Graffiti artist fingered
"DING Jinhao was here!" Is Ding Jinhao the oriental equivalent of the ubiquitous Kilroy, whose trademark "Kilroy was here" - along with the caricature of a fellow putting his snout over a garden wall - has been popping up as graffiti all over the western world for generations now?
The "Ding Jinhao was here" signature appeared on some priceless Ancient Egyptian artwork at a temple complex at Luxor, Egypt – though in Chinese characters.
A photograph of the graffiti appeared on the internet. From that, outraged Chinese internet users were somehow able to trace the graffiti back to a Chinese teenager, whose parents have now apologised.
They never did catch Kilroy.
First here
THE ABOVE recalls some graffiti in London:
I clap my hands,
I jump for joy,
For I got here
Before Kilroy!
Drones
MEANWHILE, in Germany they're planning to use mini-drones against the graffiti artists on the railways. Deutsche Bahn plans to start testing drones with four helicopter-style rotors and thermal imaging cameras that will shoot pictures for use in prosecutions.
Deutsche Bahn says that last year it suffered damage of more than €7 million (54 million) from people spray-painting its carriages.
I klep mein hands,
I haf no moans,
For I got here
Before ze drones.
Car chase
A BRAZILIAN motorist claims he was being chased by another vehicle after crashing his car at high speed through the show window of a pharmacy late at night in the town of Chapeco.
The unnamed 20-year-old was fortunate to drive through a the window, narrowly missing brickwork either side.
Police breathalyser tests showed he was not under the influence of alcohol, but they're doubtful about his story of being chased..
I don't know, these things happen. I had a farmer friend who crashed into the bridge over the river just outside Matatiele, in East Griqualand, late one night. He told the police: "A drunk horse fell out of a willow tree onto me."
They didn't believe him either.
Up and away!
DAVID Gonzalez, of Minnesota, in the US, was ripping out insulation from his garage when he discovered a Superman comic from 1938, mixed in with some old newspapers.
He did some research, put it on auction (bids close next month) and the best offer so far is $137 000 (R1.2 million) – about 10 times the value of the home he is renovating. The cover price of the comic was 10 cents.
The danger now is that the people of Minnesota will start tearing their houses apart.
Dogtag
AN AMERICAN World War II veteran has been reunited with his dogtag almost 70 years after he lost it in a field in France.
Irving Mann, 88, received a letter from a French woman, saying it has turned up in her barley field. He was a little sceptical but inquiries by his daughter revealed that Sophie La Follie did indeed have his tag – the identification every soldier wears about his neck. It had turned up in a field that had been ploughed and reploughed countless times since the war.
Mann had been serving in the 90th Infantry Division in German-occupied France in 1944 and suffered a leg wound crossing the River Saar. He can't think how he lost the dogtag – it was probably while digging foxholes with a bayonet.
All he needs now is a bill from the local hostelry for the round he ordered before the Luftwaffe bombed the place.
Bonanza
OVERHEARD in the Street Shelter for the Over-40s: "My friends say I'm gullible but they'll think twice now that I've won the Nigerian state lottery."
Tailpiece
NKANDLA twins with the town of Sancho Panza, in Spain. The mayor of Nkandla pays an official visit and is astounded at the opulence of the mayoral parlour.
"I will let you in on a little secret," says the mayor of Sancho Panza. "You see that road bridge over there?"
"Yes."
"The European Union funded it – a double highway bridge. But if you look, it's only single lane." He winks. "It's the EU game."
The mayor of Sancho Panza pays a return visit. He's astounded at the overwhelming opulence of the Nkandla mayor's parlour – Persian carpets, gilt-framed portraits of No 1, silken drapes, gold taps in the bathrooms. He's impressed.
Says the mayor of Nkandla: "You see that bridge over there?"
"No."
A wink. "The service delivery game."
Last word
Nothing you can't spell will ever work.
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