Wednesday 27 April 2011

Wedding Fever! Live from London!


"Are you going to the wedding?" people ask because we live in London. We would be attending, of course, but our invitation must have gotten lost in the mail...

The Royal Wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton will take place in this city in less than 48 hours and the excitement is palpable. Flags line Pall Mall, Union Jack bunting is draped over balconies, pictures of the couple are in shop and pub windows. Giant television screens have been set up in the parks.

A million people are expected to descend on London to take part in the festivities. Already there are people sleeping in tents on the Mall and as near as they can get to Westminster Abbey.

Since the engagement, newspapers and magazines have been full of speculation about how Kate will look on the big day. Will she wear flowers in her hair (it's rumored she prefers to) or a tiara? Since she is a commoner, will the Queen lend her one of hers if she decides to go that route? Will her dress be a billowy meringue or form-fitting? I'm betting form-fitting with sleeves of some sort.

There have been constant comparisons of Kate with her deceased mother-in-law, Diana. They are nothing alike.

Kate will be 29 when she marries, Diana was barely 20. Kate has known William for eight years, Diana and Charles knew each other for a few months. Kate is a university graduate, Diana was not (she once described herself as "thick as a plank"). Kate comes from a stable and close family, Diana did not. Kate is self-assured, discreet, and calm. Diana was none of those things. Kate and William have shared university life, the same interests and friends. They lived together quietly in Wales, where they divided up household duties. Diana and Charles had nothing in common.

The one thing Kate and Diana do share is the same engagement ring. Many people find William's decision to give his fiancee his mother's ring disturbing, if only because it brought such unhappiness to Diana.

But what was Kate to do? Turn it down? Ask him to come up with something else because that blue sapphire surrounded by diamonds gave her the heeby jeebies?

William said he gave her Diana's ring so his mother could "be part of all the excitement."

The whole world wants to be a part of this excitement. Magazines in every language have cover stories about the couple. People will get up before dawn in many parts of the globe to witness every moment of the wedding day on television. We lucky ones in London can get up at a reasonable hour, but some will be too excited to sleep.

It is a cliche to say the British do pageantry like no one else, but they do. There is something about the British royal family that captures our interest in a way no other royals do. Did anyone get up early to watch the wedding of Spain's Prince Felipe to Letizia Ortiz a few years ago?

It is impossible to know or describe why we are looking forward to this big event on April 29. We just are.


















Saturday 23 April 2011

Bunga-Bunga and Other Village News

We are at our place in Italy for Pasqua (Easter). I have not been here for ten months, an unusually long time. Whenever I booked a flight last year, something important came up, causing me to cancel. John and one of our daughters spent a little time here last summer, but it has been tanto tempo (too much time) for me. Allora (well then), here we are at last.

After ten months, there is village news to catch up on. The padrone (owner) of one of our favorite ristoranti (restaurants) has been separated from his wife for eight months. We should have seen it coming when we heard she once threatened him with a knife. On the other hand, this is a country where theatrical arguments can erupt over a recipe, so it's better not to read too much into things like arguments with knives. We heard subsequently that the knife was not affilato (sharp).

Sadly, the charming and hard-working Mamma at the local caffe/gelateria had a bad fall a few months ago and it has caused a real change in her. Her bustling walk has been replaced by shuffling, timid steps, and her mind seems semi-vacant. When we greeted her, she looked at us with confusion, then mild recognition when prompted.

Despite her enfeebled state, we noticed that she still cleared used cups from the tables and straightened the display of pastries under glass. She is on auto-pilot. She has always reminded me of my grandmother, right down to her painted toenails, so I am sad to see the change in her. Her daughter has a practical philosophy: La vita e` cosi (life is like that).

The padrone of the town's central caffe/pizzeria is in good form. He always seems genuinely happy to see us, though his demeanor behind the bar is generally gruff. We caught up on the news and then the conversation turned to food, as it almost always does with an Italian. The traditional Easter feast here includes agnello e spinaci (lamb and spinach). He told us i giovani (the younger generation) don't like lamb so there will be pollo (chicken), too. It is also traditional to eat una columba (a dove), a fruited bread formed in the shape of the bird that connotes peace.

At lunch with one of our most ebullient friends, the talk turned from how to cook baby carciofi (artichokes) to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. You don't see the connection? Food and the Berlusconi trial are important topics in Italy and one can slide into one or the other without taking a breath.

In the trial, Berlusconi is accused of paying for sex with a woman under the age of 18. She is known as Ruby Rubacuori (heartstealer) in the nightclubs where she dances. Both she and he have denied the charges.

(source: Daily Telegraph)

He is also charged with abusing his position as prime minister by asking for her release from a Milan police station after she was arrested for stealing a bracelet. He said he thought she was the niece of former President Mubarak of Egypt (she is Moroccan by birth) and he did not want to cause an international incident.

Berlusconi is the longest serving prime minister in post-World War II Italy, and one of its richest men, worth around $9 billion. His empire includes media (almost all Italian TV stations and the newspaper Il Giornale), advertising, insurance, food and construction. In this soccer-crazed country, he also owns one of its best teams: AC Milan.

He built the empire on his own, not through inheritance (though there is always talk about Mafia connections), and Italians admire that. It's easy to make money when you come from it, not so easy when you don't. His ability to run a successful empire has been sufficient evidence for many of them that he can run their country, too.

(source: Photobucket)

It is hard to find criticism of him on Italian TV because he owns most of it. You do find a lot of provocatively-clad women selling or presenting. Collagen-enhanced lips seem to be a prerequisite, along with half-revealed breasts. The bigger the better for both.

(Rai TV)

Berlusconi, who has admitted he is "no saint," has a well-known weakness for women. His second wife, whom he met when she was a topless dancer, divorced him a few years ago saying, "He likes to consort with minors."

(Daily Telegraph)

He famously urged foreign businesses to come to Italy because "we have the best-looking secretaries." The parties at his villa outside of Milan have been part of the rumor mill for years. He describes them as "normal convivial dinners." Participants, who include cabinet ministers, business associates and young women who would like to be on one of his TV stations, say they are a lot more than that. They are now referred to worldwide as his "bunga-bunga" parties, another way of saying orgies.

While most women find his attitude abhorrent, men, and not only Italian ones, joke about him in an almost admiring way. I've heard young American and Irish men say, "Boy, I'd like to be invited to one of his parties!"

A refined and learned Italian diplomat and his wife who know Berlusconi described him this way to us two years ago: "He is a beautiful man! He loves life! He loves wine, he loves women, he loves beautiful things, he loves to laugh! And he is a good businessman!"

Now let's go back to lunch with our friend. He has "never voted for Berlusconi," but he thinks he has done some good things for the country. He mentioned bringing cable TV to Italy. As for the sexual peccadillos: "What a man does in his private house is his business! He is a single man! If he wants to pay to make boom-boom with a hundred women, that is his right! Of course, he will need medication and maybe oxygen!"

(Bazinga)

For a long time Berlusconi sex stories did not affect his popularity negatively, but finally there has been a definite erosion. Only 41% of the people now approve of him, down from 62%. Still, that is not that bad for a man who has made Italy synonymous with bunga-bunga and Ruby the Heartstealer.

The judges at his trial are all women. Their verdict will tell us a lot about Italy's current state of mind, unless his long reach has already determined the outcome.













Monday 4 April 2011

The Snake Pit


In reading about the budget drama on Capitol Hill and the possibility of a government shutdown, I am reminded of my first days as a Capitol Hill staffer. What does one have to do with the other, you ask? Nothing, in terms of the battle of the budget cuts. Everything, in terms of the backstabbing nastiness that can pervade Capitol Hill at all levels.

Let me add that I worked there before things got as ugly as they are now. However, they were unpleasant enough that I remember thinking, after being employed for less than a week, that I had entered a Byzantine snake pit.

The day I was hired to work for United States Senate I was ecstatic. The Democrats had just taken the majority again and there was a renewed energy in the Capitol. I had a (shared) office in the Capitol Building itself. A day at work meant encountering senators at every turn as they made their way to the Senate floor or back to their offices in the Dirksen, Russell, or Hart Buildings. My job was such that I got to know some of their personal habits and quirks.

When the majority changes in the Senate, everything else does, too. The majority party moves into the better committee offices, the officers of the Senate are replaced by the new majority leader, positions are lost or downgraded. One expects that members of the new minority might have a few resentments about the changes. Their professional lives have been turned upside down, but in the words of Hyman Roth (The Godfather, Part II) "This is the business we have chosen."

One might also expect that the new majority would band together in victorious camaraderie, looking out for each other and helping one another learn the ropes.

I expected that. I was wrong.

From what I observed and experienced, too many people were either territorially or personally paranoid. Some would make phone calls from a booth instead of their offices for fear of being bugged. A display of initiative might threaten someone. A simple question could cause offense. A joke could be taken the wrong way. Better to forget any attempt at humor. A lunch in the cafeteria with someone of the opposite sex could start rumors of an affair. Always be on guard. Your friends could be your enemies.

Note: I am talking only about the staffers, not the senators, who might have reason to be cautious at all times.

An extremely capable, and therefore threatening, friend who went on to much bigger things, was the victim of ugly anonymous letters from someone who worked with him.

A young woman I know who had dreamed of a career in politics went to work in an established senator's office right after college. Her experience with a nasty, hard-bitten female boss caused her to reconsider her career path.

Another friend, an African American woman with many years of experience on the Hill, was subject to such obvious discrimination that she successfully sued those responsible.

All of these observances might be found in any office anywhere in the world. Perhaps unrealistically, I expected a more elevated atmosphere in the Senate. I was naive. I still look back on my experience there with gratitude that I was given the opportunity to have had it at all.

The most enduring memory of my time there: Leaving the Capitol building on a cold February evening, looking up at the lighted white dome with an inky blue-black sky behind it and thinking, despite a particularly bad day, how lucky I was to work there.

During this particularly bitter budget battle, I hope at least a few of our representatives have the same feeling.