Grimm Ending

A German court has jailed two parents who refused to allow their child to go on a school trip to see a theatre production of a fairy tale. The parents claimed the children’s play of the Brothers Grimm’s King Thrushbeard was ‘a work of the devil’. They have been jailed for six days by the court in Guetersloh, western Germany, after they refused to pay a fine for keeping their child away from the school trip. King Thrushbeard tells the story of a beautiful princess taught humility by being married off by her father to a beggar who is really a wealthy prince in disguise.

Flip Flop        

Hot on the heels of the recent slipper controversy in the Singapore High Court where a member of the public was told to change his garb and footwear or be disbarred from admission to the public gallery (see The New Paper 27 July 2005, page 5), flip flops have caused another flap, this time involving the President of the United States, no less.

A photo of Northwestern University’s national championship women’s lacrosse team, taken with the President during the athletes’ visit to the White House last week, showed four of the nine women in the front row wearing flip-flop sandals along with their dresses and skirts.

This sparked off a front-page story in the Chicago Tribune with the headline ‘YOU WORE FLIP-FLOPS TO THE WHITE HOUSE?!’ inspired by an e-mail sent to player Kate Darmody from her older brother after he saw the photo on the team’s website. The women have defended their attire, arguing they wore a dressier version of the casual sandal. ‘Nobody was wearing old beach flip-flops,’ said one player, who wore a $16 brown pair with rhinestones.

In 2001, President Bush’s daughter Jenna, then 19, wore black flip-flops in court, along with pink capri pants and a sleeveless black shirt, when she pleaded no contest to a misdemeanour charge of being a minor in possession of alcohol.

The term ‘flip-flop’ was used heavily during the last presidential debates when President Bush repeatedly accused Democratic opponent John Kerry of switching positions on issues.

Food Fight

Mahatma Gandhi’s family is pleading with the Indian government to force an Australian takeaway firm called Handi Ghandi — ‘Great Curries ... No Worries’ — to stop using the vegetarian pacifist to sell its food, including beef. ‘It’s offensive,’ Tushar Gandhi, the activist’s Bombay-based great-grandson and head of the Mahatma Gandhi Foundation, told Reuters. ‘It goes absolutely against all his beliefs. Using his image to sell beef curries and such doesn’t gel. He was not a foodie.’

It is not clear if the company’s spelling of the name is intentional or not, but ‘Ghandi’ is a common Western misspelling. A handi is also a popular earthen cooking pot.

Handi Ghandi’s website also features a line-drawing of Gandhi holding what appears to be an American-style Chinese takeout box, but a recent check at the website showed a new logo, sans Gandhi lookalike. The name remains though. Although Gandhi’s name and image are protected under India’s constitution and national emblems laws — the same as the national flag — Tushar said he had no legal recourse in Australia, where the company is legally registered.

Meaningful Anagrams?

The Morse code — Here come Dots

Dormitory — A Dirty Room

Astronomer — Moon Starer

Desperation — A Rope ends it

Slot Machines — Cash lost in me

Snooze Alarms — Alas, no more Z’s