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

So, did I get a response from The Children's Society? You bet, Killing Time kids! Typical PR, but it seems that, although based in London town, Anil is a Yorkie...

Hi Dave

Thanks for that - scary prospect I know but the Kiwis are a reportedly a strong bunch and I hope they'd be able to manage being 'swamped' by our Yorkshire lot...

Thanks for this - hopefully you'll run a story for us to help us get more people signed up... Go on, I'll even send you a picture if you want to help bring it alive.

Regards

Anil

Anil Ranchod

Media Officer, The Children's Society

Hello, Anil, if a vanity Google has brought you here, I mean no harm.

This entire blog could just become one big press release-mocking exercise, so many good ones are arriving at the moment. A good one from broadband provider Wanadoo, who have been investigating just what the UK's favourite speedy inventions of all time are. Broadband internet, the microwave and the humble teabag, are right up there. Yes, the humble tea bag, as opposed to those arrogant fuckers we keep buying from Morrissons. Hardly suprisingly, broadband provider Wanadoo have discovered that broadband comes out on top of a list of "time saving inventions have sped up modern life". My favourite, in a top ten, is number ten. 2-in-1 shampoo & conditioner. My, where would we be without it?

Top ten inventions accelerating Britain
1. Broadband internet (84 per cent)
2. Microwave (73 per cent)
3. Teabag (69 per cent)
4. Hair drier (47 per cent)
5. Ready meal (44 per cent)
6. Electric toothbrush (37 per cent)
7. Fast food (35 per cent)
8. Blender (35 per cent)
9. Car wash (24 per cent)
10. 2-in-1 shampoo & conditioner (23 per cent)

Wanadoo have some obvious problems with their percentages, as that little lot adds up to 471 per cent. Odd. Unfathomable. And, I've just noticed, strictly embargoed until tomorrow. Oh well, you can do that when you're a "citizen journalist" can't you? Although quite why you'd strictly embargo a press release of such a ridiculous nature is beyond me. It's hardly earth shattering information, is it? The whole humble teabag business got me looking into the history of teabags. It was Thomas Sullivan, a thrifty tea importer, who got round to popping tea in silk bags in 1908. A great sentence about it all on http://www.globetrends.com/allabouttea/AllAboutTeaBags.htm "Filter paper has since replaced the silk and the tea bag has become a staple." A staple? Fucking hell!