octobre 2013

(Image source) Alexandre Herlea's letter to UNESCO's CEO dated 14th October concerning Rosia Montana's inclusion on the World Heritage List has been translated into English so that it may be shared yet further still and understood by those who do not speak French. Mr Herlea is President of La Maison Roumaine here in Paris.    LA MAISON ROUMAINE... [Lire la suite]

(Photo source) As I sat waiting for my students to show up this morning, I had a recording of Romica Puceanu and the Gore Brothers playing on my pc. Simply wonderful. They appeared with their coffee and sat quietly (pretty rare!) to listen, too. My original lesson topic sailed promptly out the window and instead, we talked about Romica which lead to a fascinating voyage through music, discussion and debate thanks to the info on the inside of my CD cover noted below, with Romica playing quietly in the background. If you don't like... [Lire la suite]

(Image source) I have just received this letter by e-mail from Alexandre Herlea the President of La Maison Roumaine here in Paris, addressed to UNESCO's CEO Madame Irina Bokova, concerning Rosia Montana's position for World Heritage status. Personally, I do not have a shred of faith that the Romanian government will do the decent thing - and that makes Mr Herlea's letter of all the greater importance, for it asks UNESCO's help in putting on the pressure. Before saying, "but that won't do any good!", let's wait and see. La Maison... [Lire la suite]

It's amazing just how much news there's been in the last few days behind the scenes of the Rosia Montana project. It keeps coming at a rate of knotts. Hoards of it. Revelations, provocations, absurdities... So I'd better get it all down on paper before anything else happens. (Photo source) First of all, the National Audiovisual Council of Romania (CNA) banned all broadcasting of TV spots in favour of the Rosia Montana Project two days after TV presenter Eugenia Voda's open letter became public, insisting on "immediate and complete... [Lire la suite]

This morning, I needed to write something to cheer myself up (and you too, perhaps) and realised that tho' I've written lots of funny posts since this blog began in 2007, I've never written about Romanian Humour as a subject in itself. As it is so utterly suuuuuperb, here we go - oh, and since it's such a huge topic, this'll be done in two parts. Welcome to Part I. No matter what history has dosed out, no matter how much hellish destruction (physical, mental or social) has been endured, no matter how much terror, cold, hunger has... [Lire la suite]