Hypnotised

A follow-up to last week's entry on the hypnotist bandits. Apparently I wasn't the only one who enjoyed the story. Thought I'd share a cute response printed in the GDN's letters to the editor page on Tuesday (25 August):

"What a delightful story about the couple wandering round Bahrain's banks hypnotising cashiers into giving them money...Obviously things are not as they seem. It surprises me however, that they did not just hypnotise the policemen when they were apprehended. With just a wave of the hand and the words "these are not the robbers you are looking for"they could have been on their way. They could have even hypnotised the police into believing that one of their own was guilty. Personally, I think they are simply a lost family of Jedi Knights innocently trying to return to their home on the rebel base on Yavin 4. Hypnotising bank cashiers. That one's going to be hard to beat. Beam me up Scotty."

The letter is authored by a "JT Kirk" - James Tiberius Kirk? I'm no Treky, but still, the reference is not lost on me!

Hypnotist bandits

You've gotta love the GDN (Gulf Daily News), Bahrain's quality national rag. It's tabloid in format and tabloid in nature. The most widely circulated English language newspaper on the Island, the GDN is what the English-speaking population rely on for their daily local news fix. It frequently prints interesting (read: sensational and highly entertaining) news stories and letters to the editor - spelling mistakes and bad grammar only add to the charm of the GDN.

I must share today's GDN highlight about the hypnotist bandits:

A Bahraini bank cashier claims to have been hypnotised into parting with 900 BD (around $AD2700) by a family of robbers. The bandits apparently approached the cashier claiming they were overseas visitors wanting to exchange foreign currency. They then allegedly put the cashier under the influence of hypnosis and entranced, he handed over the cash.

I'd like to invite the bandits over to my place - maybe they could hypnotise my daughter into not watching the Sound of Music for the 654th time.

Watch this space for more GDN gems...