CODama -an Overdose of Love-

Stay hungry, stay foolish...

2011-10-08T21:51:00.005+02:00

"Stay hungry, stay foolish."

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful … that's what matters to me." Steve Jobs

We are gonna miss you Steve! You touched an ugly world of technology and made it beautiful!

Keep Thinking Different!

2011-10-08T17:09:00.003+02:00

"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes ... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo. ... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things. ... They push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do." -Steve Jobs-

3 Apples that changed the world

2011-10-08T15:30:00.004+02:00

“Three apples have changed the world: one seduced Eve, one awakened Newton, and the third one was in the hands of Steve Jobs”.

Adam and Eve – the power of storytelling

The Biblical story of Adam and Eve eating the apple – the forbidden fruit - will be well known to you, whatever your religious viewpoint. In fact it is one of the best known stories in the entire world.

Adam and Eve is the story of creation and sets the tone for God’s relationship with human kind. It tells the story of our fall from Grace, is the basis for the Christian doctrine of Original Sin and forms the basis of not just one but three of the great religions of the world.

These are complex theological ideas but brilliantly delivered in a story (whatever your view of Biblical truth or allegory) and one of the best examples in history of the power of story-telling to get over complex ideas.

Isaac Newton – this is the modern world

Isaac Newton was is widely considered to be the most influential scientist who has ever lived and his greatest theories – on which our entire understanding of the physical universe is based – are said to all be based on an apple falling on his head while he sat under a tree.

Newton laid the foundations for classical mechanics by describing universal gravitation and the three laws of motion which describes how we have understood the physical universe for over three centuries. His work forms the basis of the Physics we learn at school to this day.

He also proved the concept of planetary motion and established that the earth circles the sun – not the other way around.

He also takes the credit along with a guy named Leibniz for the development of differential and integral calculus.

He did a lot of other clever stuff, was a theologian, ran the Royal Mint and was an all round genius.

Put simply he advanced the scientific revolution that created the entire modern world we live in to this day.

Steve Jobs – intuitive beauty

And so to Steve Jobs who sadly dies this week. Steve Jobs is synonymous with Apple, the company he co-founded and the company he has led since 1996. In his innovative drive he has changed so much about technology and the way we live our lives today.

He developed one of the first commercially successful PCs – the Apple II

He created the MacIntosh because he saw the potential of a mouse driven graphical user interface – how crap and unintuitive was computing using the keypad and BBC Basic command prompts.

He set up Pixar out of Lucasfilm which lead to the re-birth of film animation and to films like Toy Story and a Bugs Life.

His revolutionary work at NeXT included a multi-media email system which could share voice, image, graphics and video in email for the first time.

He went back to Apple and turned in upside down, becoming the completely dominant figure.

He achieved enormous commercial success with the iMac based on beautiful design.

He developed the iPod and iTunes digital software which revolutionised the way we access, buy and listen to music. MP3s and digitally sourced music has all but killed CDs and high street record stores. You are more likely to listen to your iPod on the bus or out jogging than listening to music on the car CD player now.

He then developed the iPhone – the first smartphone – a multi touch display mobile phone.

Jobs was an inspirational, charismatic and highly energetic business leader – autocratic too. He was also something of a lifestyle guru. His foresight in setting trends and in innovations of style and intuitive usability has shaped much of our day to day living and the way we use technology in our lives.

Jobs didn’t do market research. He was a true market leader, knowing what the public wanted before they knew it – understanding the marriage of intuitive functionality and beautiful design.

Steve Jobs Tribute "We all are Steve"  R.I.P. STEVE - WE WILL MISS YOU.

2011-10-07T17:01:00.003+02:00

There's never been a leader this good for this long
This old, With inventions this bold, Or this strong
The simplest designs, Set trends and prove wrong
Streamlined every product, The iPod you all bought it
These hacks, Too lazy to innovate, They crazy
They don't try to create, They just trace me
You know what, Soon they forget who they stole, They whole style from,
And try to reverse the iPhone, I'm like... huh!
I'm not a hater, The creator With imagination
I drop technology that inspires entire nations.
I call up Lucas, I'm big enough to brew it
I'm that focused, Plus i knew that Disney wouldn't do it
So the dreams and teams you write about, White em out
It's hard to brag when the iPad's in your mouth
I'm in...Grey sneakers, I make features, You stay eager
What more can i tell you, Let me spell it for you
S-T-E V-E, Nobody truer than J-O-Bs
And you have to know, The world's best C-E-O
Turned chairman, I'm back to finish the boards business up

What more can I say? What more can i do?
I give this all to you, I know this much is true
What more can I say?

Now you know they love you truly
When you drop a new Mac and you perfect the GUI
And your code ain't Foo-ey, Right
That means those lines they bite must be chewy
Chop that and they gone get sueyed, Toast
I don't mean to boast, But damn if i don't flex
Them hackers gonna act like they built OSX
The Andy Roddick, That serves the new product
Far from a Harvard student, Just had the heart to do it
And no I'm not delaying it, In fact I'm just playing it
This ain't the release I'm just QA'in it
One, Two and i won't stop tweaking it
To Tech blogs, stop false leaking it
Back to the product, The multi-touch screen was exotic
Early adopters and they grandmas bought it
What up Woz, They can't shut up Jobs
Shut down I, Not even God , I'm a ride
Lord forgive me for my brash delivery
But I remember vividly, What defeat did to me
So picture me, Lettin this board get at me
Fire me then buy my Next company
I will literally, Kiss Bill G in the forehead
Tell PC forgive me, Then squeeze out the market til its dead
I'm not a boutique chop shop, In fact
I got something unique to knock socks off
Young, Steven the God steady droppin heat
I'm at the Mac Keynote, Try to cop a seat
I ain't never scared, I'm everywhere
You ain't never there, Google why would i ever care
Pound for pound I'm the best to ever grow a grey hair
Excluding nobody, Look what i embody
The soul of a hustler the American Dream
I rose on my own, And made 8 Bill-i-ion in cream
And no I ain't from parents with whole lots of cash
Or live any life well above middle class
And my designs ain't comin' and goin' like pop fads
But the real shit you get when you bust down my passion
Add that to my engineering's built to last
Times that by my influence, On computers, communications,
entertainment, music and too much to list
We'll see what happens when i no longer exist

What more can i say?

Remembering Steve Jobs- a tribute in pictures.

2011-10-07T15:59:00.013+02:00

Steve Jobs:

From a college dropout to heading an over $350 billion Apple empire, Steve Jobs dramatically transformed the worlds of personal computing, music and mobile phones, ushering in a new digital era. Yesterday the world lost a visionary and a most innovative and creative entrepreneur who always stood up every time he failed. A man who really changed the world.

We are gonna miss you Steve! You touched an ugly world of technology and made it beautiful.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice.''
"Stay hungry, stay foolish."

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we've done something wonderful … that's what matters to me." Steve Jobs

It’s time to say goodbye to an iCon: Steve Jobs has passed away at age 56. He was visionary, revolutionary, transformative, innovative, pioneering and will forever live in our hearts.

1969-1972

The Electronics Club at Homestead High School

Age 14

Age 16

Age 17

1974-1976

With Woz and a blue box in 1974

Hippie days

With Woz, and the Apple I computer, in 1976

Between Dan Kottke and Woz

With Dan Kottke

1977-1978

With Mike Marrkula

With Intel co-founder Bob Noyce

Behind Jef Raskin

Group photo, from L to R: Mike Scott, Steve Jobs, Jef Raskin, Chris Espinosa and Woz

1979-1980

At Ben Rosen's birthday with Regis McKenna

Outside Woz's home

1990-1993

NeXT Station introduction 15 September 1990

With Bill Gates

Eminent members of the Macintosh team: Andy Hertzfeld, Bill Atkinson, Bud Tribble and Steve Jobs, meet at Andy's house for his 40th birthday (April 6, 1993)

Steve Jobs with Sun's Scott McNealy

Undated 1990-1995

With NeXT's temporary COO Peter Van Cuylenburg

With Morgan Stanley executives in 1994

1995

Steve Jobs with his son Reed

Triumph of the Nerds

1995 - 1996 – Pixar / Return to Apple

Emeryville, California, USA --- Pixarians lounge with CEO Steve Jobs, on couch front right, and John Lasseter, lying down on couch, in screening room before the launch of movie Toy Story. All the animators in the picture became multimillionaires with their stock options.

Pixar CEO Steve Jobs and Disney CEO Michael Eisner

Steve Jobs and Apple CEO Gil Amelio

1997-1999

Woz, Steve Jobs and Gil Amelio @Macworld SF 7 January 1997

Bill Gates on the big screen @Macworld Boston 6 August 1997

06 Aug 1997, Boston, Massachusetts, USA --- MACWORLD EXHBITION IN BOSTON

Steve Jobs with Jonathan Ive and Laurene after the keynote @Macworld Boston 6 August 1997

Power Mac G3 Special Event (10 Nov 1997)

Macworld San Francisco (6 Jan 1998)

iMac Special Event (6 May 1998)

Macworld NY (7 Jul 1998)

Apple Expo (17 Sep 1998)

Introducing Mac OS X Server on Mar 16, 1999

With Quark founder Fred Ebrahimi, introducing XPress 6

05 Jan 1999, San Francisco, California, United States --- STEVE JOBS PRESENTS THE NEW APPLE MODELS

Macworld SF (5 Jan 1999)

Trying to demo Mac OS X Server with 50 iMacs @Macworld Tokyo (18 Feb 1999)

With Mac OS X chief developer Avie Tevanian @WWDC (10 May 1999 )

Steve Jobs and actor Noah Wyle @Macworld NY (21 Jul 1999)

Seybold SF (31 Aug 1999)

With Avie Tevanian at Apple (30 Sep 1999)

iMac DV Special Event (5 Oct 1999)

2000 – 2001

In the Apple board room

Steve Jobs announces he is giving up his interim title @Macworld SF (5 Jan 2000)

Steve Jobs with Sun's Scott McNealy

Steve Jobs introduces the Power Mac G4 Cube @Macworld NY (19 Jul 2000)

With Jony Ive (Product Design) and Katie Cotton (PR) @Macworld NY (19 Jul 2000)

Preparing a keynote in June 2001

iBook introduction (1 May 2001)

Ron Johnson, Tim Cook, Steve Jobs and Fred Anderson Introducing Apple's retail stores (15 May 2001)

With Jon Rubistein - Opening of the Palo Alto store (6 Oct 2001)

iPod introduction (23 Oct 2001)

With Michael Eisner and Roy Disney @Monsters Inc. Premiere (28 Oct 2001)

2002 – 2003

With Jony Ive and the iMac G4

Opening of the NY SoHo Store (17 Jul 2002)

Music Event (iTunes Store) (28 Apr 2003)

Steve Jobs answering Walt Mossberg's questions on stage @All Things D: D1 (28 May 2003)

Music Event (iTunes for Windows) (16 Oct 2003)

2004-2006

SF Apple Store opening (28 Feb 2004)

Steve, John Lasseter, Richard Cook, David Stainton @Finding Nemo Premiere (18 May 2004)

With Walt Mossberg @All Things D: D2 (7 Jun 2004)

Music Event (Euro Store) (15 Jun 2004)

Opening of the first mini stores (16 Oct 2004)

Scott Forstall, Steve and Avie Tevanian

Laurene Powell-Jobs, Steve Jobs, Pixar's Dr. Ed Catmull and his daughter @77th Academy Awards (27 Feb 2005)

With Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher @All Things D: D3 (22 May 2005)

With Jony Ive @D&AD Design Awards (25 May 2005)

Stanford commencement address (12 Jun 2005)

Glenn Lowry, Ed Catmull, Steve, John Lasseter, Steve Higgings and Ron Magliozzi @Pixar exhibit at the NY MOMA (13 Dec 2005)

Meeting with Tony Blair at Cisco, Jul 30, 2006

Opening of the NY Fifth Avenue Store (19 May 2006)

Nike+iPod event (23 May 2006)

2007-2009

79th Academy Awards (25 Feb 2007)

EMI CEO Eric Nicoli, Damon Albarn and Steve

With Walt Mossberg @All Things D: D5 (30 May 2007)

iPhone launch day (29 Jun 2007)

Special Event (new iMacs) (7 Aug 2007)

iPhone launch in the UK (18 Sep 2007)

iPhone launch in Germany (19 Sep 2007)

California Hall of Fame (5 Dec 2007)

2007 Nobel Prize (10 Dec 2007)

iPhone SDK introduction (6 Mar 2008)

WWDC 2008 (9 May 2008)

2010 -

iPad introduction (27 Jan 2010)

With the Pixar team @82nd Academy Awards (7 Mar 2010)

iOS 4 introduction (8 Apr 2010)

All Things D: D8 (1 Jun 2010)

iPhone 4 introduction @WWDC 2010 (7 Jun 2010)

President Medvedev at Apple (24 Jun 2010)

Antennagate press conference (16 Jul 2010)

Steve Jobs with former AT&T CEO Stan Sigman, who worked with Apple on the first iPhone @Wireless Hall of Fame Dinner (5 Oct 2010)

Dinner with President Obama (17 Feb 2011)

Pad 2 introduction (2 Mar 2011)

Steve Jobs back on stage to introduce iCloud @WWDC 2011 (6 Jun 2011)

this is your life, grab it by the horn!

2011-07-06T14:34:00.004+02:00

I found this and wanted to share!

Notte Sento by Daniele Napolitano

2011-06-30T16:20:00.003+02:00

Notte Sento (English subtitles) by Daniele Napolitano

A girl misses her train to Milan and is set to wait overnight in Rome until dawn. However, a chance encounter with a guy changes her plans and the night lights of the capital turn into the background to a tender love story. An extraordinary chemistry made of knowing glances and small gestures fills the few instants that separate them both from the sunrise.

Short film made with 4500+ still photographs. Shot with a Canon EOS 30D camera.

Funded by the Seagate Creative Fund in 2008.

Italian language with English subtitles.

Da Rocco Trattoria and Pizzeria M'Skala Malta - “After so many wannabe, finally a real Trattoria Romana”

2011-06-20T10:14:00.004+02:00

This little trattoria in a quiet back street of M’Skala was a true gem of a find. The food was by far and the most authentic and delicious my wife and I had experienced so far, better than most food we had in restaurants in Rome.

Service was absolutely superb with waiters who seemed genuinely excited by the food and wine of the region. A really excellent experience.

Infused with the romance of Vecchia Roma, this quiet, yet lively Mediterranean trattoria cannot fail to delight with its infectious atmosphere and the view which nowadays has become a rarity in my little country. The place is lively, the staff work fast but are respectful of your privacy.

Lunch for six including 2 bottles of good wine, drinks, coffees, sweets and liqueurs will leave you with a wonderfully full stomach and only a mildly depleted wallet at 140 euro for the six of us.

From the moment you are ushered through the doors by the affable wife of the owner and the owner himself, Da Rocco, impresses you. The interior is tasteful and feels very warm, the service discreet, and the fresh daily menu, written in hard cover and leather bound menus (menus usually reserved for 1st class restaurants), brims with delightful suggestions.

I love the way this little restaurant is decorated like an old Maltese house and the wood and furniture complement very much with the golden lime stone.

The freshness and availability of ingredients means that the menu has to be changed very often, so often that most of the specialities have to be conveyed verbally by the owner himself who thanks to the excitement shown while explaining the specialities will make you put the menus aside and leave it up to him to do the choice for you. No fuss, a wonderfully fresh selection of dishes on the day.

My favourite wines are the reds however as most of the group wanted a young fresh wine for lunch I opted for 2 bottles of Vezzolano Malvasia di Castelnuovo Don Bosco, a slightly robust and little sweet Rose wine from the Piemont Region a steal at 14 euro a bottle, being served at a restaurant.

We enjoyed the very simple complimentary bruschetta with sweet tomatoes, garlic and olive oil while waiting for the dishes. I like the way that the bread is toasted separately and the cold ingredients are added just before being served then cooked together.

Service was warm and timely and it is nice to be spoilt and being looked after. As mains I had a lovely Misto di Pesce which was served with a lovely selection of fresh shellfish, langoustine, King prawns white bait and calamari which were cooked in just lemon juice, olives oil and their own juices.

My wife whom is crazy about pasta, had a lovely dish of Paccheri cor Ragu served in a lovely (I cleaned the sauce from the plate with some maltese bread) lean minced beef & pork, carrots,parsley & tomato juice sauce.

My wife's sister had some Papardelle con Funghi Porcini and they were smelling so good and her brother had a lovely saddle of rabbit served in a lovely gravy and own juice.

The in-laws had there tradional choice which is fillet asked to be cooked well done and served with porcini mushrooms sauce and from the look on their face and the way the plates looked (a deserted island thanks to the fresh Maltese bread) made me think that that was a delicious dish too, another dish 'da leccarsi i baffi' . All dishes come with fresh salad, warm aubergines and pepperoni, baked potatoes with fennel and some miserable French fries which in my opinion where the only let down of this exquisite meal.

We washed it all down with the rest of the lovely Italian wine.

The portions were massive yet we left some space for dessert and again we were left with a choice of various sweet pastries which even if of Sicilian tradition and I believe that they are flown over daily from Sicily and pretty expensive at 4 euro each pastry they were so beautifully presented and made our mouth water. My Cassata Sicilian with ricotta the pecora and smooth marzipan and cherries was to die for. The same was the chocolate ice cream which my wife went for being a chocoholic. We all had our share of coffees and the Liqueurs which were a compliment of the lady of the house.

So once again I can say that the whole team did not disappoint even if they had a full house. Lovely food, lovely atmosphere, lovely service, so all I can say for another time I gave myself, my wife and whoever would like to join and most importantly our stomach a meal to remember.

New Wedding Website

2010-08-02T23:27:00.004+02:00

Sorry for not updating the blog lately but the following link is one of the reasons, no not only creating a wedding website but I am getting married in around 200 days :)

If you fancy seeing some news go to the following link:
http://www.mywedding.com/codama

"

Good Bye buddy, you are riding in heaven!

2010-05-01T10:32:00.003+02:00

Mark.......A great man, a great friend you will be deeply missed by many people as you were an exceptional man, joker, a very down to earth person, creative, a real buddy! Deep sincere condolences to the family and may you Rest in the Peace of God. Will be in my prayers...Ride on Mr. Edwards, I remeber how you hated to be called like that :)"

A prayer for Dad

2010-03-31T12:06:00.003+02:00

"Dear God, this year please send clothes for all those poor ladies in Daddy's computer. Amen."

Funny New Year Resolutions!

2009-12-31T20:39:00.001+01:00

Check out these funny and innovative New Year's Resolutions! Enjoy these and make some for yourself...Surely you will enjoy!!

* Just for today, I will not sit in my living room all day in my nightdress. Instead, I will move my computer into the bedroom.

* I will no longer waste my time relieving the past, instead I will spend it worrying about the future.

* I will not bore my boss by with the same excuse for taking leaves. I will think of some more excuses.

* I will do less laundry and use more deodorant.

* I will avoid taking a bath whenever possible and conserve more water.

* Assure my lawyer that I will never again show up drunk at a custody hearing.

* I will give up chocolates totally. 100%. Completely. Honestly....

* I will try to figure out why I *really* need nine e-mail addresses.

* I will stop sending e-mails to my wife (husband).

* I resolve to work with neglected children -- my own.

* I will stop sending e-mail, ICQ, Instant Messages and be on the phone at the same time with the same person.

* I will spend less than one hour a day on the Internet. This, of course, will be hard to estimate since I'm not a clock watcher.

* I will read the manual... just as soon as I can find it.

* I will think of a password other than "password."

* I will not tell the same story at every get together.

* I won't worry so much.

* I will cut my hair.

* I will grow my hair.

* I will stop considering other people's feelings when they so obviously don't consider mine - if that unwashed fellow sits next to me again, I'll tell him he stinks!

* I will be more imaginative.

* I will not hang around girls - they think you love them and that sucks.

* I will not ring the stewardess button on airplanes just to get her phone number

The Gift of Love . . .

2009-08-22T18:56:00.002+02:00

The passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive young woman with the white cane made her way carefully up the steps. She paid the driver and, using her hands to feel the location of the seats, walked down the aisle and found the seat he'd told her was empty. Then she settled in, placed her briefcase on her lap and rested her cane against her leg. It had been a year since Susan, thirty-four, became blind.

Due to a medical misdiagnosis she had been rendered sightless, and she was suddenly thrown into a world of darkness, anger, frustration and self-pity. Once a fiercely independent woman, Susan now felt condemned by this terrible twist of fate to become a powerless, helpless burden on everyone around her. "How could this have happened to me?" she would plead, her heart knotted with anger. But no matter how much she cried or ranted, she knew the painful truth her sight was never going to return. A cloud of depression hung over Susan's once optimistic spirit. Just getting through each day was an exercise in frustration and exhaustion. And all she had to cling to was her husband Mark.

Mark was an Air Force officer and he loved Susan with all of his heart. When she first lost her sight, he watched her sink into despair and was determined to help his wife gain the strength and confidence she needed to become independent again. Mark's military background had trained him well to deal with sensitive situations, and yet he knew this was the most difficult battle he would ever face.

Finally, Susan felt ready to return to her job, but how would she get there? She used to take the bus, but was now too frightened to get around the city by herself. Mark volunteered to drive her to work each day, even though they worked at opposite ends of the city.

At first, this comforted Susan and fulfilled Mark's need to protect his sightless wife who was so insecure about performing the slightest task. Soon, however, Mark realized that this arrangement wasn't working — it was hectic, and costly. Susan is going to have to start taking the bus again, he admitted to himself. But just the thought of mentioning it to her made him cringe. She was still so fragile, so angry. How would she react?

Just as Mark predicted, Susan was horrified at the idea of taking the bus again. "I'm blind!" she responded bitterly. "How am I supposed to know where I'm going? I feel like you're abandoning me." Mark's heart broke to hear these words, but he knew what had to be done. He promised Susan that each morning and evening he would ride the bus with her, for as long as it took, until she got the hang of it.

And that is exactly what happened. For two solid weeks, Mark, military uniform and all, accompanied Susan to and from work each day. He taught her how to rely on her other senses, specifically her hearing, to determine where she was and how to adapt to her new environment. He helped her befriend the bus drivers who could watch out for her, and save her a seat. He made her laugh, even on those not-so-good days when she would trip exiting the bus, or drop her briefcase.

Each morning they made the journey together, and Mark would take a cab back to his office. Although this routine was even more costly and exhausting than the previous one, Mark knew it was only a matter of time before Susan would be able to ride the bus on her own. He believed in her, in the Susan he used to know before she'd lost her sight, who wasn't afraid of any challenge and who would never, ever quit.

Finally, Susan decided that she was ready to try the trip on her own. Monday morning arrived, and before she left, she threw her arms around Mark, her temporary bus riding companion, her husband, and her best friend. Her eyes filled with tears of gratitude for his loyalty, his patience, his love. She said good-bye, and for the first time, they went their separate ways. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday... Each day on her own went perfectly, and Susan had never felt better. She was doing it! She was going to work all by herself!

On Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work as usual. As she was paying for her fare to exit the bus, the driver said, "Boy, I sure envy you." Susan wasn't sure if the driver was speaking to her or not. After all, who on earth would ever envy a blind woman who had struggled just to find the courage to live for the past year? Curious, she asked the driver, "Why do you say that you envy me?"

The driver responded, "It must feel so good to be taken care of and protected like you are." Susan had no idea what the driver was talking about, and asked again, "What do you mean?" The driver answered, "You know, every morning for the past week, a fine looking gentleman in a military uniform has been standing across the corner watching you when you get off the bus. He makes sure you cross the street safely and he watches you until you enter your office building. Then he blows you a kiss, gives you a little salute and walks away. You are one lucky lady."

Tears of happiness poured down Susan's cheeks. For although she couldn't physically see him, she had always felt Mark's presence. She was lucky, so lucky, for he had given her a gift more powerful than sight, a gift she didn't need to see to believe — the Gift of Love that can bring light where there had been darkness . . .

Melita Mobile pt2

2009-03-05T03:36:00.002+01:00

This is what Melita Mobile promised in order to lure you

But the truth is this - just six days after Melita Mobile launched:

FRIDAY, 6TH FEBRUARY 2009

No. 0179

NOTICE BY THE CONSUMER AND COMPETITION DIVISION

The Consumer and Competition Division wishes to inform the general public
that the advertisement and the promotion in relation to the new mobile
service launched by Melita plc would appear to contain elements that might
potentially mislead consumers.

Advertisements state that the rates are "Up to 30% cheaper". The situation
that a full minute is charged for a call lasting even a few seconds for the
first minute would seem to lend itself to confusion from the part of
consumers. This would eventually lead the consumer to take a transactional
decision which he would not have taken otherwise.

The note in small print that "Calls are on a per second basis after the
first minute" does not to seem to be clear enough for the average consumer
to take an informed decision. This matter is currently being investigated
by the Division.

Melita Mobile what a big fu** up

2009-02-08T01:06:00.002+01:00

Well finally, Melita Cable has launched the mobile service, but even if they are claiming a 30% discount, one has to look at the small print before you commit yourself because this is just a marketing ploy which Melita Cable are so famous for.

If you are a Vodafone or a Go user you might say that on average I pay 32cents per minute to use my mobile phone to call. Yes you are right but you have to bear in mind that Melita Cable will be charging you a full charge for the first minute whereas if you use Vodafone or Go you are charged by the second, so that means that if you call using Melita mobile for just 30 seconds which is the average call length you will be charged a full 23 cents by Melita Mobile whereas Vodafone or Go will only charge you 16 cents so that is the best well planned trick that I’ve heard of lately and that doesn’t put Melita Mobile as the cheapest so be careful before you do any changes

And the winner of the best beer advert is.......‏

2009-02-05T17:31:00.003+01:00

life is like...

2008-08-25T16:26:00.003+02:00

Flying

2008-08-25T16:16:00.003+02:00

Once upon a time there was a little boy who was raised in an orphanage. The little boy had always wished that he could fly like a bird. It was very difficult for him to understand why he could not fly.

There were birds at the zoo that were much bigger than he, and they could fly
"Why can't I?" he thought. "Is there something wrong with me?" he wondered.

There was another little boy who was crippled. He had always wished that he could walk
and run like other little boys and girls.

"Why can't I be like them?" he thought.

One day the little orphan boy who had wanted to fly like a bird ran away from the orphanage.
He came upon a park where he saw the little boy who could not walk or run playing in the
sandbox. He ran over to the little boy and asked him if he had ever wanted to fly like a bird.

"No," said the little boy who could not walk or run. "But I have wondered what it would be
like to walk and run like other boys and girls."

"That is very sad”, said the little boy who wanted to fly. "Do you think we could be friends?"
he said to the little boy in the sandbox.

"Sure." said the little boy. The two little boys played for hours. They made sand castles
and made really funny sounds with their mouths. Sounds, which made them laugh,
real hard. Then the little boy's father came with a wheelchair to pick up his son.
The little boy who had always wanted to fly ran over to the boy's father and
whispered something into his ear.

"That would be OK," said the man.

The little boy who had always wanted to fly like a bird ran over to his new friend and said,
"You are my only friend and I wish that there was something that I could do to make
you walk and run like other little boys and girls. But I can't. But there is something that I can do for you."

The little orphan boy turned around and told his new friend to slide up onto his back.
He then began to run across the grass. Faster and faster he ran, carrying the little crippled boy
on his back. Faster and harder he ran across the park. Harder and harder he made his legs travel.
Soon the wind just whistled across the two little boys' faces.

The little boy's father began to cry as he watched his beautiful little crippled son flapping
his arms up and down in the wind, all the while yelling at the top of his voice, "I'M FLYING, DADDY. I'M FLYING!"

Nuts...

2008-08-25T16:14:00.004+02:00

On the outskirts of a small town, there was a big, old pecan tree just inside the cemetery fence.

One day, two boys filled up a bucketful of nuts and sat down by the tree, out of sight, and began
dividing the nuts. "One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me," said one boy. Several
dropped and rolled down toward the fence.

Another boy came riding along the road on his bicycle. As he passed, he thought he heard
voices from inside the cemetery. He slowed down to investigate. Sure enough, he heard,
"One for you, one for me. One for you, one for me." He just knew what it was. He jumped
back on his bike and rode off. Just around the bend he met an old man with a cane, hobbling
along. "Come here quick," said the boy, "you won't believe what I heard!" "Satan and the Lord
are down at the cemetery dividing up the souls."

The man said, "Beat it kid, can't you see it's hard for me to walk." When the boy insisted though,
the man hobbled slowly to the cemetery. Standing by the fence they heard, "One for you,
one for me, One for you, one for me."

The old man whispered, "Boy, you've been tellin' me the truth." "Let's see if we can see the Lord.
" Shaking with fear, they peered through the fence, yet were still unable to see anything.
The old man and the boy gripped the wrought iron bars of the fence tighter and tighter
as they tried to get a glimpse of the Lord.

At last they heard, "One for you, one for me . . . That's all. Now let's go get those nuts by the fence and we'll be done."

They say the old man made it back to town a full 5 minutes ahead of the kid on the bike . . .

My GIrl is here she is pretty and black

2008-08-25T16:07:00.004+02:00

Finally I can post that my Baby girl is here and if you feel like it you can see the pics on the following link :) Here name is Stella...

http://www.vespaonline.it/gallery/v/gal ... ti/codama/

Still no news

2008-06-23T13:33:00.002+02:00

Still no news from ADT, I was thinking of paying a visit to the fish farm I might find it there attached to the nets....

Bureaucratic Malta…Having problems to get my baby boy...is it because he is black?

2008-06-19T17:42:00.010+02:00

As mentioned in an earlier entry, I've made a deposit of 100 euro on a new scooter and I believe out of the 27 countries that make the EU we are the only country(except Italy) that in order to get or do something we have to go thru a pile of papers to be able to get what we request.

I went to the dealer this morning to get the chassis and engine number so I can insure this little thing (Insurance another pile of question and loads of signed papers) and funnily enough he told me that there is a problem with your bike. He told me, I have 60 of this machine all stuck at bonds and guess what the reason is for the vehicle being held is? ADT and Maltese way of working out things. At first I thought he was taking the piss as I had a similar experience with another salesman who has given my car to another client, but that’s another story. This scooter is build outside Europe but it has an European built low emission engine which is certified Euro 3 compliant but the little genies at ADT don't believe the certificates and have to check the engine themselves and that means that will take at least another 3-4 weeks before they can come up with any results if they ever come up with one. So these leaves me wondering what kind of service we are getting from the civil servants which I believe are just obeying orders or trying to find a way to get something (euro) extra for going the extra mile…

PS: this particular scooter has been sold allover europe (especially in Italy) since March 2008!!!

This is a handy guide

2008-06-18T23:03:00.000+02:00

This is a handy guide that should be as common as a driver's license in the wallet of every husband, boyfriend, or significant other!!

DANGEROUS: What's for dinner?
SAFER: Can I help you with dinner?
SAFEST: Where would you like to go for dinner
ULTRA-SAFE: Here, have some chocolate

DANGEROUS: Are you wearing that?
SAFER: Gee, you look good in brown.
SAFEST: WOW! Look at you!
ULTRA-SAFE: Here, have some chocolate

DANGEROUS: What are you so worked up about?
SAFER: Could we be overreacting?
SAFEST: Here's fifty dollars
ULTRA-SAFE: Here, have some chocolate

DANGEROUS: Should you be eating that?
SAFER: You know, there are a lot of apples left
SAFEST: Can I get you a glass of wine with that?
ULTRA-SAFE: Here, have some chocolate

DANGEROUS: What did you do all day?
SAFER: I hope you didn't overdo it today.
SAFEST: I've always loved you in that robe!
ULTRA-SAFE: Here, have some more chocolate.

So.... remember: Money talks ....
but chocolate sings!

a simple thing which probably never goes out of fashion...

2008-06-18T22:55:00.005+02:00

A magic carpet for two, a car with two wheels, a passport to modernity. A common passion that attracts people of all ilks and warps.

As they say - "a car is transport, a motorcycle is fun, but a scooter is a Roman holiday on wheels."...I'm expecting a new baby boy and he is black!...

Father's Day...

2008-06-14T15:57:00.003+02:00

There's an English proverb that goes: "One father is worth more than a hundred schoolmasters."

Fathers can teach their children many important lessons. Father's Day is Sunday, June 15, and it brings to mind some of the valuable lessons I learned from my father,

TRUST is the most important five-letter word in business and in life. When I was only eight years old, he said: "Son, would you like to learn a lesson that might save your life some day?"
"Sure I would, Dad," I answered.
"Just slide down the banister and I'll catch you," he urged.
I slid ... and landed on the carpet. As I dusted myself off, he announced, "Never trust anyone completely. Keep your eyes open and your wits about you."

My father also taught me that the big name on the door doesn't mean a thing. You have to know who the decision makers are.

After a motor bike accident that landed me in bed for 30 days, he told me, "You can take any amount of pain as long as you know it's going to end."

My father taught me many more life lessons, among them:
• They don't pay off on effort . . . they pay off on results.
• No one ever choked to death swallowing his pride.
• He who burns his bridges better be a damn good swimmer.
• Education is like exercise. As soon as you quit you begin to lose the benefits.
• It's hard to soar like an eagle when you're dressed like a turkey.
• If you win say little. If you lose say less.
• We are judged by what we finish, not by what we start.

Moral: One person can make all the difference in the world—a father, for example.

ET made contact with home...

2008-06-14T15:44:00.003+02:00

Guess who’s back?,

Well guys and gals ‘s been long since I have scribbled some hsara tal-gurnata, and as you can see that not only my main blog was left unattended but even my other niche blogs. A lot has been going on and since I was away from our little island(in Cyprus...pictures coming soon), I had to master a new job, having my mind working overtime to design and finish my house (a new blog is in the pipeline for that called ho2ho which does not stand for what you’re thinking but it’s from a house to home) and having a hopeless internet connection, the first thing to suffer had to be the blogs. But now I’m back fully fledged and ready to share most of it :).

I have to thank Sandro Vella for nominating my blogs and for being one of the few who promotes the Maltese Blogs…THANK YOU SANDRO

Troodos Mountains on 1st of April :) pt1

2008-04-25T15:25:00.009+02:00

ET call home... telefono caaaaaaaaaaaasa

2008-03-28T14:13:00.005+01:00

GOOD EVENING THIS IS CYPRUS CALLING..THESE ARE THE RESULTS OF THE CYPRIOT JURY...:)

IN CYPRUS FOR ALMOST 2 MONTHS BUT I'LL BE BACK SOON :)

I try to keep you updated about this pretty country as much as possible

The cost of living...decently...

2008-03-21T13:46:00.014+01:00

Take a good look at the family size & diet of each country , and the availability & cost of what is eaten in one week .

Italy : The Manzo family of Sicily
Food expenditure for one week: 214.36 Euros or $260.11

Germany : The Melander family of Bargteheide
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07

United States : The Revis family of North Carolina (Sure hope most American
families eat more fresh fruits and vegetables and less junk food than this family.)

Food expenditure for one week $341.98

Mexico : The Casales family of Cuernavaca
Food expenditure for one week: 1, 862.78 Mexican Pesos or $189.09

Poland : The Sobczynscy family of Konstancin-Jeziorna
Food expenditure for one week: 582.48 Zlotys or $151.27

Egypt: The Ahmed family of Cairo
Food expenditure for one week: 387.85 Egyptian Pounds or $68.53

Ecuador: The Ayme family of Tingo
Food expenditure for one week: $31.55

Bhutan : The Namgay family of Shingkhey Village
Food expenditure for one week: 224.93 ngultrum or $5.03

Chad : The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp
Food expenditure for one week: 685 CFA Francs or $1.23

Don't know about you, but right about now, I'm counting my blessings!
No I am not........
I am thinking how selfish we all are by eating too much and not giving enough to the ones who need it most!!!!
So it's about time we do something about sharing with the people around the world and stop eating too much and wasting too much....

TENT CITIES...the fall of an American Empire?

2008-03-17T01:36:00.005+01:00

Tent cities have sprung up outside Los Angeles as people lose their homes in the mortgage crisis BBC reports in the first video and the other ones are amateur ones found on Youtube.

within the next 5 years about 5 to 8 million americans will expeience at least one night of homelessness

The Narration of a NON Virtual Tragedy ...Devastation at Naxxar

2008-03-16T02:34:00.009+01:00

The scene of devastation at Naxxar after a garage containing fireworks exploded
demolishing three adjoining residences and taking two lives. Photo Victor Mercieca.

When are we gonna learn? How many more lives need be sacrificed before someone takes action on people playing carelessly with the production of fireworks? How many more tragedies before the situation is grabbed by its horns. Adding to the long line of catastrophes caused by fireworks, we just had another tragedy which has taken the life of innocent victims. I can still see the face of the people who lived close to the place of the tragedy. A husband and father of two little children have lost everything they possessed simply because someone thought that keeping fireworks mixtures in a garage next door was a good thing to do. His body was trembling and he was trying to conquer his shock as he tried to tell his story, but he looked lost even if he was a few metres away from what was his family dwelling in Triq id-Dgħejf, Naxxar. When the whole negligence thing blew, it took houses and lives. His only insurance was against his home loan. So, now, he has no mortgage but no house either, no clothes, no wedding photos, no family snapshots, nothing. Another of the residents in Triq id-Dgħejf is in the same dilemma, except that he lost his wife too, and the mother of his two children. Lives and lifetimes, up in smoke.Another two garages, just across the street from the explosion, were also loaded with fireworks explosives. Had these ignited too, we would be looking at an even more tragic scenario in which tens of lives would have been lost. Remember too that last Monday, the morrow of election weekend, practically nobody worked or went to school. Had this happened on that day many of the dead would have been children. It is about time this crazy ‘hobby’ is reined in. The authorities need to bite the bullet and sort this problem out once and for all. There are many aspects to pyrotechnics and they are not all negative, but unfortunately, the negatives are overpowering. Any injury, let alone fatality, caused by fireworks should not be acceptable and we should all demand that something is done about it.

Every time there is a fireworks tragedy, the politicians turn up at the place of misfortune and the funerals and we have a wave of chest beating and national mourning. The biggest problem is that we have too many fanatics and too many of them are amateurs.
Now, although more people complain about the noise, many still love the colourful displays, and so do I. But we do have too many displays and most people don’t realise that fireworks also pollute the air with the fallout of heavy metals, dust and fumes, and the ground with dangerous litter.
All the beautiful colours are toxic. The bright green designs are made with barium, which is extremely poisonous and radioactive. The blazing reds are produced with lithium and strontium and purple colours with rubidium, which is radioactive and can replace calcium in the body.
The blues contain copper compounds that cause dioxin pollution. According to New Scientist (3 July, 1999), fireworks cause dioxin pollution and blue fireworks release the most dioxins.

The brilliant whites contain aluminium and titanium. Those dreadful petards not only harm our eardrums and nerves, but can also cause contact dermatitis.
Cadmium found in zinc, copper and lead (all used in firework production) is used in nuclear reactors and the propellant ammonium perchlorate can contaminate ground and surface waters as discovered by US research, and can disrupt thyroid functions.
Yes, fireworks displays are beautiful and I would not want to see them disappear, but right now we have far too many and they are out of control.

It is clear that it is about time to deal definitively with the threat to life and extremity posed by fireworks in our society. I am not saying that it is a good idea to abolish the whole business because fireworks are a fundamental part of our culture and also, by doing that would be practically the same as this pastime will be done secretive, so we need to react maturely and reasonably. Fireworks enthusiasts, must learn to comply with the authorities and safety regulations and the firework groups and societies must come up with healthy suggestions so together we can ease the danger of this hazardous hobby, because unless something genuine is done the permanent danger to blameless victims, like the 32-year-old mother of two who died this week, will continue still as forceful and intense as it has been ever since.

A Briton has bought a date with Hollywood star Scarlett Johansson

2008-03-15T01:12:00.002+01:00

- and it certainly wasn't cheap at £20,000.

The fan, known only by his online identity "bossnour", won a charity auction on eBay in support of Oxfam.

The mystery bidder will join the 23-year-old actress at the world premiere of her new film, He's Just Not That Into You, in July.

He or she will have their hair and make-up done and be chauffeured to the event with a guest.

They will then meet the star of Lost In Translation and The Other Boleyn Girl.

"This was a brilliant idea and has proved incredibly popular," said a spokesman for Oxfam.

Would you pay £20,000?

"To get £20,000 for a 20-minute date and a pair of tickets to help us fight poverty is fantastic.

"All of this money will be used to help us fight poverty in countries all over the world."

The winner's full identity has not been revealed but according to their eBay profile, "bossnour" is based in Cheshire.

A date with Scarlett Johansson...

2008-03-12T23:02:00.005+01:00

No it's not a joke. You still have a little more then 8 hours to bid for a date with Scarlett Johansson by bidding on Ebay. All proceeds go to OxFam. The winner get 2 tickets for the premier He’s Just Not That Into You in June 2009. The winner and guest will walk with her on the red carpet.

click here to participate in this good deed.

Fly

2008-03-12T14:35:00.003+01:00

The Deli Shop

2008-03-12T13:33:00.009+01:00

I like the way some young kids love to play shop; and it is funny how they hardly ever say 'Let's play supermarkets!

Some kids have never been inside a small old-fashioned grocer, and yet their imaginations tell them to set up a counter, sell goods on one side, and buy them on the other side. It's so deep within us that science might discover a gene for it.Supermarket owners insist that they only give us what we want - though nobody I have ever met actually enjoys shopping in a supermarket. I suppose that we want, or think we want, is cheap food. As someone who tries to avoid going and shop from a supermarket, I think differently.

I look for the little grocery shops and vegetable vendors and it is a different story to when it comes to meat because I am lucky enough that I know some butcher and most of them breed and raise their own cows, chickens and pigs. I realized I look for places where I would like to do my own shopping. Places that are little island in the sea of corporate retailing.

One of as the Italians say ‘a sognio nel cassetto’ (a lifetime dream), that I have is to open a Continental deli preferably on the ground floor of some old property, close to some open markets, the old markets which rumble into life every morning at 4am. Even my close friends said 'Why do you keep thinking of a such place?' The answer to the question is love. I love the neglected buildings and the way people use to buy their daily needs. I want a place where I would like to do my own shopping. A place selling fabulous food in a beautiful building. A place that is a little island in the sea of corporate retailing. I keep thinking about how great it would be to buy fresh cheese and homemade tomato sauce and organic vegetables and fresh meat all from one place on your way home to make the perfect supper.I’m passionate about flavor and quality; I wish I was able to sell products from small co-operatives or family-run firms. I will definitely also leave a shelf for the Pierre Marcollini chocolates, which I believe they are the finest in the world. One chocolate will cost you about the same as a king size Mars Bar, but it doesn't contain 600 calories, transfats and glucose syrup. I believe that we are eating too much and we are paying too much for our food which looks and taste like plastic.

My philosophy is to eat modestly and buy the best you can afford. In our crazy world a chicken costs less than a cinema ticket. Our obsession with cheap food has destabilized farming throughout the world, polluted our soils, driven small producers and small shops into the ground, allowed the supermarkets to monopolise our lives and made us fat. Look at any shopping trolley; it is stacked with convenience foods, processed foods, crisps, biscuits, bloated bread, cheese that tastes like soap and meat that has been reared in conditions that would make you be sick. Factory farming and factory food is disgusting. No wonder it has to be plastic-wrapped and disguised with every kind of flavouring and E-number

Real food has taste, and it is good for you and good for the planet. Of course, it means cooking, but how much better to sit down to a proper meal with family and friends, than to microwave a tray of rubber pasta in fake tomato sauce. Life is too short to eat badly. A bit of planning ahead makes it possible to eat well even when we are at work all day. A slow cooker will casserole your chicken for you or simmer your hearty vegetable stew. I make stacks of my own fishcakes and freeze them. Sauces for pasta can be stored in the fridge for up to five days. Nothing is faster than an omelette and salad, or Eggs Benedict on toast. Fillet steak, fresh spinach and grilled tomatoes can be on the plate in fifteen minutes. Sunday beef can become Monday beef curry, with fresh ginger, garlic, chilli, onions and spices, in the time it takes to cook the brown basmati - yes, twenty minutes. The rice cooks while you prepare the rest, enjoying a drink, listening to the radio, and winding down at the end of the day Convenience food is a rip-off. Fast food is a lie. We need pleasure in our lives, and one of life's true pleasures is real food. What's the big hurry to slump in front of the TV with a plate of factory gloop? Set the table, take the time, and enjoy your food. Such a shop (if it will ever happen) is not going to worry Sisa or Conad, and it won't change the eating habits of the Maltese, though I'd like to try. What I wish to do is to use the opportunities available to me to make a difference, however small, and to put my money where my mouth is.

Anyway, when I walk down my street at night and I keep imagining people talking about home-made pumpkin pasta and hand-made Parmesan, I know I am not crazy; There is more to life than living it as quickly and as cheaply as possible. To me, that's not living life at all

We can either spend our time thinking about what we don't have, feeling empty and bitter over some imagined contentment lost... or we can become quietly aware of what we already and find there, within our Self, what is overflowing, full of Light, and beyond the reach of any dark thought

2008-03-12T12:39:00.000+01:00

Tuesday, 11th March 2008 - 18:10CET

Gonzi makes triumphant return to Castille

Lawrence Gonzi made a triumphant return to the Auberge de Castille this afternoon after having been sworn in for his second term as Prime Minister a few minutes earlier.

He arrived outside the Office of the Prime Minister amid cheers by a large crowd which had been waiting in a cold wind as he walked slowly from the Palace, greeting hundreds of supporters who lined the street.

Dr and Mrs Gonzi arrived at the top of the stairs outside Castille at 6 p.m. and stopped to take a picture with their family before entering the building.

Waiting inside were the newly-elected Nationalist MPs and the staff of the Office of the Prime Minister.

Dr Gonzi and Mrs Gonzi appeared in the building's central window within a few minutes, throwing the crowd into fresh cheers as they waved from a rostrum which enabled them to stand on the window in full view of the people who blared horns, waved flags and chanted Gonzi, Gonzi.

2008-03-12T12:34:00.000+01:00

Tuesday, 11th March 2008 - 16:45CET

Gonzi sworn in as celebrations continue

Lawrence Gonzi has been sworn in as Prime Minister by President Eddie Fenech Adami in the Palace, bringing to a close a five week process which started in the same building where Dr Gonzi advised the President to dissolve Parliament and call the general election.

The short ceremony took place as a crowd of Nationalist Party supporters waited quietly outside, waving Maltese, EU and PN flags. The fact that the ceremony was delayed to today meant that the crowd was smaller than is usually the case, with many having returned to work after the "election weekend".

The oath of office read: “I, Lawrence Gonzi, solemnly swear that I will faithfully and conscientiously perform my duties as Prime Minister in accordance with the Constitution and the laws of Malta, without fear or favour, So help me God.”

Dr Gonzi then read the oath of allegiance: "I Lawrence Gonzi, solemnly swear that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the people and the Republic of Malta and its Constitution. So help me God."

Dr Gonzi said this was a solemn moment in the democratic life of the country and one which imposed a great burden on him as prime minister. He called on the people to unite to build on their achievements, for their common good. He said he wished to thank all the people for what the country had achieved. "We as a people have a lot to be proud of. We can argue among ourselves, that is important for democracy, but now that that is past let us now unite to bring out the best of this nation and grab the new opportunities which face the country, for the common good," Dr Gonzi said.

He promised to use "every drop of my energy" for the benefit of the people.

Dr Fenech Adami congratulated Dr Gonzi and said the election proved the vitality of the democratic process. The election, he said, showed that Malta had a strong democratic system and a mature people who had exercised their freedom to choose.

Dr Fenech Adami said he was sure Dr Gonzi would be the prime minister of all the Maltese.

The President and Dr Gonzi then moved to the balcony, where the crowd, now under umbrellas, exploded into a cacophony of horns, cheering and singing.

This is Dr Gonzi’s second successive government. He was sworn in as Dr Fenech Adami’s successor as Prime Minister just over four years ago, and today’s swearing-in was therefore of particular importance to Dr Gonzi because this was the first time that he had led the Nationalist Party to victory.

The Cabinet is expected to be announced today before Dr Gonzi leaves for an EU summit in Brussels.

In terms of the Constitution, Parliament has to meet within two months.

2008-03-11T00:16:00.004+01:00

Monday, 10th March 2008 - 16:48CET

Harry Vassallo to submit his resignation

Harry Vassallo, leader of Alternattiva Demokratika, has announced he will submit his resignation from the chairmanship of the party at its next meeting next month.

AD polled just 3,810 votes nation-wide last Saturday, equivalent to 1.31 percent of the total vote. The party got 0.68 percent of the vote in the 2003 election (when it actually campaigned for number 2 votes) and 1.21 percent in the 1998 elections.

Dr Vassallo admitted that the party had expected much better this time around. He said he would submit his resignation but would stay on if the party so requested him, although he would prefer to work as a foot soldier.

Dr Vassallo said the electoral law needed to be reformed because although AD had won the equivalent of a quota, it would not be represented in Parliament. There was also a need for election debate to focus on issues of substance rather than personalities, he said.

The AD leader congratulated Lawrence Gonzi on his victory and sent his best wishes to Dr Sant, who is resigning.

2008-03-10T13:59:00.003+01:00

Monday, 10th March 2008 - 13:10CET

Gonzi calls for calm,

good natured celebrations

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi has made his first public appearance since the Nationalist Party declared its election victory yesterday.

He appeared on the balcony of the newly-built PN headquarters to acknowledge the cheers and applause of hundreds of supporters who crammed the square in front of the headquarters. A banner hanging from the balcony carried Dr Gonzi’s picture and “Grazzi” (thank you).

Dr Gonzi was accompanied by his wife Kate and their children, deputy leader Tonio Borg and general secretary Joe Saliba.

Many supporters had earlier made their way to Valletta where they expected Dr Gonzi to be sworn in, but the ceremony was put off when it was decided that since the PN had not won an absolute majority of votes, the swearing-in ceremony should follow the completion of the vote-counting process.

In a few comments, Dr Gonzi thanked the people, saying he especially wanted to thank youths. This victory, he said, would enable them to continue to work for the benefit of the country. He thanked all the PN candidates, party activists and helpers.

He also thanked the media, including opposition media, saying, using the election slogan, that together, everything was possible.

The people had shown great maturity, and all, even those who voted for the MLP, should feel proud, he said.

Dr Gonzi said celebrations should be calm and good natured and said the PN would hold a mass meeting tomorrow at 6 p.m. on the granaries. Dr Gonzi will this afternoon be meeting suporters in Gozo. The swearing-in ceremony is expected to take place tomorrow.

Picture: Darrin Zammit Lupi.

2008-03-10T13:58:00.002+01:00

Monday, 10th March 2008 - 13:49CET

Gonzi reacts to Sant's resignation

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in a first reaction to Alfred Sant's resignation, has thanked the MLP leader for the energy he put into the service of the country.

Speaking to reporters at PN headquarters, Dr Gonzi said Dr Sant and himself had a relationship of mutual respect, and he regarded Dr Sant as a worthy political adversary. He wished him well.

Replying to questions, Dr Gonzi said it was too early for him to comment on the formation of the Cabinet, but the priorities of the new government would be to build on the success achieved over the past few years. An "exciting adventure" lay ahead for Malta, he said.

Dr Gonzi made it a point to thank his parents. He said his father had suffered a cold but was now fine. (There had been speculation that he was in hospital).

2008-03-10T13:51:00.006+01:00

Monday, 10th March 2008 - 11:23CET

Alfred Sant resigns with immediate effect

In a press conference , Alfred Sant has submitted his "irrevocable" resignation from MLP leader.

Alfred Sant thanked all those who helped throughout the Labour campaign. He said Lawrence Gonzi has a big responsibility, since this is one country and nobody should be discriminated against.

When asked his opinion about the electoral defeat, he said that the factor of 'power of incumbency' was present.

Sant added that for the time being he will remain a Member of Parliament, until further discussions with the new Labour leader.

Labour Party concedes election defeat...

2008-03-10T08:36:00.005+01:00

Monday, 10th March 2008 - 03:28

Labour concedes election defeat

The Labour Party has conceded electoral defeat, PN general secretary Joe Saliba said.

He said at the counting hall in Naxxar that after all figures were confirmed, the party had contacted him to concede the election. The difference between the parties was of 1,500 votes.

A Victory for PN, a Victory for Malta...

2008-03-09T17:24:00.010+01:00

PN WINS jubilation, time to celebrate...

Malta Elections 2008 : Minute by Minute; Things are looking weird...very little difference in votes between major parties...and that means...

2008-03-09T15:58:00.023+01:00

Posted 21:37: The PN has won by a relative majority and will be have more seat than the MLP which in fact won a majority of seats.

Posted 21:25: PN win election 2008 by slimmest of margins
Joe Saliba announces that the PN won the election by 1,200 votes.

Posted 21.12:
First count votes
6th District
Mlp Charles Mangion 3845

Posted: 21.10:
First count votes:
8th District
MLP John Buttigieg 22
5th District
Silvio Izzi Savona 551
4th District
Karl Chircop 4371

Posted 20:58:
First count votes
5th District
AD Patrick Attard 224
AN Anthorny Mercieca 96
MLP Joe Farrugia 821
MLP Farrugia Migneco Ancel 264

6th District
Gavin Gulia 290

8th District
AD Mario Mallia 75
AD Harry Vassallo 313

Posted 20:55:
Roderick Galdes (MLP) obtained 1634 first-count votes on the Sixth Electoral District

Posted 20:54: Speaking to journalists, PN deputy leader Tonio Borg urged caution. None of the parties will make an official declaration before the first count ends and the votes are counted. He said this urge for caution was also a sign of responsibilty when the result is so close. In Italy, in Austria, in in Germany there have been close results recently as well, the deputy PN leader said.

Posted 20:03: 6th district: First count vote M'louise Coleiro MLP 5,490 votes

Posted 19:45: MT exit polls for the 10 district seem to have been vindicated with the lead of Robert Arrigo as the most preferred candidate and with the surprise vote for district new comer John Dalli.

Posted 19:41: Labour sources from Naxxar have now said that they are trailing by 750 to 1,000 votes. They say they cannot imagine a recovery with the number of first count votes that have still not been count.

Posted 19:36: First count votes: 4 District Chris Mizzi AD 182, Malcolm Seychell AN 86 6 District: Edward Fenech AD 143 Charles Attard AN 91

Posted 19:32: On the 5 district Marlene Pullicino, Karmenu Vella and Ninu Zammit are leading as MLP candidates. Ninu Zammit is leading for the PN followed by Louis Galea.

Posted 19.29: On 6 district Charles Mangion, Marie Louise Coleiro together with John Dalli ansd Clyde Puli as favourites. Louis Galea does not seem to have garnered enough electoral support.

Posted 19.22: Both parties have decided not to comment until all first count votes are finalised. The situation remains fluid.

Posted 18.45: Latest news: Labour insiders from Naxxar said that they have a clear lead with first count votes.

Posted 18.05: PN secretary general Joe Saliba said that it would take 3 more hours before an election result is known. He called for caution.
Jason Micallef and Michael Falzon told MaltaToday that they would not concede defeat because this was not the case.posted 18,28: The difference between the two parties stands at 1,000. The MLP has a majority of seats. The difference between the two parties is 0.5% and it appears that none of the parties have attained 50 plus one of the votes

posted 1800: AD votes for Cassola and Vassallo are estimated to be around 2.5% to 3%

posted 17.52: ELECTION RESULT TOO CLOSE TO CALL

posted 17.48: Joe Saliba has just announced that it was not right to say that any party had won the election. He said the result would be clear in 3 hrs time. He asked party supporters not to celebrate in the streets. He said the parties would have to wait until all the first count votes were counted.

posted 1614: Lawrence Gonzi is expected to visit the counting hall at 1700.

posted 1540: Labour officials told MT that they are waiting the PN to declare victory for them to concede defeat.

posted 1513: PN officials tell MT that it is more like a 1500 VOTE majority. Tension runs high at Naxxar counting hall, PN tells activists to gather at Stamperija.

posted 15.03: PN OFFICIALS TELL MT THAT THEY HAVE A 4000 MAJORITY, LABOUR REFUSE TO CONCEDE AND INSIST THAT IT IS STILL TOO CLOSE TO CALL. AND WITHIN THE MARGIN OF ERROR

posted 14.52: AN officials tell MT that they are disappointed with their first count votes posted 1450 Mood in the streets has changed with Labour carcades coming to an abrupt end

posted 14.41: In a terse statement to the press Michael Falzon (MLP) said that result is still undecided

posted 14.36: Initial sampling for AD put the greens at a disappointing 1.5%, with Cassola on the 9 at 3%, Victor Galea on the 13 with 1.8%. No sampling exists for Vassallo on the 10th.

most data from the electronic dailies of Malta

At 15.20 still No indications yet...

2008-03-09T15:19:00.002+01:00

there is hope...finger crossed,

2008-03-09T14:58:00.003+01:00

but the maltese people are still waiting and in the meantime I have become the unhappy uncle of three sheepish 'lion cubs'

And all the maltese people are...still WAITING!!!

2008-03-09T13:56:00.008+01:00

and WAITING...
and WAITING...
and WAITING...
and WAITING...
and WAITING...
and WAITING...
and WAITING...
and WAITING...
for some news...
for the last 14 hours...
in the meantime, I’ve run out of fingernails to bite and I ate every chocolate bar in the house and drank gallons of coffee. My neighbour son is giving birth to 'lion cubs'(sheepish ones:)).

The Thinker.... If you think you’re in the frying pan now, don’t head for the fire, for heaven’s sake.

2008-03-07T18:00:00.004+01:00

Thanks to Jacques Zammit

the following is a poem by Antoine Cassar

JUM IR-RIFLESSJONI

Għada l-elezzjoni…
Jiena, Malti ta’ barra
u barrani ta’ ġewwa,
wara nofs ħajja
f’eżilju bl-addoċċ
nissindika mill-bogħod,
jirriżulta
li għada se nixħet
għall-ewwel darba l-vot.

Jum ir-riflessjoni…
Passiġġata fil-Belt,
qassata, ir-rassa
tan-nies, paqqa
wara paqqa,
nieqaf ħa nieħu nifs
fejn it-teatru mwaqqa’
biex bilqiegħda
il-kummiedja nosserva.

Tant tgħallimt u tħawwadt
mit-tagħjir u l-għajat bla għadd
li ħsiebi rabba s-sura
ta’ qrun iċ-ċerva…
waqt li f’qorrigħat in-nies
nissemma’ bejn il-partiti
jissokta t-tpartit
ta’ semm is-suppervja.

Mur semma’ leħnek
f’nofs dil-ħerba,
frattarija u ċaqċiq!
Għada nivvota nixtieq…

Nivvota nixtieq,
f’pajjiż fejn l-ilsna klubija
ma jaħlux ta’ kuljum ir-riq
isewdu t-triq bi mxija
li minnha ħadd ma jfiq…

Nivvota nixtieq,
f’pajjiż fejn il-blu jfisser
baħar u sema
u xejn iżjed minn baħar u sema,
fejn l-aħmar ma jfissirx dmija,
fejn fil-kamra ta’ l-imtallgħa
darba, darbtejn u mija
jintwera u jinstema’
kull lewn tal-qawsalla…

Nivvota nixtieq, f’pajjiż
fejn jesgħu l-forsi, l-aktarx,
l-għandu mnejn, il-jalla,
fejn nista’ nagħżel li nagħżel,
fejn min b’fommu jwiegħed l-għasel
ma jirfisx l-għada kull warda
b’siequ mmarrda,
biex fuqha jkompli jkabbar
ix-xehda tal-ġebel misruq
mill-għelieqi bla għeluq
u jżid id-diqa tad-djuq…

Nivvota nixtieq,
f’pajjiż li nista’ nsemmi
bla geddum u bla ċiera,
fejn ma nibqgħux niksu l-madum
b’daqstant simboli fiergħa,
fejn il-ħaddiem huwa l-imgħallem,
fejn l-għalliem ma jibżax jgħallem,
fejn qajla jkollhom
x’jitħabtu l-infirmiera,
fejn it-tadam jibqa’ jkollu
togħma ta’ tadam,
fejn idejn min jaħrat l-art
jiswew daqs is-subgħajn ratba
ta’ min id-destin jiffirma f’salt,
fejn fil-ħolm ikreh ta’ kull ħames snin
ma nibqax nara gżiriti
bejn ħalla u ħalla
bħal dgħajsa bil-falla
tbaħħar ma’ xifer belliegħa ġo
belliegħa ġo
belliegħa bla
fond, bla
qiegħa…

Għalhekk għada jiena l-unu nixtieq nagħti
lil min hu ħati li jbati
il-moħqrija taċ-ċnagen,
l-iskieken sfiqa tad-dħaħen,
l-unu nixtieq nagħti
lil ħija, lil sieħbi,
lil nannti, lil qaribi,
lis-sinjura fuq ir-radju
itgemgem b’leħen kiebi,
lill-furnar, lis-sajjied,
lit-tfal jilagħbu fil-wied,
lill-bilbla tpassi fis-skiet,
lil dil-kilba għal niskata arja
f’nofs il-ħamba ta’ l-ibliet,
iżda fuq kollox, għada
l-unu nixtieq nagħti
lill-pittur li b’kull kulur
tat-tavlozza jiżbogħ it-tila
tonda, fonda, b’mitt
tiżwiqa mogħnija,
u kburija bħal bandiera
fuq ras it-tripied.

"Antoine Cassar's multilingual poetry and the plurivocality of his verses is the result of the endless possibilities that ensue when two or more languages are spun together. The resulting verses are not a linguistic Babel. Rather, the poems are a layering of languages that widens the horizons of interpretation; a delicate balance of economy that achieves rhythm, rhyme and a movement towards completion or at least, as Cassar writes, to mark existence, before the eternal silence descends."

Stanley Borg, The Times of Malta

Harry l-Hafi

2008-03-07T17:55:00.002+01:00

thanks to Jacques Zammit

Bee Movie...gives me a buzz...

2008-03-07T15:15:00.003+01:00

I meant to write this a bit earlier since I saw this movie late last year but I had the time to watch it again and as the first time I saw it I realized again how much Bee Movie is a clever piece of first-rate entertainment. Though it doesn’t have quite the quality of some of Disney’s Pixar movies, it has plenty of glorious, colorful animation, exhilarating action, and a great story full of fresh, funny characters we haven’t seen before. There is plenty of comedy and action for children and teenagers, and there is also plenty of sharp wit for mature audiences, including parents and grandparents who want to share a day at the movies with their older children and grandchildren or watch it together on the small screen.

Bee Movie has several positive messages. Barry’s parents have taught him that, when someone does something for you, you have to thank him. That’s what drives Barry to thank Vanessa for saving his life. Though Barry has a Romantic worldview (he wants to fulfill his personal wishes), he eventually recognizes that there are limits to those desires. In the end, he discovers there is a created balance to life in which the bees, the humans, and every living thing play an important role. Thus, at the climax of the movie, Barry realizes that, though he has his own individuality, he is part of a species that has an important job to fulfill, a job that can only be accomplished by working together. In fact, it can be said that both the bees and the humans come to realize not only that every living thing plays an important role but also that, as Vanessa puts it early in the movie, “Every life has value.”

The content of Bee Movie is fairly unspoiled and pleasant. There is no foul language, graphic violence, or crude sexual comedy. There is even a reference to the “sweet Lord of bees” and a nod to Christianity when one character makes the sign of the cross. Rent it out and enjoy it because even if the title sound daft and the cover is even worse, it is a movie that you don’t mind watching again and again because it is an animated film that makes both the kids and the big kids laugh. The more I see of ‘Bee Movie’, the more it seems that this could be another one of those animated gems

Malta voted as the Best Climate in the World by www.internationalliving.com

2008-03-01T19:29:00.004+01:00

A quintet of sunny islands makes up the Republic of Malta, with its mild winters and hot summers. Malta, Gozo, and Comino are all inhabited--though with a mere handful of families, Comino only just qualifies. The remaining islands, Cominotto and Filfla, are for boat-trippers and seabirds.

These Maltese islands take the top spot in the Climate category of our 2007 Quality of Life Index. As you know, once a year, every January, we consider nearly every nation on earth in a grueling set of nine categories. This year, our survey looks at 193 countries. And Malta has the best climate in the world.

Fair weather, averaging 5.2 hours of sunshine a day--even in December. Right into November, daytime temperatures often nudge 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Spring comes early, around late February. Frost and snow are mostly unknown. There is winter rainfall, but it tends to come in heavy bursts for short periods. And, while the islands boast few sandy beaches, there are compensations: Summertime brings a round of colorful village festivals complete with fireworks. Diving and sailing are excellent. You can play golf, go horseback riding, and attend trotting races. The second-oldest theater in Europe is the Manoel Theatre, in the capital of Malta, Valletta. In the cooler months, October through May, you can see opera, theater, music, and ballet there.

Don't be embarrassed if you can't pinpoint Malta on a map. It's not on everyone's radar, and mostly unheard of by Americans. Malta is anchored almost in the centre of the Mediterranean Sea, 60 miles from the Italian island of Sicily, which is linked to Malta by regular 90-minute ferry service. There is a modern airport at Luqa (on Malta) with flights to numerous other European countries. Rome is but one hour away by plane.

The next closest neighbours are in North Africa, which lies less than 200 miles away. Travel west, and you arrive in Tunisia; go south from Malta, and you reach Libya.

In other words, despite the Republic of Malta's island status, you won't live here like a castaway.

The government is a politically stable parliamentary democracy, so you do not have to lie awake at night worrying about army coups and crazy colonels with big ideas. A president is the titular head of state, and executive power lies in the hands of the prime minister and the cabinet, whose ministers are appointed from elected members of Parliament. Headed by an attorney general, the judiciary is independent.

Furthermore, this little island became a member of the E.U in 2004.

Apart from the near-perfect climate, on both Malta and Gozo the living is easy and affordable. Crime hardly exists, the locals are hospitable, permanent foreign residents can take advantage of a 15% tax rate, and nobody pays property taxes. The health care is excellent. And you'll encounter no language difficulties...everybody speaks English.

Laura Sheridan
Editor, IL's Quality of Life Index

P.S. The Maltese drive on the left, like the British, but a little more recklessly.

the article can be found here

Name . . .

2008-02-29T13:18:00.002+01:00

What can be held in a name?
Name, a word of strangely combined letters
it’s a call with the mysterious groups of letters.
an allowance to rule our life.

It yells out 'kill kill' the other guy, whose name is different
It yells to 'separate' the other guy, don’t we have the same red blood

But those letters were always the same...
Always the same as the blood in our nerves

But the order was somehow strange...
as strange as the letters that make our names.
We always failed to look in depth, to see the same letters everywhere
but we are only seeing the differences and we are still quarrelling for some simple stupid orders . . .

Dear nationalist party candidate for the 1st district,

2008-02-28T19:12:00.006+01:00

Dear nationalist party candidate for the 1^st district,

I still feel disappointed after 15 years and 4 general elections and one of the thing that let me down most is that no one ever took the time to hear my story and since this is free press here is my contemplation of the so many times that I was stupid enough to keep voting you even if your party kept cheating me. I always held tourism at heart and I still do so when I got my qualifications I looked forward to join what those days was the 4 year full time Diploma in Higher Hotel Management at the Institute of Tourism Studies, which had to lead to a degree at the Malta University. Funnily enough when your party went back to power this course change to a 2 year course leading to just a simple certificate.

I worked in all departments of the catering business and I worked in positions where whenever I could I promote the Maltese islands, then again in 1996 I voted for you even if I had to register for the vat when I only used to try to offer excursions around the country for the visitors and that meant that most of the times the Vat department didn’t believe that I made so little income.

In 1997 under the labour government I was offered an Lm1200 monthly job with a local telecommunication company and nobody helped the 150 staff that were made redundant in 2002 with no reason at all after implementing the whole internet and telephony network around Malta.

I had to resort back to on and off part time jobs yet most people where being recruited within companies even if most of them knew nothing about that particular business. When the tourism industry hit the bottom I leased a catering facility and even if it was very challenging I was doing very well and your party was right to say that people were living better, until your party implemented the smoking ban abruptly and even if I was in favour of it, it was the hardest blow for any small and young enterpriser so I had to close down the business. Everyone had to sip his own medicine when the Labour party was elected in 1996 but I’m proud to say that it was not my fault even if the un-kept promises looked fascinating.

Being a very hardworking person and very flexible I manage to find a different job in logistics and incident management but I had to resign the reason being is that that hard working people are giving a hard time by colleagues , especially by foreigners since hard working staff made them look like they are doing half the load the Maltese people were doing. I had to resort once again to the ETC, where no matter how many times you call you can never find what’s really happening and who is responsible for the organisation.

So this is my story and once again I don’t know to whom I will cast my vote come March 2008. I’ve made the same mistake four times so I’m left with very little options and even if I still don’t trust the leader of opposition, there’s always other options

Good Bye, Gemma Portelli, Goma for many...

2008-02-26T12:51:00.002+01:00

Gemma was a legend. Very much doubt if she'll ever be equalled. It is the end of an era.
Thank you for all the times you made us laugh, for all the wonderful & happy moments you gave us when you came into our homes on TV. Thank you for all you've done, you have always played the parts from heart. Your talent made all of us forget our daily problems; it put a smile and a laugh and even sometimes tears in our eyes. You will be missed by all but never forgotten. You will remain a landmark in the history of drama in Malta.

May God grant you rest in peace

Sahha Gemma!

Oil price will go up significantly within the next 5 years...even the oil for Malta

2008-02-22T11:19:00.009+01:00

No matter which party will be in government, in the next legislature, it is just a big gimmick to make us believe that we will be able to have cheaper electricity prices or any discount on surcharges in the next five years. Here's the article on Bloomberg site which reports that the price of each barrel will go up significantly within the next 5 years...

Mind over Matter

2008-02-21T18:11:00.001+01:00

Pregnant on the campaign trail:Labour MP Justyne Caruana on being pregnant during the election campaign

2008-02-19T12:09:00.012+01:00

It was not to be a normal campaign for the youngest and one of the most talented women in Maltese parliament. She is not only one of the few women in parliament, but she is also Gozitan, young, as well as a married practicing lawyer, added to all that, she was eight months pregnant when the Prime Minister decided to call it a day on the previous legislature and kick off an electoral campaign.

“It was different than five years ago when I first contested elections. This time round I was weighing 72 kilos, which is some 22 kilos over my normal weight, so one of the first problems was a mobility issue. I had to slow down even though I did not want to stop home visits and seeing clients. But there were moments when it had to be baby first,” says Justyne, when asked about her experience during the electoral campaign.

Baby Josephine was born on 15 February, bang in the middle of the campaign. “It was a very important moment for me, yet difficult. It took me another week to recover and at that moment it was all about baby Josephine. My family was very important for me, not least my husband, Silvio, who is of great moral and physical support. When it was not possible for me to continue campaigning, my father, uncles and aunts, cousins, my 88-year old grand father and friends, continued the job for me. But it was not easy for them, they used to joke, saying that campaigning for me without me actually being there was like having a procession without a statue.”

Her life since the arrival of her baby has taken a new twist. “Silvio and I will be making sure we give the best upbringing for our baby and of course continue working. I did not stop. My mother takes care of Josephine when we are at work and in the evening we spend time with our baby.”

“My message goes out to all young women, not to give up and always look forward. In the last five years I was elected in parliament, started practicing as a lawyer, got married and now I have a baby. Everything falls in its place if you keep the faith and have the will and courage to continue, this is not only for women in politics, which I encourage, but also for women who want to build a career. Where there is will there is a way,” said the Labour MP.

Students can't forget the promises that were left unkept...

2008-02-19T11:32:00.006+01:00

Interesting article written by Matthew Xuereb in the Times of Malta
Students side with Gonzi in rowdy debate

Splendid...

2008-02-18T23:07:00.014+01:00

Splendid weather, Splendid winter day, Splendid view, Splendid sea, Splendid boat...excuse quality od pic; taken with a mobile phone on a lovely winter day, that only Malta can offer...

It's a dirty job...

2008-02-17T15:54:00.012+01:00

The clock just struck half seven. It was still pitch dark outside; even the morning was not very enthusiastic about waking up. A quick glance at the temperature gauge in the car dashboard and he read that it was marking 5 degrees Celsius, outside the car. He was telling himself that it couldn't be so cold and that the gauge must be playing funny tricks. He tightened the jacket, grabbed the bag and he dashed quickly to the security officer’s office.

The gauge in the car was working more then fine, it was freezing cold outside. He removed his right hand glove; put his now turned blue hand in the punch clock and as he pressed the key IN, the system read his hand. On his way out he was greeted by a large sign that reminded him how important security at work is. He placed the hard hat on and the reflective jacket.

The tug boat has been pushing the cargo ship in the port for the last half an hour and the crew on both boats tried their outmost to help tracking in the large cargo ship, in this severe weather conditions.

There were 13 people in all, in the small room which measured less then 3x3 metres, which they called the office. They were all wrapped with heavy clothing to face this cold day. He found the little room very cosy and the heavy breaths smelling of tobacco and the smell of fresh instant coffee, gave him a homely feeling, that he was enjoying even if he knew that he will soon have to dash in the cold to start his day of work. The SOS (the supervisor) told each one of them what was expected from them and everyone left to get ready to cater for the new ship which had berthed just now after a long struggle against the waves.

Heavy winds welcomed them when they opened the main door and he moved quickly with his team of 4 which were walking against the wind to try to make it to the other side. He could feel the cold stormy weather in his face and he tasted the salty sea spray on his lips. The air was smelling of rotten fish but the smell was acceptable. Small circles of seagulls were flying around the large ship which was moving strongly from one side to the other due to the large waves which ended hitting the side of the ship or the dock and that meant that if he was not careful enough, he would have got wet very easily, but a beep from the mobile phoned reminded him that this is not a beautiful dream but real life. He took the mobile phone out of his jacket’s pocket. A quick peek at the mobile screen and the name already brought a warm felling in his heart and the text message made him realize what a beautiful feeling it is to love and be loved. Then he realized that no job is a dirty job if one does it from the heart and enjoy every minute of it. Just five more hours to go...

What is a Soul Mate?

2008-02-13T21:30:00.007+01:00

Even if I believe that when you are in love, St. Valentine's Day should be celebrated with your partner everyday, here are some thoughts I have dotted down in one of my other blogs, my spiritual one.
When you press the link below, you are gonna be greeted by the person who loves me most, no matter what I am and what I do. When you are ready from admiring His eyes and you feel He told you something, kindly scroll the page down to read what some people think...A Soul Mate is

PO taters :)...

2008-02-13T20:38:00.002+01:00

Some people never seem motivated to participate, but are just content to watch while others do the work.
They are called 'Spec Taters''.

Some people never do anything to help, but are gifted at finding fault with the way others do the work.
They are called 'Comment Taters'.

Some people are very bossy and like to tell others what to do, but don't want to soil their own hands.
They are called 'Dick Taters'.

Some people are always looking to cause problems by asking others to agree with them. It is too hot or too cold, too sour or to sweet.
They are called 'Agie Taters'.

There are those who say they will help, but somehow just never get around to actually doing the promised help.
They are called the 'Hezzie Taters'.

Some people can put up a front and pretend to be someone they are not.
The are called the 'Immy Taters'.

Then there are those who love others and do what they say they will. They are always prepared to stop whatever they are doing and lend a helping hand. They bring real sunshine into the lives of others.They are called 'Sweet PO Taters'. A big thank you to all the 'Sweet PO Taters that decorate my life...XXX

keep it light...for travelling

2008-02-13T19:45:00.004+01:00

Fenkata...Maltese traditional men's night out...with bunnies!

2008-02-13T18:39:00.013+01:00

The recipe is simple, fix a day at least three months before. Start sending as many emails and smses, (as much as you can afford timewise) and just hope that at least ten friends turn up due to other commitments that funnily enough always pop up around that day.

One of the funniest answers I received this time was that “I’m sorry Chal, but I’ll have the painter coming in that day so I will not be able to do it.” The Fenkata happens after eight in the evening and keeping in mind how hard working the local painters are I have trouble driving at night since all roads are usually jam-packed with ladders with men dressed in white dungarees all painting in the middle of the night.

So once I get the idea of how many people will turn up (usually a couple of days before) I book a table at our favourite snack bar in Zebbiegh which is called the Farmer’s Restaurant for what the locals call a Fenkata (A night in a plain, simple and clean workmen snack bar eating a local delicacy which is rabbit to one’s heart content)

The menu is simple. In our case we were ten so I asked the bar owner for four rabbits when I was making the booking. Two were fried in olive oil with lots of garlic and onions and the other two were stewed in wine and tomato sauce.

The night usually starts out with lots of drinks at the bar counter while eating some appetizers like water biscuits(galletti) with hard cheese and hams, bruschetta and the so famous hobz biz-zejt (bite sizes of local fresh bread served with tomato paste on top, onions, garlic and olive oil)

Every one opted for the Spaghetti as starter, which is served with the sauce made from the rabbit stew and herbs and spices. When everyone licked the sauce off the plate with fresh crusty local bread it was the turn of the main course. Four large bowls of succulent rabbit pieces, 4 large bowls of homemade chips and a massive dish of salad and other one with fresh vegetables. The bowls were moving hands and so were the lovely bottle of homemade red wine, in fact we had fourteen bottles of them between the ten of us.

Fag break for all the sickos who leave some dry leaves of tobacco take charge of of their life(luckily I quit my 60 a day habit three years ago). We were then served the traditional desert that is served after such a colossal meal which is dry cheeses the sweet ones and the peppered ones, peanuts and Helwa tat-tork (maltese halva) which goes down so well with the last few glasses of the wine (we don’t quit until the last drop) and guess what: all this for € 180, that is €20 each so we had enough money to tip the young gentlemen who served us and the cook for providing us the food on which to feast.

This is the best way one can spend a fantastic evening with his mates and on the side are some pictures taken with my mobile when the alcohol was already making its way to my head, so excuse the quality of the pics of our last Fenkata!

Dan in Real Life- Plan your life to be surprised!!!...

2008-02-12T23:46:00.001+01:00

Whenever I see the name Peter Hedges printed on a movie poster as a director, I know that the movie will have a unique blend of humor and heartbreak, yet Dan in Real Life is also blissfully funny and touching.

Good comedians who become Hollywood actors tend to follow a familiar pattern. Over time, they get soft, becoming all tender and ''humanized.'' Richard Pryor more or less set the template for this ritual and his example was followed by Robin ''I Love Me!'' Williams and Jim Carrey, who's had an on-again, off-again fling with taming his own made revolution. Steve Carell, after The 40 Year-Old Virgin, he already looked he was halfway in the same pattern I mentioned above and the way he played the yuppie Noah in Evan Almighty made me dread the worst when I went to see Dan in Real Life, in which Carell plays a family-values newspaper columnist, an advice column filled with the common sense he lacks himself, who is also the widowed father of three daughters.

Carell's Dan Burns is a good father, maybe a superhuman one, but a bit overprotective; he's clenched with fear. Taking his spoiled brat princesses for a weekend reunion at his parents idyllic home on the Rhode Island shore, he gets sucked into the swirl of parents, brothers, kids, and it's a shock to see a family house-party movie ruled by affection rather than backbiting.

In the four years since his wife died, Dan's been laying down rigid rules for his girls and dragging his ass about relationships. Then, out of the blues, in a bookstore, he meets a woman (the bracingly lovely Juliette Binoche) who makes him laugh and, better yet, makes him want to make her laugh. Only to learn that the boyfriend is...his brother Mitch (Dane Cook), and she's staying for the weekend! It's a jaw-dropper of a twist, and here's the thing: There's no bad feelings. Dan loves his brother, who looks like he might be settling down at last.

Dan has to hold in his feelings, but more than that, he has to try to kill them and the whole movie spins around Carell's inspired performance as a man who is going quietly nuts because the universe has decided to toy with him and in the film the universe finds every possible way to make things even worse for Dan. The brother is blameless, and Marie seems to genuinely like him. And wherever Dan goes in the house, he has to hear someone in the family raving about how wonderful Marie is. The story might sound like the last green mile to an electric chair for most men but funnily enough it turns out to be a lively and moving comedy, and that Carell, instead of drowning in a bath of ''warmth,'' holds on to his inner wild man in the shrewdest way possible.

Carell shows a whole new side to his talents. Even in the brief bookstore encounter, he makes you feel Dan's ache and yearning. You also feel his horror when Dan sees Anne for the first time at his parent’s house being introduced as his brother’s new flame for the first time but Carell and Binoche ' keep it real. Sharing their company really is a pleasure. Binoche’s radiance make the the film more realistic and she gives the most direct performance she has in years. In the era of the fading chick flick, it's refreshing to see a movie about two grown-ups who fall in love because they look as if they truly do need each other

Dan in Real Life is a comedy of faith that, in its wised-up feel-good way, restores yours. It is an achievement because it is a romantic comedy in which its characters manage to be romantic, hilarious and recognizably human at the same time. Hedges' screenplay, co-written by Pierce Gardner, is close to perfection. This movie fires on so many track that at times it's actually shocking how good it is. It tells a funny and emotional story without any of the sentimental shorthand found in most romantic comedies. And though its level of pure comic craftsmanship dwarfs most contenders, it doesn't feel in any way constructed. It feels intuitive and inspired a film of humanity and insight.

Most comedies don't advance much beyond a captivating idea. Dan in Real Life does. Even if you end up guessing where the story eventually goes, its path is so eccentric that each turn in the journey comes as a surprise. And most of the surprises are very funny. This is impressive comic writing.

The cast is strong in all positions. Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney play the parents, and Emily Blunt has a featured role as a former ugly duckling transformed by time into a gorgeous hottie. Dan's three daughters are vivid, particularly Marlene Lawston as his adorable youngest. Alison Pill brings a nice, burgeoning adult consciousness to the role of the eldest daughter, and Brittany Robertson is comically adept as the rebellious, lovesick middle daughter

This movie boasts truthful performances and camerawork that's tasteful and psychologically smart without calling attention to itself. In one scene, Dan opens a door and finds his youngest daughter having a conversation with Marie. He'd love to join them, but he knows he shouldn't, and the camera emphasizes his longing by hanging back with him and not moving in for a tight shot of the daughter. Such psychological perception and sensitive intelligence characterize Hedges' work throughout, and the result is one of the half-dozen best American films so far this year.

The start of a new beginning (excuse the pun) or the draw of the final curtain...

2008-02-12T12:35:00.000+01:00

Time flies for everyone and if it wasn’t for some billboards popping up for the next election I wouldn’t have believed that the leader of the opposition has been sitting on the other side of the house of parliament for the last 16 years ,except for the 22months that he served as a Prime Minister in 1996.
Sixteen years at the wheel of a party is a very long time and it must be very frustrating to have spent only 22 months in government. The coming general election will be crucial for Alfred Sant. Successive opinion polls and surveys carried out by independent newspapers have confirmed, time and again, that the huge majority of those questioned have little or no faith in Alfred Sant as Prime Minister. This may very well be his last days as leader of the Malta Labour Party after 16 long years on top, or he may go on to win the election meaning that he will carry on for practically another decade.
He surely must be taking this election very seriously. You can’t blame him; his future is at risk. Dr Sant has to win this general election if he wants to hold on to his post. Another defeat at the polls will automatically mean the end of his political career. Alfred Sant has contested three successive general elections as leader of the Labour Party, lost two and won one; should he fail yet again this time round I don’t think there will be a fifth chance for Dr Sant.

Floating voters, and most of the undecided voters including dissatisfied Labourites, have one thing in common; they all think that Dr Sant is not fit to be Prime Minister. Whether they will take this golden opportunity remains to be seen; only the results of 8 March will tell. All those who think that Dr Sant will not make a good Prime Minister know that should Sant make it back to Castile after an absence of 12 years, they will have to put up with him as the man will be around for years to come and what’s most frightening is that if a significant portion of the electorate does not vote, or votes for one of the small parties then Alfred Sant stands a very good chance of being sworn in as Prime Minister on 10 March. There is a good chance of Alfred Sant becoming Malta’s Prime Minister, a very good chance, even if Mintoff, if ever he contests, manages to get enough votes to get a seat in parliament from Cottonera and other districts where he always got a good sustain.

Many still feel that Dr. Sant does not merit making it back to Castile. Time has shown that Alfred Sant took many wrong decisions in government and in Opposition. Alfred Sant has given one wrong advice after the other and he insists in doing so up to the present day. He is the man who furiously opposed Malta’s EU membership for more than a decade. He is the man who opposed Malta’s euro adoption; he is the man who opposed progress every inch of the way. He has now promised to once again re-negotiate certain sectors with the EU when everyone had safely assumed that EU membership was case closed. Dr Sant is undoubtedly a decent man, an accomplished writer and playwright, a man of letters; but by persisting on his mistakes does not make him fit to be Prime Minister. He can’t expect the Maltese people to trust him with their future, so this may be Alfred Sant’s last month in politics or he may remain in the scene for at least another 10 years, I think I better be safe then sorry...

Disney Channel proudly presents-The Maltese General Election-08/03/2008 (Vera Pajjiz tal-Mickey Mouse) Pt 2 Dom Mintoff "may" contest the election 08

2008-02-12T01:48:00.000+01:00

Former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff "may" contest the general election as an independent candidate, PBS reported tonight.

It said the 91-year-old former MLP leader would not confirm or deny the possibility.

Mr Mintoff successfully contested 14 elections since 1945 and was a member of parliament until 1998 when he did not stand for the general election of that year. He also did not stand in 2003.

Josie Muscat, leader of Azzjoni Nazzjonalim said that Mr Mintoff would not stand with Azzjoni Nazzjonali, although he confirmed having had meetings with him, finding him to be 'energetic.'

Mr Mintoff's last foray in political life was to oppose EU membership.

Dear Josie, you should know well enough that Mintoff never plans to run into a defeat for anyone. This chap never stops from surprising and leaving everyone guessing is part of his game...

Disney Channel proudly presents-The Maltese General Election-08/03/2008 (Vera Pajjiz tal-Mickey Mouse)Norman Lowell will contest the election 08

2008-02-11T16:51:00.000+01:00

Norman Lowell will contest the general election of Malta
The nonconformist far-right Imperium Europa leader Norman Lowell will be contesting the upcoming general election.

Mr. Lowell came into the political game as the voice of anti-immigration in 2003. He reached the height of his popularity in 2005 with an infamous speech in Ħal Safi, during which he suggested that if need be, immigrants' boats should be sunk 14 miles out at sea.
Shortly after that speech he was charged twice with inciting racial hatred but the cases were put off.
He was arrested and charged with inciting racial hatred and, among other things, for joking about the president in 2006 but the case has not yet been decided.
Since 2005, particularly after the formation of Alleanza Nazzjonali Repubblikana (ANR), his movement was fractured and now counts only a small number of loyal supporters.

The news was discovered by Sandro Vella a blogger (www.sandrovella.org ) who attended a meeting this Saturday in which Norman Lowell announced his intention.

Asked how he felt about contesting the parliamentary elections, Lowell replied: “This will give Maltese people the chance to heed my warnings, just as Enoch Powell warned the British in the 1960’s. Dire consequences face the nation for taking the wrong path.” Lowell also stated that he can have a clear conscience in doing all that one man can do to save Malta. “I have given the Maltese people the opportunity to take back their island from the corrosive duopoly.” In his closing words he said that “Maltese will, in years to come, say the same of him as they say of Powell in the UK today. Malta’s fate lies in that hands of the residents of the 11th and 12th districts.”
He decided to contest the 11th and 12th districts under the Imperium Europa label. James Cauchi, an unknown, will be contesting the 9th and 10th district on behalf of Viva Malta, which is aligned to, but not part of, the Imperium Europa movement.

Daniela Xuereb- Art from the Heart

2008-02-05T15:41:00.000+01:00

The first thing that I read every Sunday morning are the magazines that are laden with adverts which come free with the Sunday papers. Mind you, most of the times; most articles are really boring except for the ones in my favourite magazine 'Homeworks', which I tend to, read every part of it, sometimes even more than once.

Last Sunday’s freebie was the Sunday Circle and as from today till the 8th of March, the only 'model’s' gracing the front pages of all magazines will be Alfred Sant or Lawrence Gonzi and that had already put me off reading it, but since it was the only available I just sat and started going thru the ads and some articles. When I made it to page 35, (it took me seconds) I was captivated by a lovely smile and that made me read the article with more interest, but to be sincere I spent most of the time looking at the pictures at first, (men will be men!)

The article was about a young lady who goes by the name of Daniela Xuereb and about the love of art that she has since she was young. She gets inspired by her life and living. She also finds inspiration from the different cultures in the world and by the stories that people have to tell, joyful ones that they treasure and also about the ones that might have caused torment.
Daniela’s paintings are illogical but still I was moved by each stroke, by the choice of colours, one over the other and the way she blends them together. Somehow her work bypasses one’s reason and plays with one’s emotions instead, seducing you into seeing the depths hidden in them like Narnia in Lucy's old wardrobe.

Her paintings appear tranquil, yet are full of movement; they seem neutral but are made up of countless colours; they have delicate surfaces woven like a tapestry of acrylic that make one’s eyes plunge through into incomprehensible depths. They appear empty, but rarely are paintings so full... the only way one can sense her paintings fully, is not by scrutinising them, but by letting them infiltrate the body and mind, just like ghosts. Only then one can start to feel the way through the surface, into the depths created by I wonder how many layers of paint.

Even if she doesn’t paint raging waterfalls or avalanches, she still makes you feel a similar sense of awe, of profound scale. There's a feeling of looking at something close up and yet simultaneously far away. I regret that I didn’t know that she had an exhibition earlier on this year but I look forward to attend the next one and why not a myriad of them...In my opinion the following poem explains what this young lady tries to express with her paintings, instead of words...

To see a world in a grain of sand
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour

From Auguries of Innocence by William Blake

Wall-Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

2008-02-04T15:25:00.000+01:00

As most of my readers know I tend to have a soft spot with anything which is usually designed to be enjoyed mostly by children. Could it be that a (small :)) part of me never accepted the idea of growing up or the reason might be that when I think of getting older, I just get rid of the idea and that helps me feel younger at heart.

Well as you might have read earlier one of the best film in my opinion of 2007 was Ratatouille and after the massive success made from Pixar thanks to the little character of Remy, on the 17th of June and that means that probably we will be seeing it in Malta around October if not for the Christmas season, we will have a new contender to soften our heart. Its/His name is Wall-E and so is the name of the new animated film by Disney-Pixar. Wall-E is a tiny robot, with sweet eyes very clumsy but otherwise a fantastic little thing.
Here is the latest teaser/trailer and I recommend you watch this precious new gem, which I’m sure will have the same repeated success or cuts the mustard even better (I don’t think that the new character aspires to become a chef as well so I think, the last sentence was out of place)…Enjoy the trailer and don't worry, it's just a phase when one tends to talk too much to himself :) and he even writes them...SICKO

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Hiccups Pub Paceville- still the best burger you could ever have had...but luckily you still can have...

2008-02-03T01:50:00.003+01:00

Since the dawn of time, mankind has been searching...
searching for something more. Ever since the first homo-sapiens pushed a mammoth over a cliff; feasted on its widely dispersed remains and decided that it was a pretty good meal; we've been on the road to culinary improvement.

Much later a German, let's call him Helmut, fried up a bit of mince, slapped it between two buns and changed the course of history. Helmut didn't realize it at the time, but he had just invented the burger. But mankind wasn't satisfied with the burger. No, man is never satisfied. Since that day
we have continued to improve, refine, enhance and augment. We have continued to experiment and explore, to add pickles and fried onions, to push the burger boundaries.

As most of my readers know I am fascinated about food but some days I feel like having some less sophisticated stuff and when it comes to burgers(especially if you do have a large apetite) The King Of Homemade healthy junk food and best value Super Mega Massive burger has to be The Hiccups Pub In Paceville.

We were three playing pool in Drayton’s Pub in Paceville, two were having a beer and as for me since I’m on the low-carb diet and I’m not a big fan of beer, my choice fell on the whites and I was sipping my favorite clear water Finlandia vodka with a dash of diet coke. Funnily enough I changed the discussion about life and the joys of being single to food (as usual) 10.30 pm, Thursday night, Paceville, one could only find disgusting junk food and creepy, crappy, franchise shops open at this time of night. Both my friends are much younger so I ended boasting how life was much cheaper and better in my days around 15 years ago when I was so much younger and I was telling them how we could get a massive burger meals freshly made for Lm2.20 of the old Maltese lira (€ 5.15). A burger so big that the only way that could hold it horizontally was that the cook had to stick a kebab stick in the middle of the burger from top to bottom.

Could it be that we were hungry or the idea of such a mouthwatering meal, that made our stomach grumble? Without saying just on word to each other we promptly got up and left our seats, missioning on down to Church street (yes, much to K’s dismay we decided on walking. You can more easily hold to each other if you start to feel the effect of the alcohol and it was something that I didn't do in quite a while.)

On my way there I felt a little uneasy and it wasn’t the effect of the vodka but the idea that the place might have closed down (and when a particular dish gets painted so well in my mind that I start tasting it and then it is not available, I tend to become worse than a pregnant woman and her cravings) I was also kinda worried that the owner might have retired and the new one will let me down big time, especially since I was doing the recommendation. I didn’t want to feel like an idiot especially when it comes to food.

We found ourselves at the main entrance of Hiccups Pub: the owner is still the same, Charlie is his name, just looking a little older but apart from that nothing has changed except that the pub now boast a larger TV set connected to a satellite receiver.

The place has a kooky, kinda haunted —if very deliberate—down-at-the-heels charm (right) that runs squarely at odds with its surroundings, namely those of fancy new designer restaurants that have popped up lately in Paceville (For the people my age, it has the atmosphere one could feel and smell and felt once one walked in the original Alley Bar in the early
ninety's, a place which nowaday's has not only lost it's original unique concept were all people, in all ways of life could enjoy good music and some real drinks, but lately even its name, to a fashion magazine's name; what an utter shame)
Charlie and the famous Pub

This little Pub is a touch difficult to find, tucked with only a small sign pointing the way. It's hardly ever empty. I recommend grabbing any open table right away, if you're with someone who can hold it while you stand to order.

It's counter service, and there's no host to seat you or take names. While you stand in line, you can contemplate your order, but that won't take you long. The menu's simple: The SPECIAL: 2 large thick beef patties topped with any or all coleslaw, tomato, onion, 2 fried eggs and two slices of cheese and this is done twice so if you opt for the full fare that make your burger 20cm tall and since it is done freshly from scratch the owner who is also the cook, never denies any of your wishes and preferences (even if that means that you have to wait twenty minutes for your order to turn up), but believe me nothing beats the exiting feeling you get when you see Charlie coming out of the kitchen with this massive tower of food and he lands it on your table, with a massive portion of homely made fries and the lovely large basket with all the sauces and pickles that one could ask for to complement this succulent dish to one’s heart content.

As for the price, well, a Special burger as explained above 2 vodkas 1 diet coke and two beers turned out to be €12.83 and my friends bills were very similar, and as long as I hope it wasn’t a mistake I’ll be sitting more often in the little benches in this little pub shouting Ghamillu ohra special (one more special)

I couldn't think of anything Charlie could do to improve upon its formula, maybe as my friend suggested, fried onions instead being fresh but I believe that behind the curtain he runs a grade-A operation and even though the place looks shabby from outside, that most people would pay no attention to this place, let alone become customers, this pub is extremely clean inside, even if outside it looks like an abandoned haunted house. It still is the Hamburger’s heaven for me and the so ever impressed friends that enjoyed the experience too.

(Funnily enough Charlie has a soft spot for anything haunted and while we were enjoying our meal the only thing showing on the main TV were haunted places and ghost stories: talking of the good old Alley, and the famous fog of smoke!)

the girlie/kids version, the chunky pub chippies and the basket of sauces, mayos and ketchup

Confessions of french and english students who sell sex to live and learn

2008-01-20T22:54:00.000+01:00

One of the e-papers I love to read is the British Times. The main reason that I look for this paper almost every day is so I can read Jeremy Clarkson's reviews which originally were about cars and during those days only the four wheels, sometimes the two wheels were the things that bothered him, in the good and in the bad, so they had to go thru his hard criticism but nowadays anything that moves or doesn’t tend to end up under his sharp wit and cut down to pieces and becomes just dust in the wind.
Yesterday as I was reading one of his article about the new Mazda MX5 (His final conclusion is that it's still a bacon sandwich made with good bread, good butter and good pork but now it has a splash of HP sauce)I came across two interesting articles and as I was reading them I kept telling myself how lucky the Maltese students are compared to most students in the European countries especially the Maltese students over sixteen years old who not only do they all get free tuition but are even given a stipend to help them thru out there studies. The two articles were about young students turning to prostitution to have enough money to pay tuition fees, the rent and have enough money to feed themselves during their studies . The first one is a study done by Dr Ron Roberts, who is a health psychologist at Kingston University in southwest London. In his study he found out that the new figures of students turning to prostitution represent a 50% increase in the prevalence rates for student prostitution since 2000, given the increasing financial problems experienced by students, in the last 6 years.
One of the surveys asked 130 students whether they knew any friends involved in the sex industry, one in 10 said they knew of students who had stripped, lap-danced or worked at massage parlours and escort agencies to support themselves. Just over 6% said they knew students who worked as prostitutes.
The study found that alcohol led some women into stripping and lap-dancing, but those resorting to prostitution were simply working to earn money.
University tuition fees in UK which were first introduced in 1998 at £1,000 a year have risen to £3,000 this The researchers talked to students in different age and social groups and cross-checked descriptions to avoid double-counting sex workers who might be known by more than one respondent.
Last week one London escort said she had been working in the industry since 1999 to support herself through a master’s degree and now a doctorate in international politics. She said that they use to go to the agency with text books and laptops, and all the girls studied at night and then would take breaks to go out with the guys.
Sophie said she could sometimes earn £2,000 for a full night’s work in 1999, but now competition from eastern European prostitutes had driven earnings down, while tuition fees had gone up.
Students like Sophie are finding it easier to work in this industry, instead of working in McDonald’s, or shops for £8 an hour, since one can still have time to do the reading and make more money quickly, to pay the rent.
Internet adverts for escort agencies and massage parlours boast of having “college girls” on their books. Clients are willing to pay up to £350 an hour, because they don’t want a bimbo but they want a conversation as well as sex.
Sam Heuston, 24, a contestant last year on the British version of the Big Brother, said she earned £80 a night stripping and lap-dancing at clubs when she was studying marketing at Oxford Brookes University.
The second article is about a book called Mes Chères Études (My Dear Studies), written by a 19 years old student by the name of Laura D who is in her second year of university who managed to raise an eye one of the ugliest phenomenon hitting France as other major european countries which is student prostitution. The young girl who attends a Paris university has drawn national attention with a book about a first year in which she paid impossible bills by selling her body to men. Thanks to the internet, many students especially women are being tempted into occasional paid sex to cope with living costs that can no longer be met with part-time jobs.

She describes the trap into which she fell soon after starting university at an unidentified city in 2006. Even if most parisienne think that tales of students selling sex en masse is just a figment of media imagination but there is a large number of girls who do not talk about it, even with their friends. It’s something which is hard to talk about, so it stays secret and taboo. It’s incredibly easy to get sucked in because there are a lot of students who can’t make ends meet in fact police estimate that up to 20,000 sell their favors. Despite working 15 hours a week in telephone sales, Laura said that she went hungry. Her workman father and nurse mother, who live in a council house in the same city, could not afford to help her. Their minimum wage incomes barred her from very basic student aid, like tens of thousands of others.
In her book, Laura says: “Not a bean, unpaid bills and rent to pay. Never a penny in my pocket and forced to cheat on public transport. It was a generally unbearable life,” A click on the internet revealed a wealth of demand for escorts and masseuses. She decided to answer an advert saying: “Young man of 50 seeks occasional masseuse. Students welcome.”
“I said to myself that ‘massages’ would easily give me the luxury of choosing what I would do. I did not realise that it was exactly the opposite: I would never have the choice again. From the moment you reply to an advert, you have been dragged in.”
At her first session, in a hotel room, “Joe”, her track-suited, fiftysomething client, paid €250, simply to watch her. When she fled to Paris last April, she was making €400 a time but she resolved to give up. “I couldn’t sleep. I turned in my bed with images of horror passing before my eyes.”
Now working in a Paris restaurant, Laura is determined to stick to her decision. She realizes that she has been damaged: “It is difficult now with boys. I hope never to go back to it. It is very violent. It’s a money relationship and there is financial domination. It is very difficult to rebuild oneself afterwards.”
Average Prices

France
€ 1508-Yearly education costs of average student
€ 4682-Student’s estimated annual living costs
€ 7-Price of a pint of beer in Paris
€6.50-Price of a McDonald’s Big Mac burger

Britain
£2,019-Yearly education costs
£5,333-Annual living costs
£2.60-Price of a pint of beer in London
£1.94- Price of a McDonald’s Big Mac burger

Low Carb Diet- the best diet ever invented- latest news-

2008-01-20T22:23:00.000+01:00

GOOD NEWS Well I weighed myself this morning after I believe more then three weeks and I can proudly say that I managed to shed down almost 20 kilos without loosing any muscle, even if I eat all food that I love and it’s food that all nutritionist wanna be tell you that are unhealthy…since I started my diet on the 1st of December 2008…keep them coming…
P.S. I’m still experimenting to create some low carb dessert but so far some of my successful dishes I managed to create are
Strawberry cheese cake
Almond cookies
Chocolate chip cookiesTorta Del Re (an Italian lemon and almonds cake)
Cherry muffins (I still have to try the blueberries version but the fruit is out of season)
And my always favourite: Coppa Sorpresa a double cream, mascarpone based dessert with dark chocolate and almond nibbles

Good quote...

2008-01-20T22:18:00.000+01:00

A beautiful quote for all the people who decided to start a new lifestyle or they already enjoying the benefits of it...I'm talking about the Low carb diet...
"It's not a 'race' to get thinner;
but it's a 'journey' to get healthier."

Let the battle begin PN vs MLP

2008-01-20T21:06:00.000+01:00

I was reading a very interesting article lately in the Times of Malta and I couldn’t help but thinking in what a shocking state the two main political parties are now that the pre election fever is starting to be felt and both parties try to outbid one another when it comes to making electoral promises, something which after all, all parties in all democratic countries do. Just like most of the other countries in Europe, in Malta the two main political parties tend to get themselves in a tangle over issues that at best leave most people smiling at the politicians tricks and, at worst, upset at the way they dare expect the electorate to believe everything they say.

When the Opposition Leader Dr.Alfred Sant recovers and re-enters the political fray by the end of this month, that will be the time when the political campaigning starts in full swing, Labour's election proposals to halve the surcharge on fuel and to exempt overtime earnings from income tax will surely top the political agenda again and if Labour are going to base the campaign on this two issues alone it looks like they will be keeping the tradition of coming up with the best electoral gimmicks of the lot.

Voters are well used to seeing political parties dish out political gimmicks at election time. The parties do this with a kind of fervency that often leaves many breathless or in awe, as many retailers felt in the 1996 general election campaign when they were given the impression that they would need no cash registers if Labour were to get elected and the same thing applied to the students who believe that there stipend will remain the way they were before. Many were taken in by this promise, only to find that Labour in power was no different to Labour in the opposition benches

Labour's proposals on the fuel surcharge and overtime deserves some close analysis. The Nationalists have not been strong enough in challenging Labour to say how a Labour Administration would be able to halve the fuel surcharge, and, on its part, Labour is not being clear on the how this proposal is going to work. Yes, it is easy to say that the money would come through greater operating efficiency at Enemalta but does the party really think the electorate is going to believe it can do this with the same deftness it plans to halve the surcharge?

The government is already forking out about Lm20 million (€46.5 million) to fund part of the surcharge. Halving the surcharge would mean having to fork out an additional Lm12.5 million (€29 million). How, exactly, is Labour going to tackle the problem, especially if the price of oil continues to soar? It exceeded $100 a barrel. Labour is far, very far from being convincing on this point, and it knows it. As it also knows that the public is confused over its other proposal to exempt overtime earnings from income tax. So many different figures are being mentioned about that, but few can now follow the arguments. It is, therefore, becoming increasingly difficult to assess the two parties' stands on the issue.

What’s next and who’s the party who will be most credible and realistic?

Go Mobile and Vodafone Malta sms rates...what's the buzz???

2008-01-14T17:23:00.000+01:00

I don’t see why there is a reason for all the fuss that’s been made because both Vodafone Malta and Go mobile have rounded up their prices and everyone is saying that the prices will increase.
In some cases they will but if you are a heavy texter just like me I found a way which for the next 6 months you can text smses for free.
I used to be a Vodafone customer and although I was not unhappy with their service, I never received any bonus or incentives for being their customer for 10 long years so during the last note Bianca in October I was stopped by a salesgirl in the street and as she intrigued me with a special offer which was being sold on that special night. If I kept my original number and moved to Go mobile I would be given 500 free sms and Lm 15 credit. Nothing special one might say when one sees the new marketing campaigns during Christmas from both companies, well you are right but Go mobile have an ace in their hands with the scheme called TEXT, where one can buy 300smses for Lm3 that is €6.99 which again means 1 Maltese cent or 0.02 €cent per sms. So by using this scheme I spend only Lm3 a month that is the same rate of 2007. I got the first 500 free sms for the 1st month and since I have Lm15 credit I don’t need to top up until the end of April 2007. So I don’t see no reason why one has to strike and send all these stupid mail and spam on hi5 and face book. Change operator, get free credit and stop grumbling when we have the cheapest rate in Europe…mind you I did complain big time when my doctor charged me Lm 4 for a visit at the pharmacy when he used to charge Lm2 and then Lm6.50 when he came to visit me at home when he used to charge a fiver before…there always linja 154 and yes if it’s not FAIR, please complain…

American couple name children: Lexus, Porsche and Audi

2008-01-12T16:43:00.000+01:00

At some point in the past 20 years, it seems as though parents abruptly decided to switch from names like Michelle and Jimmy to names like Madison and Hunter. The naming trend obviously didn't sit well with one Texas couple, who decided to name their children after luxury car manufacturers. The Lone Star duet named their first child Lexus after the new father saw a Lexus driving by. The name Porsche was shot down for the first child, but when Craig and Sondra Harrington found out they were expecting twins, Ferdinand's namesake was back in the fold. To keep up with the German naming convention, the other child now dons the Audi name.
As it turns out, the Harringtons aren't even car nuts, but they may be a bit weird. Something tells us the twins had better be tough , because they're likely going to have to get physical to keep kids from picking on them. Besides, Texas is a Pick-Up country.
Shouldn't they have gone with Silverado and Tundra? F-Series is probably a bit over the top, but Sierra could make a great girl's name

Tata Nano - world's cheapest new car is unveiled

2008-01-12T16:09:00.000+01:00

It is 3 meters long, seats four comfortably or five at a squeeze, does 65mph and aims to revolutionize travel for millions. The “People’s Car” is also the cheapest in the world at 100,000 rupees (£1,300) – the same price as a car stereo in a Mercedes Benz or one third of the registration tax we pay on a brand new city car with a 1 liter engine in Malta and that’s without even thinking of the extra 18%vat charged on this illicit tax, but back to the Nano
The Nano, from Tata, the Indian company which is now the owner of Jaguar and Land Rover, was unveiled at the Delhi Auto Expo yesterday to music from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ratan Tata, the company chairman, harked back to the first flight by the Wright Brothers and the Moon landing as he revealed the cute, snub-nosed hatchback that will allow millions in India’s emerging middle classes to buy a car for the first time.
“I hope this changes the way people travel in rural India. We are a country of a billion and most are denied connectivity,” he said. “This is a car that is affordable and provides all-weather transport for the family.”
The aluminum shell contains a rear-mounted 33bhp two-cylinder petrol engine and weighs about half a tonne.
The car is the culmination of five years’ research and input from across the world, including Italy and Germany. But it was designed and made in India, defying expectations that a company best known for its huge lorries could manufacture a cutting edge passenger car.
A team of 500 engineers worked on the car, to be produced at a plant in West Bengal. In an effort to allay fears that something so cheap could not be safe, Mr Tata said that it had passed a full-frontal crash test in India and was designed to sustain further impact testing under European standards.
Tata cut costs by minimizing components, particularly steel, and taking advantage of India’s low production costs. Because of its size, it uses less sheet metal, has a smaller and lighter engine than other cars, smaller tube-less tires and a no-frills interior. The company has applied for 34 patents to cover its innovations. “We shrunk it, made the engine smaller and used fewer materials but we haven’t taken any shortcuts in term of safety or emissions,” Mr Tata said.
The Nano is roughly half the price of the cheapest car available today. China’s QQ3Y Chery and India’s Maruti 800 are both about £2,550.

All This for £1,300 or €1,700
Top speed 65mph
Engine rear-mounted 623cc, 33bhp multipoint fuel injection engine
Transmission continuous variable transmission
Fuel consumption 50mpg

Registration Tax in Malta for New Private Vehicles

New cars coming from EU countries are subject to Registration Tax and VAT as per schedule below.

Engine CC
Rate

Not Exceeding 1000cc
50.50%

Exceeding 1000cc but not exceeding 1300cc
50.50%

Exceeding 1300cc but not exceeding 1500cc
53%

Exceeding 1500cc but not exceeding 1800cc
60%

Exceeding 1800cc but not exceeding 2000cc
65%

Exceeding 2000cc but not exceeding 2500cc
75%

Exceeding 2500cc but not exceeding 3000cc
75%

Exceeding 3000cc
75%

There is also an 18% of VAT upon the cost, insurance & freight of the vehicle(CIF).Registration Tax and VAT are calculated on the Invoice Value (CIF price) of the vehicle depending on the cubic capacity of the vehicle.

What a dissapointment!!! Why did they bother at all!!!

2008-01-11T12:00:00.000+01:00

I was extremly dissapointed with the launch of the Fiat 500 in Malta. There were so many ways that they could make it so more interesting especially when they knew that almost 10,000 people made it to the Ta' Qali National Football Ground to watch the Juve vs Valletta match. No color no action no nothing, just a small quantity of classic cars and a white and a light blue new 500 driving round the football ground, with Gianluca Buffon driving few metres in one of them...what a massive dissapointment!!!...it's not even worth uploading the pictures and the videos I took!!!

Un Accogliente Benvenuto per la Nuova Cinquecento...The FIAT 500 finally made it to our shores...

2008-01-09T01:15:00.000+01:00

It is finally here. The picture was taken few minutes ago. Fiat's new baby, white in color with a tri colori italian three colors strip on it's side is displayed wrapped in an italian flag at the Fiat showroom in B'Kara...

Fiat 500's launch in Malta...

2008-01-07T02:19:00.000+01:00

The New Fiat 500 is being launched in Malta next Wednesday the 9th of January, and the event chosen to stage the release of Fiat’s new baby is a football match between Juventus and Valletta.

The car will be unveiled by a special guest (still unknown) following an evening of special entertainment, just prior to kick off of the game.

Fiat are in the top list of cars, just after Alfa Romeo (which comes first), that I never consider to own for the simple reason that they are the most unreliable vehicles around and since the local importers don’t know what after sales means make it even difficult convincing me to part with my money to get one. But from the first time I saw the concept design of the 3piu1 in 2004, I have fallen in love with this cheeky model and even that now is larger it’s still has kept the spirit of the original cinquecento and I love it
These are a couple of road tests from Top Gear and 5th Gear...
Top Gear's Road Review (if one can call it so) goes first and James May's is racing in the 500 against...some children on BMX bicycles leaping over things for no apparent reason. Who will make it to the chequered flag? They might be bonkers but I love the way they make or break things(excuse the pun)...

5th Gear goes the traditional way...

The Three Wise Men...

2008-01-07T01:35:00.000+01:00

We three kings of Orient are,
Bearing gifts we traverse afar,
Field and fountain,
moor and mountain,
Following yonder star.

January 6th marks the feast of the Epiphany, or as it is better known here in Malta as It-Tre Re. In my childhood it was a very loved tradition, that we write letter to the Three Kings or to our favourite King: Melchor, Gaspar or Baltasar. Santa Claus was quite well-known, and he delivers toys and presents, but the real stars were the Three Kings. These Three Kings are the ones who followed a star to meet the new King of Kings and that's the reason why they are a very important part of the Christmas Story.

The tradition is that three Magi came with the gold, francincense and myrrh. Three wise men, no doubt extravagantly dressed in exotic clothing and riding on camels.

It is thought they were probably of Zoroastrian belief and could very well have been priests. The gifts would indicate they were both of a priestly and possibly royal line.

The names Casper, Baltazar and Melkior have been attributed to them-Melkior means king, while Baltazar means ‘Lord God protect the king’ and Casper apparenly means ‘treasurer’. They came from the East, most probably from Persia, India and Arabia.They left their countries for a long journey to Bethlehem after seeing an unusually brilliant star blazing in the sky that was described as an omen in ancient astrological texts. It signifies the birth of a great ruler - whom they find in a cave used for stabling animals, with a feeding trough for a cradle. Alongside Mary and Joseph, an assortment of farm animals and a ragtag bunch of shepherds, the three kings of the Orient settle down in the straw to spend time with a newborn baby named Jesus and by doing that they attracted unwanted attention from one bloodthirsty King Herod

The gifts they brought and laid at Christ’s manger were the symbols of their own status and the gods they worshipped. They were giving them up to the real God. They were giving up a great deal. Of course the symbolism was potent; gold for a king, francincense for a priest and myrhh for a prophet and a symbol of death as it was the spice used to anoint the body. The fact that myrrh has long, sharp thorns is also an interesting note. I think I have read somewhere that Christ’s crown may have been made of myrrh branches-but this may not be very likely.

The spice was worth far more than either gold or franincense. It was and still is used in medicine, sometimes mixed in wine as it was at the time of Christ’s crucifixion.
So what does the story mean?
It’s impossible to answer that question without knowing something about the other significant visitors to Jesus during his babyhood.The shepherds in the Bible have been sanitized by generations of Christian artwork and children’s nativity plays and fairytale images of rolling green pastures dotted with cuddly white sheep. In reality the shepherds of first-century Palestine were very different. They were bandits. They were gossips. The townspeople used to hide away their unmarried daughters whenever the shepherds hit town, just in case. They definitely weren’t sweet country bumpkins with a fondness for the simple life.
Yet the angel Gabriel and the hosts of heaven appeared to some of these men on the hills of Bethlehem, to tell them that the longed-for messiah had been born. You will find him in a stable. Go to him.
Picture the scene: a bunch of smelly, dirty, illiterate shepherds with criminal leanings crowding into Jesus’ birthplace and sitting down next to a group of extremely refined, well educated and wealthy foreigners who had also come to pay their respects. It’s unlikely that the wise men were really at the stable on the night of Jesus’ birth. The Bible suggests that they visited Jesus at some point during the first two years of his life, so they probably never met the shepherds at all. Does that matter? No.
The nativity set that my family has in the lounge has three shepherds and three wise men grouped artistically round the manger, in deference to the legend. Three of each? It seems too picture-perfect. It is too picture-perfect. But even the details and embellishment added by legend have a meaning: to illustrate quite plainly that absolutely everyone is welcome here
It also helps us make more sense out of our traditional nativity scenes. There are Jews in the scene (Joseph, Mary, the Shepherds) there are Gentiles in the scene (the Magi) there are representatives of creation (the farm animals and angel) and even the heavens themselves (the star.)

Malta - A (short) Maltese Love Story...

2008-01-02T04:01:00.000+01:00

Alexander Pfeiffer created together with Yvette Rossingaud and Andreas Raab a Video about the beautiful iles of Malta, Gozo and Comino. This Video will be used to promote Kinnie a local soft drink in Austria.

The Video was shot in September 2007; Showing: Blue Grotto, Ta' Xbiex, Sliema, St. Julians, Gozo, Valletta, Peter's Pool and many more places!

Music: "Another Dawn" composed and played by Florian Mayer.

Florian Mayer, singer and keyborder from the viennese based band Blended, wrote two "concepts" of songs for the movie. "Another dawn" is a wonderful song about the beauty of Malta, but also speaking about the environmental problems Malta has to face.

Another Dawn

I was walking down the boulevard next to the sea
People were on the benches talking in sweet evening melodies
I remembered the Blue Grotto glistening; the wind blew the heat away
As a newly-built hotel cast its shadow on the Golden Bay

Dawn is coming, time is running
Hey, we still got another day
No more hiding, no more fighting
over things that are ours anyway
I can see the red line coming up over the hill

When the Marsaxlokk fishermen pulled in their nets
I was on one of those many bus rides no one ever forgets
St. Julian’s in the evening breeze, the stars shining down so clear
As empty bottles and plastic bags are swept under the pier

Dawn is coming, time is running
Hey, we still got another day
No more hiding, no more fighting
over things that are ours anyway
I can see the red line coming up over the hill

You don’t know where the water goes
You don’t know where the river flows
You don’t see every tree that dies
But every day you do see the greedy eyes

St. Julian’s in the evening breeze, the stars shining down so clear
We can’t let all this beauty just disappear

Dawn is coming, time is running
Hey, we still got another day
No more hiding, no more fighting
over things that are ours anyway
I can see the red line coming up over the hill
And I know I can do something and I will

Happy New Year Malta...

2008-01-02T03:54:00.000+01:00

Celebrations in various locations around the Maltese Islands to Welcome 2008. Few minutes after midnight of 1/1/08 the Prime Minister of Malta Mr. Lawrence Gonzi attempts a couple of times to withdraw money from and ATM especially set up at the Valetta Waterfront to mark the introduction of Euro as the main new currency for Malta and he finally manages to after a little effort. The commentary is in the maltese language.

Welcome New Year, Welcome Euro (Ewro)

2007-12-31T11:10:00.001+01:00

After so many adverts, press conferences and so many postal shoots that if you tend to use them as fuel for your fireplace you will have enough quantity to keep you warm for your next 25years, finally the E day is here. As from 1st January 2008 Malta will join the Euro Zone. I'm not saying this because I'm Maltese but I do think that our coins are some of the nicest around and I do believe that this is another positive step for my country.

In Maltese the new currency will be called and written ewro whereas the cents will be centezmu for a single cent and centezmi when it is in plural form. The one and two-euro coins have the cross of the Knights of Malta, also known as the Maltese Cross.

The Maltese cross is identified as the symbol of an order of Christian warriors known as the or Knights of Malta. The cross is eight-pointed and has the form of four "V"-shaped arms joined together at their bases, so that each arm has two points. Its design is based on crosses used since the First Crusade. The eight points are said to symbolize the chivalric virtues:

Loyalty

Piety

Frankness

Bravery

Glory and honour

Contempt of death

Helpfulness towards the poor and the sick

Respect for the church

The middle denominations have the coat of arms of the Republic of Malta, just like all of the liri coins currently do. The present coat of arms which was introduced in 1988 shows a crown that looks like a fortification representing the fortifications of Malta. The Maltese flag in the form of a shield and around it there is an olive and palm branches which symbolizes peace which is traditionally associated to Malta. Beneath there is a ribbon upon which are written the words Repubblika ta' Malta ("Republic of Malta" in Maltese)

The smallest coins have a stylised version of the Mnajdra Temples, one of Malta 's architectural wonders and the oldest free-standing structures in the world

Malta Alive...12 months in pictures of some interesting activities that happened in 2007

2007-12-31T09:48:00.000+01:00

Notte Magica-Valletta-06/01/07

The night lived up to it's name. A magical full night of music, concerts and food turned Valletta into an enchanted City, with something to enjoy for all the family on the feast of The Three Kings.

Malta Cup Snooker Championship-Hilton St.Julians-28/01/07 to 04/02/07

The annual world ranking Snooker tournament offers entertainment on a different level
the ever increasingly popular marathon saw the participation of both foreign and local participants

The Carnival Celebrations-15/02/07 to 20/02/07

Thousands of persons flocked to Malta’s capital city Valletta to celebrate Carnival 2007. The sunny, warm weather allowed Carnival organizers to parade their floats around the streets, as adults and children showed off their costumes while watching the spectacle unfold.

The BMW Malta Marathon-25/02/07-

the ever increasingly popular marathon saw the particiapation of both foreigners and local athletes.

The Silent Warriors Chinese Terracotta Soldiers-Museum of Archaeology Valletta- 01/03/07- 31/07/07

A unique exhibition hosted by Heritage Malta. The terracotta soldiers are one of the world's most amazing archaeological finds

David Guetta -30/03/07- Eden Arena
Keeping Malta lively World Class DJ treated thousands of clubbers to a musical set to remember

Gaulitana- A Festival of Music- Gozo- 09/04/07 to 24/04/07

A festival of lyrical and classical music organised by Maestro Attard in the sister island of Gozo

Malta International Fireworks & Food Fest- Grand Harbour Valletta-28/04/07 to 02/05/07

It was held like every year at the Valletta's Grand Harbour, The festival featured spectacular pyrotechnic displays from competing national and international firework manufacturers and a "History of Malta" laser show portrays Malta's varied history with an exclusive light extravaganza displayed on the three forts, to the sound of fireworks and music.

P1 PowerBoat Grand Prix-Valletta-05/05/07 to 06/05/07

Speed, power and glamour at the Grand Harbour. A thrilling and spetacular annual event which pulls the crowds and offer gut wrenching excitement.

Fantastic Four-Best Maltese DJ's- Eden Arena- 02/06/07-

Dj Ruby, Joseph Armani, J Joy and Ms. Roberta, entertained party lovers with high energy party music.

Notte Gozitana- Lejlet Lapsi-18/05/07 to 20/05/07- Victoria Gozo-

three days of pop, rock and classical concerts and cultural activities including a re-enactment of Grand Master Wignacourt's visit to the Citadel and local food at it's best

Earth Garden- Music Drama & Arts Festival-04/05/07 to 05/05/07- Ta Qali National Park

An ethnic experience for all the family. Spring started with a difference. A weekend of music, art, drama and eceological preservation. The best place for the hippie chic

Festa Muzika- Fete de la Musique- 21/06/07- Bugibba/St.Paul's Bay/Qawra

A musical event originating in France also celebrated world wide. Malta hosted the Animals, The Yardbirds, French Band Megastar, Killer Queen and various other local and foreign artists for a night flowing with music.

Jose Carerras- 08/07/07- Valletta
Valletta's St.George's Square was the perfect backdrop for a beautiful night of classical music, fronted by Jose Carreras together with Maltese Soprano Lydia Caruana

Bryan Adams-28/07/07- Luxol Grounds Pembroke

A concert to remember, by the world's loved classic Rock performer. Bryan Adams had the crowd spell bound with an energetic performence, performed from the heart to the enthusiastic fans.

Isle of MTV Malta-26/07/07- The Granaries, Floriana

A 40,000 strong crowd rocked the night away. Enrique Iglesias, Maroon 5 and Akon thrilled the crowds, accompanied by a string of local acts and DJ's making this colossal event a party to remember for all.

Joseph Calleja- 07/07/07- Mdina-
Mdina echoed with the powerful voices of Malta's best loved and world famous Joseph Calleja together with Lydia Caruana creating a unique musical experience

Renzo Arbore L'Orchestra Italiana- 28/07/07- MFCC Ta'Qali-

A well loved italian classic, offered a fushion of Neapolitan music and Jazz for all to enjoy

Jazz and Rock Festival- 19-22/07/07- Valletta Waterfront-

Australian Pink Floyd, PP Arnold & Dr. Robert, The Wailers and Zucchero together with other local artists ensured that the Jazz and Rock Festival was an indisputable success

Blues and Wine Festival 18-18/08/2007- Viset-

The likes of Robert Plant & the Stranger Sensation, Smokie and John Mayall together with local artists, gave performances to remember in the stunningly beautiful Grand Harbour

Gigi D'Alessio 09/08/07- Manoel Island-

The Italian heart throb played the Neapolitan favourites to the numerous crowd, together with local artists.

Bob Sinclar 21/07/07- Gianpula Fields-

French DJ Bob Sinclar played during XFM Musical festival. Thousand of young people partied the night away to the musical set of one of the world top DJ's

Summer Arts Festival 24/07/07 to 19/08/07 - Valletta-

three weeks celebrating the Arts. Music, art, drama and dance by locl and foreign atrists filled the nights; and as always in local festivals the art of offering culinary delighs was offered too.

CiaO'Scia 25/08/07 -Valletta Waterfront-
Claudio Baglioni, Gianni Morandi, Ricardo Cocciante joined forces to present Malta with a unique concert, together with local acts offered three hours of pure class entertainment.

Gozo Beer Festival 10-12/08/07 -Xewkija-

The Xewkija Local Council organised this event for all the family, with food, drink and live entertainment for all

Ricardo Muti & Orchestra Cherubini 29/08/07 to 05/09/07

A week of concerts and workshops by the master himself, in honor of the inauguration of the Mediterranean Music Academy of which Maestro Muti is the honorary President.

BOV Streets Alive 09/07/07 to 24/08/07 -Valletta-
An which is the epitome of Malta Alive! A series of six Fridays evenings; each celebrating a Maltese Heritage or Cultural Theme such as Music, Food, History and Games for all the family.

Qormi Wine & Bread Festival 14 to 16/09/07 -Qormi-

Qormi famed for its fresh crusty Maltese bread, a celebration to the production and cinsumtion of this mouth watering tradition. The perfect accompainment to Maltese bread is local wine. A family outing for all in the village of Qormi packed with tradition

Marc Almond (Soft Cell) 08/08/07 -Eden Arena-
Something for all ages! Marc Almond ex Soft Cell played all the 80's favourites to a crowd of party goers.

In Bed with Space -VIP Music Clubs 01/09/07 -Buskett Road House-
Local clubbers were entertained in style by the best VIP clubs organisers from Ibiza

Notte Bianca 06/10/07 -Valletta-
The 2nd edition of the Notte Bianca was if possible even a bigger success than the 1st. Valletta was kept awake all night, with musical delights, dance, drama, tours, exhibitions, which are usually close during the night.