Bread and circuses

We can all collectively breathe a sigh of relief that the Olympic Games are over for another four years. Human rights issues aside, kudos are in order to the Chinese for staging a successful games, and to the Australian team for representing the nation so well in the sporting arena. In accordance with tradition, in 2012 the youth of the world will gather in London for the Games of the XXX Olympiad. No doubt the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (LOCOG) are already looking for ideas for their opening ceremony. As far as spectacle and scale goes, it is unlikely the British will even attempt to eclipse Beijing's effort.

The question and dilemma will be how to stage a memorable ceremony. Perhaps the best approach will be to make it quirky and unique, but in that endearingly British way. We all remember the Sydney 2000 opening ceremony which featured Australian stockmen riding horses in formation. Allow me to make a suggestion, in London, in a slight variation on this approach, why not have some dancers dressed as knights from the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail, prancing about miming horse riding, accompanied by porters banging coconut shells together?