This week, in the Seaside Issue of Shift Control... "We bade farewell to the snail collectors and moved down to the beach. The tide was out, revealing a broad stretch of seaweed-covered stones. At the tide's edge a man and a woman were harvesting winkles, "for tonight's tea". We continued to the next bay, half expecting to find someone digging for maggots or collecting slugs, but instead we bumped into a naked bloke. He seemed more surprised than us and dashed off into the sea." - Paul Robinson on a weekend away at the seaside. "The good news from the English Tourist Board (ETB) is that the seaside amusement industry is booming: last year we took 18.7 million seaside holidays and spent £4.2bn. The coast is still the most popular domestic holiday destination, possibly because, as Anna Crombie of the ETB points out, 'you can still have fun whatever the weather, which is not always true of our continental competitors'. Who needs the sun when you can visit Mr Blobby's Bubble Kingdom?" - Rebecca Fox provides the ultimate guide to British beaches. "As soon as we got to the sand my father sprinted down to the sea, gritted his teeth and dived in. We stood there unimpressed, looking for the nearest café. Dad waved, beckoning us to join him. With the sun having just gone in and the wind picking up, none of us were going to comply." - Leo Hickman on growing up at the seaside. Plus new fiction, the story of a bionic bee and the chance to see your own music and movie reviews published on the net. ShiftControl: waiting for you NOW at http://www.shiftcontrol.com __________________________________________ Shift Control is produced by the Guardian's New Media Lab with help from Boddingtons and Stella Artois Dry To unsubscribe from this mailing list send e-mail to shiftcontrol-request@nml.guardian.co.uk with the following text in the body of the mail message: unsubscribe