I’m not a huge fan of being poked with flags and having whistles blown in my face, but when the Olympic torch came to Stoke Newington this afternoon, I couldn’t help but go see it. I mean how often does one get to see something like that? Answer: about a million times in the next six days as the torch meanders its way through Hackney before the Games begin. In fact, it just passed the house again when I was resizing these photos:)

I must say it was pretty festive out there on the street. Stoke Newington High Road was decked out with all sorts of banners and flags and it seemed like the whole neighborhood was out awaiting the torch’s arrival, which was preceded by large sponsored buses from Coke, Samsung, and the like. Much more interesting were the torchbearers, including Bev Derham who strolled down the High Road with gusto.

Lloyds got booed.

Mini torch in a cup.

Oh look another corporate sponsor!

This guy protesting Barclays got some major cheers.