Monday 9 February 2009

Pinky and Perky

If you're in the UK you cannot have missed the furore over a comment made by the daughter of a former Prime Minister in the green room of a BBC TV show; and, a description of the present Prime Minister by the son of a famous toy manufacturer whilst on air in Australia. Quite frankly, I was annoyed and insulted by the hysteria created by the media over both. There was one sacking and vociferous calls for the sacking of the other.

This is a strange world we're living in as an earlier incident causing the temporary suspension of a TV presenter was actually more serious. A telephone was used to harass an actor in a stunt filmed on air. This kind of action is a prosecutable offense - why has no one sought out the relevant charges and taken this issue to court? Because the victim decided it was best to forget the affair, one presumes.

In the two cases mentioned at the beginning, I'm not aware that either of the people being referred to in the comments has made a complaint - it's just everyone else getting their knickers in a twist. One needs to get a bit of perspective. I can point to many instances of real and unpleasant insults directed at me personally. Now, I'm just as human as the rest of you, yet I do not go around with a persecution complex.


In 2001, for example, I was engaged on a piece of government work with a black-Caribbean colleague; I am lobster pink, of course. Our team leader, (also black Caribbean), referred to us as 'Pinky and Perky'. Were either of us offended?
No, only mystified. I of course took on the persona of 'Perky', whilst my colleague took 'Pinky'. All in all, a piece of silliness that harmed neither of us.

So, imagine my amusement when I discovered in a copy of a Dorling Kindersley Collectables guide a picture of some 1918 Vigny of Paris Golliwogg perfume bottles. They are gorgeous and very valuable. Oh please can I have one?

Oh, and check out this clip of P&P where Michael Aspel engages in a bit of spoon feeding:

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