Dearest Gentle Reader, this Wednesday has delivered a king addressing foreign legislators, a government scrambling to avoid a most inconvenient inquiry, and a face cream making promises it had absolutely no business making. This Author has opinions on all of it - and perhaps a raised eyebrow or two to spare.

Dearest Gentle Reader, This Author has today encountered a footpath of preposterous length, designer hounds behaving most abominably, and a certain former ambassador whose correspondence grows ever more fascinating by the hour. One would not wish to miss a single word of what follows.