Tunstills Dislexicon

Welsh Translation

2009-05-30T02:50:00.000-07:00

Do you remember this sign at Oystermouth?
I don't know what happened to our original pic, so I took another.
I couldn't resist putting it through the Welsh auto translator....And back again.

Pryd yn arfer 'r nogia heb angora blocynnau , 'r atalnoda chan haul must mo bod 'n fwy na 8 chorfannau chan a perpendicular drwo 'r nogia darfod.

Meal using group.
I jib, without I anchor blocks.
Group, I point with sun, organise, not be heartburn.
I may be, I do.
8 feet with, I go perpendicular through group.
I jib perish!

I just added the punctuation.
LBB..

Santa Rita of Cascia

2009-05-23T12:46:00.000-07:00

Words by Michelle Fabio

One of the most beloved Italian saints is St. Rita of Cascia, a native of Umbria who died in Cascia in 1456. Santa Rita is widely celebrated not only in the Green Heart of Italy but also throughout the country on her feast day, 22 May, with Mass, processions, and other festivities. St. Rita has a most interesting tale for a saint as she was married and had children.

Although St. Rita had always wanted to be a nun, she obeyed her elderly parents’ wishes to marry a harsh, immoral man when she was just 12 years old. She was a loyal wife and mother of twin sons for 18 years, but family life went sour when her husband was murdered and her sons sought revenge.

St. Rita tried to persuade them to change their minds, but when she realized nothing could stop them, she prayed they would be taken from Earth so they couldn’t commit murder themselves; they died of natural causes a year later. Alone in the world, St. Rita sought admission to the Augustinian convent in Cascia, but was refused because she was a widow. Eventually she was admitted, though--her entrance itself a miracle as she claimed to have been transported inside by her own patron saints, John the Baptist, Augustine, and Nicholas of Tolentino.

St. Rita is often portrayed holding roses and/or figs and sometimes with an injury to her head because when she had asked to suffer as Jesus had, a thorn from the Crown of Thorns on a figure of the crucifixion fell on her forehead and cut her. She is the patron saint of hopeless causes, abused women, and parenthood.

W Santa Rita!
http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy-featured/cascia/celebrating-st-rita-cascia

Welsh Dyslexia Project

2009-04-24T03:40:00.000-07:00

Welsh Dyslexia Project

translates as

Prosiect Dyslecsia Cymru

who needs a Dislexicon!

La Festa della Donna

2009-02-26T16:26:00.001-08:00

words by Michelle Fabio

International Women’s Day (IWD)is held 8 March, and in Italy,it’s called La Festa della Donna.

The first IWD was really a National Women’s Day held in New York City in 1909;
by 1911, the idea of a day honouring women had spread to Austria,Denmark,Germany, and Switzerland and now celebrations are held in countries throughoutthe world including China, Russia, Bulgaria, Mongolia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam.

The symbol of the day is the yellow mimosa, and men are encouraged to give a bunch of them to all of the important women in their lives.

Read more about International Women’s Day at
http://www.internationalwomensday.com/.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/

Italians to snub ST Valentine's day

2009-02-14T01:08:00.000-08:00

More than half of Italians expecting a gift from their lovers on Valentine's Day this weekend are in for a disappointment, the Coldiretti farmers' group said Thursday.Some 52% of people in a poll by the union said they had no intention of digging into their pockets for a romantic present this year - an increase of 7% on Valentine rubbishers in 2008.

The economic crisis will also take its toll on lovers planning to shell out this year, with more people opting for cheaper gifts like flowers (25%) and clothes (11%), Coldiretti said.Around 9% of Italians said they would buy chocolates or sweets - a 5% drop on 2008 figures, while just 3% were planning to buy jewellery - down 6% on last year.But the group said florists expected to sell 20 million flowers this year, including 14 million roses, at a cost of 75 million euros.

Another farmers' group, CIA, said around 50% of under-18s would not buy presents this year, but 35% of these would say 'I love you' by SMS or email.The president of consumer rights group Codacons, Carlo Rienzi, meanwhile started an official campaign to ''cancel St Valentine's from the calendar as a form of protest, not against those in love, but against a pointless recurrence of unrestrained consumerism''.''Let's be honest, St Valentine's Day gets on everyone's nerves - both for singles, who feel alone and a bit sad, and for those in couples, who feel obliged to give something because of social convention,'' Rienzi said on his website, www.carlorienzi.it."

People who are really in love should not feel pressured by this symbol of consumerism but should celebrate their love every day,'' he added.Consumer rights association Adoc confirmed that lovers will also be saving their pennies on Valentine's meals, with 65% deciding to stay home and cook rather than go to a restaurant.Among the most popular dishes people planned to prepare on Saturday were polenta with creamed cheese, 'trofie' pasta with flowers and pesto and buffalo mozzarella with tomato mousse, followed up by chili-pepper-flavoured chocolate, strawberries or spumante.

Not everyone was shying away from grand romantic gestures, however.A Genoa bus driver has forked out 400 euros for advertising space on three city buses, one of which he drives, and which now bear the message ''Federica, I live for you only'' as a Valentine's present to his wife.''It was simply a way of showing my love and affection for my wife.

We've been married for 12 years and I love her to distraction,'' the doting driver said.Consumer moans are also unlikely to stop lovers from turning out in droves at St Valentine's birthplace at Terni in Umbria.

Each year couples swear undying passion in the cathedral that houses the saint's head.Couples also flock each year to the small Sardinian town of Sadali near Nuoro to ask the saint to look kindly on them and bless engagements.

The ritual has been going on for centuries in the town's 15th-century church, only the second in Italy to be devoted to St Valentine.In local dialect the saint is affectionately known as Su Coiadori (''he who betrothes'') and many of the couples expect their pilgrimage to bless their marriage (''coias'' in dialect).As well as saintly enterprises, Italy boasts other romantic rites for St Valentine's Day.The small southern town of Vico del Gargano, for instance, has a 300-year-old tradition of garlanding a lovers' lane.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/

Published on Fri, 02/13/2009 - 08:56 Life & Style

LATEST WORDS FOR 2008

2009-01-09T06:25:00.000-08:00

The most recent version of the Oxford English Dictionary includes some new words which due to common usage have finally achieved recognition. Below are just some of the latest buzzwords to be allowed entry into the word tome in 2008.

agroterrorism
n. terrorist acts intended to disrupt or damage a country's agriculture.
– derivatives
agroterrorist n.

celebutante
n. a celebrity who is well known in fashionable society.
– origin 1930s: blend of celebrity and debutante.

hoody (also hoodie)
n.
· informal a person, especially a youth, wearing a hooded top.
– origin 1960s: of unknown origin.

Yogalates (also trademark Yogilates)
n. a fitness routine that combines Pilates exercises with the postures and breathing techniques of yoga.
– origin 1990s: blend of yoga and Pilates.

zombie
n.
3. a computer controlled by a hacker without the owner's knowledge, which is made to send large quantities of data to a website, making it inaccessible to other users.

However this year has seen a number of words and phrases enter common
Usage in the English language and we now await the approval of the Boffins
at The Oxford English Dictionary to hopefully include some of these gems in
the future.

Bloggerati – the collective term for the great and the good, those influential
people within the blogging community.
Credit Crunch – squeezing of personal finances.
Edupunk – an anarchic style of teaching.
Nom de womb – the nickname given to an unborn baby.Salad dodger – a person who is not prone to dieting.

Christmas Trivia - You'll love this Yule tide entertainment

2008-12-20T03:35:00.000-08:00

Amaze your family and friends over the holiday season with your amazing knowledge of all-things Christmassy!

Think your Christmas Eve is stressful? Spare a thought for poor old Santa. He has less than one millisecond to deliver his presents to each household in the world - and that's if he does a 30-hour working day, allowing for the various time zones. Naturally he makes a bit of time back by skipping all the people on the naughty list.

Eve, the eventing time; Eve, the first woman; eve, the rebate under the edge of a roof, where it joins the walls.

Christmas trees have been popular in Germany since the 16th century but only made it over to Britain three hundred years later. Queen Victoria's husband, Prince Albert, originally came from Germany and made a tree part of the official celebrations at Windsor Castle.

Trees, large objects growing in a forest; trees, Irish for threes.

The most expensive Christmas card in the world is a hand-drawn card that John Lennon sent to Beatles manager Brian Epstein. It sold at auction for £5,600 in April 2000.

Card, a piece of stiff paper, for visiting, playing; card, a raffish person, a wag.

Baubles were probably invented thanks to alcohol. Around 200 years ago, Bohemian glass blowers used to enjoy a cold drink in their hot factories, and when tipsy would start competing to see who could blow the biggest glass bubbles. These then evolved into Christmas decorations.

Alcohol, distilled liquor, a spirit; Al Cohol, founder of AA.

The USA's official national Christmas tree, in Kings Canyon National Park, California, is almost 280 feet tall and 2,000 years old. A little girl who saw it in 1925 commented what an impressive Christmas tree it would make, and the President agreed, making it the country's official Christmas tree in 1926.

Feet, a third of a yard, a measurement; feet, lower appendages which stop the legs from fraying. The first fairy lights are said to be have appeared in 1882, when Edward H. Johnson - a friend of inventor Thomas Edison - had 80 tiny lightbulbs made especially for his home Christmas tree. Before this, people would use candles and set fire to their tinsel all the time.

Fairy, small mythical creature, usually doing good works; fairy, perjorative term for gay.

Christmas cards were introduced in 1843 by Sir Henry Cole. Before then it was tradition to write long, detailed letters to friends and family at Christmas, but Mr Cole couldn't be bothered with all that effort. He commissioned an artist to design some cards and filled them with a short greeting, saving us all a lot of writing each year.

Write, to set words, usually, to paper; right, a fundamental agreed principle; right, a person who makes or repairs wheels, waggons etc; right, opposite of left.

Traditional Christmas meals in England used to involve pig's heads and mustard. But when Queen Elizabeth I heard the news of the destruction of the Spanish Armada on Christmas Eve 1588, she declared that everybody in England should eat the dish she had enjoyed earlier that day - roast goose. When turkeys were introduced to Britain in the 1700s, they became a popular replacement.

Turkey, large domestic fowl; Turkey, the first Oriental county; turkey, something unfortunate or unexpected (slang US)

Mulled wine doesn't just make you happy because of the alcohol in it - neurologists have found that traditional Christmas spices like cinnamon, cloves and ginger release feel-good hormones in the body.

To mull, to heat with spices; to mull, to consider deeply.

Spiders are a big part of Christmas in the Ukraine. Trees are decorated with fake spiders and webs, and a real spider web found on Christmas morning is believed to bring good luck.

Spider, an arachnid; spider, an internet search robot.

'Silent Night' was first performed in Austria in 1818. Legend has it that the church organ in Oberndorf broke on Christmas Eve, leaving the priest - Joseph Mohr - with no music for his Christmas service. He handed the words to a poem he had written to a friend and asked that he write some guitar music to accompany it, and 'Silent Night' was born.

Organ, a wind powered musical instrument; organ, a part of the body.

Christmas was banned across England in 1647, when Oliver Cromwell's puritans were in charge. Pro-Christmas riots broke out across the country but the holiday wasn't officially restored until King Charles II took over 13 years later.

Banned, prohibited; band, rubber or musical.

The popular abbreviation 'Xmas' isn't merely popular because it's quicker to type on a mobile phone. 'X' is the first letter of the Greek word for Christ - Xristos - so the shortened spelling of Christmas has been around for hundreds of years.

Around, in usage; a round, of cards, drinks, a grouip of participants.

The Beatles and the Spice Girls are the only acts to have ever had three consecutive Christmas number one records - the Beatles from 1963 to 1965 and the Spice Girls from 1996 to 1998. 'Bohemian Rhapsody' by Queen is the only record to have been Christmas number one twice - in 1975 and 1991.

Records, phonograph discs; records, anything recorded onto a lasting surface; records, target sor achievements.

Popular Christmas song 'Good King Wenceslas' is about Wenceslaus I, Duke of Bohemia. He was a 10th century king who legend has it is sleeping inside a mountain in the Czech Republic with a huge army of knights, ready to wake and save the Motherland when he's needed.

Knights, armoured mounted warriors; nights, the dark bit, after days.

Caravaggio Created Firefly ''Photos''

2008-12-15T07:50:00.000-08:00

Caravaggio's reputation for revolutionary artistic genius has received a further boost following the discovery he may have used fireflies to create primitive ''photographs''.

Roberta Lapucci, conservation chief at the Florence-based SACI institute, believes the baroque artist created a firefly powder as an essential tool after converting his entire studio into a kind of camera obscura.

Writing in the monthly art journal Stile Arte, Lapucci reports Caravaggio filtered light through a purpose-made hole in his ceiling, using a biconvex lens and a concave mirror to reflect the image he planned to paint directly onto the canvas.

The use of a camera obscura to sketch the subject was not a new technique among artists, having gained prominence thanks to Leonardo da Vinci's writings.

The device works by projecting reverse images of outside objects onto the flat wall of a closed box through a lens in an aperture. By attaching a mirror to the apparatus, artists were able to trace the exact dimensions of the image onto a piece of paper.

Caravaggio spent months refining his technique, adjusting the light and the size of the models. However, by turning his entire room into a camera obscura, Caravaggio found himself working in the dark.

Lapucci believes this led him to create his own version of a distilled and dried firefly powder, first written about by the natural philosopher Giovan Battista della Porta in his 1558 work Magiae Naturalis.

Analysing the content of Caravaggio's paintings, Lapucci discovered traces of photosensitive substances that react to light.

She believes the master used a compound of white lead and firefly powder that allowed him to work in the dark, producing an outline on the canvas of the camera obscura image.

This produced a short-lived, fluorescent image, similar to a photograph, which he was then able to convert into a permanent sketch that formed the basis of the eventual painting.

The many techniques pioneered by Caravaggio (1573-1610) have confirmed his reputation as one of the most revolutionary artist of his time, although he is probably best known for his mastery of chiaroscuro lighting.

He abandoned the Renaissance focus on the human body and spiritual experiences for more realistic and dramatic atmospheres, mixing street characters with religious subjects.

http://www.italymag.co.uk

Words, words, words

2008-12-02T03:15:00.000-08:00

Rare fragment of early copy of Gospel goes on sale

Mike Collett-White of Reuters writes that an unusually large fragment from possibly the oldest copy of part of the Gospel of John will go on sale next month, when the torn piece of papyrus with Greek writing is expected to fetch up to 300,000 pounds ($460,000).

The fragment is believed to date to 200 AD, less than 170 years after the crucifixion of Christ, when Christianity was still illegal and around 100 years after experts believe the original Gospel was first written.

"This is either the first or the second oldest copy of this part of the text of the Gospel of John," Sotheby's specialist Timothy Bolton told Reuters as he held the document displayed between two sheets of clear plastic. "It is one of the finest and most celebrated of Gospel fragments, as there are very few pieces of this spectacular quality."

The appearance of page number 74 in one corner shows the leaf came from a relatively large volume of the whole Gospel, he explained, and adds to the rarity of the piece.
Its Greek text is an account of Jesus preaching in the temple, where people challenge his right to give evidence on his own behalf. It includes the cryptic and prophetic words: "Whither I go, ye cannot come."

The fragment was discovered in 1922 by British archaeologists Bernard Grenfell and Arthur Hunt at the site of the important early Christian community at Oxyrhynchus, about 120 miles from Cairo. It is believed to have been written in Alexandria. Most finds from the site ended up in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford and the British Museum, although some pieces, including the fragment, were sent to seminaries and colleges..

The U.S. divinity school where it ended up sold the fragment in New York in 2003, and it fetched $400,000, which Sotheby's said was the highest price ever paid at public sale for an early Christian manuscript.

Donatello's David returns to public gaze

2008-11-25T01:24:00.001-08:00

The first major work of Renaissance sculpture, Donatello's bronze of David, is nearing the end of a complex restoration process.

The statue will be unveiled to the public during an inauguration ceremony on November 28 in Florence at the Bargello Museum.
The final phase of the 18-month restoration has seen the famed statue entirely closed off to visitors because of the sensitive tools being used.

Technological innovations have been used throughout the process, such as laser combs invented specially to swipe clean the delicate gold leaf that decorates parts of the work.

The 200,000-euro project followed a major check-up on the state of the work, carried out early in 2007. The David was subjected to X-rays and a range of other more sophisticated diagnostic tests.

Most experts believe Donatello (1386-1466) sculpted the sensuous work in the 1440s.

It depicts David standing with one foot on Goliath's severed head. Apart from a hat and a pair of boots, David is naked.

At the time of its creation, it was probably the first free standing bronze nude since ancient times and it caused a sensation.

The almost feminine physique contrasts with Michelangelo's powerful, masculine depiction of the biblical figure, sculpted between 1500 and 1504.

It is also very different from Donatello's earlier marble version - created around 1412 - in which David is clothed.

Donatello, whose full name was Donato di Niccolo' di Betto Bardi, was the son of a Florentine woolcomber.

As a teenager, he worked in the studio of noted sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti.
Later, he travelled to Rome with the great architect Filippo Brunelleschi to study the monuments of antiquity.

Donatello's dramatic departure from stylised Gothic art is credited with kick-starting the Renaissance.
The Florentine sculptor even anticipated the use of perspective that is often thought a painterly invention - as can be seen in his early bas relief of St George and the Dragon on Florence's Orsanmichele church.

Other major Donatello works include a grim prophet called Habbakuk - or popularly, Zuccone (big head) - on Florence's Duomo and an equestrian warlord in Padua called the Gattamelata.

www.italymag.co.uk

Upper Tiber Valley - the 90th anniversary of the ending of the Great War.

2008-11-06T02:40:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening saw the launch of the exhibition in the Upper Tiber Valley of the exhibition to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the ending of the Great War. Historical enthusiasts were amazed by the wealth of detail assembled by Alvarro Tachini, during the four years of preparation for this event, from personal sources in the local Upper Tiber Valley, not just the fighters, but also their families.

The Mayors of Citta' di Castello (Umbria) and San Sepolcro (Tuscany) gave short addresses and read a letter from the President of the Italian Republic complimenting the organiser, Mr Tachini, because, probably, for the first time, two compeditive adjoining Italian regions had combined in complete harmony in order to support this wonderful effort.

The total content of the exhibition has been photographed and reproduced in a most attractive format, and is now produced as a good quality book available to the public. ( price publisher details sponsor)

For students of this period, collectors, social historians and archivists, this work is an important and deeply moving account of the sufferings endured by all classes of the population, and which was repeated in different lands and different languages for most of the peoples of of a once divided Europe.

The terrible military casualties incurred during the war were overshadowed by the effects of the Spanish 'flu', a plague that struck down millions in the war torn countries, and then, to add to the misery, an earthquake. All of these grim details are recorded in the exhibition, and the book, and serve to remind us all that this valley in central Italy was not always the green and pleasant land that we find today.

Eurochocolate 2008

2008-09-30T10:10:00.000-07:00

Eurochocolate is preparing to inaugurate its fourteenth edition with ChocolAge, the Chocolate Era, that will take place from the 18th to the 26th October in Perugia. (www.eurochocolate.com).

The Food of the Gods becomes today's protagonist, influencing the habits daily life. Though it means, for example, communicating through a chocolate bar instead of a mobile phone, as it appears on the Italian communication campaign:
“Cioccolato, senti quanto è buono” -“Chocolate, feel how good it is ”.

The images of the campaign actually portray many ordinary people using a chocolate bar as a cellphone for chatting, texting, taking pictures, listening to the music…Chocolate succeeds in catching modern technology in a funny and tempting trap. It turns in sweet batteries – The Chocopower – that bucks your day up and belongs to wellness and health after the entry of Chocopirin-A, already rebaptized “Chocolate Aspirin”. In Eurochocolate, then, insatiable lovers of chocolate, adults and children, will experience the Chocolate Era plunging in a present and futuristic dimension of over glowing delicacy.

Eurochocolate means also going through the culture of a fascinating town like Perugia, plenty of history, art and traditions that in nine days time becomes a huge chocolaterie en plein air to discover, also thanks to the successful Chococard offering sweet advantages for a funny experience in the name of leisure and goodness of chocolate. Advantages that will be immediately tangible among the stands of the Chocolate Show and those of the Rocca Pralina, two suggestive areas with more then 150 chocolate brands coming from each angle of the world.

Eurochocolate is also the instrument for promoting protection of important values as solidarity, biodiversity, traceability and sustainability of the production process of cocoa, aiming to guarantee a sustainable future based on the decrease of the differences between developed and developing countries.

With that mission, Eurochocolate World was born three years ago: a really appreciated vessel that promotes joint activities sponsored by international organization as ICCO (International Cocoa Organization) and Fairtrade TransFair Italia, one of the main organization for the certification of fair-trade products. Since then, Eurochocolate World confirms the success of the event in Perugia on this field as well, through concrete actions for economy development and awareness campaigns, beginning with the lessons of Equoscuola focused on fair-trade chocolate culture and addressed to the youngest generations.

Eurochocolate World hosts the second edition of the C8 (Thursday 18th October), the International Summit of the first eight countries world producers of Cocoa, that following the debate of last year on quality in cocoa production, will meet again in order to deal with the theme of Sustainability in the cocoa production process.

Another important vessel will be Equochocolate, the area dedicated to chocolate produced pursuing fair trade criteria, realized in collaboration with Fairtrade TransFair Italia.

www.umbriaonline.com

www.eurochocolate.com

La Lollobrigida revisits stardom with sculpture show

2008-09-07T09:59:00.000-07:00

Italian movie icon Gina Lollobrigida will be flashing her artistic talents in this Tuscan town, with an exhibition devoted to her sculpture.
Pietrasanta, a coastal town north of Lucca, is to showcase 30 bronze, marble and plastic sculptures by the actress.
The pieces will go on display later this month in the 14th-century Sant'Agostino Church, now an exhibition space, as well as outdoors in the central Piazza del Duomo.
The collection, the result of over ten years' work, is clearly inspired by the 81-year-old star's cinema career.
Many of the sculptures are portraits of her most famous screen characters.
A five-metre-high bronze statue, completed in 2002, will hold pride of place in Piazza Del Duomo. This depicts La Lollo as the gypsy Esmeralda opposite Anthony Quinn's Quasimodo in the 1957 film The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
A marble statue recalls the role that first won her international acclaim, the headstrong ''La Bersagliera'' in Pane Amore e Fantasia (1953).
Another marble piece 'La Amica' pays tribute to Lollobrigida's friendship with Marilyn Monroe while living in Hollywood.
But the exhibit also highlights the Italian's concern with the wider world, with a piece entitled Il Mondo per i Bambini (The World for the Children), recalling her years of work with UNICEF and Doctors Without Borders.
This is not the first exhibit of sculpture by La Lollo, who is an honorary citizen of Pietrasanta where she has had an artist's studio for the last ten years.
A travelling collection of her work wrapped up with an exhibition in Moscow's Pushkin Museum in 2003.
But while her sculpting talents have only come to public light in recent decades, La Lollo has had a lifelong passion for art.
As a young woman, she set her heart on an artistic career, winning a valuable scholarship to study sculpture and painting at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rome, before turning to acting.
In April 2000 she told Parade magazine that she ''studied painting and sculpture at school and became an actress by mistake''.
In 1992 she represented Italy at the Seville Expo with a sculpture entitled Living Together, showing a child on an eagle, intended to represent harmony between humankind and nature.
Then French president, Francois Mitterrand, complimented her on the piece, later awarding her the Legion of Honour for artistic merit.
Gina Lollobrigida was born in 1927 in Subiaco, a town near Rome. She first came to the attention of Italian film directors as a beauty queen, after coming third in the 1947 Miss Italy competition.
Her Hollywood breakout film was the 1953 John Houston movie Beat the Devil although today she is still best known for the ''Pane, Amore...'' series
She rose to fame on the back of her prototype Latin beauty and her short ''tossed salad'' hairstyle. A kind of curly lettuce was even named ''Lollo'' in her honour.
In the 1970s she drifted away from acting but became a highly successful photographer and photojournalist, once scooping an exclusive interview with Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
The exhibition runs in Pietrasanta from September 20 until November 16, after which it will tour the US.

www.italymag.co.uk

Etruscan tomb unearthed in Perugia

2008-08-12T02:19:00.000-07:00

An ancient Etruscan tomb has resurfaced after centuries underground during the course of building work in the central Italian city of Perugia.The tomb, which has been preserved in excellent condition, contains seven funerary urns, the municipal archaeology department said.It is in the shape of a square and was covered by a sheet of travertine marble, which had apparently remained untouched since being laid centuries ago.

The tomb is split into two halves by a pillar and there are two benches running along each side.The funerary urns, which were placed on the benches, were marked with brightly coloured mythological and religious motifs.A preliminary study suggests that writing on the side of the urns probably refers to a family that was called the Aneis.

In addition to the urns, the tomb also housed the remains of a bronze bed and various pottery shards.The site was discovered during digging work for a new roundabout in the Strassacapponi neighbourhood on the outskirts of the Umbrian town.

The Etruscans are believed to have formed the first advanced civilisation in Italy, based in an area called Etruria, corresponding largely to present-day Tuscany, Umbria and northern Lazio.

By the sixth century BC they had become the dominant force in central Italy, but repeated attacks from Gauls and Syracusans later forced them into an alliance with the embryonic Roman state, which gradually absorbed Etruscan civilization.Although the Etruscans had the upper hand in the early days and supplied Rome with the last three of its first seven kings including the famous Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud), the archaeological record of their once sweeping presence in central Italy is scanty compared with that of other civilisations.

Some historians have posited that the Romans actively tried to wipe out the traces of their predecessors, whose sensual and fun-loving approach to life contrasted with the spartan, austere and rigidly patriarchal life of the early Roman republic.Most of what we know about their civilisation is based largely on archaeological finds, since much of their language has yet to be deciphered.

http://www.italymag.co.uk/italy/umbria/etruscan-tomb-unearthed-perugia

Festival del Sole

2008-07-27T01:16:00.000-07:00

It is a triumph of all that is best about Italy. Music, art, wine, food and literature take centre stage among the narrow streets and vineyard-strewn slopes of Cortona during the Festival del Sole from August 2 to 10.

Now in its sixth season, the Festival is the brainchild of Barrett Wissman, head of arts management corporation IMG Artists, who first launched it in 2001 to celebrate “the art of life.”
This year, stars of the Bolshoi Ballet will open the event with an outdoor performance against the ancient tower and elegant palazzos of Piazza Signorelli, one of Cortona’s most scenic squares. Alexander Volchkov, Maria Allash and other soloists will dance old favourites from the Nutcracker, Swan Lake, Cinderella and Don Quixote. It is the first time that ballet is included in the festival’s programming and, in the words of Wissman himself, “what better way to do that than to start with the renowned Bolshoi.”

Music on the other hand has long been the mainstay of the event, and this year’s packed calendar hardly disappoints. Tenor José Cura and soprano Ana Maria Martinez will sing some of Puccini’s most yearning arias—the heart breaking E lucean le stelle, from Tosca, Un bel dì vedremo from Madama Butterfly and Che gelida manina from La Boheme. Soprano Danielle de Niese and the Venice Baroque Orchestra will perform a selection of Handel’s concertos and arias, and violinist Joshua Bell and pianist Natasha Paremski will play Mozart, Bach and Vivaldi.
Wissman has also drafted in actors Gabriele Lavia and Robert Redford to read poems by Giacomo Leopardi and Robert Frost, marked by the mellow notes of Nicola Luisotti on the piano. And at lunchtime, Piazza della Repubblica will turn into an open-air theatre staging free concerts by the UBS Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra. Pianist Piotr Anderszewski, together with Joshua Bell and the Verbier orchestra, will close the Festival with pieces by Mozart, Wagner and Mendelsshon.

“The Tuscan Sun Festival is a unique annual celebration of the arts set against the backdrop of the beautiful landscape of Tuscany,” says Wissman. “We are honoured to present this international festival every year and to once again welcome such a stellar list of artists to Cortona.”

But the Festival del Sole titillates the eye and the palate as much as the ears. Behind the sober façade of the Chiesa di Sant’Agostino, artist Sybille Szaggars will bring The Shape of Colour to life with her abstract paintings. The convent next door will be home to the Espontaneas exhibition of photographs by tenor José Cura, which focus on friendship, human dignity, poverty, old age, loneliness. It will also be the backdrop to cooking demonstrations by local chef Donatella Balducci, who will tease the tastebuds with nettle ravioli, lamb fricassee and almond brittle.
Art will also meet wine at the 13th century Palazzo Casali, where twenty-one artists, including Mimmo Rotella and Mark Kostabi, will display their works exploring music in art, while the Wine Consortium of Cortona, restaurateur Tonino and local shop Delizie Toscane will hold tastings of velvety wines, creamy cheeses and flavoursome cold cuts. And should this not suffice, there will also be wellness sessions, literary lectures and tai-chi every day around town.

To buy tickets to Festival del Sole performances,

call

+44 (0)20 8133 5571 (UK),

+1 646 797 2915 (US)

+39 0575 606 887 (Italy).

For further information visit the festival’s website, www.festivaldelsole.com.

Mondegreen

2008-07-25T06:09:00.000-07:00

The word "mondegreen" comes from a poem The Bonnie Earl o’ Moray which was misheard as “they have slain the Earl of Murray, and Lady Mondegreen” (“laid him on the green”) .

Are there any more out there?

My Mist Ache

2008-07-25T03:36:00.000-07:00

Eye have a spell in chequer
It came with my pea see.
It plainly marks four my revue, miss steaks eye can knot sea.

Eye strike a quay and tie pa word and weight for it to say
Weather eye yam wrong oar write.
It shows me strait a weigh

As soon as a mist ache is maid.
It nose bee fore two long and eye can put the air oar rite.
Its rare lea ever wrong.

Eye have run this poem threw it,
I am shore your pleased to no.
Its let her perfect awl the way.
My check her told me sew.

Jazzy 35th birthday for Umbria Festival

2008-07-14T08:23:00.001-07:00

Umbria's renowned jazz festival kicks off this weekend, with another dazzling line-up of top Italian and international stars from the world of modern music.
Umbria Jazz, the largest European event of its kind, gets under way on Friday morning with a traditional street parade through Perugia's medieval centre, led by the New Orleans-based Coolbone Brass Band.
The festival, celebrating its 35th birthday this year, still refuses to be pigeonholed, insisting on a mix of old and new, as well as a variety of jazz-related genres spanning experimental, instrumental, vocal, pop and rock.
The top international names appearing include legendary jazz greats such as tenor saxophonist Sonny Rollins in his only European performance of the summer and pianist Herbie Hancock.
Stars from a slightly younger generation range from the celebrated guitarist Pat Metheny, through award-winning vocalist Chaka Khan, to R&B singer-songwriter Alicia Keyes.
Alternative rock band R.E.M. will play the festival's closing concert on July 20.
But as well as giants from the US jazz scene, the festival also promises a host of Italian greats.
Top of the list is Italy's most famous jazzman, trumpeter Enrico Rava, who will perform a tribute to Chet Baker on the 20th anniversary of his death.
Internationally acclaimed pianist Stefano Bollani will appear alongside Brasilian guitarist and singer Caetano Veloso in an unexpected and keenly awaited pairing.
Other names on the program include jazz clarinettist Gabriele Mirabassi, saxophonist Stefano di Battista with trumpeter Fabrizio Bosso, and the pianists Ramberto Ciammarughi, Danilo Rea and Riccardo Arrighini.
Umbria Jazz, which was founded in 1973 by Carlo Pagnotta, will host around 300 concerts over 10 days.
As usual, it takes place in a variety of different venues throughout the region, including public squares, gardens, theatres, monuments and even restaurants, although the big-name events are staged in the open-air Santa Giuliana Arena in Perugia.
Events at the arena require tickets but many of the festival's other events are free.
Throughout the festival, two outdoor platforms stand at either end of Perugia's central thoroughfare with free concerts of accessible, popular jazz music.
In total, around 30 concerts are staged each day, running from late morning until well past midnight.
Umbria Jazz runs from July 11 until July 20. For more information and a complete program visit the festival's website at: www.umbriajazz.com.

Cannes prize winners thank Italy

2008-06-02T15:08:00.001-07:00

The producers of the two Italian films that gained major honours at Cannes, Il Divo and Gomorrah, have thanked Italy for giving a lifeline to independent cinema.
Gomorrah, adapted from the Roberto Saviano bestseller of the same name, gave Cannes audiences a revealing picture of the Naples Mafia, the Camorra.
Il Divo, a nickname of ex-Christian Democrat premier Giulio Andreotti, provided an eye-opening portrait of the controversial statesman.
Gomorrah's producer Domenico Procacci said the gangland expose', directed by Matteo Garrone, could not have been made without the support of the Italian culture ministry.
''You can't rely on the market to make films like Garrone's,'' he said.
He said the ministry and other big funders like the public broadcaster RAI ''have worked very well in the past few years''.
Andrea Occhipinti, producer of Il Divo, said ''this backing has been fundamental for recent Italian movie-making,'' citing a string of festival hits that have spurred talk of a mini-renaissance for Italian cinema.
Il Divo, directed by Paolo Sorrentino, won the jury award, Cannes' third prize.
Gomorrah picked up the second-highest laurel, the grand prize.
It was Italy's best result at Cannes since two films shared the Golden Palm in 1972 - Francesco Rosi's The Mattei Affair and Elio Petri's The Working Class Goes To Heaven.
This year's Golden Palm went to a French film for the first time since 1987, Lauren Cantet's The Class.
Italy last won the Palme d'Or in 2001 with Nanni Moretti's The Son's Room.

2008-05-04T01:08:00.000-07:00

Assisi

From May 8th to 10th the clocks in Assisi will be turned back

over 500 years for the city’s Calendimaggio Medieval pageant,

with people dressed in period costume,

processions, performers playing on period instruments,

archers, flag-throwers and more...
This important event will bring to Umbria

thousands of visitors from Italy and worldwide.

It is one of the most important events to take place this year in the area.

Biagio Antonacci in Perugia

2008-04-10T05:10:00.001-07:00

Perugia.

The popular Italian singer Biagio Antonacci will be performing at the Palasport Evangelisti on April 17th at 9.20pm, as part of his tour to promote his latest album "VICKY LOVE"

Info: Musical Box – Agenzia di Spettacoli
tel. 075 5056950 – 5156508.

Aperitivo in Musica 2008

2008-04-06T12:00:00.001-07:00

Perugia

This year's edition of Aperitivo in....musica,
now in its 10th edition, is now in full swing until April 20th, with a series of appointments featuring music, cocktails and refreshments. The city's bars, wine bars and meeting places are busily celebrating this event.

Perugia- the World Poetry Day

2008-03-20T02:34:00.000-07:00

Italy and all countries that adhere to the United Nations Unesco programme celebrate the World Poetry Day on March 21st, the first day of Spring and a day dedicated to the elimination of all racial discrimination. The day was instituted in 1999 and is also a chance for smaller publishers who promote young poets to emerge.

Cittaslow in Festival Dinner Music

2008-03-12T04:12:00.000-07:00

Orvieto

Now in its 10th edition, the Cittaslow Dinner Music, food and music festival will run from February 9th to March 15th at the La Penisola restaurant jazz club on the shores of Lake Corbara. Guests include Mimmo Locasciulli, Rita Marcotulli, Andy Sheppard, Antonello Salis, Fabrizio Bosso, Roberto Gatto, Sparagna and Joy Garrison.

International Women's Day

2008-03-07T09:53:00.000-08:00

Best wishes on Saturday 8th May to all the women of the world,

with special recognition for your dedication to your work,

your home and your family,

and thank you to each and every one of you for being.... you!