if it’s news to me, it must be news to you!
Smell of the week: For the librarian in your life, perfumier Christopher Brosius brings you In the Library, a scent that promise ‘a whisper of the frayed cloth and the wisp of wood polish from the shelves’.
Alternatively, you could try Dead Writers which ‘evokes the feeling of sitting in an old library chair paging through yellowed copies of Hemingway, Shakespeare, Fitzgerald and Poe’.
Still, I suppose it has to be better than Burger King’s Flame-Grilled Fragrance or KFC’s Finger Lickin’ Good edible nail polish.
Speaking of takeaways: Beware Domino’s Pizza men – they know where you live and they know when you’re sick.
Obsession of the week: Some people can be passionate about trains, but for them the train station is just the place you spot them. Not so for David Brewer who has now photographed all 2,500 or so stations in the UK.
Cuppa of the week: The British obsession with tea has taken been taken a step further with more gardeners growing their own. Apparently the UK climate is perfect for growing the stuff, as witnessed by tea plantations in Cornwall and Scotland.
Which is a great excuse to listen to Binnie Hale singing A Nice Cup of Tea. And for foreign visitors, some tips on making tea from The Empire Tea Bureau in 1941.
Political comment of the week: Faced with a choice of Trump or Clinton, Mary Anne Noland opted for the Grim Reaper.
Shock of the week: The Pavlok is a wristband that gives you an electric shock every time you go overdrawn at the bank. The idea has been used to break other bad habits, but this one could seriously compromise your banking security.
Nose job of the week: ‘Given a choice of nose, I wouldn’t pick this one’ goes the old joke, but whether yours is long, short, snubbed, hooked or button, it’s all down to just four genes.
Sticky moment of the week: Authorities in Hong Kong have ordered that paving bricks be glued in place to prevent them being used as ammunition in a repeat of the Chinese New Year protests.
Science imitating art: Snoozing away long space journeys, as Ripley did in Alien, is becoming a reality for manned trips to Mars.
Forgetfulness of the er…: Ever wondered why ‘good’ people fiddle their expenses or filch pencils from work? It’s all down to ‘unethical amnesia’ apparently that allows us to forget our indiscretions.
Analogy of the week: According to Boris Johnson, the European Union is like badly fitting underwear.
Brief lives: David Collischon who gave us the 1980s must-have accessory, the Filofax; Maggie Blye, actress who played Michael Caine’s girlfriend in The Italian Job; conspiracy theorist, Mark Lane; Emile Ford, the first black singer to sell a million singles in the UK with What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For and; Alan Young who played Wilbur Post opposite Mister Ed and who got the part because ‘he looks like the kind of guy a horse would talk to’.