Thursday 17 November 2011

EDINBURGH CASTLE STANDS UPON A ROCK.... AND THERE ARE THOSE WHO WANT OLYMPIC SYMBOLS TO STAND ON EDINBURGH CASTLE

Subrosa had an article yesterday about Historic Scotland's  application to Edinburgh Council for the right to erect massive Olympic Rings on Edinburgh Castle for a period of 9 months, until the end of the games in London.
It is excellent that she has brought this to our attention, and I repeat it here because I think the larger number of people who know about this, the better.


Her correspondents make good points too.


For example Doug the Dug asks, what is this for? Is it advertising? 


He provides his own answer...  The tickets, such as there were for sale (most of them having gone to corporate sponsors), were sold some time ago through a farcical auction system, involving crashing computers and bank accounts being denuded of cash for unknown tickets (but only if you had a Visa card, Visa being a sponsor). 


No. It's all about showing that Scotland and England are one country in perfect harmony. It's Scotland's Games too. 


What nonsense. As Quiet Man says, the Olympics is a London event. It is nothing to do with the rest of England, never mind Scotland. 


Iain Gray
This will doubtless be some daft notion cooked up by London to see if the SNP "picks another fight" with the union. You can just hear the whiny voice of Elmer Fudd complaining that whilst there are 100,000 young people on the dole, the First Minister is worrying about Olympic symbols... (As if in some parallel universe Labour never had massive youth unemployment.)


Edinburgh Council has to approve or disapprove the  sign. However, despite the nominal coalition of SNP and Liberals, I suspect that the unionist parties may join together to force an approval.


Some of Subrosa's correspondents have indicated that they will not visit Edinburgh while (if) the sign is up. I can only imagine that if one of the most photographed buildings in Scotland, becomes a cheap advertising hoarding, it's hardly going to encourage more visitors to our capital.


I hope the people of Edinburgh will make it clear to their councillors that despoiling the castle with unneeded advertising for an event 500 miles away is not going to be to the benefit of Scotland and that said councillors, mindful of upcoming elections, will vote a resounding "NO".

29 comments:

  1. O! yeah what would you Cybernats say if it was a massive pic of Alex Salmond hung on The Castle..

    Oh! I already know

    'super, smashing, great'

    ALL HAIL THE GREAT LEADER!

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  2. Don't be silly Niko. It would have to be a portrait of the Queen for me to get THAT enthusiastic.

    Probably Mrs Thatcher would do it for you.

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  3. I don't trust councillors one bit. They operate along party lines and as Munguin says, Historic Scotland is not a quango but comes under the remit of Fiona Hyslop. Therefore she will already have approved the deal I should think.

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  4. The castle belongs to the MOD /London Govt so they can do what they want I suppose.
    The logo might help as a distraction from the tram roadworks ;)
    It's all political. They will want the logo to be seen worldwide during the Hogmany celebrations and re enforce the Union.

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  5. Well, if they have approved it, then I think we should protest, very loudly SR...

    ...The official line as far as I can make out from what has been said by the government is that they are supportive of the Olympics and of Scotland's involvement in them.

    Thankfully I've never seen the need to follow the official line from anyone, anywhere.

    In my opinion these games are a monumental waste of money and they way they have been organised for the rich, disregarding ordinary people is a travesty of justice. Once again we pay they enjoy.

    I'm damned if our castle should be made cheap and gaudy for the benefit of Boris Johnson, or Ken Livingstone's games.

    Wouldn't it be a pity if their idiotic rings ended up lying at the bottom of the keep?

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  6. Yes Monty I dare say they can pull whatever nasty cheap stunt they want on OUR castle. As long as the great and the good from London doesn't have to look out at the tackiness, I suppose it doesn't matter to them.

    I hope they are going to hang these things that look like something you'd buy out of a 99p store on Windsor Castle and Clarence House, but I have my doubts that that would be allowed.

    I wonder if Prince Charlie, who gets into such a state about built heritage, will send for Cameron and tell him to take them down, as they might offend him as he passes by on his way to the palace.

    Still, the walls of the castle are very old and sticking great big bolts in to hold that crap up might loosen the mortar, and they'll end up at the bottom of the hill... alternatively maybe some Edinburgh NEDS will decide to swing off them... and why not... and the whole lot, Neds included, will end up in the gardens below.

    I hope, somewhat forlornly, that it won't hold up the trains!

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  7. I thought it was going to be the hologram light thingy like they did on the House of Troughery a few years ago with the jock baldy lasses bottom.
    Didn't realise it was big bolts etc. Mind you they could be handy for hanging things from....

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  8. Hope Munguin doesn't mind me reproducing the comment he left at my place on here Tris:

    I should point out that unlike English Heritage, Historic Scotland is not a QUANGO, it is in fact an executive agency of the Scottish Government and will come under Fiona Hyslop's department. And as they say he who pays the piper calls the tune.

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  9. Oh Yeah Monty, I dunno. Maybe it is, I didn't think of that. But now you come to mention hanging things from it... My day has just brightened up!

    Apropos of nothing, when did Mr Cameron say he was coming to lecture us on the benefits of staying in England? ;¬)

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  10. This is the Tory and great favourite of Margaret Thatcher, Seb Coe rubbing our noses in it.

    Remember his famous riposte to the news that the SFA would not participate in his Team GB & NI etc football teams?

    "Fnuck them!"

    Well, "Fnuck you, Seb!"

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  11. I'm sure Munguin will be flattered to be quoted SR (even on his own blog!!)

    Yes. I take the point. We should all write to her and tell her how disgusted we are at the thought of it. Or if not at least to our own MSPs.

    Of course if she overrides the decision of HS and ECC, she will be accused of picking a fight with the English government over 'nothing much'.

    I just don't think it's 'nothing much', but you can bet Iain Whine and Annabel's second rate impersonator will!

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  12. Very lordly language Lups

    Has anyone got any idea how that particular issue is sorting itself out?

    Is it going to be an England team with a Great Britain label?

    Talking of The Right Hon. the Lord Sir Sebastian Newbold Coe MBE, OBE... Are there any more titles people can give him without putting him in the royal family?... I loved it when he was explaining to us lesser beings, who haven't be smiled upon so generously, that it was necessary for the games' tickets to be given to the corporate sponsors who paid for them...

    A hem Mr Coe, there's the small matter of the £9 billion, plus all the stuff that has been added to it, because there is no way on earth that the budget has not increased since the £9b was agreed, plus (and this is a MASSIVE plus) SECURITY, including ground to air missiles!!!!!!!!

    Anyone like to make a guess at the cost of security?

    Anyone like to swear that the security budget won't include a whole pile of non security items?

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  13. This is a better image for the castle. Show them what we think of their corporate drug fuelled 'games'..

    http://quepasablog.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/gail-porter-shows-her-best-side-or-was-it-back-side-once-again/

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  14. They found £5Bn to bury the power cables for the 3 weeks Olympics underground for aesthetic reasons and avoid unsightly pylons during the games.
    But can't find a fraction of that cost to bury cables underground in the Cairngorm National Park, Stirling Castle etc. Super pylons are fine in Scotland where money is tight.

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  15. I don’t know if Fiona Hyslop has okayed this decision. But it would seem that she would be the person to contact if the general consensus is that we do not want this hideous abomination adorning one of our most iconic and treasured buildings.

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  16. Olympics is a waste of time money and effort.

    A perfect example why we need full fiscal autonomy within the Union.

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  17. You been drinking that strong German beer at this time of the morning Dean ?
    How can we have full fiscal autonomy within the Union if you want full fiscal autonomy within the EU ?
    Do you know what autonomy means ?

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  18. Ha ha Monty. She's a wee big saggier now, but not bad for 40!!

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  19. They seem to have found no end of money, and no end of power too for the games. Closing roads for all but important people is certainly something I wouldn't ever have expected to see in England.

    I hope very much that the smaller games in Glasgow will not result in the same ridiculous nonsense of "Zil Lanes" for those and such as those.

    That's not the sort of country Scotland is.

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  20. The Olympics is a waste of money, Dean.

    It annoys me that we are having to pay for them.

    I want independence, but fiscal independence would do to start with so that we could start building our country back up and hopefully belatedly start our oil fun. After all it is some record to be the only country, or territory in the world and with oil that has no oil fund.

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  21. Well throbber, we certainly want rid of the malign London influence first.

    We can talk about how we deal with the EU after we have secured the right to even discuss it.

    BTW...welcome to Munguin's Republic. I think this is your first visit...:)

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  22. BTW Monty. Have they not wasted another million by towing some island all around the UK, (or maybe they are going to tow it round) as some sort of "art" contribution to the Olympics.

    Not sure why that is art, and in any case, I'm not sure that even if it is art, it is necessary to have art for an Olympic Games...

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  23. That island was part of the Olympic greenshirt's plan to warn us about global warming tris. It was an island made of ice from the Arctic or something. The wackos wasted a million on their global warming scam - no change there then ;)

    If the English want a picture of five rings on the side of the castle I'll volunteer to show them mine. Need another 4 volunteers.
    " Sing sing or show us your ring". A song fondly remembered from my distant past in the nonPC Forces lol

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  24. Ah yes, Monty. So that's art for you.

    The have money to burn ...or melt in this case, it would seem.

    I guess that million could have done some good somewhere...

    Oh well.

    Oh and ...put it away Monty!

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  25. Fiona Hyslop should ask if the tower of london will erect advertising for Glasgow`s Games.

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  26. Niko -------------O! yeah what would you Cybernats say if it was a massive pic of Alex Salmond hung on The Castle..---------------In 2016 you`ll find out.

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  27. footdee. Hey there welcome to Munguin's Republic.

    Yes, I think the Tower of London hosting a massive advert for our games would be a fitting quid pro quo.

    LOL at Eck hanging from the castle!!!! (His image of course!!!)

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  28. Hi tris
    If they do this to the 'rock' then Scotland should close the borders and declare war on England! They think they 'own' everything don't they, I still cannot believe any of the British people , apart from a few mentally challenged individuals, ever wanted the 'games' in the first place, just staging them bankrupts whole nations and the redevelopment of the east end of london suits only the rich who will live there in a gated community afterwards (mark my words)
    Could you do me a favour tris and change my blogroll link to Nominedeus and use this link please,
    http://www.nominedeus.co.uk/
    (I need all the traffic I can get and Indyspareings is long gone now I anm afraid fun though it was!)

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