From the fourth row in the stalls my student party had a very clear view of Sir Sean Connery, Simon Cowell and the rest of the panel on stage. I watched Sir Sean closely when the star performer of the afternoon was announced as a former leading lady with a passion for the James Bond star.

The aging actress took to the ice with her baby grand-daughter in her arms. She successfully skated about 10 yards before falling flat on her face. Luckily the baby slid gracefully to the side of the rink, completely unharmed. Of course the actress herself was incredibly embarrassed, especially when her wig flew off her head and skidded almost the whole length of the rink, right up to where the panel was seated. Sir Sean was less than impressed.

Although this was all very amusing to the audience, I still believed that our attendance here was a complete waste of public money. When it was announced that the next performance would involve the screening of the second season of an American drama series that had already been broadcast in the States I broke my silence and openly expressed my annoyance. What on earth would my Knowledge Management class learn from this?

Just as I was about to complain more loudly the American sponsor of the university leaned over and threatened from a couple of seats further along the row: “This is not meant to be a purely commercial deal, but if you want us to maintain your current level of funding, I suggest that you keep your mouth shut”.

Simon Cowell can be found elsewhere on Dreamaticus. See: