All must .. come to dust

The Alan Ecclestone daybook (Gather the Fragments) that I've been reading in the evenings had this as its reading for 30th Dec:

Fear no more the heat o' the sun,
Nor the furious winter's rages;
Thou thy worldly task hast done,
Home art gone, and ta'en thy wages;
Golden lads and girls all must,
As chimney-sweepers, come to dust.

Shakespeare Cymberline

Appropriate for the end of the year and doubly so in view of the events in Iraq that morning.
The last night we settled down to watch Candide on BBC4 from Le Châtelet - a production that has recently been in the news due to La Scala having cold feet over it.
It may have something to do with this scene -
but may not! - a scene with a public hanging was the one that had strong echoes of Iraq for us.
Some Flickr photos are here but don't include the Klu Klux Klan and the hanging.

PostScript - from operachic I see that La Scala may be reviewing its decision!