May 2006
Monthly Archive
Sat 27 May 2006
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Slowly the Italian Legal System Catches Up with the USA
An Italian court recently awarded 500 Euro to a dog owner for pain and suffering when the owner’s dog was run over by a car. The car hit the dog in a pedestrian crosswalk where the owner and her dog had the right of way.
The Da Vinci Code film
I mentioned last week that it bombed with the critics at the Cannes Festival. I checked my favorite site for movie reviews (www. rottentomatoes.com) and discovered that only 23% of American critics gave it a favorable review. Of course, among those 23%, some thought it was very good. So, despite the consensus of the critics, many may enjoy it.
One of my favorite scenes in Italian films is from ‘Divorce, Italian Style’ made in the 1960s before divorce was legal in Italy. In this scene the narrator is telling how a very evil film came to his town, and the local priest warned people not to see it. As he is narrating, you see on the screen first the priest giving the warning and then the gymnasium where the film will be shown. Workers are setting up chairs in the gymnasium in every possible place. Next you see the gym overflowing with spectators (almost all men) who are watching the film ‘La Dolce Vita.’
I was reminded of this scene when I went to the cinema recently. I went to see the new film (praised at Cannes) by Almovodar ‘Volver.’ It was on one of the three screens. On the other two was ‘The DaVinci Code.’ Although priests rarely warn parishioners about films now, and films are no longer ‘condemned’ by the Church, still everyone in Italy knows the opinion of the Catholic Church about this movie. There was a huge crowd. In fact there were not enough seats for all who wanted to see ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ I think the audience for ‘Volver’ was swelled a bit by folks who could not get into see ‘The Da Vinci Code.’ As usual in such matters. Italians pay little attention to the Church.
New Cell Phone
My cell phone stopped working last week, and I had to replace it. These instruments seem to last about two years for me. It may not help that I drop it on the floor from time to time. I buy the least complicated model for 50 Euro. There are ones that cost 800 and 900 Euro. They have many features, but a number of these features (such as video games) make little sense to me on a small cell phone screen.
Political Consistency in Italy
Politicians sometimes change their minds on issues. This is fine. Also sometimes they say inconsistent things to take advantage of whatever sounds best at the moment. When a politician does this in the United States, he runs the risk that the nightly TV news or his opponents will quickly point out that he said something different one week, one month, or one year ago. So there is a risk to simply saying what sounds best today without trying to be consistent.
In Italy there is little risk. Nobody seems to be bothered by such inconsistencies. Why? First, I think, Italians have little faith or trust in politicians. So if you point out that somebody speaks out of both sides of his mouth, the reply would probably be ‘Of course he does; he is a politician.’ Second, since it is done often without risk, politicians don’t point out the inconsistent statements of their opponents because then their opponents can simply do the same to them. There appears to be a sort of a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ among politicians not to dwell on such inconsistencies.
A small example. One day a leader of the opposition to the new center-left government will say that the opposition will be totally against the new government with the goal that this new government will be unable to govern and will fall quickly. The next day this same politician (or a different leader in his party) will complain that the new government is not cooperating with them. In Italy saying thee two things in succession is not seen as ridiculous.
Lunch at a New Wine Bar
There is a new Wine Bar in town one of the owners of which is a Pistoia native who spent most of his life in Canada. It has a fixed menu (with some choice among entrees) for lunch for 9.50 Euro. I tried it out. I had for starters a potato and fish puree. This was followed by clams and shrimp with a type of cereal grain they eat in Italy but not in the USA. Then I had beef with mushrooms followed by a nice dessert. Water and coffee were included in the price. It would be very difficult to get a meal of this scope and quality in the USA for such a price. I was at the Bar for over two hours. Everything is prepared to order and service is leisurely. While I ate I watched on the large screen TV the film ‘Pretty Woman’ which was being shown without sound but with Italian subtitles. You may recall it is sort of a modern ‘My Fair Lady’ with Lisa Doolittle as a prostitute.
American Ambassador to Italy, Ronald Spogli, Visits Pistoia
He came to see the Breda Works factory which produces subway cars for some American cities. He also took a walking tour of the city. He is a businessman from LA who was born in Italy. So he speaks Italian and did not need a translator. This is unusual because the ambassadors to major nations are usually political appointees, as Spogli is, and not career diplomats. These political appointees ordinarily speak only English.
Cleaning the House (Clothes and Dishes) in Italy
Several friends mentioned to me an article in the April 25 Wall Street Journal about how certain convenience cleaning products for the home had not sold well in Italy. The Italians believe that if it is easier to use, it also is probably less effective. Cleaning products are a big industry in Italy where the homes are spotless. Over 72% of Italians, according to the article, own more than eight cleaning products. Products that ‘clean everything’ are not trusted. Only 30% of Italian homes have dishwashers (I have one) because many women think they can get the dishes cleaner by washing them by hand. Italians are less likely to put good clothes into a washing machine. Consequently machines in Italy are made with a much slower spin cycle than in the USA and elsewhere in Europe.
The Soccer Scandal Continues
One problem with the ever widening soccer scandal here is how can you effectively punish the teams involved without bringing the whole world of top soccer into a collapse. One of the typical serious punishment s here for a team is to demote it to the minor leagues for a while. The problem here is that the big contract for TV broadcasting of top soccer games would be imperiled. In American terms, the networks are not going to pay a lot of money to broadcast a game between the NY Yankees and the Iowa Cubs or between the LA Dodgers and the Harrisburg Senators. Another serious punishment would be to bar certain teams from playing in the all European Champions League. The top four Italian teams participate in this League. Here too the lucrative TV broadcast contract would be a problem. The network pays top dollar to broadcast the best teams playing each other.
After a lot of righteous indignation over past abuses, I think some face saving ’slap on the wrist’ will be found.
Mon 22 May 2006
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In Newsletter 183 I referred to an earlier newsletter (number 102) about a trip to Calvello. In fact, I meant to refer to an even earlier one, number 89, in June 2004 on my website www.bob.it.tt
Sat 20 May 2006
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Return to Calvello
One of the most popular newsletters I wrote from Italy was number 102 which you can see by clicking on the September 2004 link on the right side of my web page (
www.bob.it.tt) It told of my first trip to Calvello, the village from which my maternal grandparents emigrated to America. I returned there last week for the semi-yearly festival of the Virgin in which the statue of the Virgin is moved from the town church to the mountain church-this is reversed in the fall. Last time I rode in a car up the mountain and then walked in the procession as the Virgin was moved back down into town. This time, unfortunately, the procession went up the mountain, about 8 miles.
I stayed with a relative in a small apartment in her house. Although the weather was warm, the stone houses in the village have not yet warmed up from the cold winter air. There seem to be a lot of old people in Calvello. The air is fresh. There is little stress. People get good exercise simply by walking up and down the streets of town. Medical care is available. My guess is that the longevity there is better than in the large cities.
One of my earliest memories, perhaps the earliest, is of my grandmother who died when I was three. She used to say laughing (in her southern Italian dialect) ‘a slap in the face’ or ‘a slap on the bottom’ which she would accompany with a mock slap. I think she may have made a primitive kind of pizza which is simply a thick bread with tomato sauce and oregano on it baked in the oven. (One of my aunts definitely made this kind of pizza.) I hadn’t seen this type of pizza in Tuscany, but I saw it in Naples on my way to Calvello. I brought two slices for memory’s sake.
While in Calvello I looked at a small house, two large rooms and a bath. It was modernized and one could buy it fully furnished for 10,000 Euro. A four or five room house costs 20-25,000 Euro. These houses are in the old part of town where fewer people live because you can’t drive a car to the house and the houses are smaller. About 30 years ago there was an earthquake in Calvello. This allowed people whose houses were damaged (and others who falsely claimed that the house was damaged) to get money to build a new house. There was a shift of population to the newer part of town.
A Dinner In Calvello
After the procession, I went to a relative’s country house. They have a business that provides tours on horses of the local area. Some of the dinner was game hunted near their land. We had: cooked pasta with mushroom sauce, baked lasagna, rabbit. wild boar, liver (cooked with herbs and vegetables), pork, salad, cantaloupe, two different desert cakes, wine, water, and coffee.
Returning from Calvello
I was routed, for the first time, up the Adriatic coast of Italy which I had never seen. The train runs along the coast. As I have noted, Italy’s economy has done poorly over the last few years. Still there was much construction of condominiums along the beach area. Somebody has money in Italy. Some people think that in the USA the rich are getting richer and the rest are getting poorer. This may be true for Italy.
Soccer Scandal
This is still the number 1 news story in Italy, and the number of clubs involved, and the breadth of the accusations continues to grow. One name for the scandal is Calciogate. ‘Calcio’ is the word for soccer. So you can see the American influence in Italian vocabulary. In the USA in about 1918 there was the Black Sox scandal in baseball; nothing like that has occurred in baseball since that time. In Italy there is a big scandal in the world of soccer every 10 years or so. I saw a summary of past ones on TV.
How Can You Identify College Girls from the USA?
There are many more American college women than men studying in Italy. One way to pick out Americans is that the women wear flip-flops. I have a second way. Whenever I see a group of college-age women and one or more of them is significantly overweight, I know that I can start talking English with them.
Techniques for Reconciling with An Estranged Wife –Italian Style
A story from the Italian press:
Judges clear man who tried to coax estranged wife into bed (ANSA) – Rome, May 12 – Italy’s supreme court kept up a reputation for dodgy sex rulings on Friday by giving the thumbs up to estranged husbands who try to cajole unwilling spouses into having sex .
The court turned down an appeal from prosecutors bidding to pin a sexual assault charge on a man who grabbed his estranged wife, cuddled her and insisted on renewing their physical relationship .
She turned down his demands, managed to free herself and the two came to blows .
In turning down the sex charge, the court noted that the men had “embraced her passionately and uttered words of affection, desire and frustration, with the possible intention of restoring conjugal unity” .
It said the woman had herself “admitted he only cuddled her, without feeling her up” .
His actions should therefore be seen as “a simple gesture of affection, even though he was trying to have sex” .
Cannes Film Festival
This is big news in Italy. There was a lot of coverage when “The Da Vinci Code” bombed with the critics at Cannes. I would have thought with its action-filled story, it would make a good movie. Perhaps, however, the cliffhanger aspects of the plot would make a better 1930s style movie serial than a full length film.
New Italian Government
The new government was sworn in this week. The Italian Parliament has more members than the US Congress. The President’s Cabinet in Italy is larger than in the USA. You have to have lots of ministries in the cabinet to provide posts for politicians from Italy’s many political parties. Unlike the USA, the President’s cabinet in Italy is made up largely of the leaders of political parties or others active in elective politics. My guess is that the number of government employees per citizen is higher in Italy than in the USA. I noticed in the New York Times this week that in the primary election in Pennsylvania, 12 veteran incumbent Republican state senators lost their bid to be re-nominated to members of an upstart group that challenged these senators because they were not sufficiently conservative in their actions. Such a ‘popular uprising’ would be impossible in Italy where the parties control everything.
Sat 13 May 2006
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Visitors to Pistoia
Although Pistoia is not a primary tourist city, it has visitors nevertheless. Recently I ran into a group of alumnae from Smith College who were touring the famous nursery schools of Pistoia that attract visitors from all over Europe. Next I discovered a group of students from the University of North Carolina that was visiting art education programs here. But the most famous recent visitor was PAUL NEWMAN. His charitable foundation has a program of establishing camps in lovely locations for children with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses. Here they can have a special camping experience. One of these camps is near completion close to Pistoia. Paul Newman called it one of the most beautiful locations in the world.
Paying an Italian Parking Ticket
Parking and traffic tickets are very expensive in Italy. Recently I talked to a German tourist who just had received a 100 Euro ticket for parking in a prohibited place in downtown Pistoia. He said in Germany this ticket would have been 20 Euro. I directed him to the appropriate police office to complain, but I was not optimistic about his prospects. He had a rental car. This means the municipality will send the ticket to the rental car company who will pay it and charge his credit card. The company will probably pay it at a discount to Pistoia but charge him the full price. This is how things operate in Italy.
Style Magazine
The New York Times on Sunday occasionally has a magazine insert with a title such as “Men’s Fashions” or “Fashions for the Home”. The “Corriere Della Sera” of Milan has a Friday magazine insert –”Style” It has well over 200 pages and makes the New York Times effort look like a poor cousin. If one could operate a nation only on style, Italy clearly would lead the world.
Cigarettes
They cost about the same in Italy as in the USA. Here, however, you can buy them in packages of 20 or 10. For the first time last week I saw a package of five. The brand name — Al Capone.
What is Really Important in Italy?
This week the Italian Parliament elected a new President of the Republic — a ceremonial post that also has a few important political powers. On the day of the election, the first three pages of the newspaper carried a different story: the latest scandal in the world of professional soccer. This one concerns some top teams exercising undue influence on the selection of referees for their games. In fact, some Italian soccer fans had told me that this was the case, but in Italy, when something everyone knows to be true is in fact proven to be true, it is a great scandal.
The retiring President of the Republic, Carlo Ciampi, did a very good job. Both sides of the political spectrum wanted him to take another seven year term. He is in his late 80s and opted to spend the rest of his life with his family. He noted that he did not want to be like a king. I’m sure he has his faults, but he seemed to me to embody much of what is best in the Italian character. His successor, Giorgio Napolitano is in his early 80s. He is a former member of the Communist party, the first former Communist to hold this post.
New Lunch Spot
A friend told me about a good place to get a cheap lunch, the cafeteria of the senior citizens’ home near my house. In fact, the food is good although there is not much atmosphere. I can view eating there as getting into training for when my children put me ‘in the home.’
Restaurant Report
Last year I noted that a new Brazilian dinner buffet restaurant opened near me. Although there are luncheon buffets at bars in Italy (Tavola Calda), I predicted that the Italians would not like paying dinner meal prices for a buffet restaurant where the food is in warming trays for hours. The restaurant closed recently, although I can’t be sure that this was for the reason I predicted.
Three months ago the first Pakistani “kebob” shop opened in town. This place has a large cylinder of pressed meat that revolves in front of a radiant grill. They shave pieces of meat off the cylinder and put it in pita bread with tomatoes, lettuce, onions, sauce. etc. The cost is 3.50 Euro. Now there are at least three such shops in town. I hope for even more, because my friend Max from Berlin tells me that there are so many of these in Berlin that the price of the sandwich there has dropped to 2 Euro.
Bike Riding
I recently completed a 35 mile bike ride from Lucca to Pisa and back with two law school classmates, Selig and Frank. It did not tire me at all. I’m sure I can ride on level terrain all day. Now I simply have to carefully select places to take my bike tours. One of my strengths as a rider used to be the ability to do long climbs, but those days are over.
Tue 9 May 2006
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Women in Politics in Italy
Italy has a very low percentage of women in Parliament, one of the lowest,if not the lowest, in Europe. But in other ways Italy has been ahead of the other nations. Italy had, I believe, the first acknowledged prostitute in
Parliament a high level call girl. Italy had the first female porn movie star in Parliament. And now Italy has (perhaps the first in Europe) a transsexual in Parliament.
A Gospel Music Concert
Gospel Choirs, similar to those in Black churches in the USA, are popular in
Italy. Recently I went to a concert featuring a number of these from various
sections of Italy. The concert was titled Gospel According to Jazz: A
Tribute to Duke Ellington (making the 100th anniversary of his birth). As
typical in Italy a number of jazz songs was mixed with the religious numbers
the Italians do not maintain strict divisions between various types of
music. The Gospel Choirs dress in all black. The women usually wear a
string of white pearls.
Advertising in Italy
There is a growing build-up now to the upcoming World Cup of Soccer in
Germany. Coke has an ad on TV in which various cartoon like figures are
watching a match on TV. When a goal is scored, a guy who is about the cut
the head off of a chicken ends up hugging the chicken. My favorite vignette
is a guy and his wife in bed watching the match. As a goal is scored, the
guy gets out of bed and starts jumping up and down and yelling goal. Soon
he is joined by a man who exits from the bedroom closet in his underwear.
The two look strangely at each other for a second, and then embrace and
continue yell together goal. Probably not an ad one would see in the USA.
Another item you would not see in the USA is one of a group of little dolls
I saw in a clothing store window. One doll was a babe in a very sexy outfit,
but she was wearing on her head the habit of a nun.
A Gift from a Friend
My friend Dan Mangan of Gettysburg sent me the following link to an exhibit
of his recent photos.
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2107275369 I highly
recommend a visit to this web site to see his excellent work.
May Day Parade
May Day is the Labor Day of Europe. It also is a traditional holiday of the
left. Communist countries always celebrated May Day. I marched in the
parade in Pistoia with a friend. The parade was probably more festive this
year because in the recent elections the center-left coalition was
victorious. As I have mentioned, there are two different Communist parties
in Italy that are part of center-left government. It is hard, however, to
discover anything communistic about these parties as compared to other
parties of the left. Nobody proposed the abolition of private property, the
ownership of industries by the state, etc.
Recent Reading
I just finished two books, A Thread of Grace by Maria Doris Russell and
Mussolini Confesses by George Zachariae. The former is a fine novel about
the Italian resistance movement in WWII. After WWII, the common idea in the
USA was that our former ally, The Soviet Union, had suddenly, to our
surprise, turned into an adversary. In this book it is noted that in
supplying the Italian communists anti-fascist partisans with arms, the
allies were careful not to give them too many arms or arms highly
sophisticated. The reason: we feared that after the war they could then
lead a successful armed communist revolution in Italy. In short, the
communists were already identified during the war as probable enemies after
the war.
The second book, Mussolini Confesses is not available in English. It was
written by the German doctor that Hitler sent to Mussolini in 1943 to cure
his stomach problems. Mussolini and the doctor became confidants. In
December 1944 Mussolini made a trip from his Lake Garda headquarters to
Milan. By this time it should have been obvious to anyone in Italy with an
IQ of over 50 that Mussolini had led the nation into a disastrous war. Still
he was mobbed by adoring crowds in Milan. Four months later his dead body
was hung upside down in the main square of Milan while some by passers spit
on it. In the Passion Story of the Bible, one wonders if some of the same
people who shouted hosannas at Jesus on Palm Sunday were in the crowd a few
days later yelling crucify him. The author of Mussolini Confesses
wonders the same thing about the crowd that adored Mussolini in Milan in
December 1944.
Office Romances
A recent survey shows the Italians lead other Europeans in the frequency on
office romances. Whereas, because of sexual harassment laws, in the USA
organizations have rules about romantic entanglements between employees,
such rules exist only in 5% of Italian companies.
Clothes at Thrift Shop
I go each month to my American church in Florence for the Thrift Shop of
used items. There are often high quality clothes made in Italy, the USA,
and Great Britain. In Italy a suit coat or sports jacket will sometimes
have a label in it showing the date it was purchased. Since mens clothes do
not change a lot in style, it is hard to tell the age of an item by looking
at the style. I often will look at a jacket that appears to almost new, but
when I check the label it was purchased in 1979 or 1981. Maybe the owner
did not wear it often, but I think the condition of the jacket also
reflects the high quality of such goods made in Italy.
The New Government
After the recent elections, the first act of the new Parliament was to meet
for a day only to elect the speaker of the house (in American terms) and
the President of the Senate. Since the center-left coalition has a majority
in both houses of Parliament, it was understood that its candidates for
these two positions would prevail. In the Senate, on the second ballot,
this happened. There was an air of celebration, but then a member of the
center-right opposition challenged some of the ballots for the winner noting
that the first name written on the ballots was Francesco whereas the real
first name of the man is Franco. So the person conducting the election
called for a third ballot, but by this time some members had already left
the hall to return to their homes. Thus the third ballot had to be deferred
until the next day. The delay of one day served no good purpose for anyone
(The same result occurred with the name spelled correctly on all ballots.),
but the center-right was exulting as if they had just won a major
parliamentary victory. This is small example of the pettiness that marks
much of Italian politics.