Category Archives: Italian Life
Beppe Grillo revisitedby Mario Fusco
Over the last few years, as an unavoidable consequence of online reporting and blogging, there has been a general degradation in the language of public discourse. For instance, the unmistakable reliance on automatic spell checkers is evident in many stories, and there has been a general relaxation of the rules of grammar, sometimes at the expense of intelligibility.
So, why does the observation above have a place on an Italian blog? Because of the following excerpt (“Crazy days in Rome with papal and political void”, Associated Press, under the byline Victor L. Simpson):
Yet perhaps the biggest gatecrasher of all is Beppe Grillo, who has upset the established order by riding a self-styled “tsunami” of disgust with the powers-that-be and grabbing a quarter of the parliamentary vote.
Italian Elections 2013 by Mario Fusco
Italian Politics 2013
Beppe Grillo
It’s hard to defend Berlusconi’s record, so it’s advantage Economist here. It is equally hard, however, to accept the dismissive attitude toward Grillo, and not to see in it a continuation of the policy of ostracism by established interests towards the comedian-turned-politician. A policy that began in the early 90’s and that has manifestly failed to muzzle Grillo. One would hope that Grillo’s past life as a comedian should not weigh on anyone’s judgments of his achievement and of his importance to Italy, not any more, in any case, than Ronald Reagan’s career as a B-movie actor should weigh on any judgment of his achievements as Governor of California and President of the United States. Besides, weeping clowns are a staple of the Western cultural panorama, and we should pay attention to them.
Italian Restaurants
Italian cuisine is enjoying a renaissance on the peninsula. Notable among recently-launched Italian restaurants are FIGO and IL TERRONE, both in Palo Alto, and POSITANO and LIMONE in San Carlos. And in Menlo park we had the recent opening of PICCOLO. These new establishments will need to prove themselves against the likes of MEZZALUNA in Half Moon Bay, SAPORE ITALIANO in Burlingame, ACQUAPAZZA in San Mateo, DONATO and CHANTILLY in Redwood City, LA STRADA in Palo Alto, CARPACCIO and ANGELO MIO in Menlo Park, DON GIOVANNI and VASO AZZURRO in Mountain View, and VILLA NAPOLI in Sunnyvale.
We wish them all great success. We are definitely partial to Italian food!!!
The best in Italian cuisine http://figopaloalto.com/
Great food, great people, great fun! Come visit!
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Summer in Italy by Mario Fusco
Whether you’re a first-time traveler to Italy or a seasoned veteran you won’t want to miss the Tuscany, Cinqueterre and Rome Tour being organized by The Sacramento Italian Cultural Society. Scheduled to depart on June 20, this 12-day tour hits some of the must-see sites in Italy.
TUSCANY – home to illustrious personages from Dante to Leonardo to Galileo, it was the incubator of the Italian Renaissance, which in turn spawned the European Renaissance, the Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution. The Medici family, lords of Florence, were inarguably the most active and effective patrons of the arts ever. Today Tuscany is famous for its wines (Chianti), the loveliness of its hill towns, its artistic patrimony, and events such as the Palio di Siena.
Le Carte Napoletane by Mario Fusco
Italian Aces
Allora, facciamoci una partita a carte! With these words Italians whip out un mazzo di carte and sit down to play scopa or briscola or tressette. Children use a miniature version of the same card deck and play a game called “asso piglia tutto“, meaning “the ace takes all”.
These are “Carte Napoletane“, ubiquitous all over Italy. There are four suits, as in American cards, but only ten cards to a suit (think of American cards minus the 8, the 9 and the 10.) The face cards instead, called il fante (the groom), il cavallo (the horse) and il re (the king), play the role of the 8, the 9, and the 10 cards respectively.
The Italian artistic flair is evident even in the design of these cards. The four suits parallel the suits in a standard American poker deck – bastone (club), spada (spade), coppa (heart), and denaro (diamond). The cards are slightly smaller than their American counterparts, but generally stiffer. In the smaller towns, perhaps at the only bar in town, one often finds Italians playing cards over a glass of wine for hours and hours, much as in other countries people play chess in public squares. In the “olden days”, before the advent of TV and of the habit of spending most evenings at home, Italian men headed for their circolo or for the neighbourhood bar to play billiards or cards in the evening. Women, of course, stayed home with the children.
These playing cards are available in any “Sali e Tabacchi”. Just go in and ask, in your best Italian, for “un mazzo di carte”. You don’t even to say “napoletane”; it’s the default in Italy.
Fante, Cavallo, Re
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Italian Creativity! by Mario Fusco
So, what if you’re a library and have a few thousand books you need to recycle, and are in need of a nice new checkout desk? And of course you have a limited budget (everyone has a limited budget these days!)
Well, you get creative and avoid buying a new desk, using THAT money to replace the recycled book with shiny new bestsellers, as shown in the pictures below!
Italian Library Desk
Book Desk
It certainly gives a new meaning to the phrase ‘book desk’. Now, what if a patron wants to check out the book located four books to the left, six books down, and three books in? Definitely a challenging architectural problem!
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New Italian Art Calendar by Mario Fusco
Italian Art Calendar Cover Page
View and purchase the calendar at http://www.zazzle.com/angelica+di+chiara+gifts
Angelica di Chiara, award-winning Italian-born painter, resides in Redwood City, California. Her work can be seen at several venues in the Bay Area and on finestItalian.com
Vino Italiano
Castello di Gradara
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Acqua Alta a Venezia by Mario Fusco
Different reactions to the recent flooding (acqua alta) in Venice.
Tristezza
Allegria
Indecisione
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Fall Italian Classes at IEI by Mario Fusco
Italian language courses are taught by Mario Fusco and Angelica di Chiara Fusco. Both Mario and Angelica were born and educated in Italy, and, as California residents, they continue to share their knowledge and love of their native country with anyone who is interested in learning and appreciating the various aspects of Italian lifestyle. Their organization, the Italian Educational Institute, housed on the campus of Menlo College in Atherton, is the venue through which language and culture classes are offered and Italian events are organized.
We hope you enjoy what you see here and hope to see you in one of our classes or events. Arrivederci.
Italia
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COURSE LOCATION
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The Leonardo da Vinci Society by Mario Fusco
The city of San Francisco is the fortunate home of the Leonardo da Vinci Society. This Society is a beacon of Italian culture and history, having operated in the City since 1951. Launched by Countess Lillian Dandini, Mrs. Dobbins D’Anneo and Mrs. Louis Piccirillo, the Society provides today a venue for speakers on a wide variety of Italian topics, ranging from art to history, music and politics, travel and lifestyle. Most of the Society’s event are held at the Museo Italo Americano at Fort Mason Center.
A sampling of past and future lectures includes: “Venice as a Work of Art”, by Terisio Pignatti, Chair of Italian Culture at USB; “Dramatic Readings of the Divine Comedy”, by A. F. Alberico, Dept. of Italian at SFU; “Pirandello’s View of Man”, by Giovanni Cecchetti, Dept. of Italian at Stanford University, “Fibonacci and his Mathematics”, by Keith Devlin, Executive Director of the H-Star Institute at Stanford University. Coming up in September, the Society will host author Carol Field, presenting her newest book, “The Italian Baker – revised”. Each presentation lasts about 50 minutes, and is followed by a question/answer period and a brief reception during which the members can mingle and interact further with the speaker.
