Beggars' Choice

Noticed all the cool kids seem to have double-barrelled surnames these days. I am thinking of changing my surname to Smith-Smythe. Then some doors will start opening.

UPDATE Or maybe Eggnog-Hedgehog ... just like the way it rolls off the tongue. Certainly a name you can trust.

OK, courtroom sketches; we've all seen them before; this sort of thing:
Anyway, I was wondering the other day - how bad would a sketch have to be before someone knew you weren't for real? What sort of rubbish could a courtroom artist get away with before he'd be called on it? I mean obviously if you turned in something like this



there's no way that would get published or shown on TV (although personally I think it captures the gravitas of a coutroom hearing quite well), but this sails pretty close to the wind. That's John Travolta apparently.

Essentially I have been working on my PhD thesis. In fact, working like a Trojan (by which I mean doing nothing expect watch a bunch of guys try to construct a wooden donkey or something - metaphorically speaking, of course). It's coming along. As soon as I work out a seamless segue from UFO abductions to the universal appeal and charm of Oprah Winfrey, I'm there, I would say.