A marvel at the Pentagon
QUESTION
Why was a former U.S. Defence Chief once pictured on a podium with Captain America and Spiderman? THE politician was Donald rumsfeld, the 21st U.S. Secretary of Defence, and the occasion was the release in 2005 of a special edition comic, launched at the Pentagon, with rumsfeld, Spiderman and captain america all present.
it was part of rumsfeld’s america Supports You initiative, a campaign to encourage private citizens, communities and businesses to reach out and support troops and their families.
The issue was called The new avengers: Guest Starring The Fantastic Four, written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Dan Jurgens and Sandu Florea. in it, the Marvel superheroes encounter an alien army after a U.S. soldier finds a spacecraft in the Louisiana bayou.
a centre- spread contained a poster with the america Supports You logo surrounded by Marvel superheroes. The comic was distributed free in May to U.S. forces in iraq and around the world with a print run of one million copies.
Brian Welch, Cardiff.
QUESTION
How quickly did students at Oxford and Cambridge learn of Boat Race progress and results before live broadcasting? MY Father was an undergraduate in cambridge from 1922 to 1925. This was in the early days of the BBC, then still the British Broadcasting company. it didn’t become the British Broadcasting corporation until 1927, and there were no wireless broadcasts of the Boat race.
instead, the Students’ Union had a big map of the Thames on which images of the two boats could be moved. Undergraduates were stationed along the course, and as the boats passed them, they noted who was in the lead and by what distance. They then dashed to the nearest post office to send a telegram. in cambridge, a dispatch rider would collect it from the post office and deliver it to the Union Building, where the boats would be moved on the map accordingly.
Richard Wilson, Stafford.
QUESTION
Who created the so-called peace symbol? THIS is the symbol of the Uk campaign for nuclear Disarmament. it was designed in 1958 by Gerald Holtom, who brought it, unsolicited, to the chairperson of his local anti-nuclear group in Twickenham. alternative versions were shown to London cnd.
according to Holtom, the first mark on paper was a white circle within a black square, followed by various versions of the christian cross within the circle (perhaps under the influence of several prominent christians among the leadership of cnd).
But it was thought the cross had too many associations — with the crusaders, military medals and the public blessing by an american chaplain of the plane that flew to Hiroshima.
The arms were allowed to drop, forming the semaphore signals for n and D (nuclear disarmament), and a gesture of human despair against a background of a round globe. The Uk cnd symbol was not copyrighted, but has become internationally recognised.
Ken Gorman, Poulton-le-fylde, Lancs. Many peace symbols have been used over the years by different cultures. one of the most familiar, used since antiquity, is the olive branch. in early cultivation of the olive, it took decades to bear fruit for harvest, so anyone who planted olive groves must have been expecting a long and peaceful life.
The roman poet Virgil (70-10 Bc) associated the olive branch with peace in his aeneid: High on the stern Aeneas his stand, And held a branch of olive in
his hand, While thus he spoke: ‘The
Phrygians’ arms you see, Expelled from Troy, provoked
in Italy By Latian foes, with war
unjustly made; At first affianced, and at
last betrayed.’ This message bear: The Trojans
and their chief Bring holy peace, and beg the king’s relief. it also has a long association with the dove. in the Bible, a dove was released from the ark by noah and returned with an olive branch to show the Biblical flood was over. ever since, the dove has symbolised deliverance and God’s forgiveness.
in norse culture, the peace symbol is mistletoe. after the sun god Balder was killed by Loki’s mistletoe dart, the plant was hated as an instrument of death and betrayal.
But Balder’s mother, the goddess Freya, redeemed it in honour of her son, decreeing it should become a symbol of peace and reconciliation.
From then on, enemies who met under mistletoe would lay down their arms and declare a truce. it is still hung over a door, particularly at christmas, as a sign of peace. other peace symbols include the calumet, the native american peace pipe, the rainbow, the broken rifle, instituted by War resisters international before World War i, the white poppy of the Women’s co-operative Guild (1933), nicholas roerich’s peace banner, a maroon on white emblem consisting of three solid circles in a surrounding circle, and the famous cnd symbol.
Jill Bottomley, Bristol.
QUESTION
I once saw a TV play called Big Bad Mouse starring Eric Sykes and Jimmy Edwards. What is the story of this play? Was it ad-libbed? FURTHER to the earlier answer, Big Bad Mouse toured rhodesia during the mid-seventies, and i was fortunate to see it in Bulawayo. By this time all that remained of the original play was probably the title.
changing the dialogue resulted in full houses as people went for a second or third treat.
The dialogue did seem ad-libbed, but it was perfectly timed, with local topics covered. This was highlighted when Jimmy would appear late on stage for the opening act, trying to upstage eric.
Most of the audience knew Jimmy enjoyed long lunches at the Blue Lamp — the club in the nearby police camp. He would then be taken to the theatre in a police taxi. Despite this — or maybe because of it — he never missed a cue.
eric, alone on stage, went to pick up a phone and trapped his tie in the top desk drawer, his efforts to solve this providing ten or more minutes of comic genius.
Con Watchorn, Market Rasen, Lincs.