I’m not attached to many objects; I’ve moved too much and had to leave behind too many things to want to invest emotionally in anything other than people. But there a few items do have particular sentimental value.
The cup above has a history: my friend Sue inherited it after the unexpected death of her father, and Sue passed it on to me. All three of us had attended Woodstock School, so could all especially appreciate the triple pun.
This Swatch was my major fashion statement for several years, until (as you can see) I wore it out. The design isn’t easy to understand at a casual glance, so people would ask me about it: “Is that a mermaid?””No,” I would explain: “It’s Eve, gathering apples.” (As for the snake, take a close look at the strap…) It goes with my theme song, by Cole Porter from his show, Nymph Errant.
Experiment
Before you leave these portals
To meet less fortunate mortals,
There’s just one final message
I would give to you.
You all have learned reliance
On the sacred teachings of science,
So I hope through life you never will decline,
In spite of philistine defiance,
To do what all good scientists do:
Experiment!
Make it your motto day and night.
Experiment!
And it will lead you to the light.
The apple on the top of the tree
Is never too high to achieve,
So take an example from Eve –
Experiment!
Be curious,
Though interfering friends may frown.
Get furious
At each attempt to hold you down.
If this advice you always employ,
The future can offer you infinite joy
And merriment,
Experiment!
And you’ll see…
above: Piazza Gambara, Milano – Vorrei svegliarti ogni mattina con un bacio – “I’d like to wake you every morning with a kiss.”
This sign mysteriously appeared on a bus stop in Lecco. I haven’t seen any others like it, and have no idea who’s responsible, whether it’s one it a series…?
It says: “When you take 5 minutes to do what others do in 5 days YOU GET BORED – I QUIT”
We spotted this poster in a small-town bar, for a series of festivities hosted by a local parish. I was particularly struck by the activities for May 1st: In large type, a donkey race, followed in the evening by “dinner with donkey stew, polenta, ribs, and sausage.”
Eating donkey (and horse) is not unheard-of, but, in the context, seems a bit rude…
Stefano Tonti, supplier of one of the funniest newspaper headlnes I’ve yet seen, strikes again, this time with a graffito which is also a grammar lesson. It originally said “Marty I love you” (ti amo), but was overwritten to the past tense: ti amavo – “I loved you.”
This piece of rude irony by Elio e le Storie Tese (Elio and the Tense Stories) is a good example of the use of the conditional tense in Italian, as well as covering some common Italian slang, and some use of English words in everyday Italian.The video features Gianni Morandi, for no apparent reason (except friendship with the band, I suppose). The subtitles are slogan-like statements about shampoo, beauty treatments, and the importance of diet and exercise in maintaining one’s looks. The final line is “It’s beautiful to be beautiful.”
The video is filmed, I think, in Milan’s Chinatown, except for the last scenes (jogging) in the Galleria and the Piazza del Duomo.
Continue reading Learn Italian in Song: Fossi Figo
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