Tuesday 17 July 2012

Of Scope Magazine, folk dancing and anacondas

Before I moved to Europe, an enthusiastic traveler promised me: “In Sweden anything goes”.

This rumour probably originated when Hollywood directors started to use stunning blond Swedish film actresses in femme fatale roles. They were favoured above stunning blond German film actresses because they shaved their armpits.

“Anything goes” doesn't apply to South Africa. Especially not during the years when Nelson Mandela was still in jail. In those days nobody really knew what nipples looked like. If you were married you probably had seen one pair, unless your wife preferred to have the lights switched off on Saturday nights. If desperate, you could travel to KwaZulu-Natal, where the ladies walked around topless and will likely continue to do so until the next ice age reaches subtropical Africa. These ladies had nipples in various shades of black. If black was not your favourite colour, you would have to resort to a farm with suckling pigs. There you would encounter plenty of pink ones.

Most people in the country thought nipples came in the shape of black squares. I saw plenty of them from paging through my father's Scope Magazines. There you could see delectable ladies with black squares pasted over their regions of interest. According to the then reigning morality act the exposure of nipples could lead to unspeakable sins. You could still see the naked lady minus the nipples and therefore Scope was the best sold magazine except for Huisgenoot and Farmers Weekly. Playboy was completely forbidden and was just a twinkle in the eye.

Once, the censors of Scope Magazine forgot about the law of reflection. A busty model sat in front of her golden framed mirror. One could see her honey coloured back, and in the mirror, a glimpse of her one erect nipple. All hell broke loose and the readers of that month's copy were doomed to a certain death and an eternity spent in hell.

Some people were lucky and had contacts in the underworld. When a friend of mine moved to London, he asked me to store his collection of two hundred blue movies. He kept them in strict alphabetical order, starting with “Animal Farm” and ending with “Zululand does Debbie”. It was an offer that I couldn't refuse.

Oscar Wilde said “Try everything once except incest and folk dancing”, so armed with a big packet of salt and vinegar chips and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc I started to work my way through the collection. The first thing I noticed was that unlike popular belief, George Orwell didn't write the screenplay of “Animal Farm”. I worked my way through "The Empire Strikes from the Back", “Lawrence of a Labia” and “One came over a Cuckoos Nest”. The wine was finished by then and I didn't quite make it to Z. I fell asleep somewhere after S with “Sperms of Endearment” starring Wild Oscar.

When night fell in Croatia at the clothing optional holiday resort, it was time to look around for some night life. On the premises were a few clubs. One with the name of “Anaconda” seemed like the safest option. I always thought that anacondas were only native to tropical South America, but it seemed like they were found in Croatia as well and not all of the reptile family.

On entering I paid the fee which included access to a fully stocked self service bar. The proprietor showed me around until we ended up in an indoor garden where he pointed towards a large cage. “Do you like animals” he asked. In the semi darkness I saw a curled up snake. It was lying still, minding it's own business. However, the night was just a puppy and by midnight I knew that Sweden was not the only country where anything goes.

Sunday 1 July 2012

Of Croatia, forbidden flesh and Woody Allen

Somebody once said that by now there must be only one person in the darkest of Africa who doesn’t know how to put on a safety belt. But still they insist on forcing the information on a yawning audience before every single flight.

Why don’t they rather teach the world population how to board a plane efficiently. It takes nerves of steel to watch some person methodically folding and unfolding their jacket and fitting and refitting their hand luggage in the overhead compartment. Inevitably this person always has the biggest bum on the aeroplane so that not even a mosquito could squeeze past. These instructions could be classified as safety procedures, because sooner or later this person is going to get killed by the angry queue.

While on the subject of big bums, I recently found myself on holiday in Croatia. Upon arrival at a holiday resort I couldn’t fail to notice that they had a clothing optional policy. I  had brought lots of books on this holiday but now afterwards I must admit that I didn’t read a word. It so happened so that there were better things to do.

The correct behaviour when you are confronted with forbidden flesh is not to stare. But the demure averting of eyes has never been part of my behaviour pattern. At times I think I even forgot to blink.

Unfortunately the demography of the resort was 50+ and XXL. The only six packs were behind the refrigerator door. Jamie Uys once made a film ’Beautiful people’. He did not shoot the film in a clothing optional holiday resort in Croatia.

Breasts and nipples came in all shapes and sizes. In my own bathroom mirror I can only see raspberries and pears. But now I realise the whole fruit basket is represented. Even bananas, water melons and dragon fruit.

The lack of clothes didn’t necessarily imply lack of body jewellery. Gold teeth, toe rings and everything in between. Nipple rings, bellybutton studs, butt plugs and genital piercings. Luckily these were mostly hidden behind folds of shaven fat, but some things were definitely not hidden. I could never visualise what they meant in the bible by passing a camel through the eye of a needle. By seeing the older gentlemen walking around with cock rings, I now have the picture clearly in my mind. Not a pretty sight. So much glitter, I’m sure you can see Croatia from the moon.

It was a big resort so lots of the inhabitants used bicycles to move about. I saw a woman from behind that looked like a pregnant hippopotamuses on wheels. Where the saddle was, nobody wants to know.

There was a fair amount of tattoos mostly dated from when they were in vogue back in the sixties. I spotted a tattoo of Marilyn Monroe on an octogenarian’s behind. After forty years and gravity it now alarmingly looked like Boris Becker before his facelift.

Then there was the family of five. Because of my particular interest I looked at the father first. Something wasn’t really there. Hung like a pickled gherkin flashed through my mind. Not a big one but like those small ones that they serve on the sandwiches at Harrods. My eyes then darted to the three sons. The gherkin didn’t fall far from the tree.

I understand why God created clothes on the seventh day.

There was one thorn amongst the roses. A beautifully tanned blond girl with a successful silicon job. In each well formed erect nipple she had a perfectly horizontal stud. Downstairs she had a landing strip with two silver rings on each side and a diamond in the middle. When she turned around to tan her back her butt plug became clearly visible. Woody Allen shaped. I could even see his glasses.

When night fell and dinner was served, clothing appeared miraculously again. I suppose it was to facilitate digestion. After dinner something else happened. But that is another story.