A DOUBLE DOSE OF MONDAY MEDIA.

Whatever happened to good old Tetley teabags?

BUBBLE TEA COMES TO BRITAIN. Slurped through a straw, Bubble tea is very sugary and filled with soft tapioca pellets. Patrick Kingsley, The Guardian (24/04/2011)

From books to the weekly shop, we have all manner of things delivered to our homes.

FEDEX TO DELIVER BREAST MILK. A rhino? A Black Hawk helicopter? A coffin? But only if ts unoccupied.  The list of bizarre items grows longer every year. - Tom Meltzer, The Guardian (26/04/2011)

A tale of killer shrimps and English parrots.

THE ONLY SHRIMP IN HISTORY TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN ITS OWN 'WANTED' POSTER. Two new invasive species make it to the UK.

First it was the turn of Dikerogammarus villosus, a striped and suitably-vicious looking creature which kills its prey without eating it, and now its the turn of the monk parakeet who stand accused of  building huge communal nests and causing power blackouts. - The Guardian (26/04/2011)

Sounds like a good title for a book.

ZOMBIES, UFOs AND WITCHES. Zombie sightings were among a list of unusual call-outs disclosed by a police force in Wales recently. Officers were twice called to reports of the living dead.

They were also asked to investigate 26 ghosts, 20 UFOs, 11 witches and 2 vampires. The Telegraph (27/04/2011)

And from overseas ...........

LEAVE HOME AND GET A JOB. A 25-year-old Spanish man has been told by a judge to leave home and get a job after he took his parents to court when they cut his pocket money. The man from Andalusia in the south of Spain had taken his parents to court demanding a monthly allowance of 400 euros (£355) after they refused to give him anymore money unless he tried to find a job. - Fiona Govan, The Telegraph (27/04/2011)

Just purrfect!

CAT GETS PHOTO EXHIBITION. A three-legged Devon cat is getting her own exhibition of photos taken by a special lightweight camera attached to her collar.

Nancy Bean captured up to 400 shots a day as part of a project by her owner. The best images are being displayed at an exhibition in Arles, France, in the summer. BBC Devon (04/05/2011)

And not so perfect, badly behaving birds........

A foul-mouthed parrot has prompted a string of complaints after he began hurling abuse at visitors in Devon. Jasper, an 11-year-old scarlet macaw, can be heard throughout the zoo squawking obscenities at visitors who come too close or try to speak to him. -The Telegraph (05/05/2011)

And meanwhile in Dorset

A cockerel has been threatened with a curfew after its crowing upset a neighbour in a rural village.

The cockerel's owner, John Newman, was astonished to receive a letter from his local council about the bird's 'nuisance' crowing from as early as 4am.

It is believed the anonymous complainant is a 'townie' newcomer to the village and is not used to country noises. - Murray Wardrop, The Telegraph (06/05/2011)

Amazing what constitutes art these days.

CELLOPHANE BAG ARTIST ON TURNER PRIZE LIST. Aged 38, Glasgow-based sculptor Karla Black is the youngest of this year’s nominated artists.

She typically uses tactile domestic substances such as flour, Vaseline, thread and lip gloss as the raw materials for her works, which often take the form of highly textured, pale, and somewhat passive presences. According to Black it is important that there is some sort of physical struggle involved in the making of her work, and that the sculpture is made specifically for a site – and then destroyed afterwards. - Victoria Ward, The Telegraph (05/05/2011)

Don't you think this would make a great plot for a comedy?

CHARITY WALKERS CLIMB WRONG PEAK. They started the Three Peaks Challenge by climbing the wrong mountain – and it all went downhill from there.

The dozy climbers scaled the Highland peak of Stob Ban instead of Ben Nevis – more than 5km (3 miles) away – after thinking it looked the same.

But they still managed to raise £10,000 for a leukaemia charity in memory of their friend Wayne Wilson, who died from the disease in January aged just 26. - Fred Attewell, The Metro (05/05/2011)

Not exactly the most romantic of venues!

SELF-STORAGE UNITS USED TO CONDUCT ILLICIT AFFAIRS. They may not appear to be the most romantic of locations, but self-storage units are becoming a refuge for furtive couples looking for a quiet place to conduct their affairs.

As owners of the units have their own keys and are promised privacy, spending an hour at your local storage premises can work out as more discreet and far cheaper than a hotel. - Harry Wallop, The Telegraph (07/05/2011)

PLEASE NOTE: Wherever possible I Will endeavour to bring you the links to articles I have used in my Media Monday posts but this is not always possible.