<>Team GB - which is to say Great Britain, of which I am a citizen & of which London is the capital... So the idea would be to reflect the cultural diversity of Great Britain as a whole, stereotypical imagery included, giving only an impression of something rather than the thing itself.

How does Folk Dance & Song fit into such a context I wonder? How would it fare if it was put to a nationwide referendum? How can it be anything other than stereotypical imagery? Perhaps things will be a little clearer four years hence, but in the wider scheme of things such garishly clichéd spectaculars can only be appreciated in terms of pure irony.

A few years ago we chanced upon the Highland Games at Killin, replete with caber tossing & any amount of manly heave-ho, together with piobaireachd, highland dancing, unaccompanied singing, and the customary downpour blowing in off Lock Tay. Stereotypical images all, but none the less real for that. And a lot of the competitors were American, Canadian & Australian Scots, heartily proud of their cultural roots.