War between gas stations: “My distributor [gas pump] set on fire by a colleague.”
Attempted rape – she hits him “below the belt.” [Good for her!]
War between gas stations: “My distributor [gas pump] set on fire by a colleague.”
Attempted rape – she hits him “below the belt.” [Good for her!]
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by Zero Assoluto Nov 5, 2007 Keeley asked: "I’m going to Italy with my high school soon and would LOVE to be able to sing the songs that I may here on Deejay or MTV." Oh, dear. I don’t listen to the radio or watch TV at all, so without Ross in the house I don’t have any access to what’s new on the Italian music scene. But there’s always YouTube, and I rememberd that this summer Ross and every other young person in Lecco went to a free concert by Zero Assoluto. So here they are. |
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ritornello: | refrain: | ||||
Tu come stai… | How are you? | ||||
è successo cosa non so tu lo dirai | Something happened I don’t know [what], you won’t say | ||||
fino a ieri andava tutto bene come mai? | Up to yesterday everything was fine, how on earth? | ||||
dimmi cosa credi tu non sai | Tell me what you believe, you don’t know | ||||
dimmi cosa credi tu non vuoi | Tell me what you believe, you don’t want to | ||||
dimmi che sei sempre tu chi sei | Tell me that you’re always who you are | ||||
dimmi adesso se ti va | Tell me now – if you want to. | ||||
è passato un pò troppo di tempo | A little too much time has passed. | ||||
come stai | How are you? | ||||
troppo tempo che non sei quella che sai che vuoi | Too much time that you’re not the one who knows what you want | ||||
forse c’è qualche cosa che non va | Maybe something’s wrong | ||||
(dimmi cosa credi tu…) | (Tell me what you believe) | ||||
forse non sai più che conta | Maybe you don’t know what counts anymore | ||||
(che sei sempre tu) | (That you’re always you) | ||||
quella che dice quello che pensa sempre | She who always says what she thinks | ||||
quella che sa guardare nel fondo della gente | She who knows how to look deep into people | ||||
(o parli chiaro o ti arrendi… | (either speak clearly or give up) | ||||
dimmi cosa resterà…quello che senti?) | Tell me what will be left… what you feel? | ||||
o ti confessi o ti tieni tutto dentro | Either confess or keep it all inside | ||||
(dimmi adesso se ti va di perdere tempo) | (Tell me now, if you want to waste time.) | ||||
che succede se ti chiamo non rispondi | What’s happening, if I call you don’t answer | ||||
no, no, non vuoi uscire da giorni… | No, no, you haven’t wanted to go out for days | ||||
se ti guardo ti volti | If I look at you, you turn away | ||||
tu che se hai un problema lo risolvi | You, who if you have a problem you resolve it | ||||
(che si fa?) | (What to do?) | ||||
ora tu mi parli | Now you talk to me | ||||
dei tuoi sentimenti spenti | About your extinguished feelings | ||||
tutti quei momenti che fino a ieri mi sembravano presenti) | All those moments that up to yesterday seemed present to me | ||||
o cerchi l’occasione dove questa situazione trovi conclusione | Either look for a chance where this situation can find a way to end | ||||
(c’ho pensato pure troppo) | (I’ve thought about it even too much) | ||||
dimmi allora che è così | Tell me then that this is how it is | ||||
(dimmi che c’è sotto) | (Tell me what’s underneath) | ||||
ah ah…hai provato a parlare lo stesso | Ah, ha, you tried to talk just the same | ||||
(dimmi che non mi vuoi più) | (Tell me that you don’t want me anymore) | ||||
dimmelo tu adesso | You tell me now. | ||||
tutto è troppo semplice | Everything is too easy | ||||
se non sai distinguere | if you can’t tell apart | ||||
parlano dei tuoi silenzi | [others] speak of your silences | ||||
dicono quello che pensi | they say that what you think | ||||
contano di più | They count for more | ||||
più di mille chiarimenti | more than a thousand clarifications | ||||
ma se un giorno tu trovassi le parole | But if one day you were to find the words | ||||
forse quel giorno capirò le tue paure | Maybe that day I would understand your fears | ||||
ma adesso non riesco a non lasciarti | But now I can’t manage not to leave you | ||||
(forse sto buttando tutto | (maybe I’m throwing away everything, | ||||
non senza rimpianti) | not without regrets) | ||||
cosa credi tu lo sai | What do you believe, you know | ||||
dimmi cosa credi tu non vuoi | Tell me what you believe, you don’t want to | ||||
dimmi che sei sempre tu chi sei | Tell me that you’re always who you are | ||||
dimmi adesso se ti va | Tell me now – if you want to. | ||||
When we moved into our apartment in Milan in 1991, we were young and just getting started in life – which is code for "didn’t have much money". Our furniture all came from Ikea, with supplementary storage: the old trunks we had shipped our stuff in from the US.
Our light fixtures for years were the same bare bulbs on wires that had been present when we bought the place. Once you’re accustomed to the fierce, unobstructed glare of a 150-watt bulb, it’s hard to get used to lower levels of light.
But, over time, we gradually upgraded some of our cheap furniture to get more storage space, Enrico got a new piano, and real light fixtures slowly began to appear. Each choice of a new one was agonizing. When we replaced the final bare bulb with a real ceiling lamp, sometime around 2001, we joked: "Now the house is all finished – we’ll have to move!"
And, not too long after that, we did move. The thirteen years we had spent in that apartment in Milan was the longest I’d ever lived in any dwelling in my life (which might be the case for Enrico as well – his family, unusually for Italians, moved quite a bit when he was young). We were no longer accustomed to change. Perhaps that’s why we were in a hurry to feel settled in our new apartment in Lecco, and had it completely furnished, including ceiling fixtures, in record time. Of course we then had to move again.
We’ve now been in our house for three years, and, once again, it was unpacked and looking very finished, very quickly. But it’s a big place; there’s always room for improvement.
Some time during the second year we finally replaced the last temporary light fixture, in the entryway. There had been no reason to rush: it had a big white-glass globe bulb, and almost looked intentional. Except that Enrico tended to point it out to any visitors complimenting us on our lovely home: "Yes, but we still have to find a light fixture for that…"
So finally one day he came home with this:
It’s even local, made by a company in Lecco called Leuci. High coolness factor: you can position the tentacles any way you want.
The hanging is Indian; I won it at auction at the Woodstock reunion last summer. We still needed a coat rack for that corner – always useful by an entry – and Enrico found this adorable wrought-iron one in a small town in the mountains during one of his hiking excursions. (No, Italians don’t usually wear baseball caps – I use them to keep the sweat out of my eyes when gardening.)
More recently, we hung a beautiful tapestry (handcrafted by a women’s cooperative in Gujarat) that my classmate Sara brought us – stunning piece, see the detail at the top of this page. I moved next to it a watercolor of the Mussoorie hills done years ago by my Woodstock art teacher, Kathleen Forance, which had previously been overlooked and neglected in a hall corner.
…and I can think of lots more things to do to the house (not to mention the garden). My stay with Gianluca and Brian in San Francisco was inspiring: Brian’s trained as an interior designer, and it shows in their beautiful place. I’ll have to steal a few ideas from him. And I plan on some serious shopping during my upcoming India trip.
But we’ll never call this house "finished" – if we did, we would have to move again.
When my husband was young (and probably still today), Italians played a verbal game in which you made up a name for a fictional somebody of a particular nation. The name had to sound authentic to the nationality chosen, and, of course, it had to be funny.
For example:
Il famoso tuffatore giapponese: Sezoki Maspinto.
The famous Japanese high diver: [Se so chi m’ha spinto] – If I know [knew] who pushed me!
La famosa prostituta greca: Mika Teladogratis.
The famous Greek prostitute: I’m certainly not going to give it to you free! (Mica = not a chance, no way.)
La famosa prostituta del Far West: Calatemi Jeans.
The famous prostitute of the [American] West: Take down my jeans. (A pun on Calamity Jane.)
Il famoso motociclista giapponese: Tofuzo Lamoto.
The famous Japanese motorcyclist: T’ho fuso la moto – I melted your motorcycle [engine].
Il famoso investigatore rumeno: Ora Lipescu.
The famous Rumanian investigator: Now I’ll catch them (li pesco – literally "I’ll fish them").
La famosa prostituta russa: Vagina Seminova.
The famous Russian prostitute: Semi-New Vagina.
Il famoso tuffatore arabo: Momeyet.
The famous Arab diver: Mo’ me getto – (in Roman dialect) – Now I’ll throw myself [in].
Il famoso spedizioniere cinese: C’hon Furgon Cin.
The famous Chinese courier: C’ho un furgoncino = I have a little van!
Got one to add? Aggiungete i vostri!
Recent headlines from Sondrio:
Pavia: 4 students from the Sondrio area are robbed – The province: youth disagio, shock data from the Valley
Stop [serving] alcohol from 2 am in the discos: the owners won’t stand for it – Firemen at war with the city hall of Tresivio
Sondrio: [female] student hit [by car or other vehicle] in front of high school – Sondrio: a new political movement is born, here is the team – ask at the newsstand: Marilyn Monroe [a book or something being sold along with the newspaper]