Wife-swapping party
THE BRITISH general election goes from the banal to the faintly obscene. The party leaders' wives have been brought out like show ponies. Now a survey has asked women if they would prefer to have an affair with Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Tory leader David Cameron or Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg. It's asked the men if they would prefer a fling with Mrs Brown, Mrs Cameron or Mrs Clegg.
The Camerons come out tops. Most women said they would prefer to be bedded by David (Brown scored only seven percent) and most men opted for Samantha Cameron (They might get some strange knocks on the door if they make it to No 10). The survey is gleefully reported on TV.
Is this not pitiful? Are these the people who saw off the Nazis?
If Britain is the cradle of modern democracy, are we approaching that point described by Plato where democracy becomes mob rule?
It's high time the Duke of Edinburgh staged a coup d'etat.
Neighbourly help
READER Eric Hodgson describes how the son of his next door neighbour helped him with his computer.
"I was having trouble with my computer. So I called Colin, the 11-year-old next door, whose bedroom looks like Mission Control, and asked him to come over.
"Colin clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem.
"As he was walking away, I called after him: 'So, what was wrong?' He replied: 'It was an ID ten T error.'
"I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired: 'An ID ten T error? What's that? In case I need to fix it again.'
"Colin grinned. 'Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?'
"'No,' I replied.
"'Write it down,' he said, 'and I think you'll figure it out.'
"So I wrote it down:'ID10T'.
"I used to like Colin, the little bastard!"
Yes, children can be very unkind.
That Test again
MEMORIES of the 1948 cricket Test at Kingsmead continue to roll in
Yes, Gladwin, England's No 10, scored the winning run (a leg-bye off his thigh) off the last ball, says Michael Green retired editor of our sister newspaper, the Daily News. He confirms also that as he strode to the wicket he said in his broad Derbyshire accent: "Coometh the hour, coometh the man".
Michael Cottrell and his family went through agonies of suspense after watching the Test then having to leave on the final day to take the train to Lesotho (then called Basutoland).
Nobody on the train all day could tell them about the progress of the match. They arrived in Maseru in time to hear the broadcast of the final overs.
"The radio broadcast of that last over was suddenly cut for the BBC news which at that time was broadcast at 6pm on the SABC. We never heard the end result in the BBC news and it was only when this was completed that we heard about the exciting result (not so exciting for South Africa)."
Why is this Test of 62 years ago fixed so firmly in the memory of so many people? This was a topic of discussion in a local hostelry the other evening. The barmaid quoted her elderly dad (who was at the match and has been avidly following people's recollections) saying he had just been demobbed from the army after service in World War II.
People were in a bit of a daze. They couldn't quite believe the war was over. Then suddenly there was a cricket Test against England. This was real, the war was over. It was a huge event and they sat there and watched every ball.
Aussie origins
RECENT discussion of Australian accents and origins reminds reader David Tilling of the visit by British actor Robert Morley to Australia in the early 1970s. He met the prime minister, Gough Whitlam, who asked if he thought all Australians were descended from convicts.
The ever humorous Morley replied that some of them must be descended from the warders.
Tailpiece
THIS fellow is in a major custody battle. His wife doesn't want him and his mother won't take him back.
Last word
The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.
GRAHAM LINSCOTT
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