Saloon bar opinions

In South Beach you get a different type of night out. People are still wishing you happy new year on January 8 as they stumble between the hummers and soft-tops. You also get a different type of pub liar, comparable to Kenny from Phoenix Nights. Thus my temporary drinking buddy, Earl from Kentucky, had met both Gorbachev and the Queen of England, in addition to knocking boots with King Juan Carlos of Spain.

Or maybe it was true. Either way Alfred Kinsey, the subject of Bill Condon's entertaining new film, would need to create a 'sex with monarchs' category as one of the quantitative categories he was using. Either that or do a content analysis of the Jerry Springer Show, where William Sadler's cameo in Kinsey would not be out of place.

Talking of which, Springer's sideline as an opera character is causing a ruckus back in London. "At least 45,000 people had contacted the BBC to complain about swearing and religious themes in the opera...The BBC said on Sunday that it had received 317 calls since the broadcast, more than half of which had been supportive." In other words, about 44, 850 complained about the show before they'd seen it. Talk to the hand, cos the brain ain't listening.