Archive for 'Culture'
A Very Typical Italian Joke Posted by Geoff on May 28, 2014
Uncle Luciano loves telling jokes, and every time we go out to the restaurant with him he manages to come up with some new ones. Here’s a joke that is very typically Italian as it uses for its theme marital fidelity and religion: Due uomini sono morti e si trovano all’ingresso del Paradiso, davanti a…
Dave the Sniper Posted by Geoff on Apr 22, 2014
It’s not the first time that a great work of art has been used, or abused, in order to sell a product, but the transformation of Michelangelo’s celebrated sculpture of David into a gun toting sniper seems to be ruffling a lot of feathers … Left: Michelangelo’s celebrated sculpture of David. Right: ArmaLite’s version. Is…
The Italian Tattoo Tax Posted by Geoff on Apr 16, 2014
Not long ago, in my blog The Pursuit of Happiness – Part 1., I wrote: “I’m not generally a big tattoo fan”. Well according to an article in the Giornale del Corriere it seems that I’m not the only one: Scade il 30 Giugno il pagamento dell’ISE (Imposta Sanitaria Estetica), al quale si dovranno adeguare…
A Nice Plate of Thistles Posted by Geoff on Mar 26, 2014
Serena and I just can’t agree about this: thistles … tasty, yes or no? Okay, maybe I’m being a bit harsh by calling them thistles, they’re actually called carciofi, but to me they’ll always just be big thistles, certainly to be admired for their impressive foliage and wonderful purple flower heads, but as a kid…
Una Grande Bellezza? Posted by Serena on Mar 10, 2014
It won an Oscar for best foreign language film of 2014, The Golden Globe Award and the BAFTA, but is really all that good? Let me state right here and now that I haven’t actually seen La Grande Bellezza (The Great Beauty), directed by Paolo Sorrentino. But after it was screened at the Cineforum here…
Favourite Italian Pastimes Posted by Geoff on Feb 25, 2014
Quali sono i passatempi preferiti degli Italiani? What are the Italians’ favourite pastimes? Well, out of curiosity I’ve been doing a bit of research on the net and reading articles published by FITeL (Federazione Italiana Tempo Libero), Istat (Istituto Nazionale di Statistica), and Consumatore News. Here are a few excerpts taken from various publications dealing…
Meet Bruna, the mobile Tigelleria Posted by Geoff on Feb 10, 2014
“Purtroppo, in Italia, essere creativi non viene riconosciuto come un lavoro che ha una sua professionalità e un suo valore” (unfortunately, in Italy being creative isn’t recognised as a job with its own professionalism and value) explain Riccardo and Clara, creators of Bruna, the mobile tigelleria. Who are Riccardo, Clara and Bruna, and what on…