"Do You Know a Guy Named Sam Ault?"

So there we are in Tim's random new Brixton apartment, amidst a flurry of Mojitos and French partygoers, talking to some Nova Scotians (Diana and Joyce, with Tim above - apologies to the girls for posting the picture) who were given directions to the festivities by Mike McNair - who is quickly turning into my Saturday night social coordinator.

At one point the conversation turned to how Cooper and I know each other (a story too long for this post) and Tim mentions his years at Lakefield College School, a fact that seemed to startle Diana. "Do you know a guy named Sam Ault?" she asks, prompting laughter from me while Tim whips out the cell phone, punches in a few numbers, and presto - by a miracle of modern technology, Sam is on the line...

This is funny on many levels, Ault being one of Tim's closest friends and partner in their Metrojack project. I too know Sam (through Tim), having slept on his floor at Princeton back in 1998, welcomed him to the Domus Legis in 2003, and we clinked some Keith's pints this past Christmas in Toronto. A legendary and hilarious character. Apparently, the mothers of Diana and Sam are best of friends, and one wonders if they didn't secretly hope to set their respective children up together. Well, who knows, after these past few Saturday nights of seemingly endless random circumstance, maybe this phone call might precipitate the start of something yet...

Whatever the case, take the above as just one more example of the increasingly smaller networks of today's globe. I laughed loudly upon reading The Onion headline two years ago claiming "Kevin Bacon Linked to Terrorists" - with photos and mugshots to represent the supposed 6 degrees. But it is so true. Tim's days growing up in Saudi Arabia even leaves him only 1 or 2 degrees removed from Osama Bin Laden. Oh Brave New World.