A crate for fruit

Update: If anyone thinks this is a gratuitous slur on the Pontifex and his sexual preferences and doesn’t speak Italian, the slur is actually worse than they may have thought. The name of the wholesale fruit and veg dealers on the side of the plastic crate in the top picture is PAPA & L’AMANTE (which, translated into English, reads POPE AND LOVER). Papa is a fairly common name in these parts, L’Amante rather less so; the combination was too good to miss.

The Specials: Ghost Town

Even though you are who you are

An extraordinary tale from Mark Doty’s blog.

The world

I got this from Joe.My.God, who got it from See My Briefs, who got it from their friend Kevin. Thank you, Kevin. 

(You need to click on it to see the whole thing. Dont ask me why, ask Blogger. I just do what I’m told.)

Naples, 21-22 March 2009

Apologies

If you’re wondering a) what the odd little widget to the right, the one with the numbers and the blue bar, is all about, and b) why my contributions to this blog are so erratic these days, well, there’s one answer to both. I’m working on a new novel, entitled ANY HUMAN FACE, my progress on which is being measured by the aforesaid widget. (The figure of 85,000 is a purely hypothetical final word count.) Everything else is being pushed to one side. But believe me, it will be worth it. And, meanwhile, please don’t give up on me – keep dropping in (if only to see how many more words I’ve written). I’m sure I’ll find time to express irritation about any number of things before the novel’s finished and I resume normal service. Be warned, Ratzy! 

Strano is as Strano does

The name of the caterwauling, gesticulating oaf with the slice of mortadella hanging from his lips is Nino Strano, the place – alas! – is the Italian senate. Nino Strano is insulting Romano Prodi and his supporters in the way that comes most naturally to a man of culture, by calling them ‘faggots’ and ‘pieces of shit’. Strano says he has gay friends – I hope that’s no longer the case. He lost his seat at the last election but has been chosen as a candidate, by Berlusconi, for the European elections later this year. Remember, in Italy, we don’t get to choose who we vote for; that’s the job of the party, which just knows better. We give carte blanche to each political party to make its own decisions about who should represent us. In his efforts to clean up his act defend his honour, Strano is threatening people who show this film, including YouTube and individual bloggers, with legal action. Which is why I’m posting it here. And which is why I’m asking anyone who reads this and also has a blog to post the same film. It’s a small thing. But so is Nino Strano.

Review

I’d just like to point you towards an excellent review for Little Monsters from The Fiction Desk. This may be the first time that my moustache has been called out in a review, and it’s certainly the first time the novel has been rated more highly than a plate of cacio e pepe, one of my absolute favourite dishes and possibly the last remaining reason for living in Rome. (I’m joking. Just.) I can’t tell you how much this means to me. 

You can read it here.

Imagine

Press freedom in a democracy. Lesson one.

Dario Franceschini, the new PD leader, though probably not for long, suggested  a couple of days ago that the unemployed should receive some kind of indemnity payment from the government. I thought they already did, or at least had the right to do, but apparently I was wrong. There were vaguely positive murmurings from left and right, possibly because it looked like the kind of thing Obama might propose, so it’s a bit of a vote-catcher and it never hurts to be associated with one of those. 

But Berlusconi immediately ruled the proposal out. Not because it was unfair, or because the funds weren’t available. His argument, in pure Silvio fashion, was that it would encourage employers to sack people. These people would then pick up their dole cheques and be re-hired illegally at lower wages. What kind of brain does it take to come up with that kind of scenario? (Yes, this question is intended to be rhetorical.)

He also said that Italy is the only democracy in which state television criticises the government in power with impunity. (If only this were true.) He’s obviously been taking lessons in democracy from Putin. Oh yes, his latest word on the economic crisis. He admits there is one, but insists that the media exaggerate it. Which media? Not, one assumes, the huge swathe of it owned or controlled by the grinning buffoon himself.