And I like these things (or the idea of them), so here is one or Christmas:
Surprise!
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Tag Archives: Outside Italy
Weak Snow ………….. but not if you’re in the UK, apparently.
I catch myself saying things in the way that Italians say them.
“I hate”, says F, quite a lot. I have corrected him a few times. I just repeat and add ‘it’ at the end. But I find myself saying it to him, now. It’s easier.
‘We are in three’ – a direct translation from Italian but really should be translated as ‘There are three of us’ – when asking for a table in the restaurant, for example.
At first, it made me smile when I heard English people saying it. Now I say it too!
And, now it is snowing. These are big flakes. Pietro said, the other day, it was ‘weak snow’. I laughed. I love the fact that Italians use words that make sense but are not what we would say. I explained we would say ‘light snow’ but I like the idea of weak snow. Of course, it implies that the opposite is ‘strong snow’, which is even funnier since snow is not really strong!
And, whilst we’re on the subject of the weather, we are not having it anywhere near as bad as the UK. Although it is interesting that most airports in the UK seem to be open – with the exception of Heathrow. Heathrow, being, apparently, the busiest airport in the UK is closed or partially closed. Other airports can stay open except the biggest! Hah!
But, I am quite annoyed by the complaining people. The complaints can be divided into basic groups:
- The government should do something about it!
Why? If you are told not to travel except if it is necessary, then don’t blame the government if you get stuck in traffic. And I question if your journey is really essential? I read in some comments, yesterday, someone saying how they had travelled to see family to give Christmas presents. I’m sorry but this is NOT a necessary journey. By making this journey you are helping the congestion on the road and you are selfish.
- The local councils should use more grit.
Apart from the fact that below about -5° the grit has no real effect, if the councils overspend and therefore raise the council tax to pay for it, are you going to say it’s OK? No, I thought not.
- This should have be planned for.
Why? The UK is not Finland. It does not have a continuous blanket of snow for 5 or 6 months of the year. And planning for it means spending money. The money must come from somewhere. This means that everyone has to pay more OR that other things must be cut. So, you can have your necessary grit and snowploughs if you are prepared to have less teachers in the school or stop paying for cosmetic surgery on the NHS. Will that be remembered when someone doesn’t get taught to the right level or where someone who has been disfigured in an accident can’t have surgery to make it right? No, I didn’t think so.
I don’t like the Daily Mail at all but I’ve started reading it online because it gives me an insight into the mind of moronic, bigoted people. And this article shows exactly what is wrong with people. Some stupid woman leaves a very warm, southern-hemisphere country to fly back to Britain just before Christmas. Lucky her for being in a warm place. She comes wearing flip-flops. She has obviously forgotten that Britain tends to be a little chilly. Or, more probably, she is stupid and has no idea of forward planning.
I then rugby tackled a woman from the airline. ‘Where do I go to ask about my flight to Heathrow?’
‘I have no idea.’
‘But you work for the airline. You’re wearing a badge.
‘I’m just directing people to the self-service check-in.’
Hmm. As she works for the newspaper, perhaps she can tell me where I can go buy a few tonnes of printing paper? No, I thought not. But she works for the paper!
‘How do I do that?’ I was given a piece of paper by another mute employee; this had a phone number on it. (Anyone without a mobile – old ladies, nuns, the weak, the injured – were culled.)
Hmmm. Old ladies, nuns, the weak and the injured probably HAVE mobile phones. If they don’t then there are things called ‘pay phones’. You go, you pay money and you dial. This reminds me of the time at the Paris Airshow when someone came up and asked where the entrance was (there were a LOT of entrances) because she was meeting a friend. A friend who didn’t have a mobile phone! In this day and age? And I question why you would travel in these days WITHOUT a mobile phone.
Eventually, at 9.35pm on Sunday, I was put on a flight to Birmingham. I did not want to go to Birmingham.
If it had been me who was serving you you would not have been going to Birmingham. You would have been staying in the airport at Schiphol. Excuse me, but if you didn’t want to go to Birmingham, why did you go? No one was forcing you onto the plane, were they? Oh yes, that’s right, it was better than staying in the airport and there was a chance you could get to where you wanted. Now, if you had been on a plane already in the air that changed it’s flight plan then you would have a better reason to write those words.
I don’t really care about the case, but I do mind that I was stripped of my humanity, and tipped into a world where nothing matters but petty rules, and spectacular indifference.
Ummm. Excuse me. You were NOT stripped of your humanity. And if you don’t want to be in that world then don’t travel by air. You were stupid enough to travel from Bolivia to the UK at the end of December wearing only flip-flops. You are stupid and ignorant and deserve everything you get!
Oh, yes, and you write for the Daily Mail. Still, I suppose stupidity and ignorance are a job requirement for that paper so you must feel right at home!
I don’t know that the war can be won here.
One of my colleagues at work, M, talks to me, daily, about the latest ‘revalations’ regarding the ‘Mafia’ here, in Italy (and here I am using Mafia in the general sense, covering all the different groups). Just the other day, he informed me, Paderno Dugnano was a ‘hotbed’ of Italian Mafia (in this case the Ndrangheta, from Calabria) – who had made it their Lombardy headquarters. It would be similar to them making Romford, in Essex, their British base.
And we have talked of the ‘whys’ – when, so it is said, the police secret service know all the leaders and where they live.
I tried to explain that it is a problem that, in my opinion, is too deeply ingrained into all (well, I mean the majority, of course) Italians. I explained to him about S, my other colleague. She always asks people for someone they know when she is buying anything or having work done. And, she always expects a discount. The discount comes with a price, of course. The price is no receipt. The no receipt not only means no tax to the government but also means the money can go into the ‘black’ – i.e. into the black economy.
Of course, she knows that. We all know that. We know that our few Euro going into the black economy is nothing. But the few Euro for thousands of transactions every day (or, even, every hour) adds up to a considerable sum which can then be used to safely hide dirty money or to pay bribes.
But, she doesn’t think about it like that. She thinks of it as her getting a bargain. And a bargain is important, moreso here than in the UK. Everybody does it. Go to a restaurant and pay without asking for a receipt, in cash, and you will get a discount. And they say that restaurants are one of the main ways that money can filter into the black economy. It is said, apparently, so M tells me, that many restaurants in Milan are owned by the Mafia. I can believe it. You may get a 5 or 10 Euro discount by paying cash – that cash (and the subsequent saving in tax by the restaurant) can add up to a lot in one evening.
The problem is that it cannot be solved easily, if at all. With a very few exceptions that I know of, everyone wants that discount here. Buzz Lightyear (Mr B) continues to ‘infinity and beyond’ as he survives another vote of confidence. Despite the recent Wikileaks cables suggesting a link between him and Mr Putin (another place where, I suspect, the Mafia rules) and money changing hands. Well, why not? After all, he is only doing what S does, albeit on a slightly larger scale? S approves of him. She is a supporter. He is, after all a great businessman here. And we would honestly believe that he hasn’t greased a few palms here along the way? That he hasn’t accepted any kickbacks in a ‘you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours’ kind of way? It is, after all, the way that even the ‘little’ people operate here.
Perhaps it also operates like that in the UK and I was just too blind or stupid to see it? Or too naive to know better. I’m not trying to say that Italy is worse than the UK in this respect since I really don’t know. But here it is more obvious ……… and more accepted.
And, therefore, this, with Italians being brought up with this thinking, is too difficult to fight. Too difficult to control. Too difficult to destroy. And this, of course, is one of the reasons that Buzz remains in power since ‘everyone’ is at it, to a greater or lesser degree (I say everyone but I absolutely know of at least one person who insists on receipts for everything and has a good ‘community’ awareness).
And, no, I do not include myself in this list of upstanding people. On Saturday afternoon, a guy is coming to take down my Art Deco lamp in the lounge and take it away to be fixed. I asked my boss for someone that may be able to do this and she suggested him. Any money I pay (and it will be considerably cheaper than getting a proper electrician to come) will not be ‘declared’, of course. And the same in some restaurants. And my dentist. And a load of other people. And me. And I know that I am contributing to this – this malaise that affects Italy. But as I said to M – this is not my fight. I do my thing for the UK – where I really (feel that I) know the ins and outs of the situation. I do it with my posts about the students protests and other things. That I can do. To buck the trend, the way of life, in Italy – given all my other problems with just living here – is too much to ask.
There! Poor excuse it may be but it’s the way it is.
And, here, we’re missing the bigger picture…….
Apparently –
Jacqui Karn, an urban safety and policing expert, thought there had to be a re-examination of police tactics.
She says, on this page that:
“The big question is how you can use police on horseback charging across when there are 14- and 15-year-olds in there,”
That, actually, isn’t the big question.
The big question is: How can you use police on horseback charging into a crowd of people (of any age) when you have corralled them into a space and where they have nowhere they can go because you (the police) are not permitting them to leave that space? Even worse where the majority of those people are demonstrating peacefully?
Is it right or is it the sign of a police state?
Why you’re so, so wrong
Students protesting against the coalition’s decision to up the fees and reduce the grants are all over the online versions of the British papers.
And, now, after the event, is the analysis. Obviously, the government and opposition MPs are condemning the violence that escalated after the vote had been taken; condemning the attack on the Prince of Wales’ car – calling the people ‘thugs’ or worse.
Now, don’t get me wrong in any way. I do not condone violence, in general but and it’s a very big BUT ……..
The LibDems, who undoubtedly had many votes from people under 25, including many students, had promised (and signed pledges) to say they would NOT agree to any increase in the cost of learning. They have, certainly, broken that promise. These are the same people that are only in the place of power they are in through the help of the very students out on the street. They only HAVE their power because of the people. But they lied. And, saying that it’s all ‘different now’ is not an excuse.
The police who, quite frankly, as has been proved again and again, are, in the main, not that far removed from being a government-sponsored gang of thugs. They have links with the ‘underworld’ – because that is the world to which they are most tied. There are great policemen, I am sure – there are also many who, were they not with the police would undoubtedly lead a life of crime.
The actions of the police (and you should watch the videos with a more open mind) during last night’s demonstration was, quite honestly, appalling. Nothing will be done about it. These are the government’s henchmen after all.
Some newspapers have said it is a disgrace to be so disrespectful to Churchill’s statue or the War Memorial or to property.
Well, here’s the thing. It’s only things and not people. When a statue of Churchill is more important than the future of the people of the UK, then that is where the priorities have got all mixed up. When a kid trying to get out of the ‘kettle’ is beaten with a big stick and it is not called as it is – thuggery, mindless violence, vicious attack – then there is something very seriously wrong with the mindset of the people who don’t say this.
You can condemn violence (as I do) but this was not violence for the sake of it. These are people being pushed into an impossible situation where they will pay for our leaders’ and bankers’ mistakes for the rest of their lives. And you want them to do what, exactly? Have a walk for an hour and then go back home?
I can condemn violence and, at the same time, say that is was to be expected and, given the actions of the police, well deserved. If they (the students) don’t do something, I don’t see anyone else doing anything about it.
And here, if nothing else, are some quotations from a person who was there
Violent thugs? I am a 21-year-old literature student
and more from this student:
I am a girl of five foot two, I was pushed several times in the face, dragged on the floor and laughed at by police when I told them I had asthma. This is why people get angry, because people were being trapped and wanted to get out.
All afternoon we were told people were able to leave from various places but this was just not true.
I asked a policeman were I could go to the toilet; he pointed at the floor by his feet.
Another shouted: “Move, bitch, or I’ll squash you with my horse.”
Eventually, when the protests had died down and people were desperate to go home, a group of around 1,000 protesters were finally escorted to Westminster Bridge to exit; however this was a trick. What then happened was we were held on the bridge for hours in the freezing cold. The crowd remained calm, but after hours of freezing people began to chant “let us out” and then the crowd pushed forwards. Being small I was carried by the crowd and ended up by the police line. I was tired and cold and hadn’t eaten for 12 hours or had any water.
I screamed at the police not to hurt me because I was being pushed but they still went for my face, almost pulling me to the floor. A man to my right put his arms over my face, screaming, “Leave her alone, she’s a girl, she’s not harming you,” but the police began to hit him several times on the head.
When we were finally let off the bridge it was one at a time through huge crowds of jeering officers. We were told we were being photographed in case we had damaged royal car. But how this could have happened whilst we were kettled in parliament i don’t know.
What I will say is that by this stage the anarchists had fought their way out, and just lots of women and children were left to freeze.
It makes my blood chill. The police deserve no medals for this atrocious behaviour. In fact they should be horse-whipped. They deserve no sympathy. The standard of policing is below poor and they (the police) should be treated as the criminals they are.
And people ask me why I don’t go back to the UK?
Clear and concise thinking come with a hangover from hell
For those of you who don’t drink alcohol, I guess you’ve never had this. That moment when you wake up, your brain seemingly turned to some sort of half mush and having grown so that it is attempting to expand your skull. The woolliness of thought and motion as you try to grapple with even the simplest of tasks, including rising from the bed in the first place.
Ah yes, the painful joy of knowing that last night was a ‘great night, wasn’t it?’ Maybe the mixing of drinks didn’t help?
And, inevitably, there is the ‘Oh my God! What did I say/do that for?’ An embarrassment that surely, next time, will make you stop just one glass of wine or can of beer earlier. That ‘never again’ feeling.
Except that, on Thursday morning, at around 4 a.m., when I woke up with all these symptoms, the thoughts of guilt and shame did not stem from the night before when I did not say or do anything untoward. No these horrors that I foisted on the rest of my associates/friends/relatives happened around 30 years ago! Worse still, I wasn’t drunk. at least not from alcohol. From youth and lack of knowledge, perhaps.
And, as can only happen during the mother of all hangovers, this was particularly clear and concise thinking that led me to understand what a hopeless bastard I was at that time and that the things I did then (for this particular ‘problem’) were really juvenile to the extreme. And it made me wonder that, if I had approached and reacted to the situation differently, would it have made any difference to my life, to the path that my life has taken?
Probably not. And, even if I should have behaved so very badly, I still stand by the things I said and did – although maybe now I could have said things is a more meaningful way and done things slightly differently. And I also realised that enormous sway that they held over me at that time, for I was young – too young and unable to handle anything with real maturity.
However, the effect on me of these thoughts was the same as if I had acted terribly the night before and woken up with my befuddled brain to be appalled with the antics I had carried out the previous night and filled with shame over whom I may have offended with such outrageous behaviour.
But not quite. For, as it was 30 years ago, I cannot remember it so precisely. And I forgive myself as, in any event, things are as they are. One little incident would not have made such a huge difference either way. But it would be interesting to see the parallel universe and see how things turned out by a change in my behaviour.
Don’t you think?
Are the USA having a laugh?
This is quite unbelievable:
5.30pm: With perfect timing an email arrives from Philip Crowley at the state department:
The United States is pleased to announce that it will host Unesco’s World Press Freedom Day event in 2011, from 1-3 May in Washington, DC.
Ironic? Read the next paragraph from the press release:
The theme for next year’s commemoration will be 21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New Barriers. The United States places technology and innovation at the forefront of its diplomatic and development efforts. New media has empowered citizens around the world to report on their circumstances, express opinions on world events, and exchange information in environments sometimes hostile to such exercises of individuals’ right to freedom of expression. At the same time, we are concerned about the determination of some governments to censor and silence individuals, and to restrict the free flow of information. We mark events such as World Press Freedom Day in the context of our enduring commitment to support and expand press freedom and the free flow of information in this digital age.
I have no words that adequately express how I feel about such a thing. From the Guardian
Roast Fish Pie with all the trimmings
“We could have this?”, he says. This, being a fish pie.
To be honest, I know it doesn’t sound terribly exciting but I’ve never actually made a fish pie in my life. And I’ve been around the block a few times. In fact, I’ve never really cooked fish until I met F. And I find it a bit of a struggle. Born and brought up in the wilds of deepest, darkest Herefordshire, fish wasn’t something that was really ‘local’. When my parents (and I) moved to Gloucestershire, near the river Severn, we sometimes had salmon – provided by the next door neighbour as they were caught up in the water filtration used for the nearby nuclear power station – and, of course, the obligatory (we are British) fish and chips – which I always hated, by the way.
So, fish. Difficult. But with F not eating any meat (except mince, polpette (meat balls) and sausages) it poses a problem for cooking. Lamb chops (my favourite) are a definite no-no. And, here, we were talking about Christmas.
The plan had been to go to Vienna for Christmas. F’s friend had a friend who has offered us their flat for the four of us (us and the two dogs) but with Rufus’ unpredictability with illness (although for the last few days he has been very well), we are thinking not. Not this year anyway.
So, whereas I would choose goose for Christmas, as last year, it is not to be. F’s face, at the mention of it, screws up in disgust with an ‘oh, no!’. To be honest, I’m not sure why. He is a bit fussy as far as food is concerned which is a little galling but not enough to make me not love him – after all, we go out quite a lot and then I can have meat. And I eat meat at work every day. So all is not bad.
However, I thought it would be nice to propose having fish for Christmas lunch. I know that, to those of you in the UK, it will sound very strange but here, fish for Christmas lunch is normal. I know, I know, it doesn’t seem Christmassey to me either but it’s a compromise and I’m happy to make it.
To stat with he suggested that I should do meat and he would just have vegetables. But I really can’t be doing with that – I would feel mean eating meat and him just having veg.
He had suggested lasagna (we can buy it Christmas morning if we pre-order it) and it would be lovely. After some discussion, about what we would have, as we were eating the above mentioned fish pie, he suggested that I do this very dish. And he would do a fish lasagna!
Again, perhaps it’s just me but fish lasagna just doesn’t sound quite right. And, anyway, I was quite looking forward to having a nice meaty lasagna. As I explained to him, eating a course of meat and then a course of fish is really no problem for me. And I am doubly surprised by Italians not going for it – they do have vitello tonnato after all (thin slices of veal covered with a thick tuna based sauce – which, incidentally, I hate – having a fish course followed by meat (or vice versa) is one thing but to mix fish and meat together makes me feel sick.)
Ah well. It’s one of the prices I pay. And it’s not really a great price to pay. It’s not like we shall starve or anything.
On the plus side, he really liked my fish pie (as you may have gathered) so now that’s two fish recipes I can do and that he likes (or, at least, says he does). And I know that he knows that I am making a real effort to make him happy – which I do not because I want him to know but because I’m glad to make him happy in the same way that we have gone to all-meat restaurants because he knows I love meat. It’s just the normal give and take. As you do. Or, rather, as you should do.
“countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century”.
“countries that restrict free access to information or violate the basic rights of internet users risk walling themselves off from the progress of the next century”.
Of course, this is a quote made before Wikileaks posted cables from US embassies around the world. However, the USA government, it would seem, are putting pressure on all the organisations that ‘permit’, by use of their services, Wikileaks ‘to be seen’ by Internet users and, so I have read, US government agencies are restricting their employees from accessing the Wikileaks documents.
So, is it wrong to act as they are or not? Should the government be permitted to act as effective censors?
Well, according to quote, it would seem it is not a good idea.
And, of course, the quote came from Hilary Clinton, a slightly well-known American government official. Hmmmm. A touch of ‘do as I say and not as I do’ methinks.
Video Art – here IS the passion I have been talking about.
Art. It’s all down to what you like. Just because someone says it is good doesn’t mean you like it (even if you can admire it for it’s skill, of course).
Modern art – even more so. Picasso doesn’t really do much for me, I’m afraid. Damien Hirst and his polka dot phase also left me very cold, although I did like the half a cow thing.
However, my favourite modern art stuff is video art. I don’t know why but I can get quite excited about it all and watch it for, well, if not quite hours, certainly a long time. Video art to me is NOT a film. It’s something else. It can be almost mundane but, somehow, to me, intriguing, interesting, fun, etc.
If anyone is going to London, I always tell them that a ‘must see’ in my opinion is the Tate Museum of Modern Art – for me, possibly, the most wonderful place on this planet as far as museums and art galleries go. There I have seen the film of a woman eating a sausage, rotting fruit, a boxer and others (I know it doesn’t sound like great stuff but, really, it is).
And now there is an exhibition at the Serpentine Gallery where Phillipe Parreno is showing some of his films (and other stuff). But there is one film that really excites me. And that is from seeing two stills! It is InvisibleBoy – a film of a Chinese immigrant boy with monsters and the like ‘scratched’ onto the film.
I know it isn’t everyone’s cup of tea – but video art does something for me that most other media don’t quite achieve – and, if I lived in London or nearby, this one I could not miss. Below is the still. You probably won’t find it exciting at all but for me it almost took my breath away. If you go to the site link (above) you will see another still. Really, this is something incredible.
