I wonder how many of the people who complained about ticket prices would think twice about spending a thousand-odd Euro for ” set elloj wijlss” for their tuned turbo-diesel Jap imports?

I object to IGalea, whoever s/he is, is because for every single government initiative, even if the Opposition agrees, he finds an objection. If he doesn’t he creates allegations or questions the issue in a malicious way. I suffer no pain when reading his rubbish but at the time I could not think of a better term to describe him. My apologies if I offended ‘me’.

With regards to The Times, I agree that if Ms. Strickland were alive today, the staff would be different and the nonsense would disappear.

@vanni

Tridx izzommom int mela?

[Daphne – You make the common error of thinking that ‘culture’ is something that a government can impose on the people, rather than the other way round. The situation in Italy has nothing to do with subsidies or state support, but with a millennia-long history of creativity.]

[Daphne – I’m sorry, but there is no way on earth that is possible without subsidy or sponsorship, unless the theatre is content to run at a constant huge deficit. Simon Schembri, a renowned classical guitarist who is based in France and who returns here to play occasionally, played to near-empty houses recently in Valletta. That’s a good gauge of the kind of interest there is. I’ve long since realised that people don’t buy tickets for the music, or for the play, or for the opera, but for the ‘event’ and ‘to be there’, for a ‘harga’: a concert in Mdina Square or in the Grandmaster’s Palace courtyard, a much-hyped play, a one-night-only opera in Gozo at which they get to wear a nice frock and have dinner with friends afterwards. I understand this perfectly: Malta is very short of good nights out. But the music and play have nothing to do with it. It’s got to be infrequent and it’s got to be something that the customer feels he has to snatch up the tickets for because it’s a one-off. The key word is ‘infrequent’ and with an opera house ticking over with performances every week, of some kind of other, people won’t buy becausae it’s always there and there’s always next week. And it’s always the same people anyway. And here’s something else you haven’t considered: what will become of the Manoel Theatre when plays move to the opera house to keep it busy? Or is this amazing theatre-loving nation going to keep two playhouses busy? Time to pack them in with Gensna again….]]

And it isn’t Dr. Gonzi. Never is. He is always referred to as Gonzipn. lgalea and most timesofmalta.com contributors come across as the type who when challenged on a particular subject, will shrug shoulders, spread arms, and intone the idiotic mantra “Heqq, opinjoni hux”. I think that timesofmalta.com actually enjoys people like lgalea. Controversy does sell, as does bigotry after all. We may be exasperated, but we still give the site a visit, in my case just to read the pearls of wisdom uttered by Malta’s foremost opinion-maker (No, DCG, you’ve been dethroned, sorry).Anyway, seeing the fella is not present here, just for correctness sake, I should stop.

Re the concert. Am I alone in having the feeling that some people are slagging off the performer because of the ticket prices?
PS, Belated wishes for 2009.

Right on!

If I had to express my feelings regarding IGalea et al, the Moderator will certainly censor my comments. IGalea in particular is a persistent pain where the sun don’t shine and exhibits large doses of bad taste every time he takes to the keyboard.

He thinks he knows so much! As a matter of fact I have already recommended (in The Times) that he appoints himself a personal adviser to Joseph or possibly to Dr. Gonzi and all our problems will be solved.