Sex, Drugs and Libel in the New Russia
Moscow’s alternative bi-weekly, The eXile, tells its tale. Hated by many for its practical jokes, sick humour and savage hatred of much of the local expatriate community, The eXile is also essential reading for many foreigners and Russians. The book is much of the same, a mixture of worthy if sometimes wordy investigative journalism by Matt Taibbi and sorry tales of bad sex, good drugs and more bad sex by his partner Mark Ames. It’s already out of date but still should be essential reading for those who revel in the surreality of Moscow.
The Scottish Colourists
Christened the ‘Colourists’ due to their unashamedly bold use of pure colour, Fergusson, Cadell, Hunter and Peploe brighten up an otherwise dreary winter with their ever popular work.
Café Noir
Venice’s original cyber café has had to reinvent itself of late following the influx of several giant internet lounges. It has done so with fine style, thanks to the warm welcome of its owner Franco and his young staff who serve up food, drinks and great music late into the night. The perfect place to take refuge from the tourist traffic outside, it still keeps half a dozen computers out back with good rates for email and other internet services.
Carmelo Bene
Derided by many and considered a genius by others, Bene is one of Italy’s most original writer-actor-directors whose work has been disturbing and dividing audiences for decades. An iconoclastic approach to theatre and a rocky private life has keep Bene in both broadsheets and tabloids. In ‘In-vulnerabilità d’Achille’ (In-vulnerability of Achilles), Bene mingles texts from Homer to Kleist, and produces what has been eagerly dubbed ‘technological sublimation’. In Italian.
The Odd Couple (Female Version).
Slovenly Olive Madison, a divorced television executive, invites obsessive-compulsive neatnik Florence Unger to share her house after she is deserted by her spouse. The situation may sound familiar. Neil Simon has rewritten ‘The Odd Couple’, with gender switches. Although Simon retains many of the original script’s best jokes, he reworked the characters to reflect feminine attitudes and psychology. The two Pigeon sisters upstairs have become the Costazuela brothers, handsome Spaniards who work for Iberia Airlines. With Barbara Eden as neurotically neat Florence and Rita McKenzie as unkempt Olive.
La Colombina
If it’s cheese you’re after, look no further. This friendly enoteca, tucked away in a side alley off the bustling Strada Nuova, serves a mix of Venetian, northern Italian and Provençal dishes, with prices that put it within any traveller’s budget. But the real fun comes with dessert – the legendary ‘cheese clock’. Twelve cheeses, positioned around a giant plate in order of increasing strength and potency, are served up with homemade honey and an assortment of chutneys. Make it to twelve and there’s whiskey on the house.
