The Age Diary

When crucifixes and crotch-grabbing collide

'if I Want To Watch A Fat Bogan Sitting On A Couch Scratching His Crotch, I'll Invest In A Mirror'

COINCIDENCE or what? Channel 10 axed Big Brother and its host Kyle Sandilands just days after the government made it a crime to be annoying. Later, of course, the courts ruled the laws invalid but by then it was too late to save the show from oblivion.

The Father, The Songs, The Holy Jokes

CROTCH GRABS, pelvic thrusts and spank-the-pony moves are stock-standard manoeuvres in the repertoire of any self-respecting boy band. Jesus-on-the-cross is not.

On The Radar - This Week: Jodhpurs

Tired of skinny pants? It might be time to try some drop-crotch trousers or jodhpurs, writes Rachel Wells.

Odd Spot

An Italian supreme court ruling has outlawed men from touching their genitals in public. Crotch-grabbing is an ancient superstitious habit in Italy that is believed to ward off the evil eye - it is traditional for men to do it if passed by a hearse or when discussing illness or disasters.

Long And Winding Road: Rock Legends Stitched Up

ROCK'n'roll and the male crotch have always enjoyed a close relationship. Much of the heart of the music genre does, after all, lie below the belt. It's where the listener is often stirred; it's where fans' eyes are frequently drawn while watching their heroes onstage. And it's where the more eager fans, or "groupies", like to make a post-show beeline for.

Not A Laugh In The Lot: A One Djok Wonder

NOVAK Djokovic's impressions are more popular with the Australian Open crowds than Marat Safin with his shirt off. His Maria Sharapova is spot on and his Rafael Nadal, complete with exaggerated crotch pulling to the point where it's almost pornographic, is very funny. But is Djokovic the only funny to be had? Are there other tennis players out there with hidden comedic potential?

No More Bitching As Mr Sheens Polishes Wests Tigers' Image

They regularly wore candy pink T-shirts with ``Bitch" in black letters emblazoned on them punishment for being the ``dunce" of a training session. One player once grabbed his crotch on live television, and some turned up to training sessions with cocaine and ecstasy still buzzing through their bodies.

Federer, Set To Revive The Poetry

So fine, that hand on crotch might have elicited a wince, but there was something about James Scott Connors, in his naked need to disembowel every opponent, in his strut that was all dominant male, that seized the attention.

Sniffer Dogs Have Costa's Backing

THE rights of a drug sniffer dog to nuzzle the crotch of a person suspected of carrying drugs was defended yesterday by Police Minister Michael Costa.

Crotch Nuzzle: Is It Assault Or A Friendly Gesture?

The Romans and countrymen were missing, but friends were everywhere. Almost enough for a few more episodes of the TV series. Steve Bracks continually addressed his audience as ``friends" in his victory speech on Saturday night, smiling like everybody's uncle. He was especially friendly with his deputy, John Thwaites, enveloping him in a bear-hug up on stage.

An Intimate Sniff Not An Assault If Performed By A Dog, Judge Rules

If a police drug sniffer dog nuzzled a person's crotch it could be interpreted in the animal kingdom as a friendly gesture and not an assault, a Supreme Court judge said yesterday.

Cunning Stuntmen

AFTER scoring a try against the Brumbies a fortnight ago, Waratah five-eighth Duncan McRae promptly grabbed his crotch as if he'd dislodged something important and was performing a crude inventory.

Party Towns

Whether you're a sucker for a bull's balls fry-up, like a pint of the Old Peculiar Mountie Crotch or just love life (or even death), there's a festival to suit you, writes Keith Austin.

Downer On Crotch Watch After Woman Mp Objects

A woman Labor MP who complained about obscene hand movements by the Foreign Minister, Mr Downer, was ``flattering herself" if she thought they were sexual gestures directed at her, the minister said yesterday.

Lift For Parramatta As Judiciary Clears Dymock To Play

Parramatta playmaker Jim Dymock was last night cleared of a dangerous throw charge after telling the judiciary he moved his hand away from Penrith hooker Craig Gower's crotch when he felt a testicle. Dymock, whose Australian career would have been over had he been found guilty, can now play in Su

Shoe Ad Taken Out Of Sight And Out Of Mind

THE Advertising Standards Board has deemed a controversial advertisement for shoes too explicit for public display. Although Windsor Smith insists the billboard, which features a scantily-clad female at eye level with a man's crotch, is suitable for the public, the ad has been removed from many o

The Case Of The Daddy Who Ended Up As A Mummy

A mummy stored in the Australian Museum proves that male obsessions have changed little in nearly 3,000 years. When ancient Eqyptian mummy-makers prepared the middle-aged body for burial, they made sure the man clutched his crotch for his journey to the Afterlife. Still, despite this concern f

Hingis Takes Her Lesson At The Hands Of Majoli

Paris: In the end, it was not Goran Ivanisevic, the bullet-serving, expletive-firing, crotch-grabbing symbol of Croatian masculinity who made history for his country, but Iva Majoli, the good-time girl who, at 19, realised her time had come and seized the day with a decisiveness that has so far elu

Copping It In The Crotch

FOR a while, the Hakenmobile became the country's best- known car, after its specially fitted "crotch cam" focused on the wheeling and dealing of Trevor Haken and his former boss, the one-time head of Kings Cross detectives, Graham "Chook" Fowler. The car, a sporty red 1989 To