British Expat Newsletter:
15 August 2003
Hello and welcome to our 100th newsletter and its new look. [Editor’s note – not all of our 2003 and pre-2003 newsletters have been archived.]
In this issue
- This week: Tatties; heatwave
- Virtual Snacks
- Bizarre Searches
This week
We’ve all known for some time about Mike Clark’s love of tatties, but it seems that they may be even more good for us than we had previously realised. The Expat Telegraph reported that: A potato a day keeps cervical cancer at bay. Apparently researchers in the US have been experimenting with genetically-modified potatoes that produce proteins mimicking the coat of the papilloma virus which causes the cancer. It’s hoped that this could be the first step towards producing an effective and affordable edible vaccine which could prevent the disease worldwide – it’s a major killer in developing countries because of the lack of effective screening programmes.
You can find an index of all Mike’s writing on BE, including at least two potato articles, here: Mike Clark
In our last newsletter we wrote about the near-record temperatures being experienced across Europe. Well, the 100°F barrier was finally broken in the UK on Sunday 10 August, when Gravesend in Kent reached 100.6°F (that’s 38.1°C for those of you used to working in Celsius). At the same time, though, Northern England was coming in for torrential rain, with 47.9mm (nearly two inches) of rain falling in a quarter of an hour in North Yorkshire.
The hot weather has been causing more problems. Apparently one supermarket in the Bristol area had to dump all its frozen food when it was found that the freezers weren’t able to cope with the extra strain. And zoos around the country have had to resort to some pretty odd ways of keeping their animals cool, including giving ice lollies made of fish to the penguins.
I wonder what the heatwave will do for this year’s potato crop?
Virtual Snacks
I know we’ve had this one before but I like it so much I thought we could have it again just in case you missed it the first time around:
Scotland’s most northerly bus shelter – have a look at this delightfully eccentric site!
Unst Bus Shelter [obsolete link removed]
Another eccentric character and BE friend, Mike Kingdom-Hockings, has been giving his own France For Freebooters website a bit of a revamp. It’s an eclectic collection of acticles and pictures, the best way to describe it is probably to repeat Mike’s own words: “Let me show you things you’d never find”. Have a look around – and don’t miss his collection of foodie articles.
France for Freebooters
Bizarre Searches
Some strange search terms which have led people to visit British Expat recently:
- Walter Mitty (number of visits: 1504)
- Bisto (4)
- Free hamster magazine (2)
- Flamenco dress (2)
- What jellied eels look like (1)
- Dog eats everything (1)
- UK or britain or british shave armpits (1)
- Free congolese songs (1)
- Surprise your man in bed (1)
Till next time…
Happy surfing!
Kay
Editor
British Expat Magazine
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