dispatches from the soccer field

someone just got her uniform. someone has also not been heard from since taking to the field this morning for her first away game.

her name is Clio

she doesn't dance on the sand, but she did get run over by a Panda, poor thing.
on duty on a roman holiday, this is how i'm keeping myself busy:

Italian President's Wife Hit by a Car in Rome, Hospitalized

By sxg
June 29 (Bloomberg) -- Italian President Giorgio
Napolitano's wife Clio was struck by a car in Rome late
yesterday and hospitalized with injuries.
Clio Napolitano, 73, was struck by a Fiat Panda that
ignored a roadblock as she crossed the street near the
Quirinale, the president's official residence, according to a
statement from the president's office. She was hospitalized for
fractures to her right arm and left leg.
``I didn't see her at all,'' said the 74-year-old driver
of the Panda, according to daily Corriere della Sera. ``I didn't
even see the roadblock.'' Police roadblocks are set up in front
of the residence when Napolitano or his wife leaves the building
on foot.
Clio Napolitano was ``in good condition,'' the statement
said. President Napolitano turns 82 years old today.

3-hour delays? no worries

pritzker-prize winning Terminal 4. boasts soothing interiors, lulling quiet, soaring ceilings and well-ventilated smoking sections. even the squawking kids are muted, somehow

sunday brunch

amazing beer bread (`it took no time at all! and no yeast!' `maybe the beer had something to do with it?'), thanks annie. have fun on your gazillion trips.

another j + b

the (in)famous carlos + j

more photo espana

including, who knew, adrien brody's mom

a motley madrid crew

rufus does judy

the only way he can

some of us

need a pre-concert pancetta sandwich to line the stomach before the flask comes out

the point at which they did actually confiscate our cameras

photo espana

zhang huan
my art partner for the afternoon: is this really art?
me: shhhhh, you'll get us kicked out
MAPFTA: let's skip this one and go shopping. oh wait! look! come on, vogue!
exhibit curator: i'm going to have to confiscate your cameras now, both of you

what i did today

no pics today, but feeling rather remiss at the blog hiatus, i give you a sample of how i killed time counting down the minutes to madrid. don't worry, these didn't go out on the wire.

Italian consumer confidence unexpectedly plummeted in June after
Maude Krause-Jackson, the country's most aggressive mascot, ripped
her mother's wardrobe apart, exacerbating the effects of rising taxes
and higher interest rates on the household's combined income.

Italian consumer confidence rose unexpectedly in June as the
country's top women's league soccer club won their first ever match,
aided by midfielder Flavia Krause-Jackson who scored a surprise goal
from the sidelines.
``Italians are crazy about soccer and that goal by Krause-Jackson
was a CRACKER!'' said economist and Serie B fan Chuckles O'
Houlihan-Rossi. ``Especially since she was on her arse when she
kicked it. She'll never be called as useless as a fart in a jamjar again.''

a big day for steve-o

tanti auguri. wishing you 16 Czechoslovakian interior decorators. oh, and congrats.

krause's not-so-secret admirer

every morning, without fail, our valiant little (and i stress little) office dude brings f her crucial actimel (without which she loses regularity, as some of us know better than others).
sometimes he'll overcome his timidity and manage to throw out a brave flirtation (f: ce ne sono dei Baci in giro? a: te lo do io un bacio!).
last friday i enlisted his help in a Tronky special surprise, which he embraced with relish, dredging up not one chocolate log for her, but nine! still, today he's outdone himself. witness f's morning actimel, with its attendant proclamatory note. this crush ain't going nowhere.

long overdue

nothing like a completely washed-out photo to bring out the best in oneself. utterly flattering, these are. thanks, naps.

`leave Papa alone!'

was the letter in my inbox yesterday from l.a. it's been nigh on...30 years since i've worn a baseball cap (read: never), but i think this specimen of the faithful has been hanging out in rome a little too long of late. look at the range of his trajectory!

Cocaine Traces Discovered in Roman Air, Pollution Study Shows
By SXG
June 1 (Bloomberg) -- Romans are living with cocaine in
their air, and in their noses, according to a report that found
traces of the drug in the city's atmosphere.
Parts of the Italian capital have a pulverized cocaine
concentration of as much as 0.1 nanograms per cubic meter,
according to the report, released yesterday by the Italian
National Research Council. The study also found trace elements
of cannabis in the air.
The area with the highest airborne concentration of cocaine
is near La Sapienza University, where ``consumption and dealing
of cocaine is probably most widespread,'' the report's authors
said.
``Cocaine has become a common pollutant,'' chemical
researcher Roberto Fanelli told Italian daily la Repubblica.
Fanelli was part of a group of researchers who found that the
equivalent of 4 kilograms of cocaine floats down the Po River
every day.
La Repubblica reported today that nine out of 10 banknotes
in Italy reveal traces of cocaine, though not all have been used
to ``snort'' it, the newspaper said.

p.s. bless benedict's oblivious red prada shoes.

what we have to look forward to this weekend

i suppose he thinks his 6,000 armed guards and blocking off the entire center will help ward off affronted onlookers. so what if he won't ratify kyoto - does he have to wear THOSE?

i keep your picture upon the wall

the pic we both wish we could show the rents
courtesy of JD. no, not THAT jd.

`not mainline'

click to check out chippy and the brain

sxg + lm 4 bjw

laura reprises her billy idol pose

my, what terrible timing you have

beer bongs good

`jowling' for milan

happy bday naps!

yes she's awake - barely - but with the ever-present something or other in her mouth. she also had chips

APARECEU ***

apareceu
apareceu
apareceu
apareceu
apareceu
apareceu



*** EDIT: i've been the victim of identity theft on blogger. someone has hacked into a) my blog and b) my email, though i'm guessing she wasn't lying about not having read my email, since if she had, she likely wouldn't still be talking to me.
if you had any doubts, answer me this, is it my m.o. to post a video? and the most annoying video ever, at that? this may be worse than the violent femmes, evoking not just fingernails on a blackboard but steak knives and scissor blades, too.