Strange but true

A Potter record
A watercolour drawing for the original edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone has fetched a record amount at auction. The artwork by Thomas Taylor, which featured on the debut edition of the first novel in 1997, was sold after a four way battle between bidders lasting nearly ten minutes, for A$2.86 million at a sale by Sotheby’s auction house in New York recently. The dealer said it was “the most valuable Harry Potter item ever sold at auction.” It was Taylor’s first professional commission. He was 23 at the time, just out of art school, and working in a children’s bookshop. After being asked to illustrate the character by the publisher Barry Cunningham at Bloomsbury, he took two days to complete the illustration. He was not used for subsequent books. When the series took off, Bloomsbury turned to more experienced artists. The watercolour was first offered at auction in 2001 at Sotheby’s London, where it sold for A$166,804.
Freight conveyor
Japan has unveiled plans to build a 499km conveyor belt to carry freight between Tokyo and Osaka. The Autoflow-Road will run next to existing roads and in tunnels beneath them, delivering as much freight per day as 25,000 truck drivers. As well as reducing pollution, it is designed to ease a logistics crisis. Owing to Japan’s ageing population, the number of delivery drivers is forecast to drop from 660,000 in 2020 to 480,000 in 2030, as demand from online shopping continues to rise.
Wheelie bin revolution
Wheelie bins have finally arrived in New York. Mayor Eric Adams hailed the bins as part of a “trash revolution.” He conceded that new rules insisting that householders put their rubbish in a ratproof bin with a lid – rather than letting it pile up on the street – were overdue. “When I visit other countries, they are blown away that we still use plastic bags,” he said.
Goodbye to the floppy disc
Japan’s digital minister recently declared victory in the “war on floppy discs”. On being appointed in 2021, Taro Kono had vowed to scrap rules that meant people were required to submit documents to the government on the storage devices. Kano also promised to get rid of the fax machine. Faxes have been obsolete in most countries for decades, but in Japan they are still used in many workplaces.
Bons mots
“A committee is a group of people who individually can do nothing, but as a group decide nothing can be done.” – Ranulph Fiennes, explorer and writer, UK
“Class distinctions do not die. They merely learn new ways of expressing themselves.” – Richard Hoggart, sociologist who focused on popular culture, UK

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