They're all British... yes, that's the first thing that comes to mind. Churchill (1874-1965) was born in Woodstock, England; Kosmo Vinyl (b. 1957) hails from East London; and Wreckless Eric (b. 1954) is from Newhaven, East Sussex. You might also know that they're all artists, and yes, plenty of artists come from England, so what? Well...

Ruth Franklin (another superb British artist) and I recently had the privilege of attending the opening of 'The Art of Diplomacy: Winston Churchill and the Pursuit of Painting' at the Millenium Gate Museum in Atlanta. The exhibition features over 30 of Churchill's paintings, many of which have never before been displayed publicly. In short, it's a fascinating exhibit on many levels, and I highly recommend you go see it  before it closes on February 1, 2015...

... Those sage words of advice came from my friend Eric last year, while we were discussing my to-do list... 

Eric, better known as Wreckless Eric, is an ‘antique English pop musician’ who once wrote a song called (I’d go the) Whole Wide World. Considered “one of the great Stiff singles”, it was produced by Nick Lowe for London’s Stiff Records in 1977 and re-released in 2013 on the Ten Big Stiffs compilation. His name may or may not sound familiar, but you’ve probably heard the tune before. Perhaps you know the 2007 cover version by The Proclaimers, or maybe you recall Will Ferrell singing it to Maggie Gyllenhaal in Stranger than Fiction? In his book, A Dysfunctional Success, Eric wrote: