Mat Bowles

So then. Apparantly Brits can't distinguish history from the TV listings and think Churchill is a myth. The whole story, which seems to have got everywhere, is from a dodgy survey concocted by UKTV Gold in order to promote their repeating of the first series of Robin Hoodie. paulgregory shares my scepticism and thinks it's full of crap and like me would like to see the actual polling data, because reputable pollsters make their data available and it sounds as if it's a push poll to me. Best bit? Apparently these are the

Top ten fictional characters that the British public thinks are real

* 1) King Arthur – 65%
* 2) Sherlock Holmes – 58%
* 3) Robin Hood – 51%
* 4) Eleanor Rigby – 47%
* 5) Mona Lisa -35%
* 6) Dick Turpin – 34%
* 7) Biggles – 33%
* 8) The Three Musketeers – 17%
* 9) Lady Godiva – 12%
* 10) Robinson Crusoe – 5%

Note that the ones I've bolded aren't "fictional characters" Mr crappy publicist, but actual real people from history. Arthur almost certainly existed, but not with the stories that have grown up around him and the "round table". Robin Hood? Buried about 5 miles from here. Well, one of the blokes he was based on is, anyway. Lies, damned lies, and dodgy surveys concocted by publicists.

Meh, fun stuff. theweaselking has a very cool book/kraken sculpture, just go look, it's very cool but hard to describe. And something I forgot to link last time, Charlie Stross has decided to make a UK version of the annual Mindset List prepared each year by Beloit College Public Affairs. Scary, people that start their degrees this coming September were born after the fall of the Berlin Wall...