Archive for 'Culture'
Natale in Tempo di Crisi Posted by Geoff on Dec 22, 2014
The serious economic crisis that Italy is undergoing is making itself felt this Christmas, and it seems that people are beginning to think more carefully about how they spend their money. But perhaps that’s not a bad thing. Let’s face it, Christmas has become a confusing and, in my opinion, obscene mish mash of religious…
Top Italian Internet Searches 2014 Posted by Geoff on Dec 16, 2014
Every year trillions of searches are carried out on the internet. Google Trends analyses samples of these searches and tells us which of them are currently the most common. If you want to know more, follow this link: A Year In Search 2014. So, what have we been searching for, and do the results tell…
The Vertical Forest! Posted by Geoff on Dec 1, 2014
Ho sempre amato gli alberi … I’ve always loved trees, but where I grew up in England there weren’t any ‘real’ forests. The great forests of England disappeared long before my time, victims of the famous maritime fleet (built of oak), the industrial revolution, and large scale agricultural and livestock farming. I remember my amazement…
Famous Italians – the Answers Posted by Serena on Nov 21, 2014
Here are the answers to Monday’s quiz, Famous Italians. If you haven’t already had a go at it, you can find it HERE. I’ve added a few interesting facts about each of them which you may not already know. 1. Ennio Morricone, born in Rome in 1928, he has written music for more than 500…
Famous Italians – a Quiz Posted by Geoff on Nov 17, 2014
It’s been a while since we’ve had a quiz. So before you all go into letargo (hibernation) for the winter we thought we’d give you a bit of brain exercise to do. In this quiz you need to identify the twelve famous Italians described below. We’ve tried to make the quiz accessible to everyone by…
What’s in a Name? Posted by Geoff on Sep 11, 2014
I’ve always been fascinated by etymology, and in particular the origin of names. As a child, growing up in Suffolk, England, the surnames that I heard most often included Smith, Cooper, Baker, Farmer, Cook, and Butcher, all of which can be traced back to the trades that give origin to the name. Click on any…
Pier Paolo Pasolini Posted by Serena on Sep 10, 2014
Last week, at the 72nd edition of the Venice Film Festival, the American director Abel Ferrara (of Italian origin) presented his latest film: Pasolini. Interpreted by Willem Dafoe, the film portrays the final hours and tragic death in 1975 of the Italian film director, writer, poet and Marxist intellectual Pier Paolo Pasolini, whom Abel Ferrara…