Parlo del Piu e del Meno

• The people over at Hasbro-Parker Brothers are running a contest to choose city names for the new Global Monopoly. They've choosen 68 cities but the field has to be narrowed down to 20 by February 29, 2008. And you can add your favorite city for a wild card vote to be held the first week of March. At the moment Istanbul is leading the pack with Montreal a close second.



• Laurent and I wanted to go up to Venice at the end of April to see Il Barbiere di Siviglia at Teatro La Fenice. As I have mentioned in previous posts we haven't seen the rebuilt opera house and it would have been a nice break in one of our favorite cities in the world.
  
  I checked their website and seats where available. I followed the very specific instruction about ordering tickets by fax to the letter. When I hadn't heard back from them by yesterday I thought I had best give a call to find out what was going on.
  
  Me: Could you tell me what is happening to my fax order?
  Them: We don't know. We don't process orders by Fax.
  
  Me: So why do you say you do on your website and even have a procedure set out?
  Them: We don't know. We don't process orders by fax
  
  Me: So the fax number on your website for tickets - who would have received my fax?
  Them: We don't know. We don't process orders by fax.
  
  Me: So someone there has a fax with all my credit card and personal information on it and could use it illegally.
  Them: We don't know. We don't process orders by fax.
  
  Real quick, someone tell me again about the romance of living in Italy!



• My friend Bev works as a Security Officer with one of the NGOs in Kabul and she and I chat several times a week on Skype. A normal conversation with her can be punctated with comments like - "brb just got a text message about a bombing near one of our offices in the North"or "oh shit someone has been arrested I have to head off to the jail ttyl". So I was not surprised when she told me she would have to visit the local brothels as research for a security report. What did surprise me is that the brothels in Kabul that cater to foreign "needs" are all located in Chinese restaurants????
  
  Yes I'll have a General Tao Chicken, Shrimp Fried Rice and a side order of .....



• The following quick calculation on the cost of a top price ticket may just explain why La Fencie is not taking Fax orders:
  

  At the Box Office: E150.00 (CAD 224.00)
  By Fax: E150.00
  By Telephone (10% Surcharge): E165.00 (CAD 246.00)
  On the Internet (27% Surcharge): E177.00 (CAD 264.00)

  As they say: Do the Math!
  

20 febbraio - San Eleuterio

Parlo del Piu e del Meno - Blog Things

• My friend Auld Hat over at the Voluptuary has created a little quiz. Why not take it and see if you too are a Mouse Potato. The prize - well she's also has a nifty little icon that can be proudly displayed on your blog/website or perhaps made into a t-shirt to announce your incipient nerdishness to the world. I display mine with pride.



• When I read Sticky Crows , I become a little bit homesick for Canada and, yes, even Québec. As Torn describes the wonder of the first snowfall of the season, the joy of winter tires and scraping windshields I feel a touch of nostalgia. Then I look out the window at the sunshine and my blooming hibiscus and think: nay!
  
  Last week he included a link to this site that purports to rate the reading level required to appreciate your blog. It frightens me that my audience has to be better education than I am.



• My friend Bev is back in Kabul after a bit of R and R with Kev and the pups in Colombo. She hasn't had a great deal of time to update her blog but has taken some incredible photos on her many travels throughout Afghanistan. Last week she put up a slide show of a Buzkashi game. Just click on the picture for some great shots of what to do on your next trip to Kabul.

27 november - San Virgilio