Against the Clock

Three years to go until 2012 London Olympics

This weekend just gone was given over to widespread anticipation of all things Olympic as London prepares for the games - with just three years to go. This is the biggest event in the city since the millennium celebrations and the whole world is watching to see if we can pull it off.

Let's just hope the 2000 celebrations aren't anything to go by. The landmark Millennium structures - The Millennium Dome, as was (now The O2), and Millennium Bridge - may be a great success today but these sizeable projects did take a little time to bed down. Neither was an instant success (the first commonly referred to as 'troubled', and the other wobbled) but, like a fine wine, both have improved over time.

Looks like we're better prepared for the far bigger budgeted Olympics (in the billions, not the Millennium millions) which, we have been reassured, is both on schedule and on target financially. No embarrassing half-finished stadiums are forecast at this stage. Remember Athens? A rushed job meant a city covered in dust and concerns about the stadium roof which just about went on in time. The New Acropolis Museum, a grand opening planned to tie in with the games in 2004, has only just happened - five years after the Olympic flame went out.

But the recent Olympics Open Weekend was all about generating good news and excitement around the forthcoming games. The highlight of the weekend for 150 lucky competition winners and their plus ones was a sneak preview inside the Olympic Stadium site which promted one visitor to describe the arena as having the "feel of the Rome Colisseum". The 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium 'bowl', the Zaha Hadid-designed iconic aquatic centre with its wave-shaped roof as well as all new permanent venues on the Olympic Park are now under construction.

More than 750 events were held nationwide to mark the three year countdown with the launch in London kicked off by the Barbican Young Orchestra and a stand-out performance by a brilliant young trumpeter. After two days of dance, art and plenty more cultural happenings people turned up for the weekend's finale: to watch a giant line of dominoes created out of concrete blocks being toppled along the 15-kilometre route through the five boroughs where the games will take place. The rectangular blocks were laid out across roads, parks and through an art gallery, running from Newham to the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich where an hour-long show signalled the end.

With £80 million committed to the cultural Olympiad, we can look forward to more treats like this with a programme of events, festivals, showcases and street theatre planned. The cultural offering designed to complement the sporting side of things started in 2008 with Martin Creed's Work No. 850 which saw runners pegging it up and down the Duveen gallery in Tate Britain. Further Open Weekends are planned each year until the games open and a programme of arts events will continue until a few days before the grand 2012 opening proving that it's not just the sports side that benefits.

One of the major projects closer to the time is a BBC-led music festival on the weekend of 21st and 22nd July 2012, a week before the opening ceremony, which sees five large-scale outdoor stages set up along the Thames, each featuring music and performing arts from different continents.

This weekend, as Lord Coe lined up for a photo op with ballerinas, Boris boarded the Olympic Javelin train from St Pancras to Stratford for its virgin journey (made it without a hitch in under seven minutes - why can't all tube journeys be like this?). Whether you love or hate the marmite-like London mayor you've got to admire his one-liners. His response to concerns that the stadium roof will only provide cover for two-thirds of the seats, leaving some spectators soaked? "Rumours of our wetness are greatly exaggerated."

Pop-ups Keep Cropping Up

Call it a silver lining of the recession, but we've notice there are all manner of pop-ups cropping up all over London. No sooner have we heard about a pop-up shop/art gallery/night club temporarily coming to town than it closes down again. In a city where there's something new happening every day it's hard to keep up. Take the Alternative Arts backed Portman Village Galleries - turning disused spaces in Seymour Place and Quebec Street into art galleries. And here's one pop-up to look out for (and plenty of warning to get there too): from 8th to 13th October Pierre Koffmann of La Tante Claire fame will be heading an all-star line-up at a short-lived restaurant on the roof of Selfridges - part of the Fay Maschler-backed London Restaurant Festival. Pop up and tuck in.

Stirling Work

Maggie's Centre in Hammersmith is one of three London buildings up for the Stirling Prize, the prestigious award given each year by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). Kentish Town Health Centre by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris and Eric Parry Architects' 5 Aldermanbury Square, an 18-storey office block near the Barbican in the City, are the other two London hopefuls. Maggie's Centre is one of two entries by Richard Rogers' London-based practice, Rogers Stirk Harbour. (Has anyone else noticed that from the outside Maggie's looks like they left the builders' hoarding up?). But it's for their Spanish winery, Bodegas Protos near Valladolid, that Rogers Stirk Harbour is tipped to win. Tune in again on 17th October to find out.

Move Over Mr Whippie

An ice cream van turf war has broken out in the usually peaceful province of Primrose Hill, an area famous for its pleasant park and celebrity residents. Helen Tindale, 48, who sells organic ice cream from her Nice-Green Van was threatened with stabbing when she tried to sell her iced treats from her van on Regent's Park Road. This follows a previous attack in May when a 33-year-old ice cream seller was beaten up in Albert Terrace. We're sure Mr Whippie would not condone this kind of thing.

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