How to panda to the crowd

Daniel Caruana missed the flag as he wobbled his way up the St Julian’s ġostra this year but he captured more than he hoped for when pictures of his gravity-defying stunt hit the pages of major international news titles. Mr Caruana, known as Il-Ganga, was awestruck when the photo taken by Times of Malta photographer Darrin Zammit Lupi was seen by millions across the world. The pictures, taken last weekend, appeared on the largest international websites such those of Time Magazine, the Daily Mail and The Washington Post besides flashing across screens from Venezuela to Russia and Malaysia and everywhere in between. What sold the picture was, most likely, the unique combination of Mr Caruana’s heavy set physique and the rather hazardous act of running up a greasy pole. No sooner had the picture appeared on the Daily Mail website than comparisons began to Kung Fu Panda, a Dreamworks animated superhero character that revolves around an exceptionally-agile panda adept at the ancient Chinese martial art. Mr Caruana said it crossed his mind to reply to the comments in this vein but, in the end, he did not bother and instead challenged them to beat him at the ġostra. The 32-year-old oil...