Grumpy Guide to the XXXth Olympiad !

So I have just received a large parcel from the postie -  my Olympics tickets...hurrah!!! 

Well, all 2 of them for the hockey in the Riverbank arena in the Olympic Park that I received on the third purchase attempt. On the ticket it says that we are in the disabled area - I have no problem with that but it just seems a bit bizarre...probably due to the fact that the tickets were printed 6 months ago in Arkansas and then air freighted 4,500 miles to the UK; then a further £6 to send to me. Another multi million pound deal awarded to British companies by LOCOG.

Oh, and of course I can't take my 9 month old son to see the London Olympics because babies have to have their own ticket....not that it was hard enough getting 2 tickets!

Then I popped to the Official Olympic store in St.Pancras station and bought my "2 for £10" pin badges sourced from... China....bargain. I don't really think I will be buying much more Olympic merchandise, except maybe one of the limited edition (only 2,012) Team GB Olympic "reflection paperweights" for £70.

Of course I will go and see the free cycling in and around South London though, because, it's free...not that I can post any pictures to my social networking sites since LOCOG has ruled that the sights and sounds of the games cannot be uploaded to sites such as facebook, Twitter and YouTube. I am probably not even legally permitted to post this photo above!! 

A Locog spokeswoman has said: "Images, video and sound recordings of the Games taken by a ticket holder (or, the Advertiser understands, roadside viewers in non-ticketed areas) can only be used for private purposes."

"In addition a ticket holder may not license, broadcast or publish video and/or sound recordings, including on social networking websites and the internet more generally, and may not exploit images, video and/or sound recordings for commercial purposes under any circumstances, whether on the internet or otherwise, or make them available to third parties for commercial purposes."

I also can't wait for Danny Boyle's, £27m opening ceremony show, entitled "Isles of Wonder", as another golden opportunity to whinge along with animal rights campaigners!!

It will feature 100 farmyard animals set in a "green and pleasant land", with cricketers playing on a village green and ploughs tilling the fields in a three-hour show that will include: 12 horses, 3 cows, 2 goats, 10 chickens, 10 ducks, 9 geese, 70 sheep and 3 sheep dogs, a few cricketers and farmers.

Hey, at least I received 2 free travel cards to get to the Olympic Park! Roll on 27 July and the hockey and my Maccy D's and Coke.