Apr
30

La legge e uguale per tutti

2005 | Filed Under Italy | Leave a Comment

The title of this entry can be translated as 'we are all equal in the eyes of the law' and it is the motto you will see in displayed in every Italian law court. The problem is that this is just not true.

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Apr
27

The bar

2005 | Filed Under Life in Italy | Leave a Comment

Italian bars come in many shapes and sizes, but they can be divided into two quite distinct categories - those that open in the morning and close at about the same time as the shops do - that is around 7.30 and the bars which are more akin to the English pub - except that they open in the early evening and finally close at around 2 in the morning. There are some places which open at eight in the morning and keep on going until 2 in the morning, but they are not that common.

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Apr
26

Paying for past vices

2005 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

I used to love playing my music at rather loud levels - much to the disgust of my neighbours. My stereo back in the UK was seriously powerful - so powerful that when the neighbours started hammering on the front door, I used to think it was just part of the music. Well, I was young, free and, let’s face it, pretty inconsiderate.

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Apr
26

If you go down to the woods today…..

2005 | Filed Under Technology and Gadgets | Leave a Comment

….you may meet one of these. I don't know if it's for real, but I do know that John Deere, the company behind the insect, do make very sensible tractors and stuff like that. Although seeing the contraption they have created seems to beg the question: Have their engineers and designers been munching a few magic mushrooms down in the depths of the woods? Programmers get involved in Open Source stuff, tractor designers, instead, go about dreaming up and building super weird beasties in their spare time.

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Apr
25

Parking your car - Italian style and other little problems for motorists

2005 | Filed Under Life in Italy | Leave a Comment

While hanging about waiting for the bus to arrive this morning; I was on the way to the hospital where our little one is staying; I happened to notice this rather crookedly parked car, which also sported a nice dent on one of its wings.

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Apr
24

Three interesting facts about Italian TV

2005 | Filed Under Italian TV | 13 Comments

Fact 1. The main broadcasters RAI and Mediaset recently got fined for showing too many commercials.
Fact 2. Fewer people are watching it. (This fact is related to fact 1., most probably.)
Fact 3. It’s 90% crap. ( OK, so it’s not an ‘interesting’ fact, but it’s true - look at the above two facts.)

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Apr
24

The Italian job

2005 | Filed Under Italy | Leave a Comment

Nope, I'm not going to rattle on about the well known films. This entry is going to be about Italians and their aspirations with regard to the world of work and what the wonderful world of work can offer them.

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Apr
21

Who are you?

2005 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

I know this is a bit ‘big brotherish’ of me, but I noticed from my Statcounter logs that someone has been reading my blog rather a lot. This someone appears to come from Raleigh in the US of A, and it just so happens that I know of someone, from the UK, who moved out to this part of the States quite a few moons ago. Although, I’ve no idea if this person is still there. If you, dear reader, happen to be this person and you remember an Alex who used to live in Yorkshire, then drop me a line. If you are or are not this person and you don’t wish to say anything, then that’s fine too, but I thought I would go and mention something on the off chance. Otherwise, thanks for reading, I hope I manage to keep you coming back for more.

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Apr
21

The new king of the Catholics

2005 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

At the risk of being excommunicated or some such thing, I have noted that the knew addition to the Vatican throne does not share the benign expression of his predecessor. In fact, I think he would look rather good in the part of Dracula. It’s those dark areas under his eyes which don’t do him any favours in this respect. He looks a little like the kind of guy you may have found if you were on the receiving end of the Spanish inquisition. I know it’s bad to go judging books by their covers and all that, but you do, don’t you?

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Apr
21

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder

2005 | Filed Under Italian TV | Leave a Comment

If you happen to be a Martian or other alien being and you happen to want to check out earth babes, and coincidently you tune into Italian TV, you could be forgiven for coming away with the distinct impression that Italian women are just about all stunningly beautiful.

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Apr
20

The after effects of the smoking ban

2005 | Filed Under Italy, Milan, People | 2 Comments

As some of you may know, Italy introduced a new law which effectively bans people from smoking in bars and restaurants. I say effectively because it is possible to circumvent the effects of the ban by equipping bars and restaurants with well ventilated smokers zones, but this is just not practicable for the vast majority of bars and restaurants here in the living museum. Why? Simple, because most of these places have only one main room which means that an outright ban is the only real solution. Even for those establishments which can boast more than one room, the cost of installing all the ventilation gear necessary would be prohibitive and not really a justifiable expense seeing as the number of smokers is beginning to dwindle.

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Apr
20

New Pope and other more pressing issues

2005 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Yep, as you may well know by now there is now a new German Pope. The election of this new guy must have brought most businesses, and public offices in Rome to a complete and utter standstill as thousands of Romans and other associated cohorts descended on St Peters to catch a glimpse of the new guy. People obviously had nothing else to do, or rather this seemed like one hell of an excuse to escape from the day to day drudgery which many call work.

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