TWI2TRONIK

Raised on similarly elegant bronze or gilt-bronze lamp bases, also usually of stylised plant form, these artistically exquisite and historically important illuminators of the early 20th century now command retail and auction prices, again as the two examples illustrate, that range from expensive to very very expensive. and that's hardly surprising as more and more discerning 21th-century collectors start to see the light."Here, lick this opal," I am told by the head of gemstones at earlier this morning in their high-security ateliers, perched atop the Place Vend?me. Now I have been to Place Vend?me, the spiritual home of jewellery, many, many times, but never have I been encouraged to use my tongue in appreciating a jewel.

Follow Seven on TwitterDirected by , with Trevor Pinnock acting as musical consultant in order to oversee the 15-piece English Concert orchestra, the show hooks you in from the start, playfully introducing a narrator Richard Riddells John who can step into the action, too, as the Sergeant Trumpeters son, his prodigious talents only gradually gleaned. He makes way for a panoply of other characters, among them Prince William, Duke of Gloucester (Joshua James), the sickly son of the future Queen Anne; the imperious Queen Mary (Charlotte Mills); the actor Thomas Betterton (Pip Donahy); sundry Thames watermen led by Sam Coxs name-dropping Francis and a barge-load of rakes, drinkers and bewigged coxcombs. There are tales of cuckolding, infant death, and a same-sex (female) marriage; a subplot involving Purcells The Fairy Queen and a grasping impresario is deftly interwoven with a cupid-struck thespian courtship straight out of .This year, Kate Atkinsons latest book, , has become a summer favourite, as has Jess Walters paperback Beautiful Ruins. From the Man Booker longlist, Id recommend s extraordinary 'We Need New Names'; from earlier this year, John le Carrés most personal spy novel, , and a rather different proposition George Saunderss witty and heart-stopping short story collection Tenth of December. You dont need me to tell you that JK Rowling has colonised this months market, with the paperback of The Casual Vacancy and the shes so cross about.I can't think of a better way for Colonel Muammar Gaddafi to meet his end than to be gunned down in a Libyan sewer. It?is a fitting end to?the career of a man who presided over one of the most murderous and violent regimes of the modern age, and had all the morality of a sewer rat.

You'll kick things off with three nights on Melbourne's buzzing Southbank at the stylish Crown Promenade. A multicultural haven, Melbourne has plenty on offer to discerning travellers - spend your time here taking in the Victorian architecture and leafy boulevards, the contemporary style of Federation Square or the boutique shops and renowned dining of the city centre.

Though on the street there were inevitably jeers as well as cheers. There had been three decades when Valerie Hobson had sought out the flashbulbs, but from this moment on she never enjoyed having her picture taken.

Sites designated "statutory land" are usually council-owned and are protected, but councils can apply for the designation to be changed, which opens the way for development.