If you're looking for a little escape, even for a few precious moments  - and in these parlous times, whom among us is not? - I really can't recommend anything better than the latest fantaisie from the prodigiously talented Mr. Ed Cachianes.

Just in time for Valentine's Day, herewith the latest from Egyptian superstar Amr Diab. The subtitles go with "You Own My Heart," but literally the title - "Maak Alby" - is "My Heart is with You."

Well, all right then. Who doesn't remember where they were, one fateful night in 1991, when first this spectacular bit of bizarerie hit one's favorite video bar or dance floor?

And now for something completely different...

Another year's rolled by, and Ramadan is once again upon us - late nights and overeating for all!

 The last time we checked in with musical prodigy Alaa Wardi, he was turning the semi-dross of Lorde's "Royals" into something rich and strange.

I love stumbling, unawares, onto a treasurable character; this lady most definitely was one.

This stunning image, Irving Penn's 1951 snap of model Lisa Fonssagrives at a palace in Morocco, appeared in this morning's throwaway free paper, in among the sports scores and banal headlines, and my whole day has been the better for it.

Here to brighten up what is, at least in Our Nation's Capital, a gray and dreary day, one of the United Kingdom's most distinguished thespians.  And I bet you thought her appearance in Caligula was as far a cry as one could imagine from The Queen.

As summer gives way to fall, it seems time to indulge in a little fantaisie orientale, don't you think?

It occurred to me that I've been remiss of late in my occasional mission to bring to a wider audience the splendors of Arab pop; the little gem above should take care of that for a while, with a new twist...

You know I'm not one for hyperbole, darlings (stop snickering), but this woman is something of a genius.

I'm in transit, but when the plane touched down in Tokyo and my phone whirred back to life, I was faced with a downpour of sorrow from Cairo, for Egyptian film lovers have lost "The Lady of the Arab Screen," the incomparable Faten Hamama.  This really is going to be a tough year for movie lovers, isn't it?

One of the many topics in regard to which I heartily agree with Mr. Ethan Mordden (novelist, raconteur, and entertainment historian par excellence) is the regrettability of the extent to which Hollywood (and, to a lesser extent, the stage) embraced the idea of the New Dance Sensation Number.  This surprisingly long-lived phenomenon consists nine times out of ten of a (frequently quite lavish) sequence based on a (nearly universally) sub-par song in praise of said terpsichory, staged without even a hint of what the damn dance was supposed to actually be.  I mean, face it - based on what you've seen on screen, could you attempt to dance the Varsity Rag?  The Continental?  I thought not.

Along those lines, this one's a lulu - and that's the least of its (many) sins.

I've been wondering how to convey to you exactly what the last week or so has been like, but fortunately, I found this.

...And Hello Kitty is not a cat.  At the risk of continuing the feline trend earlier this week, I feel obliged to note how thoroughly my mind has been blown by this startling news from the good people at Sanrio.

Who knew? In these parts, Blythe is a spokesmodel with her own hair color line.  It's about time the big-eyed one got one over on that damn Barbie Roberts and her endless merchandise machine.

Well, I thought there ought to be something cheerful and Brazilian today...

Just in case your Easter didn't have a slight nightmarish edge yet, darlings, this very special moment in television history should take care of that, pronto.