The Unsuspected Isle-Corfu

The plumbing is still somewhat eccentric, Zeus occasionally gets upset and sends in a storm, even the cheapest wines are alright, feta tastes like feta and olives taste like olives and you realize how extraordinary that actually is, by some miracle people generally survive giant buses maneuvering on really narrow streets, Turkish coffee is transfixed into Greek one and pasta is a Corfiot specialty, giant Airbuses breeze by your moussaka, there's a cat at every corner and most of them still manage to thrive, the whole madness has a sublime scent of flowers and cypress and the sea is blue. That incredible postcard blue, that should not exist, except it does.

Book Diary #8: Lorenzo Arruga- Suite Algérienne

Non riusciva a capire dove fosse finita la grande, preziosa sapienza dell'attesa nella nostra società  del subito. Questa frase gliel'aveva fatta leggere sua figlia, in alto come citazione in corsivo, su un quotidiano.

-Questo autore dev'essere un coetaneo tuo, papà-aveva aggiunto ridendo.

Gli era piaciuta tanto che se l'era ricopiata.

Cats of Corfu

Book Diary #7: Gerald Durrell- My Family and Other Animals

'Oh Mother, don't be so old-fashioned,' Margo said impatiently. 'After all, you only die once.'

Dub FX in Erzsébet Square

There was much comotion on Erzsébet square yesterday evening when the senior citizens of the area could not walk their minute dogs through it, Japanese tourists could not take satisfactory pictures of the fountain and all decent beer was gone in no time from the shelves of the closest supermarket. The reason behind this horror being an impromptu- well, in case you can call something trumpeted on Facebook for a day or so improptu- Dub FX gig.

Beyond the obvious excitement level-and somewhat futile satisfaction of having grabbed one of the last cans of proper beer- the gig itself drew a bit too many people to be thoroughly enjoyable. Though as far as street performances go, it’s kind of normal to have the sound system malfunction now and again and there’s always a fat bloke obstructing the view. So I guess I’ll just stop grumbling and admit there’s lots of cool stuff happening in Budapest these days- which was about time and I raise my can of fine beer to our city’s bright (musical) present and future.

Book Diary #6: Monica Ali-Brick Lane

But always there was a problem between us. How can I explain? I wasn’t me, and you weren’t you. From the beginning to the very end, we didn’t see things. What we did- we made each other up.

Best Concerts of Sziget 2014 #1: Queens of the Stone Age

It probably seems a bit lacking in imagination to go for Queens of the Stone Age for the best Sziget concert as they were of course one of the more hyped acts. Yet we can admit that, with a lot of expectations weighing down on their shoulders, their falling flat on their faces was also in the cards. Their VOLT show from the previous year felt a bit lukewarm based on the reviews we’d read (yes, yes, always check local festivals before booking your summer holidays, lesson learned) and I just could not settle scores with the fact that they’ll be actually squeezed before deadmau5. All of which did not really matter, as this turned out to be a great day for science- and for Josh Homme, who felt strangely at ease and even indulged in some good humoured banter. Unlike many major acts who seem somewhat pale at non-UK festivals, they looked and especially sounded as their hearts were in it- throwing in No One Knows early on, they still had the force to get better and stronger with each song- as the lights went out over Sziget, so did their music feel heavier and darker-would it have been an even better show if it was dark all along? The question now seems superfluous- this was day zero and you knew no headliner would quite match this intensity. And sure enough, they didn't.