Why is there so much evil in the world? It's at times like this that Londonist wishes one of its posting categories was "Examples of unforgivable stupidity".
The idea was pointless enough in the first place: to immortalise UK and Commonwealth stars in a "Hollywood-style walk of fame". Why, exactly, does London need this? Will it sway more visitors to come to the capital? Of course not. Will it boost local business? Unlikely. Is it an enormous marketing marketing stunt for an ITV programme? Oh yes. A programme that, despite sounding like the sort of lightweight crap that is depressingly prevalent on TV already, seems destined with gruesome inevitability to become an annual spectacle? It seems so. O tempora, o mores.
That ITV marketing department should have been a dead giveaway, but the horror goes deeper - alongside icons such as Charlie Chaplin and Alfred Hitchcock, there will be a star for ... Ant & Dec.
Yes, apparently Slap Bang is now a cultural treasure on a par with Vertigo. Words fail. Ricky Gervais is also included, which should have raised eyebrows, but he's Marilyn Monroe compared to Ant & Dec.
What next? Putting Jade Goody in Poet's Corner?
Update: It occurs to Londonist - and there's that feeling of grim inevitabiltity again - that it's only a matter of time until various pranksters of the sorts of Banksy and Aaron Barschak start adding their own stars.
