The Piano

My unhealthy musical obsession goes on and this Friday I was able to fulfill another musical dream of mine and see the noted Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires. She performed the wonderful 9th Mozart piano concert (FYI, Mozart is a kinky classical composer with a frantic laughter). As things go my stay in Torino proves to be a successful musical investment as the city is full of culture and events.

Meanwhile I managed to see an old film that I remember vaguely from my childhood - The Piano. It talks of a mute woman pianist who arrives with her little daughter to New Zealand to get married for a local landowner. She is unable to say a word and expresses herself only through sign language and....her piano. She undergoes hardship and humiliation to keep the instrument close to her - starring is Holly Hunter who manages to portray excellently the pain and determination of her heroine. I find the movie quite enchanting because it shows us how people different from us have a deep and often misunderstood sensuality. The movie is set in a 19th century conservative society but if I look closely at my own country of Bulgaria, maybe not so much has changed in terms of tolerance and acceptance.

Madrid

It's difficult to describe a journey - here I am back from Madrid and the only word I can think of is "WOW". I spent 3 awesome days in the Spanish capital(I am talking about Madrid now, don't embarrass yourself). Bearing in mind I was on a business trip and I couldn't just leave the conference to go sightseeing, I didn't see a great part of the city and the few pictures I took were on the run. That BTW is not necessarily a bad thing as with time I realized I have developed the Japanese syndrome which means making 500 photos abroad and actually seeing where you have been when you get back home and see the photos.
Madrid is a beautiful city - big, classical, metropolitan and full of day and nightlife. People tend to wake up later in the day, go have fun outside and go to sleep (if they ever go to sleep) in the small hours. I can't really say which is better - Madrid or Barcelona but Spain is an incredible country. People are really outgoing, open and crazy (and that coming from a guy who lives in Italy...) and they don't miss any opportunity to have one.
A special section of this post I dedicate to my hotel Puerta America which a 5 star, 13 floor architectural miracle and any floor is different and unique. I was on the 4-th PLASMA floor which seemed a way too alien to me. I spent 2 hours sightseeing the hotel and made some awesome pictures.

The return of the jester

Trying set myself apart from the "I bring disasters" attitude, I can't help but comment the latest news from Italy. The return to power of Silvio Berlusconi, Italy's richest man and media-empire mogul. For anyone not interested in Italian politics, Berlusconi has won a stable majority in the Italian parliament and is going to become a prime-minister for the 3rd time. He has also been the only prime-minister after WW2 that managed to complete his full mandate (that I will not comment as it is beyond my power of comprehension). He is noted for his controversial humour, big smile, plastic surgery, media monopoly and disastrous economic policies...a hell of a character, eh? Being non-Italian(so they say) and non-socialist you might find it rather surprising my harsh-toned criticism for him. Point is, I am not here to judge and pronounce sentences upon Italy's internal affairs ...just express my personal view.

I find it hard to believe how second-rate PR techniques, media brain-washing and ridiculous statements can convince the people of one the biggest economies in the world, a country with centuries of culture and history to vote for a man who turns politics into a TV show. What I find truly absurd is that they did that for the 3rd time after he brought nothing to Italy except international humiliation, a struggling economy and evaded reforms.

Unfortunately this is becoming a precedent in other parts of Europe as well. Poland had the Kaczynski brothers, France is ruled by the "I love Carla and promise you the stars" Sarkozy and the all mighty Boyko Borisov will probably rule in Bulgaria soon. All brilliant examples of that if people are disappointed, they tend to vote with their feet. Some time from now Italians might wake up with a terrible hangover...

P.S.
-Some of Berlusconi's most notable sayings:
I have little hair because my brain is so big it pushes (the hair) out.
-I am sorry for having said communists eat babies. But I can organise a conference in which I will prove communists have really eaten babies.
-(after the Twin Towers attack): WE should be conscious of the superiority of our civilisation, which has given people widespread prosperity in those countries ...
-He said to a German European deputy that he should take a film role as a Nazi concentration camp leader.
-Berlusconi advised a young woman, who complained that she could not find a job, to get married, since she was cute, “maybe to one of my sons, they are all rich”