eLogical

Be warned - I am about to express unfashionable views about the London 2012 olympics.

If the Olmympics was about investing huge amounts of time and money into the grass roots of sport throughout the UK, bringing the olympic ideal to all our communities - I'd be 100% behind it.

However it is not.

London 2012 is about the vanity of politicians. And just like the dome where we built the worlds biggest big tent for a billion pounds and then realised we had absolutely nothing to put inside it - we are now embarking on building the worlds best sporting facilities. and then realise we have no athletes

The test of a really great film is whether you still enjoy it after you've watched it ten times with the kids. Tim Burton's film version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", like eating too many Wonka bars, has left me with a slightly sick feeling in my stomach.

I'm a big a fan of the original film (called "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" to the annoyance of Roald Dahl) and so was hugely looking forward to taking the kids to see the remake. However even the advent of CGI and a multi-million dollar budget couldn't disguise the fact that Burton has added very little - somehow the magic, comedy and grotesqueness of the orginal were lost .

To me the main characters are far more 2 dimensional and the cloning of a middle aged Asian man as the Oompa Loompas didn't really do it for me. Charlie (who usually looses a parent or two in his other films) was far too grumpy. I might leave him my funeral home but certainly not my Chocolate factory.

The Christoper Lee back story was the one improvement however I still pine for the orginal.

Don't get me wrong - I'm a big fan of the Dragons Den (Tuesday at 8pm, BBC2) but a few things have struck me.

Firstly, the decision to invest in the various entrepreneurs parading their ideas seems to be more about the ego of the "Dragons" then any merit in the ideas themselves. For Peter Jones and Theo Paphitis to buy half a circus act for corporate entertainment seems a rather strange decision. It has more the feel of a celebrity auction for charity where the rich and famus show off how rich and famous they are. Lets hope they don't turn out to be the clowns in their new business.

Secondly, the free advertising the entrepreneurs get must be worth far more than any money the dragons are likely to invest. A 10 minute ad on BBC2 must be worth £200,000 of anyones marketing budget.

Maybe the smart people on this show are the Entrepreneurs who turn down offers of cash and the Dragons who keep their money piled high on their tables.

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