More Handwashing

Yesterday we posted yet another educational rant about taps. While plumbing the depths of the internet looking for toilet-related news (we maintain ceaseless vigilance on the toilet front to bring you entertaining and edifying facts) we found some videos that you may find, well, entertaining and edifying.  Let's start with the handwashing rap, dreamed up by some NHS nurses on a handwashing crusade:


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7980219/NHS-hospital-records-rap-song-about-hand-washing.html

We continue with a distinctly cooler but less educational video:

Finally, and this is probably our favourite, a Michael Jackson cover with a hygiene-related theme!

(Notice how NHS staff always seem to have access to mixer taps? Does that tell you something about the hygienic aspects of such a device? For more information on the NHS guidelines for handwashing, look here.)

Stick one of these on your boyfriend's forehead.
(Image from healthpm.com.)

Important Public Information

Browsing the internet for plumbing research purposes, our attention was caught by an important public information film about hot water. Millions of tap-users are putting their lives at risk every day due to ignorance. Please watch this film and tell friends, neighbours and little old grannies about it. Remember, the hot water menace may strike at any moment!

Watch the film here:

 If you find projectile vomiting amusing and are irritated by the British obsession with separated (or non-integrated) taps, you may find this blog refreshing:

http://notfromaroundhere.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/a-real-reason-to-criticize-british-two-tap-sinks/

Picture from

http://geekadelphia.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/employees-must-wash-hands.jpg

(Hygeia, needless to say, approves of careful handwashing, which is most effective with a mixer tap, with which you can adjust the temperature so that the water is pleasantly warm, yet not dangerously scalding. Hygeia recommends adhering to the NHS guidelines for handwashing; get instructions here.)

If you're not sure where to stand on the integrated/non-integrated tap divide, get some factual, un-biased information here.

If you found this entertaining and edifying, wait till you see all the other exciting things our internet trawl found - on the Privy Counsel tomorrow!

Picture from http://www.ukcpi.org/images/Hooray%20for%20Handwashing.jpg

Introducing our Patron Goddess, Hygeia

We make frequent references to the goddess of health and hygiene, Hygeia, in our blog updates. For those of you not acquainted with Hygeia, we thought we'd introduce you.
Hygeia is, according to our friend Wikipedia, "associated with the prevention of sickness and the continuation of good health", and she is obviously the source of the word hygiene. The Greeks liked to imagine her with a snake wrapped around her body, no doubt for good reason.

Our patron goddess, Hygeia. (Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hygeia-Hermitage.jpg)

Hygeia is not a demanding goddess. She does not require you to sacrifice expensive and toxic cleaning products at her altar. If you've got mould in the bathroom, or the cat's got diarrhoea (both these occurrences are common in our street), use bleach. Otherwise, use ecological cleaning products such as Ecover or Bio-D (available at Oxfam), or have a look at these home cleaning tips from Friends of the Earth. (For even more information, see our previous blog post.)

Gustav Klimt's interpretation of our friend. (Picture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Klimt_hygeia.jpg)

Hygeia loves people who wash their hands. May her blessings be with you.

Celebrity Toilet Premiere

The day has finally arrived when we can present to you, our loyal readers, our celebrity toilet reportage! How we have been dreaming of this day!   

We happen to be acquainted with a certain luscious lady of Emmerdale fame, and managed to persuade this starry-eyed beauty to let us photograph her toilet.  We are proud and a little awed to be able to present these pictures to you today.

There is one slight hitch, however: our celebrity decided, in the end, that having photos of her seductively draped over a toilet posted on the internet would not only be weird and slightly repulsive, but would most likely end her career and brand her a freak and a basket case forever.  We can only conclude that she has her head screwed on right.

In order not to totally disappoint our readers, however, we have introduced this rubber chicken as a replacement for our luscious beauty in the photographs:

When you see this, imagine a dusky beauty

One day we may be able to reveal to you the name our celebrity, but until then, our lips remain hermetically and hygienically sealed.
 

The entrance into the inner sanctum: a charming vision in red and white

A cheerful sign reassuring one that one has come to the right place

The toilet itself

An oh! so stylish pull chain handle

Chain, cistern and rubber chicken

Stylish toiletries on a shelf

A stylish sink (though of course separated taps set our teeth on edge, and Hygeia hops up and down with anger)

Some charming knick-knacks

A full view of the sink

A saucy print on the wall

The keyhole shape of this picture uncomfortably brings to mind
the eccentricity of our toilet photography obsession

Naturally an actress must have a movie poster to gaze at while seated on her toilet

No celebrity actress toilet is complete without a picture of Sophia Loren!

A most charming and stylish tile

Another risqué print...

...and a slightly weird one involving ice-cream

A super-stylish lampshade!

Only the best for our celebrity: luxury toilet paper

And finally: a beguiling glimpse of our raven-haired beauty!

Bet you're dying to know who our "sleb" is!

Related Reading
Rejoice, for We Bring You Another Celebrity Crapper!
Coming Soon: Celebrity Toilets!

A Passage to India: More Indian Toilets

It's been a while since our last Indian update.  We are feeling a bit adventurous today, so thought we'd share some more exciting toilet pictures from the Orient.
The following photos are from the public toilets in Cubbon Park, in Bangalore. We apologise for the appalling quality of the pictures; we were under strain and in a hurry.
 (Being a severely sweaty foreigner makes one feel enough of a freak without being caught photographing toilets and consequently being taunted, stoned and kicked out of the country for being a toilet perv.)

Ornamental sinks. (At least one assumes they are ornamental, since they are as far from being functional as is possible.)

An interesting water tank, containing all kinds of things; children's toys, items of clothing, etc

Et voilà - the oriental toilet!

Apart from the non-functioning taps and the resulting inability of the visitor to wash their hands, these toilets were perfectly hygienic, and we seem to remember that the lady collecting our two rupees smiled in a friendly manner. The park itself is isn't bad either. For an insight into the toilets in another Bangalore park, look no further.

An Antiquated Update

 As previously mentioned, we were in the vicinity of the picturesque little town of Åhus recently. This charming and most respectable little town is rich in pretty houses and gardens, sailing boats, and tanned Swedish people. We found it quaint to the point of paranoia, in a David Lynch kind of way, and kept wondering what goes on behind those charming façades. "All kinds of things", a local assured us.

Paying a visit to the local museum, we were distraught to find that the public toilets were locked and unavailable. However, the charming receptionist very kindly let us use the staff toilet.

We know you're all desperate to see the pictures, and are probably scrolling down without reading this, but we just wanted to note that the Åhus museum is very interesting, and just the right size; it takes about 15 minutes to see everything, and then you can go and have an ice-cream from Otto's ice cream kiosk in the square outside. For those of you who have been to York, you might be interested to know that the medieval artefacts at Åhus museum are quite similar to those at the Jorvik centre. There is even a rosary made with jet (presumably from Yorkshire) as well as amber beads!

A charmingly messy but clean staff toilet

A beguiling little sink

An environmentally friendly and pleasantly scented soap

A first-aid station on the back of the door!

Charming old-fashioned door handle and hasp lock

The shamefully closed public toilets

Åhus museum
Torget
SE-296 31 ÅHUS
Sweden

Related Reading
By the Sea - A Toilet Blogger's Holiday
Jorvik: In Rude Health
The Yorkshire Museum
The Castle Museum

By the Sea - a Toilet Blogger's Holiday

 We've been on holiday. You may have noticed the radio silence. But our regular readers can now cease tearing their hair and sniffing glue to relieve the tedium - we're back! And we have, of course, maintained ceaseless vigilance on the toilet front, to keep you amused and edified.
We found this classic Swedish "utedass", outdoor privy, on the south-east coast just outside Åhus (more on this very respectable centre later on). It's attached to what is now a summer house, but used to be a smugglers' den! We could barely contain our exctitement.

Close-up of the bog, a vintage Porta-Potty!

Pictures of royalty add class and distinction to any loo

Whiling away the time while gazing at these walls must be a pleasure!

A priceless 1950s bookmark collection - Carl XVI Gustaf, top centre, with family

A touch of class

British royalty add glamour

Clockwise from left: Franz Joseph I of Austria and Queen Elisabeth; Fergie and Prince Andrew engaging in a nuptial snog; the Swedish royal family; some chick with a dog; Diana and Charles

Bin, bog roll, wet-wipes

Quality wet-wipes

Since this update is, in a sense, a holiday edition with extra glamour and fun, we've added this little film to make the festive feeling positively riotous:


Festive video - Badliv, By the Sea


Related Reading
An Antiquated Update
If You Like Sheep and Beer: Why Not Go to the Lake District on Your Next Holiday?