MEET THE BEETLES

An upscale Hong Kong grocery store is being prosecuted after a customer allegedly discovered 575 beetles in a jar of cereal he bought, officials and media reports said yesterday. The customer, lawyer Philip Dykes, said the breakfast cereal was "too organic for my liking," according to the South China Morning Post.

CITY OF BIG FLAKES

Details are out today on the late spring arrival of the Chicago location or Cereality. The Windy City location will be down in the (Froot) Loop, across from the Merc. I would have thought Wrigleyville or Lincoln Park would be a natural spot, but the Cereality folks are hoping to appeal to young office workers.

HUH?

OK, readers (or is it reader), can somebody tell me what this is all about?

To Many Britons, All This Hubbub Is a Royal Bore

By SARAH LYALL
The New York Times

LONDON -- It was, perhaps, inevitable.

In a country that can argue endlessly about such royal minutiae as whether it is appropriate for the queen to keep her breakfast cereal in plastic containers, a backlash against the second marriage of Charles, the Prince of Wales, is well under way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CORNFLAKES!

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of the invention of the cornflake, and the Belfast Telegraph recounts the story of the Flakes' origin as a way of introducing its new Saturday edition.

I AM CORN POP SIMMONS

Following up on a "trend" breathlessly reported by The New York Times back in December, the Monterey (Calif.) County Herald reports today on the "love affair between college kids and their cereal." (And here we thought the kids today only likes to drink and have sex.)

The Monterey story hits most of the same notes, citing the same "anecdotal evidence" The Times first unveiled, and, of course, mentioning Cereality. Perhaps the most amusing/disturbing anecdote in the article involves this young lady:

The campus stocks both sugary and healthy options, "but the majority goes for the sugar," Kaupie said.

Like Tiffany Ghiorso, who usually alternates between bowls of Cocoa Puffs and Cocoa Krispies.

"I always have chocolate because I feel like I need sugar in the morning before a long day of school," said Ghiorso, a junior majoring in social work.

For a while, the campus was out of Cocoa Krispies so she kept bugging Kaupie about stocking up. He called her one day and told her to come to the dining hall -- with an empty backpack.

When she arrived, he gave her a jumbo-sized box of her favorite cereal, "so I did not complain" any more, she said.

CEREAL SPELLER

The word "cereal" caused a little bit of controversy at the Maplesville Sixth Grade Spelling Bee in Clanton, Ala., when a young girl mistook the word for its homonym. Fear not, though, justice prevailed and the girl was able to continue competing.

HOT CEREAL

People of the Carolinas, don't be buying any cereal from someone out of the back of a van in the supermarket parking lot. A thief has made of with a big rig loaded with $60,000 worth of an unidentified cereal, after the truck's driver stopped for a rest at the Mr. Waffle’s Truck Plaza in Spartanburg County.

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN, DOESN'T MEAN YOU SHOULD

Just what us cereal lovers have long been clamoring for: cereal in a can. "The drinks – made from a patented process - are said to resemble the crushed remains of cereal and milk found at the bottom of your bowl, but with a healthier profile." According to the Liquid Cereal web site, we can expect to see cans of Peanut Butter, Fruit Flavors (Froot Loops), and Apple & Cinnamon (Apple Jacks) coming soon. Anyone seen these or actually tried them?