The best the Barbican's blurb for the Open East Festival comes up with is "Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park will be London’s newest urban park." It isn't even remotely funny in comparison to some classic previous performances:-

Apparently theatre in London had a bad Olympics, although this was buried under a headline of theatre 'holding up in Olympic year' and some good news about a rise in ticket sales for the year as a whole. At the end of January, AP reported the Society of London Theatre as saying that sales and attendance had dropped during the summer Games, described as a 'dampening effect', but this was played down as, it was claimed, it had not been as bad as some had feared. However, no specific information was provided to show how bad it really was during the Olympics.

Olympics Fever at Newham Live: photo: Simon Shaw

David Cameron is giving upbeat press conferences about how well the Tube system is working despite the influx of 100,000 Olympic visitors. Transport for London say passenger numbers on the Tube on Monday were up 4%.

I know its been a long day but the Five Ring Circus engages unsung volunteers who give it their all. Some achieve transcendental states of delusion.

by Kevin Blowe

A number of people have asked me to clarify what impact Olympic-specific legislation may have on local people and anyone promoting protests or making political statements during this summer’s Games. Here is a short guide.

The Reverend Billy is back in town. On his previous visit he attempted an exorcism of the evil of BP from Tate Modern. And now Channel 4 confirms:

The former Arena Field, site of the Media Centre, in 2008

Runners are sent ahead to drum up excitement; the circus rolls into town, and the people pay. Show over and profits taken, the circus pulls out, leaving behind mere memories and mess.

The five ring circus works on similar lines over a longer eight-year timescale. Why did London agree to host this circus? The time to reject a London Olympics was during the bid stage