Tug of War, once a part of Ancient Olympics, was also once a part of the modern Olympics

Tug of war was contested as a team event in the Summer Olympics at every Olympiad from 1900 to 1920. Originally the competition was entered by clubs, which meant that one country could win several medals. This happened in 1904, when the United States won all three medals, and in 1908 when the podium was occupied by three British teams. Sweden was also among the top …

A brochure from the Olympics – the map from the London Tube

  I’ve got two maps for you. The first is the slippy map above from London Town: I like the…hand-drawn feel of the map. Venues are shown in indicative locations rather than being geographically correct, as the details of London between the venues are missed out. This makes it a very poor map for navigating …

The complete TV schedule for the 2012 London Olympics

Here are the big events for Fri/Sat, with the full schedule available from the L.A. Times – 2012 London Olympics on TV   Friday 2012 Summer Olympics 7:30 p.m. Friday, NBC: Opening Ceremony: London, the first city to host the Olympics three times, welcomes the world and Queen Elizabeth II officially opens the Games. (N)   Saturday 2012 …

Orange County has become a dominant location for Olympic athletes to live/train

There seems to be a competition between San Diego (who is sending 80 athletes) and Orange County, for the king of the Olympics:   If Orange County was a nation it would have ranked among the top 10 in gold medals at each of the past two Summer Olympics. At the 2004 Games in Athens, Orange …

Adventure playground is open! – mud slide, rafting, fort building, rope bridge

The kids will get dirty. At this Central Park adventure, kids will hammer, saw wood, make forts, push themselves around in the shallow water on a raft and do all sorts of climbing, jumping and whatever they choose. Kids can raft on a small pond, navigate a rope bridge, use a cable slide, go down …

San Onofre Nuclear Plant shut down for the summer – does Southern California still need it?

This summer may be just a test run for operating Southern California’s electrical grid without a nuclear plant. The latest report on the outage at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station shows the replacement of four massive steam generators was accompanied by serious design flaws, with no clear solution in sight. Both stakeholders in San …

It’s summertime! – Julia Fischer performs “Summer” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons

It’s summertime – what better time to enjoy the talented Julia Fischer performing “Summer” from Vivaldi’s Four Seasons – John Hagel     – Summer “Allegro Non Molto; Adagio-Presto-Adagio; Presto” (The Four Seasons) – From The National Botanical Gardens of Wales; – Julia Fischer en el violin; acompañada de “Academy of St Martin in the …

Travel writing – visiting the tiny island of Giglio, a wrecked cruise ship in the harbor and old-time Tuscany in the villages

  GIGLIO ISLAND, Italy — My ferry was full of school groups, delivery trucks and tourists when we left the Tuscan port of Santo Stefano and headed toward the island of Giglio, 12 miles away. I sat on deck with the other foreigners, enjoying the spring sunshine: It was too cold for the Italians, who huddled downstairs …

Silicon Beach Fest – this weekend in Santa Monica – June 21-23 – the SXSW of Los Angeles

Silicon Beach Fest is LA’s first festival organized by its tech community to celebrate LA tech, entertainment & startups with panels, keynotes, workshops, mixers, and more at a dozen venues focused in Santa Monica and Venice on June 21-23, 2012. Head to the beach on the first weekend of summer to celebrate LA’s digital innovators! …