Jeremy Clarkson Is More Popular Than Hillary Clinton In Iran

This story from the BBC’s web site must be the strangest to come out of Iran in recent months.

It is about how Top Gear is very popular in the country and relates the story of a visit to Kurdistan, by the actor, who dubs our Jeremy into Farsi. Here’s an extract.

The BBC cannot operate freely in Iran, so Top Gear’s popularity is hard to measure. But last year, when PTV dropped an episode to air an exclusive interview with then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the audience protested bitterly.

I think in some ways that the man or woman on the Teheran omnibus or stuck in the Isfahan traffic jam think about the same things as their equivalemts in New York, Glasgow and Sydney.

Perhaps, Hillary Clinton could be a star in a reasonably priced car to raise her popularity in Iran.

A Half-Timbered Car!

The funny title is not mine, but it was said by Barry Humphries, when dressed as Dame Edna, he was walking through Stratford-on-Avon.

A Half-Timbered Car!

There aren’t many half-timbered houses around here, with one of the nearest in Walthamstow.

When we first moved to the Barbican, we had a green Morris Minor Traveller, just like this one.

There must be few of my generation, who’ve never owned or driven one of these cars.

A Real Advantage Of Not Having A Car

A friend of mine had their car stolen yesterday.

The day before the battery went flat and they had to call the AA to get moving. So when they got back home yesterday, they left the engine running so that their partner could drive the car to the garage to get a new battery fitted.

But when their partner went back outside, they found that the car had disappeared.

What I find so funny about this story, is not the fact that the engine had been left running on the street, but that the car is one of the oldest Homda Civics on London’s streets.  But then it is difficult to understand the mind of the criminal. Perhaps they wanted it for cover for a ram raid on an old peoples’ home or to con someone out of a Zimmer frame.

And to make matters worse, I don’t suspect it had been properly cleaned for some time.  So it probably wouldn’t impress the girl-friend. That is assuming it was stolen by a man! on the other hand it could have been stolen by a man with a sense of humour to get rid of his girl-friend!

You have to ask various question.  Was it full of petrol, as this would give a motive for this serious crime? Did my friend, a non-smoker, keep pound coins for the meter in the ash tray? Both facts would have at least doubled the value of the vehicle.

My friend is seriously questioning the need to replace this car. Perhaps, it is a message from some supreme being, who feels that another non-driver is a good thing!

I shall keep laughing as this is possibly the biggest advantage of not having a car.

The Austin Maxi That Didn’t Get Into The Film

The Sunday Times yesterday told the true story of Argo yesterday and like so many other American films, the role of Brits, Canadians and New Zealanders have been cut out.  It would appear from the paper that the British Ambassador in Iran at the time; John Graham,  is not amused. It would appear that one of the heroes was the orange Austin Maxi, used to ferry the American diplomats about.

It may not be very sexy, but it’s true.

So I can cut Argo off my list of films to see, as I don’t watch films where the truth is bent for American self-gratification.

A Korean Police Car

There was a time, when the Police always had British made vehicles.

A Korean Police Car

Not any more! But then a trip to Seoul is much more interesting than one to Ellesmere Port to see them being made.

A Pedestrian Crossing From Hell

I could have labelled this crossing between Bordesley station and Birmingham City’s ground of St. Andrews, the worst I’d seen, but the pictures didn’t do it justice.

A Pedestrian Crossing From Hell

They don’t show how there was no signs, lights or a policeman on a road, where cars took the junction at well over the legal limit.  Two cars actually touched as I waited to cross.

But nothing will be done, as a proper solution would slow the cars.  And cars are of course kings in Birmingham, with only losers using public transport.

One day, there’ll be a serious accident.

The Daily Telegraph Says Start Sharing

This article in the Daily Telegraph should be read by everyone.

It outlines various Internet-based sharing schemes for cars, money and even land.

It says this about Zopa and its ilk.

When your budget is tight, lending money to strangers might seem crazy, but a rising number of savers and borrowers are going online to cut out the high street banks.

Better still, while interest rates stand at a historic low, DIY bankers who advance loans online at “peer-to-peer” lending websites such asZopa.co.uk can earn an average return of 5.4pc a year.

We live in interesting times.

A More Than Standard 8

It’s funny how names or phrases trigger things in your memory. The name on this picture for a start.

Sandilands Tram Stop

Sandilands was the driver of a Standard 8, that used to race in the 1960s or 1970s against the best racing saloon cars of his day. The car was referred to a couple of times as a More Than Standard 8. I can’t find any reference to it on the Internet.

And Some Think London’s Got Traffic Problems!

I just read this piece on the BBC web site about a legal challenge to a new bus lane in Delhi.

I think it is interesting to look at how well London survived the Olympics. A lot of the road network was closed down and people found better ways to work or get to work. I started referring to buses as Big Red Taxis.

Since the end of the Olympics, you’d think road traffic would have got back to previous levels.  I’m not sure, but when I walk up the Balls Pond Road at rush hour, it may be busy, but not as bad as I remember before the Olympics. The only really bad times are when Arsenal are at home, as a large number of people still drive to one of the easiest stadia in the country to get to by public transport.

I would love to see some properly collected figures on traffic in Central London. Do they publish the amount of money raised by the Congestion Charge? I can’t seem to find any recent results.  They should publish the takings on a regular basis. Probably daily!

The Car Can Wait, I’ve Got Something Better To Do

According to news reports, like this one in the Standard, shares of Haynes popular car manuals have slumped.

And supposedly it’s all because of Fifty Shades of Grey!

So are men reading the book, attempting to write better ones or doing important research in the garage?

Or have women found better ways of distracting men, from adjusting their big-ends?

The truth will come out when a student publishes their doctorate on the effect of the book! It will probably a lot more interesting than the novel.