Monthly Archives: April 2010

The Elephant Keeper

Posted on April 30, 2010 by Charles Lambert

The Elephant Keeper by Christopher Nicholson My rating: 5 of 5 stars This is a wonderful book. It’s an account by Tom Page, the elephant keeper of the title, of his relationship with two elephants in 18th century England, and … Continue reading →

Posted in review | Leave a comment

Book-loving in Catalonia

Posted on April 25, 2010 by Charles Lambert

No, I’m not dead, in case you were wondering, and I haven’t been resting either, in the Thespian sense or otherwise. As we say here in Italy, when struck by wistful longing, magari (to the latter, obviously: I mean, not … Continue reading →

Posted in girona, holiday, writing | Leave a comment

Recycling

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Charles Lambert

The town I live in, Fondi, has a brand new town council. Well, not quite brand new. The freshly elected mayor (with over 55% of the vote) is a Mr De Meo – you may remember him from the election … Continue reading →

Posted in corruption, fondi, politics | 3 Comments

Foot and mouth disease

Posted on April 13, 2010 by Charles Lambert

I’ve been on the point of writing something about the whole paedophile scandal for a couple of weeks now, but really, why bother? The Vatican is doing such a good job of shooting itself in the foot – yes, that’s … Continue reading →

Posted in church, gay, hypocrisy, vatican | 1 Comment

Lech Kaczynski dies in plane crash

Posted on April 10, 2010 by Charles Lambert

One dwarfish homophobe less in the world (calm down – I’m talking about the one on the left). Of the evil Polish ex-child stars, Lech is the straight twin; his even more repulsive brother, Jaroslav, is the one rumoured to … Continue reading →

Posted in death, good riddance, poland | 1 Comment

Take your partners

Posted on April 9, 2010 by Charles Lambert

The nearest I got to any seriously engaged reading during my three years at Cambridge was probably every Thursday when NME came out and, in the company of friends and a pinch or so of grass, we gathered in my … Continue reading →

Posted in death, malcolm mclaren, music | Leave a comment

Interview

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Charles Lambert

Patricia E. Fogarty of TheAmerican | inItalia interviewed me recently, about Little Monsters and Any Human Face, along with the whole business of living and writing abroad. As you’ll see, I’m snugly placed between a piece on the highly regarded … Continue reading →

Posted in any human face, interview, little monsters | 2 Comments

To heaven with a handgun

Posted on April 6, 2010 by Charles Lambert

Would you buy a used apocalypse from these people? More information here. “By Monday, the Stones’ house stood empty, its front door ajar and two dogs still tied up in the muddy yard, which was littered with dilapidated furniture, a … Continue reading →

Posted in crank, religion | 1 Comment

Via Parlamento

Posted on April 3, 2010 by Charles Lambert

I took this photograph on the day it was announced that the leader of the regional parliament of Sicily was being investigated for Mafia connections. He isn’t the first: his baby-faced predecessor was famously photographed offering his partners in crime … Continue reading →

Posted in corruption, government, mafia, palermo | Leave a comment

Biofeed? No thanks!

Posted on April 3, 2010 by Charles Lambert

The next time you’re thinking of adding a little extra fertiliser to that rubber plant in the corner of the living room, consider these monsters from Piazza Marina in Palermo and think again. (I’m just there for purposes of scale.)

Posted in palermo | Leave a comment