I was only thinking of Noddy this morning as I came out to work, walking
down the hill, past the concreted and paved gardens, little bitty plants
in cleared soil, and so on; it only needs Noddy to come down here, I
thought
as to poets, I see that Mr Armitage has said poetry should be subversive
I wish he'd told us earlier
It might have changed my life
L
On Wed, June 13, 2012 17:56, Patrick McManus wrote:
> Strewth I could envisage problems riots stampeding and £27 million down
> the drain which could have financed poets -will Noddy be there? P
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> Behalf Of Lawrence Upton
> Sent: 12 June 2012 17:14
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Director blames Shakespeare for monumental mediocrity
>
>
> The Olympic Stadium will be transformed into the "British countryside"
> for the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Games on 27 July.
>
> A cast of 10,000 volunteers will help recreate country scenes, against a
> backdrop featuring farmyard animals and landmarks like Glastonbury Tor.
>
> The opening scene of the £27m ceremony will be called "Green and
> Pleasant",
> artistic director Danny Boyle revealed.
>
> There have already been 157 cast rehearsals and Boyle added: "I've been
> astounded by the selfless dedication of the volunteers, they are the pure
> embodiment of the Olympic spirit and represent the best of who we are as
> a nation."
>
> The set will feature meadows, fields and rivers, with families taking
> picnics, people playing sports on the village green and farmers tilling
> the soil.
>
> Real farmyard animals will be grazing in the "countryside", with a
> menagerie of 30 sheep, 12 horses, three cows, two goats, 10 chickens, 10
> ducks, nine geese and three sheepdogs. [That's actually almost the entire
> countryside]
>
> One billion people worldwide are expected to watch the opening ceremony.
>
>
> The 27 July event will feature:
>
>
> * Pre-show starting at 20:12 BST
> * 1,100 automated lamps
> * One million watt sound system with 500 speakers
> * 50 tonnes of sound gear
> * 15,000m sq metres of staging
> * 12,956 props
> * 24,570 costume buttons for one of opening sequences
>
>
> [They've nicked this from a T S eliot poem]
>
>
> The world's largest "harmonically-tuned" bell, weighing 23 tonnes and
> measuring 2m tall x 3m wide, will ring inside the Stadium to start the
> Shakespeare-inspired spectacle, featuring 900 children from the six Games
> host boroughs.
>
> The bell, which was produced by the Whitechapel Bell Foundry and is
> inscribed with a quote from The Tempest's Caliban: "Be not afeard, the
> isle is full of noises", was installed in the Stadium last week.
>
> Boyle said it was appropriate
>
>
> Among the other features will be two pits - one representing the
> Glastonbury
> festival and another the Last Night of the Proms - filled with members of
> the public.
>
-----
Lawrence Upton
Visiting Fellow, Music Dept,
Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross, London SE14 6NW
----
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