No old fool am I

There’s no fool like an old fool. According to phrases.org.uk this proverb already existed in 1546 when it was included in A Dialogue of Proverbs as ‘But there is no foole to the olde foole, folke saie’ [1]. Methinks it’s as true today as it was in 1546. Or truer. In yesterday’s post I wrote that the robots in Surrogates ‘look life-like in a smoothed-out faux manner, à la Sam Newman, Paul Hogan and Cher’. Then – chance or not, who knows – in the Age yesterday was an article about a recent increase in cosmetic surgery among men [2]. And which men are mentioned? Sam Newman and Paul Hogan (pictured at age 69). (And Shane Warne, but only for teeth whitening though he’s thought to have had botox and laser dermabrasion.) It says men are increasingly turning to cosmetic surgery ‘to stave off the signs of ageing’. I think cosmetically surgified men look stupid – not younger. And I reckon it’s no accident that though Newman, Hogan and Warne are public figures, there’s something immature and, yes, adolescent about them. As if they haven’t grown into compassionate and reflective adults. Given this, it’s no surprise that as their appearance ages, they need to return it to its juvenile form. Boys will be boys. Me? I think I look my age. And I’m proud of that. I’ve no wish to look younger. I wear my face as a badge of honour. Flight attendants and shop assistants now call me ‘sir’. I like that. No old fool am I. Ho hum.

farmdoc's blog post number 434

The World Health Organisation’s definition of Health is ‘a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity’. Somebody should tell the Tasmanian Health Minister Lara Giddings (pictured) that WHO’s definition delimits her job. Last week she declared that all elective surgery in Tasmania’s public hospitals must be for health gain. Fair enough. But then she said the Tasmanian government can no longer justify funding cosmetic surgery when the demand for its public hospital services is unprecedented. So in Tasmania’s public hospitals there’ll be no more breast implants and reductions, for example. Some people who have cosmetic surgery are psychologically well adjusted, so their surgery’s for vanity reasons only. But others have it to alleviate severe psychological (or psychiatric) problems caused by their preoperative cosmetic disability. I think the latter group’s surgery should be accommodated in public hospitals, because as per the WHO definition, psychological well-being’s every bit as valid and important as physical well-being. Ms Giddings manifestly disagrees. She said ‘if you don’t have an absolute need then don’t expect the public hospital system to provide you with cosmetic surgery’. Thus it’s her view that physical need is absolute but mental need isn’t. So they should call her the ‘Physical Health Minister’. Or else sack her for neglecting half her job.

farmdoc's blog post number 101

Last Wednesday night when I was flying from Launceston to Melbourne, to the plane’s left was a perfect winter sunset. Right then, fittingly and sublimely, my headphones were exuding the erotically exotic strains of the Bolero by Maurice Ravel. Which turned my thoughts to Bo Derek, who was exquisitely perfect when at age 23 she starred in the 1979 film 10. I wondered what she looked like now (at age 51), and I hoped she hadn’t succumbed to cosmetic surgery. If I could understand why Dolly Parton would have cosmetic surgery at her age (now 62) – which I can’t – it’s totally beyond me why Julia Roberts would at hers (now 40). My darling daughters assure me Angelina Jolie hasn’t been scalpel-enhanced. They’re either right or wrong. As a lad I thought the young Brigitte Bardot was beautiful and sexy. Now aged 73 and wrinkled, she remains surgically unaltered. Good for her. But I was disgusted, revolted even, that Terri Munro, winner of Big Brother Australia 2008, intends investing some of her A$250,000 winnings on a facelift. She’d get a better return on her shares in the current bear market. If Helen Mirren (pictured) doesn’t need the scalpel at age 63, why would Ms Munro at age 52? Don’t answer that – it’s a rhetorical question.