End of the two weeks in Malta. The notes from a small island include a register of the pent up frustration that surfaces when discussing and that contrasts incredibly with the image of laid back Med country that is part of the daily tableau. We don’t travel to judge. Us expats I mean but...

Last night, Merlin’s flagship author Pierre Mejlak launched his latest collection of short stories entitled “dak li l-lejl iħallik tgħid” (“what the night lets you say”). The event was held in the sumptuous settings of Mdina’s Palazzo Falson – a...

And this is where I continue from yesterday’s post. As I was saying (at some point) my biggest worry in this kind of events is that the “culture” crowd gets a little toy and keeps it to itself for a few events that would be deemed “arty-farty”. I am sure that this...

Yesterday I was in Valletta for the opening of the imagine18 Conference & Workshops organised by the Malta Council for Culture and Arts in order to prepare for Valletta’s bid to be the European Capital of Culture in seven years’ time. The event was held in the sumptuous...

One of my current “thinking post” books (i.e. books read while spending time in the restroom) is “The Triumph of the Political Class” by Peter Oborne. The book is a damning exposure of the mechanics of the political system in 21st century Britain. As I read through...

The Times of Malta has its moments of cheap spin tapping on the volatility of your average voter in order to feed on the quickfire commentators response. Shortly after couching the appointment of the new head of the EU Representation in Malta in purely economic terms (here we go again…...

Three days into my stay on the island and I am getting a bit of a tan notwithstanding the sporadic games of hide and seek played out by the big orb in the sky. I must continue to apologise for the relative laxity of updates on this blog but the mind and body have been engaged elsewhere for...

Here’s an extract from an essay by George Orwell that appeared in Horizon in the April 1946 edition. The essay entitled “Politics and English Language” may be found in its entirety on this page. Now to the extract: In our time, political speech and writing are largely the...

Tenders (appalti), parliamentarians (deputati) and simpletons (gonzi) feature in this classic with the great Prince of Italian comedy and social commentary. Toto. Nothing much has changed has it? spread the word:TweetEmailPrintMoreLike this:Like...

Being so close to Italy and italianate forms of entertainment it is strange that this island of ours has not absorbed more of its more interesting forms of culture. The Italians have that culture of singing poets – cantautori – who entertain and challenge at the same time. Their...

Muore un gran regista Italiano. L’armata Brancaelone Amici Miei Intervista Monicelli spread the word:TweetEmailPrintMoreLike this:Like...

Who’s who? Here’s a comparative set of pics. One of Joseph Muscat from therealbudget.com and one of Malta’s great tenor Joseph Calleja. Who’s been a naughty photoshopper now? spread the word:TweetEmailPrintMoreLike this:Like Loading...