Hello there, it’s Peter here. I must say it didn’t seem as icy as I walked into 
Queen’s Gardens this morning. But I do think that the Christmas feeling is 
definitely in the air. I must make a start on the Christmas shopping, but the 
thought of the all the busy stores does make me think about forgetting it this 
year! Maybe I should try online shopping!


Fast Seller

I’ve heard today that JK Rowling’s collection of fairy tales ‘The Tales of 
Beedle the Bard’ is on course to become the fastest selling book of 2008 in the 
UK. It has sold close to 370,000 copies.  Its nearest rival is the ‘Guinness 
World Records 2008’, which has had 73,236 over the counter sales in the same 
period. Originally six handwritten copies were produced as gifts to close 
friends of Rowling. However a seventh copy raised nearly £2m at auction, which 
prompted the author to publish the book and give the proceeds to charity. The 
book was first referred to in ‘Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows’ and 
contains five fairy tales and “commentary” and footnotes by the Harry Potter 
character Dumbledore. Proceeds will go to Children’s High Level Group, a 
charity raising money for vulnerable children across Eastern Europe. 

Kiss of Deaf

What do you think to this one? I’ve been reading today that a young Chinese 
woman was left partially deaf following a passionate kiss from her boyfriend. 
Local reports said the young woman arrived at hospital having completely lost 
hearing in her left ear. The incident prompted a serious of articles in the 
local media warning readers about the dangers of excessive kissing. The ‘China 
Daily’ wrote, “While kissing is normally very safe, doctors advise people to 
proceed with caution.” The doctor who treated the girl in hospital was quoted 
in the paper explaining what had happened. “The kiss reduced the pressure in 
the mouth, pulled the eardrum out and caused the breakdown of the ear.” More 
warnings appeared in the press with the ‘Shanghai Daily’ writing, “A strong 
kiss may cause imbalance in the air pressure between two inner ears and lead to 
a broken ear drum.” The nation need not worry about kissing, as the girl is 
expected to regain her full hearing within two months.

Google

As you probably know Google is the world’s most popular search engine. Every 
year Google publishes its year-end Zeitgeist, the tool which reveals what most 
internet users are searching for. Well this year Sarah Palin, Facebook and Euro 
2008 were all in the top ten. For users in the UK, Facebook came out top with 
the BBC coming in second. Gordon Brown beat David Cameron into second place on 
the list of most popular politicians among UK searchers. Marissa Mayer, vice 
president of search at Google suggests that the things most people have in 
common across the world are a strong interest in socialising and politics. 
“Social Networks comprised four out of the top ten global fastest-rising 
queries while the US election held everyone’s interest around the globe.” Well 
there you have it, in times where people are less interested in politics; it’s 
good to know that it is still on most people’s searching agenda.

Well that’s all from me today and the Levy Letter. I do hope you will join me 
for Look North tonight at 6.30pm on BBC One. 

Take care,

Peter


And for the latest news and more where you live, go to:
http://bbc.co.uk/humber and http://bbc.co.uk/lincolnshire

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