Vox Clamantis

London

London was great. Thanks to Lis, Simon and everyone else for the hospitality.

Naturally the dollar rallied today against the euro and the yen, up from 20 month lows. But the dollar remained weak against the pound, so I still would have had sticker shock.

Anyway, I'll be posting some photos of the trip on my photo page. I have one photo up already, so go check that out.

Why is London so expensive?

A friend just paid $60 for $10 worth of dry cleaning. Perhaps she just got ripped off, but in general there is considerable evidence that London is an expensive city. The London Times reported on this in August:

Britain’s rip-off prices were confirmed last week by a Sunday Times survey that found we are indeed being overcharged for a wide range of everyday products and services.

Whether it is a meal out, a trip to the cinema or a weekend in the country, in Britain it typically costs about 30% more than in comparable countries. Our train fares are four times the global average.

There has been considerable debate about this in the blogosphere. The New Economist offers Nine Reasons why London is so Expensive and has some follow-up commentary here. All of this is my way of saying I leave for London tonight. I will be back next week and will resume blogging then, unless I get a chance to sneak away to a computer before then.

This day in hip hop

So today we get new albums by Jay-Z and Snoop. No, Christmas isn't early. I've been listening to both through Ruckus (a free music program for students) and will just offer some early thoughts. First, Snoop. So here's a guy who changes the entire music industry in the 90s and inspires all kinds of rappers, from 50 to eminem. now it's reversed, with snoop sounding just like the two aforementioned artists. not bad, but not great.

As for hov, the Black album is clearly better. I didn't really like the background music for that album, but they Grey album changed that, and that's easily one of my favorite albums ever. The raps on Jay's newest aren't up to that standard. not even close. Unfortunately, I think I'll have to second Tyler Cowen's choice of Justin Timberlake as the most innovative artist of the year, and yes, I've heard Beck's latest.

Santa Clara 49ers?

Here's a preliminary look at why the 49ers are moving to Santa Clara (via Richard Florida).