10.30 Newsnight: What Are The

Can Anything Match That First Fine Discovery Of The Telephone And All It Stood For? That First Realization That, Contained Within Ten Simple Digits, Lay The Infinitely Possible? Out There ... Lay Six Billion Ears, All The People In The World Available For Contact And Mystery And Insult, Unable To Resist The Beckoning Of One Small And Villainous Forefinger.

Having Lost The Last War, They Are Currently Enjoying A "wirtschaftswunder," Which Can Be Briefly Translated As "the Best Way To Own A Mercedes Is To Build One."

The Word "souvenir" Has, Of Course, Slightly Extended Itself In Meaning Until It Now Denotes Almost Anything Either Breakable Or Useless; But Even Today, Ninety Per Cent Of The Items Covered By The Word Are Forgettable Objects In Which Cigarettes Can Be Left To Go Stale.

Sadly, As With So Much About History's Heroes, It's The Spotting Of Potential Fame That's The Difficulty, Whether It's Publishing Their Poems, Hanging Their Paintings, Or Buying Their Old Underwear. Think Of The Great Men Whose Lives Passed In Penury And Hacking Coughs Due To Public Unawareness That Their Littlest Possession Would End Up At Sothebys Or The Basement At Fort Knox.

Television Is More Interesting Than People. If It Were Not We Should Have People Standing In The Corner Of Our Room.