Monthly Archives: November 2008

Lessons in democracy

Posted on November 30, 2008 by Charles Lambert

The Honourable Maurizio Ronconi, deputy for the UDC, just can’t stomach the victory of Vladimir Luxuria on Isola dei Famosi (more information about this can be found here). He says it’s ‘simply scandalous’ that state television should transform a transsexual into a national … Continue reading →

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The merest whiff

Posted on November 29, 2008 by Charles Lambert

A very small taste of my presentation a week ago at Rome’s John Cabot University. It comes from the opening of The Scent of Cinnamon. I’m not being a tease (although I can be): this really is all that was … Continue reading →

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What I’d like to do to Berlusconi (while we still can)

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Charles Lambert

You may already know this, but I’ve just discovered a whole sub-genre on YouTube of actions being filmed in slow motion. I had no idea. Some of them are intensely lyrical. Others aren’t. This one, for example, isn’t. http://www.youtube.com/v/cWGn6_EH2gM&hl=en&fs=1

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The dark side

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Charles Lambert

I’m not sure how much of this, from today’s NYT, I understand, but it certainly feels exciting. Here’s an extract: A concatenation of puzzling results from an alphabet soup of satellites and experiments has led a growing number of astronomers … Continue reading →

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Richer and stranger…

Posted on November 25, 2008 by Charles Lambert

Don’t miss the third leg of my Something Rich and Strange virtual book tour, at Scott Pack’s essential blog, Me and My Big Mouth. I’m answering questions on order, sequence and, well, order again, which makes it sound a lot drier … Continue reading →

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Stop press: Luxuria wins IdF

Posted on November 24, 2008 by Charles Lambert

Well, it’s not Obama, but I’m happy to report that Italy’s most famous transgender politician-cum-actor-cum-a-host-of-other-things, Vladimir Luxuria, has just won the Italian version of I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, known here as Isola dei Famosi (Island of … Continue reading →

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A maid looking through the keyhole

Posted on November 24, 2008 by Charles Lambert

There’s a lovely piece by Peter Popham in today’s Independent about the background to Fellini’s La Dolce Vita. Here’s an extract from it, with an interesting observation on how artists – some artists – gather their material:  The film caused … Continue reading →

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So long as men can breathe

Posted on November 24, 2008 by Charles Lambert

I’ve just finished Warwick Collins’ new novel, The Sonnets, which draws its inspiration from Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence and the circumstances in which it was written. It’s a brave man who decides to narrate an episode from Shakespeare’s life in the … Continue reading →

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Hormonal communism

Posted on November 23, 2008 by Charles Lambert

An interview with one of my favourite writers, José Saramago, in today’s Guardian online – presumably the Observer? Well worth reading. Here’s an extract: Still a Communist party member, Saramago describes himself as a “hormonal communist – just as there’s … Continue reading →

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Scent of Cinnamon launch

Posted on November 22, 2008 by Charles Lambert

Well, after a heated Facebook debate on what to wear, I decided to do sober but casual, as befits the Aula Magna Regina of John Cabot University. Carlos Dews, writer, friend and professor of English Language and Literature at JCU, … Continue reading →

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