After this I'm going cold turkey!

(At least for today)
I just couldn't ignore Florence.
But this will be it for tonight.
Alla prossima.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaEZGD_xt1c
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUcyvDhWxfc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOIBZmpwgdU (un po' Nanni Moretti in Caro Diario, ma ubriaco)

Good Grief! Now it's Herceg Novi!

I really cannot stop searching for videos about music, places or faces I like.. Here's another one. Bear with me. This is really mainly for my benefit, so I can find them all in the same spot. But, if you enjoy something, too, it would have not been (is this even grammatically correct???) a total waste of time for you all.

I sure hope the FIFs can see this one.
Zia Sim e zia Rox, il filmato sara' mica ripreso dall'autobus dell'Autista Azzurro?
Nostalgia Canaglia!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVM6cXJD3fQ

Somebody stop me!!!!

I've spent the last couple of hours checking a bunch of videos on YouTube.com. Man! I found great stuff!!!
From "Mjesecina" by Goran Bregovic (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKRCo3347fw) to "Dance me to the end of love" by Leonard Cohen (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pA5UhNaYw0) to "Avrai" by Claudio Baglioni (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IccsyKdOxjQ)... bits and pieces of my life. Not to forget the 1991 New Year's Top Lista Nadrealista Show (Sretna Nova Konvertibilna Godina!!!) and pictures and videos from Sarajevo (some of which, you may have noticed, already posted on this blog).
Now I wonder... what happened to my children?!? Oh, well... (Della serie "mamma snaturata" - per fortuna il papa' lo e' un po' meno).

It was like getting on a train and going to a familiar place and getting immersed in familiar sounds. A far away place and at the same time so close it is inside of you.
An island of memories.

And love.

-------------->>> You should try it, too, sometimes.

Lipe Cvatu (AKA: one more YouTube video)

The quality of the video is not great. But, great song. At least for me. Sure hope you'll enjoy it, too, even though you may not understand the words (basically a love gone wrong).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Szn_32NorlU

(Seher) Sarajevo Ljubavi Moja

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeUGxPsqQz4

Sarajevo (Bascarsija) Ljubavi Moja

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qj9IwKlBnYs

Palazzo Vecchio

"Il superbo palazzo e' il maggiore esempio di architettura civile fiorentina nel suo rifiorire iniziale, attuata con chiara semplicita' e in cui le forme del gotico trovano un proprio modo espressivo"

Guida d'Italia. Firenze e Dintorni

Ovvero: ero stanca di vedere la faccia della scimmia nel mio ultimo post. Molto meglio Firenze.

Anybody else?

I read something in the News today and it struck me as odd.. is it just me or is there anybody else perplexed like me?
The news is about Mel Gibson. I'll copy bits and pieces of the article I read and let me know if there is something strange about it or not.. Here's also an image to give you a hint...

Post a comment and let me know what you think...

Gibson avoids media at Okla. screenings

GOLDSBY, Okla. - Actor and director Mel Gibson visited two Oklahoma towns this week to attend screenings of his new movie, "Apocalypto."
Gibson did not make a public appearance during screenings held at the Riverwind Casino in Goldsby and Cameron University in Lawton.
...
He arrived at Cameron on Thursday morning wearing a mask and wig so he wouldn't be noticed, university spokeswoman Amber McNeil said.
...

Sugar and spice and everything (but coffee) nice

I have to thank Cindy for letting me borrow a really funny book (among other things that I am thankful to her for..) The title is "Dave Barry is not taking this sitting down" and it's a compilation of articles by the humorist Dave Barry. My husband decided to read me a couple of those articles tonight. They are hilarious and they make you wonder if what he's talking about is all made up or not.. so much so, that I had to get on the internet and check one out.


And so I did..
I truly thought the guy was joking, making it all up. No. It is true. And it's called Luwak Coffee.

I absolutely love coffee, but this one..

Is it the fact that it is so rare?
Is it the fact that only 500 pounds a year are produced?
Is it the fact that it costs $300 a pound?

I do love coffee, but to the Italian in me the very essence of enjoying a cup of coffee is found in the ability to share it with friends. Yes, I am willing to pay a little more for a better tasting coffee, but $300???? I think I would buy a safe in which to keep it and I would drink it with a dropper!

But, no, it is not because of this that I cringe.

We Italians are also very picky about the way the coffee beans are prepared and roasted (la torrefazione). For example, the way american coffee is roasted makes it taste like soapy water when prepared with a traditional italian coffee pot. So, you've got to have it roasted right to really have a good coffee.
I don't really know how the Luwak Coffee is roasted.. but I know (now) the process that leads up to the roasting. And I cannot even bring myself to write it down.. Therefore, I'll copy bits and pieces from an article I found on the web on the subject:

Kopi Luwak coffee comes from the Indonesian island of Sumatra, an area well-known for its excellent coffee. Also native to the area is a small civit-like animal called a Paradoxurus. That's the scientific name, the locals call them luwaks. These little mammals live in the trees and one of their favorite foods is the red, ripe coffee cherry. They eat the cherries, bean and all. While the bean is in the little guy's stomach, it undergoes chemical treatments and fermentations. The bean finishes its journey through the digestive system, and exits. The still-intact beans are collected from the forest floor, and are cleaned, then roasted and ground just like any other coffee.
The resulting coffee is said to be like no other. It has a rich, heavy flavour with hints of caramel or chocolate.
...
One must wonder about the circumstances that brought about the first cup of Kopi Luwak coffee. Who would think to (or even want to) collect and roast beans out of animal feces? Perhaps a native figured it was easier to collect the beans from the ground this way, rather than having to work harder and pick them from the trees? We'll likely never know.
...
The coffee isn't so spectacular that it's truly worth that amount of money. You are paying for the experience of enjoying such an unusual and rare delicacy.

An unusual and rare DELICACY???

I have to find out how to get British citizenship.. I am switching to tea!

Teeth matter.

While brushing my daughter's hair..

" I wish I was beautiful like you"
" Mom, you are beautiful"
"No, I am not as pretty as you are"
"But, mom, you have really pretty fangs!"

Gulp.

Realized a couple of seconds later she was talking about my "bangs".

Se..

Se io ti amassi
e se tu mi amassi,
come ti amerei!

Das Ist Walter.

I couldn't shake off this desire to write a word about Sarajevo. I've written about Italy and Florence, but there is also a special place in my heart for Sarajevo and the "raja". Who knows what happened to my "raja". We've grown up and gone our separate ways, some more peaceful than others. I don't know how many of them survived that stupid war and how many are in some other country around the World. I know one of my friends ended up in Spain, one has returned to Sarajevo after spending the worst years in Belgrade and, then, there is Goran. When we were visiting Sarajevo during a truce in 1994, I found out that he had just been in a terrible accident. He was helping some British UN soldiers by translating for them, and their vehicle ended up on a mine and blew up. At the time I was there, Goran was in really bad shape. I've never found out if he survived.

I long for walks in Sarajevo, just as much as I long for walks in Florence... As strange as it may sound I've always felt safe in Sarajevo. Safer than in any other place. I never felt the need to look over my shoulder, for any reason. I'm sure it would be somewhat different now.
But I still miss it.

I miss the streets, the people, the music, the smells, kukuruz i cevapcici. Carsija. Marijin Dvor.
Time and the war robbed me of something precious that I will never be able to get back. But I still have my memories and soon enough I WILL go to Sarajevo and create new memories.

My children will never have the wonderful childhood I've had there, and that grieves my heart. They'll have all the comforts this generation and this country can offer, but they won't know pure joy. Pure fun. Pure friendships. Simplicity. And no fear. They will never know that. It is the saddest thing ever. Not being able to truly enjoy life. Being in a cage and not even knowing it. I guess they will not "suffer" because they will not know what they're missing out.. but I do...

Hopefully someday they'll be able to, at least, see Sarajevo and they'll say with me.. "Das Ist Walter".

ZAUSTAVITE ZEMLJU, SILAZIM!

080706

Firenze.
Firenze.
Firenze.
Ogni tanto nella mia testa ci faccio delle lunghe passeggiate.. A volte, invece, capita di farcele davvero. E non c'e' cosa piu' piacevole. Specie se sei con una cara amica.
Si chiacchiera, si vede, si sente l'odore delle focacce e anche della pelle delle giacche che vengono vendute da stranieri che turisti non sono a stranieri che turisti sono. Di solito americani, perche' "si sa che la pelle italiana e' la migliore di tutte e i prezzi sono i piu' buoni". Quelle giacche che non ho mai visto addosso ad un italiano (per via dello stile, dei prezzi o della famosa pelle??)
E ci si riempie gli occhi e il cuore di colori, di chiese, di magliette della nazionale e di cartoline..

Ma e' la cara amica che e' la cosa piu' importante e preziosa. Poter tornare "ognuna al proprio posto" dopo tanto tempo e' un regalo immenso.
Si', le passeggiate a Firenze nella mia testa le faccio ogni tanto, ma sono gli amici che mi porto sempre dietro nel cuore. E a volte ho la benedizione di trovarmeli anche accanto per la strada.

Quest'ultima visita in Italia e' stata una ondata di emozioni e benedizioni. Ci voleva dopo anni un po' aridi.

Ed ho scoperto che "partire e' un po' resuscitare".. (Rapida docet)