March 2007

Learn Italian in Song: Centro di Gravità Permanente

March 30, 2007

by Franco Battiato This song seems to be largely nonsense, but when I first heard it, it occurred to me that the chorus expresses something many people feel – unfortunately. Though the song is by Battiato, who is shown in the video here, musically I much prefer the Neri per Caso cover. Centro di Gravità [...]

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Light at the End of the Tunnel

March 25, 2007

They say it’s always darkest before the dawn. I’ve just been through a dark period, but… here comes the sun! (In more ways than one, as will shortly become clear.) I’ve been stressed and depressed since well before Christmas. Money (lack of) was becoming a problem. TVBLOB is a privately-financed start-up, and my salary there [...]

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Raising a Confident Daughter

March 18, 2007

One of my newsletter readers asked for child-raising advice. Well, that’s putting it a bit strongly, but, apropos of my own daughter, she asked: “…what do you think contributed to her self-confidence and caring for others?” …and I felt an article coming on. Not that I have definitive answers, or simple ones. I have wondered [...]

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Italian Garden 2007: March

March 17, 2007

photo by Rossella They tell us that this past winter has been the warmest in Europe for 200 years. Certainly our plants are confused. Some of the bulbs I planted in October were sprouting by December. The mimosas bloomed before la Festa della Donna, which I’ve never seen happen before. Crocuses in Italian are called [...]

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The God Delusion

March 17, 2007

Richard Dawkins is laughing up his sleeve. I wasn’t in any hurry to buy this book. I had already read and admired every other book of Dawkins’, and had read enough in the press to have a good idea of what this book contained, and to know that I would agree with it, as I [...]

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Why Italians Drink Bottled Water

March 13, 2007

From time to time in the travel forums, I run across people complaining about the added expense of bottled water at restaurants in Italy. It is possible to drink tap water at any restaurant in Italy, and in some areas it’s the norm, but in many places the request is considered unusual. Although the water [...]

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Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Concerto per Prete e Campane

March 11, 2007

Concert for Priest and Bells Don Silvestro needs wood to build an ark so he can save the inhabitants of the village. As it happens, Clementina’s father the Mayor is also a lumber dealer and has plenty of wood, but he refuses to believe that God has spoken to Don Silvestro and demands proof – [...]

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Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Sono Calmo

March 10, 2007

Having sent Clementina home from the confessional, Don Silvestro returns to his evening milk. The telephone rings. It’s God, who says that he is not happy with the way things are going on Earth, and has decided to send another flood. Don Silvestro is to build an ark… At the end of conversation, after the [...]

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Learn Italian in Song: Il Ballo del Mattone

March 9, 2007

recorded by Rita Pavone Written by Verde / Canfora Another silly song from the sixties. Il Ballo del Mattone The Dance of the Brick/Tile Non essere geloso se con gli altri ballo il twist, Don’t be jealous if with the others I dance the twist non essere furioso se con gli altri ballo il rock: [...]

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Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Peccato Che Sia Peccato

March 9, 2007

This song, the second in the show, is built around a pun. Peccato means “sin,” but the phrase Che peccato is used like the English “What a shame!” The singers are Don Silvestro, the priest, and Clementina, the mayor’s daughter, who has a crush on him (which he, secretly, reciprocates) and goes daily to confess [...]

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Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola: Buttalo Via

March 8, 2007

Buttalo Via Throw It Away CLEMENTINA Daccelo a noi a te non serve C: Give it to us – you don’t need it Quel legname* daccelo a noi Give that wood to us. ORTENSIA Del legname ormai che te ne fai? O: What will you do with that wood now? SILVESTRO Il suo legname non [...]

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Aggiungi un Posto a Tavola – An Italian Musical

March 7, 2007

I’m a huge fan of musical theater, grew up singing along with The Music Man, Camelot and Oliver. The first show I saw on stage was You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, in what must have been a local or travelling production, in San Francisco, when we were on home leave in 1969. I knew [...]

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Flowers and Male Strippers to Celebrate International Women’s Day

March 5, 2007

Many countries throughout the world (but not the US) celebrate March 8th as International Women’s Day, in Italy known as the Festa della Donna. Everyone is supposed to show their appreciation for women’s achievements on this day. Men take their female colleagues to lunch and give them flowers. In Italy, the flower of choice for [...]

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A School Year Abroad

March 1, 2007

In my encounters with fellow alumni of Woodstock School, many naturally ask me if and when my own daughter will attend. The answer is: with a great deal of luck, she will start in August, 2007, for an exchange year which will be her fourth/senior year at Woodstock, but only her penultimate year of Italian [...]

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