Friday 5th December  8:13 am Good Morning

on today on tomorrow other dates...

Nelson's Column July Victoire!! 15th July 2005 London will host the Olympics in 2012 The events of Thursday 7th have rather overtaken Wednesday 6th’s brief moment of Londonwide celebration, but there is nothing I can write about them that has not been said elsewhere by better people than me, so I thought I would dedicate this column to looking forward to the fun we’ll have in 2012. Apart from the occasional England football match, the only spectator sport that’s ever really floated my boat has been Big Brother, but I love the Olympics. I love the beanpole Ethiopian distance-runners and the stony-faced Eastern European gymnasts. I love eccentric fans who spend three months' wages to come from the furthest corners of the world. Above all I love the sheer weirdness of many of the events. Speed walking is the most obvious example. I think we should make them do it down Oxford Street on a Saturday afternoon, that’d sort the men from the boys. And what about weightlifting? Watch as a man so muscly that he’s actually rectangular, lifts the weight of a small car over his head, staggers, drops it, and stomps off. Then watch the same thing repeated over and over again for an hour. It truly is the strangest spectacle in the world, and I mean to buy my tickets at the first available opportunity. I’m also incredibly excited that it’s all happening in East London. Napoleon once contemptuously referred to the British as "a nation of shopkeepers", but that is why we were able to haggle our way to victory in the bidding process. And that is why London’s East End, the home of our nation’s most typical shopkeeper spirit, is the perfect place to bring these hordes of international visitors. There’s nobody like an East-Ender for figuring out what somebody wants and then supplying it off the back of a lorry. Or convincing a confused foreigner that they want something they’d never normally buy. I expect to see the entire US women’s track team decked out in leopardskin print from Zoe Slater’s stall. Parked Life Hurrah for George Maxwell, a businessman in Redhill, who beat car clamping firm Parking Solutions by staging a sit-down protest in his vehicle for more than 30 hours. The firm eventually abandoned all plans to tow or fine him. Stupidest part of the story? Parking ‘Solutions’. Pub Theatre Legend Dies Sad news this week with the death, after a long illness, of Dan Crawford - the irrepressible pub landlord at the King’s Head, who built the theatre out back with his bare hands and gave a platform to the London fringe. The King’s Head is a beloved pub theatre which saw the stage debuts of hundreds of British stars, from Hugh Laurie to Stephen Berkoff. They often came back out of affection for the place. We hope that Mr Crawford’s amazing informal theatre will live on without him. Tunnel Vision The Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) workers union is to hold talks with the Mayor’s office over possible strike action on London Underground. The RMT is considering going on strike over fears about driver safety. There’s a word for that kind of idiocy, but I’m a lady so I’ll just say stop being so selfish. November 2008 26th November All The World's A Stage 20th November Surviving the Crunch October 2008 24th October Boris v Jingjing 17th October Soaps in Pole Position September 2008 23rd September Chips too Chavvy for Chelsea 16th September The London Restaurant Awards August 2008 26th August No Smoking, No Ducks, No Barbecues 20th August The Olympics July 2008 24th July Sandwiched Out 17th July The Show Ain't Over 'Til the Fat Lady's on Page 3 June 2008 26th June Love All at Wimbledon 16th June Miller Puts the Heat on Tennant May 2008 27th May Booze Banned on Buses 20th May Same Again? April 2008 23rd April By George 11th April Back to the 80s March 2008 28th March How do You Solve A Problem Like Medea? 20th March Flight Fantastic February 2008 20th February Dark, Satanic Turnmills 6th February A Diamond in the Drink January 2008 21st January People Wanted for Plinth 14th January Boo! Hiss! December 2007 28th December Tate That - A Hirst for Art 20th December Christmas Shopping November 2007 27th November Mind the Gap 26th November London On A Tray October 2007 26th October Leaving the Station 14th October The Sky's the Limit September 2007 26th September The Play Within A Play 19th September Fashion, Frocks and Celeb Shocks 12th September Saying Tanks for the Mammaries August 2007 24th August Heathrow under Siege 17th August Gormless 10th August Losing Face July 2007 24th July Are We Reaching Boiling Point Yet This Summer? 13th July Red Ken versus Blonde Boris June 2007 22nd June Last Orders at the Fag Machine 11th June London the Musical May 2007 21st May What Lurks Beneath 10th May The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of April 2007 27th April London’s Walk on the Wild Side 20th April Stand Behind the Yellow Line 13th April Like Water for Chocolate March 2007 23rd March So, Another Magazine 16th March Avoiding iContact February 2007 23rd February Sex and Art... 16th February C-Charge Protest Fails to Bring Down Government 9th February Live Earth London January 2007 26th January A Vote for Shilpa is a Vote for Britain 18th January Carriage on up the West End December 2006 29th December Food for Thought 22nd December A Poisonous Marketing Campaign 15th December In for a Penny, In for Five Pounds November 2006 17th November Big Department Stores Leave Santa Out in the Cold 10th November Failing to Save the World October 2006 27th October Frozen Prawns and Melting Icecaps 20th October Predatory Pelicans and Happy Woodland Folk 13th October Hope at last for east end of Oxford Street September 2006 16th September Lite the Blue Paper and Stand Well Back 9th September Of Poles and Twiglets August 2006 25th August Free Fares For the Fat and the Fashionable 11th August London Friendly 4th August Archway To Organic Heaven July 2006 21st July London - Celebrity Frat House 7th July Out of the Galleries into the Streets June 2006 23rd June Mayors, Nightmares and Marias 16th June Downright Rude in Paris and London 9th June Enter the Inferno May 2006 26th May Curvaceous Border 12th May Vegging Out April 2006 21st April The Camden Crawl 17th April Down the Pan 13th April I Want to Break Free 9th April Big Brother seems to have been left in a bar somewhere 7th April Don't Box Me In March 2006 24th March Political Correctness Reaches New Heights February 2006 24th February A Stadium's Tale: Cup Final Goes West 17th February Modern Musicals are Rubbish 10th February The City-Side Alliance January 2006 20th January February Sales 20th January Moby Sick 13th January Glass Half Full 3rd January Three Cheers for the Tube Station Workers December 2005 22nd December January Bites 16th December A Remarkable Year November 2005 25th November And a Partridge in a JCB 11th November Driving Miss Sadie 4th November Spam, Spam, Spammity-Spam, Shakespeare, Zorro, Chico and Rasputin October 2005 28th October Trick or Treat? 21st October We Don't Mind a Little Delay... 14th October Final Resting Place for Young British Artists September 2005 16th September Just a small urn for me, please barman 9th September DRINK! DRINK! DRINK! 2nd September The Free Tenor August 2005 30th August Samba Rhythms Breaking Out All Over The Stadium