happy new year

to love
and celluloid crushes.

the record label behind so many of our favourites...

hawk roosting

i was told over christmas of a story of my father as a child, at school in yorkshire. He must have been no more than 12, possibly 13. The rather strict teacher, a former military man, had given the class a poem, by ted hughes, and had blasted "whatever you tell me, don't say it is about a bird." and this he boomed menacingly at the top of his voice, over and over, to a class of terrified children that glanced over the text and could only latch onto the title. Who would be "picked upon" and asked to disclose the meaning behind the words. The first victim, a witless girl, couched her answer with a humble "i don't know." "jackson?" "Yes, sir..."
"what is this poem about"
Assuredly, he answered: "sir, it is about god."
He got a beating, regardless.


I sit in the top of the wood, my eyes closed.
Inaction, no falsifying dream
Between my hooked head and hooked feet:
Or in sleep rehearse perfect kills and eat.

The convenience of the high trees!
The air's buoyancy and the sun's ray
Are of advantage to me;
And the earth's face upward for my inspection.

My feet are locked upon the rough bark.
It took the whole of Creation
To produce my foot, my each feather:
Now I hold Creation in my foot

Or fly up, and revolve it all slowly -
I kill where I please because it is all mine.
There is no sophistry in my body:
My manners are tearing off heads -

The allotment of death.
For the one path of my flight is direct
Through the bones of the living.
No arguments assert my right:

The sun is behind me.
Nothing has changed since I began.
My eye has permitted no change.
I am going to keep things like this

blew me away....

loved everything about this.

the necklace of the brisings

i have always had a weakness for the norse myths. cruel. unpredictable. and implacable.
my favourite is the story of the necklace of brisings..
the final passage, as retold by kevin crossley-holland

Freyja looked at Odin quickly. And whatever it was that passed through her mind, she bit her tongue.
"You must stir up hatred. You must stir up war. Find two kings in Midgard and set them at each other's throats. Ensure that they meet only on the battlefield, each of them supported by twenty vassal kings."
The Father of Battle looked grimly at the goddess. "And you must use such charms as give new life to corpses. As soon as each warrior is chopped down, bathed in blood, he must stand up unharmed and fight again."
Freyja stared at Odin.
"Those are my conditions. whther they it or not, let men rip one another to pieces."
Freyja inclined her head. "Then give me my necklace," she said.

basta con la dolce vita, please

di Paolo di Stefano (Corriere della Sera)
Va bene, cari americani. Va bene, cari inglesi. L'abbiamo capito e siamo pure d'accordo: l'Italia e' un paese in crisi. Volete che lo ripetiamo con l'esclamativo? Eccovi accontententati: l'Italia e' un paese in crisi! Anzi, in declino!! (triplo esclamativo). Preferite che lo scandiamo in inglese? Si, si, "decline and fall"!!!
Ripeterlo finisce per accarezzare il nostro leggendario gusto per l'autolesionismo. Mmh, si, si, siamo in declino, che bello...Siamo tristi, molto tristi. Ma dal cono buoi della nostra depressione, possiamo chiedervi un modesto piacere? Basta con la Dolce Vita. Basta! (punto esclamativo). Smettetela, please, di buttarci in faccia come l'immagine di un Eden perduto (il meglio cui possiamo aspirare) l'iconografia b/n anni 60: Fellini, la Vespa, via Veneto e le scollature di Sofia, "simbolo del glamour italiano..."
La Dolce Vita sara' stato pure molto pittoresca per i turisti anglo-americani ma - spiace deludervi - era un po' una finzione, forse piu' deprimente di oggi.

rome: you take my breath away

the boss

frankly, there is NOTHING like him live.
absolutely THRILLED to have bought my ticket to his ONLY italian gig.
i HEART NJ

June 25. some lucky bitch/bastard is going to have to come with me.
no errrs please.

The Jung Typology Test

Take it!

click here

This was me (shortened version). i LIKE it and they i don't. but it's all true
The Portait of the Champion (ENFP)

ENFPs are warm, enthusiastic people, typically very bright and full of potential. They live in the world of possibilities, and can become very passionate and excited about things. Their enthusiasm lends them the ability to inspire and motivate others, more so than we see in other types. They can talk their way in or out of anything. They love life, seeing it as a special gift, and strive to make the most out of it.

ENFPs have an unusually broad range of skills and talents. They are good at most things which interest them. To onlookers, the ENFP may seem directionless and without purpose, but ENFPs are actually quite consistent, in that they have a strong sense of values which they live with throughout their lives. Everything that they do must be in line with their values. An ENFP needs to feel that they are living their lives as their true Self, walking in step with what they believe is right. They see meaning in everything, and are on a continuous quest to adapt their lives and values to achieve inner peace. They're constantly aware and somewhat fearful of losing touch with themselves. Since emotional excitement is usually an important part of the ENFP's life, and because they are focused on keeping "centered", the ENFP is usually an intense individual, with highly evolved values.

ENFPs who remain centered will usually be quite successful at their endeavors. Others may fall into the habit of dropping a project when they become excited about a new possibility, and thus they never achieve the great accomplishments which they are capable of achieving.

Most ENFPs have great people skills. They are genuinely warm and interested in people, and place great importance on their inter-personal relationships. ENFPs almost always have a strong need to be liked. Sometimes, especially at a younger age, an ENFP will tend to be "gushy" and insincere, and generally "overdo" in an effort to win acceptance. However, once an ENFP has learned to balance their need to be true to themselves with their need for acceptance, they excel at bringing out the best in others, and are typically well-liked. They have an exceptional ability to intuitively understand a person after a very short period of time, and use their intuition and flexibility to relate to others on their own level.

An ENFP who has "gone wrong" may be quite manipulative - and very good it. The gift of gab which they are blessed with makes it naturally easy for them to get what they want. Most ENFPs will not abuse their abilities, because that would not jive with their value systems.

ENFPs sometimes make serious errors in judgment. They have an amazing ability to intuitively perceive the truth about a person or situation, but when they apply judgment to their perception, they may jump to the wrong conclusions.

errr

let me COUCH that with excerpts from salon.com

"Gracie," the fictional story of a young girl growing up in late-'70s New Jersey who longs to play on her school's all-male soccer team, is the kind of modest little picture that all too easily slips through the cracks. "Gracie" was produced by siblings Andrew and Elisabeth Shue; the story, written by Lisa Marie Petersen and Karen Janszen, is partly based on some of the Shues' own experiences growing up in a soccer-obsessed New Jersey family. The director is Davis Guggenheim, the filmmaker behind "An Inconvenient Truth" (and also Elisabeth Shue's husband).

Despite the fact that a girl hoping to make a guys team had her work cut out for her in the 1970s (and it's still not so easy today), "Gracie" is a gentle, easygoing picture -- it's not exactly dramatically gripping, but somehow, its spirit carries it through.

okso
i love football (worldcup only)
i love playing football (and elbowing people in the stomach)
i love elizabeth shue (leaving las vegas anyone)
i love andrew shue (well..he was in sort-of-teen-crud melrose place)
i love siblings
dermot mulroney is in it (hottest man alive in longtime companion AND CK's ex)

hence what is not to love.

nappy + pod = noddy

flashback to two years ago. even then life was but a song.
here we are doing our first impro buffy sing a long
i wasn't such a believer back then

naps is in the land of the nips. or getting there as i type
she will be back
but not soon enough
in the meantime , from the land of the rising kak (italy)
stay in touch
and don't forget the karaoke set
a nation of maremmani are waiting.....with snacks on hold

thoughts preying on my mind

1. why do the english have such bad teeth?

2. why are do some many trannies in Italy have breasts but keep their peckers intact?

discuss.
the questions of course are merely rhetorical. i know the answers.

powell & pressburger

one of my enduring obsessions. geniuses.
knowing these films exist. hoping someone will watch them
makes me happy. fills me with hope.

dancer from the dance

"you know, when people who were once religious no longer believe in God, they never really change, they just go on, hunting for the ecstatic food, trying to satisfy the hunger. You must admit this search took Malone places he never would have gone otherwise, and who knows where it has taken him now?
Because he dreamed with the best of us, my dear, dreamed even more outlandish dreams - and then when they failed him, he left. In silence, for what can one say?"

father and daughter (2000)

absolute perfection, magic. i have no words. except, watch it.

9 mins
Michael Dudok de Wit


A father says goodbye to his young daughter and leaves. As the wide Dutch landscapes live through their seasons so the girl lives through hers. She becomes a young woman, has a family and in time she becomes old, yet within her there is always a deep longing for her father.

sweet dreams...

WHO else could play patsy. why jessica, natch..


SeeqPod Music beta - Playable Search


this isn't my favourite of hers by any means but hey...

a patsy song is like a gummy. it's never bad.

and let me toss in a classic patsy quote for good measure:

I recorded a song called, I Fall to Pieces, and I was in a car wreck. Now I'm worried because I have a brand-new record, and it's called Crazy!

gagosian bound

so i brave the cold and tot off to the opening of the gagosian gallery in rome. it's been an event that has been flagged for the past two years but the wait was gadot-like. finally it happened and well, it was anti-climatic to say the least. good thing i was in good company and the enoteca was only a hop and a skip away.

my favourite local cinema

too bad the DUBBING curse, one of my big pet peeves means i rarely go.
but it's evocative like only small old cinemas can be.
photos courtesy of NAPS

acute 80s nostalgia

flashdance!
permed hair!
leg warmers!
cheesy music!
jennifer beals!


bliss!

Bring it On: All or Nothing

Don't be fooled, like i was, by this straight to video sequel to the classic teen crud Bring it On. I almost enjoyed it more than the original (ok, maybe not). but twas an unexpected guilty little treat.

the melancholy death of Oyster Boy

& other stories, by Tim Burton

These days when you get mail, it's always bills and junk, so imagine my surprise when i got this unexpected delivery. It's a collection of stories featuring in an oddly named cast of many ... The Pin Cushion Queen, The Girl With Many Eyes, The Toxic Boy and The Hideous Penguin Boy. I cannot wait to read it under the covers.

Lacqua...
You know I love you
X o X o

black white supremacist

and since i am on a david chapelle KICK...

dedicated to duc

david chapelle's parody of R kelly
to stay in the motif

are you staring at my chest?

wouldn't blame you...

sora rosa

how to describe it?
a nameless testaccio dive
the clientele? strictly old toothless locals. men
the tipple? wine. 1.50 euros a litre
ambience? effortlessly fabulous, spontaneously evocative.....CHEAP

hats hats hats

something that caught my eye..

err

i am a shipper of.....

according to urban dictionary:


The term "shipper" comes from supporting a ship. To ship something means a person wants two characters to get together and/or shows support for two characters already together. The term "ship" came from the X-Files fandom, when fanfics were written about Mulder and Scully. The fans then called themselves shippers.

nowadays you try and BLEND and FUSE together the name of the two characters you "ship"
often with frankly ridiculous outcomes such as er...gizzie...

so i thought i would come up with some of my own

flavio + nappy = flappy

tot A + vestibule = totibule or vestot

filippo + alberto = filalb shortened to flab

paul + molly = polly

filippo + molly = folly

flavia + maude = flaude


ok that is quite enough nonsense for one night. 3 hours under the pissing rain talking to tramps and an assortment of serbs at a soup kitchen has done my head in.

barren spinsters

tot v has been fretting about her status. i want to reassure that we have a wonderful rolemodel and to throw caution and concern to the wind......

god bless fiona, eh tots eh. fifi!

casting call

after the raging success of "buffy the musical" the original cast is ready to tackle another musical romp.
so here we go, boys and girls, get your pom poms ready. flex those throats. belt out the tunes.

i present to you
NAPS as PRU(dence), flav as token cheerleader, flavster butch football player


FLAVIO as the scouser



oats as sadie aka janis joplin



flavia (dubbed, natch) as lucy



romolo as the emanciated and very sexy MAX



psychadelics optional. extras needed. funding wanted.

the avalanche effect

tots A's recent posts on the grand tradition of italian music has spurned me to match his most excellent entries with barely-supressed obsessions of grand dames and old school crooners. good times....happy days......



patty at her BATTIEST.



mina sublime

and 70s heartthrob HERE

digging this up.

evan

the infinitely talented E R W

the wrath

my unbrindled fury claimed a few victims last week
to list a few:

1. a taxi driver on strike that was idling standing in the middle of the road smoking a fag got a fist waved at him accompanied by a string of insults. result: he jumped in the cab and sped into the distance. he was last seen raising chickens in the heel of the country.
2. work colleagues were fed the icy silent treatment and told to fuk off at regular instances in tight-lipped monosyllables.
3. maude was flung across the room a few times and locked in the loo once
4. the wall was punched a few times. there is a chip where my knuckle made an impact
5. a pot of foi gras was slammed across the table for refusing to open. refusing stitches i bled profusely overnight

however, hormones are back in check and i'm back to lamb-like demeanour.
hugs and puppies all round. soz.

i want to hold your hand

this broke my heart.
you will see the film
and understand
but put this way
cheerleaders
flying football players
say no more.

all this...
AND i hate the beatles!

across the universe

and to top off my film lust for the weekend



this. don't miss it.
i can't get enough of it

give it time to digest

since the war in iraq began on march 19, 2003 there have been far too many didactic, well-meaning and earnest attempts to tackle the subject. everyone has thrown in their 10 cents. by and large i've dodged the bullet. why is everyone some keen to jump the gun on something that requires hindsight to do it any kind of justice at all.

still, in spite of what i just said, i will be seeing this.

laugh if you will

the original video of a 19 year old kate bush
yes, we have all read the novel
yes, we have all heard the song
and we all know
it rocks through the ages.

heathcliff
it's me
cathy
coooooooming home

who isn't cathy
who isn't heathchiff

to go through the highlights of lett's notes

I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven; and if the wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn't have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am

and
My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods; time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath--a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff! He's always, always in my mind--not as a pleasure, any more than I am always a pleasure to myself, but as my own being

gia

just because.....

muriel's

well if it looks like i've spent all weekend watching films
in my jim jams..
it's because i have and it has been glorious

watching muriel's takes me back many years.
i recognize a bevvy of soap actors from home & away
(more flashbacks to dreary existence in the fenlands)
it's also odd to see household names
toni collette and rachel griffiths
in the film that put them that launched them over a decade ago.

if the late 1970s put australia on the map as a film-making nation
to be reckoned with arty fare such as picnic at hanging rock
(among my top ten greatest films of all time)
the 1990s represented a particular time for oz
films like muriel, while marketed as "comedies"
were everything but. sure, you can get a bitter laugh in
but what you were watching was pretty flipping depressing
uber-social realism presented in over-the-top kitsch
and yet,
as i come to the denouement of muriel's. i am uplifted.

i like my westerns like my men

big and bad
jest aside...i really like me a good western
and this remake, is a real keeper.

the genre is going through something of a revival of late
(though this has been said before and usually they are one offs)

i guess the key thing about a good western is that there is no
place for trite revisionism or glib political correctness.
you have to stick to the basics. and the archetypes
which doesn't mean it has to be a saddle 'em up, shoot 'em down
there is room for complexity (a good western can say it all about
the human condition) but the golden rule is: don't take too many
liberties. this one doesn't and it is all the better for it.

patrick's wanderlust chronicles

patrick, all-round GO-er and decadent berliner, took off on a road trip of sorts, getting up to all sorts of mischief along his travels, which he lovingly filmed for our enjoyment in the four-part wanderlust chronicles. as we know all roads lead to rome...and his invasive and prying camera happened to be around and filming on oats' last night in town at the local dive where everyone knows your name. who knew the cameras were on......starts at minute 6:14

DOLLY is THE BEST

People always comin' up to me and askin'
"Dolly, what's your secret?
With all you do, your attitude
Just seems to be so good
How do you keep it?"
Well I'm not the Dalai Lama, but I'll try
To offer up a few words of advice
.....

a few of my favourite things

well ICE DANCE for one...
now while i realize this may not be everyone's cup of tea (my past allusions were devastatingly snubbed), i thought i could get a few of you to at least WARM to the idea of couples in leotards with the following ruse...

1. TEEN CRUD heaven
The Cutting Edge (1992)
The King of the Rink is about to meet America's Ice Queen....



2. FRAT PACK glory
Blades of Glory (2007)
Kick Some Ice...
a hilarious and camp send-off of the competitive ice-skating world that has will ferrell and jon heder (napoleon dynamite) as former foes turned forced to become partners and compete for olympic gold.




at this point i feel i can slip in this....


one of the highlights of my grim teen years holed up in a village in the fenlands. how i cried..from the mundane to the sublime indeed.

juno

``Ever since I saw the world premiere of Juno (12/5, Fox Searchlight, trailer) at the Toronto Film Festival back in September, I have had a new favorite actress: Ellen Page is barely out of her teenage years and stands only a little over five feet tall, but in this remarkable performance she proves herself a force to be reckoned with. Sure, she was provided with a brilliant script by Diablo Cody, and first-rate direction by Jason Reitman, and a roster of top-notch co-stars like Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, and Allison Janney. But as every one of them has stated, Ellen took the role of a conflicted pregnant teenager and brought to it nuance and vivaciousness that nobody imagined possible.''

breathe...breathe...

read the interview HERE

see the film SOON
give me a drip NOW

things we lost in the fire

perhaps not everyone's cup of tea. but no one can deny the towering talent, the riveting presence of benicio del toro. i went weak at the knees.

quarterlife

this a new series being broadcast on the internet about the 20 somethings known as the blog generation.
essentially it features the female protagonist, looking attractively dishevelled, sprawled on a bed banging on about this and that and not very much on the webcam of her macbook. insights include: ``why do we blog. we blog to exist. therefore we are idiots.'' give me an E. give me an R.

on the plus side: it's scripted by the creators of my so-called live and once and again and thirtysomething. some am hoping the dialogue will pick up a bit.

on the down side: from what i've seen of it. it's pretty errrr. and am having a backlash against all forms of online social networking.

so long pet

countdown to my return

un blasfemo

Mai più mi chinai e nemmeno su un fiore,
più non arrossii nel rubare l'amore
dal momento che Inverno mi convinse che Dio
non sarebbe arrossito rubandomi il mio.

Mi arrestarono un giorno per le donne ed il vino,
non avevano leggi per punire un blasfemo,
non mi uccise la morte, ma due guardie bigotte,
mi cercarono l'anima a forza di botte.

Perchè dissi che Dio imbrogliò il primo uomo,
lo costrinse a viaggiare una vita da scemo,
nel giardino incantato lo costrinse a sognare,
a ignorare che al mondo c'e' il bene e c'è il male.

Quando vide che l'uomo allungava le dita
a rubargli il mistero di una mela proibita
per paura che ormai non avesse padroni
lo fermò con la morte, inventò le stagioni.

... mi cercarono l'anima a forza di botte...

E se furon due guardie a fermarmi la vita,
è proprio qui sulla terra la mela proibita,
e non Dio, ma qualcuno che per noi l'ha inventato,
ci costringe a sognare in un giardino incantato,
ci costringe a sognare in un giardino incantato
ci costringe a sognare in un giardino incantato.

manhattan

see you in a week.

patsy and i and the baking

patsy


me






and pumpkin pie

the air that i breathe

i must wait till march for this little stunner:

"The film is based on a Chinese proverb which says that life consists of four emotions: Happiness, Pleasure, Sorrow, and Love. To be whole one must experience each emotion, and by doing so we are interconnected with all other human beings. The film itself is structured in the same fashion, with each of four segments focusing on those ideas. The lead actors portray those emotions one by one. Forest Whitaker is Happiness, Brendan Fraser is Pleasure, Sarah Michelle Gellar is Sorrow, and Kevin Bacon is Love. They anchor the four segments of the film, while the rest of the magnificent ensemble cast weaves in and out of the narrative."

s.o.s summer of sam

i love spike lee.
but on one condition. when he doesn't pontificate about his black brothers.
s.o.s is a jem and a keeper
along with 25th hour.

see it. for a slice of NYC before it got all cleaned up.

lil pea and i

rousing bout of who would play you in the movies.
the outcome...

oats was j.lo (unanimous by all six table participants)
lil pea was marisa tomei (unanimous by all six table participants)

yogi was ...well, i felt he had something of the jack nicholson, lil pea got some converts for nick nolte.

bruni was....in mine eyes bette davis but there were a few drew barrymore shippers

romolo was....richard e. grant, but could also pull a young miguel bose and in a pinch possibly johnny depp.

fkj was....well, seems stuck with a stubborn jodie foster (cheers..er) with a solitary and unheard cry of maggie gyllenhaal from lil pea (thanks).

good fun all round. moving right along.