‘Thumb Tribes’ Drive Italian Charity

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Italians gave thumbs up to recent charity drives letting them send donations for disaster victims through text messages on cell phones.

"Help Now," the campaign organized by daily Corriere della Sera and news program TG5, has seen donations sent in by so-called ‘thumb tribes’ or mobile phone users top or equal those sent in by credit card. Aid for earthquake victims in San Giuliano was approximately three million euro for both credit cards and SMS messages; at 942,000 euro the amount pulled in from text messages is more than triple sent in by credit cards to help flood victims in Northern Italy.

The bulk of donations were still sent in the old-fashioned way, by bank transfer, because Italians are also wary of trusting checks to the vagaries of the national postal system. With 40, 000 text messages sent in Italy daily, these humanitarian SMS campaigns may soon catch up with traditional methods. Part of the phenomenon is certainly the ease and low cost of sending an blank SMS at the cost of one euro to help earthquake or flood victims and the other part is likely attributable to low numbers of Italians who own and use credit cards.

"Thanks for your help for people harmed by the recent floods in the North," the text message sent as confirmation is a quick hit, one of the keys to success for this type of communication.
Italy has one of the worlds’ highest per capita cell phone rates –by 2005 the number of mobile phone lines will outnumber Italians by almost three million. The explanation given by the national observatory for mobile phones is simple: many Italians have more than one SIM card for the same phone. About half of Italians consider cell phones essential for keeping in touch with friends and family, some 40% use them every day, while less than 20% use them for work. This element of family ties to the ‘cellulare’ or ‘telefonino’ has led to exponential growth in the mobile phone sector — in 2001 there were 33 million cell phone numbers and, if expert predictions hold true, that number will almost double in the next three years. ?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:
Learn Italian for Mobile Phones

Italy by Numbers: nativity scene or Christmas tree?

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82% Italians prefer crèche over tree
58% because it’s “family tradition”
24% because it “allows more creativity”
18% because kids prefer it

More ammunition in the eternal debate in Italy around the Christmas holidays — what represents the season better: the Nativity scene or the tree?
For the first time in years, this poll of over 700 Italians by a radio station signals the comeback of the manger scene. The religious symbol, which can range from a tiny terra-cotta representation to an elaborate countryside scene taking up the living room, had fallen out of favor in recent years for the secular evergreen, though many homes simply find room for both.

The manger scene, or presepe, is a very old tradition — dating back to Medieval times — and many Italian towns have live representations or exhibits but that doesn’t necessarily make it much of a hit with today’s children, according to the poll. Recent popularity has led some cities to expand live versions of the scene — this year some 250 extras will participate in the living crèche taking place from December 22-24 in Roccavignale, province of Savona in Liguria. ?1999-2009 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: Virtual Italian manger scenes
www.presepenapoletano.it/default.htm

www.tightrope.it/parnea/programma.htm

www.grottaglie.net/mostrapresepe/default.htm

www.comunicarte.it/Roccavignale/index.htm

Italian City of Venice Helps Couples Wed

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Saying “I do” in Venice just became easier — now that city officials have launched a website for couples who wish to get married in one of Italy’s most beautiful cities.

"Sposarsi a Venezia" is a new free service set up by local government, in four languages, aimed at taking some of the hassle out of planning an Italian wedding. Fees and paperwork are explained up front and couples can choose the wedding date online to avoid ugly surprises.

La Serenissima has every incentive to help couples — marriages are big business in Italy. Last year, wedding ceremonies in Venice alone brought in €200,000 and were up 20% from the previous year. Most of those who wed in the city were foreigners — led by Germans (20%) followed by British (14%) and Americans (8%). Venice offers an incomparable setting, especially for civil weddings: couples can arrive by gondola to the Renaissance palazzo Cavalli where the ceremony takes place and say "I do" with a view on the Grand Canal.

Those who hope to save by not hiring a marriage consultant to organize this dream destination wedding will find that Venice, as always, doesn’t come cheap. For EU citizens who chose to get hitched in the morning (during office hours), a civil service costs €309.87 and doubles outside those hours, while for non-EU residents the fees start at €1239.50 and can go as high as €3098.74.?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.comune.venezia.it/demografici/matrimoni/english/civile.asp
The "Sposarsi a Venezia" site — info in Italian, English, Spanish and German.

Abbondanza! Planning an Italian Wedding

Web-wise

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Italian Comics Failed Gangsters in NYC • Italian practice: your 2003 horoscope • Syria’s Latest Single • Italian Motors: Concept Cars & New Models

Italian Comics Failed Gangsters in NYC
The "Legend of Al John and Jack" is the latest film by comedian trio Aldo Giovanni and Giacomo. The plot as the three of them as Italian-American gangsters in New York circa 1950 sounds a bit thin (and likely is) but the three of them are usually so funny that it doesn’t matter. View the trailer, take a look at the official site and catch some of their older gags…
www.concento.it

Italian practice: your 2003 horoscope
Find out what the stars hold for you next year with these detailed horoscope — predictions by the newspaper’s horoscope ‘expert,’ the magazine Astra and if you still want another opinion try the audio version on the right to learn about the luckiest signs for 2003.
www.corriere.it/speciali/oroscopo2003/schede.shtml

Syria’s Latest Single
Catch the Roman singer dressed up as Wonder Woman for latest single ‘Se tu non sei con me." Superman is played by macho former Big Brother contestant Pietro Taricone, video is directed by the Manetti Bros. and the tune is infectious. Need we say more?
http://syria.warnermusic.it

Italian Motors: Concept Cars & New Models
Though decidedly overshadowed by the Fiat fiasco, Italian manufacturers still pulled themselves together to present new models & concept cars at the recent Motor Show in Bologna. Check out latest designs in Italian cars from Alfa Romeo, Pininfarina and Maserati and Ferrari. The photo gallery is quite long so keep clicking ‘seguenti’ to see all of it…
www.motorshow.it/galleriafotoms.asp?l=2&codcat=19

Italian Catholics Can Get ‘Unchristened’

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by Nicole Martinelli posted: Thu Dec. 5 8:24 am

Disgruntled Catholics have come a step closer to washing off holy water they were baptized in as tiny children. Upon request, priests in Italy must note alongside baptism information the will of adults to leave the Roman Catholic Church. Bowing to pressure from lobby groups who call the act ‘unchristening,’ the Italian Bishops Conference (CEI) recently outlined the procedure.
Both sides disagree on the scope of the phenomenon — one activist group claims 10,000 people have presented unchristening requests; the Church says it is trying to do right by a ‘few dozen’ people who wish not to be counted as Catholics.

Statistics, however, show a large number of slumbering or disinterested members of the country’s predominant religion — although 98% of Italians are baptized, only 36% attend mass regularly and over 14% never attend at all, according to 1999 data from Italian National Statistical Institute (ISTAT). Baptism records are used for Church statistics and influence whether last rites and religious funerals are administered.

Cardinal Camillo Ruini, CEI president, made it clear that the Church considers the issue an entirely bureaucratic one. “You can’t cancel a sacrament any more than you can cancel the act of being born,” he told newspapers.

For Catholic writer Vittorio Messori, the matter is just an adjustment by the Church to avoid legal woes. “In the same way a priest can leave the church but never de-priest himself, people can decide not to live as Catholics, but if baptized they will always be Catholics,” he told zoomata. “These pressure groups have made a big issue out of nothing and the Church is simply trying to avoid additional problems.”

Bureaucratic or not, the policy change is a David-versus-Goliath type victory for small but persistent groups like the Italian Union of Rationalist Atheists and Agnostics (UAAR) that has been campaigning for unchristening since 1995. At first, they made little headway with parish priests who refused requests to modify or cancel baptism records.

Lobby groups took the Church to court finding an ally in Italy’s strict privacy law. Judges ruled that the Church must adhere to the law forbidding organizations from keeping sensitive personal data on an individual without consent or the possibility to modify that information.

Giorgio Villella, secretary general of UAAR, 66, admits he hasn’t had time to have himself de-christened yet. He’s too busy with the next item on the group’s agenda — ‘de-cruxifixing Italy,’ removing the ubiquitous symbol of the Church from post offices, courtrooms, schools and hospitals. “For too long the presence of the Catholic Church was taken for granted in Italy, but not anymore.”

1999-2007 zoomata.com

Web-wise Dec. 5-12

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Prince Emanuele Filiberto’s Official Website • Southern Pride, Italian Style • Italian Lessons Online• Daniele Silvestri Sweeps Italian Music Awards

Prince Filiberto’s Official Website
So we already know the returning prince had the taste to do a commercial for antipasti, but did we know about his love for jet skiing, his passion for charity, his book on Cristina Belgioso? The official site of Emanuele Filiberto tells all this (and more) in an irritating flash format; it’s one more tidbit while Italy waits for the Savoy’s to reenter the country — either a before-Christmas blitz to meet the pope or in mid-January. We couldn’t think of anything to ask him (though the ‘write to me’ button is awfully tempting) but couldn’t help requesting an autographed picture for the newsroom…

www.disavoia.it/contenitore.htm

Southern Pride, Italian Style
Interesting that this site of pride for Southern Italians should get a boost in publicity during devolution debates, where the most vocal proponents tend to be Northerners wanting to distance themselves from the south. A well-designed site that brings to mind the positive aspects of the lower half of the country — sun, warmth, joie de vivre — even if the news tends not to paint the region in such a great light — baccalà stealing, striking workers etc.
www.vivailsud.it

Italian Lessons Online
Monthly lessons online, send in your homework or other translations to have them looked over by Italian teachers. Info on Italian languages schools and professional translation services available.
www.puntolingua.it/index_corsi.asp

Daniele Silvestri Sweeps Italian Music Awards
What was one of the most annoyingly catchy songs to enter this year’s San Remo song contest swept the Italian Music Awards this week, Daniele Silvestri with "Salirò" won for best video, best single best arrangement/composition.

Catch "Salirò" fever

Dowload the video:
http://81.113.176.11:8080/ima/silvestri_ms.wmv

More on this year’s awards:
www.italianmusicawards.it/frima2002.html

Christmas Markets in Italy

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Forget ducking in to hundreds of tiny shops with restricted hours, these bustling outdoor markets are what shopping during the Christmas season is all about in Italy. We’ve picked the liveliest ones where you’re most likely to find local handicrafts. Buone feste!

Related resources:
For year-round shopping–
Designer Bargains in Italy

Discount outlet database

Milan
"Oh Bej! Oh Bej!"(oh beautiful, in Milanese dialect) street fair…Started off as a street party for the city’s patron, St. Ambrose in 1288, has morphed into a long weekend with a big market From 6-9 December, around the square of St. Ambrogio, navigli area.

Florence
Inaugurates its first Christmas fair, from Dec. 6-22 in piazza Santa Croce. Modeled on the city of Heidelberg’s the square will be filled with little cottages for booths.

Bologna
Fair of Santa Lucia in Strada Maggiore, until Dec. 28 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Naples
From Dec. 1-31 in the streets of San Gregorio Armeno and San Biagio dei Librari, famous for hand-carved crèche statues. This year’s sell out is sure to be Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia. Per information tel. 081.5523328

Rome
The eternal city has t wo Christmas markets:Piazza Navona Dec. 1-Jan 6, ornaments, crèche statues, delicacies.Natale Oggi 7-15 Dec. Also good for clothing, antiques, books, music. Via Torri in Sabina 14 (info tel. 06-86328824)

Northern Italy has the oldest tradition of Christmas markets, here are a few:

Trento
In piazza Fiera until Dec. 24 . Ornaments, dried flowers, candles, typical sweets and local handicrafts. For info: tel. 0461.983880

Bolzano
In piazza Walther until Dec. 23. The town livens up considerably for the Christkindlmarkt look out for related concerts, entertainment for kids and special tours of the city. For info: tel. 0471.307000

Bassano del Grappa (VI)
From Nov. 24-Dec.24, in Piazza Garibaldi. Home & tree decorations, crèche figurines.

Merano (BZ)
One of the few markets on until Dec.31, every day from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Christmas decorations, gifts, scented candles, local sweets and spices, wood crafts. Entertainment for kids every day around 5 p.m. For info: tel.0473 235 223.

Italian: 40% of words ‘extinct’

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Modern Italian has lost some 40% of words commonly used in Medieval times, according to a study by national research council CNR. Linguists are compiling an historical dictionary to record these extinct terms and preserve them for the future. Perhaps more surprising than the quantity of linguistic dinosaurs are the 60% of words carried down through 800 years of history.

“The fundamental core of vocabulary from the 1200-1300 still stands the test of time,” said professor Pietro Beltrami, director of the dictionary project. “Italian as a language was only codified and became used nationally in the 1500s, following the publication of Pietro Bembo’s ‘Prose della volgar lingua’ (Prose in vernacular.)”

Some of words used in Dante’s time have easily recognizable modern counterparts — many of those from the 13th and 14th centuries, for example, simply dropped a few letters. For example the words "burn" and "fugitive" were "abbruciare" and "affuggitivo" compared to modern versions "bruciare" and "fuggitivo." Others are a bit harder to arrive at from modern Italian — like "cerusico" (surgeon), "bambarottolo" (silly person), "bastracone" (big lug).

Related resources:
www.csovi.fi.cnr.it
Browse the first 8,000 entries of the dictionary, A-C.

Anger with Style,Perfecting the ”Bad Words”


Dictionary of Italian Slang and Colloquial Expressions

Italy by Numbers: Silent Families

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36% between parents & teens silence reigns
59% parents main point of reference for teens
18% laziness & apathy, major complaints by parents
26% nosiness, major complaints by teens

Silent is probably the last adjective that comes to mind to describe an Italian family, but a recent poll shows otherwise. When asked to describe the climate at home between parents and teens, 36% of Italians said there were more moments of ‘indifference and silence’ than ‘tension’ or ‘dialogue.’

Despite the typical picture of teen laziness and parental interference, this Abacus poll of over 1,000 Italians shows that teens still count on parents in times of trouble. Almost 60% consider parents a point of reference, even over peers or older friends, and only 7% complained that parents were absent when they needed them.

Related resources:
Italy Profiled: Essential Facts on Society, Business and Politics in Italy
More on today’s Bel Paese

Sicilians: Better Unemployed than a Garbage Collector

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The Sicilian town of San Cataldo has a cleanup problem — despite the fact that 27% of the town’s population is unemployed, it seems that none of them want to be garbage collectors.

Mayor Raimondo Torregrossa has been trying to find 13 “ecological operators,” as they’re euphemistically called in Italy, for temporary work. In a town of 24,000, only 30 people applied. After sifting through the applications, only four women were eligible.

"I couldn’t believe it," said Torregrossa. "It really seems that no one wants this job."

Despite an official unemployment rate about three times higher than the Italian national average, San Cataldo isn’t the only town in Sicily to have this particular employment problem. Isnello, a small farming town in the province of Palermo, has searched for two months without any luck for a baker. In Gela, another town with a 25% unemployment rate, a restaurant can’t find two waiters.

The truth behind the situation appears to be slightly different — an army of workers getting paid under the table or with short-term contracts making them officially unemployed.

The mayor readily admits that official data doesn’t tell the whole story. "That 27% is inflated," Torregrossa explained. "When you turn 16 here, you sign up at the employment office to maximize the unemployment time and benefits." The director of the local unemployment office, Salvatore Vancheri, agrees — estimating that if he took off the lists students and government contract workers the true unemployment rate would be 4%.