WASHED AND READY TO EAT

I'm just watching a replay of the Olympic opening ceremony and trying to imagine the equivalent event in London in four years' time. The culmination in 2012 will obviously have to be a performance by Chas & Dave, although it would be good if we could sneak in a rendition of "Candle in the Wind" by Elton John - perhaps with a modified lyric for the occasion. I also have images of a dance troupe of Pearly Kings and Queens reprising one of the landmark songs from Oliver . We may as well throw in a few fireworks too.

Forget the opening ceremony to the Olympics. The Spice Girls tribute night is arriving at the bandstand in Eastbourne. Given that most of the famous pop group's fans must be in their mid-twenties, it's difficult to see how the event is going to be much of a crowd-puller. The bandstand is usually crammed with mobility vehicles and audiences that remember the original girl power of the Andrews Sisters.

Not too many signs of the credit crunch having arrived in Richmond-upon-Thames. The latest edition of an extraordinary freebie called The Richmond Magazine demonstrates the preoccupations of the great and the good in this prosperous part of south-west London. A "French Special" issue, it highlights the joys of owning a second home across the Channel, delves into French fashion and shows the positive role that wine can play as part of your investment portfolio. To give you some context, a two-bedroom apartment in Willow Avenue, SW13 is still going for £875,000. Probably would have been about a mill this time last year.