing it today) that sunday trading laws will be relaxed while the Olympics is on to allow us to enjoy 24 hour shopping. Nevermind that nobody has any money to buy anything eh Georgie?
Whoo! 24 hour shopping! Stand back in amazement! Is it just me or does it seem terribly old fashioned that shops don't open 24 hours anyway? We have pubs open sunday all day, 24 hour banking and internet shopping. Seems odd to have to wait for a store to open on the high street. I doubt people will be that bothered to be honest because like I said, we're all broke.