May
20

Three things

2005 | Filed Under Me | 1 Comment

OK, here goes:

Three names you go by:

Alex
Papa
Dee

Three screennames you’ve used:

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May
20

A translation

2005 | Filed Under Italy, Language, Me, Work | Leave a Comment

First let me say that I find translating quite difficult and it is rarely as straightforward as one may think. To do the job well, you need to have an in depth knowledge of the subject of the text which needs to be translated. Now, I am quite good at ‘on-the-spot’ translations, that is readinf something in English and roughly translating it into Italian. I can usually do this well enough to give my listener, or listeners enough information for them to understand the sense of the subject matter.

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May
17

An inventive punishment

2005 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

This is one for all those fathers out there who a having problems with teenage offspring. When your son or daughter gets all teenage stroppy, as happens from time to time, how about banning them from going to school? Original. However if my father had said ‘Son. You are not going to school today as a punishment for nearly destroying the sofa with your gunpowder experiments (Er, don’t ask…).’ I would have outwardly looked good and peeved, possibly, but inside I would have been jumping for joy.

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May
16

Star wars…in the park

2005 | Filed Under Milan - My Zone | Leave a Comment

Yesterday, as you may remember, was still the weekend. For baby, other half and myself this often means a trip down to the park. The park in question is Parco Sempione and it is located right slap bang behind Milan’s castle. As parks go its not too bad, a little on the small side and, now, rather well kept.

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May
12

Fluff is in the air

2005 | Filed Under Italy, Milan | Leave a Comment

It's that time of year again. This always seems to happen in around May here in Milan. The air is filled with small white pieces of fluff. There are billions of the things and they even have their own little get togethers. While I was down in the courtyard having a quick puff, I noticed a snow ball sized collection of fluff. It was whizzing around in the slight breeze and many others were drifting down and joining this odd melee. One could almost be fooled into thinking that it was snowing and quite often you will see sheltered corners covered in a fluffy white carpet about two or so inches deep.

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May
11

The Chinese Dragon

2005 | Filed Under Milan - My Zone | Leave a Comment

The news here in the living museum has been carrying a lot of items about the flood of imports from China recently. And finally the dear old politicians have been getting a little worried - better late than never.

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May
10

Giro d’Italia - The Italian Tour de France, almost

2005 | Filed Under Events | Leave a Comment

You may well have heard of the Tour de France, the world famous cycle race around that country. Well, Italy has its own cycle race, which goes by the name that is the title of this entry. The Italian race is very similar to its French equivalent, in that a hoard of cyclists fly up hill and down dale at impressively high speeds for something that is man-powered. I used to do quite a bit of cycling so I can fully appreciate just how fit these guys are. The mountain sections are particularly impressive as the level of stamina required is phenomenal.

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May
10

Vatican radio fries your brain!

2005 | Filed Under Italy | Leave a Comment

It’s official. The Vatican’s radio station has been producing higher than permitted levels of electromagnetic energy. This has caused problems for the residents of a small Italian town near the Vatican’s transmitters. People have been getting Vatican radio on their entry phones!! But, on a more serious note, residents have also been suffering from a higher than usual incidence of tumours. The cardinal in charge of running the radio station has actually been sent to prison for ten days - almost, the sentence is one of these suspended things.

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May
9

Cards for all occasions. Not.

2005 | Filed Under England, Italy | Leave a Comment

Back in the UK it is possible to buy a card for just about any conceivable situation; from 'Get well soon' to 'Happy Birthday to your budgie' or so it would seem. Funny cards, rude cards, classic cards - you name it and there is most probably a card that will catch your fancy and delight its recipient. Cards are big business in the UK and, I think this is still true, there are even shops which sell not much more than a range of cards. Of course if you cannot find that card for that occasion then you can buy a blank one and adapt it. You can get boxes of Christmas cards so you don't have to extend your overdraft even more to provide your workmates with a nice little card at Xmas. Greeting cards are everywhere and they are easy to find, only the sheer choice can throw you into bouts of indecision.

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May
9

Second birthday and ‘chicken fight’

2005 | Filed Under Italy, Language, Me, My son | Leave a Comment

Today my son becomes two. We had a little celebration for him yesterday with a cake and all that, but he is still unaware of exactly what a birthday is; he is only two after all. We got him a play set, as they are called, and this is in the form of a tree house and came with a jeep and African wild animals - which he already, partially in English and partially in Italian - knows the names of. You can ask him to get you a particular animal and he will select the right one. The tree-house has, alas, been christened ‘garage’ after one of his favourite toys and the animals are often mixing it with a number of little cars.

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May
5

Sunny day

2005 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

Despite the stormy turn the weather took last night, this morning is wonderfully sunny - as I expected it would be. It is even warm in the sun, although in the shadows it is a mite cool - but you can still get away with a tee-shirt. Any unacclimatised Englishman would fine it hot even at this time of day and would be donning a pair of shorts, I’ve no doubt.

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May
4

Storms

2005 | Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

The April storms have arrived a little late this year. Last night a heavy downpour was preceded by a spectacular lightening show. This evening the shy has been lighting up quite often as more lightening bolts do their thing.

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