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London is the sixth largest French city in the world.

A.A. Gill

I admire machinery as much as any man, and am as thankful to it as any man can be for what it does for us.  But, it will never be a substitute for the face of a man, with his soul in it, encouraging another man to be brave and true.

Charles Dickens

When I recorded a voicemail greeting for my phone I made several attempts – in the end I settled for a message that consisted of 12 words and eight “biscuits”.

Many Italians do their best to live up to the examples of men such as Columbus and Garibaldi. Roberto Bosio, an off-duty captain travelling on the liner, stayed behind to man the bridge after it was abandoned. Two other Italian officers remained aboard until the end to try to bring order to the chaos of the evacuation. And among the names on the list of the missing is that of Giuseppe Girolamo, the long-haired drummer in the on-board band, Dee Dee Smith. Witnesses said he had a place in one of the lifeboats, but gave it up to a child.

He was testifying from what looked like an anonymous hotel conference suite, a wall light artfully placed above his head like a halo, at what was 5.30am local time. It is the low-adrenaline hour at which police often choose to make their raids.

You can’t watch the X Factor. This is England! You made Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Venom, Motörhead, Def Leppard, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Beatles, The Smiths, The Cure, The Damned, The Jam, The Police, The Sex Pistols, The Crush, Peter Gabriel, Kate Bush, Jarvis Cocker, David Bowie, Queen, Pink Floyd, Radiohead, Supertramp, Chemical Brothers and The Prodigy, and if you’re watching the X Factor after a résumé like that, I’m just telling ya, you are a bit of a bastard.

My daily affairs are quite ordinary;
but I’m in total harmony with them.
I don’t hold on to anything, don’t reject anything;
nowhere an obstacle or conflict.
Who cares about wealth and honour?
Even the poorest thing shines.
My miraculous power and spiritual activity:
drawing water and carrying wood.