No al Rigassificatore!!

There is so much to write about lately. The most important thing is I spent last weekend in Rome having a great time. Rome has so much it’s always great to visit that city. Then as soon as I got back Sunday night I wandered into town for a gelato and saw that a free concert was going on. It was an American guy called Sonny Rhodes and he was billed as “The Last Great Texas Bluesman”. He sounded great and in the end I bought his CD and he signed it afterwards. Then last night there was a big demonstration in town against a gas refinery they want to build in Brindisi. I saw several people I knew so I joined in. I got my first glimpse of Nichi Vendola the governor of Puglia.
The weekend in Rome. Not much to say really. Paola was in Rome on business so I seized the chance to see her again when she was near. It was hot and dry as July will always be and the city was full of tourists. I like the off-season a little better. I can’t imagine living there and putting up with the tourists.
The blues concert Sunday night was amazing I think mainly because Sonny Rhodes took the crowd by surprise. He must be at least 70 years old so it just felt like someone who should be singing the blues. If you’re young you just don’t know the blues. There’s no way they could understand him but the music was so good, especially the guy playing the harmonica. Sonny took a wireless microphone and walked out into the crowd while singing “Standin’ on Shaky Ground”. The people loved it. At one point he was even riding on the front of a “bike” (it has 4 wheels and it’s for 4 people) still singing as they pedaled him back towards the stage. It was hilarious.Then last night there was the big demonstration against gas refinery. There have been signs up for weeks “No al Rigassificatore” and last night everyone came together. It seems some English company wants to bring in and refine natural gas and petroleum products here. Crude oil and gas would come in by ship and be refined here and then shipped out again to other parts of the world. So Brindisi gets a few jobs and all the pollution created by this plant. Many groups were there last night WWF, Legambiente, Verde, the farmers (with tractors!!) and the communists, all the people that elected Nichi Vendola. So I have to believe this thing doesn’t have a chance because Nichi himself was there last night talking against it. I’ll have to keep on top of what happens.