Another UN row
THE UN has chosen the cartoon character Wonder Woman as its honorary ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls. Wonder Woman was unveiled in her role at a ceremony at the UN last week, attended by actresses who have played her on screen.
But it's caused a dickens of a row among the UN's own staff. I don't think it's that they feel Minnie Mouse or Daisy Duck would have made better ambassadors, it's more that they feel Wonder Woman does not embody the values they espouse.
They say she's a large-breasted woman of impossible proportions, scantily clad in a shimmering, thigh-baring body suit with an American flag motif and knee-high boots. She's not appropriate.
There are, of course, those among us who thoroughly approve of large-breasted women of impossible proportions, scantily clad in shimmering, thigh-baring body suit and knee-high boots (the flag doesn't really matter). But we have to accept that those probably do not show particular interest in the UN female empowerment campaign, so their opinion doesn't count.
Perhaps most telling is the protesters' contention that a real woman should have been chosen, not a cartoon character. And this raises an interesting issue.
We live in the digital age where the images that appear on people's playstations, computer screens and mobile telephones have to a large extent replaced external reality. Virtual reality is the thing. This can be most beneficial.
Imagine the UN with Superman as Secretary-General; The Amazing Spiderman heading up Unicef; Batman and Robin running the World Bank. The world would be a safer and a happier place. This surely is the next step.
But these protesters who demand a real woman as UN ambassador for the empowerment of women and girls threaten to bring all this down, jolt us backward into an era of harsh realism. This is recidivism. We are at a critical juncture.
Strange inversion
LAST week's mention of a YouTube video that features Ormie Taylor, former right wing for Maritzburg Collegians, Natal and the Springboks, brings back memories for reader Dave Snashall
"I was playing rugby for Maritzburg Collegians in 1954. We had two Natal players in our ranks - Graham Wing, who could run like a buck, and Tusky Adams.
"Our coach, Colin McKay, decided we would have our Thursday practice against the Collegians Under 19 side. We were sternly warned not to injure any of the young players.
"Ormond Taylor, just out of Maritzburg College and with forearms like Popeye, was not hampered by any coach's order about not hurting members of the 1st XV. Neither Graham nor Tusky saw the practice out."
That's strange. When I was playing for Maritzburg Collegians Under 19, Ormie, (also a Bok and a Natal cap) was on the wing for the 1st XV. We were often at the same practice.
When I once tried to tackle him, I might as well have been tackling a corporation bus (I don't think he even noticed).
Them were the days. Boys of 18 (just old enough to be allowed in the bar) hoisting after-match pints of a Saturday evening with fellows with Springbok and provincial colours. It builds up spirit and commitment to rugby. It just doesn't happen today.
Mars mischief
THEY must be rolling around laughing at Nasa. Those boobies at the European Space Mission believed Nasa had put a rover vehicle on the surface of Mars to send back photographs and sniff around analysing this and that.
They tried to emulate it. They spent billions on a rocket to get to Mars and release what they called the Schiaparelli probe, which was supposed to parachute to the surface, then start investigating things. But instead Schiaparelli simply crashed, end of story.
Is anyone surprised? Nasa never did get an explorer vehicle on to the surface of Mars. It's all part of a huge and elaborate hoax.
Those pictures Mars Rover sent back to Nasa – vast stretches of arid, flinty landscape, not a blade of grass – were recognisably the Griquas rugby field at Kimberley. The European Space Agency have been suckered. How many more billions have to be squandered before they see the joke?
Tailpiece
THE cowboy was dressed in brown paper. The sheriff got him for rustling.
Last word
If you live long enough, the venerability factor creeps in; first, you get accused of things you never did, and later, credited for virtues you never had.
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