Author: Deirdre Straughan

Cellphone Comedy

During one of my many trips to Silicon Valley, I was on a shuttle bus at San Francisco Airport, heading towards the rental car building. Four men got on together, talking animatedly, obviously colleagues on a business trip together. A cellphone rang, and all four simultaneously dived for their pockets. I burst out laughing, and… Continue reading Cellphone Comedy

Holiday Hell – Italian Vacation Traffic

Almost every Christmas, we drive halfway down Italy to Abruzzo, where my in-laws are retired by the seaside. This puts us on the road with millions of other Italians going home for the holidays. Much of the flow is north to south: the many southern Italians who migrated to northern Italy decades ago to find… Continue reading Holiday Hell – Italian Vacation Traffic

Italian Accents

“Stanlio, non fare lo stupeedo!” When an American speaks Italian with a particularly bad accent, Italians often refer to Stanlio e Ollio: Laurel and Hardy, whose accents in the Italian versions of their films are legendarily hilarious, full of flat Rs and words stressed on the wrong syllable. I used to wonder why these films… Continue reading Italian Accents

Watching Television in India

I rarely watch television as such. At home in Milan, our TV is used mostly to display videotapes, DVDs, Video CDs, and Super Video CDs. Italian television (almost completely in the hands of Prime Minister Berlusconi now) is so awful that it’s not worth switching on (except for Montalbano, about whom morehere). So if I… Continue reading Watching Television in India