Yesterday The Times ran a story asking if the Novogratz family were the coolest in the world. They are, for those who have not read the story, a photogenic Manhattan-based family in which the parents, Robert and Cortney (no, that is not a spelling mistake, but something like a clue as to what follows), have done rather well on property speculation and renovation. So well have they done, in fact, that they are about to be embraced by reality tv, whose various Tarquin execs seem to think that R & C and their adorable brood will make for unmissable viewing.

Yes, the children. There are seven of them, including two sets of twins. And their names simply defy belief. They are, in descending order, Wolfgang, 12, twins Tallulah and Bellamy, 10, Breaker, eight, twins Five and Holleder, four, and four-month-old Major. Not much goes with Novogratz, fair enough, but Five Novogratz?

And I thought Sarah Palin's variety pack of Track and Trigg and Bristol were bad.