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The Boss just came back from his holidays the other day looking tanned and relaxed after his 3 weeks in "Europe's Garden of Eden" as he put it, in his usual understated manner. I guess I should have been forewarned when I spotted the black beret hanging on the coat - stand and the Basilicum plant on the windowsill. The best part of a month sampling the delights of Italy and France seemed to have worked wonders on him. In Ireland and the UK we look enviously at European neighbours like Italy (wonderful food , wine, style etc.) and France ( food, wine, style etc.) wondering why life in the Islands couldn't be a bit more civilized and cultured like that. What do they have that we don't.

I was pondering this question later at lunchtime in the canteen when the Boss arrived triumphantly clutching a tupperware box and singing the words Mozz and Toms to the air of " That's Amore". "Mozz and Toms young Crab " he said waving the tupperware box at me. "Mozz and Toms, what are Mozz and Toms sir?" I asked, wondering indeed what were these Mozz and Toms. He whipped the lid off the box in a fumbling flourish to reveal sliced mozzarella cheese interleaved with slices of tomato, olive oil and the unmistakabe smell of fresh basilikum.

"There Mr. Crab " he gleefully said "that my dear boy is Mozz and Toms or to give it it's proper name Insalata Caprese, it's an Italian classic". With that he pulled a half baguette from his pocket and began to eat his salad, Every few moments, between bites, he hummed the old Mozz and Toms That's Amore number. Then it struck me that when that lid came off the box I could smell Italy and all the good things it had to offer. The boss had proven you could even put all those good things in a box and take them to work . Maybe we don't need to be envious of our neighbours after all. Just then I became aware of the rain hammering on the window.

I have been in mourning since the passing of the King of Pop. The boss says I should get over it and has insisted I remove the posters from the complaints department door. "Elvis Presley and John Lennon now they were a real loss to music" he barked , "Wacko Jacko is not fit to be mentioned in the same breath ".

Now I have a lot of respect for the boss, but when it comes to music I must admit I often wonder if he has a note in his head. First off, John Lennon was 50% musician, 50% politician, and he couldn't dance to save his life. Elvis Presley was a great singer who rarely or never wrote a song and his idea of dancing was to swivel his hips and drop his lower lip. Michel Jackson on the other hand was the embodiment of music, great singer, amazing dancer and he wrote most of his own material. Sure his life was "strange", but do you call eating deep fried banana and peanut butter sandwiches" normal" ? Is going to bed for peace "normal"?.

Credit where credit is due, Michael Jackson was the king of pop. His pre Thriller album Off the Wall has been the only CD which I have never changed in my car CD changer and is now destined to remain unchanged. If you are only familiar with the massive Thriller and Bad albums go back a little further to Off the Wall. It's a masterpiece and the peak of Jacksons collaboration with producer Quincy Jones. The king is dead. Long live the king.

I must admit to being really curious as to how a deep fried banana and peanut butter sandwich tastes though, wonder if it would work on our hot deli menu, think I might suggest it to the boss.