And so it begins…

There is a buzz in Melbourne this morning. The city pavements are awash with volunteer officials in blue and green and blue and orange jackets. Passing by the MCG on the train on my way into the city I saw truck after truck of outdoor broadcasting units lined up with all kinds of TV channel insignias on their sides ready for the big event. Even the Queen is here; yes today the Commonwealth Games brings Melbourne under the international spotlight (well for the few countries that actually care I guess). Obviously security in the city is tight, the news has warned us all not to be alarmed if we see fighter planes flying low over the city. But despite all the excitement and hyperbole, the biggest thing on the minds of most of us Melbournites is whether or not the extra games related rail users are going to delay our journey home from work tonight…

Another item of international interest is the news that Australian tourism minister, Fran Bailey, has managed to persuade the UK to review it’s TV ban on the new ‘Where the bloody hell are you?’ tourism campaign (see my previous post). Apparently Ms. bailey managed to make the British powers that be realise the original decision wasn’t all that clever, it was pointed out to them, amongst other things, that the word ‘bloody’ (being the main sticking point due to the fact it is on the UK’s banned word list in relation to advertising broadcasts) had been used at least twice before in British TV advertising. Although there appears to be no guarantee, the fact that due to her request the decision will be reviewed, has prompted Ms. Bailey to describe this turn of events as “a bloody good result”.