Engaging in speculation

Well, I’ll be blowed: Newscorp CEO Rupert Murdoch, 84, and erstwhile super-model Jerry Hall, 59, have announced their engagement. Rather quaintly, they placed a notification in the births, marriages and deaths section of one of Murdoch’s flagship publications, the London Times.

As you might imagine, there’s considerable comment flying around the ether about the romance, and possible incentives for Hall’s involvement with Murdoch. No one seems to question his motivation. A lot is being made of the age difference, and Murdoch’s, uh, physical attraction(s).

So let me just point out a couple of things. Murdoch married his last wife, Wendi Deng, at age 66, when she was 29; a 37-year delta. So 25 years is a twelve-year improvement in that regard.

Second, having spent a couple of decades with Mick Jagger, and bearing four of his children, it’s not like Hall isn’t used to waking up in the morning and looking into the face of a corpse. (Not that I’m inquiring in any respect into the sleeping arrangements of any of these people.)

If you’ve not spent time in the UK, you might not have seen this commercial that Hall did for Strongbow Cider. I always thought it pretty amusing, although it never inspired me to actually, you know, drink the stuff.

But the thought occurs to me: Woman’s going to need a barrel full of cider to get through the next few months. Not to mention living with this particular cadaver.