The Prime Minister's Dinner: an Olympic experience

I do recall a bike race - a bike race! - won by Shane Perkins, with Danial Thorson second and Corey Heath third. "What was your time?" the winner was asked. "No idea - flat out!" replied the cheerful winner. (For the record, 10.5 seconds for the last 200 metres - "Can that be right?" I ask myself the next morning, and if so what would have happened if there had been a crash?)

Then dessert was served - another Peter Roland extravaganza that no-one, at least no-one on Henry's table, could resist.

The final official part of the evening was an auction of two BMW cars. Bidding was brisk and in a flash both were sold for amounts in excess of $100K. No sign of an economic slowdown here, gentle readers.

The rest of the evening was given over to "Dancing and Mingling". Would John Howard call an election today? I cannot say, but one senior politician of whom I asked this question was confident he would. "He looks very bouncy. August 7 is my guess." Another person at our table reported that the PM had yesterday shaken his grand-daughter's hand at a school in Boronia. The game's afoot, and the Olympic Dinner provided a fine platform for a man going for his forth gold-medal winning political performance. Any Roman Emperor transported to the Vodafone Arena last night would have understood the game perfectly.

Postscript: I have just realised I forgot the Greek dancing.  This started with vestal virgins in white diaphonous gear writhing gracefully on the stage. They exited to the right and several teams of Greek dancers entered. The blokes were in traditional white pantyhose and skirts with pompoms on their shoes, and most of the gals were wearing colorful ethnic costumes but a couple dressed as boys with trousers, white shirts, red sashes and caps. The cross-dressing somehow reminded me of the joke: "The ancient Greeks invented sex but 1000 years later the Italians introduced it to women."