>>>>>Killing Time<<<<<

Press releases can be a nuisance. One this morning from The Children's Society got me thinking, though.

"YORKSHIRE ADVENTURERS INVITED TO NARNIA

Teenage heartthrob and star of Narnia, William Moseley, is calling on everyone in Yorkshire to visit the mystical land of Narnia with The Children's Society...."

The idea is that people will raise money for The Children's Society by heading to New Zealand for a charity trek. A worthy cause indeed. But, I started thinking, just what is the population of Yorkshire, given that William wants everyone to visit Narnia. Well, according to the latest census figures, the population of the Yorkshire and Humber region comes in at just under 5 million. More than I thought. So I started wondering about the population of New Zealand. And I was shocked to discover that it's only just over 4 million. So, I emailed The Children's Society to let them know, because I know that if 5 million Yorkshire folk started tramping all over my land, in their flat caps and carrying shovels and talking about their dirty terraced houses, while shouting "there's more of us than you" I'd be more than a little pissed off.

Hi Anil

Thanks for the release. Were you aware that the population of the Yorkshire and Humber region, according to the latest census, is 4,964,800, while the July 2005 estimate for the population of New Zealand is 4,035,461. Do you think that New Zealanders would appreciate being over-run with, quite frankly, scary Yorkshire folk?

Good luck with the fundraising, it's a great cause.

Regards

Dave

Yes, folks, it's been another busy day at the weekly newspaper. Excuse me while I go and respond to the snappily-titled release "P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., London announces an exhibition of Victorian photography organized in collaboration with Hans P. Kraus, Jr. Tuesday 2nd May-Saturday 20th May 2006".