Not living anywhere near Britain, I was a little astounded by this news story that a talking meerkat is the new hot Christmas toy at Harrods

Meerkats being so far off the popular list that spellcheck thinks it should be Meerschaum or merchant.  And then I was struck by the striking similarity with the American insurance ads for Geico featuring a geiko (two bizarre animals with foreign accents talking up insurance) only there doesn’t appear to be Christmas rush for the lizard…