London 2012

Latest: London wins the bid for the 2012 Olympic Games

It must be really painful for Paris, I think...losing out by the narrowest of margins of 54 votes to 50. Good grief, it must be the worst case of national so-close-yet-so-far ever. And to think that Paris had tried twice before in 20 years...to lose three bids in 20 years is quite a feat indeed. And this time round they seemed to be so on task. But I guess the IOC weren't looking for able executors of the Games only, but also something that would make the games not only successful, but also historic.

Hehheh, suddenly UCL seems like a more attractive place =)

But I do feel really sorry for the Parisians. They really needed the Olympic Games I think, much more than the Londoners. Watching BBC in the aftermath, and one reporter in Paris described the French mentality as being beseiged by the Anglo-Saxon world outside. Indeed, France seems to be withering away while Britain is reinventing itself culturally and politically. The French really need something to look forward to, and to a large extent I think this chance to host the Games was a great unifying point for the French. The Games bring something beyond monetary benefit, even beyond prestige...there is something mythical, historic, spiritual about the concept of the Olympic Games, I guess, that can have very powerful on people.

Had a talk on Entrepreneurship in the Age of Globalisation today. Was expecting it to be the same old propaganda about the delights and rewards of entrepreneurship trotted out again, but it turned out to be rather entertaining. The first question was a blisterer, bluntly delivered. I personally was quite surprised someone actually took that kind of tone with the speakers, and naturally the teacher had to intervene. But in the end it was the teacher-in-charge that looked stupid, cos the entrepreneurs couldn't afford to look like they were hiding behind authority, so they accepted the question and replied as candidly as possible, with good humour. That was most impressive...woke me up from my cynicism. Well, basically throughout the session we all knew that the session was a load of crap, and we all knew that the decorum of an educational talk was just a façade, and that whatever the speaker said would be unlikely to change the views each of us already held on entrepreneurship. So there was an interesting feeling that under the façade was a layer of frankness, so the session wasn't as pretentious as I expected. Overall they didn't say anything I didn't already hear before, but though the session was rather useless, it was entertaining, so it wasn't a total loss, or at least not as bad a loss as I expected.

Got a few tests back today...overall not too bad, I guess, nothing out of the ordinary yet, but will save a post-mortem till the thing is fully returned. Tomorrow's Soph's birthday, prepared something for the old girl. Heh, I realise I do enjoy working with glass...there're lots of interesting things you can do with the transparency and a black permanent pen. I never knew I could decorate like that, until RJGE gave me the chance to try out way back last year, and now it's like the preferred mode of present-making =P Well, hope she has a good day tomorrow. Hope she can see the worth of her own self; competing with others is of course necessary, but you also need a sense of perspective that offers a comparison with only yourself - your past and your potential. Otherwise dissatisfaction can set in.

pondered by phoenican @ 6.7.05