Thursday 22 March 2012

1950s Radio

In an after-dinner red wine haze, I was idly flicking through the 962 digital TV channels in an anonymous hotel room in an anonymous Italian town when I came across the radio station channels And amidst a blizzard of EuroPop stations with the DJs in constant fits of hysterical laughter even as they hand over to the weather forecaster I found this little gem.
It's from RAI, Italy's BBC. Just go to the right hand side where the box is headed "Dirette Radio". Click on RAI radiofd 5 and step back in time. Straight classical music, no ads, no pleading for listeners' opinions via SMS/Twitter/email. No dumbing down. Just a terribly formal annnouncer who details the music in a wonderful deadpan voice and then they play the bloody stuff without telling you alla BBC Radio 3 with Rob sodding Cowan giggling that Bruckner never wrote anything worthwhile after his 9th because his piles got to him.
This is presuming that you like classical music of course.
Lord I am getting old and grumpy.

Sunday 4 March 2012

Ghastly ExPat Musings

Clearly, it is wonderful to live in Italy. No Nick Clegg, no wide-boy Cameron, no licensing laws and an abundance of the whole food and wine thingy.
However it is not all sweetness and light. I have nothing else to write about, differently abled as I am. So, as I survey* my horribly swollen knee**, here are the things I miss most about Blighty. They are not in order of importance.
1. Boots the Chemist
2. County cricket
3. Evensong at St Mary Abbots, Kensington...
4. ...and going to The Elephant afterwards
5. Going to the theatre, darling
6. Mates
7. Decent ale
8. London
9. Horse racing
10. Devonshire
11. Manners (behavioural attitude, not some apocryphal butler)
12. Fevertree tonic water
13. My sister
14. Gordon's Wine Bar

*Actually, it's not that bad now
** Re-reading the last knee-related post, it does now seem a little tragic. Apologies.