London ice can freeze your toes
An old-fashioned left-winger with a fondness for newts and old-fashioned dirty politics, or a 19th-century “Masterpiece Theater” Tory with an embarrassing sense of humor, or a gay policeman? It sounds like the mayoral options from a “Tintin” book...
So says Adrian Gill in a distillation of the coming London elections in today's NYT. (There was also a decent profile of the race by Calvin Trillin in the New Yorker not long ago; here's the weird abstract they've taken to publishing for the articles that don't get full online reprints.)
It's strange to exist amongst all this and not be eligible to vote. Sort of the inverse of my relationship to the US presidential election, I suppose. Despite the fact that I pay my council tax by monthly direct debit, I have no say, not being an EU national. (Unfortunately, the inverse isn't true of that: I'm still on the hook with the IRS.) So I can only stand back and watch. Nevertheless, I'm interested and even attended a husting, just to see the cartoon characters come to life. I can't say it did any of them any particular favours -- especially Brian Paddick, who came off thick as molasses -- although it made clear the ads that say 'Vote for London' and present only one tickbox, captioned 'Ken', are rather accurate propaganda. One could possibly imagine voting one's first preference for one of the well-meaning fringe parties (the Left List candidate is such an old-school true believer, you couldn't help but love her), but when it comes to the more-important second preference, Livingstone stands alone.
The vote occurs 1st May, and last night I heard from an acquaintance who works in City Hall that political appointees have had to clear out their desks (civil servants are safe -- for now, at least); there is, it turns out, no transition. We might have a new mayor on Friday. Which, again, is the inverse of the never-ending story of the campaign to become POTUS. Rather than hyperspeed, it seems to be happening in slow motion. On that score, I'm trying to trust the judgement of another writer on today's Times opinion page. Namely Frank Rich and his analysis of John McCain's 'loss' in Pennsylvania. His conclusion gave me a chuckle, and a modicum of hope: 'The Democrats’ unending brawl may be supplying prime time with a goodly share of melodrama right now, but there will be laughter aplenty once the Republican campaign that’s not ready for prime time emerges from the wings.'
‡ Just a side note to say I had two great musical experiences today, thanks to London itself, with no apparent help from the mayor. The first was hearing Stravinsky's Mass, sung by the Cathedral Choir as part of the service at St Paul's. The second was The Good, The Bad & The Queen covering The Specials' 'Ghost Town'. Amazing.
So says Adrian Gill in a distillation of the coming London elections in today's NYT. (There was also a decent profile of the race by Calvin Trillin in the New Yorker not long ago; here's the weird abstract they've taken to publishing for the articles that don't get full online reprints.)
It's strange to exist amongst all this and not be eligible to vote. Sort of the inverse of my relationship to the US presidential election, I suppose. Despite the fact that I pay my council tax by monthly direct debit, I have no say, not being an EU national. (Unfortunately, the inverse isn't true of that: I'm still on the hook with the IRS.) So I can only stand back and watch. Nevertheless, I'm interested and even attended a husting, just to see the cartoon characters come to life. I can't say it did any of them any particular favours -- especially Brian Paddick, who came off thick as molasses -- although it made clear the ads that say 'Vote for London' and present only one tickbox, captioned 'Ken', are rather accurate propaganda. One could possibly imagine voting one's first preference for one of the well-meaning fringe parties (the Left List candidate is such an old-school true believer, you couldn't help but love her), but when it comes to the more-important second preference, Livingstone stands alone.
The vote occurs 1st May, and last night I heard from an acquaintance who works in City Hall that political appointees have had to clear out their desks (civil servants are safe -- for now, at least); there is, it turns out, no transition. We might have a new mayor on Friday. Which, again, is the inverse of the never-ending story of the campaign to become POTUS. Rather than hyperspeed, it seems to be happening in slow motion. On that score, I'm trying to trust the judgement of another writer on today's Times opinion page. Namely Frank Rich and his analysis of John McCain's 'loss' in Pennsylvania. His conclusion gave me a chuckle, and a modicum of hope: 'The Democrats’ unending brawl may be supplying prime time with a goodly share of melodrama right now, but there will be laughter aplenty once the Republican campaign that’s not ready for prime time emerges from the wings.'
‡ Just a side note to say I had two great musical experiences today, thanks to London itself, with no apparent help from the mayor. The first was hearing Stravinsky's Mass, sung by the Cathedral Choir as part of the service at St Paul's. The second was The Good, The Bad & The Queen covering The Specials' 'Ghost Town'. Amazing.