An archangel ecstatically proclaiming the Millennium, and then finding that it clashed unpardonably with Henley and would have to be indefinitely postponed, could hardly have felt more crestfallen than Cornelius Appin at the reception of his wonderful achievement.

Railway engines have been attacked with gunfire by raiding aircraft on both sides of the Channel and the impression has grown up that they are defenceless monsters to be pestered with impunity. The first engine to disprove this vainglorious theory was, we are glad to note, a British one. [The locomotive boiler exploded, causing the aircraft to crash.]

In the space of about 3 minutes on one of those news-all-night shows -- I think it was the one on ABC -- they showed the head-meets-diving board clip 5 times. Once as the lead-in when they came back from commercials. Then as the perky newsreaderess read the news perkily. Then as she went to a reporter at another location. Then he ran the clip. Twice. That's totally unjustified.

a sharp appetite