Near Miss: Was in NYC this weekend for some cultur-izing. Whilst strolling down 5th Avenue, arm in arm with the Missus, trying to come to terms with my gin hangover, I was nearly struck down mid-stride by John Bolton's mustache. Thing had some serious 'tude.

I didn't see it coming, as it was incognito, in a windbreaker of all things, but while I can't swear to it, I'm fairly certain I saw a small Iranian envoy enveloped protectively beneathe the salt-and-pepper whiskers - off to some safe house no doubt, to hammer out some pre-arranged sanction language for the on-again uranium enrichment program. Anyway, as I was about to rear back and accost the accursed follicles, I was thrown against the glass of a Bergdorf show window by an unhappy man wearing an earpiece, and by the feel of things, a 10mm. I allowed discretion to be the greater part of valor and moved on ... sheepishly, all the while vowing to shave as soon as I got back to the hotel.

New York == what a city.