Pervez Kambakhsh - Safe
Pervez Kambakhsh, 23, from Afghanistan had been sentenced to death. His crime? He had downloaded an article from a blog that questioned the Koran’s attitude towards women.
Luckily, if you click on his name, you will see from the article on the BBC website, that it is looking as though the death sentence will be quashed.
This, for me, is the best news I’ve heard today.
Knock, knock!
Who was there? A nice man who explained that he was from some gas safety company or other. He even had a nice little badge. Then he told me that he was here to carry out a ‘gas safety check’ and asked me if we had any other gas fired appliances. I replied that we did not. Then he whipped out a little gas alarm thingy from his briefcase, no box or anything, and was about to ‘install’ it. An operation which basically consisted of plugging the thing into the wall. He even demonstrated it for me. Very kind.
Recognising a district sales patter, I enquired whether I would have to pay for this all this gas alarm goodness. ‘Yes’, he replied breezily. I asked the price. ‘170 Euros’, came the reply, and credit cards, cash and, probably the odd kidney or two, were acceptable forms of payment. Maintenance was included as well, but he did not say if more cash would have to be handed over for some plan or other. Bit steep the price, I thought, and then I effectively said, ‘No thank you.’, but he would not leave until I had called my other half and asked her if she had seen any of the two notices he had supposedly left. She had not.
That was it. Bye, bye Mr Scam man. He looked a bit peeved, but left rather hastily.
This guy had been plying his wares throughout the condo, but I don’t know whether he had managed to hook anyone, although he implied that he had. After this nice man had moved on, I kept a weather eye out for him and noticed that he had rung one of our neighbours’ door bells. She had not answered, but a little later I noticed through our spy hole that her door was open, so I went to have a go at preventing the little man from conning her. Luckily he was not there. Anyway, I explained what had happened to her and she thanked me for the warning.
A very clever form of high pressure salesmanship, or should that be ‘con’, and it would have been rather difficult to have proved that you had been hoodwinked into buying something that you can buy on the open market for around 50 Euros! I know, I checked.
If you live in Milan, watch out for this ‘approach’, and do not get caught out - single women and older people, beware. Although dressed casually, this guy had quite an official air about him, was over 6 feet tall, around 30, thin and had a pony tail. The sales talk was quite polished, as if he had done some course or other.
Interesting experience, and he almost caught me out. Almost.
Touch Rugby Italy
Just to confirm that Shane Wilson, the Australian who is the Scottish National Touch Rugby team coach, is now over here. There will be a touch rugby training session tomorrow, the 11th October at 9.05pm in Via Govone, 35, Milan. Afterwards, I guess, everyone will be off down to the 4-4-2 pub! I shall be at the pub around 10ish.
The day I met the president.
Yes, it’s true, I met the president the other day, while I was watching rugby at the 4-4-2 pub here in Milan.
However, as you may have guessed, the president I met was not the famous guy who runs the States from a big white house. Instead this president, one Massimiliano Natale, heads the Italian Touchrugby association, and is involved in the association’s informative website ‘Mai dire Meta’ - ‘Never say Try’ in English.
Since this sounded interesting, we started chatting and he told me how he and a group of friends got together in 2005 to promote touch rugby as a new sport in Italy. As a result, they created a website and registered the Italian Touchrugby association as a charity. Now they are working on the promotion of the sport in Italy. However, promoting this game will not be all that easy in football mad Italy, but, having said that, there are some indications that football is losing some of its popularity here. Interestingly, Massimiliano is himself an ex-football fan, which is one indication that something is changing. Another sign of change is the participation of the Italian rugby team in international rugby championships, which has proved very popular with Italian TV audiences, thanks in great part to the matches being shown on the Italian La 7 TV channel.
Perhaps it would be true to say that the Italian team’s struggle to the top has created a resurgence of interest in Rugby which is something of a minority sport here in Italy. Possibly this resurgence is due to stories of violence at football matches, over-paid players, and various scandals have caused people to find an alternative to the ‘beautiful’ game. In other words, a sport which is still a sport, and not a thinly disguised international business.
Enter touch rugby or ‘touch’ as it is known down in Australia, where it is also referred to as touch football, apparently.
But why play touch rugby instead of the traditional form of the game? Well, while rugby is a great game, it is perhaps a wee bit violent for the average person who is not built like a small armoured vehicle, and this aspect of the game most probably puts many people off from trying out the sport. Touch rugby, though, is an essentially non-violent form of rugby. There is no tackling, scrumming, rucking, mauling, lineouts and kicking. It’s also a sport which both men and women can play on equal terms, and Massimiliano told me that a number of women do play the game in and around Milan. I like the idea that both men and women can play a sport together, and touch is one of those few sports in which mixed-sex teams are possible.
Have a go
If you would like to have a go at touch, then at the moment Touchrugby organises touch matches in local parks, especially Parco Nord which is on the northern side of Milan and the park in Cernusco sul Naviglio. Both Parco Nord and Cernusco are easily reached by public transport. You can find details of forthcoming events and games in Mai Dire Meta’s forum, although the information is currently only in Italian. I shall try to encourage Massimiliano to set up an RSS feed on his site so that subscribers can find out when and where meetings will take place.
Other teams
There are also some other teams springing up, as you can see from the list on the Mai Dire Meta site. The news on the front page indicates that there are also two teams down in Rome.
English is spoken
Do not worry if you do not speak Italian, Massimiliano speaks good English and I understand from him that a number of non-Italians are members of the club, including a few Welsh people who live and work over here.
So if you are feeling a little overweight and need a little exercise, or simply fancy meeting some new people and want to have a little fun, get in touch with Touchrugby Italy through the Mai Dire Meta site, or register in the Mai Dire Meta form, ask a few questions (in English!) and find out some more. The non-obligatory Touchrugby membership fee is a whole 10 Euros. For this fee you get insurance cover and the right to play in international tournaments. However, playing a game of touch in the local parks will not cost anything and never will. Players between the ages of 25 to 60 are more than welcome. Mai Dire Meta is also looking for volunteers to help set up touch teams in other areas around Italy, so contact them if you think you may be able to help out.
You may also be interested to hear that on the 11th October, Shane Wilson, an Australian who is the Scottish National Touch rugby team coach, will be over here in Milan. In honour of this occasion, Touchrugby has found somewhere to hold a match in the central Fiera area of Milan. A party is also planned and will most probably take place at the good old 4-4-2 on the same day. See the Mai Dire Meta site and forums for details.
To see some more photos of the players in action and find out more (in Italian), follow these links:
If you would like to see some videos of the teams in action check out this on YouTube .
There are certainly some parallels between touch and the full blown contact sport, indeed, after a game of either version, you will find all the players down at the pub downing more than a few beers!
Photos by Nicola Stornati
News From Ansa- Buy stocks, Berlusconi says October 10, 2008International markets end week on the slide
- SuperEnalotto pot hits 80 million October 10, 2008Heaving betting a windfall for the state's coffers
- Ancient Roman stadium opened October 10, 2008Olympic-style games were held at emperor's arena near Naples
- Ethical changes needed, Napolitano October 10, 2008Credit crunch demands new rules for financial world
- Dante-mad thief nabbed October 10, 2008Robber 'turned on' to Divine Comedy by Benigni
- Arts guide: exhibits in Italy October 10, 2008Neo-Impressionists in Milan, Picasso in Rome
- Buy stocks, Berlusconi says October 10, 2008
- Beppe Grillo
-
The 442
-
Subscribe
-
-
