It has become fashionable in the never-endingly self-referential blogosphere to announce periods of absence. So, out of duty to my (doubtless) legions of fans, here is word of a brief ceasefire, as I head off for a fortnight to a blog free zone. In the meantime let me encourage you towards the rest of our outstanding blogs, including that of my colleague on the politics desk Mehdi Hasan, whose Dissident Voice never fails to counter conventional wisdom; Jonathan Derbyshire and Daniel Trilling on high culture, Sophie Elmhirst on wonderful stories from around the world, and George Eaton’s personal take on the commentariat.