Do You Dream In Colour?

Run Baby Run

2009-03-11T15:23:00.001+01:00

[Listening to: Roy Orbison - John Peel Peelenium - Running Scared]

Apparently London is to get a countdown clock on road crossings to impress on late crossers:

Pedestrians to be given road crossing countdown under Boris Johnson plans

I remember in Spain that I was impressed that the road crossings had a countdown, very handy. In Cambodia the little green man broke into a trot with 10" to go, then began to sprint when the clock had 5" left. Very motivating, especially when the traffic is as mad as it was in Phnom Penh.

There is a big difference between the behaviour of pedestrians in Rome and Milan. In Milan, everyone waits patiently on the pavement, and crosses when the lights go green. In Rome, almost everyone stand in the road, reducing the width of the road for the cars, and obviously putting themselves at risk, but what the heck. The strange part is that when the lights change, they almost all walk at a funereal pace. It begs the question, why on earth not stop just 1-metre back and let the cars pass, as you're obviously not in a rush?

Good move Boris. Do you fancy becoming Mayor of Rome?

2008 in Cities

2009-02-12T14:32:00.002+01:00

[Listening to: Always Where I Need To Be - The Kooks - Konk [CD1] ]

In the spirit of writing more often (or in fact writing anything at all) and following an annual meme, here's my list of cities visited in 2008:

Las Vegas, United States
Nice, France
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Paris, France
Milan, Italy
Rome, Italy
Amsterdam, Holland

One or more nights spent in each place.

Roma, bella Roma

2008-12-15T14:28:00.002+01:00

is in Rome :-)

Countdown

2008-12-12T09:09:00.002+01:00

One day and a wake up....

2008-01-20T21:26:00.000+01:00

Seville

[Listening to: Local Boy In The Photograph - Stereophonics - Q Hello! The Best New Music of 1997 (3:22)]

Yesterday one of my photos on Flickr was selected to be included in an online guide:

I am delighted to let you know that your submitted photo has been selected for inclusion in the newly released fourth edition of our Schmap Seville Guide:

Plaza de España
Schmap.com

So, have a look. If you click on the image it'll take you through to the original on Flickr.

2008-01-20T21:00:00.000+01:00

Who Says I Can't Buy Myself A Present?

[Listening to: Cycling Trivialities - José González - In Our Nature (8:09)]

Yesterday I bought myself a present, a cycle trainer. After looking around, I plumped for the Satori Pro Tour, mostly because it looks fairly robust and packs away, and if I want to use it indoors space is always an issue. In the 11 months I've been in Milan I've yet to go Spinning, so this will have to do instead. James has one, although a different type, and swears by it. So, I'll give you an update on what it's like later this week, as it should arrive in a few days. I can hardly wait!

2008-01-07T23:09:00.000+01:00

Homesick

[Listening to: Ballad Of A Drifter (Let's Go Home) - Les Hormones - Don't Let Them Get You Down (4:50)]

I was in Rome today for work, (where it was a pleasant 13 degrees compared to Milan's 4, and no fog to hide everything) and despite the fact I was in an office all day I actually felt homesick. The moment I stepped off the plane it felt, just right, like I should be there, and not here in Milan. It reminded me of the feeling I always had when I came back from trips away, and I'd look down at the landscape as we flew in, and then feel the kiss of warm air when I stepped of the plane, and despite everything I always say about the place ( and I know I can go on about it sometimes), but somehow it always felt good to come back.

Perhaps I should listen to these voices sometimes....

2008-01-06T20:36:00.000+01:00

I say old chap - that's just not on!

[Listening to: Teardrop - José González - In Our Nature (3:33)]

I drafted this ages ago, but never got around to posting it: Tea room bans dunking in etiquette drive. A seaside tea room is throwing out customers if they commit that most cardinal of sins - dunking their biscuits. It reminds me of my friend James, who's a dunker. People fall into one camp or the other, no doubt about it. Personally I'm into a nice crisp biscuit, not some soggy mess and some flotsam floating around in my tea, but whatever takes your biscuit (please excuse the most deliberate pun).

2008-01-06T16:05:00.000+01:00

2007 in Cities

[Listening to: I Walk The Line - Joaquin Phoenix & Reese Witherspoon - Walk The Line (3:23)]

In the spirit of writing more often, and following an annual meme (from Kottke), here's my list of cities visited in 2007:
Las Vegas, United States
Nice, France
Paris, France
Milan, Italy
Amsterdam, Holland

One or more nights spent in each place.

2008-01-05T19:13:00.000+01:00

Hello 2008

[Listening to: Where To Begin - My Morning Jacket - Elizabethtown (3:58)]

It's been a while...

I'm writing this via the new portable version of w.bloggar, with the iTunes plug in of course. Hopefully now I'll be able to post just a little more often than I have in the past 12 months. Unfortunately I changed jobs, and with a new company laptop and no personal PC I was loathe to install my favourite blogging client on a work PC. Now with this portable version installed on my U3 USB key I can write whenever and wherever I want...

More later (this time I promise).

2007-10-11T23:07:00.000+02:00

Right Brain v Left Brain

I picked up this link from Kottke , and try as I might, I can't see her turning any other way than clockwise. Try it for yourself here. Apparently according to the article most people will see her turning anti-clockwise.

This will hopefully keep you amused whilst I'm on holiday in Pembrokeshire next week.

2007-09-22T13:48:00.000+02:00

You know it makes sense...

Todays Guardian reports that the precedent set by the town of Modbury is spreading to other towns across the British Isles:From Scotland to the Channel Islands the cry goes up: 'Banish the plastic bag' .....when will it start here in Italy I wonder? I've been carrying a bag to the supermarket for years, and whenever I take it out everyone looks at me like I'm mad. Even the Body Shop here uses plastic bags as though it was an offence to leave the shop without your newly purchased goos inside one.

2007-06-06T22:01:00.001+02:00

What A Hoot

Quote of the game:

"We've just heard that Finland's game with Belgium was held up for six minutes when an owl sat on the crossbar at one end and then flew and sat on the crossbar at the other end. Nothing to do with Estonia against England, just thought you'd be interested. What a hoot that must have been."

2007-05-04T22:45:00.000+02:00

Let The Train Take The Strain

[Listening to: Freight Train Boogie - Chet Atkins & Doc Watson 03:03)]

What better way to travel..Train journeys have always been a favourite of mine (apart form a few years spent commuting into London). I used Amtrak to cross the United States 4 times in only a few months when I first visited the States in '90, and marvelled at the sites from the viewing car as dawn broke over the desert in Arizona; the width of the Mississippi as we swung through iron girder bridges high above the muddy water; and the endless plains of the mid west before we started winding our way slowly through the Rockies, passing freight trains with as many as 4 locomotives to provide enough horsepower to pull their length up the inclines, and to slow them down on the other side.

Now years later I find myself every other week catching the train on a Friday to spend the weekend in Rome, along with many Italians who work in Milan but live in Rome, or who have families who live in Rome. Rome may be the capital, but Milan is the ecomnomic centre, and many Italians (and not a few Europeans) have migrated their for work. In many cases, judging by how busy the train is every Friday and Sunday, a lot of their families still remain down south. Every car has men in suits, but times have changed, and now one in two is using the time to work, and the others are reading or watchings DVD's on their laptops.

The carriages have changed as well. On Trenitalia the seats recline, the tables have power sockets and flip up to leave you enough space to get out. Passengers are asked to not use their mobiles in order to not disturb their neighbours, and the overhead luggage rack is big enough to take a flight bag. A far cry from the old British Rail carriages I remember catching to London. So now, instead of keeping my eye out for the Thames, the sign that my commute was ending as pulled into Maidenhead, crossing that great brick span of the bridge built by Isombard Kingdom Brunel to carry his Great Western Railway across the Thames, I'm trying sto stay awake as we take 4 1/2 hours to go from Milan to Rome. The French may have achieved 574 Kmh on their trains (okay, not for the general public yet), but they don't have quite the same terrain as the Italians.

In fact, Trenitalia is very un-Italian, and doesn't suffer from any the complaints I'd levy against most of the other forms of transport in Italy. Alitalia just doesn't cut it against any other European operator, and their ratio of groundstaff to passenger is going to make it a hard job for any prospective buyer to turn them around. The only airline I'd rate as worse is US Air, (and that's based upon just 1 return journey on US Air, that's how bad they were). Driving in any Italian city is a nightmare, mostly due to an obsession with talking on their mobiles whilst driving, unrestricted parallel parking meaning cars are parked 2 or 3 abreast, and the highest ratio of cars per capita in Europe (64% in Rome for example). The buses are bad - but only because of the cars. The buses are frequent, clean, environmentally friendly and cost next to nothing. Well, that's if you pay. I rarely see people validating their tickets, so unless they all have season tickets someone is losing out...

And now, as we pass silently through the night, I'm going to close. It's time for a nap........

2007-04-25T13:49:00.001+02:00

Where Have You Been?

[Listening to: All These Things That I've Done - The Killers - Hot Fuss (05:03)]

Since January 19th I've been a bit quite. I've moved cities and started a new job, but half my life is still in Rome. New job. new people, new faces, new technology, new city, and working in Italian for the first time. I spent last week in Las Vegas at NAB, in fact in the last 3 weeks I've been in Milan, Paris, Las Vegas and Rome. All in all I'm shattered, but glad to be busy.

And as soon as I get an internet connection in Milan, I'll write some more....

2007-02-19T22:26:00.000+01:00

Pink Parking

[Listening to: Breaking The Habit - Linkin Park - (03:04)]

The latest parking novelty has just come into effect in Rome. The city has allocated 85 pay-parking spaces in 33 areas around the city for women who are pregnant, and to people with babies under a year old in the car. The parking spaces are painted pink and clearly marked with a car and a stork carrying a baby. However there will be no fines for other people parking in those spaces, as long as the parking ticket is paid. The authorities are relying on a civic sense of responsibility among Rome's drivers to leave the spaces empty.

Yeah, right. I can just see that working here...

2007-01-19T22:20:00.000+01:00

End of an Era

[Listening to: Career Opportunities - The Clash - The Clash [US] (01:52)]

I resigned from my job today. Hooray.

2007-01-08T20:54:00.000+01:00

2006 in Cities

[Listening to: Happy to Hang Around - Travis - 12 Memories (03:34)]

When in doubt, follow a meme. From Kottke, here's 2006 in Cities:
Dubai City, Dubai
Dublin, Ireland
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Paris, France
Seville, Spain
Cordoba, Spain
Granada, Spain
L'Aquila, Italy

One or more nights spent in each place.

2006-12-22T12:24:00.000+01:00

I Should Be Packing

[Listening to: Life's What You Make It - Talk Talk - The Very Best Of Talk Talk [UK] (04:28)]

Here I am, only a few hours before I have to leave for the airport, and I haven't even begun to pack, and I'm sitting writing to you! I'm off to Paris for Christmas and New Year. I'm looking forward to good company, escargot, nice wine, a warm feeling inside but cold whenever we go out, seeing O's family, seeing F and his new wife S, and saying goodbye to them for a while as they will return to Australia in January, maybe snow(?)...I'm looking forward to a family christmas.

And I'm looking forward to 2007.

2006-11-17T16:33:00.000+01:00

Il Castello di Rocca Calascio

[Listening to: Nice to Be Out - Stereophonics - Just Enough Education to Perform (03:08)]

Last weekend we escaped from Rome to visits Abruzzo. Whilst in L'Aquila we bought a book on castles in Abruzzo, which led us here:

Haing walked (some) of the way up, and because it was late, we ate at il Rifugio della Rocca. I'm glad we did, the food was great. I'm not normally a gnocchi fan, but the Gnocchi di patate al ragù bianco d'anatra (Gnocchi with duck sauce) was really nice, and the combination of the exercise, fresh air good food and great views put us both in a good mood.

We enjoyed ourselves so much we're going back this coming weekend.

2006-10-02T22:07:00.000+02:00

Landscape

[Listening to: Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels) - The Arcade Fire - Funeral (04:48)]

Wanted in Rome reports that new measures are being proposed to restrict alcohol sales in Italy. Probably won't make much difference to the guy we watched whilst eating at Il Ristorante Re Burlone yesterday (very nice if you're in the area), who drank a bottle and a half of white wine on his own. Hopefully for the sake of his daughter his wife was driving...

One of the places I've been spending time in recently....

2006-09-11T14:07:00.000+02:00

Cyclists wearing helmets 'more likely to be hit'

[Listening to: Falling Down - Turin Brakes - Ether Song (03:31)]

Crikey, according to the Telegraph Cyclists wearing helmets 'more likely to be hit' ...now that never occured to me....

PS sorry about the prolonged absence. I've been enjoying myself....

2006-05-14T18:51:00.000+02:00

Springtime on Sark

[Listening to: Island in the Sun - Weezer - Weezer (Green Album) (03:20)]

What a contrast, Paris one week, Sark the next...

I've just got back from a week spent visiting Alderney and Sark (with a day trip to Herm thrown in at the end). The experience from Alderney to Sark was quite a contrast - the 2 days we stayed on Alderney were spent walking around the coastline, clambering on and over every bunker and fort we saw; it's covered with relics from the German occupation in WWII. Sark is a world apart, no cars, just bicycles and horses (okay, there is the odd tractor). With no intensive farming and no pollution, its a garden of wild flowers, and it's wonderful.

I didn't see any Puffins (I've always wanted to see one - apparently they are much smaller than I imagined), but we had a god time walking the paths and climbing down the beaches. The island has steep cliffs, so it's good exercise going up and down to each beach and landing, but that's half the fun.

Anyway, although I've been back a week this is the first chance I've had to post anything. I'll try to pen a few more words this week and post some more pictures (I took literally hundreds - oh the joys of digital photography)...

2006-04-29T16:47:00.000+02:00

Springtime in Paris

[Listening to: Just Looking - Stereophonics - Live From Dakota (05:19)]

Having visited only 6 cities in 2005, I've started this year at a faster pace. So far, I've been to Dubai, Dublin, and last week, thanks to a wonderful girlfriend, Paris! I've never been before, but I hope this is the start of great many visits. Although we took in a great many sites, I didn't take anywhere near as many pictures as I should have, but that's another reason to go back. That, and the fact that I'm madly in love with a girl from Paris, of course.

Guy de Maupassant hated the Eiffel Tower so much he claimed at one point to have lunched in the restaraunt every day, as that was then only place he couldn't see it. Personally I loved it. I loved the over-engineering, the folly of it, and the views are spectacular and well worth the climb (the queue for the lift was 2 hours, so we took the stairs, a much better option) .

And now I'm off to pack for a trip to Alderney, Sark and Guernsey in the Channel Islands.....

2006-03-25T18:31:00.000+01:00

House Guests

[Listening to: A Caution to the Birds - The Frames - Burn the Maps (05:46)]

I've some uninvited guests at the moment - on my balcony. When the arrived there were 2, now it appears there are 4 of them:

I'll confess I'm a bit surprised that the chicks are yellow. They don't look anything like their parents....

2006-03-02T20:09:00.000+01:00

I Told You I Was Sick

[Listening to: Part Time Punks - Television Personalities - Rough Trade Shops: 25 Years Disc 1 (02:40)]

Quote of the day:

No one, on his death bed, ever said, "I wish I'd watched more television."

Hear hear. From Chase me, ladies, I'm in the cavalry.

2006-01-26T23:16:00.000+01:00

Little People

[Listening to: Little Tiny Song - Barenaked Ladies - Maybe You Should Drive (01:03)]

Metropolismag ran a great piece recently on the unreal looking photos of Olivo Barbieri. I'd wanted to post about him last year after I bought his book "Site Specific Roma 04". Without a doubt the best images of Rome I've ever seen, but until now I never understood how he took them.......see this example at artnet to see what I mean. It made me look at Rome in a different way (via kottke)

2006-01-14T13:50:00.000+01:00

2005 in Cities

[Listening to: In The City - The Jam - Beat Surrender [UK] (02:20)]

When in doubt, follow a meme. From Feeling Listless, here's 2005 in Cities:
   Carlisle, England
   Hanoi, Vietnam
   London, England
   Newcastle, England
   Rome, Italy
   Turin, Italy
One or more nights spent in each place.

I need to get out more...

2006-01-08T17:53:00.000+01:00

Recipes: Chicken & Chorizo Salad

[Listening to: Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own - U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb (05:09)]

For P, because I promised to ages ago:

Ingredients
100g Chorizo sausage, cut into slices.
Courgettes, cut into slices.
500g checken breasts, cut into long strips.
250g mixed red and green lettuce leaves.
100g Rocket or watercress.
75g Black olives, stoned.
Coriander of Parsley to garnish.

For the Vinaigrette
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar.
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed.
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Cooking instructions
Heat a non-stick pan with a litltle oil and cook the chicken until browned. Set aside.
Heat a mon stick frying pan or stove top griddle. Add the chorizo slices and fry gently on both sides until the juices run and the edges are crispy. Set aside.
Mix the vinaigrette ingredients in small bowl. Us esome of the mixture to brush the courgettes. Add them to the pan used to cook the chorizo ands cook for 5 minutes each side.
Put the chicken in a bowl, add the salad leaves and olives. Drizzle over the vinaigrette, then add the chorizo and courgettes. Garnish with parsley or coriander.
Toss well, serve with a good bottle of red and some hot bread.

2006-01-06T13:57:00.000+01:00

The Mayfly Project

[Listening to: Life, in a Nutshell - Barenaked Ladies - Maybe You Should Drive (03:14)]

Submitted my entry to the Mayfly Project today, which read:

Fell in love, lay on the beach, kissed, smiled and drank wine together. Looked forward to tomorrow more and more.
Hello: glasses. Goodbye: 42

Better than the year before last, which read:

Read about someone elses 2003, mine was miserable.

Sum up your past year in 24 words or less....

2006-01-04T23:32:00.000+01:00

Bicycle, oh bicycle

[Listening to: Sitting, Waiting, Wishing - Jack Johnson - In Between Dreams (03:04)]

Since my accident in October I've not been able to cycle (or even walk propely for a few months). During lunch today I struck up a conversation with a colleague who I noticed was looking a bit slimmer than last year, and the reason, it transpired, was that he's been cycling every Saturday morning since he bought himself a new Mountain Bike. I've been doing physiotherapy since the accident, but the recommendation was that I shouldn't get on my bike until March or April - but during the conversation today I realise that I actually really miss it. I miss the mental part of it as well as the physical - the sounds and smells that you encounter whilst travelling at a slower speed, the time you have to look at things, the feeling of being part of your surrounding and not being cocoooned in a metal box. As I said yesterday, driving a car here in Rome (or any city for that matter) can be stressful - but the daily commute by bike doesn't leave you stressed. You arrive at work tired, but having already achieved something. You're warm, tingling, alive. Put me back on my bike...

2006-01-03T11:00:00.000+01:00

Dream On

[Listening to: Glimpse At The Good Life - Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself [UK] (03:22)]

After reading Toronto's New Year resolutions, Spacing magazines Wish List for Toronto in 2006, I thought I would compose a short wish list for Rome in 2006:

Car drivers would realise you can't talk on your mobile phone and drive at the same time.

People who double parked would get tickets.

Parking Wardens who stood by Traffic lights smoking instead of moving on those who double parked under their noses would get the sack.

The bins would be redisigned so tha they could be emptied and placed next to the curb (I'll have to post a photo to illustrate how bad this gets)

The Vigili Urbani would be given motorini and not cars (they are supposed to be helping solve the problem, not contributing to it)

Italian supermarkets would realise that having 10 tills is useless if you only ever open 2 of them

And also that it helps to give you a bag before you start ringing things up, not after (on the days you have not taken a bag to the supermarket, of course)

Rome is a lovely city, but the points about the cars are only half made in jest. If people park in the bus lane, the bus has to slow down. As this interview with Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, says, you have to look at how many people use Public Transport, and then how much is done to cater for those who drive. It's off balance, here and every where else. I just find it frustrating after 12 years here that nothing changes. Every day I go though the same places where traffic (on a bike, in a bus or in a car) changes from 2 lanes to 1 simply because 2 or 3 people have double parked outside a bar to get a coffee.

Enough rants for today...it's not worth losing my sleep over....

2006-01-02T22:35:00.000+01:00

Breathe

[Listening to: In The City - The Jam - Beat Surrender [UK] (02:20)]

The air in Rome has (apparently) got better over the past year, but there is still room for improvement. Starting January 19th, like last year, car drivers will not be able to drive within the green zone, roughly most of Rome inside the tangenziale (ring road), on Thursdays from the 19^th January until 23^rd March from 15.00 – 21.00, starting with odd plates and then evens. There will also be 3 traffic free Sundays between January and March, dates TBA. Of course last year I was cycling to work every day at this time, but this year I'm still not able to due to my back, so it affects me as well. They tried this in Athens, and everyone bought a second car with the opposite plate....

On a brighter note 200 buses running on methane will start running on Roman roads from July 2006, 30 a month until the following January. That should reduce the emmisions a bit.

2006-01-01T23:55:00.000+01:00

2006

[Listening to: Smile Like You Mean It - The Killers - Hot Fuss (03:57)]

I guess the only way any resolutions mean anything is if you write them down. Now I'm not good at resolutions, my view is that January 1^st is a day just like any other. I mean, if you want to give up something start today by all means, but if you thought about it last week why didn't you just start then? Tomorrow is always tomorrow. So instead, here is a list of things I'd like to do this year, some are easy, some dependent on other things, none of them are things I need to give up:

Smile at least once a day.

Find a new job

Be a nicer person

Write more

Try not to ruin any holidays

See Ella, my goddaughter

Be greener

Walk the Beacons Way, a 161km (100 mile) walk across the Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales, with F and T, my companions for Hadrian's Wall last year.

Cycle Italy - North to South, or the Ciclopista del Sole, as it's known in Italian. Hopefully with someone else to keep me company! T, are you interested? And raise some money for charity at the same time, of course.

Have more holidays. First trip is to visit F in Mimizan, France. I've never been to France apart from on snowboarding holidays, and I've definitely never been with a French girl, so I'm really looking forward to it.

2005-12-17T15:12:00.000+01:00

Brass Monkeys

[Listening to: Nice to Be Out - Stereophonics - Just Enough Education to Perform (03:09)]

We spent last weekend in an agritourismo (nice, but probably the coldest I've ever been in Italy). Despite the impression the photo's might give, I didn't spend my weekend flat on my back, I just liked the angles. It's a great little place, and the duomo is spectacular:

Sunday we visited Bagnoregio, known as il paese che muore (the dying town), and then after we were suitably frozen, went in search of lunch. We found a nice place in Lubriano, where we (and only we) ate at Il Cervo Scarletto. Good food, if I'm in the area again I'd go back (hopefully next time it will be warmer - the place I mean, not the food...). The food was Calabrian, not exactly what I'd expected in Umbria, but being frozen the slightlier spicier menu warmed us up a treat.

2005-12-16T23:00:00.000+01:00

Walls Come Tumbling Down

[Listening to: Broken Stones - Paul Weller - Stanley Road [UK] (03:18)]

Following more days of torrential rain, now Nero's palace, which only opened to the public in 1999 after 20 years of excavation and restoration, is the latest site in Rome threatened with collapse:
BBC: Rain closes Nero's golden palace
Telegraph: Water, not fire, threatens Nero's palace
Wanted in Rome: Domus Aurea closed.

But there's more to this than a simple deluge of rain (to my mind at least). As one of the articles says, the problem was exacerbated by poor maintenance in the Colle Oppio park. The Colle Oppio was for years left in a state of abandon, and only in recent years was any money spent on the park to clean it up and make it a park the general public would enter. In 2003 Kurdish refugees and asylum seekers living in the park more or less made it a no go zone for the general public. However it appears that the work, once finished, was not kept up.

The other angle not covered is the recent trend of excavating ancient sites deeper underground rather than expanding existing archaeological sites on the surface. It was only in January 2005 that a 2 metre mosaic, 13 metres underground, was unveiled to the public. It was reached by a group of speleologists under the Colle Opio. Similiarly, in Pompeii a pre-Roman temple was discovered at the front entrance. The decision in Pompeii to dig down came in part from lack of funds to clear spaces above-ground. The estimates on the amount of money needed to excavate the entire Colle Opio are €500 million. Now however, the Domus Aurea will be closed for at least two years and the emergency repairs will cost between €5 - €20 million. The one thing that no one has mentioned is that it would have been cheaper to spend the €5 million on keeping the park. Cause and effect....

2005-11-20T13:26:00.000+01:00

Forte Tromba d'Aria

[Listening to: Rainy Day - 10,000 Maniacs - Love Among the Ruins (04:46)]

Hundreds of trees were brought down in Rome this week when a tromba d'aria (Tornado) struck in the area around the Olympic Stadium and the north of the city. The city was paralysed for the morning due to the traffic congestion as roads in the north of the city were blocked. Some good photos can be viewed via La Republica. I should know, because a 45 minute drive to work took 2 hours 15 minutes. Not my idea of fun.

Todays Telegraph reports on the effect that the storms Rome has suffered in recent years have wrought: Telegraph: Why only plumbing can prevent the fall of Rome.

Courtesy of Google Earth here's a fantastic shot of Rome:

The moral of all this is, come and have a look now before it all falls apart.

2005-11-18T19:00:00.000+01:00

Soundtracks

[Listening to: Call and Answer - Barenaked Ladies - Stunt [UK Bonus CD] Disc 1 (05:49)]

Back in September the Observer Music Montly recommended 10 Film Soundtracks to own. Prompted by the fact that although I recognised the films, I didn't own any of the titles, I scoured my CD collection to see which soundtracks I did own:

Singles
Vanilla Sky
Almost Famous
Blade Runner
Bullitt
Map Of The Human Heart
What Dreams May Come
The English Patient
Amelie
Face Off
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Fifth Element
Leon
Se7en
12 Monkeys
6 Days 6 Nights
The Great Escape
Reservoir Dogs
Pulp Fiction
Jackie Brown
Kill Bill Vol. 1
Kill Bill Vol. 2
Apocalypse Now (Redux)
Reality Bites
Natural Born Killers
Ocean's Eleven
Platoon
Being John Malkovich
Once Upon a Time In America
I Am Sam
Plunkett & Macleane
Elizabeth

Now these are not in any particular order other than that's the way they were stored on the shelf. None of the 32 soundtracks I own is in the Observer list, which is no bad thing. I'm sure many of these are on other peoples shelves, although a few are probably not (Map Of The Human Heart). Some don't really go together (you're hardly likely to play Natural Born Killers followed by Elizabeth..). Quite a few of them would probably be considered classic soundtracks, Platoon, Pulp Fiction and Bullitt for instance. But I've seen all of the films, and for the most part liked the music so much that's why I bought them.

2005-11-10T20:00:00.000+01:00

Book Baton

[Listening to: All Good Books - Paul Weller - Illumination (03:25)]

I was browsing the other day (as you do..), and decided to pick up the Book baton from if else:

Number of books on the shelf
Much to my surprise, it's a staggering 745! If I consider that in 1997 when I went travelling I sold almost every book I owned to raise money for the trip, these have mostly been bought in the 11 years I've lived in Italy, which means that's 67 books a year on average. Shame on me, but only 2 are in Italian...

Last book purchased
Blood and Oil: The Dangers and Consequences of America's Growing Petroleum Dependency, Michael T. Klare. I picked it up after reading number 5 on the last 5 books list.

Currently reading
Quicksilver, Neal Stephenson.

Last 5 books read

Crypto: Secrecy and Privacy in the New Cold War, Stephen Levy.

Chelsea's Century, Harry Harris.

A Short History of Nearly Everything, Bill Bryson

Zanzibar, Giles Foden.

The End of Oil: The Decline of the Petroleum Economy and the Rise of a New Energy Order, Paul Roberts.

Books that mean a lot to me
This is a hard one. I would probably include books that made an impression on me, such as Touching The Void by Joe Simpson and It's Not About The Bike by Lance Armstrong. One book I read this summer I'd read again was 23 Days In July by John Wilcockson. One I bought again after someone stole the first copy was A Man On The Moon by Andew Chaikan. If it was a book version of Desert Island Discs sort of thing, and I could only pick 8 to keep, these would be on the list, along with One Day In A Very Long War by John Ellis, which magnificently puts into perspective the true scale of WWII, something classic, such as Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, something not quite contemporary but not as old as Dickens, such as On The Beach by Nevil Shute, probably his most famous book, and lasty, as most of these are fairly serious, something to make me laugh, how about White City Blues by Tim Lott.

Passing along to...
Uh. No one. I'm not well connected in the blogosphere...

Category: Books

2005-11-10T19:00:00.000+01:00

Bouncy Balls

[Listening to: the day the earth stole heaven - Nine Horses - Snow Borne Sorrow (03:20)]

I was sitting down to watch the Manchester United v Chelsea game on Sunday when an ad came on that really caught my attention. Partly the stunning visual images, and partly the music. It turns out it was an ad for the new Sony Bravia....I'd guessed from the start that the balls were real and that it wasn't CG, which makes it all the more pleasing. It was quite mesmerising, and the music was beautiful. More details can be found here:
Sony Bravia
Sony UK

2005-11-05T15:42:00.000+01:00

The Truth

[Listening to: Living In Another World - Talk Talk - The Very Best Of Talk Talk [UK] (04:15)]

I remember the first time I looked at PostSecret, I was struck by the emotional honesty. As this article in the Guardian: Secret service, explains, it's something akin to the reasons for keeping a diary (or a blog). People want to tell someone else, but often have no one to talk to. Anyway, this image today struck me: it's like this..... This is exactly how I feel most days. It's hard to explain, in fact, the image does it better than I can.

2005-11-02T12:00:00.000+01:00

Halong Bay

[Listening to: A Different Light - Marine Girls - Lazy Ways/Beach Party (02:22)]

As promised, here's a few more pictures, this time taken in Halong Bay (before the accident). The pictures don't go anywhere to capturing the beauty of the place, it's wonderful. Very calming, in fact just looking at these is helping me relax.....

2005-10-31T12:32:00.000+01:00

Hanoi

[Listening to: Accidents Will Happen - Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Armed Forces (03:01)]

To quote another song from Elvis Costello, I just don't know where to begin....

Our trip to Vietnam was, well, brief. On the 4th day I managed to pull the muscles in my back around the vertabrae I broke 5 years ago. Despite a visit to L'Hopital Francais De Hanoi and 2 days flat on my back in a hotel room, I made little improvement and so we flew back, and for the last 3 weeks I've been flat on my back most of the day. I did manage to take a few photos around the Old Quarter of Hanoi and in Halong Bay whilst we were there, so I've posted these and I'll try to post a few more over the next days (I can now sit down for brief periods).

Although we didn't see much of Hanoi, highlights of what we did see would be the Old Quarter, where all of the photos above were taken. We took a cyclo ride to see the One Pillar Pagoda, the Temple of Literature (Van Mieu) founded in 1072 to honour Confucius, after which we had a late snack at KOTO, a cafe around the corner, where I tasted probably the most refreshing drink I've ever had, and ate some fantastic food. What I saw of Hanoi definitely made me want to go back. It's a wonderful place.

2005-09-29T23:00:00.000+02:00

Holidays

[Listening to: Have a Nice Day - Stereophonics - Just Enough Education to Perform (03:25)]

Following the last post Rome suffered further deluges, last week suffering from 1 months rainfall in a single day (my shoes are still drying out....). Tomorrow I'm off on my holidays - to Vietnam, where Typhoon Damrey , the worst storm in the area for a decade, has done significant damage. There's no escaping the bad weather....

So, expect more photos soon.

2005-09-11T21:31:00.000+02:00

End of Summer

[Listening to: Listening For The Weather - Bic Runga - Beautiful Collision [UK] (03:30)]

Well, summer really feels like its over here in Rome. 45mm of rain in 5 days washed it away. We did manage to get some hours of sunshine this weekend, but it feels like summers passed. It's the best summer I've ever had since I moved here, and I feels sad that it's over.

Coruscate - now there's a nice word. I had to look it up on Dictionary.com.

..and here are some other odds and sods I've been meaning to post for a while:

Courtesy of Treehugger is this neat little Solar Bike Light, which doubles as a battery charger. Also courtesy of Treehugger is this nifty TrioBike, which I think my friend JS would like, as he's about to have a daughter, and this is right up his street.

2005-09-04T22:44:00.000+02:00

Happiness

[Listening to: This Is Heaven to Me - Madeleine Peyroux - Careless Love (03:11)]

Happiness is this...

2005-08-25T23:59:00.000+02:00

Ponza

[Listening to: Better Things - Massive Attack; Tracey Thorn - The Best of Everything But the Girl (04:19)]

I've taken a half day tomorrow and am off to Ponza to relax in the sun and eat great food with a remarkable young lady.

Hopefully I'll come back with a few nice photos to post, but in the meantime here's a site with, as it says, some pictures of rome, and it's well worth a look, they are lovely.

2005-08-12T15:37:00.000+02:00

Ferragosto

[Listening to: Air - The Penguin Cafe Orchestra - When in Rome (03:59)]

Well, il giorno di ferragosto is upon us again, and Rome is hot and deserted. I'm off to lago martignano to keep cool, but for anyone else who is in Rome and wants to cool off then I can recommend escaping the heat during the day by visiting the exhibition Passaggi in India. Ieri e oggi at the Scuderie del Quirinale. In the night time, wandering around the terraces of Castel Sant'Angelo is a great way to escape. They have a restaurant, bar, ice cream, music, theatre, puppets, and best of all a chance to walk along the Passetto di Borgo, leading to the Vatican Palace. Don't forget your camera!

2005-08-10T23:36:00.000+02:00

The Return

[Listening to: Ever Fallen in Love? - Buzzcocks - Ever Fallen in Love?: Buzzcocks Finest [EMI Gold] (02:42)]

Three months. I've missed you.

I'm in love, that's why I haven't been writing. I've been smiling, enjoying life for the first time in a loong time. And despite a bit of an argument yesterday, I still feel as I did in my last post 3 months ago.

2005-05-10T22:00:00.000+02:00

O

[Listening to: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For - U2 - The Joshua Tree (04:38)]

The title of the song is no longer true for me. I have.

2005-05-10T21:00:00.000+02:00

Ultra Cyclist

[Listening to: Pedalpusher - Stereophonics - Language. Sex. Violence. Other? (03:18)]

Whilst I was Spinning last night I noticed a plaque on the side of my bike. Turns out it was the bike used for this:

From Cycling News January 16 2005

Italian ultra-cyclist Alessandro Colo has set a new record for riding an indoor bike (spinning), doing so for 201 hours, 1 minute and 8 seconds between December 27, 2004 and January 4, 2005. Colo covered 5819 km in his stationary ride, and along the way lowered his previous record time for 5000 km to 174 hours, 12 minutes and 29 seconds. Everything was checked with an odometer and an ergometer and during the rides he only stopped briefly to use the bathroom.

Colo, who conducts spinning classes in Rome, used the attempt to gauge his fitness for the Race Across America, which he plans to do this summer. He competed in the endurance event last year, but did not finish.

Feeling suitably humbled, I'll try harder from now on...

2005-04-23T21:02:00.000+02:00

If I Were PM

[Listening to: Counting Down the Days - Natalie Imbruglia - Counting Down the Days (04:09)]

Sky News have been running a piece recently on what people would do if they were British Prime Minister. So here is my own personal election manifesto, in no particular order:

Close all McDonalds and turn them into shelters for the homeless.

Ban cheese. It makes you fat. I'd retrain all sniffer dogs at airports to be able to detect cheese and not drugs.

Free cycle helmets for all children under 16.

Ban musicals. People don't walk down the street trying to tell each other things by singing. It's wrong I tell you, wrong.

No more car imports into Britain until every car in every lot has been sold.

More cycle lanes, more public transport. It's that simple.

No Coke machines or junk food in schools, period. Jamie Oliver knew a bad thing when he saw it.

More solar power (easier here in Rome, I know). More wind power - plenty of that in the UK....

These are just a few ideas. I'm sure some of them are not that popular, but I don't care.

2005-04-19T23:59:00.000+02:00

Back to Normal...

[Listening to: Thoughts of a Dying Atheist - Muse - Q Best of 03 (03:08)]

So Ratzinger is elected as new Pope, and things in Rome will return to normal. I'm a bit confused at the choice of name though, the name Benedict suggests he will break with tradition - although this wouldn't be consistent with his apparently conservative reputation. Me, I'm a devout atheist, but surely on a day when India has now overtaken South Africa as the country with the highest number of people living with Aids it's about time the church (and I mean all of them) started talking about the real problems that face society.

2005-03-03T23:59:00.000+01:00

World Book Day

[Listening to: Glimpse At The Good Life - Dogs Die In Hot Cars - Please Describe Yourself]

A "shot in the arm" for BookCrossing today when BBC presenter Jeremy Vine handed out 200 free books at Waterloo station to mark World Book Day. The books will be tracked on the new BBC show "Page Turners". A survey to mark the day reveals that word of mouth recommendations and author loyalty are often strong factors in a books success. Lastly, Nick Hornby and Margaret Atwood are both contributers for New Beginnings, an anthology of new work published to raise money for tsunami victims. £5 will buy you the first chapters of 16 forthcoming books. So you get a sneak preview of work by some authors you know, and others you might not have read before. A great idea for a worthy cause.

I'm off to Courmayeur tomorrow night for a weekends snowboarding, so I'd better go pack.....

2005-02-28T21:13:00.000+01:00

Hurray!

[Listening to: Boys Are Back In Town, The - Thin Lizzy - Wild One: The Very Best Of Thin Lizzy]

Chelsea finally picked up their first piece of silverware, but as Londonist reports, José Mourinho got into a bit of trouble yesterday after Chelsea won the 2005 Carling Cup. As a fan for as long as I can remember, I'm smiling. I spent many a Saturday standing in the West Wing of the Shed when I first lived in London, and hope that is the start of many good years to come.

Saturday night, over dinner in Il Simposio di Costantino my friends over from London were complaining about the quality of food in London compared with here in Rome. It appears that the writers of Gourmet magazine don't agree, having declared that London is the best place to eat on the planet. Of course they didn't have the Bucatini all'Amatriciana or the Manzo Tagliata that I was eating...

A great story in the Guardian recently about Donnie Dunagan, who as a child was the voice of Bambi, but by 18 had enlisted in the Marine corps, getting shot in the Tet offensive in '68: How Bambi fought the Viet Cong.

Also picked up from the Guardian blog was this story of two English guys who are planning to travel 18,000 miles across across America (the land of the free don't forget) while breaking as many of its "ridiculous" local laws as possible: Whale-hunting in landlocked Utah. I look forward to reading the book, however judging by the comments not everyone is in favour, and as the Guardians has printed their names (and approximate travel dates), it remains to be seen whether they will actually get into the States.

2005-02-13T23:37:00.000+01:00

So much for that resolution...

[Listening to: Modern World, The - The Jam - Beat Surrender [UK]]

I did make a resolution to try and write more often this year. This particular link obviously should have been posted at the end of 2004, but I've had a few PC woes (and still do...but that's another story), anyway, here's 100 things we didn't know this time last year. One thing not included in this list of gems was the fact that the US had a secret weapon plan: Gay bombs. Where will it end?

Earlier this year, there were calls for crash helmets after collisions on the ski slopes in Italy after a hit and run on the slopes at Val Zoldana. Obviously no one ever wants to see people injured on the slopes, especially in a terrible incident like this, but I have to say, in my view this is not the answer , and is a reaction typical of a lot of bureaucracies. Passing a law here in Italy is a relatively worthless effort, Ignoring the law is practically a national pastime. As it is I see more policemen on the slopes here than in any other country. Another argument put forward was separate pistes for skiers and snowboarders, which is equally ludicrous. How about seperate roads for 4x4 vehicles and cars perhaps? A lot of Italians ski like they drive. I rest my case.

A good piece of news for me on the BBC News site the other day (well, weeks ago actually), as Sony abandons copy-protected CDs. I'd stopped buying Sony CDs as my JVC CD player wouldn't play them. I could copy them to my PC, or play them in my car (when I had a car), but not on my home stereo.

Of course I still haven't received my insurance money for my car, and although F has kindly lent me his car, now that I'm back to full health I'm trying to cycle a fair bit, including today when there was a driving ban due to the air quality here in Rome. I'm most impressed with my new Berghaus Tyrant Jacket I've been wearing this week as I've cycled to work. It's kept me fairly warm in the 0 degree temperatures I've been cycling in. Of course cycling beats driving to work in many ways, I always arrive happy that I've made the effort. Not least of the reasons not to drive is the sense of frustration here in Rome when you can't actually drive due to the number of double parked cars, when only feet away the Vigili stand together smoking and manually operating traffic lights to keep the traffic "flowing". I know that in the UK parking fines are a sore point, but at least the money generated is spent on public projects, although according to this article in the Guardian not everyone is happy where the money is spent: Penalty claws

Everyone seems to be talking about the Christo installation in New York today. The Gates has finally opened, although the Guardian reported that the $20m art project has split New Yorkers. Personally I'm a big fan, and always have been. It's a shame he was never allowed to wrap the Mall in London. We'll just have to settle for the streets of Notting Hill to be paved with poetry.

Completely unconnected, but I liked this site with a visual representation of the globe using various statistics: WorldProcessor, via Moco Loco

And finally, the time is.

2005-01-24T23:39:00.000+01:00

Angry Customer

[Listening to: Something Better Change - The Stranglers - Peaches: The Very Best of the Stranglers]

I think I'd have to agree with Blaise @ Fate Delivers, the chap at Cardiff University got it wrong when he said that today would be the worst day of the year - I don't like Monday 24 January, yesterday was far worse.

On Saturday I bought a Maxtor One Touch II 200Gb external hard drive, as my PC has been giving me a lot of problems, constantly rebooting itself, and I wanted to back up my drive and then reformat and reinstall Windows XP. The external hard drive looked great, and installation seemed easy - until I tried to run the software yesterday....

Honestly, by the end of the afternoon I would happily have opened my 4th floor window and dropped my PC onto the street below. Short lived satisfaction maybe, but surely it had to be better than trying to get this obstinant piece of software to run.

Of course Saturday was pretty disasterous...I went to Finnegan's to watch Chelsea v Portsmouth, and got helped up by a fur clad geriatric in an old Fiat Seicento on the way there, and got there minutes after the 3rd goal. Of course, that was the last goal, unusually Chelsea didn't go for a 4 nil pumelling of the opposition.

What else happened, oh yes, the NiCad batteries in my phone died, and of course the 2 shops I went to had no new ones in stock. I can't find a cheap enough ticket to go to London for M's 40th dinner next weekend, something fell out of my tooth....and I had the worst week at work ever.

Actually, having written it all down, it doesn't seem that bad now. And of course, in the grand scheme of things, it isn't, is it.

2005-01-10T20:32:00.000+01:00

As Life Returns To Normal

[Listening to: What's So Funny 'bout Peace Love And Understanding - Elvis Costello - Armed Forces [UK] Disc 1]

Richard Curtis was the scriptwriter on, among other hits, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones’s Diary, and the director of Love Actually. He is taking a year off film work to campaign for Make Poverty History: Don't forget the rest of the world. Now you may not like his films (I'm actually a huge fan of Notting Hill - it's what I watch when I want to be cheered up), but you can't do anything but applaud this effort.

Whilst on the subject of films (loose connection I know, but follow me here), according to today's Telegraph the Deep Impact probe will be launched this week on a spectacular mission to blow a chunk the size of Rome's Coliseum out of a comet: Spacecraft counts down to blast-off and a close encounter with a comet. So, a reason for all non American's to put July 4th in their diaries this year.

The award-winning writer Margaret Atwood is developing a machine that will allow remote book-signing , giving her readers (of which I'm one) the chance to get a signed copy of one of her books without her having to leave her home in Canada: Online answer to writer's angst. Now, does that make it worth less for those who care about these things?

For christmas I was lucky enough (amongst many great gifts) to get a DVD of Long Way Round, the Ewan McGregor & Charley Boorman road trip /circumnavigation of the globe by motorcycle, going from London to New York - the long way round. An excerpt from the book (which I am going to have to buy)can be found in Novembers Men's Journal. If there was ever a story that made me want to give up my job.....

2005-01-01T23:29:00.000+01:00

7 Days That Shook The World

[Listening to: Crumbs from Your Table - U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb]

The best article I've read so far on the whole disaster was in todays Sydney Morning Herald The earth shook, the sea rose up (may require registration).

The Guardian also ran a thought provoking article: A terrible warning not to do nothing

And following the ongoing thought that perhaps now is the time to make a change, why not help to Make Poverty History

2004-12-31T12:00:00.000+01:00

New year, new direction

[Listening to: Hungry Heart - Minnie Driver - Everything I've Got in My Pocket]

I'm sure many people will resolve to make changes in their lives in 2005, perhaps affected by the calamity in South East Asia, perhaps spurred into doing something they'd already been planning, perhaps just driven by a need to help somebody else.

The Telegraph has been running a series of articles with 17 interviews with people who have made a change in their lives, sometimes forced in to it by circumstance, sometimes just by the need to give something, read them here:Part one, part two, part three.

If you are in the UK and wanted to make a change, to find out how you could help click on the link and take a look: Year of the Volunteer 2005

2004-12-27T16:46:00.000+01:00

Charity sites seek disaster funds

There's not much one can say. The Guardian shows how you can help, click here and find out how you can donate.

2004-12-14T23:47:00.000+01:00

Bicycle wins Times inventions poll

[Listening to: The Worst Joke Ever - REM - Around The Sun]

So the bicycle was voted in The Times as the country's greatest invention of the past 250 years, winning by a huge 62% of the vote, and beating contenders such as Vaccination, Computers (and the WWW), Electricity and the Electric Light. Bike Magic and Singletrack both ran pieces on the poll, which for reasons I can't quite understand disappointed judges, who complained of vote rigging.

If you're sad you didn't vote in that poll, how about voting in the New 7 Wonders project. Half of all revenue raised by the project will apparently be put towards restoration efforts, and as the UK has just two entries in the Top 40, I'll be putting forward my nomination. I have no problem with the Colosseum (currently 3rd), or the Eiffel Tower (currently 8th ), where they recently opened an ice skating rink to support the Paris Olympic bid and to attract more French visitors. I flew over Paris last week, and the Eiffel Tower was a wonderful site, easy to pick out on a wonderfully clear night - it's always worth picking the window seat.

Both the Telegraph and the Guardian report on the news that Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi was cleared of two charges of bribing judges - one on a technicality. Under Italian law, defendants accused of crimes committed more than 15 years ago are automatically acquitted. Though this alleged offence happened in 1991, judges decided to halve the period covered by the law because Mr Berlusconi has a clean criminal record. How convenient...

To add insult to injury, Berlusconi now apparently plans to woo voters by entering his new song - Samba and Chocolate, at the San Remo Song festival according to this article in the Times, although it's not true as it reports that every Italian household has already received a copy of his autobiography, 'An Italian Story' - I never got mine, but no worries, I don't have a fireplace, so I've not much use for it. He was also reported on Friday, just after having been acquitted, of saying "I have in mind the idea of making a movie". Please, spare us...

2004-11-29T23:46:00.000+01:00

Cough, What Cough?

[Listening to: Supercollider - Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers]

This Spring, in a solitary day of training for walking the South West Coastal path, F and I climbed a 448 metre "hill" called Monte Circeo. I'd climbed it years before, but not to the top, and this day was to be a Rpt of my earlier walk to the lower peak. However, the intervening years had dulled my memory, and this time I was surprised (and out of breath) when we busrt out of the treeline to find ourselves at the very top of what we dubbed "Old Baldy". After we soaked up the sun, recovered the use of our lungs and wandered around the summit to take in the fantastic views, we made our way back down through the forest. Everywhere you could see the evidence of wild boar, but we were both surprised when only yards from the car park at the bottom a couple of "cinghialini"I guess - baby wild boar, came crashing out of the undergrowth. We both figured that where baby was, mother was going to be close by, and we didn;t want to get between her and her young. Sure enough, after a few minutes of standing still (and 3 more babies), the mother came along behind. She was pretty big, and the fact that she was between us and the car park meant she was definitely calling the shots. It was great end to a good walk, and the first time I've seen a wild boar here in Italy. However, apparently, it's becoming a growing problem: Wild boar on the rampage in Italy

As soon as it's operational this may well become my home page: Wikinews. Watch that space...

Starvation party turns into a diplomatic incident. Give this man a pat on the back. I find it hard to believe that it's once again necessary to bring out Band Aid.

70 English words that came top in a survey of 7,000 foreign students of what they considered the most beautiful words in English language: Mother's the word

KatWALLks. Daft maybe, but I have to say they look kind of fun...

2004-11-25T21:21:00.000+01:00

Average Pictures of Great Walks

[Listening to: Going Places - Paul Weller - Illumination]

Writing Great Walks the other day made me pull out some old pictures of my wanderings around News Zealand, and I also browsed through my South West Coastal Path pics from earlier this year. Unfortunately they are all scanned from good old prints, but here they are anyway:

As a matter of fact, I saw my very first shooting star on the night of the sunset on the Abel Tasman. I was persuaded to lie on my back on the beach by a girl who was walking the track as well (like I needed much persuading...). We saw so many I couldn't count them.

Todays Telegraph reports on news that Improved car design 'could save 1,200 lives' Why has it taken so long?

Of course if you'd been caught speeding here in Italy, yesterday was the day to go to court...Strike over Berlusconi bill closes Italian courts. Surely this farce can't last much longer...the whole country will be on strike soon.

Also in todays Guardian was this piece: Thumbs do the talking on biometric tracking. I have vague memories about not having money for school dinners and having to cue for a "special" pass - which basically meant you were poor. If this can remove that I'm all in favour.

And back to the Telegraph, a nice story (in my eyes) Fighting a small war of words. It makes me want to pull on my coat, walk to the bookstore and spend a few hours amongst the shelves, browsing, reading, and eventually buying. I still remember as a child at infant school winning a prize and being chosen as one of two pupils from the school to go to Blackwells and help choose the new books for the school Library. It's one of my first memories of being in a bookstore, and it was magical. All those books, and I could choose what I liked!

2004-11-22T20:44:00.000+01:00

My Way

[Listening to: Don't Look Back - Lloyd Cole - Collection]

Todays Telegraph had a piece on cover versions "They did it their way". Surprisingly I have quite a few that made their list :

41 Hazy Shade of Winter - The Bangles
40 I Fought the Law - The Clash
30 I'm A Believer - Robert Wyatt
28 Jealous Guy - Roxy Music
25 Wonderwall - Ryan Adams
24 Why Can't We Live Together - Sade
21 Only Love Can Break Your Heart - St Etienne
20 Police and Thieves - The Clash
19 Sweet Jane - Cowboy Junkies

Now I know it' subjective, but how did they not include:

A Little Respect - Wheatus,
Redemption Song - Joe Strummer and the Mescaleroes
Because The Night - 10,000 Maniacs
More Than This - 10,000 Maniacs
The Only Living Boy In New York - Everything But The Girl
Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head - Manic Street Preachers
Shipbuilding - Suede
Knockin' On Heaven's Door - Avril Lavigne
Highway 61 Revisited - PJ Harvey
Superstition - Stevie Ray Vaughan
Everyone's Talkin' - The Beautiful South

..and that's just off the top of my head (and from my CD collection). Now I realise that the Telegraph isn't comparable with Q, but....

2004-11-21T20:45:00.000+01:00

Great Walks

[Listening to: One Step Closer - U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb]

F left a copy of Country Walking magazine in the flat when he left this week. This months edition has an article on the 50 Greatest Walks In The World, a few of which I've done:

1   Milford Track, South Island, New Zealand
9   Abel Tasman Coast Track, South Island, New Zealand
12   South West Coastal Path, England

One I do fancy doing is the The Lycian Way in Turkey, a 509 km footpath around the coast of Lycia in southern Turkey. Actually F and I discussed doing all of them, which would be a fantastic way to spend what would probably be the rest of my life, but certain obstacles would have to be overcome, such as finding an alternative income (needed to buy food and replacement boots). Perhaps I could persuade F and his brother M to do The Lycain Way - M is married to a Turkish girl, and does go there quiet often. Obviously living in Italy then the Grand Escursione Appeninca, the Mount Etna Circuit, the Grand Traversata Delle Alpi and the Tour Of Mont Blanc would be the first to attempt. One not mentioned that I had been looking at was the GR20 in Corsica, but I don't fancy tackling that on my own.

Not included in their list but routes I have walked are the Colorado Trail, the Routeburn and the Rees Dart track in New Zealand. But having done those I'd agree with their conclusion that the Milford Track is the most beautiful walk in the world. I was lucky to get to do it, it had rained 21" in 24-hours only 2 days before I was due to start, and the day before the tarck was still closed. I've no photos from the first day, mostly because I was wading through floodwater for most of the day.

2004-11-13T13:18:00.000+01:00

Crooks and Coughs

[Listening to: You Stole My Money Honey - Stereophonics - You Gotta Go There To Come Back]

Once again the Italian Prime Minister gets his name in the papers for all the wrong reasons. In todays Guardian they cover the political row as Italian TV news host forced out, and in the Telegraph the request by the chief prosecutor in the corruption trial of Silvio Berlusconi for the maximum sentence possible.

I'm still suffering from a cough that is driving both me, my colleagues and probably everyone in my condominium mad. A course of antibiotics has done nothing to make me feel any better, and I'm missing going to the gym. Back to the doctor next week. I'm not happy.

2004-11-12T22:03:00.000+01:00

The World in Pictures

[Listening to: Sparks - Coldplay - Parachutes]

I like 10x10, which I came across courtesy of New Links. The site scans the RSS feeds for Reuters World News, BBC World Headlines and the NY Times International News, and the top 100 terms are then selected and arranged in a 10 x 10 grid with an appropriate picture from the feeds. It's brilliant.

2004-11-07T19:04:00.000+01:00

Stop Now

[Listening to: Twilight - Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill]

Although I have never bought a lottery ticket, I was glad to read who the greatest recipient of lottery funding was: 'Cycle paths scoop the lottery poll'. When I worked at a YHA near Ross on Wye in the early 80's I entered some Trailquests raising money for Sustrans, and I'm pleased to see that they have come such a long way.

And if the work that Sustrans are doing isn't enough to get you out on your bike, then the piece in todays Observer entitled
Flood sweat and tears should be.

But not everyone is just sitting there treating things as inevitable. The book and documentary film 'The Corporation', whilst slamming most companies, does show some such as Interface who are working hard towards sustainable growth. As their CEO Ray Anderson says, "We pass this way only once, we can leave the Earth better off or worse by our individual and collective actions. It's that simple. We can help or we can hurt the Earth and future generations. Which will it be?". Not exactly a sentiment that the company I work for engages.

On a lighter note, but none the less dismal reading, at least for me, there was this piece in todays Observer: Meet Ben Jones, as men become the new Bridgets. Oh darn, there's no hope is there...

What else has been happening...
I appear to be getting bronchitis.
I had dinner with the most beautful Spanish girl on Tuesday, and rather ridiculously it was warm enough to eat outside at 10:00 at night here in Rome - in November. For the first time in ages I wanted to be in her company, and saying goodbye was hard.
A girl I met 10 years ago has suddenly started sending me text messages...
My friend Simo has one more session of Chemo to go.
Read Michael Moores 'Will They Ever Trust Us Again', after watching 'Fahrenheit 9/11' on DVD. My US Election warm up one could say.
Watched Open Range, which I've wanted to see since it came out last year.
Pictures and tales from Sicily to follow...and, yes, I know I said that last time...

2004-10-26T23:34:00.000+02:00

Teenage Kicks

[Listening to: A Different Light - Marine Girls - Lazy Ways/Beach Party]

The news that legendary radio DJ John Peel died today was a shock. I remember in the late 70's listening to his show to hear stuff I just couldn't hear anywhere else. Radio 1 apparently played his favourite song, Teenage Kicks by the Undertones, after announcing the news. Bizarrely I saw a piece on tv last night where Jonothan Demme was interviewed after using a song from that well known Scottish punk band The Prats. Demme had heard of the band whilst listening to the John Peel show back in the 70's. Read more on the piece here, or for a more insightful look at how much he meant to modern music look at his entry in Wikipedia

Author and film-maker Michael Moore is apparently to take part in a special BBC Question Time programme from Miami on the eve of the US presidential election. That's got to be worth watching.

Today I received a grand total of 106 emails. Of course, only 5 were for me, the rest were offering me the chance to purchase cheap drugs, or a hand crafted Italian Rolex, approving morgages I never applied for, and some spam offering to stop the flood of spam. Of course, none were from people with names that you come across every day, I mean, how many of you know a Elisha Portsche, Les Cabatu, Araceli Alexander or Milton Rieben I want to know?

Pictures and tales from Sicily to follow...

2004-10-02T15:48:00.000+02:00

Silence

[Listening to: London Calling - The Clash - London Calling 25th Anniversary Edition]

First post for a while I'm afraid. I've had a runny rebellion in my stomach that made me pretty sick for about 10 days. Good old fashioned over the counter drugs were not enough, I had to get some prescription medicine to put me back to normal working conditions, but all is well now and I'm back to normal, if some kilos lighter.

Next week I'm off to Sicily for a slightly delayed holiday. First stop Palermo, then who knows. Have car, will travel. Reading for the week will be Pompeii by Robert Harris. Not geographically correct, but a good read none the less I hope. Oddly this will be my first holiday in years where I'm not actually doing something - normally I'm snowboarding, walking, cycling or something equaly energetic. This is the first time I'm going somewhere to relax.

My ex flatmate M will be my companion for the week. He'll be glad to get away I think, as he sent me a text this morning saying he was burgled yesterday. Other peoples troubles always help to put your own in perspective.

Hopefully I'll return with plenty of pictures. I'll try not fall into Etna (some of my friends think I'm naturally unlucky).

2004-09-04T19:40:00.000+02:00

On Yer Bike...

[Listening to: The Lonely Shepherd - Zamfir - Kill Bill, Vol. 1]

Riding to work this week my path seems to have been blocked almost daily, but for all the right reasons. On Monday I had a pleasant if dusty wait whilst a shepherd took his sheep out to pasture in Batteria Nomentana, an area of open land I cross, and last night I skidded to a halt when I found this herd of horses crashing around in a small wood at the start of my ride home. I also got chased twice by the same stray dog (who both times looked as if he wanted to take a bite out of my ankle), and bumped into the shepherd coming home again one night. He always says hello after an incident last year when I saved a lamb he'd lost. Quite what I was thinking when I jumped of my bike after seeing the poor little thing curled up beside the track I don't know, but it all worked out in the end, even if I discovered that the only Italian I knew for lamb was for the cooked kind.

All pictures taken with my Philips key ring camera / USB key.

Riding to work is something I've been doing for years, in Rome and before that in London and Sydney.European Mobility Week or International Car Free Day (the website does have somewhat of an identity crisis) seeks to get more people out of their cars and on to other forms of transport. Of course that presumably doesn't apply to Rome, as it isn't listed as one of the participating cities. In fact Italy has only 5 participating cities, pretty pathetic compared to Austria, where 157 cities are taking part, or Spain where 198 cities are involved. The website lists amongst the reasons to get on your bike
"You therefore keep in shape and save time: amongst other things, you avoid waiting at traffic lights...."
Well, speaking personally, I still stop at traffic lights for the small parts of my journey when I'm on the road. I realise that for many cyclists traffic lights are thought to be for motor vehicles only, and that here in Rome traffic lights have even less sway, and are considered by many motorists to be entirely optional, but I stop. I figure if I want other road users to treat me with respect, then I should obey the rules of the road just like them. Or here in Italy, just like some of them. I'm lucky, most of my journey is cross country, which is pretty remarkable here in Rome. Of course, I'm sure what they meant to say was that you might spend less time at traffic lights. I once got run off the road in Sydney by a chap in a BMW who I had cycled past at no less than 5 traffic lights. He was obviously pretty frustrated.

Of course I shouldn't be telling you horror stories like this, and to be fair they are a rarity. At the moment I cycle over 120km a week, and the high points far outweigh the bad. Admittedly I am extremely fortunate to be able to use shower facilities when I get to work, and I cycle cross country for the most part, and that makes it more enjoyable, but it's the little things that make it fun. In the last few weeks I've heard frogs croaking after a sudden downpour (although I couldn't for the life of me see them) and stood and watched a foal playfully nudging his mother, and had to endure traffic jams of a most unusual sort....

2004-08-29T20:11:00.000+02:00

Farewell Athens

[Listening to: Do Anything You Want To- Thin Lizzy - Wild One: The Very Best of Thin Lizzy]

I haven't see or heard from J in Athens since the start of the Olympics, but hopefully I'll get to speak to her before she works on the Paralympics. Today I've happily worn my Athens 2004 t-shirt whilst watching the last events. It's been a great games, marred only at the last moment by the attack on Vanderlei de Lima in the mens marathon. Funnily enough, like Stuart Hughes, my first thought was that the atacker was the same person who had run onto the track at Silverstone last year - he was dressed the same, it seemed to much of a coincidence. More on this later.

And yes, it's confirmed. They should have locked him up for 2 years, not 2 months.

2004-08-26T13:31:00.000+02:00

Lunchtime Blog

The nice things I've seen (or heard) this week:

An owl that (presumably) lives in the park at the top of my street. I hear him in the evenings screeching as he hunts, and occasionally get to see him, usually perched on one of the many television aerials that sprout like trees from the tops of buildings in Rome. He's big, and although I've only seen him (or her) in flight once I was impressed at the wingspan.

Cycling to work this morning, my path was blocked by two horses. I had to ride behind them for a while as they ambled along, tails swishing, and occasionally looking back to check on me...

As in the daytime there is no star in the sky warmer and brighter than the sun, likewise there is no competition greater than the Olympic Games

Pindar, 5th century BC.

2004-08-21T20:29:00.000+02:00

What goes around...

[Listening to: Thinking About Tomorrow - Beth Orton - Pass in Time: The Definitive Collection Disc 1]

..comes around. Today's my birthday. I'm now proudly drinking tea out of my new Chelsea mug, and will hopefully get to wear wear my new Chelsea t-shirt at a Champions League game this year (it would be nice to draw Roma, especially after the win over Lazio last year). In the meantime I've got a very nice bottle of Brunello di Montalcino to drink some night (perhaps when the sweltering heat of August has subsided), a piccolino new backpack to carry some of the many books I have to read to the park, and a funky Paul Smith t-shirt to wear out one night soon.

As part of my new drive to become spam free, as soon as I've changed my email address I'm going to start using BugMeNot (courtesy of New Links, who also provided the code for the nifty "On This Day" that lets you click on the date and see what happened on this day in history. I'm working on making it jump to the BBC page, but can't quite get the code to work right yet, so at the moment it takes you to Wikipedia instead). I now get more spam than actual email, and it's driving me crazy. I've switched to Thunderbird as my mail client (I switched to Firefox as my browser some time ago), which at least works faster than Outlook....

For anyone who knows me, expect an email with my new address soon. For anyone who doesn't, I've added a link in the sidebar so you can drop me a line.

2004-07-30T21:03:00.000+02:00

Blue Morning

[Listening to: Shining Light - Ash - Q Best of 2001]

When I cycle to work in the morning I cross a field filled with blue flowers so bright they would hurt your eyes. They're amazing, and it never ceases to make me smile, no matter how tired I am. The strangest thing though is that in the evening there is no sign of them, to the point that sometimes I wonder if I saw them at all. So I took a picture, which doesn't do it justice, but I like it anyway.

2004-07-27T23:44:00.000+02:00

I Think I Overdid It

[Listening to: Sway - Bic Runga - Drive]

I'm knackered. Since I had my car stolen, I've cycled to work (on the days Little F (so called to differentiate him from F my possibly ex-flatmate) didn't lend me his car). On top of a 20/30km round trip (depending on whether I go cross country or on the road) I've been Spinning 2 or 3 times a week. Now there's nothing unusual in that, but watching Lance do his magic in the Tour has spurred me on to work harder. Now you see why....

So I can't write more....must sleep..body needs repair.....hurts...

2004-07-21T22:05:00.000+02:00

Too much to ask?

[Listening to: Explode - Nelly Furtado - Folklore]

Hurrah, I've finally met my match in the moody stakes. It appears F, my flatmate, is moodier than me, or at least not one to take criticism too well. A friend popped round last night and I cooked (sweet and sour Chinese, as it happens). We finished at midnight, and F said he would wash up in the morning. So when I cycled home tonight and it was all still in the sink I said I'd rather have done it myself last night than come home tonight to a sink full of dirty pots and pans. He washed it as soon as I came in, but given that he's been playing some computer game all day, I though he could have made the effort earlier, especially as I had to wait for a shower until he'd finished. F is now in his room, all talk of going for a pizza forgotten.

2004-07-11T23:40:00.000+02:00

Thank you - although I'm not sure what for

[Listening to: Thankyou - Dido - No Angel (UK Edition) [ECD] [UK]]

Many of my friends and colleagues have commented recently on the fact that I looked happy, or relaxed, or simply "well". Of course there was a reason for this (there always is, and this is the reason I've not posted for absolutely ages)..and it all seemed to be going rather well, but in this particular case the girl in question obviously didn't feel the same way as me. At least that's the way I read the situation when I met her new boyfriend last night.

So here I am again

I'm disappointed, I can't say I'm not. I don't know if this was the outcome I expected all along. I had made plans, as you do. A weekend in the hotel Fortino Napoleonico in le Marche was one idea. I really wanted to spend a holiday in a lighthouse after being in Cornwall (more on that later), but it's too far from Rome for a weekend.

I gave her the album I'm listening to now, along with an Angel tube t-shirt. Looking back, the play on words seems strangely prophetic.

But I was happy for a few weeks, or at least on the brink of it, which didn't feel so bad.

2004-05-10T23:50:00.000+02:00

Veicolo non presente in archivio

[Listening to: King of the Kerb - Echobelly - Essential Drive]

That's the message you get when you come back to where you parked your car and it hasn't been towed - it's been stolen. Now Gordon has the garage all to himself.

My glass is definitely half empty at the moment. I haven't posted in ages, been a bit under the weather and overworked and all that, and now this...darn it.

2004-03-25T23:49:00.000+01:00

RIP Gordon

[Listening to: Something Good - Bic Runga - Beautiful Collision [UK]]

Gordon was a ghekko that lived in my garage. Perhaps he didn't take too kindly to being woken from his hibernation when I moved into the garage on January 1st. Whatever the cause he has to be referred to in the past tense as he's definitely passed on. F, my new flatmate, is a vet, but even a layman like me could tell that Gordon wasn't well. He went from being a lovely soft mustardy brown colour to looking like a dried leaf. I miss him....

There was an interesting piece in todays La Repubblica on the Chelsea v Arsenal clash: Una lezione di derby pari Chelsea - Arsenal. After the dreadful scenes that followed the abandonement of Sundays local derby between Roma and Lazio that left 114 policemen injured, the paper writes that the London derby allowed Italian fans to see a great derby in a great capital, without blows, without extremists, just football. No violence, no tears, no smokescreens, no firecrackers. Nothing to ruin an evening of sport.

And what sport it was. Todays Guardian ran a funny piece on Chelsea: Ranieri stirred not shaken. For my money he doesn't deserve the treatment he's getting. Like Gianfranco Zola he's a great ambassador for his country. I only wish the fans here on Sunday could take a leaf out of their books.

2004-03-08T23:27:00.000+01:00

Saddened

[Listening to: The Nowhere Man - The Veils - The Runaway Found]

I was both surprised and saddened to read via Feeling Listless that Spalding Gray was found dead today. I remember seeing him perform his monologue "Swimming to Cambodia" back in the Eighties. Sad, very sad.

I've not written much recently. I've not been well. Shame really, as I've had loads of visitors due to the fact that Fate Delivers linked to me and then went off to Paris for a holiday. Me, I've been working 12 hour days and not going to the gym. Still, I'll get better soon....

2004-02-22T19:19:00.000+01:00

Nothing Moving..

[Listening to: This Paralysis - Eagle-Eye Cherry - Sub Rosa]

Rome recently introduced a driving ban on Wednesdays between 3:00 and 7:00 in an effort to reduce the pollution in the eternal city (see An Englishman in Verona February 19th for more of the same). Yesterdays papers carried news that if Rome suffers more rain like we had on Thursday then they will introduce the same driving ban the next day, I think the theory is that weather that brings rain also keeps the pollution trapped, or maybe it's to save the wear and tear on the roads, which quite literally fall apart when it rains (as an aside, the only place I've ever seen it rain harder than Rome is New Zealand - I once hitched to Te Anau on a day that it rained 21" in 24-hours).

Unlike Verona, in Rome the ban applies to even numbered plates one week, odd the next. I'm not worried, I cycle to work twice a week in the winter and more in the summer - I'll just get on the bike. I cycled to the gym on Saturday and the pollution was terrible, you could almost taste it, so I am all for measures to reduce it.

In my view it needs more incentive though. Few companies offer any facilities to make people get to work under their own power. I'm lucky, I get to use a shower, and can keep suits at work, so still look presentable. Even in the UK little effort is made to incentify cyclists - the mileage allowance for cyclists should be higher than motorists for instance. Showers should be available, cyclists should have adequate dry storage closer to the workplace than cars, not an open bike rack in the far corner of the car park. Think about it, if you cycle to work then you are already getting some exercise, and employees who exercise are less likely to get sick.

Of course here in Rome you take your life in your hands (quite literally) when you cycle. Romans tend to use bikes on Sundays when the centre is closed to traffic. When I broke my back the second time (in one year - don't try this at home folks) after a car driver opened his door whilst fumbling in the footwell for some papers, the government agency that was supposed to pay for my sick leave refused with the justification that I should have either been driving a car or using public transport.

So, bring on the rain, and a carless Rome perhaps? As long as it snows in the mountains and doesn't rain. I got up at 6:30 this morning to go snowboarding, and when we got there it was raining, not snowing. Slushville.

2004-02-14T16:38:00.000+01:00

Weird?

[Listening to: Rainbows and Pots of Gold - Stereophonics - You Gotta Go There To Come Back]

I had a strange dream last night:

I was in an apartment, possibly on holiday, with a group of people I knew. We had to go out to buy some food, so myself and a girl (the prettiest Spanish girl, funnily enough), said we would go. We got out a two sided map (why don't they print maps like this - it makes sense to me), which had a normal map on one side and a drawing of the place on the other. As we picked up the map, the pictures slid from one side of the page to the other, so you couldn't actually keep it still long enough to look at. None the less, we set off to find food.

We came upon a white house, with a man and his two children playing outside. We got talking to the man and commented on how nice his house and garden (which we seemed to be walking through) were, and how pleasant the weather was. The man then said there was a reason for that, and then appeared to throw something at me underarm. The sky in front of me appeared to rip open vertically, and all around me, and only me, a small storm erupted, with howling winds strong enough to send me tumbling over. As instantly as it started it stopped. The children were running around in the sunshine, laughing at my bewilderment.

There was more, but as with many dreams it's all a bit fragmented and blurred...

2004-02-11T22:34:00.000+01:00

Double Grrrrr

Of course, now that I come back to look at it all I get is the placeholder and an X...it previews fine in w.bloggar. Well, I'm too tired now to figure it out, maybe it works, maybe it doesn't. Maybe domani I'll fix it...

Grrrrr

[Listening to: You Said Something - PJ Harvey - Stories From the City, Stories From the Sea]

My first picture post ~ I took this a few months back near Piazza Republica, whilst most people were taking pictures of the fountain behind me...

hopefully now that I figured that out, I'll be able to post a few more, especially as I just picked up a Philips key ring camera / USB key.

Grrrrr, that's the way I feel today...

2004-02-10T22:56:00.000+01:00

Bumpy Roads

[Listening to: Delicate - Damien Rice - O]

No, not another gloomy day. I cycled to work today, and the roads here rate as some of the worst I've ever seen. I feel better for it though, that and the exhaustion brought on by a 3 ½ meeting this afternoon, then cycling to the gym for an hours Spinning (if you don't know what Spinning is, look here).

I'm also exhausted after finishing Winston Churchill's "The Second World War" ~ and this was the abridged version. I read all six volumes when I was a student, but even the abridged version is a heavy piece of work. Amazing though, truly a great narrative.

It's obviously what I needed, as I'm in a better mood than yesterday, and not stinging quite as much. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?

2004-02-09T22:24:00.000+01:00

Why Dream At All?

[Listening to: Something Better Change - The Stranglers - Peaches: The Very Best of the Stranglers]

Some days I really do feel that my life has become like a self created prison, with imaginary walls that I can't see over, a small view of the sky, and a wee cell that I pace about in. Perhaps this is because I'm essentially unhappy, stuck in a single relationship I can't get out of, doing a job I like for a company I don't, and talking to myself more than is healthy. I'm essentially the same person I ever was, but the more time I spend with myself the more I realise that I'm not much good at being on my own, yet that's normally how I find myself.

Why dream at all? We all sometimes feel that our dreams are beyond our reach (after all, I sometimes dream I can fly, and that's never going to happen), but I'd really begun to think that I could cope with just dreaming about the prettiest Spanish girl falling in love with me, and in the real world we'd just be friends. But life is not always so simple, and a chance remark by a friend today made me realise that it's not me she wants, and all of a sudden my dreams just seem futile. Don't get me wrong, I'd far rather we were friends than not, in fact I value her friendship more than she knows, and wouldn't want that to end, but the remark was like a paper cut, small, but it sure stung.

My oldest friend will from now on be referred to as "my youngest but oldest friend", as she says that my previous comment made her sound as though she was 150. Well, any of us reaching 150 is about as likely as me flying, but we will always be friends, regardless of our age. Some things you just know. She wrote me a lovely email, which took the sting out of my cut somewhat. Of course I'm aware that I don't make it easy to be my friend sometimes (I'm sure the prettiest Spanish girl would agree with that - but likewise I hope we stay friends for many many years to come). Hopefully I give something back in return. Friendship and love are not dissimilar in that they are like sand held in the palm of your hand ~ held loosely in an open hand, the sand remains where it is, if close your hand and squeeze tightly to hold on, the sand trickles through your fingers. I of course test everyones patience to the limit.

On a different and lighter note, I had the quietest weekend imaginable, but not for the normal reasons. Due to smog levels rising to unacceptable heights, all cars were banned in Rome yesterday, and the people took to the streets. Reported here in the Telegraph and an edited version even appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald

Thanks Thom for the comment; anyone else out there?

2004-02-04T22:44:00.000+01:00

Do you ever..

[Listening to: Please Do Not Let Me Go - Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell, Pt. 2 [EP]]

...sit down ready to blog, and although your head is bursting with thoughts, nothing is available when your fingertips touch the keyboard? Maybe I'd add more if I knew if anyone else was reading this apart from me.

My new flatmate, F, is an old friend from my days in Sydney. It's strange sharing a flat with someone who's known me so long, I think we first met in `98. I keep finding myself reminded of people, and old memories come flooding back, girls I dated, people we knew, films we saw etc. It's as though somone is looking through an old box of photos and stirring my memories.

2004-02-03T23:50:00.000+01:00

You Say You're So Happy Now

[Listening to: Are You Ready to Be Heartbroken? - Commotions; Lloyd Cole - Collection]

That's what weekends should be like.

I wanted to write somthing about what my weekend with the prettiest Spanish girl was like, but I'm stuck for words. Spending the weekend with a stunningly pretty girl who's trying on sexy clothes makes it difficult to concentrate. I have no idea how many pairs of boots she looked at, how many shops around the Spanish Steps we went into, but I enjoyed every minute. Eating a great dinner at Uno e Bino (don't ask me to translate it, I have no idea what it means) where I felt more relaxed than I have done in months left me wanting to repeat the experience, but don't ask me to say exactly why. On screen, I'll just look foolish.

Sunday we visited the Bioparco. Only in Italy could people so blatently ignore all the signs saying "don't feed the animals". Still, feeding time for Matilde and Nero the hippos left everyone smiling. Well okay, I smiled all weekend, but you get my drift. Quote of the day was a very small Italian boy watching a lonely Seal glide through her pool, who turned to his mother and said "I would love it if I could fall in love with her". I know how he feels.

Of course every weekend has to end, and now I'm sitting here trying to capture my weekend and failing. I wanted her to stay.

2004-01-27T22:33:00.000+01:00

Hey, I'm Back!

[Listening to: Valley Winter Song - Fountains of Wayne - Welcome Interstate Managers]

Well, I'm back after a weeks snowboarding in Serre Chevalier. This was my first break from work in 10 months, so well overdue. The snow was great, and I think I'm over my fear of drag lifts (little did I know how antiquated the lift system was in Serre Chevalier). It's a nice place, lots of off-piste boarding to be had, and pretty empty - some days it was like we had our own resort. I think one of the reasons I enjoy snowboarding so much (aside from the exhileration) is that you have to concentrate, if you don't pay attention you'll hurt yourself. This means you blot out any non snowboarding thoughts - I didn't think of work once. I think I scared the friend from Athens out of her skin when I crashed on the last day and bounced off my head twice, but no broken bones this time. Must be getting lucky in my old age...

A mixture of good news and bad news awaited me on my return:

My oldest friend accidentally ran over her kitten last week. Milly was very sweet, and liked to sit on the sink playing with the water dripping from the tap. She ripped me to shreds over christmas, and I'll miss her.

The prettiest Spanish girl is coming to stay next weekend. I can't wait.

An Englishman in Verona linked back to my site with reference to the Observer article I mentioned earlier this month. Of course that was written before our glorious leader had his cosmetic surgery. It says a lot about a country when their leader has cosmetic surgery, and of course here in Italy la bella figura means everything. Shame on them.

It snowed in Rome on Friday whilst I was away. That's so rare it made the news. I wish I'd seen it.

My flatmate from Pescara has to leave. She hasn't been paid for 2 months and has now lost her job as the company is closing. It's a shame, she's great, and it's hard to find flatmates you get on with so well with. I'm hoping things will change and she can stay.

This morning driving to work a Pied Wagtail landed on my mirror at a set of traffic lights. It looked in at me, then proceeded to admire it's reflection. When the lights changed and I drove off it attempted to fly alongside for a few seconds. Life is good sometimes.

So, now it's back to work. Never mind, the weekend is rapidly approaching.

2004-01-16T00:10:00.000+01:00

Don't know when I'll be content

[Listening to: The Optimist - Turin Brakes - The Optimist LP]

I had physiotherapy today - an hour and a half of pain, but well worth it. I still struggle to believe that over 3 years since I broke my back I'm still undergoing treatment, but immensely grateful that my physiotherapist, who treated me after both accidents, knows her way round my back, as she once said, like the back of her hand. This was the seciond session this week, which is a bit unusual, normally it's once a month, but given what she's achieved I'd never doubt her judgment.

Her efforts in teasing and pummeling my muscles back where they were supposed to be means I can go snowboarding next week. Which is great, as we've found what appears to be a nice apartment in Serre Chevallier, and there is loads of fresh snow. So it's hopefully going to be a week of fresh powder, and evenings eating, followed by bottle of Averna, some Nduja, cards and good company. That's what I call a holiday.

So now I must attempt to sleep, if my back lets me. Perhaps my back has been so sore because I've spent too many hours trying to work out how to design this blog?

My posts have been a bit erratic recently. This hasn't been helped by my new wireless keyboard, which is Italian. I've found myself constantly rewriting sentences because I can't find the correct character. I've promised myself I'll sort it out when I get back.....

2004-01-10T19:58:00.000+01:00

Top Ten

[Listening to: English Girls Approximately - Ryan Adams - Love Is Hell, Pt. 2 [EP]]

Stu asked what my top ten records were. As this is the first comment I've received (you didn't say which record you were referring to though Stu, and now I'm curious), I thought I'd list them. Once I got into it, it wasn't as easy as I thought, so here's two lists, with a total of 10:

Best of 2003
Streetcore - Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
You Gotta Go There To Come Back - Stereophonics
Folklore - Nelly Furtado
12 Memories - Travis
Stray - Janes Addiction

My Current Favourites
The Optimist LP - Turin Brakes
Just Enough Education To Perform Stereophonics
Lovers Rock - Sade
Stunt - Barenaked Ladies
I Ought to Give You a Shot in the Head for Making Me Live in This Dump - Shivaree

And as I said before, I don't care if no one agrees.

2004-01-08T01:15:00.000+01:00

Lists

[Listening to: Long Shadow - Joe Strummer - Streetcore]

What is it about lists? They're compulsive once you start. Feeling Listless listed his top ten albums, the last one of which, 'a pessimist is never disappointed' by the audience (Sophie Ellis Bextors before Spiller and her single career took off), I bought solely because of the title (I bought the first Shivaree album, 'I oughta give you a shot in the head for making me live in this dump' for the same reason). I'm not sure I agree with any more of his top ten, but that's the beauty of lists.

Todays Telegraph has an article on lists, prompted by Channel 4s "100 worst pop singles" programme over the new year. Thankfully the article told me who came first (I agree, the Cheeky Girls' "Touch My Bum" hardly rates as THE worst single of all time). I couldn't take any more, I'd sat through 90 of them, but caved in with only 10 to go. Anyone care to tell me what the top 10 were? I also agree with the author in voting The Likely Lads one of the best sitcoms. I'm reserving my opinion on The Office until after I've seen series 2 (the friend from London is sending me the DVD), but will add The Best of the Likely Lads to my Amazon Wish List....

For once, my new year didn't consist of lists of things I won't do this year. Saoirse never sent me my list from last year, but I know I didn't do ^any of them, so this year I'm taking a different approach.

In the words of Joe Strummer "you don't face your demons down, you got to grapple 'em Jack and pin 'em top the ground".

2004-01-06T23:20:00.000+01:00

Long Life anyone?

[Listening to: Don't Believe A Word - Thin Lizzy - Wild One: The Very Best Of Thin Lizzy]

Read a brilliant piece in the Observer on the plane home after christmas; "The new sick man of Europe", which puts into a British perspective just what Berlusconi has his fingers in, and how this control is really no laughing matter but should be of concern to all Europeans. I'm sure as the Parmalat scandal unfolds over the coming weeks (any advance on €8bn?) Italy will come under the microscope as creditors and companies in France, Holland, the US and Australia all wriggle. Todays Sunday Herald in a piece on the scandal says that "Italy is perceived to be the second most corrupt nation in Western Europe, just ahead of Greece: “While other countries were changing laws in response to Enron, Italy wasn’t. It was reducing penalties, not increasing them.” Why is everyone so surprised?

2003-12-31T23:59:00.000+01:00

Best of 2003

[Listening to: Underdog (Save Me) - Turin Brakes - The Optimist]

Read about someone elses 2003, mine was miserable.

2003-12-23T23:34:00.000+01:00

21st Century Christmas Breakdown?

[Listening to: Try - Nelly Furtado - Folklore]

For reasons I can't put my finger on, I feel as though I've let everyone down this christmas. Normally I enjoy picking presents for people, I like the act of giving, the quick moment of joy when you see something and think "that would be perfect for...", the hunting down of something special, knowing that because you put some thought into it the recipient will like it, the surefire feeling that someones eyes will light up when they open your gift. This year that was missing, in almost everything I bought. I don't know why, but it's not there. I haven't found one thing for my oldest friend. How can you know someone since they were 9 and not be able to find them a present? Is that a sign of a bad friend? Does it mean I don't care? I just don't have any ideas, it's as if they were all sucked out of me.

This year I'm spending christmas in England, for the first time in 9 years, with my oldest friend, her husband and two boys (I'm expecting an early start on christmas day). I haven't been able to find a present for my oldest friend, and despite her protestations this morning that it doesn't matter, it does, it matters to me. I'm losing touch with my friends, moving apart from the only person who knew me as a boy. I'm getting worse at corresponding with people, even though technology makes it easier evey day. I smile less than I used to, have fewer friends, spend more time on my own, and although I care more, I show it less.

So, in the words of the song, I resolve to try.

"and I see you standing there,
wanting more from me,
and all I can do is try..."

2003-12-08T19:25:00.000+01:00

Normal Service Will Resume Shortly

[Listening to: The Riches - Jane's Addiction - Q Best of 03]

The Christmas lights are on in my street. They have an effect that makes It look like it's raining stars, it's beautiful. They also add a feeling of warmth, which is good, because it's cold enough to be Siberia outside. I normally don't wear socks around the house, but today I never even took off my boots when I came in, it was that cold.

My friends from Athens were here this weekend. I hope they enjoyed themselves, it was kind of hard to tell. I've not been in the best of moods for the last few months (okay, I'll be honest, try years), but I did try to be sociable. We shopped, ate out, went to the local pub, shopped some more...in fact it was a whirlwind weekend, sort of non stop, but I'm worried they didn't have a good time. Friendships aren't always easy.

2003-12-01T23:38:00.000+01:00

Monday Evening

[Listening to: It's My Life - No Doubt - The Singles 1992-2003]

New look, new feel. This has taken all night, so not much energy left to write anything. I only did this because my Sky box can't find a signal. It'll do me good actually, I watch too much Tv. Hope you like it.

2003-11-26T20:04:00.000+01:00

..if you call, I will answer

[Listening to: Call and Answer - Barenaked Ladies - Stunt [UK Bonus CD] Disc 1]

Apparently the British Farmers union is playing chill out music to Turkeys to calm them down before Christmas. What a mad world we live in...

More interestingly in the Sydney Morning Herald was an article with a new slant on Jonny Wilkinsons winning kick in the Rugby World Cup, it makes a change from the press we've been getting in the Australian papers, and makes some interesting points. So I'm doing what the article suggests, having a few moments of introspection. I've had a terrible week at work, but things have calmed down, so I'm doing what the turkeys are doing and chilling out with some Barenaked Ladies (I should be so lucky...).

I've a busy few weeks ahead, with friends here from Athens one weekend, and a friend from London for the 2 weeks before Christmas. Then, for the first time in 9 years, I'm going away for Christmas (hurray, no cooking!). I do have to face Rome's Fuimincino airport on Christmas Eve, but that aside I'm looking forward to 4 days away, and also looking forward to being in Athens for New year (if I pull my finger out and book a flight tomorrow).

Just got off the phone from the prettiest Spanish girl (I think I'll use this name from now on, it has a nice ring to it), who I think has forgiven me for not taking her to the Lake District, although I have had to promise to take her there in the Spring. I'm not sure she valued the first ten minutes of the call as we were talking whilst I watched Chelsea fail to make the most of some splendid opportunities in front of the Sparta Prague goal in their Champions League clash, so our conversation was sporadically interrupted by me shouting at my TV in bemused frustration. After seeing Chelsea put 4 past Lazio here in Rome a few weeks ago, it was strange to see them miss so often. More importantly (we're back to the conversation now) as always she made me laugh (mostly at my own stupidity), and now I can go to bed smiling. Somehow 'Northern Exposure' came up in the conversation; do you remember it? A series set in Cicely, Alaska, that aired on Channel 4 some years ago. It had a wonderfully weird cast and some memorable lines:

"A lot of strange things about women".
"Amen to that".
"They give you every indication that they want you to do one thing when in fact, they want you to do just the opposite. And the topper is, that they get mad if you don't know that" (Joel and Maurice talk about women).