• It was that or Madonna

    My colleague G, a Londoner resident for some years in New York, tells of a party here recently at which he was making small talk with a fellow guest who quickly divined his English origins:

    "Where are you from?", she asked

    "London", he replied.

    "Oh! What part?"

    "Belsize Park."

    "My daughter lives in Belsize Park."

    "How nice. What is her name?"

    "Gwyneth Paltrow."