Good morning across all the time zones of the planet. News! (Of a sort.) If your idea of social and political studies in the US involves in any way reruns of Baywatch, then I have a series for you. You can collect all those old and thick volumes of English history, of which you must have an overflow, and donate them to your nearest Goodwill folks.

I'm in the midst of a marathon viewing of The Tudors. Showtime's new foray into (drumroll) the libidinous 1500's. Who knew that England, alone among all the nations of Europe, offered great dental care, masterful haircuts and complexions that usually occur only on the pages of such profound journals as People and Elle. Or that peasant women wove not brown cloaks but tennis nets.

Now that I've set your minds at ease, you can have another espresso, contemplate the pleasures of porridge with fresh fruit, and breathlessly await my further elucidations. Til this evening, my faithful ones.