Bicycle wins Times inventions poll
[Listening to: The Worst Joke Ever - REM - Around The Sun]
So the bicycle was voted in The Times as the country's greatest invention of the past 250 years, winning by a huge 62% of the vote, and beating contenders such as Vaccination, Computers (and the WWW), Electricity and the Electric Light. Bike Magic and Singletrack both ran pieces on the poll, which for reasons I can't quite understand disappointed judges, who complained of vote rigging.
If you're sad you didn't vote in that poll, how about voting in the New 7 Wonders project. Half of all revenue raised by the project will apparently be put towards restoration efforts, and as the UK has just two entries in the Top 40, I'll be putting forward my nomination. I have no problem with the Colosseum (currently 3rd), or the Eiffel Tower (currently 8th ), where they recently opened an ice skating rink to support the Paris Olympic bid and to attract more French visitors. I flew over Paris last week, and the Eiffel Tower was a wonderful site, easy to pick out on a wonderfully clear night - it's always worth picking the window seat.
Both the Telegraph and the Guardian report on the news that Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi was cleared of two charges of bribing judges - one on a technicality. Under Italian law, defendants accused of crimes committed more than 15 years ago are automatically acquitted. Though this alleged offence happened in 1991, judges decided to halve the period covered by the law because Mr Berlusconi has a clean criminal record. How convenient...
To add insult to injury, Berlusconi now apparently plans to woo voters by entering his new song - Samba and Chocolate, at the San Remo Song festival according to this article in the Times, although it's not true as it reports that every Italian household has already received a copy of his autobiography, 'An Italian Story' - I never got mine, but no worries, I don't have a fireplace, so I've not much use for it. He was also reported on Friday, just after having been acquitted, of saying "I have in mind the idea of making a movie". Please, spare us...
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