Here come the sons!

Ciao Bloggisti!

Big news everyone!! As you know, I’m a Beatlemaniac so when I read this article (courtesy of Abbey Rodent), I was so happy I started doing the Pharrell McDonald’s dance in the office:

While a Beatles reunion concert is sadly out of the question, Beatle fans may just get the next best thing: Julian & Sean Lennon, James McCartney, Dhani Harrison, and Zak & Jason Starkey are getting together for a series of concerts this summer.

Calling their outing the ‘Here Comes The Sons’ Tour, the surprising Beatles siblings “reunion” came about when Julian Lennon visited Friar Park, the home of the late George Harrison, at the request of Dhani Harrison and his mother Olivia, Harrison’s widow. Olivia had come across some George Harrison demos which George had intended to send to John Lennon in the months prior to Lennon’s tragic death. Harrison had recorded the demos trying to emulate Lennon’s voice, and decided that the songs were better suited for John. After Lennon’s passing, Harrison shelved the tapes, which were later discovered by Olivia.

Listening to the songs, Olivia also felt the songs needed a Lennon vocal and invited Julian Lennon to Friar Park to hear the demos. Julian listened and liked the songs, but thought that there were some parts that needed a higher, younger vocal register than he could muster. He rang up his half-brother Sean, and emailed an mp3 of a couple of the demos to the youngest Lennon. Both Lennon’s were excited about the songs and arranged to record them at Friar Park with Dhani and Sean doing the guitar parts.

Playbacks of the songs revealed to the young Harrison and Lennon Brothers that some distinctive bass and drum parts were needed. On a hunch, they rang Sir Paul McCartney to see if he might have interest in the project. Sir Paul politely refused, but suggested that perhaps his son, James, might be the man they needed to play bass. James McCartney arrived at the sessions with Zak & Jason Starkey, the sons of Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, who happened to be visiting the McCartney’s in London. The six Beatles siblings then went to work on the Harrison demos, and the finished results so pleased them, they decided that not only would they release the songs, they would also record additional original material for an album release, to be followed by a brief tour of the United States.

At a press conference held at Abbey Road Studios, the Beatles siblings made an official announcement of the tour and album release. “We’re all very excited by the songs”, Dhani Harrison beamed, “Dad really wanted John Lennon to record these songs, and in a way, I feel that we’re honoring his wishes”. “I’m very humbled that Olivia and Dhani asked me to listen to George’s demos”, chimed in Julian Lennon, “and I’m very happy that Sean is onboard this project too. We’ve been talking for years about doing something together, and these songs felt just right for us. And to have Dhani, James, Zak & Jason involved makes this a very special project as well”.

“Our Dads at first were a little leery about us doing this”, said James McCartney , referring to McCartney and Starr, “but after they heard what we put together, they gave us their blessings”.

“It’s funny in a way”, added Zak Starkey, “I’ve played with my Dad, The Who and Oasis, but playing with these guys, who are more or less as much brothers to me as Jason is, I’m really excited at the prospect of going on the road with them”. When asked who came up with the idea of calling the tour ‘Here Comes The Sons 2006′, Dhani Harrison raised his hand. “Guilty!’, he laughed, joined by the other five. “After all, I made the phone call!”, which elicited another round of laughter from the group. The tour kicks off at Irving Plaza in New York City on April 1st. More dates to be announced. Stella McCartney will be designing the stage wear for the group.

I hope the tour makes its way to Italy. That would be a dream come true.

 

Would you go to the Beatle offspring concert? Or do you prefer Offspring? Discuss!

Big Mac, Filet-O-Fish, Quarter Pounder, French Fries, Icy Coke, Milkshakes, Sundaes and Apple Pie!

Ciao Bloggisti!

I was about to go to bed but decided to go on Dlisted for one last dose of dirty gossip. BIG MISTAKE! Now I’m going to have nightmares of Pharrell Williams dancing inside a Paris McDonald’s, begging for apple pie at six in the morning. And no, I’m not on drugs. But thanks for asking!

If you don’t believe me, have a look for yourself:

Now, I love Pharrell but that song & dance number was a superfail. And unimpressive. I mean, this is a man who’s worked with Madonna and all he got was “just breakfast”.

Poor guy! Who can blame a traveller for craving a taste of home while in a foreign country. Us expats can relate to Pharrell’s predicament. I once cheated on my beloved Tim  Horton and ate a stale Burger King donut in Milan because I was just that desperate.

I’d love to hear the bizarre cravings you’ve had on holiday or while abroad.  Have you ever sung for your supper?

Oh, and if you’re interested in “just breakfast” take a look at my friend Pickle Pea’s blog. I want that toast now!

 

One more thing before I forget, I just wanted to announce the winner of the giveaway. It’s NYC/Caribbean Ragazza! Congrats and I hope you enjoy the book!!

My favourite screen kisses

Ciao Bloggisti!

Now, I’m not a big fan of Valentine’s Day. The idea of “love” being forcefed down my throat like a foie gras goose really triggers a gag reflex in me. In fact, to counter all the sappy, chocolate-filled twee, I’m going out to listen to some combat rock tomorrow night. I’m also a big supporter of San Faustino, the patron saint of singletons. You can read all about him at Bleeding Espresso.

BUT, while I was cooking dinner tonight, muttering to myself about the state of the world and the commercialization of love,  I happened to hear some music on the news that instantly turned this cynical old broad into mush. It was the the soundtrack to the Academy Award-winning film Cinema Paradiso.

There’s something about that movie that turns me into a blubbering idiot, no matter how many times I watch it. Especially the final scene. Now, if you haven’t seen it (and shame on you if you haven’t!) this is a spoiler alert. In this last scene, successful film director Salvatore is back in Rome after attending the funeral of  his mentor and father-figure Alfredo. Salvatore watches the old reel of film that Alfredo left for him and is moved to discover that it’s a montage of all the “risqué” kissing scenes that were cut from the films shown at the Cinema back in the day.  It’s practically a collection of the most famous screen kisses from Italian and American cinema. You’d have to be made of stone not to swoon at this scene.  So, it’s with this that I reluctantly wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day:

Baci baci!

Becks: Milan forever, Galaxy never?

Well, that just might be the mantra David Beckham is repeating in his mind right now, especially since he finally came out of the open and declared his desire to stay with AC Milan. As you might know, and as I wrote back in October, Becks is on loan to Milan from the Los Angeles Galaxy and was supposed to return to the California team on 9th March. But after his impressive performance over the last few weeks, including scoring two goals, AC Milan’s management have been repeatedly expressing their wish that Becks stay at San Siro even if the team’s CEO, Adriano “Uncle Fester” Galliani, has stated, “David is a player with Los Anglese Galaxy. We can’t kidnap him.”

But Wednesday Becks added his two cents and finally admitted that he would rather play for the Serie A team and also gushed, “I have enjoyed my time here. I knew I would enjoy it but I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I have and do as well as I have.” Yes, he has done rather well, contrary to what I predicted in my previous post, but for once I’m happy to have been wrong! Beckham has proved to be a valuable player and more importantly, he’s caught the eye of England captain (and former Milan coach) Fabio Capello.

Yes, he’s been such a good boy! So much so that he doesn’t even indulge in any Milanese par-taying, preferring to hang at his luxurious hotel watching DVDs all on his lonesome than celebrating with his teammates and Italian starlets, well, that is if you believe this Daily Mail story. So that’s why I haven’t bumped into him at H&M yet. Ah, what a martyr!

And I also didn’t run into him Wednesday night at the Casa 139, a small club where I caught a fantastic young band from Naples called GNUT.  I appreciated their musicianship, their lyrics, their stage presence and it didn’t hurt that they were EXTREMELY easy on the eyes. You can see for yourself in their video  Esistere:

Buon weekend!

I wish I was Wonder Woman

Ciao Bloggisti!

Gosh, it’s been such a busy month for me! So much to do at work, my toddler’s started doing back flips on the bed, we’re finishing renovations in the house, my car conked out on me last week and I have laundry coming out of my eyeballs (lovely mental image, non?). I’m so exhausted when I finally put the kids to bed that I just don’t have the energy or the inspiration to write anymore. And that’s getting me down because I really do enjoy blogging.  But instead writing I’ve been winding down by watching the superlative  Peep Show (it’s not what you think!) or The Beatles Anthology.

So what’s a desperate blogging mommy to do? Invoke the help of the gods? Nah, I’m sure they have better things to think about, like how to best destroy the weapon of mass destruction that is Aretha Franklin’s hat.  No, I have a better idea, I’m going to ask you, my dear friends from cyberspace, what to do. How can a gal with two young kids, a full-time job and no Mr. Belvedere  get her writing groove back? What do you do to get over the dreaded “block”? What are some new blogging tricks and doodads that might help me get inspired again?

One woman who has inspired me since I was a wee lass is Wonder Woman. Yes, she’s a hard act to live up to but maybe she’s just the person to help a working mommy blogger. Maybe, just maybe if I watch Lynda Carter it’ll turn me into Wonder Blogging Woman, able to deflect bullets, meet translation deadlines, bake lasagne, lasso her kids and write killer posts with just a simple spin. Ok, it’s a long shot but here goes…

See, it worked! I was able to lasso the demonic writer’s block and debilitate him with my magic powers!! Now if I can only manage to sort the laundry in my satin tights I’ll be set.

Happy Birthday John!!

Ciao Bloggisti!

 

Today is the 68th anniversary of the birth of one of my favourite artists, John Lennon. I cannot even begin to describe how much he and his music influenced me and how much his presence is missed.

 

 

This year I was lucky enough to visit his hometown, Liverpool, as I mentioned in June. It was amazing to wander around his old stomping grounds, see his childhood home, kiss the ground of the church hall where he met Paul McCartney, etc. 

 

So, to celebrate good ole Johnny’s birthday, I’ve been listening to his music and watching funny clips all morning. It’s put me in such a good mood that I’d like to share the love with all my friends in the blogosphere!

 

This first video is from a bizarre 1964 Swedish press conference. John is presenting his book “In His Own Write” along with his four friends George Parasol, Ringo Stone and Paul McCharmly.  The interviewer is clueless and John and George are quite yummy, don’t you think?

 

 

 

The next one is one of my favourite solo songs, “Nobody Told Me“. It’s a fun video featuring John, Yoko, Sean Lennon (happy birthday to you, too!), a Canadian flag and Jack Palance (?).

 

 

So, what are your favourite John Lennon songs? What do you think he would be doing today if he were alive?

Gnocco fritto and Vasco

Ciao Bloggisti!

How was your weekend? Mine was fun and fat-filled because we went out for a friend’s birthday to a restaurant specializing in gnocco fritto. Gnocchi fritti are fried dough, sort of like mini beaver tails (if you don’t know what those are, check out Frutto della Passione’s description of this classic Canadian snack). The Italian version is from the Emilia-Romagna region and is eaten warm, accompanied by an assortment of coldmeats like prosciutto crudo, culatello, and salami. We went to the Gnocco Fritto 2 restaurant in Milan’s Naviglio area and they just kept serving basket after basket of the fried wonders. Not only did we have generous helpings of coldmeats, we also filled our gnocchi with some lovely soft cheeses like gorgonzola, taleggio and torta alpina.  I would post pictures of our meal but my husband forgot to bring the camera!! GRRRRRR!! Anyway, you’ll just have to imagine it for yourselves. (In retaliation, one day I’m going to dig up some old pictures of my husband dressed in drag for Carnival and post those!)

After dinner we went out for drinks at a nearby bar. Since it was Saturday night, of course there was a band playing cover songs far too loudly for my aging ears, making it almost impossible for me to talk to my friends. So I was kind of forced to listen to the music. Much to my surprise, the band wasn’t half-bad. They played the usual Top Ten, some Amy Winehouse,  Duffy, etc. But the guy did a spot on imitation of Vasco Rossi. For those of you who don’t know, Vasco (aka Blasco) is one of Italy’s most hard-living, hard-rocking singer/songwriters. And like the gnocco fritto, he hails from Emilia. I wanted to post a video of one of Vasco’s biggest hits, Albachiara, but I couldn’t find anything except unofficial concert footage. However, I did find something unusual that might be appreciated by those of you studying Italian. This is a video set to Albachiara but done in sign language by a man called Daniele. I don’t know much about signing but I thought he did a fantastic job at interpreting the song.

And aren’t his eyes expressive? Ah, there’s nothing like good music to start the week off right!

Buon lunedì!!