Sideswiped: Why was he born so beautiful?
Banned books and gross old rugby songs, I was trollied,teen entitlement is really, really old .
Book banning in New Zealand
The early days of book censorship in New Zealand was mostly tame sounding sex manuals, war secrets and COMICS. Then in 1963 there was the Indecent Publications Tribunal and in the list of the verboten, this title: Why Was He Born So Beautiful And Other Rugby Songs. Ruled indecent in 1968:
"This is an anthology of bawdy songs, said to be popular among players of Rugby union football. Some are diverting; many are crudely indecent. The question for the Tribunal is not whether footballers should amuse themselves by bawling these songs off the field, but whether their text should be given a wider circulation in what may be called the decent licence of print; and the Tribunal decides that it should not. It is accordingly declared to be indecent."
What’s weird is, it remained banned until 2020, when Auckland Libraries applied for it to be reclassified on the grounds, it’s sexist and coarse, but not indecent. It got an R13.
The title is often enough to imagine why a particular book was banned, like these:
The Big Book Of Buds.
Advanced Techniques Of Clandestine Psychedelic & Amphetamine Manufacture.
Death Scenes: A Homicide Detective's Scrapbook
Oracle of the Thousand Hands.
The Giant Black Book of Computer Viruses
The World of the American Pit Bull Terrier (includes dog fighting apparently)
Home Workshop Guns for Defense and Resistance Volume 1
Thongs by Alexander Trocchi.
Not to be taken literally
Threats of violence? No. Satire. Black humour. Comment on inequality from writer Dominic Hoey who descibes it as, “Perfect for flat inspections, weddings and job interviews”. Great Christmas present er, for the right person.
Trollied in Herne Bay
As a sheltered woman from West Auckland I found myself in Jervois Road, something about shoes mutter, mutter, which is much like Lincoln Road without the vast array of eatery franchises and rest home construction.
I had to pop into the supermarket to shed $79 for some edam cheese and some dog biscuits and other bits and bobs, so I pulled up outside the snazzy mini-Countdown. Metro they call it. Unlike the wharehouses I am used to this felt intimate.
I deftly reversed my trolly out of its que and roamed the unfamiliar aisles. It was quiet, clean and new. I felt relaxed and momentarily unpreterbed by crime. The service was pleasant. I gave my data to the Woolworths Group, paid and directed my trolly towards the door, and out onto the street...when suddenly the trolly grinds to a halt.
Something is jamming the wheels. I bend over and try and clear the detritus from the front left wheel. She'll be right now. No. It grinds to a halt again. My car it literally 5 metres away. I'm looking silly now, blocking the supermarket entrance with my faffing. Another try. A woman, approaches. Tells me that I can't take the trolley out on the street. Huh? The wheels lock. WTF? That's why you never see trolleys in creeks, being walked down the main drag, piled up with someone’s entire worldly possessions. This is being trollied in Herne Bay.
Entitlement is really, really old
An ancient Babylonian letter from a student to his mother gives a snippet of life in 18th century BCE Mesopotamia
Student Iddin-Sin to his mother Zinû:
"From year to year, the clothes of the young gentlemen here become better, but you let my clothes get worse from year to year. Indeed, you persisted in making my clothes poorer and more scanty. At a time when in our house wool is used up like bread, you have made me poor clothes."
He goes on: "The son of Adad-iddinam, whose father is only an assistant of my father, has two new sets of clothes, while you fuss even about a single set of clothes for me."
A final burn: "In spite of the fact that you bore me and his mother only adopted him, his mother loves him, while you, you do not love me!"
Will you now...
Day after day, always brilliant! Amazing work.