Sunday Variety

If It Rains Don't Take The Trains!

The balloon went up and the rains ...

... came down! Pity the poor snivelling minions who had to hold the brollies over the bigwig speech makers; and look as if they were enjoying themselves!

Apart from the comparative tedium of all those boats pumping pollutants into the atmosphere or, more likely, mixing them with the rain and dumping them in the river - quite inseine! (GROAN) - the ceremony was ...

... long.

fbb and Mrs watched on to the end of the boats but really struggled as the sports stars carried the torch all the way back to where the parade started and relayed it to the Tuileries (old tile factory!).

Some of the displays on the bank were, frankly, incomprehensible ...

... the above being a Greek hero dressed as a Smurf!!

Then it would have been nice to see at least some of the tableaux showing people actually dancing rather than jiggling about frenetically. Maybe that IS dancing in trendy Paris 2024?

BUT - it was a bold and soggy statement of the Olympic ideal.

Get wet and keep going!

Little was said during the broadcast at the huge level of security for the opening ceremony. This involved horrendous disruption to the lives of Les Pauvres Parisiens (et les Parisiennes, aussi).

This is the Metro map showing all the stations that were closed for most oft the day.

Line 6 was closed completely all day!

Ditto most bridges across the Seine - most closed all day.

As several vox pop interviews revealed, many present at the river parade  opined, as they dripped, that it would have been better to stay in and watch it on the telly.

Such is the Olympic ideal!

But as fbb typed this piece, news comes through of the GB girls winning bronze in the synchronised diving - the first time since 1643, apparently.

So well done Scarlett and Yasmin; and thanks for confirming that they aren't really bronze; they are top quality chocolate and ready to eat!

Lothian Route 16

The bus is photographed here on an Island in South Australia with the sea lapping a golden beach just the other side of the palm trees and with astounding views.

The bus was once preserved in the UK ...

... and its new owners so loved it that they paid to have it carted half way round the world. It arrived in less than pristine condition ...

... but the decision was to keep the Lothian madder livery (maybe a subtle comment on the mentality of such a gargantuan project?) which looks good.

The inside looks homely, almost luxurious.

It is, as they say, compact..

An Australian couple have made an Edinburgh Lothian bus their home almost 9,500 miles from its usual route.

Eight months ago, Kim Ricardo and Ted Dwight made the decision to transform the retro service 16 double-decker bus into a home after discovering it online, decaying in a garden, the BBC reports

Kim said they were both "instantly hooked" and bought the bus for £18,277 and a further £31,332 to give it a new interior.

Kim, 58, said: "We were initially looking for a single-decker bus, but we saw this one for sale online and were instantly hooked."

"It was in a pretty sorry condition when we found it. It needed a lot of work done."

“But we love it, the more we went into the history, we realised how amazing it was.”

The bus was sold off in the 1980s after being retired from public service. It was bought by the owners of a berry-picking farm near Dundee to ferry workers from their accommodation before being restored by two enthusiasts in 1993.

Good on on yer, sport! Have a tinnie on fbb! Bonzer, Bruce and yer sheila!

(Other ethnicities are available).

Hello And Goodbye

Alex Hornby (left) was boss of Transdev and always a sucker for publicity, be it in the local press ...

... or using Social Media.

Then, somewhat abruptly, he announced he was "taking a break" and he said Goodbye to Transdev.

Then he popped up at McGills in a similar role and, once again, the PR appearances began in earnest.

Whether it be political PR as above or just plain "aren't we wonderful" stuff ...

... Alex would be there, front and very centre.

Then, in a move which hasn't actually come as a total surprise, McGills staff received this note from owner and top director Ralph Roberts ...

... and "with immediate effect" it was Goodbye Alex - again.

Bus watchers can only speculate on the reasons but they can be sure the real reason will NOT be what it says in the letter. (restructuring - blah blah - prudent management, blah blah etc etc)!

Where next for Alex?

Where Next For HS2 North?

The new Labour Government has not really made a definite commitment but the rumbling undertow of rumour is the Sit Keir and his chums are in no rush to re-instate the new lines north of Birmingham. There are, it would appear, far more important things on which to spend the money they haven't got.

Andy (Manchester) ad Tracy (West Yorks) both want an HS2 train set to play with and they now have a surprising ally in the persons of the National Audit Office.

The NAO is "independent" but paid funded by the tax payer and thus financially in the thrall of the Treasury and whatever government we have this week. So not 100% independent, then?

Several of the more serious press writers have picked up the NAO's take on HS2 for the north.

Fewer seats?

So running the HS2 stock on ordinary track to Manchester will REDUCE the space for passengers!

Here it is again.

So, if the lads at No 10 don't reinstate the cancelled bit of HS2, anyone travelling north of Watford will have a useless fast service to Birmingham, possibly from old Oak common and not central London whilst passengers north of Brum will have a worse service than now and may be charged a high fare to stop them travelling!

It is called Government planning!

But surely the lovely Louise will sort it out?

So that's all right, then?

 Next Somewhat Variety blog : Mon 29th July