She was with her mother; they were waiting to be served at the bank. This fresh-faced young lady with a great voice and innate acting ability was doing what she does best - being a lovely daughter and completely oblivious to the fame her part in It-Tmien Nota has rightly gained her. She impressed me with her poise, with her ready smile, and her impeccable behaviour as we waited.
I asked Annalise Psaila what it meant to her to have taken part in such a brilliant production, and whether she intends pursuing the visual arts further. "It was a marvellous experience - and it's all thanks to Joe Cachia and Image 2000, who believed in me. I have been singing for seven years - and yes, I do feel I would like to continue in this line of work; I love performing."
Truth be told, most of the correspondence I have received about this series mentioned Annalise as their favourite actress - which is saying quite something, considering the rest of the cast.
I am told that Joe Cachia's next opus will have a hell of a script - and a devilish plot. That is all 'they' would tell me, in fact.
However, another salient point in the aforementioned letters mentions how the screening times, owing to the general election, became a hit-and-miss affair. PBS could do worse than re-screen the whole series as is being done by One for Mirjana Coljeró. The second run will be as from April 28, with the denouement at the end of July.
Mirjana, in fact, will also be having the 60-minute final episode premièred at the Eden Century cinemas tomorrow at 8.30 p.m. Autograph hunters will have a field day - all the cast and production team will be present. This will be a three-hour event, with the first part being a recap of the series, the second, the conclusion, and the third, a review of Mark Doneo's best work to date.
Meanwhile, on the international front, journalist colleagues in Zimbabwe are having a very rough time. Two of them (one of whom is a correspondent from the New York Times) have been arrested, on the premise that they did not have the necessary permits to do reportage.
Meanwhile, the Zimbabwean press report strange goings-on in the offices of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, where governor Gideon Gono and his aides are to be seen frantically rooting out files, loading them onto vehicles, and transporting them to Mr Gono's personal bonfire at his Glen Lorne house.
A Zanu-PF source was quoted as saying that files pertaining to the party hit squad euphemistically called 'Department 53' were also being destroyed; this unit had been used to decimate both opposition activists and troublesome members of its own party.
Lawrence Mizzi and his star-studded studio panel line-up (J.G. Vassallo, Fr Joe Borg, Guido Lanfranco, and Manni Spiteri) were having a brilliant discussion on RTK last Wednesday evening... about broadcasting, what else?
The series is called Konna Aħjar Jew Konna Agħar? and it deals with the trials and tribulations of local broadcasting during its often-troubled history. On the whole, the discussion cannot be said to have been biased - except for some leading questions that were neatly fielded by people who felt it was not (yet?) time to commit themselves.
In one of Simone Cini's 20 Minuta last week, one of the guests was Mario Borg. The topic was one close to my heart - the copious amounts of homework that students are given by teachers who pander to parents' expectations - while doing children untold harm.
Dr Borg said that there is a plateau of acceptability beyond which a child will no longer absorb what he is being made to do.
I felt vindicated; whenever I went to different schools to complain about heaps of homework that left children no time to be free to pursue their own choices (i.e. not necessarily more private lessons or extracurricular subjects) I was always told that I would have been the only one to complain, and that "in order to learn" children "need" to do "100 sums" or "copy the compositions into a different copybook".
Meanwhile, I note that the Broadcasting Code on the use of Maltese, which ostensibly came into effect on October 1, 2002, is still not being observed by all those who think they can pepper their conversations with Maltesised English and yet make sense. Just as do those who use English badly.
Just for the record, you do not exuberate confidence; and you do not tippuxxja your opinions.
No doubt, arrangements are being made for the next edition of the Malta Television Awards. Recently I was reading about Television with a Conscience, a new award instituted by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
This new award aims to honour achievements in programming presenting issues of concern "in a compelling, emotional and insightful way", and as such it has been emphasised that it is distinct and separate from Emmy's recognition of television excellence.
The programmes or series that are eligible for this trophy must educate, create awareness, enlighten, and instigate positive change with regards to social and health issues. I am sure this would automatically disqualify One and Net news bulletins, and several other so-called discussion programmes that are a blot on the local broadcasting scene.
television@timesofmalta.com