KRISTA SULLIVAN
KRISTA SULLIVAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN LABOUR
Around two years ago, it was brought to my attention that a woman called Krista Sullivan (aged 40) systematically posts spiteful comments about me on her Facebook wall and the Facebook walls of others.
The people who told me about this imagined that she had some kind of personal issue with me, and expressed disbelief when I said that I had never met her in my life, though she was at St Dorothy’s Convent with my much younger sister.
I didn’t bother to explain to them at the time that she can’t stand me (or rather, the idea of me, because she has never met me) for political reasons, and that she comes from a family which supports the Labour Party.
It never occurs to some people, you see, that somebody who appears to be a tal-pepe pulita minn tas-Sliema, like them (she isn’t actually, but never mind) might also be a Laburista minn guf omma.
This is because, in our time, the Golden Years, the Laburisti and Mintoffiani were out and proud and in our faces, ghax il-gvern kien taghhom (the way they reasoned). We all knew who the Mintoffiani, like Consuelo Herrera, were because they never bothered to hide it. Anzi, they put their political sentiments on display so as to cream off the attendant benefits in the Golden Years.
For the last almost 25 years, they have kept a very low profile and assumed the cunning disguise, garb and demeanour of People Like Us, operating in camouflage.
They emerged briefly and confidently in 1996, which gave me some surprises which I took note of, I can tell you, but drew their horns in again when they noticed how badly things were going in 1997, and that the outcome was inevitable.
I would have carried on not bothering about Ms Krista Sullivan had it not been for two things.
1. She is using her disguise as One Of Us to market anti-PN sentiment and the need for change to her Facebook friends, who really are People Like Us, pretending that her passionate desire for the Labour Party is new and that it is the result of the fascinating qualities of Joseph & Mish. It isn’t. She would have voted Labour even if the party were still run by Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici.
2. Believing that victory is not just inevitable but imminent, she has, like other Mintoffiani Laburisti, scented blood and is behaving accordingly. She has joined the Facebook Group set up by Mintoffiani criecer (which gives you some idea of just what a pulita she really is, mixing with that kind of scum) calling for me to be imprisoned for exercising my right to freedom of expression. She is also posting links to the group on her Facebook wall and encouraging other people to join it and campaign for my imprisonment. Nice. And she has taken to raiding the anonymous Labour slander site Taste Your Own Medicine for links which she is posting on Facebook walls. Even nicer.
To frame things in context, Ms Sullivan is the daughter of Sydney Sullivan, who at the tail-end of the Golden Years had one of the few bag shops in Malta, Eloise, at the South Street end of Strait Street in Valletta.
When the Nationalist Party came into government in 1987, he began forging customs documents to bring in his goods without paying duty. He was arrested and prosecuted (with the proceedings dragging on for more than a decade), found guilty and fined Lm490,000, which if not paid within 36 months would be converted into a two-year prison term.
It makes me wonder, given all their grief with customs, why people like that would support Labour and its anti-EU stance, but logic doesn’t figure in this sort of person. Hdura does.
Perhaps getting their stuff through customs was easier in the Golden Years. Instead of going through all the trouble of forging documents like those fussy Nazzjonalisti demand, they might have done what was standard practice at the time and bribed the right people.
———-
The Times
Thursday, July 22, 2004
IMPORTER FINED LM490,000 FOR EVADING LEVIES
An importer was yesterday given a two-year jail term suspended for four years and fined Lm489,955 after an Appeals Court found him guilty of defrauding the government when he evaded Lm44,433 in levies on imported goods between 1989 and 1991.
The Magistrates’ Court had originally cleared Sydney Ellul Sullivan, 58, of Xemxija, a director of Eloise Company Limited, of regularly forging Customs’ entry forms by counterfeiting the official release stamp and making malicious use of the forms between October 1989 and June 1991.
Sullivan had also been cleared of defrauding the government of over Lm106,000 by importing Lm191,675 worth of merchandise and making use of forged documents to remove the merchandise from Customs’ custody before paying Lm62,171 in duty and Lm44,433 in levies.
But following an appeal by the Attorney General, Mr Justice Geoffrey Valenzia, who presided over the appeal, noted that in light of the evidence it had before it the first court could not have, legally and within reason, reached such a judgement.
In the 31-page appeal judgement, the judge noted that when it came to offences under the Customs Ordinance the burden of proof fell onto the defendant. In this case, Ellul Sullivan had failed to prove he had paid up to the level of probability required by law. He did not even produce the company’s books to prove payment.
Ellul Sullivan was the only person, within his company, who dealt with Customs and for this reason he must have known what was going on.
It was not likely that it was all a coincidence and neither was it likely that some cashier or cashiers conspired against Ellul Sullivan.
Moreover, once the Customs procedure was changed there were no such incidents and Ellul Sullivan changed his method of payment.
As for the fraud charge, which fell within the Criminal Code, the prosecution had proven that Ellul Sullivan had regularly made use of the forged entries to release his merchandise from Customs.
After evaluating the case, the judge found Ellul Sullivan guilty of evading levies, defrauding the government and making malicious use of forged documents.
He ordered Ellul Sullivan to pay the fine within 36 months and in default the fine will be converted into a jail term according to law.
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She used to be a beautician in Valletta and I can assure you that she is really “tal-pepe”.
[Daphne – She isn’t. And I would know that, because sad to say, I’m the genuine article. Tal-pepe is not a descriptor of behaviour. Real tal-pepe are actually like me, very down to earth. The others you think are tal-pepe are wannabes with mannerisms and pretensions. None of us real tal-pepe actually talk, think or behave like that. The mannerisms and pretensions were adopted as a way of gaining acceptance into a social group, but what they really did was mark them out as permanently ‘different’. Because they are not real, and wearing a disguise which they cannot drop, they feel constantly insecure, and their insecurity manifests itself in these sort of ways.]
Regarding Eloise Shop as far as I know it belonged to some kind of rude guy. When he closed down the shop he opened and internet/telephony centre in the same premises.
[Daphne – The rude guy is Sydney Sullivan. Yes, he opened an internet cafe on the premises.]
[Daphne – She isn’t. And I would know that, because sad to say, I’m the genuine article. Tal-pepe is not a descriptor of behaviour. Real tal-pepe are actually like me, very down to earth.
The best description of tal-pepe.
Antoine Vella is right when he said that the real name of this “proxmu” is Ellul Sullivan. They use this guise when they are the defendants of court cases so that a summons issued under the name of Sullivan only becomes non-judgeable (sic) due to a technical error.
I know a few dyed -in -the-wool Labourites who passed of quite successfully as tal-Pepe Nationalists during tehe Sant era. That is, until the going got tough.
It was then that out sprang the insecure Jurassic-era troglodyte, ahdar u mimli mibgheda u ghira, u lest li jwahhala lil kullhadd anke lil familtu, laqwa li ghall-glorja tal-Partit tieghu.
Minn nies bhal dawn,
Ehlisna nitolbuk Mulej.
So Krista is really Ellul Sullivan and has dropped the Ellul as, perhaps, not glamorous enough.
….was Jacqueline Padovani Grima
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20020516/news/importer-cleared-of-fraud-charges.175545
According to the original court sentence, the prosecution was led by Spettur Michael Cassar and Spettur Kevin Ellul Bonici.
Reference 655/1992
Date: 13/05/2002
Parties: Pulizija vs Sydney Ellul Sullivan
I remember Sydney Sullivan very well. He used to try and pick up girls his daughter’s age. I know, because I was one of them.
Yes, I remember this guy too when I was only 15 years old – he repeatedly tried to pick up my friend and me and he knew my dad.
Unfortunately our Sydney is also a product of St Aloysius College and must be in his sixties now.
Original court judgement:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20020516/news/importer-cleared-of-fraud-charges.175545
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20040722/local/importer-fined-lm490-000-for-evading-levies.117191
Freedom of speech is one thing. Inciting hatred is another.
[Daphne – Get out of the sticks and learn what inciting hatred is. You really need to get out more, and by that I mean out of the country. The internet will be a great help for access to newspapers and so on, if you can’t actually travel to somewhere other than Thailand.]
I have known Krista for years now. I can assure you that you are completely wrong in your article.
[Daphne – Indeed I am not. I have screen shots of what I am talking about. Unfortunately, you appear to be one of those people who is unfamiliar with the world of masks and falsehood, and particularly, with the unbelievable hdura of longtime Mintoffiani. What you should be asking yourself instead is why your friend Krista, in all the years you have known her, has never bothered to explain that she comes from a family of Mintoffiani and that her political views are Labour because she has never bothered to think about them and instead carries on with the family tradition. She is free to be a Mintoffiani, but in my long, long experience, this is usually associated with hdura that emerges when victory or triumph are scented. Or fact. Face it, you really cannot be a rational, decent person and vote for something like that. If she hasn’t discussed her political views with you it’s because she’s ashamed of them. I am not ashamed of my political views, which is why I speak about them regularly and actually encourage discussion about them.]
Being a Mintoffiana or a supporter of whatever political party or philosophy a person may be attracted to has, in my opinion, nothing to do with the character or personality of a person.
[Daphne – Perhaps my experience is far more extensive than yours, Malcolm. Look at it from a different perspective. I am not saying here that Mintoffianism or Labour MAKES people hodor, but that those who are hodor or full of resentment and lanzit (perhaps because they can no longer bribe their way through customs and carry on with their abusive privileges) tend to favour Labour. Labour is very attractive to people with a problem. You may not have noticed this but I certainly have. In this I do not mean those decent older folk who were raised Labour in a more gentle time, and who can’t find it in themselves to change. Labour has been, for decades, the party of ill will, envy, lanzit and resentment. If you are not attracted to the party, ask yourself why that might be. Then turn the question around and ask yourself why some people might think it attractive. Why would somebody like this Krista actually not want Malta to join the EU, or vote for the person who tried to stop us joining? That is one example. Given that Labour is the oppressive, right wing, xenophobic, illiberal party which seeks to repress freedom of speech in its opponents, exactly why would somebody who poses as a ‘citizen of the world’ want to have anything to do with it? Small-minded lanzit is the answer.]
I have met ‘hdura’ in many people supporting all political parties.
[Daphne – No doubt, as have I. But that is an individual sentiment. With Labour, what we are dealing with is Lanzit Incorporated. It’s sanctioned, and it’s the raison d’etre of the party. Power for its own sake, to take our turn and show them. Very inspirational.]
She has never discussed her political views with me because I don’t need to know her political views to befriend her. Politics is not everything there is to life and I happen to know Krista beyond the polarization of politics and the fervour it brings with it. Whether she carries on with the family tradition or not is none of my business just as my political views are none of her business.
[Daphne – That is exactly what I mean when I say that the definition of friendship, among many Maltese, is really acquaintanceship. Shallow, and surface-skimming. Hi, bye, nice chat on Facebook, coffee, vodka Coke, lots of trilling and inane fussing. It is IMPOSSIBLE to have a friend and not know their political views. IMPOSSIBLE. I know what my friends think about politics. I know how they vote, and I also know how they think about individual issues that come up from time to time, like divorce and the rest. This is because, being friends, we feel comfortable talking about what we think. If you aqnd Krista call yourself friends but do not discuss current affairs, which necessarily involve politics, then this is because you are uncomfortable doing so. And that in turn means that you are not really friends, because a friend would know. She is either uncomfortable talking to you about it (I don’t blame her) or you sense that there is something odd there and don’t want to open any potentially divisive cans of worms. What do you talk about in an election campaign? Do you just avoid the elephant in the room? Grown women (and men) who are unable to discuss politics are lacking in social skills. The ability to make well-informed conversation about this subject is considered essential in an educated adult anywhere in the world.]
I have befriended many people who can be considered as ‘hodor’ and, thank God, Krista is not one of them.
[Daphne – My dear, only a real hadra would seriously visit a site like Taste Your Own Medicine, read it with interest, and approvingly upload links to Facebook. And only a real hadra (or somebody unimaginably stupid) would join a Facebook group obviously organised by a bunch of Mintoffiani criecer who can’t spell, calling to have me imprisoned. The devil, as the saying goes, is famously in the detail. It is things like this that tell you the true nature of a person, beneath the public mask. If you do not even know her political views, then it can safely be said that you don’t know her at all. People ARE their political and religious views. Perhaps you are one of those who thinks politics means ‘partisan’. A person’s politics encompasses their views on the economy, foreign affairs, social issues, education and so much more.]
“I am not saying here that Mintoffianism or Labour MAKES people hodor…”- therefore there are Labourites who are not hodor or full of resentment and lanzit.
[Daphne – I never said there weren’t. To say that Mintoffiani are hodor is the equivalent of saying that Germans are tall and Maltese are short. Obviously, not all Germans are tall and not all Maltese are short.]
“Why would somebody like this Krista actually not want Malta to join the EU, or vote for the person who tried to stop us joining?”…I don’t know but she has a right to do so even though I might disagree with her.
[Daphne – Then you probably don’t have children. I regarded anyone who planned to vote No as standing in the way of my sons’ EU passport. I would have gladly steamrolled them on the way to the polling-booth if I could. Or maybe you just don’t realise how serious the matter was, and how desperate things would have been for the country if we had had to stay out because people like your friend there. It’s fantastic, isn’t it, the way that if stupid and selfish people outnumber the others, the others have to live with the decision of the stupid, selfish people. The other way round, the stupid, selfish people are safe, because the others tend to make sensible decisions. AS THEY HAVE DISCOVERED GIVE THAT THEY ARE ALL NOW EXPLOITING EU MEMBERSHIP AFTER HAVING VOTED AGAINST IT. I rest my case.]
“It is IMPOSSIBLE to have a friend and not know their political views. IMPOSSIBLE.” I could have guessed her political views…but even then…how would that affect our friendship? I have worked with her on a project and can vouch for her work ethic, responsability, respect and kind-heartedness.
[Daphne – Kind-hearted people do not visit Taste Your Own Medicine, read its contents approvingly, and post links on Facebook so that other people can read them too. Nor do they click Like to a comment suggesting that another woman be violated anally. Never, ever make the mistake of confusing a loud, harebrained demeanour for kind-heartedness. My experience of life has taught me that it is the most unexpected people who perform true, generous acts of kindness while the lovey-dovey earth mother types run a mile because they don’t actually care or wish to be hassled. Also, there is nothing you can teach me about girls and women because I spent five years locked up in a convent with 500 of them and it was as stressful as being in a crowded lab cage.
But it sure as hell taught me a great deal about how some girls (later women) compete fiercely for attention even with people they don’t know, and wholly unaware, sometimes, that they are even doing it. Part of this competitive streak involves metaphorically tearing out the hair and scratching the face of any girl/woman they think has the limelight or whatever that should be theirs by right. I am a great feminist and all that, but I have to say this: some women are really very hard to put up with.
I can tell you of a hundred ways in which politics might affect friendship, but then you would have to be interested in politics and neither of you seems to be, so never mind.]
I don’t care about her personal political preferences. As long as these qualities are fostered in a friendship, then what she does in the voting booth is none of my business.
I could have guessed how she voted and what she thought about particular issues but it’s in her liberty to think and do as she pleases. Furthermore, we used to discuss current affairs but again, we respected each other’s opinions and that is what makes a good friend.
[Daphne – Again, you are probably in the privileged position of not having to bother. If you needed a divorce and you had a good friend who determinedly voted against, despite knowing your anguish, then I can tell you that it would definitely affect your friendship.]
I disagree with you that people ARE their political and religious views. Although these are important aspects of a person’s perspective, I think that a person’s life goes much beyond that.
[Daphne – Obviously. You have to cook, clean, eat, work, socialise and read and the rest. But people are synthesised in their political and religious views, or the fact that they don’t have any, unless they are defined by some other main achievement in their lives. For example, if somebody tells me they’re AD, I know exactly what sort of person they’re going to be, what kind of cliches they fall into, and the rest. This is easy, because it’s a minority party. There’s more differentiation in the big parties, but still you get a type. And face it, it’s undeniable.]
Moreover, I have met people who have general opinions on the economy, foreign affairs, social issues, education etc. while being completely detached from the local political scene. Actually these kind of people are on the rise.
[Daphne – All the things you mention are part of politics, so I find it hard to understand how they can express an interest in them while being detached from ‘local politcs’. Aside from the fact that it’s ‘national’ politics we’re talking about here, I think you and they are confusing national politics with political parties. It is perfectly possible to take no interest at all in partisan issues while still taking an interest in a party’s policies. If it is as you mention, then frankly, I am not surprised the Labour Party feels no need to present us with a programme of policies. Why bother, when people like that will vote for them anyway?]
“Or maybe you just don’t realise how serious the matter was, and how desperate things would have been for the country if we had had to stay out because people like your friend there”- indeed I did realize how serious the matter was. But there was nothing I could do except for casting my vote and hope for the best. Even though I was aware of the consequences should Malta have stayed out of the EU, I was not going to let this matter affect my friendships and relationships. I had people in my family who voted against…but then again…they’re first and foremost human beings…and then voters.
“Never, ever make the mistake of confusing a loud, harebrained demeanour for kind-heartedness-” exactly. And that’s why I think Krista is kind-hearted because she’s none of the above. I may not approve of her posting such links and liking those comments but different emotions and different circumstances may lead people to do some stuff. Furthermore, I don’t think it’s too unusual for a person to react positively to one person (or to a particular circumstance) and negatively to another person (or circumstance).
“I can tell you of a hundred ways in which politics might affect friendship, but then you would have to be interested in politics and neither of you seems to be, so never mind-” you may tell me how politics affect friendship because I am very much interested (involved?) in politics and, luckily enough, I did not have any friendship affected.
“But people are synthesised in their political and religious views, or the fact that they don’t have any…” Well, you may have a point. Sectarianism as evidenced by stereotypism is thankfully becoming rarer. Clichés are inevitable but one can get it very wrong sometimes especially with the younger generation. Furthermore you cannot base any conclusions on social class, tradition, etiquette or anything else because what were exceptions to classic pigeon-holing are exceptions no longer.
“I find it hard to understand how they can express an interest in them while being detached from ‘local politcs’-” An interest in local politics can be implied in that a person’s philosophy or values may be endorsed by a political party. I think many people are starting to think about their views on things conceptually and then work their way down to national politics and subsequently to political parties.
She said in her FB page that she will contact her lawyer. Do these people know what internet is all about?
[Daphne – What the internet is all about to Krista Sullivan and people of her sort: ‘We can slag Daphne off because she’s a special case and not really human. We can post links to slanderous anonymous stories carried on a criecer website run behind the scenes by the son of somebody who starred in porn films at the Labour Macina, we can describe her as a hysterical mad bitch who needs psychiatric treatment and say that everyone should ignore that frustrated old hag (this coming from people my age, if you please), we can discuss her family and why we hate them (possibly because her father never forged customs documents?), we can do all this in public and then, when we are exposed to criticism ourselves, we must turn hysterical, up the ante with the insults, call for her to be imprisoned, and act as though she has eaten our babies.’
Gianni, these are people who are literally ta’ wara l-muntanji. They think of themselves as hip and amazing, but they are about as well-informed and well-connected and well-travelled and well-read as teenagers gathered beneath a bus-shelter on a Saturday night in the rain in a backwater town. You literally can NOT have a conversation with them. They know nothing about anything. It’s all buzzwords from what they think is the latest trend.
And do you know what the worst bit is? They’re all in their 40s and I don’t notice any change in their behaviour or reasoning at all in the last 25 years. They’re washed up, washed out and panicking because somewhere in the remoter reaches of what passes for their mind, they realise that they can’t be 60 and still doing this, but they have never done anything else and don’t know where to start. It is actually tragic. The rapid passage of time takes us all by surprise, but with some people, the shock is enormous and they can’t deal with it. I know women in their 40s who actually still think they are the business as they were 20 years ago, completely oblivious to the fact that another generation of women has come up behind them. Instead of doing what is expected of them now and moving into the next stage of life, they stay in stage 1 and try to compete. The result is terribly sad. Look at the main tranche of their insults towards me, for example: you’ll notice that they’re mainly centred on the fact that I look, talk and behave like a woman of 47. This is clearly not allowed and poses a serious challenge to the accepted wisdom that women of 47 should at least TRY to look like women of 27. Absolutely tragic.]
I was always amused by 45-year-old women living a lifestyle like they are in their 20s.
What they wear, the places they go to at the weekends, drinking vodka cokes, amateur Facebook pictures, smoking cigs to show off etc.
If I had to take a bet I would say they are all of Labour background. Maybe watching their party stuck in opposition for 25 years was a main reason for such behaviour.
Gianni, you make an interesting observation there.
Remember that women aged 45 years today were 20 in 1987.
In 1987, the life options of a 20 year old woman from a Labour background were pretty limited. Marriage was usually their first priority, so that they could find a man to provide for their maintenance, since they were uneducated and without a job.
And the home ownership scheme – the one where private lands were taken by the state without compensation – encouraged that pattern of behaviour.
Well, those girls are now 45 years old. And they are now trying to enjoy what Labour deprived them of 25 years ago.
[Daphne – I suffered the same deprivations, ciccio (I’m 47) and you won’t see me trying to make up for all that lost time. It’s lost, gone, forget it. The real reason goes deeper: they are actually retarded. By this I don’t mean the offensive term used for some mentally disabled people. I mean the process through which many women of my generation were put deliberately through their schooling, family and society in general, which was a sort of ‘foot-binding of the mind’. The Chinese used to bind their daughters’ feet to keep them small, which gave them better marriage prospects, and the Maltese did exactly the same thing with their daughters’ minds. The result is grown women, women my age, behaving and talking like children and having the emotional reactions of children too.]
Anyone who lived those dreadful pre-1987 years suffered deprivations, even men actually. However, please note my qualification about “women from a Labour background,” so I agree, there are persons like yourself on whom those deprivations did not have the effect they had on the others, and the same with men.
I believe that the upbringing is mostly attributable to the family background. And I do not mean wealth. I mean values, perspective, foresight, vision, use of the brains. It’s a whole culture. This must be what you are saying, isn’t it?
I don’t know Krista very well but she is a friend of mine on Facebook – I have to say I have never seen the types of posts mentioned above come up on my page, but many other ones posted by Krista so I find this story very strange. Have you actually seen these posts yourself or did people tell you about them? However I could have missed these particular ones.
[Daphne – Yes, I have. I will send them to you by email.]
I’ve seen at least two spiteful comments. Why would someone who thinks it’s legitimate to behave that way recoil in horror when she’s exposed for what she is? Krista Sullivan’s come upppance is of her own making, so why is she shocked and surprised?
Krista cannot drop the Ellul as actually all the family Sullivans of Sliema are Ellul, except for other non related foreigners mostly Irish.They added the Sullivan to their original Ellul surname through their business partners or contacts in the past.
That’s correct. I believe that they were all originally known as “Ellul ta’ Sullivan”, the latter surname forming part of the name of the company you are referring to, the other part of the company name being a now defunct surname in Malta.
But let’s not deviate, shall we?
Krista Sullivan and her pretend tal-pepe chums can sound off on her Facebook page today as much as they want.
The fact remains she doesn’t have a leg to stand on – not after posting bitchy comments about lots and lots of people on her Facebook page for months on end (including yesterday).
I’m sure Facebook fanatism will be ‘a thing of the past’ for these people soon. But the way they behaved on their pages will not: that will last forever.
@ Chris
My intention was not to deviate but the built up they go through to try to make themselves look different and from actual.
I know, don’t worry.
She is now on Facebook as Krista Ellul Sullivan and about an hour ago or so she posted this comment:
“Ladies and gents sending me friend requests, if you come looking for negative political posts you won’t find them here. Of course I have an opinion but I rarely share it on FB. So, if this is what you’re looking for please remove friend request. Thanks.”
[Daphne – Point proved. ‘Of course I have a political opinion but I rarely share it on Facebook.’ She doesn’t want to frighten off her new smart friends by telling them that she comes from a family of Mintoffiani hodor and that she plans to vote for ‘Joseph’ (how nice he is).]
Eloise. Wasn’t that the “bag shop” at the bottom of Tigne Street on the ex-Grannies Pub site?
From what I remember, it was the only shop here which sold Italian leather handbags during the ‘Golden Years of Labour’, when there weren’t even basic decent foodstuffs or toothpaste on the market, let alone luxuries.
Eloise at South Street, Valletta too. In those days, as you said, we were had a ‘choice’ of the bulk-bought products tan-n**k that Belt il-Ħażna had stored may be for years, skaduti and whatever.
I never forget my mother wanted to buy me a briefcase for university, as a present, and way back in 1984 they asked her for Lm98 – almost a month’s salary. I refused to let my mother buy it because I was not taken in by the load of crap the salesgirl said.
Eventually I did get my leather briefcase from Italy next time round for half the price – same make, same model, and yes, I even paid Lm10 at the Customs Desk at the airport on my return.
You brought back some memories, Izzie.
Eloise had quite a limited range back in the 80s and the shop was ‘probably’ (correct me if I am wrong) the only shop that sold brief cases and school bags back then. There were two shops: one in Valletta’s South Street and another in Tigne Street (opposite the Union Club), Sliema.
[Daphne – Yes, where Grannies bar used to be.]
I needed a new school bag and since Eloise was one of the only few shops around, my mother took me to Valletta to buy one. Everything was very expensive in this shop but we managed to find this rucksack.
Unfortunately for me, it had unpadded straps (my father had padded them himself) and considering the price of Lm13 it was rather expensive 25 years ago. It was drab black and not particularly good quality.
I still feel guilty that my mother had to spend Lm13 because there was no other alternative. The bag lasted just over a year.
How sad. Dan-nies lanqas misshom jitkellmu. Thanks Izzie, for mentioning your experience.
Never allow anyone to rain on your parade and thus cast a pall of gloom and defeat on the entire day. Remember that no talent, no self-denial, no brains, no character, are required to set up in the fault-finding business.
Nothing external can have any power over you unless you permit it. Your time is too precious to be sacrificed in wasted days combating the menial forces of hate, jealousy, and envy. Guard your fragile life carefully. Only God can shape a flower, but any foolish child can pull it to pieces.
[Daphne – I think Ms Sullivan would appreciate this kind of thing. I’m really not the sort. But thank you very much for the thought.]
grow up Daphne and your bit about being tal pepe, what is a genuine tal pepe?? someone who talks with a ridiculous accent !!!! we can all talk like that if we want to. Try talking in that tal-pepe accent in another country !!!
[Daphne – As I had occasion to remark on the matter of Krista Sullivan, tal-pepe has nothing to do with accent. In fact, very few tal-pepe people actually speak the way you think they do. Most of them, certainly those of my parents’ generation, speak Maltese. Tal-pepe was coined to describe people from Valletta in the late 19thc/early 20th century who summered in Siema, mainly in the original parish of Stella Maris and along the front. Now, it applies to their descendants. That’s why I describe myself, completely matter-of-factly, as tal-pepe. Those were my circumstances. It has absolutely nothing to do with the accent. My family all speak Maltese, not English.]
Granny’s Pub in Tigne Street Sliema – my pub.
[Daphne – I thought you’d notice that. Yes, that’s right, Granny’s not Grannies.]
Thanks, Peter. I don’t remember Granny’s pub. I only remember this Eloise shop which sold very expensive stuff back in the 80s.
[Daphne – Granny’s was in the 1970s.]
Peter, those were good old days
I am part of the Family through marriage and I do think that your generalising of a family as large as this is uncalled for.
There are many decent Sullivan’s or Ellul Sullivan’s – many of which are not mintufjani hodor as you put it!
[Daphne – To me, family means immediate family, not extended network. So my reference was clearly to Krista’s immediate family. I know tens and twenties of Ellul Sullivans for the obvious reason that I’m from the area and there are many connections. I know exactly what the situation is. In fact, when somebody generalised about the Ellul Sullivans, I put them straight immediately, because I agree with you completely. I said that when a black sheep has a recognisable family name, it is distressing for everyone else who has that name. So yes, you are perfectly right.]
@An ES
I have known a very sweet girl since childhood. She got married quite a few years ago to a decent man with the same surname.
Yes, you are right, in fact this was Daphne’s reply to STALION in another post:
[Daphne – The Ellul Sullivans are extremely numerous and the problems occur in just one particular family of that name. I don’t think it is at all fair to allow these black sheep to tarnish the rest. When families are extensive, it’s inevitable that some might be difficult, and when the surname is recognisable, this makes it problematic for the blameless. So let’s be fair and decent about this, please.]
“There are many decent Sullivan’s or Ellul Sullivan’s – many of which are not mintufjani hodor as you put it!”
I am more than sure that there are and I do not think that people here are generalising. On the contrary, I think that your coming in to make certain things very clear to all, confirms that what I think is precisely what people should be careful about: that to behave properly on Facebook.
I forgive you.
[Daphne – Krista, one doesn’t forgive. One apologises, as Kevin Vella did. You were the initial aggressor, not the other way round, and you were also the one allowing vulgar comments about me on your childish wall, including a claim that I need psychiatric treatment, written by somebody who has famously spent the last 40 years receiving it and causing stress to all around her.
Now, quite frankly, you can go to hell.
Shanti Krista Jollywood Laughter? Isn’t that what your New Age group is called? And you don’t even realise that you’re a bog-standard leftwing loonie, possibly because, like the rest of your herd, you completely lack insight and self-awareness, despite all the esoteric literature on the subject that you consume instead of real books.
Some great karma, bitching all over Facebook and raiding slander-sites for links and ‘information’. But then you’re a fake, aren’t you? When you ran out of options, you picked a lifestyle (out of those available to you, rather than the ones you actually wanted) and rolled with it.
Not just a fake, but a cliche: 40-year-old washed-up woman, not particularly bright, decides to become nouveau hippie, eat vegetarian and carry on voting Labour while talking about The Spirit and prancing around barefoot with friendship bracelets in some kind of frigging raindance at the ‘earth garden’, while the grown-ups get on with the business of keeping the show on the road so that you can play at being 16 years old.
No, thanks – I got a load of that first time round, when I really was 16. Why, I even have the scarves and the Jesus sandals to prove it. And then I grew up. You’re not new, you’re not different, you’re just tedious.
Most people have grown out of that kind of thing by middle age. You do realise you’re middle-aged, don’t you? The problem with you and your infantile, intellectually and emotionally retarded ‘friends’ is that you stick together like glue because you’re NOT individuals. You’re all the same, herded together in your assumed ‘difference’.
Then when you notice somebody who really is an individual, and truly is different, you start slashing about with rage and envy, because you can’t deal with the fact that I can stand alone and you can’t. Every time you burp, you have to update your status on Facebook for approval. ‘Like’ ‘Like’ ‘Like’. Pathetic. Now toddle off and make some banana mash or whatever.]
Ouch! Game. Set. Match.
Classic, Daphne.
Kif saru fuq il-Fejsbook! Kulhadd bil-pagna qisha ‘fan club’ page. Hafna qed iriduha tas-celebrities hawn Malta.
First they put themselves under the spot light, then when it becomes too hot, they complain the light’s too strong.
how refreshing, so brash.
“Free speech is the whole thing, the whole ball game. Free speech is life itself”
Keep going Daphne, ignore certain people. This is a free country – NOW.
During Labour times we could NOT open our mouths, so go on girl!
Is this for real?
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151374188423725&set=pb.731088724.-2207520000.1363547091&type=3&theater
[Daphne – An absolutely horrid man, a crook and a raging Mintoffian. Ended up in court for some massive customs scam before we joined the EU. He used to own a bag-shop called Eloise, one in Sliema and another in Valletta, and then had that internet cafe at the top of Valletta’s Strait Street. He has a really annoying faux-positive daughter called Krista who is like a loopy character out of a British comedy, and who practises something half-assed called ‘laughter yoga’, though it clearly hasn’t worked on her dad at all. No patience for people like that, sorry. Malta taghna lkoll. Issa forsi jghinu Joseph.]