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Weekly TLS
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What are we reading? 15/07/2024
Paul wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "3 horribly hot days, 32° today, Clouds are building up and there's a Risque d'orages. The next few days should be down to 26°, which unlike AB, I find a pleasant summer temperature. 😉😎..."People in Europe might be impressed by a Midwestern storm front, with thunderheads across the horizon and lightning leaping in three directions: sheet lightning, whitening the space below clouds; bolt lightning; and lightning that leaps between thunderheads, forming a black mass like the brow of Zeus, with a white lining around it. I've seen such a show twice in Oklahoma farmhouses, followed by cloudbursts on metal porch roofs.
Mod
https://www.theguardian.com/commentis...
Gpfr wrote: "Further to the discussion of the Just Stop Oil protesters' sentences:https://www.theguardian.com/commentis......"
Thanks G. That was a very interesting and balanced article.
Mod
https://www.theguardian.com/commentis......"
That was a very interesting and balanced article."
I thought so. I must say that, from France, I hadn't quite taken in the scale of the disruption.
Gpfr wrote: "giveusaclue wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Further to the discussion of the Just Stop Oil protesters' sentences:https://www.theguardian.com/commentis......"
It was pretty awful. I hadn't realised that the guy who got 5 years had several previous convictions.
Mod
I've read and enjoyed 2 of his books.
Smallbone Deceased, British Library Crime Classics: the senior partner of a "highly respected legal firm" has died and the master key to his set of deed boxes has vanished. One of them turns out to contain a corpse ...
Game Without Rules, Penguin Modern Classics Crime & Espionage: short stories about 2 secret agents seemingly living quietly in the country.
When I was looking at what else was available by Michael Gilbert, I was pleased to see that the British Library Crime Classics series has brought out another book by Carol Carnac, AKA E.C.R. Lorac: Impact of Evidence.
Gpfr wrote: "3 horribly hot days, 32° today, Clouds are building up and there's a Risque d'orages. The next few days should be down to 26°, which unlike AB, I find a pleasant summer temperature. 😉😎The past 2 n..."
26c can be ok but if its one day or two of it and i agree a load of warm days slowly leaves every refuge or piece of shade feeling a little warmer
its now a very nice 23c in the shires, walked around the local heathland with the kids, my father on a butterfly hunt, lively at 79, storming over the ground, eyes trained on the heather and gorse
Sadly despite feeling entirely comfortable on the walk, i devleoped visual aura for a migraine and had to take to a darkened room. I havent had any migraines for a good 12 years but i do suffer from them
so biden has pulled out of the race, i wonder if this can change the dial and stop Trump?Biden can focus on the Presidential role like LBJ did in 1968 now, stand aloof from the contest
AB76 wrote: "so biden has pulled out of the race, i wonder if this can change the dial and stop Trump?Biden can focus on the Presidential role like LBJ did in 1968 now, stand aloof from the contest"
Meanwhile, like Hubert Humphrey, Kamala Harris needs to distance herself from the incumbent, without a chance to build a record of her own.
I read Jo Callaghan’s book In the Blink of an Eye which is about a forty five year old detective paired with AI as an experiment. Quite an unusual book which I raced through. Though a little far fetched towards the end but don’t want to give any of the plot away.
I was interested because the AI opened up possibilities , maybe not fully exploited so look forward to the next book.
Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so biden has pulled out of the race, i wonder if this can change the dial and stop Trump?Biden can focus on the Presidential role like LBJ did in 1968 now, stand aloof from the conte..."
good point Robert, barely 4 months of a campaign to get going in
Via the Vagabond Voices newsletter i get, i have ordered a Zola novel i hadnt heard of "Joie De Vivre" set in coastal Normandy.I am looking foward to reading this in the autumn, i read a lot of Zola from 2000-2010, but less since, but i am a fan
Is it in the Oxford Classics version (The Brightside of Life)? It's one I haven't read, but i know it's a bit of an outlier in the Rougon-Macquart cycle
AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so biden has pulled out of the race, i wonder if this can change the dial and stop Trump?Biden can focus on the Presidential role like LBJ did in 1968 now, stand aloof..."
The essential problems with Harris as a candidate: she waged an inept campaign for the Democratic nomination in 2020, and has no real base in the Democratic party.
Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so biden has pulled out of the race, i wonder if this can change the dial and stop Trump?Biden can focus on the Presidential role like LBJ did in 1968 now..."
Yes, that is true, but she might be able to attract younger voters. Nobody under 40 was going to vote for Biden
Paul wrote: "Is it in the Oxford Classics version (The Brightside of Life)? It's one I haven't read, but i know it's a bit of an outlier in the Rougon-Macquart cycle"yes it is , it has a vivid Delvaux artwork on the cover and i hadnt spotted it before despite it being released in 2018. Though i had noticed new sets of translations in the last 7-8 years
Paul wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so biden has pulled out of the race, i wonder if this can change the dial and stop Trump?Biden can focus on the Presidential role like LBJ ..."
her choice of running mate could be interesting too, whether she goes for a solid, respectable choice or someone leftfield. I'd like Newsom and if she becomes President, Newsom could be next off the rank in 2028.
I would love a first female President, though somehow it seems a huge hurdle and i'm never sure why but in perspective, we have a short sample size of Clintons arrogant, tone deaf campaign in 2016
AB76 wrote: "Via the Vagabond Voices newsletter i get, i have ordered a Zola novel i hadnt heard of "Joie De Vivre" set in coastal Normandy.I am looking foward to reading this in the autumn,..."
Oh AB (and Paul) La Joie de Vivre is one of my favourite Zolas. I don't know why it's thought to be an 'outlier', but you might read it and think it is. The title is ironic, by the way. I'll be interested to see what you think of it.
Any suggestions here for appropriate French or Spanish novels to take on a long traipse, by rail, across France to Spain. Paris, Sete, Arles, Portbou, Sitges, Barcelona are the various stop offs on the way, so something that links to these areas would be good, historical takes are fine by me. Hopefully the library ordering system will be back up and running this week! Not too hefty would help, as I have limited luggage space.I am contemplating attempting to find my now ancient copy of 'The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction' and rewriting it along the way, as 'Art in the Age of Algorithmical Reproduction', as an homage to Walter Benjamin. Not sure it will work, but might be an interesting experiment...
giveusaclue wrote: "🤣 I just find it amusing that vegetarian food gets called things like bacon, sausage, etc..."Quite so. I find it ridiculous and would much prefer it if they desisted. I assume that it is done to sound more appealing to those who have 'given up' meat. My mother's family were veggies, I was brought up as one, and I've never eaten meat. As a result, I find the nomenclature rather disgusting. If it wasn't for the fact that the chef in that place is excellent, I'd probably pass!
Gpfr wrote: "That's what I was going to write.Concerning the Just Stop Oil protests, I agree with their aims and I think sentences have been disproportionate. However, I think the form their protests take can be counter-productive, because there's a risk that reactions are more about what they do to protest rather than their reasons for protesting."
A very well balanced comment, which probably sums up what many of us feel. Thanks for that.
Bill wrote: "It's definitely not a seal of approval. The comment on the tweet was, "You all finally broke us with all your inquiries. Kneel before your god!"Haha! Thanks, Bill... it is as I suspected.
Although our tastes differ, I think we can both agree that lists or what the 'experts' think may be good for us isn't something either of us buy in to. Each to his/her/their own, I say.
Gpfr wrote: "While listening to an episode of BBC Radio 4's Good Reads, I learnt that the presenter, Harriett Gilbert is the daughter of Michael Gilbert, espionage and crime novel writer.I've read and enjoyed..."
Not read any Gilbert, though I have 'Game without rules' on my virtual TBR possibles list following a recommendation, perhaps from yourself.
Tam wrote: "Any suggestions here for appropriate French or Spanish novels to take on a long traipse, by rail, across France to Spain. Paris, Sete, Arles, Portbou, Sitges, Barcelona are the various stop offs on..."Can't help with the French towns mentioned apart from Paris (of course)... If you like writing with a bit of history, for France try Promise at Dawn by Romain Gary, where 'France' starts as a sort of distant ideal in the head of Gary's Jewish/Polish/Russian/ Lithuanian(?) mother, where she wants her son to end up conquering all - both women and glory for the state. Most astonishingly, he manages to live up to these absurd ambitions (if Gary can be believed, which is another matter!) They end up in Marseille iirc...
Spain is easier as I have less choice: books by Juan Marsé set in Barcelona include The Snares of Memory - a tricky tale where a screenwriter is asked to recreate an ancient murder and in connection with that interviews the murderer. Both funny and complex... and The Calligraphy of Dreams, where a boy grows up in a milieu of defeated republicans, and has to find his own way as he grows up.
Also, if you haven't read it: Homage to Catalonia by George Orwell.
Paul (I think?) asked why the British were so interested/obsessed with US elections... well, the British press certainly is as today's headlines show:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c...
I think most people on this side of the Atlantic would prefer 'anyone but Trump', who is seen as an isolationist who would reduce support for NATO, Ukraine and so on... So from that selfish perspective, we'd like the Democrats to come together quickly behind a single candidate - Kamala Harris or anyone, really. We have seen recently in France (and to some extent, the UK) how voters can reject an unpopular party even though they may not be wholly convinced by the alternatives.
My own feeling about Trump is that he is a bloviating bully, and it surprises me that someone who (even if at arm's length) attempted to overturn the vote in 2020 is even allowed to stand again. I suppose that reflects the deeply divided USA of today, and also the fact that Trump subverted the judiciary by ruthlessly putting his place men and women in positions of power.
But I do understand that USA voters prefer to ignore pleas from abroad and will make up their own minds. It's not as if European voters have been especially sensible in some recent elections.
Tam wrote: "Any suggestions here for appropriate French or Spanish novels to take on a long traipse, by rail, across France to Spain. Paris, Sete, Arles, Portbou, Sitges, Barcelona are the various stop offs on..."Anything like this:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Take-Slow-Ro...
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Best-Trips-F...
Or of course, there is a bit of travelling through France in The Three Musketeers!
FrancesBurgundy wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Via the Vagabond Voices newsletter i get, i have ordered a Zola novel i hadnt heard of "Joie De Vivre" set in coastal Normandy.I am looking foward to reading this in the autumn,..."
..."
good to hear you recommend it, i have scheduled it for Sept reading....so i will keep you posted
Tam wrote: "Any suggestions here for appropriate French or Spanish novels to take on a long traipse, by rail, across France to Spain. Paris, Sete, Arles, Portbou, Sitges, Barcelona are the various stop offs on..."well anything Barca should involve Merce Rodoreda or Juan Marse, also add in the diaries of Josep Pla. Brian Moore wrote a good suspense novel set in southern france too The Statement
For a wonderful world of Catalan tradition and observations Pla is somebody i would recommend as no 1...the second section of the diary is almost all in Barcelona, the first in the Emporda or rural Catalonia:
The Gray Notebook
Mod
Josep Pla - The Gray Notebook
Further to this recommendation by AB, you can read an extract here:
https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2...
Mod
Do you read French, Tam, or must they be translated?
Gpfr wrote: "Tam wrote: "Any suggestions here for appropriate French or Spanish novels to take on a long traipse, by rail, across France to Spain. Paris, Sete, Arles, Portbou, Sitges, Barcelona are the various ..."Thanks for those, my French is pretty abysmal! O level and rarely practised. The Pla might suit, as I spent a week or so Callela de Pallafrugel a few years back. Its still a pretty little town, though very built up now, compared to what it must have been like then. I have read Homage to Catalonia, it doesn't appeal for a reread. I was wondering if any Spanish writer had written about the early era of Catalan Modernism? I feel that I should try for the Catalan heritage somehow. I'll see what the library can produce. The mini-sproglet will be one when we are there. He has five teeth, and has already bitten his dad... whilst smiling I hasten to add...
Mod
Not a novel, but an excellent read — thanks to Russell who recommended it originally — The Banquet Years: The Origins of the Avant-Garde in France, 1885 to World War I.
That sounds interesting will try and track it down. I have found myself writing quite a bit based around that era lately, but only covering certain artists. It would be good to grasp a wider perspective on that period. I also feel a bit guilty for neglecting my medieval illuminations though. They wave at me in passing, on my computer. 'Hey look at me!... I'm still riding the snail and defending my patch, from the dogged foes!...' https://i.postimg.cc/bJHjFC9C/7vopkBR...
scarletnoir wrote: "Paul (I think?) asked why the British were so interested/obsessed with US elections... well, the British press certainly is as today's headlines show:https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c......"
Well, in this case, I totally get it. It's a big deal regardless of what effect it might have down the line on European lives. My point is that, on a person by person basis Europeans and Brits cede startling amounts of influence on their lives to American politics. The NATO situation being only one case in point. I remember hearing about how much of a horrible situation it was when Obama said that European countries needed to meet their defense spending commitments. Obama. Or how many people blamed their shitty salaries/lives on the fluctuations of the US economy (particularly true for Italians and Brits). Or how race riots were an example of how racist the US was while they were throwing bananas at the only European parliamentarian of color. I'm still waiting to see a German Prime Minister of Turkish blood or a French President from Martinique. Or how the French or British pilots who bombed Libya were compelled by the US government. It's just a never ending cacophony of whining. Living in Italy, as an American, is like being surrounded by millions of 12 year olds trying to make themselves cry because they didn't do their homework. There is a system-wide self-absolution of responsibility. Much of Europe is like the little girl that says "the devil made me do it."
Perhaps, it's a side-effect of living in Italy, where responsibility and self-determination are not cultural values that are taught or believed. Which is a further knock-on effect of a justice system that simply doesn't work, so that if there isn't even any criminal responsibility. Why should anyone break their backs? It's always someone else's fault.
Brexit is precisely the point. That has infinitely more impact on the day-to-day life of every British person, it's a self-inflicted headwound that will eventually prove fatal. But still, everyone is banging on about what Trump will do. He won't help the UK unfuck themselves, that much is for sure. Nor has Biden. Nor will Harris. It's not going to happen
While reading the Sales novel, i have also been looking into the background of the communist riffraff who undermined the POUM in Catalonia and found it, not my suprise, that they continued to persecute other communists in the refugee camps in France from 1939-40.In fact, while Franco was cleansing Spain in 1939, La Pasionara and her lover Anton, were dispatching death squads to kill nonj-comminust partisans in Nationalist Spain. This is where the whole communist world just gets more ghastly by the day, not to mention in 1939-40 they were allied with Hitler
One element communism seems to specialise in, is internal murder and supression while in a state of extreme danger. Early 1930s Berlin or 1941 in Russia, as the communist way of life was threatened, the petty murders of its own members continued unabated.
Tam wrote: "Gpfr wrote: "Tam wrote: "Any suggestions here for appropriate French or Spanish novels to take on a long traipse, by rail, across France to Spain. Paris, Sete, Arles, Portbou, Sitges, Barcelona are..."another catalan language gem for you:
The Sea by Blai Bonet (set in Majorca)
Mod
how many people blamed their shitty salaries/lives on the fluctuations of the US economy (particularly true for Italians and Brits)..."
Really? This strikes no chord with me at all. Although maybe I should leave it to those who've been living in the UK to comment.
Paul wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Paul (I think?) asked why the British were so interested/obsessed with US elections... well, the British press certainly is as today's headlines show:https://www.bbc.co.uk/new..."
Brexit was a huge self-inflicted wound but as usual it will affect the poorest first and already is. All the EU money poured into farming and deprived areas has been replaced by the neo-liberal tory bidding wars (result: less cash, more bidding for less cash). Starmer may try and change this but it wont be made easy by the shabby treaties and rushed laws the Tories left us with as they celebrated their bonfires of the "red tape".
I live in an area which is more agricultural , farmers have been totally shafted, despite a good 50% of them voting for Brexit nationally
For me it was a rushed, lazy orgy of populism on the "leave"side and a complacent, idle campaign on the "remain" side. Something like that needed a roadmap for a 52-48% result, a careful plan and a compromise, instead we were hijacked by the tory dream of more creative disruption, general apathy amongst some people(the 30% who didnt vote) and lies, lies , lies.
Eight years on, the mistake gets bigger and bigger, i was always firmly remain and see it as the biggest own goal since Suez(where we massively overstepped upsetting a cautious colonial retreat and made fools of ourselves)
Gpfr wrote: "Paul wrote: "scarletnoir wrote: "Paul (I think?) asked why the British were so interested/obsessed with US elections... well, the British press certainly is as today's headlines show"how many peo..."
I will say, it's not a situation I've ever found myself in with French or Northern Europeans with whom I've interacted. It's more of a Southern European phenomenon
AB76 wrote: "Paul wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so biden has pulled out of the race, i wonder if this can change the dial and stop Trump?Biden can focus on the Presidential r..."
Small problem with Newsome; Harris and he are both Californians. Electors can't cast ballots for President and Vice President from the same state.
Big problem with Newsome; I'm not sure he's a good governor.
Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Paul wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so biden has pulled out of the race, i wonder if this can change the dial and stop Trump?Biden can focus on the P..."
oh i didnt know that, so i guess its Shapiro from PA.
Paul wrote: "Brexit is precisely the point. That has infinitely more impact on the day-to-day life of every British person, it's a self-inflicted headwound that will eventually prove fatal."Completely agree with that... and with what you say about the lack of interest of the US in any of the fictional 'oven ready trade deals' mentioned by fantasist in chief Boris Johnson.
One thing which greatly surprised me on a 3-month visit to the USA in 1970 was how 'local' the newspapers were - with maybe one or two exceptions, they all pretty much ignored what was going on in the other states, let alone in the rest of the world. I have no idea if this has changed since (and, of course, the effect social media may have had), but it did seem to reflect a lack of interest in anything farther away. (Of course, the US is much larger than most European countries.) This probably feeds in to a more isolationist world view, whereas most European countries have suffered numerous wars and invasions on their own territory.
(That's an observation rather than a judgement, BTW. And things may well have changed for all I know.)
AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Paul wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "Robert wrote: "AB76 wrote: "so biden has pulled out of the race, i wonder if this can change the dial and stop Trump?Biden can..."
I'd go with Mark Kelly. I'm out of the loop, but I don't know how much name recognition Shapiro has.
Paul wrote: "One thing which greatly surprised me on a 3-month visit to the USA in 1970 was how 'local' the newspapers were -" Exactly. This is exactly the point. News in the USA is typically very local, it is still this way. Every night at 6 there is the local news and at 7 pm the national news. Barring enormous stories (tsunamis, volcanoes, wars, coups....) international stories barely register. Simply because, 9 times out of 10, they have no effect on the average citizen of a landlocked nation with a robust self-defense and ample space. Europeans, by necessity, have to have a better scope of international affairs. Because for a distance that would be a daily commute for an American, for much of Europe you 'd cross an international boundary. What happens in Normandy has a direct effect on the air quality in Rome. What happens in Paris doesn't register even as a blip in Milwaukee
The USA, I don;t think of as isolationist so much as being really fucking tired of being the go to police force of the world and subsequently the go to whipping boy in the aftermath. It';s definitely becoming morew isolationist, but come on coming from the British people.... it's a little like the pot calling the kettle black.
After WWI, public sentiment was very much against getting involved in WWII despite the growing evidence of atrocity. And post WWII... my grandfather, of Italian heritage, despised Europe almost as much as he despised communism. I think that for my grandfather and his generation 700,000 dead Americans for someone else's wars was more than enough and they simply didn't give two %^&^%. He fought in Guadlacanal and Okinawa and Midway, but he never held much rancor for the Japanese. But for the Europeans... he had no patience.
Paul wrote: "The USA, I don;t think of as isolationist so much as being really fucking tired of being the go to police force of the world and subsequently the go to whipping boy in the aftermath. It';s definitely becoming morew isolationist, but come on coming from the British people.... it's a little like the pot calling the kettle black."Well... up to a point. If you are referring to the British as 'isolationist' on the basis of Brexit - of course, I agree with that. It was a terrible vote encouraged by a bunch of nutters who own most of the British press - and who (I never tire of pointing out) DON'T PAY TAXES IN THE UK! So they (Murdoch, Rothermere and the rest) should just FUCK OFF! to use your terms.
As for US interventionism... if only they only got involved when there was some important moral crusade to defend... I do think that of all the wars (there have been far too many) WW2 against Hitler's Nazis was one of the very few which could be justified. We Europeans value and have not forgotten US support in that one, and it maybe could not have been won without them. (The Russians, who did a good job on the Eastern front, may well see things differently.)
But, but... did the US really need to support all those dreadful autocratic murderers in south and central America? (think about Chile, Argentina, Nicaragua, the Bay of Pigs etc...) And what about Vietnam? Who thought that was necessary, or a good idea?
I think that, if you are going to blame Europe for all the wars in which the US has inserted itself (even if surreptitiously) you are on weaker ground.
Paul wrote: "Paul wrote: "One thing which greatly surprised me on a 3-month visit to the USA in 1970 was how 'local' the newspapers were -" Exactly. This is exactly the point. News in the USA is typically ve..."
I'm a bit puzzled. What did your grandfather think about the Korean war and the Vietnam one? I always understood the US electing to be the worlds policeman was a voluntary thing, cooked up by politicians, many peddling the 'commie' threats, and the 'cold war' ideology, and demonstrating their wealth, and power! Yes many ordinary people didn't want to join in foreign wars, but with the draft there wasn't much choice.
I remember going to Greenham Common to report on the women's camp there in the early 1980's. Those women who were protesting about having American airbases on British soil where nuclear weapons were held in case of MAD kicking off. (As a child I lived on what used to be an American Forces base in Bavaria, which was handed over to the RAF, for a while, our whole life was supported by the American system of being 'in the rear, with the gear' and having provided us all with access to the US infrastructure of potential 'War', like American hospitals and PX's... (its why my young brother, who was born there, got circumcised!) whilst supposedly defending Europe against Russian invasion, whereas it was really to get the missiles as close as possible to potential targets in Russia, perhaps?). And who held the keys as to whether they were launched, or not?
The US sounds very much like, at least a part of the US, the elite rulers, were very much into the idea of being the worlds policeman in those particular times. Now I'm sure that the present climate amongst the ordinary US folks is that that they are a lot less keen on being the worlds policemen these days, and would rather invest there time and effort into keeping strange or needy people out of the US.
Maybe its a generational thing, that you seem to see the world very differently, which of course could be a good thing maybe, but our experience was very different. I guess you haven't had a pamphlet (Protect and Survive, pub.1980) sent to you in the post, from your government, telling you to hide under the kitchen table, and store some water in plastic containers, in the event of a nuclear war...
scarletnoir wrote: "Paul wrote: "The USA, I don;t think of as isolationist so much as being really fucking tired of being the go to police force of the world and subsequently the go to whipping boy in the aftermath. I..."No, I mean the UKs (and France's) retreat from the world stage and dismantling of its empire while running off with the riches. The European kingdoms carved up the world, stole the resources and then went home and pretended that they bore no responsibility.
And, quite frankly, your comment is a perfect example of it. Why did the UK and France have to support all those autocrats and dictators in Africa? You don't really come to terms with that, while slinging your little bows and arrows
Tam wrote: "Paul wrote: "Paul wrote: "One thing which greatly surprised me on a 3-month visit to the USA in 1970 was how 'local' the newspapers were -" Exactly. This is exactly the point. News in the USA is..."
as a child in the mid 80s in Uk, the threat of a nuclear war was part of school lessons and my reading until at least 1988, so i share with earlier generations that memory of the nuclear fall out tales, the radius of devastation etc.
Even aged 10, i wondered how any of us would survive the fall out...Brother in the Land was a childrens novel of nuclear aftermath and alongside When The Wind Blows defined my fear of the nuclear threat
scarletnoir wrote: "Paul wrote: "The USA, I don;t think of as isolationist so much as being really fucking tired of being the go to police force of the world and subsequently the go to whipping boy in the aftermath. I..."dont forget Guatemala or Iran in the 1950s, sure you havent Scarlet..
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It always bemuses me what passes for horrendous weather through much if Europe and the UK. 32 degrees is late spring weather for me. And a winter without a few weeks at 20 below is a winter in name only. No tornados. No hurricanes. Few blizzards or thunderstorms (at least not in Italy). It's so boring, I miss seasons. Then again, Europe also doesn't have forest fire season...