Vasco Rossi’s Greatest Hits • Slacking, Italian style • 150 Years of Italy in Photos • New Ferrari F1 Races In

Vasco Rossi’s Greatest Hits
Italy’s Favorite middle-aged rock star Vasco Rossi has come out with a best-of album featuring his most recognizable hits: "Alba chiara" "Splendida Giornata" "Liberi" and "Vivere."
"Tracks"
www.vascorossi.net

Slacking, Italian style
Though today’s harried Italians have less time than ever for dolce far niente, it doesn’t mean they don’t know how to cultivate it. Feeling guilty about taking it easy? Try the laziness calculator (click on iozio)it will show just how much longer you have to work before reaching retirement, how much you sleep or how much you get paid by the minute. Ecards, chat, fanshop and slacker of the day…Yes, you can afford to take an extra coffee break.
www.fannullone.com

150 Years of Italy in Photos
The history of the Bel Paese is closely linked with the family-run Fratelli Alinari photographers of Florence — from Canadian tourists in the 1950s to wheat harvesters in the 1930s and hand-tinted girlie shots from the late 1800s…Some 600 of these images are on show at Florence’s Palazzo Strozzi til June 2 2003, for a look online, click on the numbers running top left and the images running down…
www.corriere.it/av/galleria.html?alinari&1

New Ferrari F1 Races In
This year’s formula one Ferrari is called F12003-GA, the final initials in honor of recently deceased buisness colossal Gianni Agnelli. Michael Shumaker had to peel himself away from the track after a series of successful tests, it looks like another banner year for Ferrari. Take it for a virtual spin…
http://151.88.109.215

Meet Italy’s Toughest Bachelor ? Virtual Visit to Naples Doll Hospital ? send Italian ecards for Valentine’s day ? Parmigianino: 500 years of Mannerism

Meet Italy’s Toughest Bachelor
No, we won’t admit to watching afternoon TV, but if we did a (low)light would have to be Karim, the brooding model who has turned down hundreds of women trying to curry his favor on the talk/game show Uomini e Donne on Canale 5. Scroll to bottom for photogallery
www.jumpy.it/Canali_J/Maria_De_Filippi/Cuore_cerca_Cuore/649051

www.jumpy.it/Canali_J/Maria_De_Filippi/Cuore_cerca_Cuore/574196 (video, real player)

Celebrating 500 Years of Parmigianino
Tons of initiatives on in Italy to celebrate the half-century mark of this often scandalous mannerist painter. Here’s his official web site from Parma — take a virtual tour of frescoes or plan a visit. In Italian, English, French and German.
www.parmigianino-2003.it

Virtual Visit to Naples Doll Hospital
Repairing beloved toys has been the work for the Ospedale delle Bambole since 1800, the site gives a good look around — though the images taken out of context (like the baby Jesus statuettes) make for a fairly high creepy factor. Worth a look…
www.ospedaledellebambole.it

Italian ecards for Valentine’s day
If puppies & roses aren’t your thing try these cartoons:
www.clarence.com/cartoline/index.html

www.clarence.com/cartoline/search.php?event_id=18
also available for San Faustino — singles day celebrated by Italians Feb. 15

Starter kit for romantic phrases in Italian:
http://www.lacartolina.it/tracce/san_valentino.htm

For a dieting paramour, try the ecards from Perugina Baci with phrases from the famous chocolates…
www.chocodreams.com/cartigli.php?PHPSESSID=4f6aa003780599efd53b9b7ccd38f435

Big Brother Reality Show Returns • Haute Couture Hijinks in Rome • Italian practice: Hypnosis for Seduction • Giorgio Gaber’s Farewell Song

Haute Couture Hijinks in Rome
The sexy, the wild, the just plain weird — some of the creations proposed in the Rome alta moda shows this week really do give an idea about why it’s all so out of reach..Latest looks from Italian designers like Gattinoni (who quotes Oriana Fallaci "Wake Up Occidente" screaming from a t-shirt with a model dressed in the journalist’s very personal style) and Gai Mattiolo:
www.corriere.it/av/galleria.html?moda_roma1&5
(click on photos & on number bar top left for more galleries)

Italian practice: Hypnosis for Seduction
Hard to gauge whether these folks are serious, but from the looks of the site (and the photos of Latin Lover types gracing it) we’re afraid so. You’re getting very, very sleepy….
www.autostima.net/home/stima.php?id_guida=11

Big Brother Reality Show Returns
Though the second season didn’t live up to the brouhaha from the original (participants are still popping up in Italian TV netherworld), producers are hoping the third times’ the charm for the Italian version. Catch all the "Grande Fratello action via web, if you can stand the fun. Program debuts prime time Thursday, Jan. 30 — catch the casting sessions & updates on the new cast..www.grandefratello.com

Giorgio Gaber Farewell Song
Singer/songwriter showman Giorgio Gaber passed away January 1, thousands turned out in Milan to say good-bye to theirs beloved "Mr. G." The posthumous track "Io non mi sento italiano" (I don’t feel Italian) hit stores this week, listen in & read lyrics — shows his usual bite but easy to listen to cabaret style.
http://musica.virgilio.it/extra/gaber/album/audio_modem.html

Sexy e-cards • Dusting off Neapolitan Hits • Holocaust Remembrance Day in Italy • Carnival Kickoff

Sexy Calendar e-cards
In a last-ditch attempt to milk popularity for Italy’s sexy pinup calendar industry, here are some popular images (not for the prudish) from the cals to send as ecards. Including a few (considerably more caste) of men…
www.max.rcs.it/010peo/03car/0301/01/index.shtml

Dusting off Neapolitan Hits
Singer Massimo Ranieri is living a heady revival thanks to a popular TV show "Siamo Tutti Invitati" broadcast by RAI, his new album of songs in the Neapolitan tradition will be released Jan. 31, click ‘ascolta’ for a sample:
www.sonymusic.it/sonymusic/artist.php?id=9000&lang=ita&ze=nbm

Grazie Massimo: 30 Canzoni Di Massimo Ranieri
Vintage Ranieri on a double CD, artfully remastered

Holocaust Remembrance Day in Italy
In 2000, the Italian gov decreed Jan. 27 ‘la giornata della memoria’ or holocaust remembrance day. Here’s where read more about the 2003 commemorations…
www.triangoloviola.it/giomem03.html#linkgm
Events, organizations, exhibits

Carnival Kickoff
A sure way to beat the winter blues is to get caught up in Italy’s carnival festivities.

A couple of suggestions:
Ivrea’s Carnival Bash
One of the longest series of post-Christmas rituals the festival, which has origins in medieval times starts Jan. 6, but the merrymaking rises to a fever pitch on March 6 with the famed Battle of Oranges.. Some three thousand participants divided into 100-strong teams ride through town in carts, pelting each other with oranges. Not into the vitamin C? Try making it for the bean festival, pylon burning or fireworks. This year marks the 195th edition.
www.carnevalediivrea.com/inglese/carn_ing.htm

Viareggio’s Politics on Parade
This Tuscan version, known for colorful floats taking shots at political figures kicks off in early January…The King of the 2002 parade? Berlusca, with a float featuring George Bush in what can only be described as menacing..
www.ilcarnevale.com/htm/index/eng/indexE.htm
For last year’s winning floats, click on ‘maschera 2002’ link…

For the 2003 schedule of events: www.viareggio.ilcarnevale.com/index0.htm

Venice’s Bash
The most famous & perhaps overhyped carnival in Italy, takes place this year from Feb. 21 March 4…

www.venice-carnival.com/new/home.asp
Official site, hopefully will be updated soon.

www.gianfrancopereno.com/basecarnival_in_venice.htm
Some nice portraits of participants..

http://foto.lucien.it/carnevale/carnevale_programma_2003.htm
Partial program of 2003 happenings…

Men’s Fashions from Florence & Milan ? Sophia Loren: Test Your Knowledge? Pompeii’s Painted Rooms on Show

Men’s Fashions from Florence & Milan
So the Prada dress shirts with the hankie pocket on the rear & the pointy bras on otherwise hunky models at Vivienne Westwood probably won’t be big sellers, who said men’s wear had to be functional? Pitti Uomo and Milan’s shows…

http://www.corriere.it/vivimilano/speciali/gallerie/galleria.html?moda/12012003/uomini&1

Sophia Loren: Test Your Knowledge
How much do you know about one of Italy’s most loved divas? Test your knowledge with a crossword puzzle, anagram, rebus & quiz…
www.italica.rai.it/principali/giochi/loren.htm

Pompeii’s Painted Rooms on Show
Take a sneak preview on two of the latest restorations from the ‘painted rooms’. They’ll be on show at the Naples Archeology museum from March 20 in an exhipit entitled, "Pompeii: The Story of and Eruption.
http://arte.tiscali.it/scultura/200301/pompei.html

Tiziano Terzani’s Free e-book• Winter Sales Calendar• Uffizi’s Basement Exhibit • Italian Practice: best in vicious gossip

Tiziano Terzani’s Free e-book
One of Italy’s most renown foreign correspondents (and probably one of the only hacks on the planet to have a fan club) is offering a free download of his antiwar tract that is a bestseller in Europe but that he says he can’t find a publisher for in America or the UK To download use “peace” as the password.
www.tizianoterzani.com/ebook/default.htm

Uffizi’s Basement Exhibit
Due to the success of last year’s exhibit (appropriately entitled ‘mai visti’ or never seen) which displayed over a hundred of the important museum’s paintings that had never been put on, show officials have rattled around in the basement to put together a collection of still lifes. Just makes you wonder what else they’ve got hiding down there…
The rub:
Uffizi, Sala delle Reali Poste, piazzale degli Uffizi.
Tel. 055-6582847. Hours: 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Free. Til Feb. 28

Italian practice: best in vicious gossip
So paparazzo is an Italian word, right? You’d be hard pressed to find more savage gossip and abundance of cheesecake photos than in the Italian tabloid press. Here’s where to get the best/worst of it on the internet.

http://chi.mondadori.com
Fairly tame for the genre, but a great place to start for pop culture.

www.dagospia.com
Journalist Roberto D’agostino reaches some new lows in this spartan but jam-packed gossip site.

www.gossipnews.it
TV stars without makeup! Victoria Silvstedt presents her sexy 2003 calendar in Rome! Celebrity look-alikes! Offers a free newsletter, if you’ve really got to have it.

www.hot.it/canali/gossip
Read about the latest antics of J-lo & other international stars in this younger-target portal…

Winter Sales Calendar
Sales can last from a month to over six weeks, but it’s key to be there when markdowns first start. Here’s where to line up for your Gucci, Fendi or Prada with a discount:
Jan. 7 Florence, Venice, Potenza, Trieste.
Jan. 11 Rome, Milan, Turin, Palermo, Bolzano.
Jan. 17 Bologna
Jan. 20 Naples
Feb. 10 Aosta
For year-round shopping–
Designer Bargains in Italy

Discount outlet database

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

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

Check for or Give the Evil Eye online • Francesco DeGregori’s New Take on Italian Folk Standbys• Mind Games in Italian • Designing Your Kitchen, Italian Style

Mind Games in Italian
Sharpen your Italian along with your reasoning skills — riddles, math problems, optical illusions for adults and kids.
www.intelligiochi.it

Francesco DeGregori’s New Take on Folk Standbys
New album from singer/songwriter Francesco DeGregori takes on popular Italian folk songs with a political bent like "Bella Ciao," "I treni per Reggio Calabria" and "Sacco & Vanzetti." Listen in with real audio or windows media, click on song titles for lyrics and historical footnotes to songs.
www.sonymusic.it/degregori/discografia/index_disco.html

Check for or Give the Evil Eye online
Having a bad hair life? Rule out the possibility of the evil eye with this simple test. Or if you’ve really got it in for someone, "give" the evil eye or malocchio, virtual like. You can even choose four levels of evil…Credible? Boh, but staff members spent an afternoon playing with it….
www.iettatore.it/malocchio_test.asp

Designing Your Kitchen, Italian Style
Check out dozens of solutions for the most used room in your home from Italian magazine Brava Casa — particularly interesting for those short on space…
www.rcs.it/bravacasa/progettazione/progetti/cucine.htm

Italian for Beginners: the Movie • Gonzaga Family Treasures on Show• Cough! Italy’s new anti-smoking law • Italian practice: are you an ugly duckling or swan?

Italian for Beginners: the Movie
Easily staff’s favorite flick about the power of studying Italian, this independent film from Denmark tells the tale of a ragtag group of people brought together in a night-school class. Requisite happy ending in Venice, but they deserve it.
Italian for Beginners by Anders W. Berthelsen

Italian practice: are you an ugly duckling or swan?
This interactive test, designed to gauge your self esteem, is also a telling one about Italian society with questions about permanent hair removal etc. Guess which zoomata staff member came up with the ‘narcissist’ profile?
http://news2000.libero.it/index_test.jhtml?id_test=1161

Cough! Italy’s new anti-smoking law
Here’s the skinny on what may very well become another civic-minded law, more or less ignored by Italians — despite the new ‘smoking police.’ The senate recently passed a tougher anti-smoking law, banning the ciggie in all public places…The gallery of vintage cigarette ads is also worth taking a look at…
www.concento.it/documenti/Attualita/2002/11_Novembre/11/fumo.jhtml

Gonzaga Family Treasures on Show
It took five years of study and research by over 60 European scholars to track down and document the legendary art collection of the Dukes of Mantova, the Gonzaga family. The exhibit (including the Portrait of the Hirsute Girl) is a one of a kind and shouldn’t be missed. It’s on in Mantova until Dec. 8, tickets can be bought online, otherwise take a virtual tour…
www.mostragonzaga.it