Last night Sanremo finished. Finally. I know it sounds really anti-Italian of me, but it just doesn't interest me at all. I've tried watching it in the past, I genuinely have, but I just don't 'get' it. In 2009, the first time I could watch it in Italy, I saw Annie Lennox (one of my idols) being interviewed; but since then I've watched very little of it. The inevitable scandal which is always created annoys me, the discussion about who's wearing what bores me, and the music seems to play only a tiny part in the whole event. The only way I was remotely interested in it was because I knew, as with last year, that Italy's representative for Eurovision would be chosen during the final evening of the competition. Thanks to all the talk about Sanremo everywhere - even my anti Sanremo filters on Tweetdeck weren't enough to avoid all the tweets - I knew very well who all the contestants were. I was very happy to wake up this morning and discover that Nina Zilli, my favourite singer from the Big or the already established singers, was going to be going to Eurovision. Here is her performing her Sanremo entry Per sempre from Tuesday. In bocca al lupo Nina!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
The Big Freeze
It's been a week since it started snowing here in Milan, and the white stuff on the ground isn't going away any time fast. Parts of Italy have been brought to a standstill as the snow's been gradually moving from North to South. I've seen images on the news from my beloved Urbino deep in snow, with some of the university students going around the city clearing the streets. Central Italy in general has been hit really hard, but the most talked about city in the news is Rome. The city was bought to a standstill when it started snowing on Friday, public transport was hit hard as many vehicles didn't have winter tires or chains, and even today the news has been showing abandoned cars in the region of Lazio that are still stuck in the snow.
But as far as Milan's concerned, I've been very impressed. The roads are cleared - the pavements not so much, but pazienza, you can't have everything - and cars and public transport are circulating. When I ventured out on the weekend I was amazed to see a completely clear Via Buenos Aires and Piazza Duomo. It was almost as if the centre of town hadn't seen any snow at all. Except for one place though, Parco Sempione. The park was still covered in snow, and as much as the snow can annoy me, I must admit that it did look beautiful.
But as far as Milan's concerned, I've been very impressed. The roads are cleared - the pavements not so much, but pazienza, you can't have everything - and cars and public transport are circulating. When I ventured out on the weekend I was amazed to see a completely clear Via Buenos Aires and Piazza Duomo. It was almost as if the centre of town hadn't seen any snow at all. Except for one place though, Parco Sempione. The park was still covered in snow, and as much as the snow can annoy me, I must admit that it did look beautiful.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The 'pitchfork' protests
Flying around the supermarket as I always do when I go grocery shopping after work, I didn't pay much attention to the near-empty fruit and veg shelves. It was only when I got to the check-out when the lady at the till was talking to one of her colleagues about it that I realised. The shelves were almost empty because of the strikes by lorry drivers, deliveries were unable to reach the supermarkets. What is known as the forconi, 'pitchfork' movement, started in Sicily; with lorry drivers protesting about the rising costs associated with their jobs, such as fuel prices and motorway tolls.
Monday the movement started to spread to mainland Italy with many motorway junctions all over the country blocked by the protesters. From Lazio, to Puglia, to Campagnia and up here in Lombardia, the protesters were blocking the roads with their vehicles causing tailbacks. I watched a report last night about how lorry drivers in the south of Italy were being forced to take part in the strikes by protesters threatening to damage their vehicles if they didn't. Yesterday one of the protesters was tragically killed in an accident, by a German lorry driver who was not taking part in the protests. Eleven protesters have been arrested today, and it's estimated that 50 tonnes of goods such as milk, fresh fruit, and flowers are going to waste every day; and it's reported that prices for these goods in shops are already starting to rise.
The government is trying to stop the roadblocks. Today they announced new measures to try and appease the protesters, such as reducing motorway tolls. The situation seems to be improving as far as road transport is concerned, but the strikes are far from over. There's a 24 hour train strike from 9pm on Thursday, again as a result of Monti's new proposed measures, on the 27th local and air transport will be affected by strikes, and on the 1st of February pharmacies will be closed. It's going to be a difficult few weeks for this country.
Monday the movement started to spread to mainland Italy with many motorway junctions all over the country blocked by the protesters. From Lazio, to Puglia, to Campagnia and up here in Lombardia, the protesters were blocking the roads with their vehicles causing tailbacks. I watched a report last night about how lorry drivers in the south of Italy were being forced to take part in the strikes by protesters threatening to damage their vehicles if they didn't. Yesterday one of the protesters was tragically killed in an accident, by a German lorry driver who was not taking part in the protests. Eleven protesters have been arrested today, and it's estimated that 50 tonnes of goods such as milk, fresh fruit, and flowers are going to waste every day; and it's reported that prices for these goods in shops are already starting to rise.
The government is trying to stop the roadblocks. Today they announced new measures to try and appease the protesters, such as reducing motorway tolls. The situation seems to be improving as far as road transport is concerned, but the strikes are far from over. There's a 24 hour train strike from 9pm on Thursday, again as a result of Monti's new proposed measures, on the 27th local and air transport will be affected by strikes, and on the 1st of February pharmacies will be closed. It's going to be a difficult few weeks for this country.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Sunday Classic
Bad Nerys, I've neglected one of my features yet again. But it returns. I know I've featured one of Rino Gaetano's songs before, but this is another one of my all-time favourites, Sfiorivano le viole from 1976.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The Costa Concordia
Ever gone through the experience of turning on the radio and hearing sadness in a familiar voice but not knowing what you've missed whilst you've been asleep?
That happened to me yesterday morning. I woke up at 7.45 and as I do every Saturday and Sunday morning I turned on the radio pretty much once I'd managed to open my eyes. And straightaway I knew something was wrong. The Costa Concordia cruise ship had ran aground near the Giglio island, off the coast of southern Tuscany. At the time information seemed to be scarse, even though the accident had actually happened at some point between 9.20-9.40pm the previous evening.
For whatever reason it took a while for news to filter down to the Italian press. I'm used to that happening with international news, Italy's such a bubble and sometimes it can take days for big international news stories to be mentioned here. When I turned on the tv not long after hearing the news it wasn't mentioned anywhere. Not even on the news channels. Absolutely nothing. Yet another case of having to follow what was happening in the country I live in online because the tv just wasn't mentioning it.
By the afternoon there was increased coverage, and there were some shocking pictures of the ship on its side in the ocean, almost parallel to it. The focus however seemed to be on placing blame and creating scandal, and not presenting the facts of what happened. As disappointing as it was, it wasn't surprising for the Italian press.
By 7pm Italian time today five bodies had been found, and 15 people remain missing. The search for the unaccounted passengers and crew continues. The reason behind the accident is reported to have been a power cut on the ship; the captain, who has been detained by police for questioning (he has also been accused of leaving the ship before all passengers had been rescued) claimed that the rocks that cut open the ship's hull were not marked on any maps. I watched passengers recall yesterday how they had to swim to the island in the freezing water, one man saying it took him 15 minutes to reach the shore. It's still hard for me to believe how something like this could happen in the 21st century.
That happened to me yesterday morning. I woke up at 7.45 and as I do every Saturday and Sunday morning I turned on the radio pretty much once I'd managed to open my eyes. And straightaway I knew something was wrong. The Costa Concordia cruise ship had ran aground near the Giglio island, off the coast of southern Tuscany. At the time information seemed to be scarse, even though the accident had actually happened at some point between 9.20-9.40pm the previous evening.
For whatever reason it took a while for news to filter down to the Italian press. I'm used to that happening with international news, Italy's such a bubble and sometimes it can take days for big international news stories to be mentioned here. When I turned on the tv not long after hearing the news it wasn't mentioned anywhere. Not even on the news channels. Absolutely nothing. Yet another case of having to follow what was happening in the country I live in online because the tv just wasn't mentioning it.
By the afternoon there was increased coverage, and there were some shocking pictures of the ship on its side in the ocean, almost parallel to it. The focus however seemed to be on placing blame and creating scandal, and not presenting the facts of what happened. As disappointing as it was, it wasn't surprising for the Italian press.
By 7pm Italian time today five bodies had been found, and 15 people remain missing. The search for the unaccounted passengers and crew continues. The reason behind the accident is reported to have been a power cut on the ship; the captain, who has been detained by police for questioning (he has also been accused of leaving the ship before all passengers had been rescued) claimed that the rocks that cut open the ship's hull were not marked on any maps. I watched passengers recall yesterday how they had to swim to the island in the freezing water, one man saying it took him 15 minutes to reach the shore. It's still hard for me to believe how something like this could happen in the 21st century.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)