It came as something of a surprise to me.

So it must have been one hell of a shock to our neighbours George and Christine, I mean. Well, on the surface they are the typical 2.4 children family that is until they became the 2.6 kids unit.

I'm sure they won't mind me saying they are a fairly typical middle-class, middle-income, middle-aged Maltese family. George would be early 50s, while Chris is some nine or 10 years younger, their kids are 15 and 12. Where the 2.6 business comes into the equation is this, just last week Chris confessed to my wife that... after 12 years, she was six months pregnant again. And, she was apparently none too pleased at the prospect of sleepless nights and full nappies as she and George teeter on the edge of retirement and... eventually - old age.

Not that 50 plus is old, not these days... but it is quite advanced to contemplate bringing more babies into the world. According to my wife, when Chris discovered she was expecting her third child, she was most definitely not amused and let George know it in no uncertain way. She also told my wife that the first priest to greet her pregnancy with the fatuous remark that: "Every one is a blessing," will get a poke in the eye.

Then there is the practical side of having kids just prior to retirement. Apparently George and Chris have long ago got rid of essential baby stuff like a pram/push-chair, baby bath, baby clothes etcetera etcetera.

Oh no... I don't envy them one little bit.

* * *

An obit that caught my eye recently was that of a certain Mr Ray Mahoney. And - this gentleman is - or was - not previously known to me - and among his many life achievements listed was the fact that he was responsible for writing the local "musical" Gensna (Our people).

Well... I did have the misfortune to sit through a production of this piece of witless, clunking garbage, staged in the Med Con Centre way back in the days of Mr Mintoff. So why it should be listed as an achievement in Mahoney's obituary, I have no idea. I was very young back then but still had enough of my critical faculties undamaged to know that what I was watching was, almost certainly, the worst thing I had ever seen in a local theatre. It stunk from overture to curtain call (which was greeted incidentally by a standing ovation from at least 60% of the decidedly red-tinged audience).

I am not, nor ever have been, a political animal. I do not belong to any political party, nor do I intend joining one. But... I can recognise politicised excrement when I see it on stage or screen, and Gensna was certainly that. In the "production" that I suffered there was no attempt at creating any sort of theatrical experience. The curtains opened, the stage filled with extras in costume, plus a few well-known local singers. The orchestra struck up yet another tuneless dirge and soloists and chorus belted it out... while standing around like mourners at a funeral.

The whole ham-fisted mess was stretched into a couple of hours of coloniser bashing... most specifically Brit coloniser bashing. And while I am no supporter of colonisation, I should hope that I could come up with something a little more intelligent than Gensna, which amounted to little more than an amateur night at the local kazin.