“The Sea isn’t friend of men, never been. Better to say the Sea is friend of men’s unstableness.”

Joseph Conrad

ps It’s a personal translation from my text in italian:-)

What is that  turns a totally illogic thing into something acceptable and repeatable to the whole world?

We’re just in the end, that’s simple.

In the past months the PsicoDwarf Berlusconi had the “good manner” to hide his out of the blue ideas (to say the least). But today, with this sentence, I gues we’re quickly reaching the bottom.

It’s not about politics: it is just called “suicide” and a clear apology of the myth of the Fascist Superman.

So, just “Speak for Yourself” and of course a big F*** Off”

B.

Click Here: BUNCH OF ME

Make Somebody Happy! Order your copy:-)

I know these are hard times; but here you can find real friends:-D

 

B.

B.

A couple of things does worth to talk about.

“VALIDATION” by Kurt Kuenne, a positive and beautiful short movie about the power of one of the easiest things in the world: a smile.

And here a brand new idea started by the blog Superforest about a contribution on a very special project of the Millenniu Seed Bank.

Smile & Join Up, folks!

B.

“Who’s knocking at the door?…Can’t see with the sun in my eyes…”

“Official” portrait with auntie Elda, while asking to my granny to look at me without moving, and obviously she was joking me:-)

August, a snapshot taken with my mobile, in the kitchen-garden, while my granny was trying to figure out what was going on…She wasn’t convinced at all:-)

“Come on granny, don’t laugh, put a serious face on!”

“How can I do that? I can’t help laughing..!”

Siesta after the birthday cake on her favourite armchair that was, unfortunately, also Bernardo’s favourite:-)

Watching a print of a photo taken some time ago:”Who is this woman?”

“Granny, can’t you see? It’s you: you look great, don’t you think?”

“Me…?This woman doesn’t look like me…Quite ugly, poor thing…”

Gossip and News Time: weekly update on the most relevant facts of the neighbourhood, reported with all the possible details by Gina (my mom and her daughter):-)

“I guess this is the recipe of the Schiacciata alla Fiorentina (Florentine Cake)..Where did you find it?…Let me see…”

“You’re a bit “araba”, honey..”

(kinda granny slang to blame on my usual rants against The Church):-)

“Here you are, gorgeous chatelaine in your kitchen-garden! Smile at me!”

July 22 1914 – December 24 2008

B.

Post Office, 6.30pm.

I’ve to send a big envelope folded in two, with some scotch all around it, except for about 5 cm on both sides. The golden postal rule says that envelopes and parcels must be closed with scotch on all sides. I know. But I was in a hurry and I left these two tiny lateral pockets. I reach the desk and the employee with an expression mixed anxious+tired+acid+bad mood+it’s time to close the office, look at the envelope with disgusted eyes and tells me: “No, this envelope isn’t good-while fidgeting with it as if it was full of shit-it must be closed on all sides; otherway the smaller enevelopes may go inside here (indicating the pockets)…No, you shouldn’t have folded the envelope, you know, the weight is the same…(Really??:-)

Anyway, I guess I’m breaking the balls of the employee considering the closing time; it’s my fault after all. So, I nod and I propose her the most logic thing in the world, seeing before me a roll of scotch: I simply ask her: “May I….?” This woman, with the most unbelievable expression seen in this world, maybe thinking that I should have gone home to catch a piece of scotch, just answers me: “Yes….”

Then I grab the scotch, I take 5/6 little pieces, I make myself sure that I scotched any single hole, I finish and right after, the woman with a briskest action, says:”Ok, we can’t finish the scotch now…Just stop it!…” and she draws the scotch to her, with a very bad and acid action. I gaze at her, quite stunned, and I say back smiling:”Yes, it’s ok, I finished but….Let me ask you:the administration doesn’t give you enough scotch?” With the smartest and arrogant expression I could have found inside of me:-)

Then she finishes to prepare the envelope saying something with a lowest voice, looking at me kinda cruel:-) I ask her if it’s ok, she says yes and I think she could go only to one place…:-)

A real melancholic episode: we don’t just perceive the recession these times, we just feel it for sure. It seems it’s a worthless thing, but people just feel anxiety and fear continuosly, even in the smallest stuff. And I feel this is the most dangerous thing.

The same comparison between the so called brand new Social Card  and the Card used in the fascist period to buy the daily bread.

B.

“Delta Blues” by Ted Gioia Ed.W.W.Norton, 2008

www.tedgioia.com

Got the Blues.

I used to go to my local public library to rent the tapes of the Working Songs of some prisoners in the southern states; you know, the ones with only the pickaxe sound that goes into the ground and the “voices of jail works”. Hypnotic stuff, to say the least.

I made copies with a recorder of the Big Depression age, more or less, I designed the labels and the style for every single tape. Still got them, among the many I have to digitalize.

The Blues doesn’t need interpretations, critiques: we’ve got it deep inside.

Treat of the book: a list of the 100 must have performances ever:-)

Oh Yeah!

B.

When you’re at a Gas Station (unfortunately), waiting gloomy that your Bancomat slowly looses its liquidity, you try to get a solace of it gazing at what surrounds you: cars passing by, clients, people passing by, works in progress along the road…And when you’re definitely so lucky that the day is glorious, after some crappy weather, then you find silence. And all of a sudden, surrounded by this brilliant light, you feel the urgence to look above and you simply see that beyond the silhouette of the Gas Station, there is a gorgeous sky, empty, filled up, dense of primal colors. And you start to think. And think. And think again to the fact that yesterday, during a horrible condo meeting, maybe, after so many problems, after been literally fucked up by lawyers, a building company and plumbers, electricians and so on, we’re going to be a mass, succeeding in a class action or similar, in order to regain some confidence…To get the confirm that Murphy’s Law couldn’t be the only measure, but most of all that ” Can’t rain all the time…”, as The Crow said.

B.

Keb Mo & Corey Harris

YES WE DID.

Boia de’, se YES WE DID.

(Boia de’ is a slang expression spoken in Tuscany, along the coast between Pisa and Livorno, and it simply means kinda “Shit, sugar, holy shit”:-)

B.