Apropos of nothing, these stories, first about Bono and then about Madonna are as revealing as they are amusing:
At a pop concert in aid of a very worthy charity Bono proclaimed: “Every time I clap a child dies in Africa”.
To which a member of the audience shouted: “Well stop fucking clapping then”
The Hungarian magazine Blikk interviewed Madonna. The questions were asked in Hungarian and then translated into English. Madonna’s replies were then translated into Hungarian. The interview was published in Hungarian and then translated back into English. Along the way something has plainly been lost, but rather more, I think, has been gained:
Blikk: Madonna, let’s cut towards the hunt. Are you a bold hussy-woman that feasts on men who are tops?
Madonna: Yes, yes, this is certainly something that brings to the surface my longings. In America it is not considered to be mentally ill when a woman advances on her prey in a discotheque setting with hardy cocktails present. And there is a more normal attitude toward leather play-toys that also makes my day”.
From John Preston on The Big Bang by John Julius Norwich
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