OF TONERS AND TINTERS

Here in Modica about 1400 citizens were issued, at the beginning of the year, with identity cards which are useless - because the wrong sort of toner was used in the Comune printer and the ink fades quickly. The Comune has said it will "try" to reissue cards to those affected without their having to pay administration fees or for bolli all over again. Bolli are special stamps which you have to purchase for nearly every document in Italy and they are a source of much revenue and fun for town authorities, as the officials just love sending you to the tobacconist's to buy them and making you wait all over again when you come back. [The trip to the tobacconist's may be a long one as the nearest might not have a bollo of the value that you need for the particular document.] The citizens have already had to pay themselves for new photographs for the replacement cards. I'll be interested to find out what other fees they are actually charged.

In a Warholist gesture, a 54-year-old man threw red dye into the Trevi Fountain in Rome on Friday. It has been cleaned up today. I think it looked rather pretty myself, and it seems I am not alone in this opinion, as now artists and celebrities are pointing out that it's not a bad idea and that the incident has generated a great deal of publicity for Rome. The photographer Oliviero Toscani has gone just a little over the top, though, in declaring that "Rome still menstruates - it's still fertile!" - Oh, I do love Italians!