Italian composer Ennio Morricone received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Oscars. He has scored over 504 films and television shows Among the well over 400 features, five of those soundtracks were nominated for an Academy Award. None won.
There can be little doubt that no composer (or anyone else, for that matter) has worked on so many movies or on such a mind-bogglingly wide variety of them. His fame is for the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, particularly "A Fistful of Dollars," "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Once Upon a Time in the West" — although I'd elect "Duck, You Sucker" and "Once Upon a Time in America" as the greatest Leone films, in no small part because of the goofy sounds Morricone supplied for the former and the lavish sweep he gave to the epic structure of the latter.
Poke into Morricone's vast oeuvre and you can't miss the harrowing drumbeat tattoos from "The Battle of Algiers."
The woozy yet realistic soundtrack to Pier Paolo Pasolini's perverse "Salo'" raises the film's already over-the-top shock quotient to an intolerable level. Morricone scored "Cinema Paradiso" as though he were the world's greatest barista, measuring with absolute precision how many grains of sugar are needed to counter a perfect espresso's bitterness. His "Carmina Burana"-meets-Bartok music makes "The Mission," an otherwise failed movie, indelibly memorable. But Morricone can just as merrily be a sonic slasher for creepy sex-crazed Italian exploitation flicks. Were it possible to track down "Beach Party, Italian Style" from the early '60s, the reward would likely be a hoot for the ears.The theme from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" will surely be played more than once tonight at the Kodak Theatre. It's a signature tune for a composer whose very essence is to have no signature tune, which means it was a hit and people associate it with Morricone. It's also audacious music. The whistle, the whoop, the '60s rock guitar, the ocarina, the quick-tongued trumpets, the simple harmonies, the catchy melody are a combination never before associated with the American West or anyplace or anything else.A master of nonassociation, Morricone does not Mickey Mouse. That is Hollywood's lingo for making the music mimic the action, a technique that has little regard for the audience's intelligence. Morricone, by contrast, forces viewers to be listeners as well, encouraging the eye and ear to multitask. And therein lies some of his subversiveness.
The rest of Morricone's subversiveness is purely musical and cultural. He mixes what should not be mixed. Now 78, he spent his formative years in the '50s studying in Milan, Italy, where he appears to have picked up absolutely everything.He learned impeccable technique from the leading academic Italian composers of the time. He absorbed the experiments of young Italian firebrands, notably Luciano Berio, including their work with electronically produced music and their layering of found sounds on tape. John Cage was all the rage in Italy in the late '50s, having appeared on an Italian television quiz show. That gave Morricone an appreciation of silence and natural effects. He scores films even when he doesn't score films. The silences are pregnant. In Bernardo Bertolucci's "La Luna," a story of opera and incest, Morricone lets Verdi and pop music do all the nasty work for him. He's as at home with the raw, otherworldly folk instruments of Sardinia as he is with '60s surf guitars and the soft, smooth polyphonic Masses of Palestrina.
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A genius for the wild, high-low mix
Goofy sounds, lavish sweep. In 400 films, Ennio Morricone makes you listen (and whistle).
By Mark SwedTimes Staff WriterFebruary 25, 2007TONIGHT, the Italian composer Ennio Morricone will receive an honorary Oscar. The Internet Movie Database lists 504 films and television shows that he has scored (and two more that have been announced). Among the well over 400 features, five of those soundtracks were nominated for an Academy Award. None won. The lifetime achievement award is his consolation prize, and he is none too happy about that.For a composer to have written hundreds of hours of music — some of it amazing, a lot of it distinctive, a bit of it famous, the vast majority (including more than 100 concert works) unknown — not winning an Oscar has been a badge of distinction, as Morricone told the Associated Press recently. He is one of the great film subversives. And the consolation Oscar, along with an inevitably cornball tribute on the telecast, represents the mainstreaming of Morricone. But the truly weird part of this hommage, however gushy or gauche, is that it will not be altogether inappropriate. Just as you cannot give Morricone too much credit, you cannot dumb him down too low. His music may represent the rebellious avant-garde, but it also sinks to unembarrassed sentimentality. It furthermore carves out an enormous amount of highbrow, middlebrow, lowbrow and bargain-basement-brow stylistic territory in between. And that is the source of his genius.There can be little doubt that no composer (or anyone else, for that matter) has worked on so many movies or on such a mind-bogglingly wide variety of them. His fame is for the spaghetti westerns of Sergio Leone, particularly "A Fistful of Dollars," "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" and "Once Upon a Time in the West" — although I'd elect "Duck, You Sucker" and "Once Upon a Time in America" as the greatest Leone films, in no small part because of the goofy sounds Morricone supplied for the former and the lavish sweep he gave to the epic structure of the latter.Poke into Morricone's vast oeuvre and you can't miss the harrowing drumbeat tattoos from "The Battle of Algiers," director Gillo Pontecorvo's consummate re-creation of the Algerian struggle for independence.The woozy yet realistic soundtrack to Pier Paolo Pasolini's perverse "Salт" raises the film's already over-the-top shock quotient to an intolerable level. Morricone scored "Cinema Paradiso" as though he were the world's greatest barista, measuring with absolute precision how many grains of sugar are needed to counter a perfect espresso's bitterness. His "Carmina Burana"-meets-Bartуk music makes "The Mission," an otherwise failed movie, indelibly memorable. But Morricone can just as merrily be a sonic slasher for creepy sex-crazed Italian exploitation flicks. Were it possible to track down "Beach Party, Italian Style" from the early '60s, the reward would likely be a hoot for the ears.The theme from "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" will surely be played more than once tonight at the Kodak Theatre. It's a signature tune for a composer whose very essence is to have no signature tune, which means it was a hit and people associate it with Morricone. It's also audacious music. The whistle, the whoop, the '60s rock guitar, the ocarina, the quick-tongued trumpets, the simple harmonies, the catchy melody are a combination never before associated with the American West or anyplace or anything else.A master of nonassociation, Morricone does not Mickey Mouse. That is Hollywood's lingo for making the music mimic the action, a technique that has little regard for the audience's intelligence. Morricone, by contrast, forces viewers to be listeners as well, encouraging the eye and ear to multitask. And therein lies some of his subversiveness. Calling attention to himself, the composer insists that music add another point of view. His scores comment, often ironically, on the action. Film, when Morricone gets mixed up with it, is no longer merely the art of the gaze.The rest of Morricone's subversiveness is purely musical and cultural. He mixes what should not be mixed. Now 78, he spent his formative years in the '50s studying in Milan, Italy, where he appears to have picked up absolutely everything.He learned impeccable technique from the leading academic Italian composers of the time. He absorbed the experiments of young Italian firebrands, notably Luciano Berio, including their work with electronically produced music and their layering of found sounds on tape. John Cage was all the rage in Italy in the late '50s, having appeared on an Italian television quiz show. That gave Morricone an appreciation of silence and natural effects. He scores films even when he doesn't score films. The silences are pregnant. In Bernardo Bertolucci's "La Luna," a story of opera and incest, Morricone lets Verdi and pop music do all the nasty work for him. He's as at home with the raw, otherworldly folk instruments of Sardinia as he is with '60s surf guitars and the soft, smooth polyphonic Masses of Palestrina.Never just for effectMORRICONE doesn't switch-hit to be funny or outrageous. He takes himself deadly seriously. I interviewed him once a number of years ago, and he quickly dismissed the notion that his music was in any way ironic. If that is so, I haven't a clue where his musical wild streak comes from. He cares a great deal about his concert music, but does anyone else? He became noticeably angry when I told him I didn't know this music, although he admitted that neither recordings nor scores were easy to come by. How to explain that for a composer of his stature, hardly anyone plays the concert works outside Italy and there are still no major recordings. A cantata written in response to 9/11 that he conducted at the United Nations earlier this month was a dreary return to his '60s Italian avant-garde roots, revealing little of the sublime feeling for texture that runs through his film work.Morricone's conducting at the U.N. even of spaghetti-western hilarity was dull and pompous, if accomplished. And don't call them spaghetti westerns in his presence. He may mix musical metaphors with delirious sensuousness and wage endless musical food fights with film, but Morricone is offended by any suggestion that art and food can be equated. But perhaps we are not supposed to take anything from this bewildering composer with a straight face.This explains why Morricone cannot ultimately be mainstreamed. In a CD released last week, "We All Love Ennio Morricone," the composer defeats the best (or is it the worst) efforts of such greats as Yo-Yo Ma, Herbie Hancock, Renйe Fleming and Bruce Springsteen, all of whom attempt to make the composer fit into their straitjackets and are no more successful than the inconsequential Cйline Dion.The disc, unbelievably, appears to have Morricone's blessing. He wrote the transitions between songs so Andrea Bocelli could segue to Metallica with the least ruffling of feathers.Every track is awful — ambiguous music made into predictable pablum. But maybe it is also Morricone's ultimate act of subversion. He now is his own victim. Go figure.No, don't bother. You won't get anywhere. He is one big mystery. And that is why I love Morricone.
mark.swed@latimes.com
http://www.calendarlive.com/printedition/calendar/suncal/cl-ca-morricone25feb25,0,4436107.story?coll=cl-suncal
The ANNOTICO Reports
Can be Viewed, and are Archived at:
Italia USA: http://www.italiausa.com/ (Formerly Italy at St Louis)
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Annotico Email: annotico@earthlink.net
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Ennio Morricone: Genius Music Scorer Awarded Lifetime Achievement Oscar
Tuscan Medieval Castle in Napa California ????
Daryl Sattui, has been building a Tuscan Medieval Castle in Napa CA for 12 years. At 121,000 square feet, Castello di Amorosa, tucked away on a hilltop off California Highway 29, could hold 50 average-sized homes. It has 107 rooms on seven levels.
But it's not just big. It's monumentally eccentric, rivaling the late William Randolph Hearst's rambling residence five hours down the coast in San Simeon. And like Hearst Castle, it cost a king's ransom, about $30 million. and still counting.
Sattui, a self-confessed medieval architecture fanatic also owns a former monastery and a Medici palace in Italy.
San Francisco Italian winemaker Vittorio Sattui arrived in San Francisco in 1882 with his new bride, Kattarina, to begin their life in America. Born in Genoa, Vittorio, like his father before him, was by trade a baker from the small hilltown of Carsi. In San Francisco, Vittorio at first worked as a baker, making wine in his spare time, while Kattarina took in washing. Soon the industrious Sattui family had saved enough money to start a boarding house in the Italian colony of North Beach.
Vittorio continued to make wine, serving it to his patrons at the boarding house. By 1885, the reputation of Vittorio's wines allowed him to quit the bakery and devote himself full-time to his real passion, winemaking. Vittorio quickly established a thriving commercial venture (located at 722 Montgomery, now Columbus Avenue) called St. Helena Wine Cellars, taking the name of the small, bucolic, Napa Valley town were he obtained his grapes. Vittorio always said, "there is nothing like St. Helena grapes!" He would personally select the grapes during the harvest and then haul them by horse-drawn wagon to Napa for transfer to San Francisco by ferry.
But in 1920, Prohibition sounded the death knell for Vittorio Sattui's family business. "I'll do nothing against the law." Vittorio said, and V. Sattui Wine Company lay dormant for the next sixty years, a dream deferred and half-forgotten.
In 1972, after two years in Europe beyond college, Daryl began his apprenticeship at various Napa Valley wineries. He still had his dream, the same dream he'd had as a child. Daryl pledged he "would reestablish V. Sattui Winery to its former glory."
In 1975, Daryl borrowed money and lived out of a van while re-starting up V. Sattui Winery Today, it attracts more than 400,000 visitors a year.
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Napa Medieval: Castello di Amorosa
Los Angeles Times By Jane EngleFebruary 25, 2007
A castle is rising south of this small resort town that promises to be Napa Valley's most lavish tourist draw.
Or a vintner's fortune-busting folly.
In April, Daryl Sattui, whose winery and deli a few miles away in St. Helena are a popular picnic stop, plans to open to the public a sprawling, medieval-style castle and second winery that he has been building for 12 years. At 121,000 square feet, Castello di Amorosa, tucked away on a hilltop off California Highway 29, could hold 50 average-sized homes. It has 107 rooms on seven levels.
But it's not just big. It's monumentally eccentric, rivaling the late William Randolph Hearst's rambling residence five hours down the coast in San Simeon. And like Hearst Castle, it cost a king's ransom.
Sattui, a self-confessed medieval architecture fanatic who also owns a former monastery and a Medici palace in Italy, figures his current project will eat up $30 million.
"Honestly, I've spent everything I have except my pension plan," said Sattui, 65. "But I don't care. I just hope I don't go broke."
Castello di Amorosa is a meticulous, if not always authentic, vision of a Tuscan castle. It sports a dry moat, drawbridge, iron-gated entrance, five towers with battlements, a church, a great hall, gargoyles and wrought-iron sconces.
More wondrous stuff lies below, in four underground levels.
A dungeon is outfitted with torture equipment, including a reproduction of a rack and an antique iron maiden, which Sattui said he bought for $13,000 in Pienza, Italy. The iron maiden, looking like an upright mummy case, is lined with spikes meant to impale victims shut inside.
A labyrinth of cellars, housing thousands of wine bottles and barrels, showcases centuries of architectural elements. The largest underground chamber is the main barrel cellar, 135 feet long, with 40 cross vaults.
The most impressive room above is the great hall, 72 by 30 feet, with a 22-foot-high coffered ceiling. Frescoes — decorative but perhaps not museum-worthy — cover the walls, inspired by such classics as Ambrogio Lorenzetti's "Good and Bad Government," at the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, Italy.
Throughout the castle, details attest to Sattui's passion for vintage buildings. Iron gates, fashioned five years ago, have been aged with acid to appear ancient. Double doors outside the great hall contain 2,000 nails, all handmade in Italy.
The project, at first overseen by a Danish naval architect and now by Italian Paulo Ardito, has employed workers from six countries and materials from eight, Sattui said.
Down in Calistoga, known for hot springs and mineral water, Castello di Amorosa is an object of curiosity and some mystery.
"A lot of people don't know it's there," said Kendall Heck, a longtime bartender in town.
When bricklayers gave him a tour, he was impressed with the "fairy-tale thing." But he added, "It looks like [Sattui's] got more money than sense."
Sattui agreed that no rational businessperson would have built his castle. But this son of a San Francisco cabby has beaten the odds before. He borrowed money and lived out of a van while starting up V. Sattui Winery in 1975. Today, it attracts more than 400,000 visitors a year.
"I have a philosophy," he said. "Average people can do great things if they don't know they're average."
jane.engle@latimes.com
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(INFOBOX BELOW)
Vintage stronghold
THE ROYAL TOUR
Castello di Amorosa is at 4045 N. St. Helena Highway, Calistoga, CA 94515; (707) 963-7774 (rings to V. Sattui Winery), http://www.castellodiamorosa.com .
The project has missed many target dates, but owner Daryl Sattui hopes the castle will open April 1. He expects to charge $10 per person for wine tasting and $10 more for the castle tour; you won't be able to take the tour without the tasting.
The ANNOTICO Reports
Can be Viewed, and are Archived at:
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Puglia: Did Someone Say Cuisine???
Puglia on the heel of Italy's boot is one of the more mysterious and compelling regions in Italy, BUT since the author is an exceptional Food Critic, that is what her focus is.
As she points out there is NO Italian Cuisine, there is only REGIONAL Italian Cuisine, and she discovers that of Puglia.
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Italy's Boot: A Setting for the Senses in Puglia
Los Angeles Times By S. Irene Virbila, Los Angeles TimesFebruary 25, 2007
LECCE, ITALY - SIX years ago ? or was it a dream? ? I spent a day and a half in southern Italy on the Adriatic coast, and there I was left mesmerized by the sun-bleached stone, the blue sky, turquoise sea and dazzling white hilltop towns with twisting cobblestoned streets. I feasted on exquisitely pristine seafood and savored homemade orecchiette sauced with limpid green olive oil and bittersweet rapini served in shallow bowls decorated with blue dots. And I'll never forget the taste of the creamiest burrata cheese, still dripping with whey.
Good food and faraway places cast a spell on me. It may take months, it may take decades, but eventually I find my way back. And I finally did, returning last September to Puglia, one of Italy's most mysterious and compelling regions. Of course I got lost. Over and over again. But getting lost only makes getting found more interesting.
Our trip was delightful insouciance, full of surprises and serendipity as we negotiated the meandering roads and the starkly beautiful landscape. We set out to discover the pleasures of an ancient, agrarian cuisine, and we found ourselves seduced by a way of life deeply rooted in this tradition.
We started off one morning last fall. There were four of us: my husband, my Korean friend Sonya and an Italian friend, Roberta, from Seattle who grew up in Turin. Roberta's family comes from the outskirts of Bari, and as a little girl, she used to spend summers at her grandmother's house, where the family had a little grocery.
Before the trip, Roberta lavished me with memories of the bread ? huge golden loaves her grandfather used to cut with a knife into thick slabs. So of course one of our missions was to track down that bread. The other was to discover the regional cooking of Puglia.
Italian cooking is a misnomer. There is no such thing, only regional cooking ? Tuscan or Piedmontese, Sicilian or Ligurian ? and like much of Italy and especially the South, Puglia doesn't really have a restaurant tradition. Other than seafood, which is grilled or cooked practically minutes after it's been pulled from the sea, the best cooking is la cucina delle donne ? women's cooking, at home.
Wild greens and all sorts of grains and beans, sea urchins and sweet shrimp, rabbit and baby lamb awaited. And so the four of us arrived in Puglia, hungry to taste everything the region had to offer.
A trek for bread
FINDING the bread wasn't easy. Ambling through stony white hill towns, we'd see a bakery and Roberta would dash in only to rush back out shaking her head, "No, no, no, that's not it."
We took to snacking on taralli , crisp semolina crackers, shaped like miniature teething rings and flavored with fennel seeds or peppercorns. Where, we wondered, was the bread? We thought those huge golden loaves would be so much a part of everyday life, you'd find them everywhere.
Eventually we realized we'd need to go to Altamura, a town perched on the rocky highlands between Bari and Taranto that is famous for its bread.
Our drive took us from Ostuni, where we were staying, through Martina Franca, another hill town, this one chockablock with baroque and rococo buildings. We spent a couple of hours strolling through streets lined with carved stone facades and curlicue ironwork balconies leaning so far out they almost kissed overhead. At lunchtime, we bought sandwich makings and ate in a park where elderly men gossiped on park benches and teenagers straddled their Vespas, smoking.
Our next stop was Alberobello, a minuscule town with so many beehive-shaped stone cottages, or trulli , that it has been designated a World Heritage Site. Sadly, it's also full of tacky trinkets and busloads of tourists pulling up to inspect prime examples of the region's vernacular architecture ? and a kid who tried to hit us up for money to see the family trullo.
We lost our way to the ceramics town of Grottaglie, and when we finally asked for directions, two policewomen got into an argument attempting to put us right. On our inevitable meandering way, though, we passed through a fantastic landscape of red earth and ancient gnarled olive trees, fortified farmhouses ? the whitewashed masserie ? where jasmine and fuchsia bougainvillea clamber up the walls and cactuses cast shadows on white screens of old stone.
What with stops for espresso, snapping pictures and a visit, finally, to the renowned Nicola Fasano ceramics studio where we lusted after huge terracotta pots incised with geometric patterns, the afternoon was waning. And by the time we reached Altamura, we were more than ready for our bread. We spiraled upward, climbing ever closer to the center, until we found a trio of young men hanging out in a tiny square, having a smoke.
Roberta slowed down. "Where's a good bakery?" she called out.
They're all good, said one. Roberta raised a raven eyebrow.
"I know one, not far from here," volunteered another, acquiescing to her gaze, and as soon as he started to explain how to get there ? turn right, left, left, right and after the second curve, right again ? he could tell we'd already forgotten the first turn.
"Follow me," he said, jumping into his car and squealing around the corner like a Formula One driver. And we were off, soon coming to a precipitous halt in front of a nondescript storefront, at which point our guide honked, waved and raced off again.
Puzzled, we stepped out, and the smell of bread fell upon us like a benediction. A gentleman stood in front as if he had been waiting for us. He nodded and invited us in. He cut us each a thick wedge of warm focaccia topped with tomatoes and olives that had sunk into the pillowy dough. It was incredible.
Come, he said, and led us to the back where two young bakers were taking huge loaves out of the wood-burning oven. They're enormous, misshapen, hunchback breads that weigh well over 10 pounds.
"That's it," cried Roberta. The mother loaf. And this is the Di Ges? bakery, founded in 1838 and run by the same family for generations.
Soon an uncle, a cousin, a nephew begin to show up to see the bread-crazed Americans, and we were just that. This may be the best bread I've tasted in my life, made with gold durum wheat and fragrant with yeast, a perfect accompaniment for the burrata and fresh sheep's-milk ricotta cheeses we picked up at the Dicecca cheese shop around the corner.
Glorious seafood
BY then it was dusk, and we were easily an hour and a half from where we were supposed to be. But before we left, we bought one of those huge golden loaves and some of the various focaccias. We took a photo of Roberta in front with her bread and also with the entire Di Ges? family and said goodbye.
In the car, the scent of warm, yeasty bread enveloped us, and as we drove into the twilight, we were getting hungrier and hungrier with no idea of where we'd eat.
It was dark. Everyone except me and Roberta was nodding off when I saw the sign for Polignano a Mare, home to Da Tuccino, a restaurant known for its crudi , raw seafood. We called to see if we could get in.
Yes, we were told, if you come right now.
The exterior of Da Tuccino is brutally ugly, and I began to wonder if this was such a good idea. And what about the bread? It won't taste the same tomorrow.
Leave it to me, said Roberta as she explained our predicament to the tuxedoed maitre d' in rapid-fire Italian. "Is there any way we could enjoy our bread with dinner tonight?" I waited for an impassioned blowup but heard instead, " Non c'? problema ," he said, whisking the big crumpled paper bag off to the kitchen.
After inspecting the glorious spread of whole fish and seafood laid out on ice, we took a table in the nearly empty ballroom-sized room. Modesto wrote down our order. Our bread arrived beautifully sliced and arranged on a platter. This is heaven, I thought. To arrive tired and hungry and find such hospitality is to experience the real and ancient Puglia.
Da Tuccino's antipasti crudi was spectacular, plate after plate of raw scampi, sweet red shrimp with skeins of roe, pearly squid, small violet-tinged octopus, clams, mussels and oysters. Orata carpaccio arrives put back in the shape of the fish and topped with house-made prosciutto di tonno (tuna ham). Supple orecchiette stained black with squid ink and tossed with zucchini blossoms and small rosy shrimp is fabulous. So is the spaghettini with scampi and bottarga . We could have continued with grilled fish, but we had to stop before we burst.
In any trip, there is a fine balance between planning too much and planning too little, and to have one day like that one, full of surprises and serendipity, colors the memory of the entire trip. Hours drifted leisurely by as if there was no such thing as time, except when it was time to eat.
For years, a friend had been touting the food at Il Frantoio, a bed-and-breakfast on a working farm (an arrangement known as an agriturismo) outside Ostuni, as the perfect Pugliese experience. He started going there when the farm with more than 4,000 olive trees had only a handful of rooms. Now, 15 years after two escapees from the city, Armando and Rosalba Balestrazzi, created Il Frantoio, the number of rooms has expanded, requiring a staff to run the place. It still maintains a quirky, well-tended cultivated charm. Rosalba is such a gifted cook that visitors from around the world descend on the farm for her meals, which are preceded by an informal lecture from Armando on the history of the farm and Puglia's ancient food ways.
On the night we stayed for dinner, Armando was in full throttle when one of the staff whispered, "How much longer?"
"Twenty minutes."
"Can you wrap it up in 10?"
He nodded and spoke faster, ending the presentation by sweeping a cloth off a collection of jams and olive oils and some 30 infused liqueurs, all for sale and each bearing the Il Frantoio label.
Dinner was a multi-course extravaganza where vegetables took center stage. It was served in a dining room with vaulted, arched ceiling. In summer, tables are set up in the spacious courtyard and garden.
Antipasti is an art in Puglia, and Rosalba's is no exception. Fagiolini pinti , skinny local green beans nearly a foot and a half long, are splashed with sweet tomato sauce and embellished with ricotta. Fresh anchovies are stuffed with capers, parsley and bread crumbs, and eggplant is rolled up with smoked mozzarella. Each course employs a different single-varietal olive oil from the farm, and Armando pairs each dish with local wines. It's wonderful, but with so many guests and studied flourishes, it's a production more worthy of a restaurant than a rustic farmhouse meal.
Because Rosalba performs just two or three times a week, the next night we ate at Cibus, tucked away in the center of nearby Ceglie Messapica, just steps from the cathedral.
Owner Lilino Silibello has an exceptional list of Puglia's best wines, sturdy single-vineyard Primitivo, full-bodied Negroamaro and interesting whites and lighter reds, and everything that comes from the kitchen is honest and true. We savored zucchini flowers stuffed with delicate sheep's-milk ricotta and mint followed by ribbons of the summer squash dressed in fragrant lemon and mint. Then came homemade cured meats, a fabulous carpaccio of milk-fed baby pig and a sunny yellow frittata laced with squash blossoms and ricotta. And here too was wonderful pasta ? "priest's ears" ? similar to orecchiette but longer and more open in shape and served with a tomato sauce enriched with roasted meats.
We ate and ate, but by the time we finished the lamb cooked in the wood-burning oven, we had to cry uncle. But you have to try this caciocavallo , Silibello urged. This cheese is made from the milk of a special cow that produces only a small amount. How could we not? Much later, we wandered into the night, slightly delirious. Such is the enchantment of Puglia.
Kicking up their heels
CISTERNINO is a small hilltop town with a spectacular panorama of the countryside. The streets are narrow and maze-like, whitewashed like in Greece, but on weekends the historic heart of town wakes up and parties. On the night we were there, a stage was set up and musicians of all ages played traditional music. The whole town shows up, grandparents, young families with toddlers and babies in arms, teenagers with elaborately spiky gelled hair and the occasional tourist. That would be us.
Cisternino has an irresistible tradition ? a good dozen butcher shops with restaurants attached and tables set out in the street. At Arrosteria del Vicoletta, skewers of meats sizzle at a tilt against the wall of the wood-burning oven, the better to get smoky and stay juicy. The day before, when I sussed out the place and saw the rudimentary wine list, I asked the butcher with wavy blond hair, like a matinee idol from the '30s, if it would be all right if we brought our own wine. Non c'? problema. Roberta of course insisted on bringing wineglasses too.
That night, there was no end to the skewers of sausage links, pork rib chops, turcinieddhi (little bundles of lamb's liver and innards), and braciola (thin slices of pork wrapped around wild herbs) and lamb riblets, all washed down with some inky dark Primitivo and accompanied by vinegary green salad and melted smoked scamorza cheese to sop up with our bread.
Traveling with three other people can make it difficult to plan ahead, and by the time I found a day to go south to Lecce to meet Silvestro Silvestori, who runs the cooking school the Awaiting Table there, it was late into our weeklong trip. The school's website warns students not to bring their cars to Lecce, but we attempted it and quickly learned that driving in Lecce is easy. Finding your way is not. If you're timid about asking for directions, you'll never get where you want to go. Even with the Italian-speaking Roberta and race-car-driving Sonya, we got lost all the time.
At a stoplight, we managed to get the attention of a driver in the next lane, and we implored him for directions. He stared off into space and, finding it impossible to explain, told us to follow him. By now we knew the drill, and we set off on a merry route zipping around squares, squirting around corners, a zillion turns and then, miraculously, our meeting point Porta Napoli, one of the old gates of the city, stood in front of us, with two minutes to spare.
Silvestori grew up in the United States but moved back to Puglia several years ago after earning degrees in jazz studies, sculpture and languages. He immersed himself in the region's traditions and became a leading expert in Pugliese cuisine. He lives and works in Lecce's old town in a palazzo that dates from the 16th century. A former stable is his teaching kitchen. Garlic and dried red peppers and little lanterns were strung from the rafters. At two big work tables, a group of women from Canada were busy shaping pasta into small sombreros by flattening it over the top of a wine bottle.
Silvestori collects recipes from grandmothers and the old ladies in the villages around Lecce and the Salentine peninsula to the south. Sometimes he invites guest teachers like Clifford Wright, who's written a number of books on Mediterranean cuisine, or Nancy Harmon Jenkins, who wrote "Flavors of Puglia."
He took a moment to demonstrate how to make the most basic Pugliese pasta, those adorable orecchiette . It's all in the gesture, he explained, how you roll the dough off your thumb. And nothing, quite frankly, you could learn from a cookbook.
That's the beauty and my regret. Sadly, we had no time to stay, and as we left, he walked us past the glorious honey-colored Baroque and Rococo buildings in the historic center. Wherever he went, the fishmonger, the baker, the woman who runs the bed-and-breakfast, called out a greeting.
It was a beguiling farewell to Puglia and just the right touch. I'm a romantic. I like to leave a place believing that I'll be back. Without that hope, it would be too wrenching to say goodbye to all the places I've fallen in love with over the years.....
Restaurants & Shops, Cooking Schools, Hotels, Agriturismos, Bed & Breakfasts at original Article
http://travel.latimes.com/articles/la-tr-puglia25feb25
The ANNOTICO Reports
Can be Viewed, and are Archived at:
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Monday, February 26, 2007
Rugby: Italy Stuns Scotland in Historic Manner 37-17
I never thought of Italy and Rugby. Yes, rugby is a cousin to Soccer, and Soccer is Italy's passion, but I have not
seen that much Italian interest.
But Italy ROCKED the Rugby world with it's victory over Scotland, AND did it in such a historic manner.
Italy scored 3 times in the first seven minutes!!!!!!
The Scots, and English press were unusual in their gracious attitude toward Italy, were suitably impressed, and made No excuses.
The Scotland Courier describes the Italian Team, PRIOR to the Italian Victory:
Italy made it extremely awkward for everyone they played against in the Six Nations last year and they’re on the verge of doing something special.
Everyone is aware of how powerful their scrummaging is and they are improving the quality of their attacking play all the time. Italy’s forwards remain their outstanding strength and their abrasive style has been unsettling for opponents.
In the scrummage they are particularly formidable,their lineout is sound, have a good centre partnership in Mirko Bergamasco, possibly the best player in his position in last year’s championship, and Gonzalo Canale. However, Italy’s fatal weakness lies inside them.
Italy still have a real problem at half-back. That Italy had to rely on veteran Allesando Troncon for the match against England was an admission that Italy still have a real problem at half-back.
The latest incumbent at stand-off is Andrea Scanavacca, but he doesn’t look like the answer.
In addition, Italy have problems on both sides of the crucial kicking game; they don’t have the reliable placekicker which is essential in modern international rugby, and they give away far too many penalty chances to teams that do.
http://www.thecourier.co.uk/output/2007/02/24/sportstory9345412t0.asp
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Rugby: Italy stun Scotland
New Zealand Herald
Sunday February 25, 2007By Alan Lorimer
Italy 37 Scotland 17
EDINBURGH - Italy made an historic breakthrough by achieving their first away win in the Six Nations championship after defeating Scotland 37-17 in an amazing game...
In a bizarre match Scotland were 21 points down after only seven minutes after Italy ruthlessly cashed in on a series of Scots blunders.Thereafter the Scots were hopelessly chasing the game
Halfback Alessandro Troncon rounded off the Italian scoring with their fourth try late on and told the BBC: "It's the result of our hard work. "We were focussed and we played well and today I think is the start of a new era for us.
Scotland tried desperately to get back on terms but were three times thwarted by determined Italian defence... Scotland continued to try everything to break down the Italian defence but It was to little avail.
A historic win for Italy and a decidedly disastrous day for Scotland
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/4/story.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10425686
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Scots rocked by Italy trouncing
Rugby World
IC Wales
Saturday 24th February 2007
SCOTLAND were tonight reeling from a 37-17 defeat by Italy in the RBS 6 Nations Championship which wing Sean Lamont described as “gutting”.
Italy’s first away win since entering the competition in 2000 was achieved on the back of tries from Mauro Bergamasco, Andrea Scanavacca and Kaine Robertson in the first six minutes.
The home side handed Pierre Berbizier’s side an astonishing 21-0 lead, and although Scotland hit back with tries from Rob Dewey and captain Chris Paterson, another Italian try from Alessandro Troncon ensured the home side ended empty-handed and resoundingly beaten.
Lamont told BBC Radio Scotland: “It’s beyond comprehension. It’s gutting. We gave them too much of a start with three interceptions in the first five minutes. That killed us.
“It was a nightmare start. That is unacceptable really and we couldn’t recover.”...
Scotland head coach Frank Hadden... offered no excuses, and added: “We were absolutely shellshocked in the changing room".....
http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0500rugbyunion/0200news/tm_headline=scots-rocked-by-italy-trouncing&method=full&objectid=18671187&siteid=50082-name_page.html
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Italy's show on the road at last
Planet Ruby
Saturday 24th February 2007
It has taken 33 matches and some heart-breaking close failures, but Italy finally have claimed an away win in the Six Nations, beating Scotland 37-17 in Edinburgh on Saturday. Scotland presented their visitors with a 21-point head start within the first seven minutes! But after nearly forty minutes of rock-like defence as the Azzurri fought off the Scottish comeback, the Italians dominated the final ten minutes to make the game safe. Rome, the Eternal City, is history. There is history at every turn. The whole of Italy is one great miracle of history. But today Italy made history in Scotland. Hadrian built a wall to keep the Picts out, for the Romans had no stomach to invade Caledonia stern and wild. Today Marco Bortolami went where Hadrian did not go. He went to the heart of Scotland and made history. For the first time Italy won a Six nations match abroad and won it well. Afterwards exhausted and exhilarated Alessandro Troncon, heaving for breath, announced that this was "the start of anew era for Italian rugby". What a day, what a victory - and what a muzzle for those who have been preaching Italy out of the Six Nations. Three tries in six minutes! It must be a unique situation in the annals of the International Championship however many nations were playing. Murrayfield was stunned. Scotland got lots of referee assistance. They had eight penalties before Italy had one, 10-4 in the first half, 20-10 in the match as a whole. Just as Italy had started so brilliantly, so they finished the stronger of the two as they throttled the life out of Scotland keeping them pinned in their own territory till the match was lost and won.
Imagine the overflowing of joy at this most famous victory. Moment of the Match: Of course, those three tries in six minutes. But there was a touching moment at a break in play after 60 minutes when Chris Cusiter stood there looking downhearted and bewildered and Alessandro Troncon gave him a comforting pat on the head. Cheering up was not possible but it was a decent moment.
http://www.planet-rugby.com/Story/0,18259,3551_1940653,00.html
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Saturday, February 24, 2007
Obit: Al Viola, 87; Frank Sinatra Accompanist for 25 years
Al Viola was born in Brooklyn on June 16, 1919, and grew up in a large — and musical — Italian family whose home was filled with guitars, mandolins and an upright player piano.
Viola first met Sinatra after the war when the singer dropped in to hear him as part of the Page Cavanaugh Trio in a club on Sunset Boulevard. Sinatra liked them so much, that he took the trio to New York with him when he performed at the Waldorf-Astoria. Thus began a 25 year association.
Sinatra called him "one of the world's great guitarists…. I think he plays beautifully. As a matter of fact, if you weren't looking at him, you'd swear he was an octopus."
"Viola was a chameleon and could play in any style — that was his great talent," said jazz singer Judy Chamberlain, "He was a flawless player," "You could barely see his hands move, he was so smooth and quick with his fingers. He was a marvel of dexterity on the guitar, even until the end." Jazz musician Buddy Collette said : "Once you played with him, you knew how great he was. He had his own way of playing, his own style; you could tell within a couple of bars who it was. And you could ask him to play anything. He had a background that was unbelievable.
"What I enjoyed most about working with Sinatra is that he was unpredictable," Viola said. "When I accompanied him, I couldn't quite predict where he was going, which made it challenging and exciting. He always surprised me on stage. Although he wasn't known as a jazz singer, he ad-libbed like one and wouldn't sing a song the same way twice."
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Al Viola, 87; Longtime Studio Guitarist Known for Work with Frank Sinatra
Los Angeles Times
By Dennis McLellan, Times Staff WriterFebruary 23, 2007
Al Viola, a versatile guitarist best known for his long association with Frank Sinatra and his memorable mandolin playing on "The Godfather" soundtrack, has died. He was 87.Viola died of cancer Wednesday at his home in Studio City, said his wife, Glenna.Viola, who arrived in Los Angeles as a member of the Page Cavanaugh Trio after World War II, became a prominent member of the local recording-studio scene. "He was a chameleon and could play in any style — that was his great talent," said jazz singer Judy Chamberlain, a friend who performed with Viola in many settings, including a jazz salute to Sinatra at the Hollywood & Highland Center in 2005."He was a flawless player," she said. "You could barely see his hands move, he was so smooth and quick with his fingers. He was a marvel of dexterity on the guitar, even until the end." Said jazz musician Buddy Collette: "Once you played with him, you knew how great he was. He had his own way of playing, his own style; you could tell within a couple of bars who it was. And you could ask him to play anything. He had a background that was unbelievable."Sinatra, with whom Viola worked for about 25 years on recordings, TV specials, Las Vegas appearances and concerts, offered his own distinctive praise of Viola during a concert at the Lido in Paris in 1962, which can be heard on the 1994 CD "Sinatra and Sextet: Live in Paris."After finishing a free-form vocal-guitar duet of Cole Porter's "Night and Day" with Viola, Sinatra called him "one of the world's great guitarists…. I think he plays beautifully. As a matter of fact, if you weren't looking at him, you'd swear he was an octopus."For Viola, the positive feelings were mutual."I had to turn down a lot of work to go on a world tour with him for 10 weeks," Viola told Guitar Player magazine in 1994, "but I liked what he was puttin' down."Viola, whose work with Sinatra took him from the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas to the Parthenon in Athens and beyond, can be heard on such Sinatra hits as "Witchcraft," "All the Way," "My Way" and "New York, New York."He first met Sinatra after the war when the singer dropped in to hear the Page Cavanaugh Trio in a club on Sunset Boulevard. Sinatra liked them so much, Viola later recalled, that he took the trio to New York with him when he performed at the Waldorf-Astoria, followed by an appearance at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, N.J.The trio also did a recording session at Columbia Records with Sinatra, turning out two sides: "That's How Much I Love You" and "You Can Take My Word for It, Baby."After quitting the trio in 1949, Viola remained in Los Angeles and began doing studio work.He worked in the recording studio — and occasionally did local gigs — with the big bands of Harry James, Ray Anthony, Les Brown and Nelson Riddle. He also worked with jazz groups, including playing with Collette, Red Callender, Bobby Troup, Terry Gibbs and Shelly Manne."When I was working with Bobby Troup [in the mid-'50s], one of Sinatra's buddies heard me and told me that Frank needed a guitar player," Viola recalled in an interview on his website. "What I enjoyed most about working with Frank is that he was unpredictable," Viola said. "When I accompanied him, I couldn't quite predict where he was going, which made it challenging and exciting. He always surprised me on stage. Although he wasn't known as a jazz singer, he ad-libbed like one and wouldn't sing a song the same way twice."As a studio musician, Viola appeared on more than 500 albums with artists such as Julie London, Steve Lawrence, Marvin Gaye, Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt and Natalie Cole.In addition to being the solo mandolinist who performed the classic "Godfather" theme, he played on numerous TV and film soundtracks, including "West Side Story," "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Blazing Saddles."Born in Brooklyn on June 16, 1919, Viola grew up in a large — and musical — Italian family whose home was filled with guitars, mandolins and an upright player piano."My brother, who played mandolin, needed someone to accompany him, so he taught me a few chords on guitar to play behind him," Viola recalled on his website.Teaming up with a violinist friend, they began playing duets in their neighborhood and performed in Chinese restaurants. "My mother thought I was robbing the bank because I was bringing home $22 a week during the Depression!" he recalled.While stationed in Sacramento, where he played in an Army band during World War II, Viola and fellow band members Page Cavanaugh and bassist Lloyd Pratt formed the Page Cavanaugh Trio.After arriving in Los Angeles, the trio played top nightclubs such as the Trocadero and Ciro's, made a number of records and appeared in several movies. More than 60 years later, Viola was still playing. His final performance was at Spazio, a jazz supper club in Sherman Oaks, in late January."He played great that night too," Glenna Viola said.In addition to his wife of 62 years, Viola is survived by his two sons, Dan and Jeff; and a granddaughter. A funeral service for Viola will be held at 3 p.m. Monday at Church of the Hills, Forest Lawn Memorial-Park, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles.http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-viola23feb23,0,4865870.story?coll=la-home-obituaries
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Friday, February 23, 2007
Fuggedaboudit Fallout
Johnny Amoroso-Levato's parent's objected to a school play titled “Fuggedaboudit ” that had all the Italian Mob negative stereotypes.
The Principal and School District Superintendent cavalierly spurned all concerns from local and national Italian American organizations.
Predictably, Johnny faced a "hostile" environment, so with assistance Johnny was transferred to a private school.
Script writer Matt Myers,nor Batavia School Superintendent Jack Barshinger responded to requests as to how they might react to a school play titled "The Shylocks" with all the negative Jewish stereotypes.
The Schools supposedly "Preach" Tolerance and Sensitivity, and "Practice" Bigotry... ????
Our Respect to Johnny and his mom, Marina Amoroso-Levato, and the Order Sons of Italy that supported them.
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Play Flap Leads to Site Swap
Kane County Chronicle
By Eric Schelkopf Thursday, February 22, 2007
Johnny Amoroso-Levato had been a seventh-grader at Rotolo, but left in November after the school allowed performances of “Fuggedaboudit” to go on, despite objections raised by the family, claiming that it stereotyped Italian-Americans, said officials with Order Sons of Italy in America.
Amoroso-Levato enrolled at Aurora Christian, a private school, in January.
“He said, ‘Mom, I can’t go back,’ ” said his mother, Marina. “ ‘I can’t go back to a school where there was such a wrong thing done.’ ”
Batavia School Superintendent Jack Barshinger said the district did not hear any concerns from the family after the controversy.
Barshinger said Rotolo Principal Donald McKinney worked to make sure that the student was in a safe and secure environment.
“The environment was just the opposite of hostile,” Barshinger said.
Marina Amoroso-Levato did not specify any school-related incidents but said her son was harassed at December’s Celebration of Lights festival in downtown Batavia.
“Several kids were looking at him and laughing, and he pulled his hood over his head,” she said.
In a e-mail statement Wednesday, Order Sons of Italy in America officials explained the family’s decision to switch schools, while announcing that several Italian-American groups based in Chicago had collectively raised $5,000 to assist the family with tuition costs.
“They [the family] stood up to be counted, and they need help as a result of that,” said Dona De Sanctis, national deputy executive director for the Order Sons of Italy. “By standing up and protesting this, the family found itself in a situation where Johnny was not comfortable in school anymore.”
The play controversy was sparked when Marina Amoroso-Levato contacted Washington-based Order Sons of Italy in America after reading the script for “Fuggedaboudit,” which was written by Rotolo drama and communication teacher Matt Myers.
The group said the play stereotyped Italian-Americans as gangsters. School officials disagreed, saying that the message of the play was to not judge a book by its cover.
The Order Sons of Italy went to federal court to seek an injunction to prevent the school from staging the play, but U.S. District Court Judge John Grady denied the request.
Italians- Europeans Hate Bush-US
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BUSH, U.S. HATED AROUND THE WORLD
| Niagara Falls Reporter |
DETROIT -- President George W. Bush has managed to alienate nearly the entire world, and in a relatively short span of time the United States has become an international pariah. Forget about the terrorists who "hate us because of our freedom," the "axis of evil," the "Islamofascists," or whatever label Bush uses to demonize people and spread fear.
The true measure of just how much Bush has systematically nurtured antipathy toward the United States is found in Europe, and especially in Italy. It is stunning how shattered the relationship now is.
I asked a friend, an Italian-American who often visits family there and had just returned from a Christmas trip, what Italians are thinking of Americans these days. His answer was grim and crisp: "They hate us."
Saturday, more than 80,000 people marched on the streets of Vicenza protesting the planned expansion of the U.S. military base there. They want nothing to do with the $576 million investment and more U.S. troops stationed there...
Some of the anger may be attributed to the general European resentment toward American cultural arrogance and unbridled materialism. Perhaps some of it is rooted in the Europeans' own sense of cultural and intellectual superiority.
But those strains and attitudes have been around a long time and are usually accepted with mutual accommodations. What we are seeing now is unprecedented and tragic. They hate us because of Bush and a government that tramples on human rights and is devoid of any sense of decency. They can't understand how the American people could choose such a reckless cowboy to lead our nation and create havoc around the world.
The Italians suffered greatly under Benito Mussolini's government, his alliance with Hitler, the war, the Nazi occupation and the Allied invasion. They had their fill of fascism, and when the U.S. government uses fascist tactics on Italian soil, they get real upset.
A judge has indicted 26 Americans, most thought to be CIA officers, and five Italians on charges they were involved in kidnapping a Muslim cleric outside his mosque in Milan in 2003.
The case pivots around the abduction of Hassan Mustafa Nasr, a radical cleric known as Abu Omar. The prosecutor, Amando Spataro, says after Nasr was snatched off the street, the CIA flew him to Germany and then to Egypt where, according to a Reuters report, "he was tortured with electric shocks, beatings, rape threats and genital abuse."
Nasr told ANSA, an Italian news service, "I have been reduced to a wreck as a human being." He said he could hardly walk because "they burst my kidneys." An Egyptian court freed Nasr last week, finding his four years of detention were "unfounded."
At the time of his abduction, Italian officials were investigating Nasr for suspected terrorism-related activities and recruiting fighters for radical Islamic causes. But prosecutors say the kidnapping breached Italian sovereignty and compromised the nation's anti-terrorism efforts.
Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, comedian Rush Limbaugh, the chorus of right-wing pundits and far too many Americans just shrug off such conduct. Their usual refrains are: "Hey, this guy is a terrorist." "We can do anything we want to protect America." "We go to the dark side to save the light of American liberty." They spout simplistic justifications for using fascist tactics "to defend freedom."
That attitude infuriates the Italians and our other former friends in Europe. They cling to this radical notion that if Nasr or anyone else is involved in terror, charge them and have a trial to determine their guilt or innocence.
While the European people consistently support human rights and oppose the abuses of the Bush administration, their governments don't always reflect that. An investigation for the European parliament released last week accuses Britain, Germany and other EU countries of complicity with the U.S. government.
Britain's Guardian reports the probe "accused some European countries of turning a blind eye to the flights, a number of which were allegedly used to illegally transport terrorism suspects."
Several countries were criticized for a "lack of cooperation," and specifically the investigators "accused Britain, Austria, Italy, Poland and Portugal of showing an obstructive attitude." The reason they don't want to cooperate is that the World Court in The Hague may someday be looking into the CIA kidnappings and the culpability of European accomplices.
The report found that "more than 1,200 CIA-operated flights have used European airspace between 2001 and 2005." The Swiss government has authorized prosecutors to investigate the flight that took Nasr from Italy to Germany and whether it violated Swiss air space.
A prosecutor in Munich has issued arrest warrants for 13 people in another suspected CIA operation, in which a German citizen was grabbed near the Macedonia-Serbia border and whisked off to Afghanistan.
These cases of "extraordinary rendition," the ridiculous term coined to describe kidnappings, which have no basis in U.S. statutes or international law, show the utter contempt the Busheviks have for fundamental rights.
The people rounded up are deliberately taken to nations where torture is routine. Their families usually have no idea where they are. They are never charged with crimes, since there is no proof of crimes. They are often labeled "terrorists" based on hearsay remarks or questionable information from paid informants.
The entire practice is repugnant to everything America should stand for, and since Bush and Cheney will allow and defend anything billed as fighting terrorism, we now have to find our moral direction from the Europeans, Canadians and others people with civic consciences.
No doubt, the CIA types will never face the consequences for what they did, but they may be tried in absentia and won't be taking any European vacations soon. The Italian defendants aren't so lucky. One of them is the former Italian chief of military intelligence, Nicolo Pollari.
He told the judge his organization took no part in the kidnapping, but he will be unable to defend himself properly because documents supporting his innocence contain state secrets and cannot be presented as evidence in open court.
But given Pollari's shady past and sordid dealings with the Bush administration, he may be trying to cover his tracks. Pollari was the courier in one of the greatest hoaxes of our times and a lie Cheney and others embraced with ruthless zeal.
In September 2002, while Pollari headed SISMI, the Italian military intelligence agency, he made a secret trip to the White House, specifically to Condoleezza Rice's office. His mission was to deliver the forged documents and phony dossier claiming Saddam had been shopping for enriched uranium in Niger.
The already-discredited hoax and bag of lies Pollari delivered were used within days. This was the material Cheney drooled over so he could declare with certainty that Iraq had "reconstituted nuclear weapons." Rice would use the lies to scare the masses, warning, "We don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud."
Pollari was actually the tail end of a long, convoluted plot to peddle the phony documents as evidence that Saddam had been shopping for yellow-cake uranium used to refine into fissionable material for nuclear weapons.
Reporters Carlo Bonnini and Giuseppe D'Avanzo blew the lid off the plot for Italy's La Repubblica newspaper. They traced the origins of the scheme to Rocco Martino, a former SISMI operative who when fired for "defects in character" became a freelance spy, selling his information to the highest bidder.
Back in 1999, Rocco "smelled a business opportunity" in selling information to the French about uranium being stolen from the mines in Niger. A French consortium owns the mines.
The clever Rocco knew Saddam did buy uranium from Niger in the 1980s. But after the Gulf War, United Nations inspectors successfully dismantled Iraq's nuclear program, and the uranium was never reconstituted.
Rocco saw Saddam as a convenient usual suspect. With the help of some confederates, the hoax was hatched. Rocco arranged to have papers with government letterhead stolen from the Niger embassy in Rome. The plotters then cut, pasted and forged documents showing Saddam ordered shipments of 500 tons of uranium.
They tried to sell the fabricated dossier to the French, and it was quickly recognized as a transparent, amateurish fake. But Rocco knew there were other interested customers, especially people in the Bush administration looking for any scintilla of evidence linking Iraq to nuclear weapons.
Rocco hand-delivered the forged documents to MI6, British intelligence in London. That little caper gave Bush the opportunity to say in the 2003 State of the Union address, "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa."
The CIA is now blamed for those "16 words" that helped ignite an unnecessary war, but the real culprits are in the White House. When Pollari delivered the Niger dossier, he didn't take it to his U.S. counterpart, CIA director George Tenet.
No, he brought the forged papers to Stephen Hadley, then Rice's top deputy, who now heads the National Security Council. Why not sit down with the CIA and discuss the documents and their authenticity?
Rice had to know what was going on, but she'll start speaking the truth the day after hell freezes over. The whole uranium story was a colossal hoax Rice, Cheney and Bush used sell their war.
As least Rocco Martino admits a little of what he did. "It's true, I had a hand in the dissemination of those (forged Niger) documents," he told La Repubblica. "But I was duped. Both Americans and Italians were involved behind the scenes. It was a disinformation operation."
We know the Italian end of the lie operation. It's high time Bush, Cheney and Rice admitted theirs.
Bill Gallagher, a Peabody Award winner, is a former Niagara Falls city councilman who now covers Detroit for Fox2 News. His e-mail address is gallaghernewsman@sbcglobal.net.
Live Well - Live Long in Italy OR Live Fast - Die Young in England?
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Discussion of the differences between the
The Children’s Society is to set up an independent inquiry to look at all aspects of childhood amid growing concerns over the health and quality of childrens’ lives in the UK. Complex family structures and an overwhelming number of exams and assessments means that they’re filling their faces with junk food, spending hours alone in front of computer screens and suffering from stress. Their poor parents, meanwhile, seem oblivious to all this as they rush around trying to cram as much as possible into already overcrowded schedules.
It would seem our lives are now lived at breakneck pace with little time for some of the simpler pleasures. Being idle is a sin and slowing down practically unthinkable! The importance of paid work and the primacy of economic competitiveness, whatever the personal costs, is almost accepted wisdom in here in the UK.
Having just returned from an extended writing trip to Italy it has become obvious to me that the contrast in lifestyles between the two countries could not be greater. Sure, the Italians have their own problems and their share of stress but they do seem to have their priorities better thought out. The Italian government doesn’t need to trumpet family friendly policies or work life balance initiatives because the society instinctively values leisure time and knows what is important.
In Italy the extent to which the different generations mix with ease is also striking. The older members of the community sit around chatting whilst keeping a watchful eye on children playing in the square. At first glance these children seem to be running amok in a very unstructured manner. In reality their play is simple and unhurried while our own children seem stuck in their rooms, glued to shoot ‘em up games or else they are being frantically ferried around from one organised activity to another.
The importance of taking a few moments out of the day to sit down for a break is also important for Italians. A coffee stop is considered a virtual human right and there appears to be a national commitment to living life at an even pace. Meals can take hours to consume and lunch is a non-negotiable part of the Italian working day. The typical British schedule, however, leaves us guilt-ridden if we’re still for more than a few moments or if we leave our desks for a break. Sadly, frantic activity and full diaries have become the norm.
Visitors to Italy should also be aware of a social phenomenon which I have dubbed ‘The Italian Distraction’. Far from being unpleasant this social technique is, in fact, designed to force you to relax. I suspect it may even be some covert government initiative to preserve the quality of Italian life. The Italian Distraction invariably involves two people meeting by chance. There then follows a lengthy conversation about nothing in particular. A third or even a fourth person may join in. After a respectable amount of time a joint decision is invariably taken to continue the discussion over coffee, a glass of wine or perhaps a meal.
Thus, a five minute trip out for a pint of milk could take all morning. Italians do not seem to consider such time wasted - far from it - The Italian Distraction is an important part of daily life. Ultimately, any way of life is all about choices. Here in the UK we’d rather spend our spare time at home engrossed in DIY or consuming in huge shopping malls. The Italians would rather just wander out and about to see what emerges.
Obviously, I am generalising and there are exceptions to the rule. I have spoken to a number of young Italians who are educated and frustrated, seemingly unable to capitalise on their skills and academic qualifications. Some of these young people told me they wanted to come to the UK where they had heard there were rich pickings. ‘Was it true?’ they asked me. ‘Yes, it’s true. You will probably find a job and earn some decent money,’ I told them. I felt it only fair to point out the downside. ‘Rents and mortgages are high and the food is not only bad but also expensive. More importantly,’ I continued, ‘everything is incredibly hectic and you will probably be so busy commuting and working that you won’t have a life!
There will also be less time for your friends and you can forget lunch! The leisurely evening passeggiata with it’s slow stop for gelato or coffee will be replaced by the Great British Pub Crawl which involves liver numbing quantities of alcohol consumed within a staggeringly short time span. My anecdotal observations of British life seemed to be enough to discourage most I spoke to.
Sure, Italy has an underperforming economy, its fair share of corrupt politicians and the world’s most frustrating bureaucracy but it still possesses a fantastic quality of life and there are some things money just can’t buy. What’s the point working crazy hours, sacrificing your family and social life if you’re going to die before your time of a stress related disease due to over work?
It is no accident the Italians stay healthier for longer than we do. Maybe it is because they view their existence as a joyful jog rather than some crazy lone sprint where profits and short term efficiency gains are placed above anything else.
Henry Fonda - His Italian Connection
Henry Fonda was married five times. His marriage to Margaret Brooke Sullavan in 1931 soon ended in separation. In 1936, he married Frances Ford Seymour. They had two children: Peter and Jane. In 1950, Seymour committed suicide. In 1950, Fonda married Susan Blanchard, the stepdaughter of Oscar Hammerstein II. Together, they adopted a daughter, Amy (born 1953), but divorced three years later, and in 1957 Fonda married Italian Countess Afdera Franchetti. They divorced in 1961. Soon after, Fonda married Shirlee Mae Adams and remained with her for seventeen years, until his death in 1982.
He appeared against type as the villain "Frank" in 1968's Once Upon a Time in the West. . After turning down the role, he was talked into it by director Sergio Leone, who flew from Italy to the United States to persuade him to play the part.
The 1970s were the time of " disaster" movies. The first of these came in 1977 with the Italian killer octopus thriller Tentacoli (Tentacles) [RAA: I think I'm glad I missed that one:)]
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Henry Jaynes Fonda
BIOGRAPHY
Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was a highly acclaimed American film, stage and television actor, best known for his roles as plain-speaking idealists. Fonda's subtle, naturalistic acting style preceded by many years the popularization of Method acting. He was the patriarch of a family of famous actors, including son Peter Fonda, daughter Jane Fonda, granddaughter Bridget Fonda and grandson Troy Garity.
Fonda was born to William Brace Fonda and Herberta Jaynes. From his humble upbringing in a Nebraskan Christian Scientist family, Fonda made his mark early as a Broadway actor, and made his Hollywood debut in 1935. Fonda's career gained momentum after his Academy Award-nominated performance in 1940's The Grapes of Wrath, an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel about an Oklahoma family who moved west during the 1930's Dust Bowl. Throughout six decades in Hollywood, Fonda cultivated a versatile career and a concrete screen image in such classics as The Ox-Bow Incident, Mister Roberts and 12 Angry Men.
Later in his life, Fonda moved both toward more challenging and lighter roles in such epics as Once Upon a Time in the West and family comedies like Yours, Mine and Ours. He earned a Tony nomination for his role in 1974's Clarence Darrow (having previously won a Tony in Mister Roberts in 1948), and finished his career with a critically-acclaimed performance in On Golden Pond in 1981, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Fonda was also honored with "Lifetime Achievement" Academy Awards, Golden Globes and Tony Awards. He died in 1982, leaving behind a legacy of classic performances, many of which are considered the finest examples of the "Golden Age of Hollywood."
Obit: Joseph Gallo, 87; Wine and Cheese Magnate
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Joseph Gallo, 87; California dairy magnate lost legal fight with his winemaker brothers
Gallo, who had been in declining health for several years after a stroke, died Saturday at his home in the San Joaquin Valley city of Livingston, announced his company, Joseph Gallo Farms. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for more than a decade, said John Whiting, his lawyer and close friend.
While managing Ernest and Julio Gallo's vineyards in Livingston, southeast of Modesto, for more than 20 years, Joseph accumulated his own holdings. By 1967, he had struck out on his own with a cattle ranch and vineyards. The first of his five dairies in Merced County followed in 1979.
After establishing a cheese-production company in 1982, he began selling the product to consumers under the label Joseph Gallo Cheese.
His older brothers sued him — claiming trademark infringement — and denounced the cheese as an inferior product that could damage the winery's reputation. The lawsuit also referred to him as an unknown cheese maker, and the charges infuriated him, Whiting said.
"I have only got one name," Joseph told reporters outside the courtroom in 1988. "I don't know how I'm supposed to look for another one."
The federal judge ruled that using the Gallo name confused consumers, leading them to think that the cheese was connected to the winery. He ordered the name changed on the package. Now sold under the Joseph Farms label, it is the largest-selling retail-brand cheese produced in California, according to the company.
Joseph countersued, arguing that his brothers had used their parents' estate to launch their E. & J. Gallo Winery in Modesto. He claimed that they owed him a third of the business, which had grown into one of the world's largest wine-making operations.
Dismissing the suit, the hearing judge lamented that the best witness — the Gallos' late father — "was out of the reach of the court's process," The Times reported in 1988.
The legal battle drove a permanent wedge between Joseph and the brothers who had raised him since the age of 13 after their parents died in a murder-suicide.
The Gallo family's history was documented in "Blood & Wine," a 1993 book by Ellen Hawkes that comes squarely down on Joseph's side in the legal feuding. She contends that the sibling tensions began soon after Joseph was born Sept. 11, 1919, in the Bay Area city of Antioch.
The youngest brother by almost 10 years, Joseph was not only their father's namesake but also his favorite child, Hawkes says. As such, he escaped the hard physical farm work that Ernest and Julio were forced to do as boys, and they may have resented him for that, she writes.
Their Italian immigrant parents had a stormy relationship that ended in 1933, when the senior Joseph killed his wife, the former Susie Bianco, and then turned the revolver on himself.
Six weeks after their parents died, Ernest and Julio invested $5,700 to form the E. & J. Gallo Winery, according to the 1988 story.
During high school and while attending Modesto Junior College, Joseph worked with his brothers to help establish the winery, according to Joseph Gallo Farms.
He entered the Army Air Forces during World War II, first serving as a gunnery instructor and then in the Philippines and Korea.
Upon returning in 1946, he became ranch manager for his brothers and had three children with his first wife. One son, Peter, was killed in action in the Vietnam War in 1968.
Joseph Gallo Farms traces its beginnings to the late 1940s, when Joseph began acquiring raw land and developing its grape-growing potential. He later expanded to growing other crops and raising cattle. The 4,000 acres of vineyards he amassed made him one of California's largest wine-grape growers, his family said.
In 1995, Successful Farming magazine recognized Joseph Gallo Farms in Atwater, just east of Livingston, as the nation's largest farm, according to the family. By then, he had more than 37,000 dairy animals and an operation that milked more than 17,000 cows.
He had an affinity for the outdoors — he liked to hunt and fish — and had established wetlands and wildlife programs on his property, his family said.
"He was a very optimistic person and very hard-working," said his son, Michael, who took over as chief executive officer of Joseph Gallo Farms when his father retired. "He believed in leadership by example and would literally work right alongside his employees."
In addition to Michael, Gallo's survivors include his wife of 41 years, Patricia; daughter Linda; stepson Sam Gardali; brother Ernest; and six grandchildren. His brother Julio died in 1993.
http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-gallo22feb22,0,217401.story?coll=la-home-obituaries
Thursday, February 22, 2007
US Alone Eats 3 Billion Pizza Pies a Year!!!! -Forbes Magazine
The hungry citizens of the United States eat 350 slices of pizza a second, or 400 acres (17.4 million square feet) per day. Don't even think of the geographical scale of a year's pizza!
As an industry in the U.S., pizza tops $30 billion. The country's 69,000 pizzerias make up 17% of all restaurants. The nation eats 3 billion pizzas in a year--that's pies, not slices; 93% of Americans eat at least one pizza per month. That's 23 pounds (including the toppings) of pizza a year.
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Pizza's Global Footprint
Forbes Magazine
Robert Malone
February 21, 2007
Pizza has gone global, and it is governed by a heavy commitment to contemporary logistics.
In India, one pizzeria manager, Pavan Bhatia, describes his Pizza Corner Domino Pizza store as "more a logistics company than food service, since supply chain management is the factor that differentiates the winners from the losers" in this business.
Bhatia's Pizza Corner store in New Delhi gets its potatoes from Canada, where it is shipped to ports in Mumbai and Delhi. Pizza Corner pepperoni comes from Australia, and jalapeno requirements are fulfilled from Spain. Cheese is sourced closer to home--from Bangalore. Pizza may be an Italian cuisine, but it is the last word in global supply chains.
The hungry citizens of the United States eat 350 slices of pizza a second, or 400 acres (17.4 million square feet) per day. Don't even think of the geographical scale of a year's pizza!
As an industry in the U.S., pizza tops $30 billion. The country's 69,000 pizzerias make up 17% of all restaurants. The nation eats 3 billion pizzas in a year--that's pies, not slices; 93% of Americans eat at least one pizza per month. That's 23 pounds (including the toppings) of pizza a year.
Americans' favorite topping is pepperoni (36% of all orders), and that means a lot of sausage must be transported. Other favorite toppings are mushrooms, extra cheese, green peppers and, of course, onions.
On the other hand, specialty or gourmet toppings are becoming popular regionally in the U.S. Some pies come with shrimp, chicken, artichoke hearts, eggplant, sprouts, crayfish--even duck and Canadian bacon.
Mozzarella cheese accounts for 30% of all pizza cheese, but other favorites include provolone, ricotta, parmesan and romano. The amount of cheese used runs into the hundreds of millions of pounds.
Pizza Hut, a part of Yum! Brands ($9.56 billion in sales 2006), is the world's largest pizzeria franchise. It has 34,000 outlets in over 100 countries (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India, Israel, Hong Kong and Serbia, to name but a few). The chain's most popular pizza is the deep-dish Pan Pizza. Each year, Pizza Hut uses 300 million pounds of cheese, 525 million pounds of tomatoes, and 200 million pounds of pepperoni, which, if sliced, would girdle the Earth twice and still have enough over to reach the moon.
Domino's Pizza has only 8,000 stores in 54 countries and sales of $4.6 billion. It is known for its development of centralized ingredient logistics systems.
One of these central logistics systems is PWC UAE Logistics. It works with Specialized Services Establishment and Domino's restaurants in Bahran, Qatar, Saudia Arabia and Jordan. An order fulfillment center is used to service these places.
"By creating a centralized order fulfillment center, we will be able to provide real-time response to all our GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council states] and Levant-based outfits," says Ibrahim Al-Jammaz, the managing director of Specialized Services Establishment.
The inbound logistics delivery of pizza ingredients involves the use of sea lane container ships, aircraft for specialty items, and trucks, trucks and more trucks for pizza deliveries.
Outbound logistics from stores all over the world make use of scooters, bikes, fleet-footed delivery boys and vans.
The last word: The first pizzeria in New York, according to Italian history, was John's on Bleeker Street. The son of the original owner drove a Lincoln whose license plate read, "NO SLICES."
http://www.forbes.com/logistics/2007/02/20/pizza-shipping-logistics-biz-logistics-cx_rm_0221pizza.html
The ANNOTICO Reports
Can be Viewed, and are Archived at:
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Annotico Email: annotico@earthlink.net
Prodi's Support for US Rejected - Submits Resignation
International journalists either are oblivious or have an agenda. Most reports focus on chaos in Italy.... again.
Whereas, the actual situation was that Prodi was elected with a razor thin majority in the Senate, (two votes), nine months ago, and already exceeded the time he was expected to face his first threat.
Yesterday Prodi was asking for Endorsement of TWO Pro AMERICAN Measures. (1) Allowing the increase in size of the US Air base in Vicenza, in northern Italy, and (2) the continued presence of 2,000 Italian troops in Afghanistan.
Italy was still seething from the disclosure of US showing little respect for Italian sovereignty and operating cavalierly in "renditions" (capturing anti -US suspects and flying them to countries permitting torture in interrogations), and then when Italy indicted 21 US agents, the US neither apologized and asked for waivers, but ignored the indictments.
The outcome was predictable. Prodi will be asked to form a new government, and a few portfolios will be changed.
Nothing to be concerned about. It is difficult for Americans to recognize that it is preferable for reassignment of portfolios frequently, to make many slight course changes, rather than the extreme course changes that the US suffers when there is a change of Administrations.
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Italian Prime Minister Resigns