Tag Archive: Italy


BLOG TAG GAME – I’M IT

Filed under: Blogging, Books, Good causes, Italy, Movies, Music — 4 Comments
July 30, 2012

tagI was tagged byKina Diaz DeLeon who is a Human in Recovery inviting me to a game of blog tag.

An offer I couldn’t refuse!

Here are  the  rules:-

  • You must post the rules
  • Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post
  • Create eleven new questions to ask the people you’ve tagged (or use the existing ones)
  • Tag (eleven) people with a link to your post
Let them know they’ve been tagged

These are my answers to Kina’s Questions:

1. Q- What is the thing that makes you want to get out of bed each day?

 A – Breakfast +  The thing that makes me have to get out of bed is the family cat (Von) who is normally awake at least two hours before anyone else and wants us to know.

2. What do you tell yourself to get through painful, difficult, or challenging times?

“No matter – try again – fail again – fail better” Samuel Beckett got it right. Continue reading →

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CONFESSIONS OF AN OCCASIONAL PATRIOT

Filed under: Italy, Television — 1 Comment
June 24, 2012

I’m not one of life’s flag wavers. I usually associate the Union Jack with fascists, racists and hooligans than with anything positive.

I think the Royal Family should be privatised and have no patience with those who live under illusion that Britons will never be slaves.

But sit me down in front of an England football match and those dormant patriotic instincts rise to the surface.

I was 8 years old when England won the world cup in 1966 since when they have not even reached the final of a major tournament. I vividly remember watching them lose 2-3 to West Germany the world cup quarter finals in 1970 after being 2-0 up.

But irrational hope springs eternal and I will watch England vs Italy in the Euro 2012 quarter-final today with my heart in my mouth and head in my hands. Even if they do summon up a victory, there’s the prospect of Germany in the semi finals and a repeat of that traumatic childhood experience.

To quote from John Cleese in the movie Clockwise “I can take the drama – it’s the hope I can’t stand”.

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NOT SO SUPER MARIO

Filed under: Italy, Politics — Leave a comment
May 30, 2012

Whatever else you say about Italy’s caretaker premier Mario Monti, he is not usually a man to speak first and think afterwards.

His measured, robotic voice shows that he is not in the business of making a drama out of the financial crisis.

He restores the notion that economics is a boring but necessary part of political life.

But his skills as a economist are greater than those as a politician.

In response to the latest match rigging / bribery scandal to hit Italian soccer he has stated publically that it would be better if soccer matches were halted for up to three years. This, he reasons, would allow the time for reflection needed to set the sporting house in order.

Monti was at pains to point out that he was voicing a personal opinion but, predictably, the media are not about to let facts get in the way of a good story and report his statement as if it had become official government policy.

Disillusionment with money-grabbing soccer players is one thing, but advocating a total ban on the sport  is both illogical and counter productive. These greedy sportsmen, who have plenty of solid role models in the form of politicians,will rightly face criminal charges and are unlikely to play again.

Measures should then be taken to expose and demonise the unscrupulous organisations who are paying them to throw matches.
Obviously, this is a bit like saying that we need to root out drug barons as much as the dealers. I realise that to succeed totally it requires an overhaul of ingrained social and cultural attitudes which,let’s face it, is never likely to happen.

This doesn’t mean that we should give up the fight against corruption when we find it and resources should be applied to this task rather than proposing unworkable solutions that merely grab the headlines.

Monti would do well to focus on getting the nation’s books to balance and learning when it is diplomatic to keep his mouth shut.

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EXTRA VIRGIN

Filed under: Books, Italy — Leave a comment
June 2, 2009

Living in Italy, there’s always a  fair chance that someone will spot a book like Annie Hawes’ ‘Extra Virgin’ (Amongst the olive groves of Liguria)’ and decide it would make an ideal present.

My mother brought it with her on her last visit, telling me how much she enjoyed it and how she recognised a lot of observations about the Italian way of life. Alarm bells sounded when she told me this given that her general philosophy is that the English do everything best (don’t get her started on Americans!)

Continue reading →

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