QueenZone discussion #579077
Mail to Brian's Soapbox re London's Olympic Bid
| Benn 05.07.2005 05:56 |
Thought this may be of interest to some if not all: Brian, I refer you to my previous mail of 13.05 (and included below), and I have to say that, whilst not being surprised that you (or your Editor / human firewall) chose not to either acknowledge or respond to it, you then CONTINUE to rally against the Olympic bid proposal. Sorry, but I'm feeling depressed - well, sad, at least. The whole of Britain (even if there is debate about the details of how to fix it) is focussed on the issue of children dying unnecessarily in Africa. Where is our Prime Minister ? Many people may have asked that question of you whilst you were so "focussed" on promoting projects like "The Pepsi Ad" and "Queen+ 5ive" at the expense of what really mattered - ie Queen and it's lasting legacy. The PM has to balance off his workload as best he can - just like anyone. But, (and I'm no fan of his) he has absolutely nowhere to hide. The fact that Mr Blair will be at the G8 conference and has OPENLY (and let's be very clear on this point) been in support of the proposals and OPENLY questioning the role of Mr Bush and his stance, surely indicates that the fate of Africa as a continent and it's peoples are very high on his agenda. In Singapore? Why ? Oh, to "go all out". What is this this thing that's worth going all out for ? Ah .. London getting the Olympic Games. And this is vital, is it ? Vital to whom ?? We all want the Olympic Games to continue, of course. But why are some so desperate to have it in England ? What the Olympics will do is to put London / the UK right at the top of the tree in terms of world awareness. It will bring much needed employment and redevelopment in areas of London that have been neglected for so long - and I'd have thought that, as a Feltham boy yourself, you would welcome, with open arms, ANYTHING that is likely to benefit what is simply the greatest city in the world. For our great Olympians to back the bid, they are laying down their reputations as Britons in the expectation that this nation can truly compete on the world stage and to be absolutely proud of that. I find it hard to understand that even people who have no love for sport (as you clearly show) can not see this as a wonderful thing for the country and it's various cultures and economies. Why not let, say, Russia have it, if it would help their economy. The only motivations I can see for all this "effort" are rooted in selfishness. Why? Simply because the corruption that Mr Putin heads up would destroy the whole of the Olympic ideal. How can it be selfish when all the re-development of London is designed to provide employment in the short-term and unrivalled sporting facilities for the long-term? Wouldn't it be a shock if the transport improvements suggested in the bid document had a positive impact in the long-term on travel for ALL in London? Would you complain? No, but then you don't use public transport, do you? Add to this the fact that the Paralympics that follows the main event would then be staged at exactly the same places and would mean that athletes with disabilities would be given use of the very best facilities in which to display their talents, and I think you have a recipe for the UK go give back to it's people and the people of the world. Kind regards Benn Kempster ................................................. Brian, I was hugely disappointed to read the following comments from you regarding the Londong bid for the 2012 Olympic bid: How incredible that London, of all European major cities, has the WORST apology for a large music venue ... and no prospect of an improvement. The question that begs answering here is "How did you get yourselves in that position in the first place?". The London Docklands Arena is a wonderful venue, although slightly difficult to get to on the DLR. The |
| John S Stuart 05.07.2005 08:26 |
In a similar vein. Let me say right at the start - I am NOT a scientist. I am however both thankful and impressed with the expanse of human knowledge which first, separated us from our animal cousins, and then pulled us free from the dark middle-ages, and if that sounds like Clark/Kubrick's - 2001 - then it is meant to, because I hope human knowledge and advancement is NOT fixed, and that while the future may not be Star Trek, I believe that in 200 years hence - our present age will be as dark then - as the 1500's are in our own. Yet, I am surprised by the luddite mentality of the enlightened Commander Clogs, “This is a day when I feel ashamed of science… Shame on you, guys”, because Scientists are “jumping up and down because their probe hit the comet”. Sorry if I feel a little romantic here, but this sounds to me exactly like the same schoolboy mentality, which celebrated the first hitting of America, or the first Sputnik satellite in Space. What other notable firsts have been achieved by a race of “over-hitters”, submarines, aeroplanes, medical advances, (bionic shoulders), and yes nuclear power, but these advances have all lead to us to a particular point in human history – a point which although politically divided, can be spurred forwards by the leaps and bounds of future discoveries. So Chicken Little, did the sky cave-in? No – our heroic Captain Clogs then concedes; “The funniest thing of all is that two days prior to the impact the comet spontaneously emitted a plume very much like the one the damned projectile produced.” So in a grand cosmic scale, the impact was not only natural, but had a lasting effect smaller than a ripple in a still pool. So Mr NASA Scientist got it wrong because s/he could not predict a “spontaneously emitted… plume… two days prior”, - does that really mean we need to return to our crystal balls and our medieval ways? Personally, I am neither for nor against hitting comets with gigantic slingshots, but I am strongly against the stubborn mentality of keeping mankind shackled to primitive believes which thwart the advancement and development of the race. It is after all (in part) these primitive beliefs, which have secured fear and loathing in the developing world, and bound billions by primitive religious superstition. If God meant us to be earthbound – after showing us the heavens – shame on him. If however, we can reach for the stars – and fail to - shame on us. |
| Benn 05.07.2005 09:09 |
I have a feeling that I shall be manufacturing some kind of banner for Friday's show should London be victorious in their bid. And, lo, 'twas held aloft and the curly haired one did blush - royally. |
| Serry... 05.07.2005 09:36 |
Benn wrote: Why? Simply because the corruption that Mr Putin heads up would destroy the whole of the Olympic ideal.Are you ready to repeat this in the court? What do you know about Mr Putin? Serry is angry when some people talk about things (especially Russian things) that they don't know... At least Mr Putin doesn't lick the Mr Bush ass as another one Mr from another country which wants Olympics for themselves. Most scandalous Olympic Games were in Salt Lake City - those Games destroyed 'the whole of the Olympic ideal' (with double gold medals for ice-skating etc. etc. etc.) and this city, I'd like to explain you, is not in 'corrupted' Russia. The head of Russian corrupters and friend of Chechen terrorists (Mr Berezovskiy) is living in London now, by the way, and your government don't want him get back in Russia because of unclear reasons. I agree with your reasons about Olympics (good luck to London), and especially for Brian: we don't want Olympic Games in Russia, but please - think twice before saying such things as you said about Mr Putin. |
| Benn 05.07.2005 11:01 |
Serry, re: >Are you ready to repeat this in the court? What >do you know about Mr Putin? What I read about in the "quality" English press and see on the daily news bullitins... As for what I know about him "personally" - nothing - enlighten me, please. >At least Mr Putin doesn't lick the Mr Bush ass >as another one Mr from another country which >wants Olympics for themselves. Mr Blair has PUBLICLY stated that he is concerned about the current motives (as opposed to past motives) of the Bush regime both in term sof Iraq and the current statements coming from The White House relating to the G8 meeting in Edinburgh. What I fail to understand with Mr Putin is how he still manages to live in absolute luxury whils 80% of the population lives in relative poverty - I'm prepared to be proved wrong here, but I believe he is frightened to give the Russian people the freedomn they deserve by distributing the wealth of the economy more evenly. |
| dimcyril 05.07.2005 11:20 |
would that be mr putin former head of the KGB? |
| Serry... 05.07.2005 11:22 |
English press is wrong then (do they know that Cold War is over?). All the things you wrote is more about our former President (old Boris...), than about current one. Economic of Russia is getting better in the last years because of Mr Putin, 8 years ago Russia would never be a candidate to have Olympic Games even. And Mr Putin, by the way, is not so glad about Olympic Games because we have a lot of economic troubles. Mayor of Moscow is a die-hard supporter of Olympics, but not Putin. All troubles and problems in Russia came from USSR times, we still pay all USSR debts for all former USSR countries (like Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Georgia etc.). Don't believe the press. As I wrote I agree with you, Brian's wrong, IMHO. He wants rock venue, someone wants another one F1 arena, someone wants more pubs... I'm not sure that another one rock venue will help kids in Africa... |
| Serry... 05.07.2005 11:24 |
dimcyril wrote: would that be mr putin former head of the KGB?KGB finished its work in 1991, when Mr Putin was working as a assistance of Mayor of St-Petersburg. He headed FSB (federal security service, our 'FBI') in the end of 90s. Mr George Bush (dad) was former head of the CIA, wasn't he? |
| dimcyril 05.07.2005 11:29 |
thankyou for putting me right. |
| dimcyril 05.07.2005 11:30 |
i am no lover of the bush family by the way. i don't think many europeans are |
| Teo_torriate04 05.07.2005 15:42 |
Well I for one will be ecstatic if London wins the Olympic bid. It will be good for the city and good for the country. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for the announcement on Wednesday. |
| boy of destiny 05.07.2005 15:51 |
Whether you agree with Brian May's opinion, or not at least he takes the time to share it with his fans. Not many artists personally communicate with their audience on a regular basis and Brian should be commended for that. ... and Serry your English is great. It's a hell of a lot better the most Americans who post on other sites. Of course they refer to their language as "American" not "English" being the center of the universe and all. |
| BriChick 05.07.2005 17:38 |
Benn, it's not like Brian gives a rip what you think. |
| redtop 05.07.2005 18:52 |
330 million dollars for a crater on a comet..... 30,000 children dying everyday in africa..... i think we should solve the problems on this planet before we waste money on a block of ice. |
| redtop 05.07.2005 18:56 |
oh and the olympics....... you get a medal for farting these days! |
| Oberon 05.07.2005 19:38 |
redtop wrote: 330 million dollars for a crater on a comet..... 30,000 children dying everyday in africa..... i think we should solve the problems on this planet before we waste money on a block of ice.I kinda have to agree with this. I find it hard to believe that there is much to be gained from this kind of experiment. I am quite sceptical about claims that we can determine the origins of the universe via methods such as this. I think there's too much conjecture and hypothesis in this type of stuff, and such a large amount of money seems ridiculous. What will we do with any results anyway? what will knowing the origin of the universe actually do to help us? |
| Adam Baboolal 05.07.2005 23:19 |
Oberon wrote:I agree with what Redtop stated as it's exactly what I was thinking. 330 million dollars... I'd rather help another living being than research our past. What's that well known saying..? You can't live in the past? More money than sense when you hear about them spending that amount on that little space mission.redtop wrote: 330 million dollars for a crater on a comet..... 30,000 children dying everyday in africa..... i think we should solve the problems on this planet before we waste money on a block of ice.I kinda have to agree with this. I find it hard to believe that there is much to be gained from this kind of experiment. I am quite sceptical about claims that we can determine the origins of the universe via methods such as this. I think there's too much conjecture and hypothesis in this type of stuff, and such a large amount of money seems ridiculous. What will we do with any results anyway? what will knowing the origin of the universe actually do to help us? Peace, Adam. |
| Richard Orchard 06.07.2005 05:12 |
Brian whinges about the negativity in England - but is negative himself... Anyone see the irony in that? |
| Benn 06.07.2005 05:59 |
>Whether you agree with Brian May's opinion, or >not at least he takes the time to share it with >his fans. Not many artists personally >communicate with their audience on a regular >basis and Brian should be commended for that. But when he fails to respond to serious questions that challenge his beliefs on points of fact, you kind of have to really wonder why he bothers making his statements on-line. Clearly, he's not hoping to spark intelligent debate about the issues at hand (my thinking is that Jen screens everythign that is sent to Brian's address and only ever lets him see anything that he would feel warm and cosy about or anything that actually agrees with his point of view. I've challenged jen on this a number of times and just get no response, which seems to indicate that I am right. Serry, re: >Mr. Putin is not a fan of the Olympics And that is why Moscow will not win the bid - it needs backing from the top. Juan Antonio Samaranch asking delegates not to humiliate Moscow by eliminating them in the first round is a complete disgrace and tantamount to vote rigging. Richard, re: >Brian whinges about the negativity in England - >but is negative himself... Anyone see the irony >in that? sadly, that's the little box that Brian lives in - no one has ever challenged him on his viewpoint on a number of things - the content of the AW album, the shambles of many of the Queen+ collaborations, the constant re-issueing of existing Queen material. He never sees that he may be wrong and therefore can't be objective about anything. Why isn't Jen, as Brian's editor (?????!!!!) questioning some of the stuff he writes? |
| Serry... 06.07.2005 06:56 |
Benn wrote: Serry, re: >Mr. Putin is not a fan of the Olympics And that is why Moscow will not win the bid - it needs backing from the top. Juan Antonio Samaranch asking delegates not to humiliate Moscow by eliminating them in the first round is a complete disgrace and tantamount to vote rigging.Yes, I know. And that's right. As I wrote most of Russians are against of this idea, we know - we are not ready for this. We've got a big open show in Moscow for support to win the bid (though we've lost already) - We Will Rock You by the cast of WWRY-Russia has been performed. |
| Serry... 06.07.2005 07:50 |
London won. Poor Brian... :) |
| Benn 06.07.2005 08:24 |
(Not being sent to Brian.......) Dear Mr. May. So, not only did a huge percentage of the population of the UK supporting London's Olympic bid, but it appears that the "INTERNATIONAL" Olympic Committee did too. THAT indicates belief in the great nation of ours to come up with the goods on a GLOBAL scale. I hope you enjoy the events on show in 2001 - I presume you will be broadening your horizons in the meantime and learning the rules and regulations of kayaking? Look out for my banner at Hyde Park on Friday - Gold Circle fun to be had by all. |
| Adam Baboolal 06.07.2005 08:42 |
Richard Orchard wrote: Brian whinges about the negativity in England - but is negative himself... Anyone see the irony in that?Hang on a mo... did you think about that comment? Brian talks of others negativity and can be negative himself and you say that's ironic? I call that human nature because we all have negative and positive things to say, regardless of our own bitching about others' negativity. We humans can talk negatively about others and be negative at the same time. That's just the way we're built. Nothing ironic about that! Think again... Peace, Adam. |
| Benn 06.07.2005 10:55 |
Adam, Re: We humans can talk negatively about others and be negative at the same time. That's just the way we're built. Nothing ironic about that! Think again... But that is ABSOLUTELY what Brian is doing - he espouses the "happy vibe" trough his website and is at the same time completely ignorant to the fact that anyone else may think differently. I happen to agree with his statement about the space experiment (I've never seen the need for us to go into space and destroy other planets as we have so successfully done to our own), but I can also see other people's need to find out what there is - Brian COMPLETELY dismisses it, just as he does the Olympic Bid. I hope they ask him to compose the Olympic theme - what will he do then? |
| Richard Orchard 06.07.2005 12:16 |
the poiht is, Brian is as much a part of the problem of "negativity" as those he accuses. It will be interesting to see if Brian starts to backtrack on the olympics in the future. |
| Adam Baboolal 06.07.2005 18:03 |
Richard Orchard wrote: the poiht is, Brian is as much a part of the problem of "negativity" as those he accuses. It will be interesting to see if Brian starts to backtrack on the olympics in the future.Part of the problem? And the problem is what, exactly? I see his personal view on things, much like those that post on here. Negative or not, we can get past it, I'm sure. And secondly, why would it be interesting if he backtracked about the olympics? Maybe he'll be pursuaded to change his mind. Maybe he won't. And if he did get involved in any way you'd turn round and call him a hypocrite. Just keep in mind that people can change their minds about things. EDIT: And does no-one remember what his soapbox is for? He says whatever he wants and tells us what he thinks. That last part being the point - his view and what he thinks about things. Peace, Adam. |
| doremi 06.07.2005 18:36 |
Benn wrote: Adam, Re: We humans can talk negatively about others and be negative at the same time. That's just the way we're built. Nothing ironic about that! Think again... But that is ABSOLUTELY what Brian is doing - he espouses the "happy vibe" trough his website and is at the same time completely ignorant to the fact that anyone else may think differently. I happen to agree with his statement about the space experiment (I've never seen the need for us to go into space and destroy other planets as we have so successfully done to our own), but I can also see other people's need to find out what there is - Brian COMPLETELY dismisses it, just as he does the Olympic Bid. I hope they ask him to compose the Olympic theme - what will he do then?As usual and ironically Brian will change his tune, to the sound of Ca Ching..and then Trumpet VERY loudly, and on, and on, and on, on his website how HONORED he is in being chosen to compose the ''Illustrious'' (Brian's favorite self reverential reference word,) theme for the London Olympics. ..Probably even ask to perform it on the roof of Buckingham Palace! LOL! |
| doremi 06.07.2005 18:46 |
redtop wrote: 330 million dollars for a crater on a comet..... 30,000 children dying everyday in africa..... i think we should solve the problems on this planet before we waste money on a block of ice.Says it all, and THAT is irony for you. What a waste. Why don't we solve problems (and human lives) on our own planet FIRST, before we go wrecking havoc and wasting money in space. Anybody ever see the film, ''The Day The Earth Stood Still''? Prophetic perhaps. |
| Serry... 07.07.2005 08:04 |
Well... London is a dangerous place now... |
| doremi 07.07.2005 11:26 |
Serry... wrote: Well... London is a dangerous place now...Everywhere in the world is dangerous now, with terrorist cowards running around butchering innocent people. Glad you are ok Sergey. I know Russia has had its share of terrorism too. Everyone in the world, be safe, all best. Lately it seems the only people who are safe, are the coward terrorist idiots inflicting this chaos on the innocent. I am as politically correct as it gets...but I just cannot handle any more of these muslim fanatics. They used to butcher one another, one country against another like Iran and Iraq or Saudi Arabia and Kuwait and Libya. Now they have to rain terror on the rest of the world too? We ought to nuke em' all. There I don't care. I said it. I'm politically incorrect. Who gives a flying fuck. |
| Erin 07.07.2005 11:49 |
Arlene R. Weiss wrote: We ought to nuke em' all. There I don't care. I said it. I'm politically incorrect. Who gives a flying fuck.Whoa.. |
| AlexRocks 08.07.2005 22:17 |
Wow! John S. Stuart you and I agree on some things after all! |