2015.07.12 01:00 - wonderful and strange world

The Guardian for this meeting was Wol...

Qt Core: Hi Wol
Wol Euler: good morning Qt
Qt Core: This week news on the Expo front: 1) health agency finally permitted something a little exotic, now in Zimbabwe pavillion you can have CrocoBurghers and 2) Nepal in all its struiggle ffor the earthquake finished and opened its pavillion
Wol Euler: excellent news both.
Wol Euler: have you had a crocoburger yet?
Qt Core: maybe this afternoon ;-)
Qt Core: plus the usual controversy on visitors an tickets sold numbers
Wol Euler: how so?
Qt Core: the expo sceptics/haters does not believe the numbers that expo organization gives out
Qt Core: (even if they are a little lower the planned ones)
Wol Euler: ah :)
Wol Euler: well, haters will always be hating
Qt Core: yes, but when those are newspaper directors and such ;-)
Wol Euler: yes that has a little more resonance
Qt Core: italian government, especially the Renzi one invested a lot (not only in money) in expo so the opposition media strike often and hard
Wol Euler: what can they do other than say that they don't believe it? Have they any data of their own? Headcounts by a reputable survey company, etc?

--BELL--

Qt Core: it seems there is an internal document escaped from expo organization saying the numbers are slower, and expo just say no comment about that, then you carefully choose which pics of the expo area you publish ;-)
Qt Core: then you yell that you can pay a water bottle even 5 euros... and forget to mentions there are free natural/gas quite cold water dispenser all around the places, you know, the usual misdirections ;-)
Wol Euler: of course
Qt Core: even if expo too helped with a couple ad with wrng english translation on pamphlet with wrong dates in them
Wol Euler: hehehehehe
Wol Euler: why oh why do people not spend ten extra euros to have a native english-speaker check their writing? (or whatever other language)
Qt Core: one could even cry sabotage on how absurd is that
Wol Euler: certainly it smells strongly of "I don't care"
Qt Core: i'm a little diturbed by all the parking lots things
Wol Euler: oh?
Qt Core: it was announced that 82% of visitors go to expo by public transportation
Qt Core: and with all the eco issues and theme of expo i was quite happy about it
Wol Euler: right
Qt Core: but then the owners of the parking areas used by expo (some several km away with a special bus service to expo) reminded expo that if some prearranged numbers were not met expo would have to pay some penalty clause
Wol Euler: heh
Qt Core: so now there are discounts on the tickets, especially the night one for people coming with cars
Wol Euler: which is fair enough, I think. I presume that the lots are closed to the public during this period?
Qt Core: like a free night (19 onward) tickets if you park there for a day (12.5 euros
Qt Core: 12.5 is the parking costs, the night tickets is 5
Qt Core: don;t know, but surely a few of them are of no use for anything else
Wol Euler: On the other hand, it's more sensible to use existing parking lots than to make new ones that will stand empty whenever there is not a hugely popular event

--BELL--

Qt Core: several of the thers are the one used by "regular" Milan fairs
Wol Euler: the local sport stadium encourages people to take public transport. Tickets to sporting events include use of busses and streetcars on the day.
Wol Euler: all day
Qt Core: ohh that is another fun story, the local stadium and public transport ;-)
Wol Euler: heheheh
Qt Core: just for expo San Siro (Milan soccer stadium) got its own metro station... and now finally after years if not decades of discussion Milan (the soccer team) get to build its own stadium elsewhere
Qt Core: before this new station the nearest one was in a km (or a little more, never used it myself)
Qt Core: range
Wol Euler nods.
Qt Core: checking gmaps, i thought they would go on the other side of Milan but no, it is a couple km away... so much stuoid then
Qt Core: *stupid
Wol Euler: hopefully there is a sensible public-transport option to that location
Qt Core: yes, the station before the one used in past years for San Siro
Qt Core: https://www.google.it/maps/@45.48481...1370758,14.83z
Qt Core: The stadium is on the lower left area
Qt Core: the area they are talking for the new one is the green area just right from the center of the map
Qt Core: the lower line of metro station (the red Ms) is the new line
Wol Euler: it's funny how many of those maps I know. Gallaratese for example jumps out, as it would for any architect, because of Aldo Rossi's housing project there
Wol Euler: so in Parco Sempione?
Wol Euler: er, how many of those names
Qt Core: no, Parco del Portello
Qt Core: parco semmpione would put the stadium in place of the Sforza castle ;-)

--BELL--

Wol Euler: oh the little park on the Viale Renato Serra?
Qt Core: if you follow that Gallarate street for a few km you will get to Expo (and it is the suggested bicycle road from city center
Wol Euler: ah yes, I just found it (I think). Miles and miles away from everything else, not a red M in sight.
Wol Euler: it gets four stars, at least :)
Wol Euler: 159 reviews
Qt Core: Hurra for intelligent design ;-)
Wol Euler: hehehehhe
Qt Core: i was in san siro once, early teen for some youth meeting with then milan archbishop have very little memory of it
Qt Core: it was like the meeting of all the kids going to get their confirmation in the year from all around the archdiocese or something like that
Wol Euler: you didn't go to the Ippodromo there? :)
Qt Core: no, by i want to go see the horse statue by Leonardo, it was (finally) realized in past years on his own drawing and should be great
Wol Euler: h
Wol Euler: ah
Qt Core: being an horse an ippodromo (hippodrome) is the right place... but a little out of hand and not "public enough" for my taste
Qt Core: it should be this: http://www.visitsitaly.com/images/lo...-leonardo2.jpg

--BELL--

Wol Euler: wow, that is big
Qt Core: one of the reason it was not made in Leonardo times (and a war asked for the bronze already allocated for it to make cannons)
Wol Euler nods.
Qt Core: some proposed to move it (at least for expo), some proposed the expo site, some the main railway station...
Qt Core: being food the expo theme and as we italians do eat horses too... i don't know ;-)
Wol Euler: hehehehehe
Wol Euler: are there horseburgers at teh expo?
Qt Core: don't know, the rare times i eat it (it is still something not eaten everyday) i eat steaks
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: I was going to say it's proabbly too expensive for use as a burger, but flying in crocodile meat cannot be cheap ...
Qt Core: yesterday i risked (again) to buy New Zealand fruit ehile i had to give about some south africa one as my sister asked for it
Wol Euler smiles.
Wol Euler: what a wonderful and strange world, where it seems sensible to ship perishable food items from the other side of the planet.
Qt Core: all in all those are already here what a waste not to buy them, right ? ;-)

--BELL--

Wol Euler: exactly
Wol Euler: and I hope you will actually eat the fruit instead of lettinng it go bad and then throwing it away
Wol Euler: not that I do that
Wol Euler: *cough*
Qt Core: sometimes i find fun reading the labels on meat, some beast travelled more than some humans i remember some "born in Poland, raised and killed in Germany, cut/butchered in Italy
Wol Euler: yep
Wol Euler: dodging around laws and controls
Qt Core: not later than 20 years ago the butcher 20 meters from my door butchered two veal/beef each week
Qt Core: himself
Wol Euler nods.
Qt Core: i remember a few times, when discharging them from the lorry, especially the second one smelled something wrong and tried to escape (i watched all of this from my bedroom window)
Qt Core: (the first one was killed before taking the second outside the lorry)
Qt Core: redid my math, let say at least 25 years ago... feeling old
Wol Euler: I can imagine how disturbing that smell would be. "Somebody just died here, where's the predator?"
Wol Euler: heheheheh
Wol Euler: the opposite of feeling old is dying young. I don't think that is better :)
Qt Core: don;t know if such a smell would be there it was a quick kill, don;t remember if it was electrocuted or it was something like a nailgun in the head (wondering if someone will find this last part of this session disturbing)
Wol Euler: oh, killed but not yet butchered
Qt Core: yes, killed talen inside the shop and come on little one come here...
Wol Euler sighs.
Qt Core: sometimes i think meat eaters (like me) have to endure the sight of an animal being killed and butchered and maybe even kill at least one in his/her life
Wol Euler: that would be very hard.
Wol Euler: I avoid butchers' shops even, preferring to buy meat ready-cut and packaged
Qt Core: (that is before saying there is no moral issues in eat meat, there are, we "just" accept them
Wol Euler nods.
Wol Euler: speaking of which, I should start making lunch, as I'm working this afternoon
--BELL--
Wol Euler: enjoy the day, dear Qt.
Qt Core: me too, luch to make and planninf for expo if i could stand the heat
Qt Core: bye Wol, enjoy and have fun