Back on 13th August 2009, a Thursday not a Friday so unsure if this was the cause of the mishap, Anthony, London 2012 likes to keep things informal, the External Relations Executive, a kind of 2012 Foreign Office person, in a fit of poorly considered enthusiasm asked a question: 'Who should get the chance to perform? Morris dancers for the traditionalists? Street dancers for the modern?'

The United Nations has joined the British Houses of Parliament in fantasising about an outbreak of peace during the Olympic Games. In his speech, full of the usual Olympic flatulence, in which he proposed the motion which was agreed by every member nation, LoCoe claimed: "the extraordinary level of cosponsorship ... is a testament to the relevance of the truce and the Olympic Games in a time of global challenges." In fact the Resolution made no mention of any conflicts or any particular action to prevent war. The very fact that everybody felt able to sign it is probably an indication of its meaninglessness.

Bizarrely, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond has had a go at Coca Cola, Olympic sponsors for 85 years, for deciding to bus their employees and guests to Stratford. Others have condemned them for breaking the 'Olympic Spirit'!

LOCOG published its 2010-11 annual report this week. Pages 69 & 70 (71 & 72 in the PDF) are the most fun, as Kevin Blowe pointed out:

Shock! Horror! Wenlock and Mandeville can't swim! Plainly for health and safety reasons they can't be allowed near the Aquatic Centre so instead Locog has come up with the wizard wheeze of giving them free swimming lessons in the Beano. LoCoe claimed 'This is a creative way to engage children in the Olympic and Paralympic values'.

The Pudding Mill White Elephant just won't lie down. CoeLtd is still hoping to bring the 2017 IAAF World Athletics Championships to London. But it all depends on there being an available stadium. After all it's hard to hold an Athletics Championships without one. LoCoe has his own IAAF ambitions with the next milestone in 2015 when he hopes to succeed to the top job. The loss of a stadium could prove terminal to those ambitions.

Along with Rio Tinto another well known and long standing friend of the Olympics and sponsor of London 2012 is Coca Cola, aka Killer Coke, which is being sued in the United States by trade unions acting on behalf of workers and trade unionists in Turkey, Colombia and Guatemala.

The British Olympic Association may have achieved a 'win win' result with 'real clarity' by backing down from its argument with LOCOG, but it has now taken a backhanded swipe at its Olympic enemies! The BOA has withdrawn from hosting the biannual meeting of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), which is usually held a few months before the Summer Olympics in the host city, justifying this by blaming its parlous financial situation. This follows on from the BOA's attempt to extract extra money from LOCOG, an argument rejected by the IOC. The biannual ANOC event coincides with the meeting of the IOC's executive committee. Now the BOA has used its failure to improve its financial position to prevent LOCOG showing off its preparations for the 2012 Games to the Olympic family and forced 'the family' to meet in Moscow rather than London!