'Monty Python is mocking, but there are those that are not laughing’

This morning when I switched on, the Inbox contained scans of my appearance in Vikend, a Slovenian publication with a circulation of 232,000 which is part of both Delo* and Slovenske novice. They gave me a spread, which I find a rather bizarre.

It certainly presents something of an odd sight. For a start, there I am on the blue bridge, hair flowing and looking mildly aggressive in one of Nicola’s publicity shots from last summer. Below me are photos of a Masonic handshake and the reverse of the Great Seals of the United States as seen on a one-dollar bill.

My Slovenian is restricted to ordering beers and a bit of swearing, but it appears a vague translation of the headline running across two pages is: 'Monty Python is mocking, but there are those that are not laughing’. Dosjeji zarot gets name-checked and if Mladinska knjiga had any decency they would owe me a favour for the mention they get.

There is also another of Nicola’s pictures – me sitting on the steps of a barge – used on the index page. This leads to nice coincidence of me in an eyepatch and wearing a black Captain America T-shirt positioned next to a shot of Toby Maguire in the black Spiderman costume. It looks like a piece of skilled Marvel product placement.

The email that accompanied the scans contained the line: ‘Sorry I could not get you on the cover, Spiderman is a tough one to beat!’ As if I would mind not getting a cover when Spidey in black is around. They certainly know how to tickle a meejah hor in Ljubljana.



*This reminds me of the old saying from the former Yugsalvia that in terms of the leading papers the Slovenes prefer work (Delo), Serbs politics (Politika) and Montenegrins warfare (Pobjeda – victory).