Even though it's Saturday, and much nearer Sunday than Friday, I shall have my first go at the Friday 5.
1 Where are you right now ? : Sat at computer drinking wine, listening to Pernice Brothers while the Mrs sorts the nippers out.
2:What have you lost recently? Every last drop of goodwill I ever had for my employer.
3:What was the first CD you ever purchased? Does that embarrass you now? : I was late coming to C.D's. The first one I ever bought was "The Best of Crowded House". God knows why, I had never been a fan of theirs, although I like Tim Finn and was a massive fan of Split Enz, particularly in their early days. "Dizrythmia" is a neglected classic. I never listen to the Crowded House thing now, in fact I hardly listened to it at all, but it doesn't embarrass me. The first record I ever bought was "Hippy Hippy Shake" by the Swinging Blue Jeans .
4: What is your favorite kind of writing pen? Any sort that doesn't empty its ink into my pocket.
5:What is your favorite ice cream flavor? My very own home made chocolate, made with many egg yolks, Jersey milk, double cream and the coup de grace; creme fraiche. Sometimes I add a little Madagascan vanilla, not often though, wouldn't want to over egg the pudding, as it were.

Typically barking animation from B3ta

Down at the park this morning with the 3 nippers I noticed two elderly guys wandering around with a camera equipped with a zoom lens.
Initially I thought they must have grandchildren with them, but clearly they didn't. So I thought they must be keen photographers taking pictures, generally, of a playground on a summers day, even though the day was barmy rather than balmy . Then I noticed the guy with the large lens was taking pictures of individual kids, and my armpits started to prickle. No one else seemed to notice or be particularly bothered, apart from my Mrs as it turned out.
We left them to their art and carried on around the park. The eldest who is seven went on a boat. We then noticed the two geezers rambling around the lake, looking a bit shifty, in my cynical view. At the playground my Mrs had been miles away from me, entertaining the youngest, but she now said I don't like the look of those two, they haven't any kids with them but they have been taking close up photos of individual kids, they better not try it with our nippers. Whereupon the long lens dude crouched down and pointed his lens at our nipper in the boat. There was no- one or nothing else around, he could only have been focussing on the nipper.
My Mrs yelled across, "NO, DON'T TAKE A PHOTO OF MY SON". They looked irritated rather than embarrassed, and headed for the car park quite quickly. Another family told us they had been uneasy too, most looked away. I am unutterably proud of the Mrs. The old blokes may have been entirely innocent, but it strikes me as an odd way to spend a Saturday, taking furtive pictures of extremely young children.The police were informed.
Anyway, I only mention it because I happened upon this Hitchens article at Arts and Letters Daily.

A 1934 article from the New Yorker on John Dillinger. Absolutely fascinating.