Monthly Archives: April 2002

Hot Peppers Aid Digestion

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Another small victory for Grandma’s wisdom: Italian researchers have found that hot pepper is good for digestion and helps combat nausea.

A team from Bologna’s University, lead by Marco Bartolotti, studied the properties of one of Italy’s favorite condiments, called peperoncino.

Volunteers, who frequently lamented digestive troubles and chronic stomach pain, were given 2.5 grams of hot pepper before meals for five weeks. At first, symptoms worsened, but by the end of the trial they reported 60% less pain and digestion difficulties. The effect is attributed to capsaicin, a substance in the hot pepper which blocks pain messages sent to the brain. Poor digestion afflicts between 25-30% of Italians aged 20 to 65.
Bartolotti, however, doesn’t recommend home treatments with hot pepper until a doctor ascertains the individual causes of stomach pain.

www.fiery-foods.com/dave/peperoncino.html
Simple ways to serve up the spice…

Italy by Numbers: Skeptical Patriots

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90% Proud to be Italian
66% Proud Germans
59% Italians unhappy with local government
62% Italians unhappy with local democracy

Happy to be Italians, but dissatisfied with Italy: the latest poll by the European Union shows residents of the Bel Paese in a new light.
Typically not very patriotic, Italians are more proud of their heritage than other Europeans (an average 84% are proud of their country). The tables turn, however, when it comes to satisfaction with local government– of the 15 member countries, only the Portuguese are less content with national parliament, political parties and public administration. Italians also distinguish themselves as the most skeptical when it comes to media: 49% believe what they see on TV, 39% believe what they read in newspapers — considerably lower than the EU average of 62%. Italians are, however, also the most proud to be European: 75% compared to the Union average of 60%.

The Snake Procession

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St. Domenico, protector from snake bites and toothaches, will be marched through town crowned with snakes to celebrate one of the most pagan of Christian rituals.
The centuries-old rite is a holdover from when all Italians feared serpents — in current times they’re more likely to have one around the house.

Some 60,000 Italians keep snakes as pets, according to think-tank Eurispes, and the first “reptile beauty contest” was the highlight of a three-day fair held recently in Rome.

In Cocullo (Abruzzo), however, the behavior of the snakes (none are poisonous) placed on the statue of the saint during the midday procession on the first Thursday in May is read as a sign of things to come. If the snakes wind around St. Domenico’s head, the coming harvest will be a good one, if they head towards the arms and leave the head free local prophecies of gloom and doom abound. The procession dates back to pre-Roman times when the goddess Angizia was said to protect local farmers from snake bites.

Though somewhat overshadowed by the reptile aspect, dental protection is also part of celebrations. A bell is rung — the string must be pulled by teeth for good tooth health — and the faithful line up to kiss the holy molar. St. Domenico, who previously kept away fevers and storms, became the patron of teeth and snake bites in the 16th century. Legend has it the saint transformed poisonous snakes into fragrant bread — so women follow the procession with circles of bread shaped like snakes biting their own tails.

Celebrating Italy — Food & Traditions
Recipes and folklore from the Bel Paese

Web-wise April 30- May 7

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Labor Day Concert: Live online• Italian Pin-up for Pirelli Calendar •Italian practice: Mind Your Manners • The Anti-Sandal Committee

Labor Day Concert: Live
Follow the traditional May Day concert in Rome’s Piazza San Giovanni — live from 9 p.m Italian time.
Guests include international Robert Plant and pop stars like Oasis as well as Italian acts: Zucchero, Max Gazzè,Articolo 31, Edoardo Bennato and Daniele Silvestri.
www.radio.rai.it/live/radio1.ram

Italian Pin-up for Pirelli Calendar
The lone Italian on next years’ famous Pirelli Calendar — Valentina Stilla, a young Business grad from Puglia with kilometric legs….
www.corriere.it/Primo_Piano/Cronache/2002/04_Aprile/24/pirelli.shtml

Italian practice: Mind Your Manners
Find out whether you would pass muster at an Italian table with this interactive quiz
http://news2000.iol.it/index_test.jhtml?id_test=541

The Anti-Sandal Committee
It’s well-known that Italians care about looking good (fare la bella figura) but this is the first time a lobby has been created to oppose an ‘antiesthetic’ article of clothing. This site, created by four male friends, lists a host of shoes that these self-proclaimed foot fanciers find ugly.
http://digilander.iol.it/sandalorosso/main.htm

Women’s Rights Meet the Cemetery

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Seeking to overturn a law from 1880, Roman politicians want to open family tombs to married women. Currently, women who married and their children may be denied burial in family plots, depending on the decision of great-great grandfathers who wished to keep family names ‘pure.’Italian women keep maiden names after marriage, but children are given the father’s family name.

“It happens fairly often,” says Luisa Laurelli, head of Rome’s social services commission. “We have to deny requests for burial even if there is room in the family plot — because the owner decided over a century ago to keep married women out. It was a sign of the times.”

The matter, up for debate in the beginning of May, will likely open up family squabbles. "The heirs can contest the burials," says Laurelli."But it’s a matter of public interest –in Rome, like in every large Italian city, there are family tombs which go empty and at the same time not enough room in cemeteries."

Fellow city councilor and member of the examining commission problem Donatella Poselli says this is just one of the antiquated ways which women are considered in Italy. "I didn’t think that after marriage women weren’t considered an integral part of the family," said Poselli. "Discrimination against women is still a lingering part of our legal system."

Italy By Numbers: Stop Smoking

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24.5% Italians smoke
14.7 Average number of cigarettes smoked daily
19.6 Smokers quit (1999)
2 offbeat initiatives to quit

Spa detox treatments and an exotic vacation are two new incentives to stop smoking. “We’ll do our part to make sure people who want to quit have access to spa treatments,” said Health Minister Girolamo Sirchia speaking about reforms to Italy’s health care system. A typical anti-smoking cure at the thermal baths, which runs about $500 USD, might consist of a week of respiratory treatments, massages and special gymnastics. Other would-be former smokers can quit for the month of May to participate in a drawing for a vacation to the Seychelles — Italy’s participation in the World Health Organization’s “Quit & Win” program. These inititatives are especially aimed at Italian women to combat the increase in female smokers — up from 16.4% to 17.1% since 1993 according to ISTAT statistics.

Creating the Modern Chastity Belt

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What started out as a joke turned into a profitable business for Italian sculptor Angelo Camerino who sells his virtuous creations in Italy and worldwide.Ten years ago the artist made a first pair of underpants in sheet metal, but the sideline didn’t really take off until American Lorena Bobbitt made headlines in 1993 for cutting off her husband’s penis. “A member of the US embassy here in Rome commissioned three chastity belts for friends in New York,” says Camerino, 70, though he wouldn’t reveal the employee’s name. “From there it really took off, I did a showing of eight and sold all of them.”
He isn’t the only one to capitalize on the Italian preoccupation with infidelity: psychologist, politician and self-proclaimed “Dr. seduction” Giuseppe Cirillo has invented an electronic chastity belt. The invention, currently in production according to Cirillo, notifies the worried partner just how long the beloved has taken off his or her underwear.
Camerino’s sheet metal belts made for either sex, lined in leather and satin, weigh about two pounds have a lock at navel level. Prices for the custom-made chastity chambers run between $1,000-1,600. The more expensive models, which decorative inlays, a heavier metal and no padding, were commissioned by the clients from Saudi Arabia.
He says he’s interested in the sculpture, not how his creations are used. “I suspect the padded and lined ones are used for erotic games — thought not too long ago, I got an order from a jealous husband in Calabria, so perhaps they are put to practical use.”
The elderly sculptor points out, however, that he would turn down commissions to make belts which hark back use as an instrument of torture — “if I thought it would do damage or otherwise harm I wouldn’t make it.”

Web-wise April 23-30

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Italian practice: just say no test • Vespa Tours in Tuscany • Almamegretta: video file • Weekend Travel Guide

Vespa Tours in Tuscany
Four-star tours of wine country on a Vespa — when you’ve already done it all…
http://coloradovespa.com/italy/popup.html

Almamegretta: video file
Check out six videos from this roots Neapolitan band’s latest works….
www.mtv.it

Italian practice: just say no test
Find out your push-over quotient with this interactive quiz
http://news2000.iol.it/index_test.jhtml?id_test=521

Weekend Travel Guide
Bike itineraries, spas, art towns, sun & sand…Plenty of good ideas for short trips in the Bel Paese
http://viaggi.virgilio.it/extra/italia/index.html

Web-wise April 16-23

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Italian practice: free slang dictionary • Design week round up • Italians interned in Soviet Gulag: online memory project • Pino Daniele: sample new album

Italian practice: latest in slang
This newsweekly has set about compiling an up-to-the-minute slang dictionary with the help of readers. Click on links mid-right for the sections…
www.espressonline.kataweb.it/ESW_articolo/0,2393,18394,00.html

Design week round up
Get an eyeful of new design trends from over 1, 950 companies at Milan’s Salone del Mobile…
www.corriere.it/speciali/design2002/index.shtml

Pino Daniele: sample new album
Neapolitan singer/songwriter Daniele’s latest effort "concerto" serves up live tracks & two new songs — listen to "un cielo senza nuvole" here.
www.pinodaniele.net

Italians in the Soviet Gulag
After 10 years of sifting through thousands of documents on Italian political prisoners in the Soviet Union, this site brings to light a little-known chapter in history. Database searchable by name or in alphabetical order of 960 Italian victims and a map of the lagers where Italians were interned.
www.gulag-italia.it

Mafia Boss Gets Life Sentence, Thanks to Movie

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In an unusual case of life influenced by art, Mafia boss Gaetano Badalamenti was condemned to life for killing Peppino Impastato, the subject of award-winning film “The hundred steps.”
The case, which dates back to 1978, was reopened after the film debuted in 2000.

Impastato, son of a Mafia member, ran a one-man protest against organized crime with a local newspaper, radio programs and a political party in Cinisi, province of Palermo.
First stoned to death, his body was then exploded on the Palermo-Trapani train lines. For over 20 years, the death was improbably covered up as an failed terrorist attack by Impastato.
"Finally that assassin will pay for his crimes," said Impastato’s mother Felicia Bartolotta. "My son was no terrorist and he was killed in a horrible manner."
Badalamenti, currently serving time in the US for drug trafficking, refused the offer of a videoconference for the sentence. ?1999-2004 zoomata.com

Zoomata is the brainchild of a bilingualjournalist based in Italy who thinks out of the box. This brain is for hire.

Related resources:

www.centroimpastato.it
The non-profit for documentation on the Mafia in Impastato’s name.

www.italica.rai.it/principali/argomenti/cinema/cento.htm
The film "I Cento Passi" by Marco Tullio Giordana