Weekend FT, current reading,dreaming of an ipod phone, and Blair's arrogance

I read the Financial Times this weekend- lots of my friends and colleagues recommend it as the UK paper to read for unbiased news- the other major papers take decidedly ideological viewpoints. I'm not sure I agree that the FT is unbiased if such a thing as an unbiased newspaper exists, but I do enjoy their Saturday edition especially the magazine and weekend sections. Good then to see in this week's Saturday FT two Nigeria- related stories, one describing a fashion show organized in Lagos in aid of the World Food Programme which featured Deola Sagoe of Odua Creations. In the article it said Will Smith and Oprah Winfrey are fans of her clothes.....I remember when she started designing not so many years ago and how she always made clear that her vision was global, not local- looks like her doggedness and commitment are paying off- more power to her....

The other was a not entirely-unsympathetic review of the latest volume of Wole Soyinka's memoirs- You Must Set Forth at Dawn http://snipurl.com/q6es . Having enjoyed his Ibadan the Penkelemesi Years, I'm looking forward to this....

At the moment I'm reading City of Falling Angels, the new book about Venice written by John Berendt, author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. As I'm due in Venice for work later in the week, I thought it'd be a good time to read it..so far so good. His earlier book partly inspired me to visit Savannah in Georgia a few years ago where I was stunned to discover that the book and the film together had led to a multi-million dollar boost in tourist business for the city..... Maybe I should write a book about Abuja....

At the conference I attended in the US not too long ago, I spotted lots of people with Apple laptops designed along the same lines as the iPod- that sleek white curviness....that has set me wondering- how come no-one's designed an iphone yet? A mobile phone designed along the lines of an ipod would be a market hit and would I suspect leave the Motorola V3 lying in the dust...but perhaps it exists already and I just haven't stumbled across it yet......

Blair continues to battle for his political life...... a friend asked me yesterday why I was so anti- Blair and I said it was summed up in one word- arrogance. I am under no illusions that David- I'll stand for whatever you want me to- Cameron will be any better, but Blair and his New Labourite chums cannot just continue taking the electorate for granted..... I hope they come to their senses soon...

Meanwhile Mark Oaten blames going bald at thirty and a mid life crisis for cheating on his wife with a rent-boy- honestly, what does he take the good people of Winchester, his constituency for?