London Olympics 2012 - Questions That Matter

I have never been into sports (apart from the odd tennis match) and actively avoid soccer, rugby, etc

But heck, these Olympic Games have got me hooked! 

I'm coming home from work to catch up on the day's events, checking the medal totals and I even found myself discussing it with people at work today - that is so not like me.

However there are some fundamental questions I really need answering:

1) Why didn't they get Harry Potter to fly in for a quidditch demonstration during the opening ceremony? Did they even ask him?
2)  Where the hell is American Samoa?

Kristian Thomas - Team GB

3)  How come the womens beach volleyball players are in bikinis but the men are covered up? Cummon, Olympic Committee - gay men pay their TV licence too!
4)  What is the point of water polo?
5)  How fit is Kristian Thomas?
6)  Who put Sue Barker in charge of the BBC coverage? A third-rate tennis player even back in the day. That's just as bad as making Geri Halliwell a judge in a singing competition. (Oh wait, they've actually done that)

Now if they just made sitting around on your fat ass an Olympic sport, I'd be a serious medal hope for my country...

Hunger Games

Finally saw The Hunger Games this week.

Some background...

• No, I have not read the book
• Yes, I am aware of the similarities to Battle Royale (which I have seen)
• Yes, I was the oldest person in the cinema

If this had not been based on a best-selling book, would it have been as successful?
I'm not sure.

The plot was fairly simple, thankfully (I have difficulty keeping up with complicated plotlines as my attention span tends to be on the short side - I have given up trying to watch John Grisham adaptations, for instance)

I have no clue who the production designer was - but if you're reading this, what were you thinking, mate? The drab surroundings of District 12 (where the movie starts) are quickly replaced by the city backdrop and crowds of grossly-coutured grotesques gawking at the spectacle of the Games. The whole look smacked of The Wizard of Oz (only with full-sized Munchkins)

As an adult who is into fantasy and sci-fi and horror and anything cult, I should have loved this movie. After all, I could easily sit through the seven Harry Potters one after the other. But this one was lacking something.

Yes, it was lacking visual flare. Certainly, it was lacking a bit of blood (Battle Royale is far more satisfying in this area)

But maybe I just didn't buy into the whole world in which it is set.

The realisation of an alternative world is always difficult, but when I compare this one with the aforementioned Harry Potter universe or that of Avatar, it simply does not stand up as believable.

If I ever get through all the free books on my Kindle, I may download The Hunger Games and see if it delivers the "wow" factor that the movie version failed to do.