Panem et Circense

The whole office team, willing to sacrifice a holiday weekend demanded to see the exploding London Bus, if only to remind them of the clowns in Chipperfields circus and Becks kick a football - which few folks get to see these days.

When this tawdry £2.4 Mn blowout was over, as Jimmy Page (who collects his pension and free bus pass on January 9th 2009) melted away, the BBC seamlessly and effortlessly segued (as the professionals say) into a horrid TV license payers extravagant bonanza, stomach churning, ear splitting, free, pop/Rock we've won the Olympics jingofest.

The swooping wide lens shots took in Ginger Saxe Coburg Gotha atop his Mum's house, the Victory statue, lingered on it's Imperial lions, and rested on the Union Jack
backdrop to an ersatz Queen anthem (Geddit ?). Claudia Winkelman (Who he ? Ed.) breathlessly interviewed jangling medal holders who expressed their "pride" - a word that became the leitmotif ... (UPDATE Monday am. the BA 747 hi-jacked chartered to return the "Team GB" has a Gold painted nose cone and has been renamed "PRIDE") London Calling (Geddit) a curious anthem which the Clash famously visited a post - nuclear world was strangled by some teenagers, called curiously Scouting for Girls.

There is something sinister about the heady state sponsored chauvinism which we can be assured will be relentlessly aimed at us for four years.

At least we were spared coloured teenagers banging on oil drums ... but that probably came later, along with the drunks, fistfights and Arsenal fans.

The Olympics or ID cards. Which will come first ? We can hardly wait.

UPDATE : Sponsors of the "Handover Party" ,Visa were brought to the market in April and shareholders have doen rather well since... but then when their clients are charging up to 28% APR that's not surprising .. VISA don't lend you the money they merely administer the global scheme - everytime you use your card electronically , anywhere, anytime, it is checked in real time / online to an Arizona database.

61% of shareholders are major financial institutions see details here.

The biggest shareholders are FMR LLC 5.4 % , now worth US$3,413,447,708 - They are better known as Fidelity who have US$1.5 Trillion assets under management. The founding Johnson family controls FMR; Abigail Johnson 47, CEO Ned Johnson's Harvard educated daughter and perhaps his successor (not to mention one of the richest women in America / The World whom Forbes estimate is worth US$15 Bn), is the company's largest single shareholder. Don't rush boys, she is happily married with 2 delightful children to Christopher J. McKown (June 1988), whom she met when working at Booz,, Allen & Hamilton.

UPDATE : Apparently Visa too their exclusive sponsorship to the limit. Visa cards were the only ones accepted at ANY Olympics site / shop / ticket office / food stall ... so that wouldn't do nicely for many people.