Posts filed under ‘Disco 2000’
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!
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!!
I am outta here, bloggisti!!!
Ciao Bloggisti!!
It’s me! Your long lost blogger in da Boot!! What?!? You don’t remember wittle ole me?? Well, you’re more than justified for forgetting. I’ve been naughty and haven’t been posting that much lately. I’ve just come out of a VERY hectic period at work and at home. But at the back of my mind I would have these terrible feelings of guilt for neglecting my pals in the blogging world. And now that I’m going on holiday and won’t be posting nearly half as much (if at all!) my guilt has multiplied tenfold. Ah, all those years at Catholic school…
Anyway, I’m just writing to say “hi” and “bye” before I leave tomorrow. Yup, I’m going back home! Back to Canada, Toronto, T.O., T Dot, aka the centre of the universe. And I just can’t wait to see the fam, my friends and Tim Hortons! Mmmmm donuts!!
Don’t worry, I’ll take lots of pictures and I promise to post more come September. I just might pop in to say ciao once in a while but it might be difficult. In the meantime, just so you don’t forget about Milanese Masala, here’s a video by Glass Tiger, a band from Newmarket, Ontario that was really popular in the 80s.
Mi mancherete!! Ciao ciao!!!
Summer romance
Ciao Bloggisti
Un’estate fa la storia di noi due, era un po’ come una favola…..
Have you ever had one of those summers? You’re on holiday, maybe on the beach and you happen to meet that special someone. And its like a chemical reaction. Maybe it’s the heat, maybe it’s having too much free time on your hands or the languidness of summer. The romance soon becomes all-consuming, even dangerously so. But it’s a flickering flame and destined to burn itself out once September rolls around.
This is the story behind one of my favourite summer songs, Un’estate fa, originally written in French by Michel Fugain (title: Une Belle Histoire), with Italian lyrics by self-styled Latin lover Franco Califano. It’s been covered by many over the years, from Mina to the Homo Sapiens but I like this recent version by Delta V. The singer is American and you can sort of hear it in her accent when she sings. I also love the retro feel of the video (especially those white go-go boots!).
Whenever I go to the Riviera, where I think the video is set, it inspires thoughts of intrigue and romance, like To Catch a Thief, Two for the Road, etc. That pesto sauce sure plays some funny tricks on my mind.
Have you ever had a brief but unforgettable summer fling? What was the soundtrack to your storia estiva?
Sweet summer music
Ciao Bloggisti!
I grew up in the suburbs of Toronto, which means that the only beach action I got was jumping through the sprinkler or wading in my Mr. Turtle pool. Woo hoo! To be honest, one year we did make it to legendary Wasaga Beach (aka Ontario’s Riviera). Yes, there were nice sandy beaches and cotton candy for sale. But it’s nothing like the gorgeous seaside my kids enjoy here in the Mediterranean.
Now that summer weather has finally arrived in Italy, people are heading to the nearest beaches to roast in the sun and swim in the balmy waters. The Milanese usually flock to Liguria or the Adriatic Riviera while Romans head to nearby Ostia or Fregene. Celebrities, soccer stars and their WAGS du jour always make sure the paparazzi get shots of them in Forte dei Marmi on the Tuscan coast or in Sardinia’s Costa Smeralda. And every year there is the dreaded summer song, or the tormentone d’estate. It’s usually a horrible dance song played to death on the radio, beaches and clubs that by August I’m ready to throw my stereo out the window.
But I’d like to look back to a simpler time, the 50s and 60s, during Italy’s post-war heyday. Italians made some great summer songs back then – classics like Sapore di Sale, Abbronzatissima, and Azzurro. Those are songs that still bring to mind lazy days on the beach and summer romances. Ah!
Singer Edoardo Vianello was the king of the summer song back in the 60s and I found this cute clip of his his bizarrely-named hit, Con Le Pinne, Fucile e Occhiali (literally, “With Fins, Spear Gun and Mask” ????). I like this video because it gives you a snapshot of Italian beach culture at that time. And isn’t it great to see women with curves for a change?
Enjoy!
LaToya are you okay?
Ciao Bloggisti!
Enough of Paris for the moment. Let’s talk about LaToya Jackson! Or maybe I should let the marvellous Michael K at DListed do the talking. Jacko dressed as Charo! Ha!!
I loved that post so much that I dedicated a special Disco 2000 muscial medley to that horrifying mental image.
So here’s Jacko:
And here’s Miss Charo, featuring Red Green on bongos:
So, who do you think LaToya’s inspiration was?
Poo poop pee doo!
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