December 1, 2008:
The smartest thing to come out of Oxford
So says MINI UK, anyway, in this nice press kit I got recently:
Inside, the press kit offers information and photos of the full MINI range (including the new JCW model) - in CD, USB stick and glossy print formats! I’m particularly pleased with the (2GB) “MINI” logo’ed memory stick, and also with the set of “spreadable” printed pictures which pull out of a slot in the press kit, and spread out fan-like in a pleasingly high quality way 
In addition to the photos, there’s a chunk of press release text including MINIMALISM:
… with the launch of a second-generation new MINI Hatch, and more recently the launch of the new MINI Clubman, along came a raft of new engines incorporating technologies that ensure low CO2 emissions and fuel consumption are added to the reasons for owning a MINI. Based on BMW’s EfficientDynamics systems, these technologies are branded MINIMALISM for MINI …
Brake Energy Regeneration
Auto Start-Stop Function
Switch Point Display
(all of course still not available in USA!)
Oh - there’s also a 450MB+ Quicktime video of the new JCW, quite astounding in it’s level of dullness, particularly when compared to the GP promo video which pretty well sealed the deal on my purchase of a GP back in early 2006!
[and just in case you didn't realize ... the title is a play on Oxford University - and I don't think MINI beats, for example, Stephen Hawking!]
November 28, 2008:
There she is!
Flew south late last night, for a spot of warmer weather … and maybe a bit of GP driving 
She’s been waiting patiently for six weeks!
(I just won’t mention the fact that her keys didn’t fly down with us!)
UPDATE:
Now, thanks to Pat, the US Post Office, and Brian, I have GPMINI’s key and just enjoyed an hours drive to nowhere
November 25, 2008:
Be “GOOD” over thanksgiving
I picked up this curious little booklet at MINI of Peabody last week, when getting my tire replaced:
I haven’t seen this mentioned elsewhere, although it’s clearly related to the carfunfootprint stuff from earlier in the year. Oddly, there seems to be no mention at all of MINI on the GOOD.is website, so I guess the little booklet is just a free advert for “GOOD”, as well of course as promo material for MINI:
Wierd!
November 23, 2008:
MotoringFile bandwidth
This is always bad, but strangely not-so-bad, when it happens:
It’s bad bad bad because no-one can view the site … but of course it only happens because the site is popular! Luckily, GBMINI will never suffer this fate
(thanks, RB, for making sure I noticed!)
Hopefully DB, Gabe, etc will soon have MotoringFile up and running again; I wonder if it was triggered by all the MINI E coverage …
November 19, 2008:
Do we need road rules?
I came across a fascinating experiment going on “back home”, today - see this Times article:
Drivers no longer have the right of way on the ring road in Ashford, Kent, and have to negotiate their way across junctions, with no signs or lines to guide them. All road users, whether travelling on foot, by bicycle, car or bus, have equal priority and must use eye contact to decide who goes first.
The theory is that lights lull people into a false sense of security, meaning that they pay less attention on a green light and fail to notice someone stepping off the pavement.
Four sets of lights have been removed from Ashford’s ring road. The road surface has been relaid with red and grey bricks in a herringbone pattern to remind drivers that they are not on a conventional street. Pedestrians can cross the road wherever and whenever they choose, without waiting for a gap in the traffic … Kent County Council has spent more than £13 million [$20+ million] turning a three-lane fast-moving one-way system into a two-way road where the pavement is twice as wide as the carriageway …
A VERY expensive experiment, if it doesn’t work!
(some of the related comments are interesting, too)
