Eras, End Of

With the passing of Ted Kennedy, "one thing is certain": "nothing will ever be quite the same again". You see, Kennedy's death marked the end of an era, though quite what the era it marked the end of was, we are not told. The era of Ted Kennedy perhaps. Nor are we told when Teddy Kennedy became Ted Kennedy. Probably at about the same time as when Teddy Boys became Ted Boys, The Teddy Bears' Picnic became the Ted Bears' Picnic, Ricky Nelson became Rick Nelson, and Sid Vicious became Sidney Vicious.

Another era came to an end with the demise not so long ago of Paul Newman. He was, as you probably know, the Last of the Hollywood Greats, although I can't help thinking that's a bit unfair on Robert Redford and Clint Eastwood. Still, I suppose by the the time their comes round, the people who trade in these clichés will have forgotten everything they wrote about Newman.

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An interesting remark attributed to Chou En Lai in answer to a question by Henry Kissinger:
"What do you think of the French Revolution"?
"It's too early to say".

Interesting, as I say, but it would help if we knew who Chou En Lai and Henry Kissinger are or were.