Articles by Jo Foster

While carelessly discarded plastic waste is something that receives a lot of negative media attention, one man decided to do something about it on a personal level - by making himself an artificial island kept afloat by unwanted plastic bottles! British artist Richart Sowa first had the idea of an artificial island made from recycled products back in 1977, long before he was an artist. He ha...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the popular Hanna-Barbera cartoon, Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. Back in 1969, the famous signature tune, Stop the Pigeon, heralded the start of the animated series, in which the pair played World War I flying aces. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's theme song played over a title sequence which saw Dick Dastardly and his pal Mutt...

A British company has unveiled a new type of fuel that enables cars to run on unwanted plastic bags. This innovative method of heating old plastic waste has been designed by Waste2tricity to produce clean energy for hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles. Based in Chester, the company has teamed up with vehicle manufacturer Toyota to launch the scheme. The cars will have a long range and won't...

An 18th century German children's song about a leaking bucket became an unlikely hit on the kids' 1970s television show, Sesame Street! When the famous puppets sang There's a Hole in my Bucket, Dear Liza, they were following in the footsteps of countless generations of children. The folk song first appeared in a collection of German songs called Bergliederbüchlein, published in the early...

The monumental art show, Treasure from the Wreck of the Unbelievable, has been described as both "marvellous" and "monstrous" by the critics. The exhibition, launched in 2017 by the artist Damien Hirst, focuses on the mythical shipwreck, The Unbelievable, said to have sunk in the Indian Ocean 2,000 years ago. The project was 10 years in the making and reputedly cost Hirst $65 million of his ...

Peggy Lee was an American singer whose unique style bridged the genres of swing and jazz. Famed for her smouldering delivery of many jazz classics, she was described as intelligent, witty and sensual. As well as being renowned for her sultry, purring vocals, Lee was also a talented songwriter and actress, whose career spanned six decades. Born Norma Deloris Egstrom, in Jamestown, North Dakot...

Anglers like to fish all year round and the cold winter weather is no obstacle! While fishing in summer conjures up images of spending lazy days in the glorious sunshine, fishing in winter requires a whole different approach. There are many different species that are ideal to fish in winter, so if you're an inexperienced angler, make sure you research this before setting off on your trip, so...

Most of us set ourselves New Year resolutions once the Christmas festivities have ended. The general theme of most resolutions seems to be "new year, new you", but try going a step further and endeavour to become a cleaner, tidier you! Get rid of the clutter of the old year and streamline your life. © Konstantin Yuganov / Rawpixel.com / Adobe Stock This can include everything from cle...

Once Christmas is out of the way, it's time to start looking ahead to the new year. Although the festive period is fun, it can also be stressful, so make sure you set aside time to relax. For many people, the new year is a time to think about spring and the warmer weather ahead. If you look at your garden and think it's in need of a post-winter overhaul, why not use gardening as a form of re...

It just wouldn't be Christmas without the Christmas dinner - and across the UK, statistics show that 66% of us will be sitting down to a turkey meal with all the trimmings, making it the most popular festive menu in Britain. The average spend per person on Christmas dinner is ?20 - and a recent survey by One Poll showed that despite sexual equality, mum remains the person most likely to cook...