Right-hand drive

The Washington Monthly's Kevin Drum does a spot of motoring in the UK. All those speed camera signs leave him confused, but he agrees that we have a better speed limit system. He probably didn't visit my neighbourhood where, for some reason, the narrow, twisting country lanes are fitted with 70 mph signs. No wonder we cyclists feel nervous.

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Boris's game plan

"Are you sure?" he asked the reporter, looking baffled. The new mayor is either a master of the art of delegation or not on top of his job. Take your pick. As for his Today programme appearance, Times sketchwriter Ann Treneman sifts through the wreckage of a car crash. On the sunnier side of the street, Andrew Gimson has added an upbeat chapter to the new edition of his Boris biography, including a glimpse of the relationship with Dave:

Boris and Cameron are often described as friends, but this is highly misleading. It would be more accurate to say that they are on friendly terms, but have never spent, or wished to spend, much time with each other. As a well-placed observer said: "They have no history of friendship and Boris has never been part of Cameron's set. Boris

Continue reading...

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Radiohead, reworked

In the New Republic, a disgruntled David Hajdu examines the delicate issue of the Internet and open-source remixing:

If this is legal, it is also extortionate and an act of terrible hypocrisy--a revocation of the promise of creative ownership that is drawing people to remixing, the promise that Radiohead has been eager to exploit, in large print, to sell its stems... For the moment, Yorke and his band have a message for fans loaded with GarageBand and an urge to own a part of Radiohead: Don't get any big ideas. They're not going to happen.

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Notebook

Back in Les Avants, heavy demands were made on his reserves of sympathy. Margaret Leighton came to stay, in the throes of divorcing Laurence Harvey, and Noël despaired of "these silly ladies" who "muck up their lives", regretting the time when women "just stayed put and, as a general rule, got their own way and held their gentlemen much longer. It isn't really surprising that homosexuality is becoming as normal as blueberry pie." Then Clifton Webb's mother, Maybelle, died. Webb had been inordinately attached to her; but Noël thought "the late sixties is rather late to be orphaned". When Webb rang in floods of inconsolable tears, Coward threatened him, "Clifton, if you don't stop crying, I shall reverse the charges."

Philip Hoare, "Noël Coward: A Biography".

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In search of another Swift Boat?

How blogs can influence journalism... Heavyweight pundit Michael Barone flags up a deeply speculative Pajamas Media piece about Barack Obama's changing views on Iraq and his relationship with Tony Rezko. Barone admits there are other, more convincing reasons for the candidate to have shifted ground, but he links to the story anyway. Responsible journalism or mere rumour-mongering?

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