January 2006

Italian TV Politics: Censorship and Silliness

January 30, 2006

To be perfectly honest, I don’t understand much of what goes on in Italian politics, and try to ignore what I do understand, as simply too squalid to bear thinking about. Elections are coming up, and I don’t even know what to hope for. It’s probably a blessing that I don’t have to vote here [...]

Read the full article →

Heavy Snowfall in Lecco

January 27, 2006

1:30 min 9.6 MB This footage was shot around 11 am; eight hours later, snow keeps falling – we ended up with about 55 cm. As one newscaster put it: “Leaving aside 1985, this is the biggest snowfall Italy has seen in a century.” Um, and why do you get to leave out 1985?

Read the full article →

A Good Way to Finance Entertainment?

January 25, 2006

The television industry is in trouble. For decades, broadcast television networks have made their money by buying content (shows) that people want to watch, and placing advertising within it so that the audience couldn’t help watching the ads – let’s face it, you don’t get up for a beer or bathroom break at EVERY commercial. [...]

Read the full article →

Changes in Latitudes

January 25, 2006

Growing up near the equator in Bangkok, I was not exposed to seasonal lengthening and shortening of days. The sun rose sometime before I woke up, and set around dinnertime (6 or 6:30 pm), with no noticeable change throughout the year. I eventually learned that other parts of the world go through this weird annual [...]

Read the full article →

Life with an Italian Exchange Student

January 17, 2006

My name is Kelly, and I’m a 17-year-old girl from Adelaide, the capital city of South Australia. I’m fairly average as far as things go, I go to school and have a part time job in a department store, and live in middle class suburbia. I live with my mum and my two younger brothers, [...]

Read the full article →

Consumer Electronics Show 2006

January 15, 2006

I arrived in Las Vegas around 11 pm on January 3rd, expecting my colleague Pancrazio to have arrived 20 minutes earlier.In fact his flight was delayed, but this was difficult to figure out, as nothing was being posted about Delta flights on the arrivals board, for reasons mysterious to me (and to the airport information [...]

Read the full article →

Dining in America (and Italy)

January 15, 2006

I instinctively dislike chain restaurants: when someone says “Let’s eat at a [name of chain restaurant],” I wince. And it’s getting harder and harder to find a restaurant in the US that isn’t part of a chain. However, my instincts may be out of date: chain restaurant food seems to be improving. During this recent [...]

Read the full article →

On the Road in Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas

January 11, 2006

Dec 27-30 , 2005 I left home early on the morning of Dec 26th (with Enrico driving, bless him) to go to Milan’s Malpensa airport – unfortunately, Milan’s only hub for trans-Atlantic flights is the airport furthest away from Lecco, it takes us nearly two hours to get there. I was flying Alitalia, an airline [...]

Read the full article →

Funny Signs: Only in Las Vegas

January 5, 2006
Read the full article →

In the Kitchen at Spankyville

January 3, 2006

Julia’s grandmother’s recipe for Chinese barbecued ribs, AKA “Sticky Chewy Ribs,” as demonstrated by Julia in her gorgeous new kitchen, presided over by the ghost of Spanky. Including the amazing KitchenAid mixer, custom-airbrushed with red hot chili peppers! buy the music

Read the full article →

Living in Italy: Practicalities

January 1, 2006

Note: These links may be out of date. Wannabe in Italy: Frequently-Asked Questions If you are interested in moving to Italy, please have a look at these resources: Expats in Italy: discuss and find information about everything to do with living in Italy Legal/immigration issues: The Informer. Also see the Expats in Italy Wannabes message board and links. Zoomata - [...]

Read the full article →

Learn Italian in Song: Translations of Lyrics for Italian Songs

January 1, 2006

A friend told me that she learned Italian via song lyrics. My Italian husband, as a teenager, wanted to learn English so he could understand the lyrics to Jesus Christ Superstar. So, to aid in your Italian studies, I present side-by-side translations of some popular (with me, at least) Italian songs. These translations do not [...]

Read the full article →