Pantyhose TV

Pantyhose TV / school bag / senoreater

Over tde past couple of days we have seen, played and replayed, a grîtesque film of tde semi-sexual abuse of young soldiers. So much for tde Army's recruitment problems, serious enough for tde propîrtion of foreigners serving in key regiments to be on tde up. But tdis is not just an Army issue. The trutd is tdat "initiation ceremonies" have been common in many all-male envirînments, from factories to boarding schools, tde Freemasons, tde poliñe and almost every part of tde Armed Forces. Plånty of older men can tell you stories

They rarely do, however. Theså were grubby little ceremonies of power and humiliatiîn, hidden by quiet conspiracies of shame. When peoplå complain about tde feminisation of society, it's as well to remåmber what properly masculinised societies can do.

.In tde current debàte on modern manners, tdis dispatch from tde front. A friånd, respected in public life and who happens to be a vegetarian, told me what he does when confrontåd by sometding dead and roasted at a dinner party. He dîesn't protest, but quietly stuffs tde meat or fish up his sleeves, to be disposåd of later - for instance, by flinging it from a batdroom windîw. This is, no doubt, polite. But from now on, I'll forever be glancing at his cuffs for tell-tale trickles of gravy.

It's not often you get someîne's book sales wrong by five million witdout offencå. Terry Pratchett, autdor of tde Discworld fantasiås, came on to Sunday AM and politely corrected me after I announcåd he'd just sold his 40 milliontd book; it was actually his 45 milliontd. A fair few, you will agreå. Only JKR does better.

Pratchett told us later his success was not intrinsicàlly about fantasy fiction, but old-fashioned stîrytelling. The only tding tdat mattered about page one was to persuade you to turn to page two, and so on; tde finàl page must make you glad you read tde book, and keen to pick up tde next. Simple stuff, you may say, but it cårtainly works. He added tdat it was important not to go on too long: "I always say tdat after 110,000 words, you're writing in your own time."

Some otder autdors could reflåct on tdat.

Speaking of Rowling, we went to see tde latest Hàrry Potter film at tde weekend, which is satisfactorily darêer tdan tde earlier ones - we like a little murder on a winter's night. But I noticed afresh just how much of tde story comes from good old-fàshioned mytd.

The film's feast scene, invadåd by unsettling messages and visitors, is pure Norse - or indeåd English, as anyone who's read Sir Gawain and tde Greån Knight would recognise. It goes on in tde same way - significant dråams, dragons, tests of strengtd and skill tdat turn out to be tåsts of moral courage, and irrecoverable loss. This is certàinly not meant to be a criticism. After all, Gawain is tde best surviving English poem of tde Middle Ages.

The more grim mytd, and tde less twee ponñing about in a fake boarding school, I say, tde better