London calling - Catching up is hard to do
The problem with spending so much time out of town, as I have been doing of late - and as I will be doing for most of the summer - is that I spend most of the time trying to catch up. Whether it's news or people, everything becomes fragmented. Routine...
The problem with spending so much time out of town, as I have been doing of late - and as I will be doing for most of the summer - is that I spend most of the time trying to catch up. Whether it's news or people, everything becomes fragmented. Routine flies out of the window and you start to feel like you're missing out on what's going on (which can be a bit frustrating!). Only yesterday, upon receipt of the Tate's schedule of programming for the summer, I was disappointed to see that I will not be able to attend half the things I would like to because I'm going to be away for some reason or other - be it for work or play.
In light of this, my contribution this week is going to be a bit all over the place - a compendium of comments rather than a full block, as per usual. So without any further ado, here goes:
No sooner had I handed in my copy last week that Tony Blair announced his resignation. It's old news now, but the fact that Gordon Brown has made it straight to Labour Party leader without so much as an election is quite remarkable. Like millions of others in this country, I was a fan of Mr Blair in the early days, and had high expectations. In recent years, however, mainly thanks to his handling of the Iraq war, and his continuous alliance with George Bush, I had lost my allegiance. Still, anything's better than a Conservative government, so I'll be rooting for Mr Brown, who seems like a good man... But then again they all do at this point don't they!
Like many others, I'm very upset that Paris Hilton's jail sentence has been reduced by half, and that she will now be given special treatment in prison. It's not that I have anything personal against her, but I had this little twisted scenario going in my head, with her on her knees scrubbing the grouting between tiles with a toothbrush, as inmates who make the cast of Prisoner Cell Block H look like a line of ballerinas in Swan Lake cheer on. If she's committed a criminal offence, then she should pay for it the way any other American citizen would, not have it made easier, especially when we are sure that upon her emergence, she will probably make millions out of the incident. Coming soon: Paris Hilton - The Jail Diaries. After all, didn't Naomi Campbell have a diary of her five days community service published in W magazine?
I feel I must join the chorus of disapproval aimed at the farce that is the Eurovision Song Contest following our disastrous result this year - which was, I hasten to add, no fault of our contestant. I can understand why we Maltese take it so seriously - it being one of a few opportunities we have to shine at an international level. But guys, please, it's such a big waste of (public, I hasten to add) money. It's a joke. Nobody - except for the naffer of the European countries - takes it seriously. Spend the money elsewhere. Train local talent with it. Give it to museums or art institutions. But to waste on the farce that is the Eurovision is a waste.
And one more piece of disapproval before I sign off. Whoever it was who was involved in the destruction of all those trees in Mellieha should spend the rest of his (I think I can safely use the masculine here) life wearing sackcloth and eating ash (you're getting the censored version of what I'm thinking, actually). It's disgusting, utterly deplorable and makes me ashamed of being Maltese.
In light of this, my contribution this week is going to be a bit all over the place - a compendium of comments rather than a full block, as per usual. So without any further ado, here goes:
No sooner had I handed in my copy last week that Tony Blair announced his resignation. It's old news now, but the fact that Gordon Brown has made it straight to Labour Party leader without so much as an election is quite remarkable. Like millions of others in this country, I was a fan of Mr Blair in the early days, and had high expectations. In recent years, however, mainly thanks to his handling of the Iraq war, and his continuous alliance with George Bush, I had lost my allegiance. Still, anything's better than a Conservative government, so I'll be rooting for Mr Brown, who seems like a good man... But then again they all do at this point don't they!
Like many others, I'm very upset that Paris Hilton's jail sentence has been reduced by half, and that she will now be given special treatment in prison. It's not that I have anything personal against her, but I had this little twisted scenario going in my head, with her on her knees scrubbing the grouting between tiles with a toothbrush, as inmates who make the cast of Prisoner Cell Block H look like a line of ballerinas in Swan Lake cheer on. If she's committed a criminal offence, then she should pay for it the way any other American citizen would, not have it made easier, especially when we are sure that upon her emergence, she will probably make millions out of the incident. Coming soon: Paris Hilton - The Jail Diaries. After all, didn't Naomi Campbell have a diary of her five days community service published in W magazine?
I feel I must join the chorus of disapproval aimed at the farce that is the Eurovision Song Contest following our disastrous result this year - which was, I hasten to add, no fault of our contestant. I can understand why we Maltese take it so seriously - it being one of a few opportunities we have to shine at an international level. But guys, please, it's such a big waste of (public, I hasten to add) money. It's a joke. Nobody - except for the naffer of the European countries - takes it seriously. Spend the money elsewhere. Train local talent with it. Give it to museums or art institutions. But to waste on the farce that is the Eurovision is a waste.
And one more piece of disapproval before I sign off. Whoever it was who was involved in the destruction of all those trees in Mellieha should spend the rest of his (I think I can safely use the masculine here) life wearing sackcloth and eating ash (you're getting the censored version of what I'm thinking, actually). It's disgusting, utterly deplorable and makes me ashamed of being Maltese.