Here's a class act. And a new Britishism: "splashing out."

JK Rowling celebrated her elevation to the world's official list of billionaires by splashing out more than £125,000 during an auction at a charity ball.

The author of the Harry Potter books successfully bid £50,000 for a dinner to be cooked by the television chef Nick Nairn and served by celebrities including Kirsty Wark, the BBC Newsnight presenter.

Miss Rowling also bought a motorised scooter for £70,000 and spent another £7,000 on a guided tour of Edinburgh conducted by Ian Rankin, the writer behind the Inspector Rebus crime novels.

Her bids were the main talking point of the ball at the Edinburgh Conference Centre on Saturday, which raised £184,000 to fight meningitis.

More Howard Shore, again via NPR. Very sophisticated musical concepts, even to extent of asking Renee Fleming to sing without vibrato because Shore wanted a feeling of very early music.

Duly Warned!
This is what it will be like here tonight. Neighborhood be warned.

Saturday Lecture

Well, I bet we will be here on Saturday.
Wow!