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The multi-pocketed travel smock which looked so ridiculous when Janos modelled it in the office, is now getting mainstream media attention.
"I'm not going through security with you," I told him when he showed it to me. "You look like a suicide bomber."
Now I read that the luggage restrictions on no-frills airlines have led to canny passengers wearing as much clothing as they can to avoid excess luggage charges.
Passing
the time in London Stansted departures lounge, in a comfortable seat outside
the Kurt Geiger concession, I can't help but notice that no-one is buying shoes
at this time in the morning. That is no surprise, since the budget airlines are
pretty brutal about charging for excess , and most travellers have already
filled up their 55 x 40 x 20 cases with no space at all for an extra pair of
platform party shoes.
(photo: Rex)
It is boom time for sales of plastic petrol cans in the UK, after a government minister mistakenly advised people to stockpile petrol at home. The UK press is full of articles about panic buying of fuel, dry petrol stations and domestic accidents caused by petrol storage in homes.
One article in Friday's FT reported "a 225% jump in sales of fuel cans at Halfords, including a 500% rise in 20 litre jerry cans, which are too large to store domestic petrol legally."
(photo: Rex)
(photo: Houston Chronicle)
For a close-up photo of a grackle, see the Houston Chronicle.
Subbuteo
will relaunch in March 2012, bringing the classic table football game to a new
generation of children, according to an article in the Grocer.
One of the great improvements in the new game, which features Premiership team tie-ups with Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, is that the little figures are now made of flexible plastic so that they will not get crunched underfoot. They will still be agony to tread on barefoot
Subbuteo now goes on the Blog's list of Top Petrochemical Toys along with Lego, Plasticine, Barbie ...
One thing you can say about plastic bags is that they are good for advertising a message. In a campaign to encourage volunteering, the UK's business secretary Vince Cable was photographed modelling this charity plastic bag while volunteering on Friday the 13th January in a hospice charity shop in west London, according to the Shooting Star Chase website today.
As the debate about banning single-use plastic bags rages on, these photos celebrate the inner beauty of plastic bags, comparing them to the view from a cavern in Antarctica, on ManMadeDIY.com, a blog about "creativity and the handmade life for the postmodern male."
There are more suggestions for beautiful artefacts made from recycled plastic cups, or melted plastic soldiers.
Plasticine, the multi-coloured putty-like modelling clay beloved of children and animators. Why has it never occurred to the Blog that this is another perfect petrochemical toy?
What is it made from? Calcium salts, petroleum jelly and aliphatic acids, according to Online Schools, and the trademark is owned by Flair Leisure Products, based in Cheam, UK - just down the road from the ICIS office in Sutton.
The Flair website has a sweet video of a plasticine iPad. And for those of a sturdier disposition, a rather nastier video (or claymation) of "Pingu's The Thing" is being tweeted around. It is not for the faint-hearted, or those with sweet childhood memories of Pingu.
Our visitors to
Until now, the Blog had always recommended the Sea Shell in Marylebone, but since a visit this weekend to the Nautilus in
A wide variety of fish, fried or grilled, all very fresh and moist, with the matzo meal batter crispy to perfection, comes in huge portions, with friendly service too.
A fantastic and prosperous Happy New Year 2012 to all Blog readers. Let's go into the new year with enthusiasm and optimism, despite all the predictions of imminent economic meltdown not to mention the Mayan End of Times prophecy for 2012.
Why not download a jolly free wallpaper and choose some small manageable resolutions to make our world a better place. All the best to you, your family and your colleagues from everyone at the Blog and elsewhere at ICIS.
