Andrew's activity

 A group of 40 years old buddies discuss and discuss where they should meet for dinner.   Finally it is agreed upon that they should meet at the Gausthof zum Lowen restaurant because the waitress's there have low cut blouses and nice breasts. 10 years later, at 50 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed that they should meet at the Gausthof zum Lowen because the food there is very good and the wine selection is good also.   10 years later at 60 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss and discuss where they should meet.  Finally it is agreed  that they should meet at the Gausthof zum Lowen because they can eat there in peace and quiet and the restaurant is smoke free.   10 years later, at 70 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss and discuss where they should meet. Finally it is agreed that they should meet at the Gausthof zum Lowen because the restaurant is wheel chair accessible and they even have an elevator.  10 years later, at 80 years of age, the group meets again and once again they discuss and discuss where they should meet.  Finally it is agreed that they should meet at the Gausthof zum Lowen because that would be a great idea because they have never been there before.

A young woman in Liverpool was so depressed that she decided to end her life by throwing herself into the Mersey . She went down to the docks and was about to leap into the freezing water when a handsome young sailor saw her tottering on the edge of the pier, crying. He took pity on her and said, 'Look, you have so much to live for. I'm off to America in the morning, and if you like, I can stow you away on my ship. I'll take good care of you and bring you food every day.' Moving closer,he slipped his arm round her shoulder and added, 'I'll keep you happy, and you'll keep me happy.' The girl nodded 'Yes', after all, what did she have to lose? Perhaps a fresh start in America would give her life new meaning, and if she still felt bad she could always jump overboard. That night, the sailor brought her aboard and hid her in a lifeboat. From then on, every night, he brought her three sandwiches and a piece of fruit, and they made passionate love until dawn. Two weeks later, during a routine inspection, she was discovered by the Captain. 'What are you doing here?' the captain asked. ''I have an arrangement with one of the sailors', she explained. 'I get food and a trip to America , and he's scr%!ing me.' 'He certainly is', the captain said. 'This is the Birkenhead Ferry.'

 Can't guarantee that all the players of the Rugby team that I coach are 6 feet tall, green eyes etc, but most have a very pleasant smile (except during coaching sessions and games) and most have a flash car or two. They are also fortunate to live around San Benedetto del Tronto; Pearl of the Adriatica, and being 'beach beautiful' is not an option. The reference to 'Indian' was when; some time ago; I posted that in our village there's a pizzeria owned and run by an Indian family (domiciled in Italy for many years) who, on Tuesday evenings; offer a full and authentic Indian meal as long as you book in a minimum of 4. When I posted a couple of readers (now long gone I think) came on the attack regards eating anything other than Italian food in Italy. Their loss. Our Bangra dance.

 Whatever you do don't mention getting together for an Indian meal...

 Please excuse me Valentina, but did you mean "Is Italy ready for immigration"? We've lived in Italy for many years now, Jean and I are both English by birth, and have experienced Italian life in both the north east (on the border between Lombardia and Reggio Emilia) - where there is a considerable immigrant population, and the central east region (Le Marche) where there seems immigration of differing origins. In the Lombardia area the non-Italian children sometimes outnumber the Italian children in schools, and are generally very hard working with a strong family ethic, determined through education to carve their niche in life and create a career pathway. I had the pleasure of working with many of these non-Italian children, and must say that I could not have wished for better 'subjects'. Many were of Muslim faith, but were descrete regarding their religion and culture. Here in Le Marche we find ourselves in the company of many Chinese and North African families and individuals, and again we don't have any problems so far. We do however worry that many of the North Africans are here to escape some sort of persecution in their homeland, and are living 'hand to mouth', even though they are often well educated but unable to find work. Unlike some others we 'meet and greet' with the young men selling their wares in the supermarket car park; we don't buy from them; but generally buy an extra loaf of bread which we give them. Engaging them in conversation often reveals an education and background that denies their ambulant salesman status, many speaking at least 3 if not more languages for example. Please don't label us as 'do-gooders', but we prefer to do things this way.  We have also experienced 'lightwieght' racism, in that a petition was created locally to try to remove a small Chinese industry from a residential area, without success however, with one local lady maintaining that she had to move out of her apartment as the noise from the Chinese industry was unbearable. (We later found out that the same lady suffered from insomnia). She however declined to become involved when I suggested that she could start a similar campaign to have stop the neighbour's  Alsatian dog from barking constantly from 7;00 a.m. until 6;0 p.m. or so. The dog's owner is obviously Italian. I feel that it's not necessarily that immigration needs to be controlled, but rather the verification needs to be of a higher quality, as it's obvious that thousands of immigrants are in fact here illegally.

 www.icalweb.com can maybe help...

 Shas...."and some fell on stoney ground..."

 As I understand it there's going to be 2 versions; one for a TV spot, and the other (longer) version for the cinema. Maybe they will show it during the interval for Kia-ora etc. I found it; together with some very negative comments, on the website of our local paper; www.sambenedettoggi.it There's aslo comments and copy at www.ilquotidiano.it As ever there will be mixed opinions, as surely some local 'celebrities' will want to add the 'claim to fame' that they met Dustin Hoffman and then will support blindly.

 Valentina; to be honest I've watched the rushes of this video, and really struggle to relate much of it to Le Marche. Large portions are inside a theatre, with little or no reference to the wonderful coastal attractions of places like San Benedetto del Tronto etc.

 http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanguinaccio_insaccato