"I don't know why everyone says that about my work, " replied the 77-year-old Mr. Graves, who famously decorated the Walt Disney headquarters with a frieze of seven dwarfs and topped an Alessi teakettle with a red bird that tweets an alert when the water boils.

WSJ: Michael Graves, Drinking Wine With Lettie Teague

It was the one fixed point on a vacillating compass of relative morality until, one day, a tiny bird, the merest wisp of red plumage, tore away my comforting absolute and aligned me squarely with the NRA supporters, Second Amendment defenders and pro-gun crusaders I had reviled.

NEWSWEEK: Culture

We have also had a few health scares to keep our minds occupied - the Bird Flu scare, fish (red-tides), beef, and pork.

BBC: In Hong Kong, life goes on