Tag: Olympics

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London's Underground Stations to Get WiFi Just in Time for the Olympics

March 30, 2011 at 8:31 AM | by | Comments (0)

We still need to get through the Royal Wedding before finalizing our plans for the 2012 Olympics, but if need be, we might be able to plan things on the fly when the fun rolls around next year. London is moving full-speed ahead in preparation for next year’s games, and it looks like Tube stations will also be getting some spit polishing.

Unfortunately the upgrade doesn’t include air conditioning, but they do involve a little bit of technology. The city is attempting to bring WiFi to the London Underground before the 2012 Olympics, which means no more dropped signals on your smartphone when you’re forced to head below street level.

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London 2012 Tickets Will Be Pretty Pricey (Unless You're Into Synchronized Swimming)

October 18, 2010 at 12:30 PM | by | Comments (0)

The table of prices from the Daily Mail

Were you planning to go to the 2012 Olympics in London? Then you’d better start saving now. Officially, tickets for each event range from £20 ($32) to £725 ($1153), but according to the Daily Mail, those cheap seats will be for events such as the synchronized swimming final (£30/$48). And no offence to synchronized swimmers, but it’s hardly the 100m sprint, is it?

Luckily, the athletics finals tickets start at £50, so they’re still affordable. Football will cost a little more at £65 and boxing is the most expensive event, with tickets from £95.

Of course, if you want the top seats, you’ll have to dig deep – they range from £185 for volleyball to £725 for athletics and £2012 for the opening ceremony.

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Will the 2012 London Olympics See a Return of the Concorde?

June 2, 2010 at 8:38 AM | by | Comments (0)

Although we think this idea is totally awesome, there’s little to no chance that the Concorde is going to fly again anytime soon. Hopefully we’ll be wrong, and that’s exactly what bunch of rich smarty pants people are hoping as well. A team is starting to check out the condition of the engines on an Air France Concorde, and if all goes well, they'd like to get her up and flying by sometime in 2012.

Right now the supersonic society is gathering at the Le Bourget Air and Space Museum —just one of the spots to see a preserved Concorde—to work on their plans. The funds for this project are coming from the UK-based Save Concorde Group, as well as Olympus 593 based in France. The very first tests will see exactly how many cobwebs are clogging the engines, and if there is any chance of the plane successfully performing a ground taxi.

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'Follow Apolo' To Hawaii For Free With Alaska Airlines

March 16, 2010 at 9:00 AM | by | Comments (0)

The Olympics already seem like a distant memory, but Alaska Airlines is attempting to continue to cash in on the quest for gold, silver, and bronze. The airline has teamed up with everyone’s favorite speed skater and reality show star Apolo Anton Ohno to promote one of their warmer destinations.

They want us to “Follow Apolo” for a chance for a free trip to Hawaii. You can enter right here, and you’ll soon be dreaming of flying to Maui for four nights. No cheap accommodations either, as they’ll be putting the winners up at the Grand Wailea. Just take it easy with the umbrella drinks, because you’ll also be attending a luau with the Olympic hero. Hopefully they’ll time the schedules right, and the winners will get to fly on the airplane with a new special Apolo paint job.

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Few Celebs Are Willing To Brave Filming in Vancouver During The Olympics

February 11, 2010 at 2:00 PM | by | Comment (1)

After Los Angeles and New York City, Vancouver hosts the most TV shows and movies in North America. And, even though others are making a profit off the 2010 Winter Olympics, the city's film industry has decided to take a breather until the snow bunnies and news crews are gone. That means there will only be five productions working around the commotion, including a new movie starring James McAvoy and Fringe.

I'm With Cancer, which is being produced by Seth Rogen, a Vancouver native, is the only movie that will brave the chaos of the Olympics. The movie is set to begin production sometime in the next two weeks, right in the thick of Olympic fever. The movie stars Rogen and James McAvoy, who recently made it clear he felt there may be some logistical issues during the shoot. "We're going to be the only movie filming in Vancouver during the Olympics," he said. "There is a reason no one else is filming during the Olympics."

Only four of the series that regularly shoot on location in Vancouver will also stick it out during the games. Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, will continue shooting the fifth season of Supernatural in order to stick to a scheduled hiatus that begins next month. The show frequently films rural exteriors outside of the city centre and will most likely continue to do so for the next two weeks.

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Heading to the Vancouver Olympics? Don't Forget to Get Nude!

February 1, 2010 at 5:42 PM | by | Comment (1)

With the start of the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, Canada less than two weeks ago, it's about time that we reflect back on the true meaning of the Olympics: nudity. Although it'll be the Winter Olympics up in cold British Columbia, we're sure that there'll be at least a few die-hard "nakationers" taking time out to watch the Bobsled racers in their body stocking, we're not sure that a naked luge would be such a great idea.

Still, there are those out there who argue for a return to the naked times of the ancient Greeks:

With the Vancouver Olympics just two weeks away, members of the American Association for Nude Recreation believe it’s time to take a fresh look at the robust ways of the ancient Greeks, who performed feats of strength and skill during the first Olympics. And, to point out that the first Olympics was the earliest documented form of, you guessed it, nude recreation. In the ancient city of Olympia, the site of these first Olympics, the athletes always competed in the nude. In fact, in Greek, 'gymnos' means 'nude.'

You learn something new everyday, don't ya? So we think we'll also celebrate the beginning of the Olympics and the start of nude recreation by getting naked too...in the shower.

Related Stories:
· Olympics news [Jaunted]

[Photo: jbcurio]

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Thinking of a Master Plan: Snazzy Video Nabs 2016 Olympics for Rio

October 3, 2009 at 12:34 PM | by | Comments (0)

As an American, I was disappointed that Chicago didn't win the 2016 Summer Olympics, but I've got to admit that Rio looks like a pretty spectacular choice. I've never been, but watching their official candidate commercial yesterday moved it to the top of my list of dream trips. Today I happened upon the city's master plan pitch, and it really looks like Brazilian officials have thought this thing through. I'm not surprised the I.O.C. believed that South America in general, and Rio in particular, would be the perfect host for the games.

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And The 2016 Olympic City Is...Rio de Janeiro!

October 2, 2009 at 1:16 PM | by | Comment (1)

It's time to break out the Mardi Gras beads and barely-there bustiers and learn how to spell "Rio de Janeiro" without hesitating, because Rio is indeed the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games. All this morning and early afternoon, the world was glued to their TVs and Twitter as the Olympic Committee first heard final pleas from the delegations from Chicago (Prez Obama was there), Rio, Tokyo and Madrid and then announced their decision in favor of the first Olympics to be held in South America.

While people rush onto Copacabana and Ipanema beaches to celebrate, we can already imagine the tour operators and airlines brainstorming their deals for travel to Brazil in 2016 and even these next few years as the city strengthen its infrastructure and emerges as a true hot destination.

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The 'O Team' Heads To Copenhagen To Push 'Chicago 2016'

October 1, 2009 at 9:36 AM | by | Comment (1)

Tomorrow is the big day! On October 2, the Olympic Committee will announce the host city for the 2016 Olympics, and it's a hot race right down to the last minute for finalist cities Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, and Madrid. These final 24 hours have been particularly important to the decision-making process, as each city flew their star-power spokespeople to Copenhagen, Denmark to make final pleas before the Committee.

While soccer star Pelé did what he could for Rio's case, Chicago's representation was a bit more impressive with both Oprah and Michelle Obama stepping up to the podium to pitch The Windy City. Oprah might rule it these days, you see, but Michelle was born there and remains a Second City gal, even if her residence is now the White House.

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Vancouver Cracks Down on Olympics Ticket Resales

May 27, 2009 at 12:48 PM | by | Comments (0)

It's certainly not too early to start thinking about travel to next year's Winter Olympics, which take over Vancouver in February 2010. Just make sure you know who you're buying tickets from.

Olympic organizers recently filed suit in a Canadian court seeking to stop the website RoadTrips.com from reselling tickets to the Winter Games. A similar suit earlier this year tried to stop Coast2Coast Tickets from doing the same thing. The groups buy up event tickets and then sell them as part of larger Olympics travel packages, a practice organizers are seeking to crack down on.

While these brokers claim their sales are legit, we'd say the safest bet is to stick to official tix. The next phase of event tickets go on sale June 6 via the Olympics website.

Related Stories:
· Vancouver 2010 [Official Site]
· Olympic organizers sue travel company [The Canadian Press]
· Looking Ahead To The 2010 Vancouver Olympics [Jaunted]

[Photo: jeffwilcox]

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Don't Just Choose Chicago, Explore It!

Where: Chicago, IL
January 19, 2009 at 12:30 PM | by | Comments (0)

Chicago called and it wants you to get more active. Or at least that's the message we're getting from the Chicago Office of Tourism's new site Explore Chicago, a dynamic (at least in name) change from its former web-home ChooseChicago.com.

ExploreChicago.org shares a background color and a similar slow rotation of chipper photos with its predecessor, but it gives more on-page real estate to newsy items like hotel deals and anything involving Barack Obama. (Not surprising -- banners with the Shepard Fairey Obama design still carpeted downtown when we were there a few weeks ago.)

We're liking the event search on the front page and the "Travel Tools" pull-down menu, although we're skeptical about this Insider Profile -- would mild-mannered Lin really join the drunken crowds at The Wiener's Circle? [NSFW!]

We're guessing the website enhancements could be tied to the Windy City's bid for the 2016 Summer Games as it faces off against 2012 finalist Madrid, 1964 host Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro, which could become the first South American city to host. Chicago won't learn its fate till October, when the IOC meets in Copenhagen, but it's never too early to put on that welcoming face.

Related Stories:
· Wide-Eyed Travel: The Death-Defying Chicago Air and Water Show [Jaunted]
· Sorry Chicago: Virgin America Is Headed To Boston [Jaunted]
· Chicago Tourism coverage [Jaunted]

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Heavy Breathing Travel: Beijing Clearing the Air Again

Where: Beijing, China
October 13, 2008 at 11:50 AM | by | Comments (0)

Hey, remember China? Even though the Olympics are over, it's still there--and the air quality in Beijing is back to absolutely horrible.

To try to alleviate the pollution, the city government has reinstated restrictions on driving. Cars will only be allowed on the roads six days a week, with license plate numbers deciding who gets to drive when. Officials say the plan will keep 800,000 private vehicles off the capital's clogged streets every day.

The scheme, which began today, will be in place until at least April, and if pollution continues to worsen, the government says it may order as many as half of the city's 3.4 million cars off the road daily.

Related Stories:
· Beijing Reintroduces Car Rules [BBC]
· Our Olympics Air Quality Obsession Continues [Jaunted]

[Photo of the Pangu Plaza on August 10, 2008: xiaming]

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