So help me God ( There the little fucker goes and does it again…!)
This, by the way, is not a column trying to shine a light on or throw cold water over some of the admittedly weird aspects of modern Japanese culture:
A Japanese arm wrestling game is being withdrawn from arcades across the country after three players broke their arms, company officials said.
Arm Spirit gamers advance through 10 levels, pitting their strength against a French maid, a drunken martial arts master and a Chihuahua dog before reaching the final challenge - a professional wrestler.
Neither is it one of those cheap affairs that poke fun at the British establishment:
A senior Church of England vicar has been accused of being a “bully and a liar” and of spitting at one of his churchwardens, in a rare ecclesiastical court sitting in London.
The Rev Tom Ambrose, 60, vicar of St Mary and St Michael in Trumpington, near Cambridge, is accused of bringing his once “thriving parish” to breaking point. Church wardens resigned, volunteers left and Dr Ambrose ignored the parochial church council, the tribunal was told.
Dr Ambrose told members of the congregation who did not agree with him to leave, sent hate e-mails and made personal attacks on “opponents” during sermons, it was claimed.
Dr Ambrose was once regarded as one of the Church’s leading communications strategists.
‘So, what is this all about then?’ I hear you yawn excitedly.
Well, all I wanted to say is that it’s not just in dubious arcades, that people wrestle with the arm. It is apparently not always easy to know what to do with the darn thing – apart, as we did see, from breaking it in ever more interesting ways and places.
So, people could do with a bit more help in this field – and some muscled advice would sure be very welcome. The kind that a former Church communication strategist could have offered.
Alas, the Karl Roves of this world are retiring like lemmings – and now it seems that that senior England vicar will be too busy in court himself to offer a helping hand to others.
Which is a pity, really…
Everybody knows how this one goes, right?
“Now, raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?”
That’s the easy part, right?
Well, maybe not. If you please, study this photo, taken in front of Sydney’s opera house. There you will find a gathering of a few of the world’s most preeminent liars.
Now, take a very close look at the guy on the right. Yes, the only person there who can’t even get that little thing right…
(Yes, I’m afraid you’re right. Not a strange Japanese or weird Brit column but yet another tired tale of the not so brightly burning Bush… Ah well, so it goes.)
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