QF460, la Hutton

Flight 460 last night. QF very nicely gave me seat 1A (next to a very disapproving-looking gent who needed a seatbelt extender). There was an agreeable amount of bowing and scraping from the cabin crew, who weren't as chipper as usual. Tired from New Years Eve? Wondering about how the private equity bid pans out? They were pleasant, even though I was looking superbly scruffy (hadn't shaved in 2 weeks, wearing nasty $5 shirt, shorts. Barefoot for most of the flight. And going commando too, due to laundry crisis earlier in the day. But they weren't to know.).

For me, the highlight of any QF flight is the welcoming video from Deborah Hutton. She's so aggressively well-preserved, so composed and professional. I love the way there's always just a hint that she's phoning it in - sometimes a little nonchalant on the delivery, and often (if you watch hard enough, and I do) a strange but very appealing disconnect in the timing between her expansive hand gestures and the words she's speaking. I probably seem a rather debauched and cynical old thing but she cheers me up. I often watch without the sound.