Dear Malcolm, You will be amused to learn that I was listening to Glass Top Coffin while I was having my lunch today. That weird LP by Rameses really is most unusual. The music took me back many years, to Sutton House, the cuckoo clock and the wallpapered room you shared with Siavosh Ardalan, that naughty nignog. Yes, it is always a pleasure to receive an email from you, old fellow. And you have actually been reading my blog! Amazing! Well, I did have the impression that one or two people might perhaps be reading it from time to time, as I have nearly clocked up 100,000 "hits". For our lunch on Christmas day, we also had roast duck. It was rather good and I think that duck has a lot more flavour than turkey. However, you have to be careful how you cook it. It’s not just an aquatic chicken. I love roasted potatoes. I mean, baked potatoes are good too and so are chips, but potatoes that have been sploshed with fat from the roasted meat and then cooked in the oven are super-