Schwarzman in a whirlpool

It is good to see those caught in the eye of spurious media storms about so-called global financial meltdown sharing the pain. Stephen Schwarzman, the chief executive of Blackstone, shared some fatherly advice with fellow sufferer Bader al-Sa'ad, managing director of the Kuwait Investment Authority, the sovereign wealth fund that has just helped Merrill Lynch out of a smallish hole. Mr al-Sa'ad was confused at the hostile reaction to funds like his. But Mr Schwarzman understood: “It is not really the substance - it is the fear,” he advised, referring to common misconceptions he also faced over private equity. “If you don't do something you end up in a whirlpool and it gets worse. It is a strange world.” At that point another delegate was heard to address Mr Schwarzman, saying, “I blame you guys for this”.

Mr Schwarzman's eye then fell on Maria Bartiromo, CNBC's finance anchor. The advice session was over as Mr Schwarzman moved to schmooze the Money Honey.

A Wine expert

What does a President of Afghanistan do to unwind after a hard day at the office? Hamid Karzai revealed yesterday that his preferred form of relaxation of an evening involved an hour watching a gentle British comedy on TV with his family. “If I have time in the evening, I spend it with my son,” he said. “I watch that British show, Last of the Summer Wine.”

Happily for the President, the BBC has commissioned a 29th series of Britain's longest-running comedy despite the odd complaint by lesser viewers that it has had its day.

Still employable

A soon-to-be unemployed middle-aged computer geek was composing his CV in an attempt, perhaps, to catch the eye of one of the delegates looking to recruit. Davos is a great networking occasion, after all, and it would not be the first job deal clinched in the snow. So Gates, W, went ahead and made his pitch at the start of his presentation yesterday: “I am still employable. I am a self-starter. I am proficient in Microsoft ...”

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