added: Slate's Seth Stevenson catches up to a story we've been on top of since day one: Why are London Olympic mascots Wenlock and Mandeville so incredibly creepy? (Bring back Waldi, the psychedelic dachshund!) BONUS! LA Times piles on:
"Also known as 'My Little Drony,' this plastic Beelzebub all-knowingly looks into my very thoughts like the Eye of Sauron in a hat," one [Amazon.com] reviewer joked.okay, one more thing: The London organizers were confident in their ability to get each flag and anthem right when the time comes. Of course, it didn't prevent them from fucking up on day one. With the North Koreans, no less.
Another quipped, “Every fifteen minute since I've opened it out of the packaging, it will shout phrases such as 'I AM THE EYE OF PROVIDENCE', 'PAX ROMANA' and 'THE SECRET IS WITHIN THE GREAT PYRAMID OF GIZA.'"
The mascots have been branded as a cross between a Teletubby and a Cyclops, a cellphone and a "Yo Gabba Gabba" character, even the one-eyed aliens Kang and Kodos from "The Simpsons." When they were unveiled two years ago by the London design firm Iris, design critic Stephen Bayley derided them in the Telegraph as "appalling computerized Smurfs for the iPhone generation."
