BloGiuseppe

Moving out

2010-08-13T16:56:00.004+02:00

Finally we decided to move out from Blogspot. Too much Google. Too few Open Source.

Blogiuseppe goes Wordpress!!!

Please change your feed subscription if you want to follow me.

Follow me, I will bring you to Vanessa.

Air Doll

2010-08-11T20:38:00.001+02:00

Imagine your inflatable partner starts talking, buying things, confronting you, basically having her own life and will. A nightmare scenario, the ideal plot for a terrific horror movie. In Japan they made a great movie instead, a subtle wonder of tragedy, melancholy, poetry and humor. To be shared with your partner, inflatable or not.

Verbroken

2010-08-10T21:41:00.002+02:00

This book has the great merit of being written in a grammatical correct manner; not much more than that, and I am inclined to think that the merit goes to the dutch translator...

In this book the world is divided between two kind of people: the heroes, good, honest, disciplined, loving, suffering, but destined to a bright future and true happiness; and the villain, corrupted, alcoholics, addicted, greedy, enjoying themselves in ways we might all be jealous in our deepest dreams we would never share; those will die in pain, by cancer and in solitude, or killed by the heroes. There is even a third category: people in between, they might go wrong or they might redeem, but they will never join True Happiness.

What a waist of ink, and what a waist of talent. I have read a short story from Karin Slaughter, and it was funny and full of irony. This one is not even worth recycling.

Roll the dice

2010-07-18T16:25:00.001+02:00

these things

2010-07-14T23:12:00.001+02:00

these things that we support most well 
have nothing to do with us, 
and we do with them 
out of boredom or fear or money 
or cracked intelligence; 
our circle and our candle of light 
being small, 
so small we cannot bear it, 
we heave out with Idea 
and lose the Center: 
all wax without the wick, 
and we see names that once meant 
wisdom, 
like signs into ghost towns, 
and only the graves are real.

Charles Bukowski

Nanà

2010-07-14T20:26:00.002+02:00

In the late 1800, society was sexually repressed. Wifes would copulate only for procreation purposes, and would not find any pleasure in sex, or at least they would pretend so (a very anti-symmetrical pretending compared to nowadays). In such environment, husbands would be ready to everything for a bit of love, and would have to find comfort in love affairs, or worse in prostitutes, singers or actresses. Prostitutes like Nanà, whose sex attract all layers of Parisian society, whose lust and vices dominate above all false morality. Men stand in line for Nanà, burn their money, go to jail for her, kill themselves with knives or fire. They are all hypnotized, captured, possessed by Nanà's beauty and charme. Nanà is their last harbor for love, and their damnation. All for a bit of sex. All for a bit of love. Luckily nowadays society is completely different.

Tira cchi'assai 'n pilu di pacchiu ca 'n carru di voi

Never clean up your bed

2010-06-29T20:44:00.001+02:00

Maak nooit je bed op:

Experiences and experiments, without a theory that binds them into a coherent system, are just a collection of trivia from which we learn nothing. Useless, like this book, collecting 115 results of scientific experiments, but failing in creating a new philosophy, despite the promising title. Relaxing and effective for toilet readings, its pages are of the right format for the hygienic ritual that follows those sittings.

Theology of Vanessa

2010-06-26T14:30:00.002+02:00

Vanessa has revealed me her theology. Vanessa is 1 and 22.

Follow me, and I will bring you to Vanessa.

Why should I learn conjuntives?

2010-06-24T21:39:00.001+02:00

IMMANUEL CASTO - Escort 25

Damn God!

2010-06-23T20:48:00.001+02:00

I discovered that in the Netherlands blasphemy is a crime. God damn it, how can this possibly be true? I mean, I do understand that offending or denigrating people should be a crime, as well as calumny; people deserve respect as far as I am concerned. But a thing? A non-existing one?
I always wondered on how to define blasphemy. For instance, if I would believe in the holiness of rose scent, can I convict anyone that farts? Maybe blasphemy holds only for the main religions, but I cannot define the criteria to decide when a belief is a main religion. Even if we would agree on what a main religion is, and I guess we would not, I still find it absurd. Christians for instance, members of what most consider a main religion, believe in a god which is one and three (1=3, that's an interesting mathematical system), namely a GodFather, a Son of his Father, and a Holy Spirit that flows from the Godfather to the son of his Father to give him Christian life (sperm!?); the mother of the Son, called Maria, does not actually know who the owner of the Holy Spirit is, and sells a tale to her husband Joseph, who believes her for stupidity or necessity, only God knows. And I probably can get convicted for writing this post!!!
Scientology adepts believe that extra-terrestrial beings have come to the earth to spread the true belief, and luckily Ron Hubbard could reveal it to us. Their god has supernatural powers, like Spiderman and Batman do, Superman and the Incredibles. Horny Maria!!!
....
...
...
...
....
Damn it! I just got a revelation. Holy Vanessa appeared to me and showed me the True Heaven, and the life that brings to it. It's a life of love, the more love the better. She showed me the Holy Hole and announced me the price. Believe me, no negotiations, it's a deal. Follow me, and I will bring you to Vanessa.

Phantogram - When I'm Small

2010-06-10T20:57:00.001+02:00

So show me love
You got your hands on the button now

I'd rather die
than be with you

Clear Language

2010-06-10T20:25:00.001+02:00

"We will leverage on our position to increase penetration."

This is how our Chief of Strategy attempted to inspire us, today. I could not agree more.

2010-06-10T11:24:00.002+02:00

I have immediately removed pop-up blockers from Firefox

It's all because of you

2010-06-06T20:17:00.001+02:00

You don't wonder where we're going
Or remember where we've been

Elections

2010-06-06T13:49:00.001+02:00

Next week, for the first time in my life, I am going to vote for the Dutch parliament. I thought voting would be easy, I thought my mind was made, but scientific research demonstrated that my real preference was for the Party Animals. I do not have the age for them, so I think I'll go for 2nd preference, Leftgreen. Their program, very close to the "New Deal" can assure us a better future. And above all, their leader, Femke Halsema, has the most charming dutch voice ever.

What do your fingers know?

2010-06-04T23:18:00.001+02:00

Cake - When you sleep

when you sleep where do your fingers go?
what do your fingers know
what do your fingers show
where do your fingers go

when you sleep
do they tremble on the edge of the bed
or do you fold them neatly by your head
do they clench like claws against your own skin
when you're living your day al over again

when you sleep
when you sleep where do your fingers go?
what do your fingers know
what do your fingers show
where do your fingers go

do they play guitar in a latin bar
are they strangers or lovers
do they drive your car
are they swimming submissively
sex acts of life
or just cutting through jello with a very sharp knife

now zeus was a womanizer
always on the make
but hera usually punished her that zeus was one to take

when you sleep where do your fingers go?

are they pulling out weeds from the dusty soil
but then never rewarded with the fruits of their toil
are they scratching their nails on the chalkboards of death
only seeking attention when everyone in the room has left

when you sleep
when you sleep where do your fingers go?
what do your fingers know
what do your fingers show
where do your fingers go

when you sleep
do they tremble on the edge of the bed
or do you fold them neatly by your head

Not in this lifetime

2010-05-26T23:39:00.001+02:00

Life is as good as it is short, and I am sure I won't manage to satisfy all my desires, not in this lifetime, as they say. It's OK, because in my personal pursue of happiness I am enjoying Whatever Works.

Whatever Works Movie Trailer

Millennio

2010-05-15T09:45:00.001+02:00

Pepe is old and tired of watching the big show of life, where each person betrays her own character. He toured the world, running away from everything looking like secret agents, revolutionaries, terrorists, mafia-men, whores. But no one of them is what they appear to be. Not even the happy young mother of colorless children, is what she should be, but exactly what Carvalho expects her to be.

Nuclear

2010-05-13T09:51:00.001+02:00

From a great comment from a great post of a great blog.

I am very worried about this nuclear rage. After Chernobyl, in Italy a referendum was indicted (voted with a very large majority) that banned use of nuclear energy in the country. 4 power plants were closed. Italian politician are now doing their best to turn around that result and start building again nuclear power plants, and their will and resolution is very suspects.

My arguments against nuclear plants:

(1) - Even though the probability p of a disaster might be very low, the impact i of a disaster is very high. In conventional risk analysis one multiplies the p*i; however, one should always avoid multiplying very large numbers with very small numbers, as the results might fluctuate a lot, and not only for numerical reasons.
(2) - Disposal of waste is still a big problem. Some sort of waste are now better handled than in the past, still some very slow decaying stuff is there. Some european nations argue that they have good methods, still a lot of european nuclear junk is discarded illegally in Campania, in the region where they make buffalo mozzarella.
(3) - Some people say that the cost of dismantling a nuclear power plant are so high that it takes the plant 15 years of good operation to cover those costs. It takes also 15 years to build one. So, if the uranium will finish in 50 years, maybe this investment is not that interesting
(4) - Fossil sources of energy are finite by definition. I definitively prefer a policy of finding energy from renewal non fossil sources, like wind, sun and love.

Multiples and coefficients

2010-05-12T00:26:00.002+02:00

Answering a comment of another post, I have found a nice strange ring.

Interesting how a number and its representation can enjoy the very same property. Therefore (3) can become (1). Get on top of it, assume its role, even exchange roles. I love it!

Het vergeten seizoen

2010-04-23T17:23:00.001+02:00

There must be reasons why I am so good; and I am so good in finding them. Like a catholic preacher middle in the 19th century, I find great justifications for my shortcomings and by methodical and rhetorical reasoning I transmute them into circumstances, necessary steps or even better hidden strengths.

Forked thongs

2010-04-18T22:14:00.001+02:00

Lui is building a new ethics, a new set of moral values; a new
way-of-living. A philosophy in which work is just a way to make beer
taste better, love is an act for strangers, violence is a necessity and
the skin is just a temporary canvas for ink dragons, studs pierce thongs
with the only goal of forking them; in this way-of-living sex is
liberated and therefore intense; so intense it makes you cry, so
definite it makes you want to die; and who can tell a lover from a
killer nowadays?

Soil & "Pimp" Sessions

2010-04-12T23:02:00.001+02:00

What about Japanese Jazz? Isn't that sexy?

Gödel, Escher, Bach - # Un'eterna ghirlanda brillante # Di Douglas R. Hofstadter

2010-04-11T21:47:00.001+02:00

Fantastic book. The best reading this year so far. The book is centered around recursive auto references; those generates twisted hierarchies, which, according to the author, can explain much about Intelligence, Consciousness, DNA, symbols and meaning. The book spans over Zen and Zenone, Bach and Cage, Escher and Magritte, Gödel and Turing, Cantor and Russel; I loved every-single page. Hofstadter investigates all these aspects (and more even) at very different levels. The auto-references allow him to jump up and down, and move in stimulating vortexes, culminating, right before a Ricercar in 6 voices, in a digression about free will, life and death at various levels. How great it would be to have a digression of the very same type on sex!! A Recursive Iterative Compulsory Excitation Running Circles And Repeating

Crypt (2)

2010-04-06T07:32:00.001+02:00

41 = 5²+4²
37=6²+1²

Crypt

2010-04-05T09:46:00.001+02:00

What's the best vault to bury someone's words? I would say log, but others prefer twit, it's more cryptic.

Log, n. [Icel. l[=a]g A record and tabulated statement of the
person(s) operating, operations performed, resources
consumed, and the work done by any machine, device, or
system.

Twit, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Twitted; p. pr. & vb. n.
Twitting.] [OE. atwiten, AS. [ae]tw[imac]tan to reproach,
blame; aet at + w[imac]tan to reproach, blame; originally, to
observe, see, hence, to observe what is wrong (cf. the
meanings of E. animadvert; akin to G. verweisen to censure,
OHG. firw[imac]zan, Goth. fraweitan to avenge, L. videre to
see. See Vision, Wit.]
To vex by bringing to notice, or reminding of, a fault,
defect, misfortune, or the like; to revile; to reproach; to
upbraid; to taunt; as, he twitted his friend of falsehood.

Crypt (kr[i^]pt), n. [L. crypta vault, crypt, Gr.
kry`pth, fr. kry`ptein to hide. See Grot, Grotto.]
1. A vault wholly or partly under ground; especially, a vault
under a church, whether used for burial purposes or for a
subterranean chapel or oratory.

Berlusconi

2010-04-01T17:18:00.001+02:00

Berlusconi won the last italian election last sunday, despites he lost some share with respect to the previous round. To honor him for such achievement, a BBC reportage on him:

The Berlusconi Show (BBC) 1/6- Sottotitoli by Bispensiero

Eight hundred streets by feet

2010-03-22T23:04:00.001+01:00

How far do we need to gp for a bit of freedom?

Esbjorn Svensson Trio - Eight Hundred Streets By Feet

Bride Flight

2010-03-21T10:17:00.001+01:00

It`s simply amazing how a small country like the Netherlands can generate sometimes great masterpieces; especially in cinematography, an art enterprise that usually requires a tradition and a scale difficult to achieve in small lands.

Most of the times local productions are mediocre and boring, like this Bride Flight. Even though the story is not bad and the cast is working hard, especially on the sex scenes, I could skip a full hour of the movie, come back, and not having the feeling I missed anything (the soap opera effect).

Bride Flight (Trailer)

Are you here?

2010-03-07T02:28:00.001+01:00

No you are not

It's hard to recall the taste of summer
When everywhere around, the chill of winter
It gets so far away

Corinne Bailey Rae "Are You Here"

Odd numbers

2010-03-05T23:01:00.002+01:00

Let's imagine we have two bags. In one bag, let's call it N-bag we put numbered balls, in the sequence 1,2,3,...; in the other bag, let's call it E-bag, we put only the even numbered balls 2,4,6,...; the procedure is as follow:

step 1: we put ball-1 in N-bag
step 2: we put ball-2 in N-bag and another ball-2 in E-bag
step 3: we put ball-3 in N-bag
step 4: we put ball-4 in N-bag and another ball-4 in E-bag
etc.

Which bag has the most balls, N-bag or E-bag? In mathematical terms, has the set of natural numbers more elements than the set of even numbers? Intuition would say so, as we fill the N-bag at twice the pace of the E-bag. There is also this fantastic demonstration I have found.

DEMONSTRATION
Let's call N the number of elements of the N-bag, and E the number of elements of the E-bag. Let's build a bag made only with odd numbers, the O-bag. To make this bag, we take out from the N-bag an exact copy of the E-bag. Now, if the N-bag and the E-bag would have the same number of elements, the O-bag would be empty. However, by construction, the O-bag is not empty, therefore the N-bag has more elements than the E-bag.

In more mathematical language, if we call N the number of elements of the Natural number set, and E the number of elements of the even number set, then O, defined as the number of elements of the odd number set is O=N-E.
If N=E than O=0.
But there is a number 3 which is odd, and therefore O cannot be 0, which means N is not equal to E.

It looks great, only it is wrong! N=E=O, but the demonstration does not fit the margin of this post.

Blind date

2010-02-22T23:17:00.000+01:00

Amsterdam - the library on the Oosterdok. A modern building. Books. Silence. A great place for a blind date. It's the very same concept as bringing your date to the theather: 2 hours of being together without talking. Actually this is even better, you have the chance of staring at each other as much as you can, as opposed to watching a movie about materialism in Antarctica.

Or you could go shopping. But if you do, you need to resist the urge and actually enter some shops every now and then, at least one every two hours I would say. Or you will end up drinking coffee faster than you ever wanted, discussing Cantor diagonals - like you know, my infinity is bigger than yours - and there you go, your date is blown up.

No, a blind date is a serious thing, and should be respected. Actually you should not even call it a blind date, better a sight-impaired date. Bring her to a restaurant, a good-one-but-not-too-good, or you won't find a seat on Saturday evening, avoid tapas (too much garlic), traditional german food (too much beer); have some cava, quote your best Monty Python, listen to her reporting (pretend to if necessary) and enjoy life.

Tomasz Stanko Quartet - "Suspended Variation II" (2004)

Me

2010-02-03T20:01:00.001+01:00

thanks to Nanni

2010-02-02T12:24:00.001+01:00

I would love a Strip Iterated Prisoner Dilemma Game!

via MarcoHa

Calypso Blues

2010-01-18T21:57:00.001+01:00

Wa-oo-oo, wa-oo-oo,
Wa-oo wa-oo wa-oo wa-ay...
Wa-oo-oo, wa-oo-oo,
Wa-oo wa-oo wa-oo wa-ay...

Sittin' by de ocean
Me heart, she feel so sad,
Sittin' by de ocean,
Me heart, she feel so sad...
Don't got de money
To take me back to Trinidad.

Fine calypso woman,
She cook me shrimp and rice,
Fine calypso woman,
She cook me shrimp and rice...
Dese yankee hot dogs
Don't treat me stomach very nice.

In Trinidad, one dollar buy
Papaya juice, banana pie,
Six coconut, one female goat,
An' plenty fish to fill de boat.

One bushel bread, one barrel wine,
An' all de town, she come to dine.
But here is bad, one dollar buy
Cup of coffee, ham on rye.

Me throat she sick from necktie,
Me feet hurt from shoes.
Me pocket full of empty,
I got Calypso blues.

Dese yankee girl give me big scare,
Is black de root, is blonde de hair.
Her eyelash false, her face is paint,
And pads are where de girl she ain't!

She jitterbug when she should waltz,
I even think her name is false.
But calypso girl is good a lot,
Is what you see, is what she got.

Sittin' by de ocean
Me heart, she feel so sad,
Sittin' by de ocean,
Me heart, she feel so sad...
Don't got de money
To take me back to Trinidad.

Wa-oo-oo, wa-oo-oo,
Wa-oo wa-oo wa-oo wa-ay...
Wa-oo-oo, wa-oo-oo,
Wa-oo wa-oo wa-oo wa-ay...

Sweet Violent Jane

2010-01-17T10:17:00.001+01:00

Anyone who's ever had a heart
Wouldn't turn around and break it
And anyone who's ever played a part
Wouldn't turn around and hate it

Sweet Jane, sweet Jane
Sweet, sweet Jane
You're waiting
For Jimmy down in the alley
Waiting there
For him to come back home
Waiting down on the corner
And thinking of ways
To get back home

Sweet Jane, sweet Jane
Sweet, sweet Jane
Anyone who's ever had a dream
Anyone who's ever played a part
Anyone who's ever been lonely
And anyone who's ever split apart

Sweet Jane, sweet Jane
Sweet, sweet Jane
Heavenly widened roses
Seem to whisper to me
When you smile
Heavenly widened roses
Seem to whisper to me
When you smile

La la la la, la la la,

Sweet Jane
Sweet, sweet Jane

Il vino

2010-01-13T20:25:00.001+01:00

Ma com'è bello il vino
rosso rosso rosso
bianco è il mattino
sono dentro a un fosso
e in mezzo all'acqua sporca
mi godo queste stelle
questa vita è corta
è scritto sulla pelle

Ma com'è bello il vino
bianco bianco bianco
rosso è il mattino
sento male a un fianco
vita vita vita
sera dopo sera
sfuggi tra le dita
spera, mira, spera

Esperanza Spalding Grooves

2010-01-10T21:19:00.002+01:00

"Moon"

2009-12-20T11:28:00.001+01:00

Fly me to the moon, and assist to my recursive death; escape your faith by interstellar burst. It does not matter who I am, I will survive your rescue team and break free.

Kevin Spacey managed to make a computer voice more monotonic.

Kings of Convenience - Renegade

2009-12-15T21:25:00.001+01:00

Go easy on me,
I can't help what I'm doing

Arousal and Sadness

2009-11-20T17:11:00.002+01:00

M.A.T. in Concert

2009-11-19T17:51:00.001+01:00

M.A.T. is on tour again. Tonight concert in Kraaij en Balder. It will be streamed live on the internet somewhere somehow. After the concert, the afterconcert.

Millennio

2009-11-13T20:47:00.001+01:00

Pepe Carvalho is running. He is running from a corrupt Barcelona, he is running from his whore, he is running from Berlusconi’s mafias Italy, he is running from the memories of his first wedding, he is running from his own life. And while running he takes a picture of the world, arrogant model in a artsy naked photo-shoot, confused. eyes blinded by flashing lights, thongs muted by spanish wine.

Moving

2009-10-31T21:09:00.001+01:00

Today I moved some friends from A to B. Of course we first had to go to C, the middle point between A and B, before we could reach B. But in order to get to C, we first had to pass D, the middle point between A and C. Still we managed! Sure we did: I drove a big Mercedes, and I even engaged with a Carrera at the traffic light.

To move is to live,
we gotta move it.

We stuffed B’s attic and garage with stuff from A’s repository: objects anxious to support layers of dust, before ending up into Z’s cellar at the next transfer.

To move is to live,
we gotta move it.

Kings Of Convenience - Boat Behind

2009-10-30T21:47:00.002+01:00

So we meet again after several years
Several years of separation
Moving on, moving around
Did we spend this time chasing the other's tail?

Ohohohoh, I could never belong to you

Il Gattopardo

2009-10-30T21:17:00.001+01:00

Everything changes so that nothing changes.

The most important Italian novel from the XX century. It’s a representation of what it is to be Sicilian, philosophically, literarily and sexually. A must. This book ran the risk never to be published, but luckily it’s there, and nowadays translated in most languages, including yours.

My kingdom for a _____ !!!!

2009-10-25T14:19:00.001+01:00

Fill in the empty space and find out how worth your kingdom is!

Bach: Endlessly Rising Modulation Canon

2009-10-24T10:00:00.001+02:00

Example of Motuum Perpetuum in Music. Like a neverending coitus in Sex.

J. S. Bach - Ricercare a 6 from "Musikalisches Opfer" BWV 1079 - Piano Version

2009-10-24T09:45:00.002+02:00

Bach composed this Canon on a theme proposed by an emperor. The theme is highly chromatic. The resolution is absolute.

Mental experiment

2009-10-20T20:20:00.001+02:00

Rest your right thumb on a smooth surface. Set your left thumb next to the right thumb, so that both thumbs touch each other side by side for their whole length. Both thumbs are facing down, softly but firmly touching the smooth surface. Now, without loosing contact with the surface, move the thumbs top to the outside, for about 2-3 cm. The first image that comes to your mind tells everything about who you are.

Friends

2009-10-04T03:11:00.001+02:00

“I don’t know who you are. But I know a guy that looks exactly like you; he’s an asshole”
”What do you know about my face?”
”Why aren’t you dancing?”
”You still got it! Only you are a bit older…”
”You might listen to your asynchronous band, or swallow your bottle, just stop denying your desperation”
”Nobody knows what’s going on in my head. I have no friends”

Dance

2009-10-03T20:01:00.001+02:00

When did it go wrong?

2009-10-03T16:45:00.001+02:00

Alexander the Great used to have great dinners, with exotic food, music, poets, dancers and final orgy! Nowadays, our party dinners sound more like: “What about the kids?”, “Have you seen the last episode of Star Trek?”, “May I have the salt, please?”.

Truth or dare?

2009-10-01T21:18:00.001+02:00

Don’t you dare to mix-up Truth with Reality

I love sisters

2009-09-12T01:08:00.001+02:00

I saw your sister in the cornerstone
on the phone to the middle man
When I saw that she was on her own
I thought she might understand
She was close,
Hell you couldn't get much closer,
She said i'm really not supposed to but yes,
You can call me anything you want.

Why Men Chase Women?

2009-09-04T20:15:00.001+02:00

Because they are afraid to die.

La verdad sobré el caso Savolta

2009-08-30T13:32:00.001+02:00

I never read a book like this before.

At first glance, this book looks like hundreds a-like: a cover, pages full of words. But no matter how long you compare, how deep you search for similarities, no other book is like this. You can find some of this book words in other works, like for instance “run”, “detail” and “guests”. But the order in which the words are put together is absolutely original, and the result is absolutely unique.

Il quinto giorno

2009-08-25T18:38:00.001+02:00

Interesting novel, a very different kind of lecture this summer. Characters are portrayed superficially, there is no real psychological study, no erotic tension. This book is not about thoughts, or doubts. It is not the trip within our own spiritual abyss. It’s a hypothesis, and an interesting one. Based on solid scientific knowledge, a scenario is made that shakes the fundaments of religion, ethics, and the role of the human being in the universe. What is intelligence? What is consciousness? Does a mono-cellular organism think? Uncommon answers are given in this book, answers that helped me think, and confirmed the correctness of my own philosophical system.

Life is about having fun

2009-07-30T20:16:00.001+02:00

Enjoy this “Last Lecture”.

For the academics, the full version here.

Towelhead

2009-07-29T00:12:00.001+02:00

Cultural clash: how to be Lebanese in Bush’s America? Who should date your 13 years old daughter? A nigger, or the white reservist next door? The solution unravels in Jazira’s life. It’s just a story, but a beautiful one.

The Concretes

2009-07-24T20:40:00.001+02:00

horrible band, simple melodies, amateurish orchestration and execution. Don’t listen to them. Don’t even download them.

Sphinx’s wings

2009-07-23T21:19:00.001+02:00

This book has changed my life. If I hadn’t read it, I would be a different person; I might have lost money in the market, or made a new friend; I might have seen a place I didn’t see. I might have spoken great words enflaming the heart of the crowds. I might have done millions of other things; I read this book instead.

Dinner

2009-07-22T08:21:00.001+02:00

Marco came over, but you already know it because you tweet. We spent our time waiting, and we visited St.Caterina’s Church in Eindhoven in the quest of some religious obscenity as in the “Giudizio Universale” di Michelangelo, which we both recently admired.

We had dinner with Nanni, Enith, Loes, Rosaria and Peter who was trying to celebrate his birthday unsuccessfully: no presents, no kisses, no cake. Despite all my attempts, conversation centered mainly on sex. However, as individual who successfully went beyond his own mid-life crisis, I could scientifically observe my friends in their quest-for-happiness. Nanni, for instance, declared that happiness is an effortless overpaid job; even though still quite far from his ideal, he is convinced that he is on the right track. Rosaria agreed, and added:
“The essence is not to do, do, do, but to be, be, be”
”So, what do you want to be?”
”I want to have a lot of money and spend my days shopping”
That sounded to Marco like “to have, have, have” but he did not care that much: he had spent his last months concentrating on his own life and could not fine the key to happiness until recently – it was hidden beneath a good night of sex.
For Enith happiness is the ability of writing, reading and painting a lot, but the success of her strategy can be measured only when you are 80 years old. Loes did not want to wait that long, but she is already very happy, and how could it be otherwise? Peter is far too young for a quest on happiness, and bought a huge TV. And I could not care less about happiness, since Marco came over.

Vampire

2009-07-20T22:41:00.001+02:00

“Are you a vampire?”
“I live of blood.”

Dance (3)

2009-07-19T21:10:00.000+02:00

Avishai Cohen (Aurora)

2009-07-17T20:42:00.001+02:00

Avishai Cohen is one of the most talented contemporary double-bass players. His albums have a fine construction, powerful rhythms, intelligent melodies and a very long breath. His last work, Aurora, is not contradicting the expectations set with Gently Disturbed. Besides Avishai now explores influences from his Levant's heritage, giving this work a wonderful Mediterranean atmosphere. But this time he chooses the song as central musical entity, and songs needs lyrics. Cohen is a great musician, but a mediocre poet; his lyrics are terrible, and devastate his songs.

“You shouldn’t write things in a different language than your mother-tongue”, as Enith once told me after reading the lyrics of River Man in this blog.

That’s a shame, and I must discourage you from listening to this album.

Salsa dura

2009-07-15T22:11:00.001+02:00

Put 100ml of water, added with the juice of one lime, 3 mint leaves, a glass of champagne (brut) and 10 mixed strawberries on a very low flame. Add 250g of gelling sugar while mixing, and slowly let it boil for max 1.5 minutes. Let it slowly cool down until it forms a Salsa Dura. Ideally in summer nights to garnish necks, earlobes, navels, fingertips and other parts of young human bodies.

Yuri Buenaventura – Salsa dura

Dance (2)

2009-07-14T20:46:00.001+02:00

Strike!

2009-07-14T07:25:00.001+02:00

against new italian internet legislation

Dance

2009-07-13T23:11:00.001+02:00

Dance, baby, dance

Religion

2009-07-12T17:43:00.001+02:00

Flying back from Rome I found this book waiting for me at the airport. “The book your Church would never let you read”. Apparently a best seller in Italy, selling more than 100.000 copies, this book is a collection of articles and theories about the origin of islam, jew religion and christianism.

Here links are made between those religions and the Mitra cults, as well as the zarathustra cult. The bible myths are examined one by one. I found the astrological explanations very charming, it would give an explanation of the new testament that fits. However, what stroke me the most is that all those myths can be explained in thousands different ways. Religion is the suspension of critical reasoning, and therefore its explanation are always fallacious. It’s a shame, or better it’s a pity that our sexual inhibitions have so much to do with religion.

Or better saying: the only difference between fairy tales and religion is that fairy tales are for children.

Silvio Berlusconi Gay (Sabina Guzzanti - English subtitle)

2009-07-07T19:49:00.001+02:00

Welcome message from Berlusconi to all the first ladies visiting Italy during the G8 summit. For the russians among you, there are even some references to Putin.

enjoy!

Il Contesto

2009-07-06T22:47:00.001+02:00

A simple plot, a parody of a detective story. A policeman is investigating a very simple case. As soon as he feels close to the solution, some extra complication appears, making the case more obscure; again and again, the policeman gets closer to the killer, and every time a new party enters the game: mafia, secret services, political parties, church, you name it.

This small book has been written in 1972, but only published much later. Sciascia started writing it with a lot of fun, and ended in frustration.

Italy’s situation today is even worse. We have a masonic prime minister, accused of bonds with mafia, convicted for a large set of crimes, unconvictable thanks to a self-written and promulgated law, owning the italian media system. Italy has consistently shown the lowest scores on economic growth, information and freedom of speech, as well as law enforcing among the western civilization.

Today there are bloggers that censor comments in fear of political or even criminal prosecution; there are twitters that deride commentators, and some others that even declare that they do not tweet while they are, in the astonishing silence of public opinion. Only Berlusconi’s death might save Italy from his misery.

A review in Italian of this book here.

Paraphasia

2009-07-06T22:26:00.001+02:00

What a great dream: an orgy!!!

What a great orgy: a dream!!

Award

2009-06-26T17:40:00.001+02:00

Il Premio. I.e. what is literature? What distinguish a real writer from a pathetic amateur? Maybe the opinion of a related journalist, or the award ceremony, or the commercial success of a book? Montalbán does not know, and does not care. He prefers to kill a literary mecenate, and let Pepe Carvalho investigate on the delict while floating on exclusive whiskey, sharp irony and the delusion of who loves humanity too much for hiding behind art.

Deep thoughts

2009-06-18T21:41:00.001+02:00

Surfing the net I came across this website. It looks like the delirium of someone who is twitting while denying she is, but I believe it is much more than that. Deep Thoughts is the mental journey in the mind of a blogger, who reports about her internal world as opposite to the banality of twitter.

But why call it Deep Thoughts? Are superficial thoughts not good enough? I guess deep thoughts are more difficult to express, more difficult to reach, require more effort to elaborate, some special concentration exercise, like putting your own finger in some special pressure point of your body. What strikes me of Deep Thoughts is that sex is basically absent; again another evidence against the urban legend that wants people thinking very often about sex.

Rome

2009-06-17T20:00:00.001+02:00

Rome, from Lonely Planet. A great book, ideally to read when visiting Rome; it is also a very pleasant lecture when visiting other cities; however the included map will generally give you the wrong indication in that case.

With closed eyes

2009-06-17T08:46:00.001+02:00

Ad occhi chiusi, e.g. with closed eyes; it indicates the best way to read this book.

All the truth on Berlusconi's gate

2009-06-15T22:16:00.002+02:00

Click on this

Shared via AddThis

Boccamurata (sealed mouth)

2009-06-02T21:01:00.001+02:00

Why talking?

No place to fall

2009-05-28T19:33:00.003+02:00

No Place To Fall

Well if I had no place to fall
And I needed to
Could I count on you
To lay me down

Steve Earle

Sculpture

2009-05-20T21:57:00.001+02:00

In S.Peter, in the dome, I found this great statue from Michelangelo. S.Veronica, in the act of setting the table. You can almost hear her saying:

“Everybody…supper is ready!”

The tablecloth seems to wrap Veronica’s body, who’s nakedness is disguised by her semi-transparent dress. Neverthless, the picture is far from erotic. In those ancient times, sex and food were not supposed to be associated.

S.Veronica is procuress of restaurants and cafés.

Summer

2009-05-19T22:01:00.001+02:00

Always we wait for a better summer to do what we never did.

Manuel Vasquez Montalban – Il Premio / Recursive quote

Still Life in Rome

2009-05-18T17:50:00.001+02:00

On the floor of the Vatican Museum, you can find a fantastic mosaic. Two birds, a duck and a pawn, are standing next to a basket full of fresh fruit. This is the first example of Still Life in history, a milestone of Art History. No matter how long you stare at it, the image is absolutely still. It does not move. Frozen. Unbelievable what those Romains could do.

-----------------------------------------------

Here a 2nd Still Life on Mosaic.

Mosaic in Rome

2009-05-17T09:50:00.001+02:00

Amazing mosaic in Rome. In the Vatican Museum, hanging on a wall, you can admire this marvelous mosaic that probably was covering one of the pavements of the Caracalla’s Baths.

A herd is offering a lamb to the priest, probably to be offered to a god in a pagan ritual ending in a huge dinner and an orgy. Scenes of the ritual were nowhere to found in the Museum.

Report F#32W

2009-05-16T14:42:00.002+02:00

McKenzie and Cobra have been signaled in Rome recently. McKenzie was in his way back from Korea, where he supposedly killed some agents with his own hands. Cobra was returning from his mission in the Vatican. OTF finds Vatican’s propaganda in line with the secret agreements, but it is furious on the rumors of opposition on the OLYMPIA mission.

Part of the conversation has been taped at the OIO restaurant. Here’s the most important extract, which we were not able to decrypt yet:

“Per me pasta co la Pajaja”

“Io me accontento de ‘npo de puntarelle”

The meeting ended in McKenzie’s phantom-mobile, equipped with Air-Land and Air-to-Air missiles; the OTF-mobile responds submissively to all the vocal commands John gives her. Cobra commented:

“A mia non si scugna mancu su ma ‘mbaiu ‘n caccararu!!” (*)

(*) My mobile will not move even if I would speak to her in English

Via dei Condotti

2009-05-15T10:18:00.002+02:00

Heart of Mode in Rome.

You can have a drink on the high terrace, with a great view of Rome's roofs,

but don't forget to come properly dressed.

Villa Borghese

2009-05-15T09:45:00.003+02:00

I did not understand whether the wall at the edge of Villa Borghese was keeping the City outside the Villa or the Villa outside the City.

Is Everything too much?

2009-04-24T20:33:00.001+02:00

‘Cause I want it

" L'amore che"

2009-04-18T21:34:00.001+02:00

L’amore che parla di sé in un bello sguardo.
La percezione in cui mi perdo
e l’oltre mare di un assurdo
sì…
L amore che arriva con movenze lente
qui sotto gli occhi della gente,
mi parla con voce tremante…
sì.
Illudendo, lusingando
Incantando e come danzando
afferra le mani,
sì.
Affrettando, ansimando, provocando
e tutto abbreviando, come adorando,
sì.
Sì…
Ti amo tanto e ti sento arrossendo e impallidendo
quasi morendo, sì.
L’amore che trafigge me lascia che dica
“Non so cos’è.
Non lo so mica..
Ma credo in te dolce nemica….
sì."

Dedicated

2009-04-18T21:22:00.001+02:00

If you are reading this post, be aware these words are not meant for you.

Labour Party

2009-04-12T11:50:00.002+02:00

Carissimi,

is there a better occasion than my own birthday to throw a party?

Join us and participate to the LABOUR PARTY 2009, and bring your

friends with you!

May 1st 2009, not earlier than 21:00 'till dawn

Entrée: Free (21+ from midnight on)

Dress code: Elegant / Glamour

Music, Dance, Games, Booze and much more.

Special guests: M.A.T.

St. Catherina hospital will offer a service for treatment of alcohol poisoning or undesired pregnancy to all participants

genova per noi

2009-03-24T22:34:00.001+01:00

Genova per noi
che stiamo in fondo alla campagna
e abbiamo il sole in piazza rare volte
e il resto pioggia che ci bagna.
Genova, dicevo, unidea come unaltra
Ah la la la la

Sunday met Paolo Conte in Eindhoven. He played, I listened.

Herbie Hancock Feat Corinne Bailey Rae - River

2009-03-12T22:29:00.002+01:00

away....

And that's it!!

2009-02-13T11:58:00.003+01:00

Skip to 15:30 for the real show!

Live Video streaming by Ustream

Arousal and Sadness (II)

2009-02-10T23:05:00.001+01:00

Concert starts at 20:30 sharp. Kraaij en Balder.
No cameras allowed. Better bring your handcuffs.

Arousal and Sadness

2009-01-21T21:17:00.005+01:00

Music. Good Music. Real Good Music should convey these two fundamental feelings: Arousal and Sadness. Great music conveys them simultaneously, like in Melody Gardot's CD Worrysome Heart.

Love me like a river does
Cross the sea
Love me like a river does
Endlessly
Love me like a river does
Baby don’t rush you’re no waterfall
Love me that is all

Love me like a roaring sea
Swirls about
Love me like a roaring sea
Wash me out
Love me like a roaring sea
Baby don’t rush you’re no waterfall
Love me that is all

Love me like the earth itself
Spins around
Love me like the earth itself
Sky above below the ground
Love me like the earth itself
Baby don’t rush you’re no waterfall
Love me that is all

On February 12th, Melina and I will have a mini-concert.
Location is secret.

Be there.

L'etá del dubbio

2009-01-12T21:58:00.003+01:00

Can you still fall in love? Can you still let your heartbeat break your brains? Are you ready to forget your history and dive into a precarious future? Can her hair let you forget your life delusions? And the rage that burns you after her refusal, is that really love or is it just your proud? Montalbano is 58, and he keeps asking this questions to himself. The detective is questioning himself. In the meanwhile life goes on like melting snow; only the cold remains, when everything is useless.

Andrea Camilleri - L'etá del dubbio

Success

2009-01-10T20:32:00.003+01:00

Christmas is a period of 2 weeks, made of parents and family, long dinners and loads of words. In the interstices I read a book Melina gave me (*).

Bas Haring: Voor-een-echt-succesvol-leven (read: For a truly successful life). The thesis is etymological: succeeding means: that has a succession, and according to the philosopher there are concepts that are "built" to stay on for a long period, and others which are destined to estinguish. For instance, the idea "it is important to communicate your ideas to others" has more chance of surviving then it's opposite. People that believe that communication is not important do not communicate their ideas, including the idea "it is NOT important to communicate". The ones who believe in communication, have more chances that their beliefs are spread around, including their faith in communication. But they also break their heads in finding something intersting to say, spend energy looking for their audience, fill internet pages with words; to succeed is to make sure it continues after you! The philosopher argues that the only one that gets advantage of success is the idea of success. The "hero", who sacrifices himself for it has a miserable life.
Therefore, during these holidays, I did not want to succeed any more - actually better, I decided to be like Louis XIV: Aprés moi, le rien. All my deeds of the last two weeks have contributed to nothing, have added nothing, won't last even in my own memory.

(*) Thank you Melina

Arve Henriksen / Chiaroscuro

2008-12-25T10:47:00.002+01:00

Buon Natale