The 2014 Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia. Sochi is 34km from the border with Abkhazia, one of the breakaway provinces of Georgia. Here’s a map of the area; Sochi is in the north-west/top-left corner. Read into it what you will; however, it seems likely that there will be problems. Czech Foreign Minister [...]

Everyone has been talking about how wonderful the Beijing Olympics, particularly the opening ceremonies, were. The implication is that London won’t do as well. Jacques Rogge has been fulsome – excessively, perhaps – in the achievements of China for the games. Given the difference in spending and the facility with which the Chinese Communist Party [...]

China is on the up. All, however, is not rosy. China faces a few problems; these are my impressions. Tibet and Xinjiang both have groups that seek more autonomy or even independence. They are in the interior of the Asian continent and a long way from the rich cities of the coast. With disparate geography, [...]

One of the widgets on my blog, MyBlogLog, allows me to see other MyBlogLog users who have visited my blog. A recent appearance on there, following on from the London 2012 logo post, is David Airey, who has a blog on graphic design and it’s really rather good. Do please take a look, particularly this [...]

I really liked the old logo for London 2012. It was colourful without being gaudy and imaginatively used the shape of the Thames as an integral part of the design. It was measured and confident and was very much the impression I’d like to give of London. The BBC website reports that it has had [...]