A PLACE FOR SIDEWAYS TRAINS OF THOUGHT
This is the third time this has happened to me. I open the Rome bus app (Roma Bus), click on the tab to check the route of a bus (it was the 32 this time) and a screen appears with a map of a large part of North-West Africa. Are there secret bus routes running... Continue Reading →
When I was in my twenties, I used to live in Bologna in a 6th floor flat together with 5 other people. The flat was on the outskirts of town and I remember you could see a football pitch, a roller hockey rink, the motorway, the railway and just beyond it the airport and all... Continue Reading →
Forget your Emmies, your Tonies, your Grammies. Your Hammies, your Spammies, your Phishies, your Phonies - the best awards of all are the Ig Nobel Prizes! The Ig Nobel prizes started out as a way to make fun of useless scientific research (“which cannot, or should not be, reproduced”) but over time the organisers have... Continue Reading →
I read a lot and when I don't have a book, I find it hard to avoid reading any of the signs and labels in my vicinity. Sometimes I come across one which makes me pause. Here are a few examples Dementia Bar I spent a couple of nights in a room on the 3rd floor just... Continue Reading →
I keep on walking past this hoarding half-way down via Giulia, in the one ugly spot on one of Rome's most beautiful streets. I always wonder, "Is this Rome's new traffic plan?" Because that's what it says at the bottom: Rome - Traffic and Mobility Action Plan. And I wonder “When is this going to... Continue Reading →
This is something which I picked up in India once while interpreting for a rather unpleasant group of people. Luckily we had a very cheerful driver whose mood remained bright and sunny despite the black clouds which continued to settle inside his car. I can't remember his name, but I have come to think of... Continue Reading →
The other day an article appeared in the New York Times about ethnic jokes in Dagestan. I am not sure how accurate a portrayal this was of life in Dagestan but some of the jokes were very funny. An Avar is driving through Makhachkala with a Lakh in the passenger seat. Spotting a red light, he... Continue Reading →
This post is for people who have already grown as old as they want to be. As a result they don’t react as positively to questions about their age as the five-year old in the poem and sometimes can become extremely glum. Some people seem to go actively looking for this kind of reaction. They... Continue Reading →
Recently, I came across an Indian astrology website. It was not something to get involved with unless one was willing to make an effort. Here, for example, are some of the things you needed to do to make sure the future turned out right. To ward off evil impact of malefic planets for smoothing your life perform... Continue Reading →
This is a duck I encountered on Malta as it waited on one leg on dry land... ... because of the no bathing sign ? ... ... and the dog on duck patrol ? If you want to know why the duck is in a yoga position, here is a very pretty Vietnamese legend which explains it. (Taken... Continue Reading →