HE LOOKS like butter wouldn't melt but it seems that Gary Barlow is in fact environmentalists' worst nightmare.
Gary has provoked their ire by firing plastic confetti from cannons at a concert in the Eden Project in Cornwall.
Tiny bits of plastic raining down on the Eden Project. Lol. It's akin to chucking chunks of offal at vegetarians. He might as well have filled a PSNI water cannon with acid rain and turned it on one of the Eden Project biomes.
Twitter user CornwallAgainstSUplastic (SU stands for single use) got straight on to Gary about it.
"I was appalled to see plastic confetti littering the Eden project after your last gig there," he tweeted.
"What on earth was a plastic confetti canon [sic] doing there? In a place such as the Eden who are working so hard at getting rid of SU plastics."
Another angry person tweeted: "Wonder how long it will be before it's made its way to the sea and we're picking it up @GaryBarlow. Come on it's not really rocket science."
Ironically the Eden Project has been implementing measures to reduce the presence of single use plastic on site, including stopping the sale of plastic bottles in its cafe, restaurants and shop and ensuring sandwiches and other foodstuffs are wrapped in paper.
Suitably shamed by his single use shenanigans Gary apologised via social media.
"Apologies to @edenproject for firing our confetti cannons. "I hope this doesn't mean we won't be asked back?"
Well yes, quite frankly, that's exactly what it might mean Gary.
He added: "We've cancelled all ticker tape at outdoor shows because the reality is, beyond the effect it just turns to litter."
Then the single use shizzle got real.
Production company VHE Worldwide weighed in with a promise to replace the plastic confetti with a bio-degradable alternative.
"In response to media enquiries about our recent show at The Eden Project we would like to confirm that we will not be using this brand of confetti again. It will be replaced by a bio-degradable alternative," the company tweeted, which suggests the cannons will be making a comeback.
"As a production, single use plastic is something we're very conscious of and we are committed to protecting the environment; throughout this tour (and the last Take That tour), we stopped the use of plastic water bottles."
Bottles of water were being fired out of cannons? Isn't that worse than confetti?
This is an outrage. Sleb Safari is going to have to get itself worked up enough to write a very strongly worded tweet. Wait, what? Sleb Safari's got the wrong end of the stick? That doesn't sound likely...
Competition - win family passes to Dalriada Festival
THIS week Sleb Safari is giving away five family tickets to Dalriada Festival which is being held at Glenarm Castle on July 14 and 15.
The one-day family passes cover admission for two adults and three children.
You can expect to see the All Ireland Wife Carrying Championships, Co Antrim pipe band championship, Jenny Bristow cooking up a storm, Tractor Ted's first Northern Ireland appearance with his real farm, crafts, a food village and performances by X Factor Winner Matt Cardle, Ben Glover, Gareth Dunlop and Ryan McMullan.
To enter the competition answer the following question: When was Glenarm Castle built?
Email your answer to competitions@irishnews.com and mark it ‘Sleb Safari/Dalriada Festival Competition’. The deadline is noon on Wednesday June 20. Usual Irish News rules apply.
For more information visit www.dalriadafestival.co.uk
Under My Drone Umbrella, Ella Ella Eh
Here we are in week three of the series on things you didn't know you needed in your life. Hot the heels of bum bag sliders and a robot suitcase, allow Sleb Safari to present to you the drone umbrella.
It's the work of a Japanese inventor and is aimed at golfers who want to keep the sun and their hands free to gesticulate wildly after another shot lands in the rough.
Sleb Safari thought it wanted the bum bag sliders. Then it thought it wanted the BB-8 style suitcase but it turns out what it wants, what it really really wants, is a drone umbrella.
Having an umbrella perfectly centred over your head when it's raining and you're carrying your bag, plus another bag with your shoes in it, plus another bag with your lunch in it just makes sense. Sleb Safari hopes that Rihanna gets wind of this and changes the lyrics to Umbrella accordingly.
