It is Superbowl week, and maybe for the first time in its storied history, the American news cycle is dominated not by the QB ratings of the respective starting quarterbacks, but by the death of one of the most dominant personalities in contemporary American sport and pop-culture, Kobe Bryant.

In the realms of the imagination, more is usually better. Why restrict ourselves to one make-believe island?

It took six months, strong high-altitude winds, and a whole lot of luck for a little balloon to fly some 2,500km from Ireland to Norway.

There comes a time when the narrative must change.

IT HAS been another long, tiring day. You are lying in bed, trying to sleep, when suddenly your partner starts caressing your body. He is obviously in the mood for sex. Do you roll over and enjoy it? Or do you agree, but then start thinking about what “reward’’ you want in return?