Looking for a spark ...

... Tom Stoppard: 'I'm the crank in the bus queue'. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

"Yes," Stoppard admits, "there's a lot of editorialising. The pedantry is me. I'm vaguely embarrassed by myself sometimes. I'm offended by things and take pathetic little stands against them. When I was coming to meet you just now, I walked past French Connection, which still has that supposedly brilliant piece of advertising – FCUK – in the window. I used to like French Connection. But, from the moment those adverts began, I never set foot in one of the shops again. I refused to support anyone who thought this was clever rather than childish. I'm a sad case, really."