Author Archives: Charles Lambert

Hate (crimes) postscript

Posted on December 9, 2007 by Charles Lambert

Come on, you don’t need me to translate this for you. Make an effort. Sweat a little. After all, you never know how useful these very words might be on your next trip to Italy. You might bump into a … Continue reading →

Posted in bigotry, binetti, homophobia, italy, PACS, politics, religion | Leave a comment

Hate (crimes)

Posted on December 9, 2007 by Charles Lambert

The Italian government is in one of its periodic kerfuffles about gay rights and the lack of them. A clause introduced into the long-suffering security bill currently passing through parliament aims to impose sentences for acts of violence or discrimination … Continue reading →

Posted in berlusconi, binetti, gay, homophobia, italy, politics, very dark cave | Leave a comment

Ducks

Posted on December 7, 2007 by Charles Lambert

Something restful to look at after a hard few days’ work, although these ducks, bucolic as they may seem, are actually protected by foxes from an electric fence and have seen their numbers rise and fall in the most precarious … Continue reading →

Posted in natural law | Leave a comment

All broken items must be paid for

Posted on December 6, 2007 by Charles Lambert

Just under fifteen months ago I broke my shoulder. It wasn’t really my fault. I wasn’t doing anything dangerous. I wasn’t drunk, or cycling, or clicking my heels in the air: activities that have led to injuries in the past. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Gazebo madness

Posted on December 5, 2007 by Charles Lambert

While I was away last weekend, Silvio Berlusconi got up to one of his customary wheezes. The jape was a replica of the one he organised a few weeks ago, when the corrupt buffoon (Mail on Sunday) covered the country … Continue reading →

Posted in berlusconi, corruption, italy, politics | 1 Comment

Weekend break

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Lambert

I’ll be away for a few days. See you next week. Behave. Here’s something to look at while I’m gone.

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Sick building

Posted on November 29, 2007 by Charles Lambert

The university language centre, where I work, is on the seventh floor of one of Rome’s ugliest buildings, halfway between the Pyramid and St Paul outside the Walls. Thrown up in the 1970s, it manages to seem both shoddy and … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, rome, work | 1 Comment

Recreational drugs

Posted on November 28, 2007 by Charles Lambert

This is painted on the outside wall of the basement of the building in which I work.The care with which the mushroom has been rendered, in all its – how shall I say this? – hallucinatory splendour is in stark … Continue reading →

Posted in architecture, graffiti, work | Leave a comment

Free speech

Posted on November 27, 2007 by Charles Lambert

In today’s Guardian, Brian Klug makes an interesting point about the brouhaha surrounding the Oxford Union’s decision to invite two fascists – who shall here remain nameless – to participate in a debate on free speech. He points out that … Continue reading →

Posted in freedom of speech, human rights | 1 Comment

Little Monsters update

Posted on November 25, 2007 by Charles Lambert

Little Monsters has been described by a certain Caitriona (thank you, Caitriona!) as a tear-jerker on the Picador blog. The novel’s made me cry in the past for a variety of reasons, but it’s slightly disconcerting (and, of course, wholly … Continue reading →

Posted in little monsters, picador, shameless self-promotion | 2 Comments