Editor's Pick

once-upon-a-time-s2-ep15

Once Upon A Time

Series 2, Episode 15 The Queen Is Dead 23 May 13 00:41:02

Top Shows

Keith Quinn: Olympic sights and sounds (and feelings)

Keith Quinn

Published: 2:20AM Thursday August 02, 2012 Source: ONE Sport

The "cold" Olympics

OK, so this isn't so much a sight, rather it's a feeling - these are the "cold" Olympic Games so far.

I remember at Athens in 2004, the temperature reached 42 degrees Celsius, and at Barcelona 2004, it got so hot, I rode the lunchtime bus back to my lodgings just to shower, change shirt and drive back 10 minutes later to the same event.

But here in London, I'm grateful for a couple of sensible tees to wear under the free hand-out shirts offered to us. It only got to about 16-18 degrees some days.

Surprisingly low-presence security

We were told security would be really bad beforehand, so the army was called in. And they are here in their thousands, checking us in and out of buildings, and Olympic venues etc.

But the army lads are friendly, cheerful, and endlessly patient, and there's not been a gun in sight that I've seen.

The Duchess of Cambridge factor

It's now at the Olympic Games for the first time. Every day, the poor Kate is in every newspaper, smiling, waving, watching, reacting and, to be fair, seemingly enjoying herself hugely.

The worst example of the nation's obsession with the future Queen came when she slipped her shoes off while attending a practice with the Great Britain women's football team and kicked a ball about. About 20 photographers snapped away and one tabloid newspaper later ran a rather large picture just of her feet!

Most famous person seen so far at these Games

The giant Chinese basketball star Yao Ming.

One night, he was mobbed on the bus home from the media centre - by reporters staying at the same hotel.

The most embarrassed presenter on TV so far

The same Yao Ming, standing with his Chinese TV co-presenter at the side of the basketball court - talk about the long and short of it! Yao is 2.29m (7ft 6in) tall. His presenter colleague, standing next to him, was about 3ft 4!

The lowest-of-the-low-key presenters in London?

Easily the whole American NBC TV team of several thousands.

No gaudy tee-shirts with loud NBC lettering, no baseball caps, no ten-gallon hats, no loud signs, no nuthin' - not like at previous Games. We wonder, in this turbulent world we (they) live in, are the Yanks under special instructions to stay unobtrusive here.

British food is as bad as ever

Haddock & chips swimming in batter is still a staple dish.

As well as pies, pasties, sluggish pasta, dodgy kebabs, dripping pizzas, soggy salads - and chips, chips and more chips. To eat well these days in London, I suspect you have to pay many, many pounds.

And this bloke ain't prepared to do that.

The most controversial TV innovation seen at these games so far

The underwater super slo-mo shots of women's (and men's) water polo.

The explicit nature of the women's shots, in particular, has so horrified our Arab colleagues, they've decided women's water polo cannot be shown to their home audiences. At the same time, the down-under shots are further exposing what a physically vicious game water polo can be.

Biggest national personality changes noted so far

That clearly comes from the Chinese team.

No longer are they the quiet, dignified shrinking Asians, uncomfortable in the presence of sophisticated westerners. Increasingly, the Chinese are as open-faced, garrulous, demonstrative and affectionate as everyone else at these Olympics.

Great to see, I might add.

That old gnawing Kiwi Olympic and Commonwealth Games feeling

That's because no Kiwi had yet won a gold medal after the first week of play.

My mind, in particular, went back to Sydney 2000, Athens 2004, and the Kuala Lumpur (1998) and Delhi (2010) Commonwealth Games, when gold medals never seemed to happen for us until late in the piece.

It's a different Mike Tindall here

TV shots of the former England Rugby World Cup captain in the stands at the equestrian event showed him trying to look engrossed in the events wife Zara was competing in.

At least Zara got a runners-up medal from her most recent international event, not like party-boy Mike at our Rugby World Cup last year.

The stuffiness of British hotel rooms

Mine is room 1610 on the sixth floor (name of hotel withheld) and during the few days of high London temperatures, it was hell living there.

For a start, you can only open the two windows three inches each in the 30-degree heat and I can tell you air conditioning has not been invented yet in London.

The significant amount of smoking still seen

Especially from the world's news media outside our studio building in the narrow walkway to the dining hall.

When we make a daily dash through the haze of Gauloise and Gitanes, we're thankful we live in New Zealand.

Advertising

How do you want your news?

  • Mobile Devices

    ONE News is available on iPhone, iPad, and as a mobile site.

  • News Feeds

    See when TVNZ have added new content. You can get the latest headlines anywhere.

  • Podcasts

    Enjoy TVNZ on the move - a wide range of programmes and highlights are available.