somewhere near san dona' di piave

last night was wolf's stag night - he had it after the wedding!
we went to somewhere near san dona' di piave to a restaurant which is part of a vinyard there. all stuff to eat and drink which is strictly forbidden by my new diet - doctor's orders.

still....

somewhere near san dona' di piave 2

the merlot that led to the cabernet which accompanied the dinner that led to the coffee.....

what a waste

the coffee that led to the grappa that led to the grappa that led to the grappa that led to the grappa that led to the grappa that led to the grappa that led to the sambucca that led to a waste of a day today.
i was a silly boy!

to tired to write anything of late, hopefully when i finally finish work i shall be a little more productive!

goodnight dear surfer...

On the Committee

this morning i was unwittingly co-opted on to the 'prima media' end of year exams, examining 'commissione'! i should have been with my class, a year 4 primary class, helping them cheat their exams but i was sucked into the wormhole that is caused by a spanish art teacher who has more than one job, local council italian private education regulations meeting with italian state examination beaurocracy, emerging somewhat dishevelled in a secondary school in zelarino (get a map). to make things better i had to pretend to be the art teacher! then had to sit through thr real crap the poor kids had done in class. i know this class very well, they are all pretty enthusiastic in all areas, to get them to produce crap artwork must have been quite a challenge!
i have proposed a radical change in teaching methods and the abandonment of the italian state programme for art. at present they study mainly art history, (from prehistoric man to modern gothic in an academic year!!!), and there was supposed to be time for practice, in 2 hours a week.

i despair!

heavy man!

I wonder if she was one of S Club's mothers....

Please allow me.......

The great Keith, who my friend served in Harry's Bar the other day. He didn't mention it once mind you, not once, well not just once in fact.

Stevie Wonder. He was in my bathroom, so I took this photo. ((C) Uncut Magazine!)

AAAAARRRGGGHHH! The Quatermess Experiment...

not what? but why?

One of many drinks you can ruin with Coca-Cola.

wolfie's wedding

wolf is the only person i know who has organised his stag-night for after the wedding.
wedding last week, stag night next week. in an 'agriturismo' - good home grown food and wine - i may break the odd rule....

we were in an agriturismo, which is basically self-sufficient, family run restaurant in the sticks, yesterday. the speciality of this one in mogliano veneto is musetto, donkey sorpressa(!) and polenta with marjoram. heavy stuff and a very hot venetian day.
we went to celebrate the end of term so it was a rather jolly affair. all those slightly older ladies who insist on saying 'oh no, not wine for me, i hardly drink' etc etc...i counted at least 14 empty wine bottles on the table at the end of lunch.
there were only 24 of us and two of those were 10 months old and another 9 years of age! i myself polished of a bottle of the rather tasty red in no time. i did mix a little with nice cool, sparkling water to make a rather tasty 'sprizz'.

last night was accompanied by a feisty traminer (jermann) and the splendid 'belvedere' polish vodka. oh there was a little, chewy steak and a touch of salad in there too. a quick strum on the old guitar and then it was off to mestre's newest club, 'cielo', up by the airport.
a pretentious place indeed , all 'hollywoodiana' on the outside, there's even a pool inside and several 'themed' areas. all very nice i suppose, but you just can't make up for a slightly desperate clientele and awful music. also slightly over-bright lighting in areas revealed a sad shabbyness which kind of summed it all up.
does that make any sense?

week after next, off to austria for wolf's next wedding!

whiskey and whine

well that's it, have to cut the booze out then.
doctor's recommendation.
could be interesting.

oh dear!

got my blood test results back -high cholesterol and high triglycerides (which is worse). my fear dear reader is that, seeing that i eat a very well balanced and healthy diet, it may be the alcohol!
gulp!
oh the very thought of it! no wine, no whisky....a reduced risk of a heart attack...hmmm...

looks like its finally caught up with me then! perhaps i am not indestructable after all.

oh joy! ii

i must recommend the ronco del gnemiz bianco bianco delle venezie
but not with those funny, beaded jelly ones from the liquorice allsort collection
that was a grave error

but easily overcome by the thought of...
...whiskyyyyyyyyyy!

goodnight dear reader, ruder and radar, rhonda valley pigeon fancier, rider and rhododendron grower.
remember to listen out tomorrow for the old 'plink, plink, fizz!'

still up

ahem,

still haven't gone to bed!

been trying to find the italian translations on michael leigh's blog!

!!!

yawn

brain dead
going to bed

struggling for a rhyme for indigestion
is there one for bisodol
that's the queston

still on the floor
and what's more
waiting for nic to come home
i've started this awful poem

should be going to bed
but instead...

no really am brain dead
and going to bed

goodnight dear surfer x

ooh juy! Bork Bork Bork!

and now in a very bad swedish accent!

ooh juy! ooh juy!
i hefe-a joost receeefed es a geefft:
oone-a cese-a ooff 'beeuncu beeuncu delle-a fenezeee' (runcu del gnemeez, a neece-a leettle-a feenyerd in freeooli, roon by zee sleeghtly freeghtenning serena.
oone-a cese-a oon 'estruse' (peecu meccereeu, mumberoozzu peeemunte-a), fresh und a leettle-a lemuny!
a neru d'efula - peeun deee cembelee
a merlut - peeun deee seleeci, seecilia.
und a cese-a ooff meeni bottles ooff delmure-a vheesky - pucket seeze-a!

tuneeght i em sempleeng zee rezeer frooeety juys ooff a bottle-a ooff istrusa. deenner thees ifeneeng ves reecutta un speenech cunnelunee.
frum zee soopermerket! neec is eta veddeeng du et sume-a funcy feella i em bebyseetting und still tryeeng tu sheke-a ooffff a rezeer feeciuoos vheesky hungufer.

cun't theenk ooff unytheeng ilse-a fur zee mu.

ve-a hefe-a fuoond a noo epertment, boot thet's a deefffferent eetry

pusted by Elun Bovmun et 11:29 PM 0 cumments

oh joy!

oh joy! oh joy!
i have just received as a gift:
one case of 'bianco bianco delle venezie' (ronco del gnemiz, a nice little vinyard in friuli, run by the slightly frightenning serena.
one case on 'estrosa' (pico maccario, mombaruzzo piemonte), fresh and a little lemony!
a nero d'avola - pian dei cembali
a merlot - pian dei salici, sicilia.
and a case of mini bottles of dalmore whisky - pocket size!

tonight i am sampling the rather fruity joys of a bottle of estrosa. dinner this evening was ricotta an spinach canneloni.
from the supermarket! nic is ata wedding do at some fancy villa i am babysitting and still trying to shake off a rather vicious whisky hangover.

can't think of anything else for the mo.

we have found a new apartment, but that's a different entry

the smiley radiator

the bathroom in via lorenzago 15 (int 7)

the bar at the 'sagra' in via rielta. wine, red or white, 3 euro a bottle. seppie ai ferrie, sarde in saor, octopus salad - 2 eura a shot!

tha 'sagra', via rielta, cheap food - the seppie ai ferri were particularly good. on sundat the frittura mista was a spectacle - fried squid, prawns, shrimp, sardines, whitebait......yum!

mestre's worst barman, but a bloody good customer!

the last night of bar vittoria as we know it. all the staff were outsidwe getting drunk, diego takes on th role of barman. i think he got one spritz made before the real barmn had to come in an rescue him.

a for effort, b for the storm, c for miles, d for rent....

egad! i am knackered!
it's nearing the end of the academic year and i'm trying to clear up all of the odds and sods that i really should have done by now, then there are the reports to write, proofread those of colleagues, correct the english teacher's grammatical errors, copy and give out, prepare for the disgruntled parents who refuse to accept that little mario* does have psycho/sociopathic tendencies, refuses to eat school dinners, still wets his pants and is fundamentally as thick as pork shop mustard.

well just finished the last report (and spent the past 2 hours battling to configure a new anti-virus/internet protection thingy - the internet protection was very secure, it wouldn't let me connect to the internet! safer than that.......?)

time for a large slug of cabernet sauvignon of local provenance (sp?)
cin cin dear reader!

yours Frank Cabernet XXX






*edoardo's name has been changed to mario for reasons of general privacy and the protection of minors act.

tiddlio pommio vecchio fagiolo!

busy preparing a rather non-italian focaccia. tomato, onion, aubergine, garlic, a little sage, oil, speck and the last of the cheddar cheese we got brought from england.
now the dilemna is..

red or white,
merlot or chardonnay?

hmmm..oh the chardonnay's warm, yak! it'll have to be the merlot. a casa defra from (collio)
sniff, sniff, oh i think it's nearly ready.
OH! nic's found a bottle of very chilled soave (cielo, from the veneto, around vicenza i think - v. cheap!) in the fridge, ahem cellar i mean.

tiddley pom (tiddlio pommio)

polka!

no entry, just a nice word.

polka!

aaaarrrgghhh! and grrrrraaaaaaeeeaaarrgghhh!

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarr
rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggg
ggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

it's been a bloody awful day today

i am too pissed off to write at the moment

stupid people, stupid people, stupid people!
i sometimes wonder why i bother. i work hard i put up with an awful lot of crap and i run around like a blue-arsed fly trying to make sure everything's ok.
and for what?

grief!
oh and a small amout of cash.
I am seriuosly disillusioned today, i have invested a lot of time and energy in the school, put up with no resources, no staff, incompetence, selfishness and a third class salary. oh and as a bonus i get treat like shite.

well this worm is going to turn matey, believe me!!

bah!

more teeth vicar 2

i should have counted on the published page, not the 'create' page!

i hate it when that happens.

bzzzz! aiya! scritch!

sitting in my office
hiding from the sun
i scan the room for mosquitoes
who might bite me on the bum

even with your trousers on
they seem to get right through
and an itchy bot in front of the boss
can be troublesome you know!



and here dear reader the phone rang, i have some translating to do, and thus you are saved further verses...
for now!

more teeth vicar?

not 30 seconds ago i was fighting that battle - the one where you finaly decide to get off your backside and go and put the kettle on, then come back to finally start the thing you've been putting off all night, but just as you tery to start you begin to hear the kettle...

... and the sound makes you wonder (*) whether there was actually any water in the kettle but you decide to leave it for a while. Then the sound gets a little more worrying so you drag you sweaty carcass back into the kitchen where you find that the kettle is in fact half full.
(*)when yo do finally settle down again the kettle boils around here and the rusted up, decommissioned and left in the locomotive sheds, train of thought you had left and it takes you about ten minutes to write a further 6 1/2 lines.