Big gap, sorry about that. M and I were in Milan from Wednesday to Saturday, la de da. I had to go to a big trade show there and M was on her Easter break so it seemed logical to drag her along to abuse her credit card in the capital of greasy hair and scooters.
Milan is a strange city in many ways, while we were away someone described it as "The Manchester of Italy" which I think is a little harsh, comparing anywhere or anyone to Manchester is downright vicious, but I know what they meant. It has some genuinely lovely parts to it, but it's also quite a business-orientated industrial city, the difference is that in Milan the greasy hair is self-inflicted as opposed to unintentional.
I've been to Milan three times now and still can't get over how stylish and affluent everyone looks, there just doesn't seem to be any real signs of shuffling tramps or painters and decorators on their lunch hour. Unless even the tramps and painters are wearing D&G glasses, swish raincoats and tan shoes with dark suits.
The trade show itself was ok , lots of wandering round looking at the latest toilet technology. I had to get back on Saturday evening and then spend Sunday writing it all up to go to the printers on Monday, very tedious. I hate working from home usually if it encroaches into spare time and the resentment left a taste of bile in my mouth.
Either that or the fact that in the previous four days I'd consumed enough cheese to wipe the smile off the Laughing Cow's smug beauvine face.
Speaking of Europe, it's just been announced that famed pedant and unapologetic racist Norris McWhiter died on Monday. There's a theme developing here, first Blue Peter's Caron Keating, now Record Breaker's Norris McWhiter....if Tony Hart lives to see May I'll be suprised.
McWhiter was famous for his slightly right-wing political beliefs. His twin brother Ross was murdered by the IRA in 1975 for offering a massive reward to find a group of bombers and together they founded the Freedom Association, a group the campaigned aginst British involvement in Europe, as well as other things.
What's interesting though is the statement that could only be put out by the family of the man who invented the Guinness Book of Records:
"The two things he attached most importance to were the freedom of the individual and the sovereignty of the United Kingdom. Apart from his family, his great loves were a good game of tennis and visting the 1,049 offshore British Islands."
It's a shame that despite all this he'll actually be remembered for telling kids pretending to be interested who ate the most baked beans with a cocktail stick.
