OLYMPIC JOY Can London win over the Scots? I ‘If moaning becomes an Olympic sport.’ grumbled Paul Sinclair in The Daily Record. ‘a number of Scots would do well at the 2012 London Games. It took Nats‘ MSP Alex Neil all of a minute to put out a press release after London won the games to warn it would be bad for Scotland. According to Neil, we‘ll have to watch the Cockneys or they'll nick at least £70 million of our lottery funds.’
Sinclair‘s optimism (‘good on London for winning . . . they are an opportunity for Scotland too') was in fact cautiously echoed across the Scottish media. “Could the London Olympics be to health and fitness in this country what the Make Poverty History campaign has been to poverty in Africa?‘, wondered The Herald. rather vaguely.
Amidst all this generosity there were a few doubters. ‘One now looks forward to historic landmarks, such as Trafalgar Square and Wimbledon, hosting beach volleyball and egg- and—spoon races.’ chortled Alan Taylor in The Sunday Herald. before being rude about Sebastian Coe.
Pouting winsomely from the pages of The Scotsman. Bruce Anderson sniffed that everyone was happy about the Olympics. ‘I decided I preferred my Londoners with rolled umbrellas and stiff upper lips . . . post-Diana, this facile descent into sentiment seems to be a part of London public life.‘ After the bombs. he cheered up immensely. ‘Walking through central London on a Thursday morning was a moving experience.’ he beamed. ‘l felt proud to live among these Londoners.‘
LONDON ATTACKS
Blogs and mobile phones spearheaded the news reporting I The shocking speed with which events unfolded in London on 7 July put the internet wings of the major news organisations under pressure. Even the usually comprehensive BBC and Guardian Unlimited found themselves scrabbling for verifiable facts. Less official sources, offering
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The next generation is here. Sort of.
I The new games consoles are on their way, and everyone is excited. XBM (‘the bestselling Xbox magazine’) comes with an Xbox 360 supplement - despite the fact that the console itself won't be out for six months. ‘The Xbox 360 unveiling may have been dampened by a Sony E3 [the LA electronics showcase] showing filled with empty promises . . . but Microsoft may still have the last laugh,’ says the mag, thrilled that Xbox flagship Halo 3 will be released at the same time as the Playstation 3.
I According to XBM, Sony’s glossy game player ‘will probably fail to make its spring 2006 launch date.’ But Play (‘the best unofficial PS3, P82 and PSP magazine’), and PSW (‘the UK’s bestselling independent Playstation magazine’), don't seem bothered. For Play the Playstation 3 is ‘the future of home entertainment’ and ‘30 times more powerful’ than the P82. PSW is even more confident: the PS3 ‘is the entire future of gaming.’
I For those tired of petty tribalism, pixelated cleavage shots and free cheat guides. Edge ('videogame culture‘) concludes that, ‘considering the silicon powering each box isn’t even finished', we are probably rash to be making any comparisons. Then again, as one anonymous UK software developer told them, tongue wedged in cheek: ‘Both consoles are obviously better and higher definition than each other. Why would Sony or Microsoft lie?’
devastation. The mainstream media weren‘t slow to catch up: Scotland on Sunday reproduced a mobile shot of the bomb‘s aftermath on its second page. The ” v BBC, Sky News and ITN all used ~. ‘ " 1- video clips from mobile phones on ' their bulletins. Many saw this democratisation as hugely significant, with one nameless BBC broadcaster telling The
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‘l worship him and told him I’d sweep his floor if he would employ me in such a fashion. He just looked at me and said: “Who are you?!”
Madoz ll la IS brought Crash/'1 lg down lo Call/l by Ricky Ger vals.
‘lt’s true that things have changed a lot for me since I started going out with Kate. Loads of amazing women seem to think I’m a sex god.’
7/;1/ rgs axe rival/y looking up fOr Pele Doherly
‘I’m not saying anything bad about anyone, but Joss Stone’s album all sounds the same.’
Charlotte Church says something bad about SO/IIQO/le.
‘If I have some free time there are two or three girls I might date. But they have to understand what comes first in my life: tennis. And after that, more tennis.’ That and Andrew .lrlui'ray breaks some limits.
‘I am definitely a huge movie fan. One of my favourite people in the world is Dolly Parton. She’s my role model, and she can do it all.’
Joss/ca Sill‘SO/I has big ambit/Oils.
‘I went to university and used to be a nurse and was saving people’s lives and then suddenly it was as though I was just a pair of boobs. And as much as I love doing sexy modelling, I want to move forward a bit.’
Ab/ T/lmuSS COleen/enl/y fax/s to n :0/ ‘llO/l her new book, Ten Fantasies.
Guardian that it was ‘revolutionary' and represented ‘a lileclia turning point'.
www.flickr.com were soon brimming with images, most taken with mobile phones, of the
more personal responses, were more up to date. Online photo- swopping resources such as
8 1’“! LIST 7-21 Oct 2004