Noel - let me be the first to say: Ben looks like the older brother you never had! The deep bonds of filial affection and respect that you share is clearly evident.
(By the way, I have a friend who was in Tibet for a hockey tournament and, carrying his equipment bag and stick, happened upon the Dalai Lama coming out of a meeting, gently blessing everyone he passed. Without thinking, my friend held out his hockey stick, and, after a moment of confusion, the Dalai Lama blessed it with a smile. In the hockey game the next day, on his first shot, the stick snapped in two.)
I don't understand the surprise regarding Ran's latest sartorial choice. It is typical, is it not, for those who inhabit the high plateaus of culture and breeding to challenge the mundane choices and narrowness of mind of those few members of the middle-class whom they deign to allow into their lives? Just when the rest of us, in an anxious bid to please, have adopted the style of the English public school set, our leader mockingly demonstrates his disregard for such fawning tributes!!