Ivan Klima’s Premier a Andel (The Prime Minister and the Angel) – a note at the end of the book tells us – was written between April 2002 and January 2003 but Klima writes with such ease that it gives the impression of having been written yesterday between a late breakfast and lunch with a […]
‘Sweet Sufferin Jayzus!’ as this Monkey is prone to utter at moments of wide-eyed disbelief. A tense Quiz show studio holds its breath. The question is asked – “What rite would one use to expel demons?”. Furrowed brows from the two contestants, chemicals firing blindly across brain synapses, until Fr. Giorgio* surges for the buzzer […]
‘Sweet Sufferin Jayzus!’ as this Monkey is prone to utter at moments of wide-eyed disbelief. A tense Quiz show studio holds its breath. The question is asked – “What rite would one use to expel demons?”. Furrowed brows from the two contestants, chemicals firing blindly across brain synapses, until Fr. Giorgio* surges for the buzzer […]
The Court of Appeals has over-ruled a judgement that meted out a fine of 500 euros to Piero Ricca for allegedly insulting Silvio Berlusconi back in May of 2003. The occasion was one of Berlusconi’s rare appearances in court – rare not because Italy’s ex-Prime Minister has rarely fallen foul of the law, but because […]
Another ad, this time for some kind of a quasi-bank offering loans. Among the lender’s selling points: no guarantor required no need to get permission from your spouse The Fatima Mansions used to sing “only losers take the bus.”
“Another attack in Nassiriya has refocussed the attention of the media, of politicians, and thus of public opinion on our military missions abroad. In these sad and difficult occasions there are set patterns of communication and reaction that have become rituals: bombastic, emotional and participatory, but in the end self-serving. Arid and sterile, from which […]
Some months back (March 28th — it fell down the back of the couch) Polityka had a promising article on the encroachment of public space by private property (“Wspólnie nie dla wszystkich”). It would be naive to think that the Polish reader would find in such a magazine anything about Reclaim the Streets – they […]
Anhelli by Juliusz S?owacki tells of a mystic journey undertaken by the eponymous hero and his guide, a shaman, around Siberia, to which many Poles were deported after their failed revolt in 1830. It’s an unintentionally hilarious classic of nineteenth century Polish romantic literature. At one point Anhelli and the shaman meet people carrying coffins […]
Here’s a sign I saw on a bus today: We will be buying hair on June 12th. Hair to be longer than 35 cm. Grey and dyed hair to be longer than 45 cm. Price depends on length of hair.