I always thought that we'd know that Malta had come of age when the political catfights made way for other celebrity bust-ups. It's been quite clear to me that all those sober individuals calling for politicians to tone down their act and to 'lead by example' forget that a bit of action is probably what the man in the street is really looking for. Can you imagine the sheer boredom of Maltese politics without the personal jibes and attacks. What would be left? Radically different policies? Once the EU issue was out of the way, hardly. As Harry Vassallo admitted this week, even the Greens risk losing some of their novelty value as the other two parties wheel out the ambjent rhetoric. So, to an extent, the entertainment value of Maltese politics might soon be all that's left of it: the clashing ambitions, personalities and egos of the political class. But there's evidence that Malta might finally be getting bored of the actors on stage and that it's looking elsewhere for its entertainment kick. When Il- Gagga author Frans Sammut and lawyer/columnist Andrew Borg Cardona have a three-week go at each other over something as lofty as literary knowledge (replete with working class versus bourgeois overtones) you know that we've come a long way baby. Malta, welcome to The Age of Kulcher!


We're off to the Cologne Carnival . Viel spass!

Young, 'daring' Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev contemplates the 'evolving morality and standards of society' in the light of a recent apparently liberal landmark court judgement which implies that, in the eyes of the law, donning a tanga on the beach is more reprehensible than sporting the same garment in a girly club and that the police would have been more justified had they focused their attention on lazy sunbathers.

The summer of 1992, which I spent discovering all the real pleasures of life, marked the beginning of my long love affair with that wonderful country called France. I won't go into the romantic details but I'll just mention one striking characteristic about the country which continues to feed my passion for La Republique. Is it the jealously defended laïcité? Is it the savoir vivre? The women? Yes, all that too. But what continues to amaze me and attract me most is France's capacity to philosophise about literally everything. Yes, they can even philosophise about farting. Unless you take yourself too seriously you've got to lift your glass to that.

Bon weekend a tous with a special dedika to those two French-loving Gozitans j'accuse and pierre j. mejlak. (Naf li ghadek m'ghamiltx press conference Pierre, imma gejt naqa' u nqum did-darba!)