Do Over Day

Ciao Bloggisti!

 

It’s a day late but I just wanted to let you know about this revolutionary new holiday that was celebrated in Canada on the 26th. It’s called Do Over Day and it was founded by a guy called Reggie (?).

 

It was initially created for Canadians, considering our polite yet passive-aggressive nature tempered with “a collective deep sense of embarrassment about our many flaws”. But I think it could work on a world-wide level.

 

The idea behind it is fantastic. Basically, it’s a way of reliving the most significant moments of your lives or going back to undo something you really regretted. As they say on their official website, “Imagine re-enjoying your first kiss, the birth of your first child, or even your first marriage. Picture yourself re-experiencing the fabulous meals you’ve eaten, the exotic lands you’ve visited, the epic raves you cannot recall attending. Conversely, visualize yourself making amends for your life’s imperfect moments – the time you made a pass at your wife’s sister and got caught, or the night driving home from the pub when you accidentally ran over your neighbour’s shihtzu…”. It’s like travelling back in time, righting wrongs, undoing the woulda, coulda, shouldas that burden our daily lives. Now who wouldn’t want a second chance?

 

There are some videos on the  site but I think the best “do over” in cinematic history is in Superman. I’m pretty sure you all remember this scene, when a distraught Man of Steel discovers that he’s too late to save his beloved Lois. I still get goosebumps when I watch this, and not because of Marlon Brando’s giant head floating in the sky:  

 

 

Sigh! Now that’s love!! 

 

So now I’d really love to hear what you’d like to do over. As for me, I really wish I could go back to the time I tried out for Jeopardy when I was in high school. I would just love the opportunity to tell Alex Trebek what I really think of him.

 

Ok, so get your regret caps on and start thinking!!

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!

Blue is the new black

And no I haven’t become an Interista! I just wanted to keep you updated on our home reno. In my previous posts I showed you pics from the new kitchen. I’m loving it! Having a decent-sized kitchen makes it such a pleasure to cook. My daughter and I had a great time doing the Christmas baking together and I finally roasted a chicken to crispy perfection.

But just across the hall lay a vortex of confusion: the living room. Up until a  week ago it was jam-packed with boxes, bags and baby paraphernalia. I also had the sneaking suspicion that Elvis was lurking somewhere in the midst of all that mess, possibly close to the peanut butter and banana sandwich the workers left behind. But the hubby quickly cleared out the mess and made room for the painter to transform our hell hole into something a little less cringe-worthy.

Here are some before pics:

view of fireplace and french doors

picture it: a sofa and two armchairs in this space

a view of the vomit-hued buffet that we inherited but that I really loathe

And after!

Ta da! Now in technicolor!!

il cielo in una stanza!

I love the colour so much it even makes that buffet look almost decent

I’m really happy with the way the colour turned out in the living room. It’s always a bit hit or miss when you choose colours from a painter’s swatch but I really think it goes well with the floor and the wood fixtures. In a couple of weeks all the furniture will be arriving, some new, some antique, some Indian. Can’t wait! And I’ll be definitely taking more pics of the finished room.

Speaking of pictures, I was previewing the shots of the new living room when I happened to come across a few masterpieces snapped by my 5 yr old daughter on the sly. Like this:

I almost dropped the camera after seeing that one! Well, I guess she has a few exposure issues to work out before she becomes the next Annie Leibovitz but I’ll give her an A for effort!

ciao ciao!