sheepeatingtaz

To answer my own post:
Blacklisting the gspca webcam module has restored my laptop’s boot speed.
http://www.sheepeatingtaz.co.uk/images/gutsy-20080203-3.png
It will take some more time to discover why, or even where I need to file a bug. On the plus side, I don’t use the webcam, so it’s not going to impair my use of the system.